Why Twilio Segment Moved from Microservices Back to a Monolith
Given that there would only be one service, it made sense to move all the destination code into one repo, which meant merging all the different dependencies and tests into a single repo. We knew this was going to be messy. For each of the 120 unique dependencies, we committed to having one version for […]
The Rise of Computer Games, Part I: Adventure
Author’s note: I originally intended for this post to cover adventure games, computer role-playing games, wargames and other simulations, a brief look at the home video game market, and finally the rise of hybrids that fused home video game systems with personal computers. In the grand scheme of the story about personal computers that I […]
I fed 24 years of my blog posts to a Markov model
By Susam Pal on 13 Dec 2025 Yesterday I shared a little program called the Mark V. Shaney Junior at github.com/susam/mvs. It is a minimal implementation of a Markov text generator inspired by the legendary Mark V. Shaney program from the 1980s. If you don’t know about Mark V. Shaney, read more about it on […]
Ask HN: How do you handle release notes for multiple audiences?
For those of you who ship often, when you release updates, do you typically write one set of release notes, or do you end up rewriting them for different audiences? For example: • technical version for developers • simplified version for end users • something more high-level for stakeholders etc… In my current position I’ve […]
VPN location claims don’t match real traffic exits
In a large-scale analysis of 20 popular VPNs, IPinfo found that 17 of those VPNs exit traffic from different countries than they claim. Some claim 100+ countries, but many of them point to the same handful of physical data centers in the US or Europe. That means the majority of VPN providers we analyzed don’t […]
Dick Van Dyke turns 100
All Hollywood stars grow old and die except perhaps one – Dick Van Dyke – who turns 100 today. The real world Peter Pan who used to trip over the ottoman on The Dick Van Dyke Show is still standing. The man who impersonated a wind-up toy in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang hasn’t wound down […]
Essential Semiconductor Physics [pdf]
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Purrtran – ᓚᘏᗢ – A Programming Language for Cat People
Programmers who’ve been chosen by a cat know the joys they can bring to the programming experience. Sadly, not everyone has been chosen by a cat, so they don’t know what they’re missing out on! PURRTRAN is a programming language and system designed to give these poor unfortunate developers the full experience of coding with […]
Fast, Memory-Efficient Hash Table in Java: Borrowing the Best Ideas
One day, I ran into SwissTable—the kind of design that makes you squint, grin, and immediately regret every naive linear-probing table you’ve ever shipped. This post is the story of how I tried to bring that same “why is this so fast?” feeling into Java. It’s part deep dive, part engineering diary, and part cautionary […]
I tried Gleam for Advent of Code
I do Advent of Code every year. For the last seven years, including this one, I have managed to get all the stars. I do not say that to brag. I say it because it explains why I keep coming back. It is one of the few tech traditions I never get bored of, even […]