From b56e4a6a679a3151b02749edc0028ce909037cdc Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: mjkwiatkowski Date: Sun, 11 Jan 2026 14:13:00 +0100 Subject: fix: fixed the non-working list of book posts --- layouts/_default/list.html | 9 +- layouts/partials/header.html | 2 +- layouts/partials/navigation.html | 2 +- public/404.html | 8 ++ .../books/all-the-lovers-in-the-night/index.html | 94 ++++++++++++++ public/books/coders-at-work/index.html | 72 +++++++++++ public/books/index.html | 107 +++++++++++++++ public/books/index.xml | 54 ++++++++ public/books/klara-and-the-sun/index.html | 92 +++++++++++++ public/books/list-of-books/index.html | 100 ++++++++++++++ public/books/lolita/index.html | 92 +++++++++++++ .../books/the-island-of-missing-trees/index.html | 85 ++++++++++++ public/categories/index.html | 68 ++++++++++ public/categories/index.xml | 11 ++ public/css/fonts.css | 7 + public/css/style.css | 106 +++++++++++++++ public/fonts/latin-modern-mono-regular.otf | Bin 0 -> 64684 bytes public/images/bg.png | Bin 0 -> 534146 bytes public/images/cv.pdf | Bin 0 -> 327389 bytes public/images/favicon-16x16.png | Bin 0 -> 279 bytes public/images/favicon-32x32.png | Bin 0 -> 358 bytes public/images/favicon.ico | Bin 0 -> 358 bytes public/images/logo.jpg | Bin 0 -> 13742 bytes public/images/logo.png | Bin 0 -> 95584 bytes public/index.html | 143 +++++++++++++++++++++ public/index.xml | 110 ++++++++++++++++ public/js/code.js | 20 +++ public/posts/coders-at-work/index.html | 86 +++++++++++++ public/posts/denounce-ai/index.html | 89 +++++++++++++ public/posts/dijkstra-knuth/index.html | 84 ++++++++++++ public/posts/good-cs-books/index.html | 81 ++++++++++++ public/posts/index.html | 117 +++++++++++++++++ public/posts/index.xml | 68 ++++++++++ public/posts/music/index.html | 73 +++++++++++ public/posts/my-cv/index.html | 59 +++++++++ public/posts/mythical-man-month/index.html | 85 ++++++++++++ public/posts/useful-links/index.html | 99 ++++++++++++++ public/sitemap.xml | 60 +++++++++ public/tags/index.html | 68 ++++++++++ public/tags/index.xml | 11 ++ 40 files changed, 2153 insertions(+), 9 deletions(-) create mode 100644 public/404.html create mode 100644 public/books/all-the-lovers-in-the-night/index.html create mode 100644 public/books/coders-at-work/index.html create mode 100644 public/books/index.html create mode 100644 public/books/index.xml create mode 100644 public/books/klara-and-the-sun/index.html create mode 100644 public/books/list-of-books/index.html create mode 100644 public/books/lolita/index.html create mode 100644 public/books/the-island-of-missing-trees/index.html create mode 100644 public/categories/index.html create mode 100644 public/categories/index.xml create mode 100644 public/css/fonts.css create mode 100644 public/css/style.css create mode 100644 public/fonts/latin-modern-mono-regular.otf create mode 100644 public/images/bg.png create mode 100644 public/images/cv.pdf create mode 100644 public/images/favicon-16x16.png create mode 100644 public/images/favicon-32x32.png create mode 100644 public/images/favicon.ico create mode 100644 public/images/logo.jpg create mode 100644 public/images/logo.png create mode 100644 public/index.html create mode 100644 public/index.xml create mode 100644 public/js/code.js create mode 100644 public/posts/coders-at-work/index.html create mode 100644 public/posts/denounce-ai/index.html create mode 100644 public/posts/dijkstra-knuth/index.html create mode 100644 public/posts/good-cs-books/index.html create mode 100644 public/posts/index.html create mode 100644 public/posts/index.xml create mode 100644 public/posts/music/index.html create mode 100644 public/posts/my-cv/index.html create mode 100644 public/posts/mythical-man-month/index.html create mode 100644 public/posts/useful-links/index.html create mode 100644 public/sitemap.xml create mode 100644 public/tags/index.html create mode 100644 public/tags/index.xml diff --git a/layouts/_default/list.html b/layouts/_default/list.html index 7d0aba7..15b54c3 100644 --- a/layouts/_default/list.html +++ b/layouts/_default/list.html @@ -8,13 +8,8 @@ diff --git a/public/404.html b/public/404.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a76a32d --- /dev/null +++ b/public/404.html @@ -0,0 +1,8 @@ + + + + +404 - Who are you? + + + diff --git a/public/books/all-the-lovers-in-the-night/index.html b/public/books/all-the-lovers-in-the-night/index.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..3ceaa7e --- /dev/null +++ b/public/books/all-the-lovers-in-the-night/index.html @@ -0,0 +1,94 @@ + + + + + + + + + + +
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+

