Zombie Coder

Episodes

1. 16

   Code Philosophy: Why Worse is Better (Ep. 15)

   The Zombie Coder is back for a new season! Today’s episode focuses on one of the Zombie’s key coding philosophies: Worse is Better. Learn about the history of the phrase and join the “Cult of Done” if you dare. Key Resources for today: Why Perfectionism and Burnout Go Hand in Hand – A lifehacker...

   Jan 26, 2021

   22m
2. 15

   After Hours and Season 2 Preview (Ep 14)

   In this episode I’ll talk a bit about plans for the next season of Zombie Coder, and review some of the lessons learned over the past several months. Look for more episodes to resume after the new year! Music: https://audionautix.com

   Dec 13, 2020

   14m
3. 14

   CS Topics: Welcome to Hash World (Ep. 13)

   In this episode, I conclude a series on Merkle Trees – or, the key technology and ideas behind distributed systems. I hope this episode captures your imagination to the potential applications of the distributed web. Resources and Links: https://www.codementor.io/blog/merkle-trees-5h9arzd3n8 –...

   Nov 19, 2020

   25m
4. 13

   Avoiding Death March Projects

   What is a death march project? Recognizing Death March projects is easier than you might expect, and avoiding them means simply setting your own boundaries. Death March [Amazon]: The “standard” book describing death march projects....

   Nov 13, 2020

   30m
5. 12

   CS Topics: Rand and Xor Magic

   In this week’s episode, we dive a bit deeper into the underlying theory behind how random numbers and the importance behind the XOR operator when creating hashes. This episode does depend on pre-existing knowledge of basic boolean operators. If you aren’t familiar check out this page. GNU C...

   Nov 6, 2020

   25m
6. 11

   Nix News: Embedded Linux Update

   Today I’ll cover my major take-homes from a couple embedded Linux conferences that I (virtually) attended. Subjects: Let’s be positive All about embedded linux Be prepared: Containers are coming! (Someone please make docker-lite for embedded!) Risc V is up and coming real soon now Learn VSCode if...

   Oct 30, 2020

   22m
7. 10

   Hope for the Camel’s Second Hump

   Today I offer some advice for those currently staring down the barrel of failing midterm grades for CS and Engineering students. The Camel Doesn’t Have Two Humps – Commentary on the retraction of the oft-mentioned article on Computer Science being bi-modal. Reforming Mathematics – A detailed…

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   Oct 22, 2020

   25m
8. 9

   CS Topics: Hash Functions

   Today we cover one of the primary building blocks for blockchain – Hash Functions. References: Introduction to Algorithms 3rd Ed. (CLRS) pg. 262 FNV Algorithm Wikipedia SHA-2 Page

   Oct 15, 2020

   29m
9. 7

   Episode 7 – XLS, XLSX What is Difference?

   Today I cover a small “oops” from the UK health center, and extend some thoughts on its relationship to “Real Programming”.

   Oct 8, 2020

   9m
10. 6

    Episode 6 – Sanity while remote for coders

    How I’m trying to keep sane while working remote. Some basic guidelines I’ve adopted over years of remote work.

    Oct 1, 2020

    24m
11. 5

    Episode 5 – Ethics of Software Programmers

    Today I discuss the implications of ethics in software development. We’ll take a look at some of my personal experience, and 2 new Netflix documentaries: The Social Dilemma, and Challenger: The Final Flight. IBM and the Nazis – HBR podcast on IBM and the Holocaust Twitter apologizes for racist...

    Sep 24, 2020

    28m
12. 4

    Episode 4 – Fall 2020 Programming Developments

    A look at major new developments in the coding world for C/C++ – and some brief talk on Amazon BottleRocket and Microsoft’s Hyper-V advancements. Amazon Announcement for “BottleRocket” Linux distribution ZDNet Coverage – Microsoft Hyper-V patches for Linux kernel as root Infoworld Coverage –…

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    Sep 17, 2020

    30m
13. 3

    Episode 3 – To College or not to College?

    For new and aspiring developers – in this episode I answer the #1 question asked from future coders – should I go to college? Pros and Cons of a college degree and the University system. Contents: The Cold Truth of Job Seeking. Beware of For-Profit systems. Selecting a Degree. The actual meaning…

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    Sep 10, 2020

    35m
14. 2

    Episode 2 – The Decline of Usenet

    We return to the early 80s and 90s to discuss the rise of consumer access to Usenet and the following decline of the service and its rise to the ranks of the undead. Contents: Show introduction Merging of networks SPAM, SPAM, more SPAM A brief analysis of the “Decline” Resources: Mozilla...

    Sep 3, 2020

    25m
15. 1

    Episode 1 – The Creation of Usenet

    Today, we go back in time to the late 70’s and observe the events that led to the creation of newgroups and usenet. Especially as this podcast covers historic events, factual corrections will be attached to the original post and/or episode as required. Contents: Introduction The A News Reader The…

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    Aug 26, 2020

    29m
16. 1

    Introduction the Podcast

    After repeated encouragement from friends and coworkers, I’ve decided to take a dive into the world of podcasting. We’ll see if this is something that can keep going or not – but for now, I introduce the first episode of my podcast for this site. Show contents: Introduction Inspiration...

    Aug 22, 2020

    9m