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Flagitous
In the 1840s in England, the economy went a bit nuts. What was going on had to do with a technology bubble. The technology at the time was the steam train, and everybody wanted to jump into the frenzy by creating a startup company, hiring on some engineers, and selling stock. (Stop me if any… Continue reading
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Deprecate
It’s common in the computer industry to hear about a feature, function, or attribute being “deprecated.” That means the deprecated thing is being phased out or eliminated. This seems to come from 1990, in a Request for Comments document (an “RFC”) that suggested “In order to better prepare implementors for future changes … a new… Continue reading
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February 2
February 2 We’re obsessed with weather. It’s a topic of conversation and a constant component in every form of news reporting. We change what we wear because of the weather. In some places we outfit our cars for it. If we go by sea, the weather is our central concern. After all, it can kill… Continue reading
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February 2 Birthdays
First of all, Happy Groundhog Day! A “groundhog” is a large rodent native to North America. It’s primarily known for two things: a long list of alternative names, from woodchuck to whistlepig to thickwood badger to red monk. And quite a few more. They live in burrows, which leads to the other thing they’re known… Continue reading
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Campaigning
Here is a scene that’s ironic in a way that’s not obvious. “The general surveyed the wide, grassy plain where his army had just won the final battle in a long series. He sipped a glass of champagne in relief and celebration.” The question is, what’s ironic about that? Is it the general’s relief? Is… Continue reading
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February 1, Imbolc
“It is the morning of Imbolc, here in Ireland. We celebrate four times in the year; Imbolc, Bealtaine, Lughnasadh, and Samhain. Imbolc is Brigid’s day and we know it by the blooming of the blackthorn that began just last eventide. It was as I dreamed it, for I am the one in my village who… Continue reading
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After the Party
After the Barn Party For a long time afterward, the party in the barn was known as “the party in the barn”. Anyone in the forest could say “remember when we went to the party in the barn,” and whoever they were talking to would say “yes, I remember the party in the barn. It… Continue reading
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Ga(u)ntlets
A “gauntlet” is a kind of glove. Originally it was a reinforced glove that was the part of medieval armor that protected the hand. Even today a “gauntlet” would usually be a glove of the larger, sturdier sort. But gauntlets weren’t just used for protection. A gauntlet might have been thrown down to signal a… Continue reading
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What happened to the second world?
You hear it all the time: “third-world countries,” or “that’s a first-world problem.” But you hardly ever hear about the second world. And oddly enough, even though the whole idea of categorizing nations as first-, second-, and third-world hasn’t been around all that long, today’s phrases have already shifted in meaning from their original usage.… Continue reading
About Me
I’m Pete Harbeson, a writer (among other things) located near Boston, Massachusetts. In addition to writing my own content, I’ve learned to translate for my loquacious and opinionated pup Chocolate Bossypaws. No surprise, she mostly speaks in doggerel. You can find her contributions tagged with Chocolatiana.
Check out my other blog, Techlimitics, where I’m grappling with the nature of simplicity. You can also find some of my minor software projects at GitHub. Nothing very impressive. I mostly write tiny utilities in Python.
I find myself suddenly de-corporatized (their choice, not mine). To help keep the lights on, buy me a coffee!
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Contact
peterharbeson@me.com