All the Lovers in the Night

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All the Lovers in the Night is a book about a young, shy proofreader in her thirties. +Fuyuko Irie, who is an introverted shut-in, rarely interacts with other people and keeps things quiet and to herself. +As far as she can remember, all she ever did was work, get back home, somehow pass the hours before sleeping and go to work the next day. +A solitary existence, void of contact with other people. +This changes when a friend of hers, Kyoko, encourages her to quit her job and start working freelance. +Soon afterwards she meets Hijari, her contact person for new proofreading requests, and Mitsutsuko, a man in his fifties, with whom she starts to slowly overcome her anxieties and barriers.

+

As with the previous reviews, there are only a handful of themes I would like to mainly focus on in the book, the first one being the bravery of Fuyuko. +She lives in Tokyo, is 34 years old and unmarried. +She has no children. +Due to this, the Japanese society, women in particular, look down upon her. +According to everyone, by this point in adult life she should be happily married, have a hard-working husband and cheerful kids. +At work everyone talks behind her back and make jokes about her: +A few of my coworkers even used a secret language that they thought I didn’t understand to talk about me right in front of me, making jokes at my expense. +I can’t imagine how it must have felt for her to come everyday to work, and be openly shamed upon by her colleagues. +Nevertheless, she is brave enough to quit her job when Kyoko suggests freelance work might be a good option for her. +Another example of Fuyuko’s true bravery is her last meeting with Mitsutsuko. +Over the course of meeting him several times, Fuyuko falls header over heels for him. +They go out for dinner, which she meticulously prepares for. +Afterwards, when everything goes well and they are about to part ways to go back home, she decides to tell him that she loves him. +Mitsutsuka, I love you, I’m in love with you. +The words came spilling from my heart, far stronger than they had ever sounded at home […] +All things considered, try to imagine yourself spending the last 14 years almost completely alone in your work or at home and then suddenly having the courage to confess to someone how you feel about them. +I certainly wouldn’t have this kind of resolve to break through anxiety of the moment and the possibility of rejection from the other person. +For this very theme, I think All the Lovers in the Night is a great story about how it’s never too late to try to overcome your own weaknesses and faults.

+

Secondly, I must admit I enjoyed the ending of the book. +After the confession Fuyuko asks Mitsutsuko to spend her birthday together by taking a walk at night in Tokyo, to which Mitsutsuko agrees. +Many readers probably would anticipate their meeting, however we soon unfortunately learn that on the night of Fuyuko’s birthday, Mitsutsuko never comes to visit her. +They lose all contact, and it only happens after several months later he reaches out with a dull letter to apologize. +Nevertheless, this does not let Fuyuko down. +She moves on with her life, and fast forward a couple of years celebrates with Hijari another birthday. +To me, it’s a symbol that life moves on, and the events we once would assign great value and maybe write a book about, fade in time to be forgotten. +From a perspective, all the problems we had as a young kids seem now trivial. +I think the ending of the book is exactly in the same tone. +Whatever happens, life goes forward.

+

Overall I liked the book, however I must admit that it seemed like one of those novels where the ideas and beliefs of the author are mostly expressed through the monologues of the characters themselves, which I found a bit simplistic. +Mieko Kawakami is a good writer, which I can surely recommend, however I don’t think I will be reading another book of hers.

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+ + + + diff --git a/public/books/coders-at-work/index.html b/public/books/coders-at-work/index.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..87383f6 --- /dev/null +++ b/public/books/coders-at-work/index.html @@ -0,0 +1,72 @@ + + + + + + + + + + +
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Coders at Work

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coders-at-work

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Coders at Work is a book written by Peter Seibel, a programmer who decided to interview some of the most influential coders in the Computer Science field. +I think this book is a must read for anyone who wants to gain an in-depth view of what prompted the best programmers in the world to start tinkering with computers and code.

