Blog
A collection of musings on deeply technical topics distilled through the lens of contemporary cultural analogies
CPU Affinity: Because Even A Single Chip Is Nonuniform
Sometimes, we run on autopilot when configuring CPU Affinity, turning over complete control to our intuition. It happens just as easily in everyday life, too. For example, while planning a vacation, a man buys adjacent airline seats for his family
My Top 7 Performance Books for Engineers
“If you’re thinking about buying a book, just buy it. Don’t waste five seconds debating it. Even one idea makes it more than worth the price.” Ramit Sethi Among the most frequently submitted questions I get from IT professionals and
Last Level Cache: Where It’s Bad To Be Inclusive
I remember when Big Tech focused all their recruitment efforts at prestigious engineering colleges and universities. They’ve since evolved to be more inclusive, casting a wider net that encompasses places like HBCUs and Code Bootcamps. Corporations traditionally reserved “Openness to
My Fear of Commitment to the 1st CPU Core
“Who hurt you?“ That’s the recurring question every confirmed bachelor, Lothario, and playboy expects to hear around this Valentine’s Day Season. That time of year when couples exchange gifts of love, share romantic dinners, or whisk away on a mini-trip.
A Perfect Holiday Gift for Software Developers
It had been 2 weeks into Illinois Governor Pritzker’s Stay-At-Home Order by the time I received that fateful email. Homebound for longer than I’d ever been before, I’d already binge-watched a couple Netflix shows of middling quality. And the seedlings
Beginner’s Mindset: Key to Engineering Expertise
Her family rushed her to the Emergency Room twice within a couple months, each time resulting in a multi-night stay. Doctors diagnosed her with a heart arrhythmia each time but never located the root cause. They posed the standard list
System Interrupts: How to Hunt Them Down
“Taylor Swift, I’ma let you finish but Beyoncé had one of the best videos of all time!” Kanye West (2009 MTV Video Music Awards) Up til that point, the musical performances and award presentations had been proceeding without a hitch.
5-level vs 4-level Page Tables: Does It Matter?
Ever tipped a mediocre waiter 20% only to discover later that you *tremendously* over-tipped since 18% had been already included? Or installed software that changed your default search engine to Bing before you realized? Or purchased a gift from an