tpdorsey
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A Rant About Live News Blog Content
“Live coverage” news blogs are useful in some circumstances but the format is abused and, in many cases, obstructs clarity. I’ll explain why and how these lessons apply to tech writing, too. Continue reading
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AI will not Replace Technical Writers
Generative AI tools like ChatGPT are fundamentally changing much of the work many of us do today. It’s going to have a profound impact but experienced technical writers still play a critical role in creating useful content. Continue reading
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Who Is a Replicant in Blade Runner?
There’s still a lot of controversy about whether Deckard is a replicant in the movie Blade Runner. You can interpret the film as you like — and I have my own strong feelings about it — but I think costume design… Continue reading
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VASL Mini Control Marker Extension for Advanced Squad Leader
Mini Control Markers is an extension for VASL, an Advanced Squad Leader module for the Vassal game engine. Mini Control Markers provides markers and overlays that indicate control of a hex or location. Continue reading
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Learning Advanced Squad Leader
Recently I was looking for a challenging tactical game to play. A game-savvy friend suggested we dive in the deep end and play Advanced Squad Leader (ASL). After a few games and still having fun with it, I thought it… Continue reading
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Tracking Covid-19 with Jupyter Notebooks
Vermont publishes daily updated Covid-19 data via API. I used that data to do some hands-on learning with Jupyter Notebooks, Pandas dataframes, Matplotlib, and some simple Python to create my own Covid-tracking charts. Continue reading
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Web Page Size, Speed, and Performance Book For O’Reilly
Note: O’Reilly is no longer promoting the book, so I’ve posted a copy of Web Page Size, Speed, and Performance on my site if you’re interested. Head over to HTTP Archive and check out their trends graphs. Notice anything? That’s right, web pages keep… Continue reading
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Teaching Programming with Human Functions
Today, in my RubyStory class, I attempted to introduce the kids to Ruby functions. I won’t go so far as to say it was a disaster, but it didn’t go particularly well. They just didn’t get it. OK. Functions are a pretty… Continue reading
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Teaching Kids Programming With RubyStory
TL;DR version: I wrote some course materials and sample code for teaching the basics of Ruby programming to middle-school kids. The course is called RubyStory and teaches just enough Ruby to create a choose-your-own-adventure style storytelling game. Last year my older daughter… Continue reading
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Talking Writing About Code On Technology And Friends
At VT Code Camp 5 in September, I had a chance to sit down with David Giard and talk through some of the issues raised in my Writing About Code session and some general tips for writers. Continue reading
Terrence Dorsey 