+

To be frank each chapter read of this book has motivated me to immediately stop anything that I was doing and just get to coding, so it is definitely a good motivator to get into the Computer Science field. +Additionally, sometimes to new programmers it might be challenging and overwhelming to get to realize how much there is to learn and how advanced the people at the top are. +There is no doubt whatsoever that each person interviewed in this book is a world-renown coder, a master of their craft. +Nevertheless the interview format and the sometimes informal responses show that in the end they also started just like us from scratch, sometimes late in life. +Because of this, I think the message of the book is that anyone can program, regardless of when they start or what background they are from.

+

In this review I would like to write a short paragraph about each chapter and summarize what I think are the most important takeaways.

+

Joshua Bloch is a Chief Java architect at Google. +One of the interesting things that he mentions is that in his opinion there are two books any programmer should read, one of them being The Elements of Style, which is a book that I have known for a while. +It is definitely a recommended read for anyone writing prose, as it contains some of the most important rules which should guide the writer towards writing clearly. +On the topic of picking the right things to read and learn, Joshua Bloch says of programming languages: It’s like choosing a bar. You want to go to a bar that servers good drinks, but that’s not the most important thing. +It’s who hangs out there and what they talk about.

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mjkw

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Recent posts

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+ + + + diff --git a/public/books/index.xml b/public/books/index.xml new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c7d78e1 --- /dev/null +++ b/public/books/index.xml @@ -0,0 +1,54 @@ + + + + mjkw + http://localhost:1313/books/ + Recent content on mjkw + Hugo + en-us + Fri, 07 Nov 2025 16:05:35 +0100 + + + The Island of Missing Trees + http://localhost:1313/books/the-island-of-missing-trees/ + Fri, 07 Nov 2025 16:05:35 +0100 + http://localhost:1313/books/the-island-of-missing-trees/ + <p><em>The Island of Missing Trees</em> is a fiction novel written by Elif Shafak with action set mostly in London and Cyprus and taking course over several decades between 1970s and 2010s. It is a book full of surprises and historical insights into that period of time, specifically the Greek-Turkish conflict over the Cyprus island. The main premise of the book, in my opinion, sends a message about how the actions we take in life echo across generations, and what might seem unimportant to us now can be defining in the future of others. Two main characters - Kostas and Dephne - are from different parts of the island. Kostas is Greek while Dephne is Turkish. Both are deeply in love with each other during their teens, however arising conflict and tensions have a tragic impact on their relationship and families, which is what the book is mainly about.</p> + + + All the Lovers in the Night + http://localhost:1313/books/all-the-lovers-in-the-night/ + Sun, 28 Sep 2025 16:40:54 +0200 + http://localhost:1313/books/all-the-lovers-in-the-night/ + <p><em>All the Lovers in the Night</em> is a book about a young, shy proofreader in her thirties. Fuyuko Irie, who is an introverted shut-in, rarely interacts with other people and keeps things quiet and to herself. As far as she can remember, all she ever did was work, get back home, somehow pass the hours before sleeping and go to work the next day. A solitary existence, void of contact with other people. This changes when a friend of hers, Kyoko, encourages her to quit her job and start working freelance. Soon afterwards she meets Hijari, her contact person for new proofreading requests, and Mitsutsuko, a man in his fifties, with whom she starts to slowly overcome her anxieties and barriers.</p> + + + Coders at Work + http://localhost:1313/books/coders-at-work/ + Wed, 03 Sep 2025 18:28:08 +0200 + http://localhost:1313/books/coders-at-work/ + <p><img src="http://localhost:1313/images/coders-at-work.jpg#floatright" alt="coders-at-work"></p> <p>Coders at Work is a book written by Peter Seibel, a programmer who decided to interview some of the most influential coders in the Computer Science field. I think this book is a must read for anyone who wants to gain an in-depth view of what prompted the best programmers in the world to start tinkering with computers and code.</p> <p>To be frank each chapter read of this book has motivated me to immediately stop anything that I was doing and just get to coding, so it is definitely a good motivator to get into the Computer Science field. Additionally, sometimes to new programmers it might be challenging and overwhelming to get to realize how much there is to learn and how advanced the people at the top are. There is no doubt whatsoever that each person interviewed in this book is a world-renown coder, a master of their craft. Nevertheless the interview format and the sometimes informal responses show that in the end they also started just like us from scratch, sometimes late in life. Because of this, I think the message of the book is that anyone can program, regardless of when they start or what background they are from.</p> + + + Lolita + http://localhost:1313/books/lolita/ + Tue, 19 Aug 2025 15:11:46 +0200 + http://localhost:1313/books/lolita/ + <p>Lolita is a very special book due to the sensitive subjects which it touches upon. Masterfully written, it talks about taboo topics such as relationship abuse and obsession, and includes themes of murder, rape and pedophilia. It has been widely regarded as a literary classic and masterpiece and included in some of the most prestigious book rankings in the world <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lolita">(see here)</a>. A colleague of mine told me that she could have not read on until the end, due to the books narrative. After getting into a discussion with her, I have decided to give the book a try.</p> + + + Klara and the Sun + http://localhost:1313/books/klara-and-the-sun/ + Sun, 27 Jul 2025 10:49:23 +0200 + http://localhost:1313/books/klara-and-the-sun/ + <p><em>Klara and the Sun</em> is a novel written by Kazuo Ishiguro. Set in a far dystopian future, it tells a story about the relationship between Josie, a home schooled, genetically modified child and Klara, an artificial friend (AF) and companion to Josie. It&rsquo;s a remarkable tale that tries to answer some of the most important questions we often ask ourselves: <em>What makes us human?</em>, <em>What does it mean to be human?</em> We encounter multiple themes throughout the book, but there are two which I would like to write about.</p> + + + List of Books + http://localhost:1313/books/list-of-books/ + Fri, 25 Jul 2025 12:14:25 +0200 + http://localhost:1313/books/list-of-books/ + <p>This is a list of my favorite books.</p> <ul> <li>Daniel Keyes <em>Flowers for Algernon</em></li> <li>Philip K. Dick <em>Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?</em></li> <li><a href="http://localhost:1313/books/klara-and-the-sun/">Kazuo Ishiguro <em>Klara and the Sun</em></a></li> <li>John Steinbeck <em>The Grapes of Wrath</em></li> <li>Harper Lee <em>To Kill a Mockingbird</em></li> <li><a href="http://localhost:1313/books/all-the-lovers-in-the-night/">Mieko Kawakami <em>All the Lovers in the Night</em></a></li> <li>Kazuo Ishiguro <em>An Artist of the Floating World</em></li> <li>Khaled Hosseini <em>The Kite Runner</em></li> <li>Victor Hugo <em>The Hunchback of Notre-Dame</em></li> <li>Kazuo Ishiguro <em>Never Let Me Go</em></li> <li>Umberto Eco <em>The Name of the Rose</em></li> <li><a href="http://localhost:1313/books/the-island-of-missing-trees/">Elif Shafak <em>The Island of Missing Trees</em></a></li> <li>George Orwell <em>Animal Farm</em></li> <li>Hermann Hesse <em>Siddhartha</em></li> <li><a href="http://localhost:1313/books/lolita/">Vladimir Nabokov <em>Lolita</em></a></li> <li>Paulo Coelho <em>The Alchemist</em></li> <li>Carlos Ruiz Zafon <em>The Shadow of the Wind</em></li> <li>William Wharton <em>Dad</em></li> <li>Albert Camus <em>The Plague</em></li> <li>Anthony Doerr <em>All the Light We Cannot See</em></li> <li>Fyodor Dostoevsky <em>Crime and Punishment</em></li> <li>Kazuo Ishiguro <em>A Pale View of Hills</em></li> <li>Albert Camus <em>The Stranger</em></li> <li>George Orwell <em>1984</em></li> <li>Ian McEwan <em>Atonement</em></li> <li>Gregory David Roberts <em>Shantaram</em></li> <li>Khaled Hosseini <em>A Thousand Splendid Suns</em></li> <li>Albert Camus <em>The Fall</em></li> <li>Anthony Doerr <em>All the Light We Cannot See</em></li> <li>Nancy Kleinbaum <em>Dead Poets Society</em></li> <li>Gregory David Roberts <em>In the Shadow of the Mountain</em></li> <li>Kazuo Ishiguro <em>When We Were Orphans</em></li> <li>John Steinbeck <em>The Pearl</em></li> <li>Richard Powers <em>Bewilderment</em></li> <li>Kazuo Ishiguro <em>The Remains of the Day</em></li> <li>Aldous Huxley <em>Brave New World</em></li> <li>John Steinbeck <em>Of Mice and Men</em></li> <li>Oscar Wilde <em>The Picture of Dorian Gray</em></li> <li>Nikolai Gogol <em>Dead Souls</em></li> </ul> + + + diff --git a/public/books/klara-and-the-sun/index.html b/public/books/klara-and-the-sun/index.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..8b10f88 --- /dev/null +++ b/public/books/klara-and-the-sun/index.html @@ -0,0 +1,92 @@ + + + + + + + + + + +
+ + + +
+ +
+

Klara and the Sun

+

Klara and the Sun is a novel written by Kazuo Ishiguro. +Set in a far dystopian future, it tells a story about the relationship between Josie, a home schooled, genetically modified child and Klara, an artificial friend (AF) and companion to Josie. +It’s a remarkable tale that tries to answer some of the most important questions we often ask ourselves: +What makes us human?, What does it mean to be human? +We encounter multiple themes throughout the book, but there are two which I would like to write about.

+

The book starts with Klara standing in the middle of the store where AF’s are sold. +She is an android-like product designed to provide company to real human children, and the narrator of the book. +Curious, observant, and intelligent, Klara tries to learn as much as she can about the world around her: +Unlike most AFs, unlike Rosa, I’d always longed to see more of the outside – and to see it in all its detail.

+

Josie is a pale and thin girl, fourteen years old and very intelligent. +In the future, most children are home schooled and genetically modified to be smarter. +However, this sometimes comes at the cost of their health - Josie is suffering from an unknown illness, which could be fatal. +In the store she specifically picks Klara to be her personal AF. +Know what? Your friend will make a perfect friend for someone out there. But yesterday, we were driving by and I saw you, and I thought that’s her, the AF I’ve been looking for!

+

Once Klara finally moves in to live with Josie, we learn that not everyone in the household appreciates Klara’s presence. +Melania, the housekeeper, is opposing from the start, and treats Klara with suspicion and hostility: +[…] but then Melania Housekeeper came between us, and before I was fully aware, had taken Josie’s arm, tucking it under her own. +Moreover, Josie’s best friend Rick doesn’t like Klara either. ‘Rick, this is Klara.’ Rick went on concentrating on his remote and didn’t look my way.‘You said you’d never get an AF,’ he said. +However, with time Klara becomes a part of the family. +Rick sympathizes with her during the party at Josie’s house, and Melania entrusts her with taking care of Josie during the trip to the city. +Although an artificial being, Klara soon becomes as important as Josie herself. +This made me wonder: How easily do we allow technology to enter our daily lives? +I really liked this part of the book, because it relates a lot to my work field. +Computer systems are becoming increasingly ubiquitous, and I think it is worth to stop and think how much online systems take from our daily lives.

+

Klara relies on the energy from the Sun to function - being in the light re-charges her batteries. +As a result, she treats the Sun like a deity, and believes it nourishes and takes care of everyone around her. +I could understand that for all his kindness, the Sun was very busy; that there were many people besides Josie who required his attention. +This is a recurring theme throughout the book, with Klara’s unwavering faith displayed through her brave actions to help Josie get better. +However, this gives rise to the questions: What does it mean for an android to believe in a god?, Can an artificial robot believe in a god in the first place? +Towards the end of the book we learn Klara’s true purpose - to replace Josie in an event of her death. +Mr. Capaldi, who is preparing an android body resembling Josie, argues that since there is no soul, Klara not only can replace Josie, but she can fully become her. +I particularly like the contrast between Klara’s faith in the Sun’s nourishment and the agnostic approach of Mr. Capaldi. +It’s a paradox which makes the reader question the nature of faith itself.

+

Overall, I really liked the book, and I hope Kazuo Ishiguro will continue to write novels as great as Klara and the Sun.

+ +
+ + + + diff --git a/public/books/list-of-books/index.html b/public/books/list-of-books/index.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..7f4535a --- /dev/null +++ b/public/books/list-of-books/index.html @@ -0,0 +1,100 @@ + + + + + + + + + + +
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List of Books

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This is a list of my favorite books.

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+ + + + diff --git a/public/books/lolita/index.html b/public/books/lolita/index.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..100c119 --- /dev/null +++ b/public/books/lolita/index.html @@ -0,0 +1,92 @@ + + + + + + + + + + +
+ + + +
+ +
+

Lolita

+

Lolita is a very special book due to the sensitive subjects which it touches upon. +Masterfully written, it talks about taboo topics such as relationship abuse and obsession, and includes themes of murder, rape and pedophilia. +It has been widely regarded as a literary classic and masterpiece and included in some of the most prestigious book rankings in the world (see here). +A colleague of mine told me that she could have not read on until the end, due to the books narrative. +After getting into a discussion with her, I have decided to give the book a try.

+

The book is narrated by Humbert Humbert, a forty year old man from Europe who emigrated to America before the outbreak of World War II. +He teaches French literature and at the start of the novel is writing a series of academic books. +Once he travels in to Ramsdale, the small, countryside town, he meets Dolores Haze, the titular Lolita. +At this point in the book the reader’s image of Humbert is clear - he is obsessed with a certain type of girl, usually around 12 years of age, due to an unfulfilled childhood relationship with Annabel in France: In point of fact, there might have been no Lolita at all had I not loved, one summer, a certain initial girl-child. +Knowing very well the intentions of Humbert towards Dolores, readers are driven to worry about her from the first steps he makes when deciding to move into the old Ramsdale home.

+

Dolores at the start of the book is around 12 years of age. +She is an energetic young girl, by all means typical for her age. +She dislikes studying, is oftentimes moody and rebellious against her mother. +Charlotte Haze […] underlined the following epithets, ten out of forty, under “Your Child’s +Personality”: aggressive, boisterous, critical, distrustful, impatient, irritable, inquisitive, listless. +To the readers eyes, she is just a girl in primary school. +To Humbert, she is the lost love of his life and becomes the primary object of his obsession. +The rest of the book describes in detail their relationship and how it evolves over the course of 5 years.

+

While there are many themes in the book that many literary critics like to focus on, I want to point out some remarks that make the book an important read to me. +Throughout the story Humbert oftentimes tries to convince the reader that his actions are justified. +He tries to make a point that his abuse towards Dolores is not wrong. +Moreover, he lets it take him over, and his obsession with the nymphet takes over his life. +Living together with Dolores’s mum in Ramsdale, he has everything going for him - a stable house, a loving wife, friends and work. +Nevertheless he forsakes all this in pursuit of his sexual fantasies and desires. +Dolores becomes the only thing that matters for him, and what frightens me the most is that a man could let go of so many years of his life for something so unattainable and forbidden. +Even when his newly wed wife dies, his stoic manner shows the reader how little does he think of his life outside of his obsession. +Overly protective of Dolores when she enrolls to a school at Beardsley, he is blind to the fact that with his every breath he is focused only and only on the object of his admiration. +While this may not be obvious to the reader at first glance, I think this is one of the things that caught my attention while reading. +Rather than seeking help, Humbert knowingly chooses to hurt others.

+

After reading the first few pages of the book I realized how well written it is. +Although the topic of the book is the abuse of a child by a grown man, it is written in such a way that we get to know Humbert and his personality really well. +Full of witty comments, funny observations and word games, you can forget while reading that the main theme of the book is so dark. +This truly shows how good of a writer Vladimir Nabokov is. +Besides recommending the book to others, I know for a fact that I will continue to read his works, and I cannot wait to read The Pale Fire next.

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+ + + + diff --git a/public/books/the-island-of-missing-trees/index.html b/public/books/the-island-of-missing-trees/index.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a2439d6 --- /dev/null +++ b/public/books/the-island-of-missing-trees/index.html @@ -0,0 +1,85 @@ + + + + + + + + + + +
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+ +
+

The Island of Missing Trees

+

The Island of Missing Trees is a fiction novel written by Elif Shafak with action set mostly in London and Cyprus and taking course over several decades between 1970s and 2010s. +It is a book full of surprises and historical insights into that period of time, specifically the Greek-Turkish conflict over the Cyprus island. +The main premise of the book, in my opinion, sends a message about how the actions we take in life echo across generations, and what might seem unimportant to us now can be defining in the future of others. +Two main characters - Kostas and Dephne - are from different parts of the island. +Kostas is Greek while Dephne is Turkish. +Both are deeply in love with each other during their teens, however arising conflict and tensions have a tragic impact on their relationship and families, which is what the book is mainly about.

+

The theme that stands out to me the most is the relationship between Kostas and his daughter - Ada. +Given that the novel is written as a set of flashbacks, the reader often travels between the past and 2010s. +Ada has been born long after Kostas has settled in England, which is what the “present” part of the book is about. +After Ada’s mother - Dephne - succumbs to alcoholism, Kostas has to take care of Ada alone. +Not to mention the difficulty of such a task itself, on top of this Kostas has to cope with the recent loss of the love of his life. +I cannot place myself in a setting like this - from one side, the terrifying grief of missing your second half, and from the other the feeling that you are not making a good enough job as a lone father - I think this would just be too much for me. +Nevertheless, Kostas does the best he can. +Even if he sometimes does not succeed in doing so, we can clearly see he cares about Ada deeply e.g., when he rushes to her school to talk to the principal after Ada’s incident in class. +As another example, Ada often mentions that her father distances herself away from her in order to give her space when she needs it to. +This again shows, that even though Kostas might not be the best in parent-child interaction, he can also tell when his daughter needs breathing space. +If you think about it, it is really brave of Kostas to do so. +I can imagine that in such a tragic scenario the one thing you would like most to do is to be as close as possible to your relatives. +Yet Ada’s a bit different - she does not want Kostas to be constantly inquiring about her school life and homework. +Kostas seems to understand it - and even though I believe that at that time what he would like to do most is to be with his daughter, he realizes he needs to take a step back. +Taking that step is something I would most surely consider as brave and worth exemplifying.

+

Nevertheless, although this theme is the one that stood out the most to me, I did not like the book in particular. +While the author does a great job trying to show the different cultural aspects of the story, and through metaphors tries to teach us valuable life lessons, I dislike this style of writing altogether. +The book is devoid of realistic scenarios, and is full of grandiose moments and action points that very rarely happen in real life. +The theme of the fig tree, while interesting itself seems completely destroyed by the plot twist at the end of the book - it makes the book seem more like an optimistic tale with a happy ending rather than a truthful portrayal of the dim tragedy of death. +It is not the plot twist that should make us believe Dephne lives on - it is when Meryem is reminded of the similarities between Dephne and Ada that we should be happy that a part of her lives among the family. +Generally, I do not think I would recommend this book - it is a nice read, but lacks the seriousness with which the tragic stories that it describes should be treated.

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+ + + + diff --git a/public/index.xml b/public/index.xml new file mode 100644 index 0000000..975ccd7 --- /dev/null +++ b/public/index.xml @@ -0,0 +1,110 @@ + + + + mjkw + http://localhost:1313/ + Recent content on mjkw + Hugo + en-us + Mon, 29 Dec 2025 11:13:45 +0100 + + + Music + http://localhost:1313/posts/music/ + Mon, 29 Dec 2025 11:13:45 +0100 + http://localhost:1313/posts/music/ + <p>My favourite pieces:</p> <ol start="0"> <li> <p>Sergei Rachmaninoff, Six moments musicaux, No. 3, Andante cantabile</p> </li> <li> <p>Fryderyk Chopin, Etude Op. 25, No. 11, Winter Wind</p> </li> <li> <p>Felix Mendelssohn, Song Without Words Op. 102, No. 4</p> </li> <li> <p>Sergei Prokofiev, Piano Concerto No. 3 in C major, Op. 26 - I. Andante - Allegro</p> </li> </ol> + + + Coders at Work + http://localhost:1313/posts/coders-at-work/ + Sun, 28 Dec 2025 18:46:07 +0100 + http://localhost:1313/posts/coders-at-work/ + <p><em>Coders at Work</em> by Peter Seibel is a great book which I recommend everyone read. It relates the experience and learning journey of some of the best programmers of all time, and gives precious insights into their work &ndash; what drove them to become great, what they think is important when programming, and what are their visions for the future. These 3 subjects together with answers corroborated from all interviewees form guidelines on how one can become a great programmer themself.<br> Here is what I think about each chapter and person.</p> + + + Mythical Man Month + http://localhost:1313/posts/mythical-man-month/ + Mon, 22 Dec 2025 17:25:54 +0100 + http://localhost:1313/posts/mythical-man-month/ + <p><em>The Mythical Man-Month</em> by Frederick. P. Brooks is a book about his experience during development of OS/360. It was recommended to me by my honors project supervisor, Prof. Alexandru, but even without his recommendation I would have likely stumbled upon this book. Its contents are hailed as timelessly relevant and some of the most universal truths about working on coding projects are described inside. While I admit I don&rsquo;t get all of the books many premises, some of them really speak to me. Taking after the opening of the 18th chapter of the book: <em>For brevity is very good, whether we are, or are not understood</em> I wil go through some of it&rsquo;s premises and try to relate them to my own experiences.</p> + + + My CV + http://localhost:1313/posts/my-cv/ + Sat, 20 Dec 2025 12:11:48 +0100 + http://localhost:1313/posts/my-cv/ + <p><a href="http://localhost:1313/images/cv.pdf">Open PDF</a></p> + + + Dijkstra and Knuth + http://localhost:1313/posts/dijkstra-knuth/ + Sun, 14 Dec 2025 17:14:30 +0100 + http://localhost:1313/posts/dijkstra-knuth/ + <p>It has long lingered on my mind to reflect partially on my experience of the last 3 years, as the B.Sc. of Computer Science I have recently undertaken is soon coming to an end. Fortunately, this is not the end of my journey as a Computer Scientist, but there are specific things that I did not realize about Computer Science before I embarked on this endeavour, most important of which is this: Computer Science is 90% reading and understanding and 10% coding. I believe it to be the most important thing I have learned about the field itself in the last 3 years. Here is why. Dealing with complex problems is hard. Programming is all about solving complex problems, programmers live by optimizing our code the best we can, and try to find solutions to problems that we encounter while doing so. While it is no doubt nice to have a working code that does something cool, or a solution to a problem that meets the specification, I don&rsquo;t think that is the mindset a programmer should have &ndash; that is, at this stage, to solve a problem is not about getting to a solution <em>somehow</em>.</p> + + + The Island of Missing Trees + http://localhost:1313/books/the-island-of-missing-trees/ + Fri, 07 Nov 2025 16:05:35 +0100 + http://localhost:1313/books/the-island-of-missing-trees/ + <p><em>The Island of Missing Trees</em> is a fiction novel written by Elif Shafak with action set mostly in London and Cyprus and taking course over several decades between 1970s and 2010s. It is a book full of surprises and historical insights into that period of time, specifically the Greek-Turkish conflict over the Cyprus island. The main premise of the book, in my opinion, sends a message about how the actions we take in life echo across generations, and what might seem unimportant to us now can be defining in the future of others. Two main characters - Kostas and Dephne - are from different parts of the island. Kostas is Greek while Dephne is Turkish. Both are deeply in love with each other during their teens, however arising conflict and tensions have a tragic impact on their relationship and families, which is what the book is mainly about.</p> + + + All the Lovers in the Night + http://localhost:1313/books/all-the-lovers-in-the-night/ + Sun, 28 Sep 2025 16:40:54 +0200 + http://localhost:1313/books/all-the-lovers-in-the-night/ + <p><em>All the Lovers in the Night</em> is a book about a young, shy proofreader in her thirties. Fuyuko Irie, who is an introverted shut-in, rarely interacts with other people and keeps things quiet and to herself. As far as she can remember, all she ever did was work, get back home, somehow pass the hours before sleeping and go to work the next day. A solitary existence, void of contact with other people. This changes when a friend of hers, Kyoko, encourages her to quit her job and start working freelance. Soon afterwards she meets Hijari, her contact person for new proofreading requests, and Mitsutsuko, a man in his fifties, with whom she starts to slowly overcome her anxieties and barriers.</p> + + + Denounce AI + http://localhost:1313/posts/denounce-ai/ + Fri, 12 Sep 2025 23:08:15 +0200 + http://localhost:1313/posts/denounce-ai/ + <p>Recently I have read a blog post by <a href="https://www.jwz.org/">Jamie Zawinski</a> on <a href="https://anthonymoser.github.io/writing/ai/haterdom/2025/08/26/i-am-an-ai-hater.html">Anthony Moser&rsquo;s opinion</a> about the current developments in AI. Now I want to try to formulate my own arguments against the overwhelming reliance on AI nowadays. It&rsquo;s been my point of view for a while, however I would like to now clearly state why I think the direction the technology world is heading is wrong.</p> <p>AI, although currently being hyped beyond reason, has been around since the previous century. However, with the release of ChatGPT to the public, generative models have entered the lives of everyone. As a Computer Science student I have first hand witnessed the effects of a paradigm shift in many domains, and after 2 years I believe that relying on content generated by artificial intelligence is simply harmful.</p> + + + Coders at Work + http://localhost:1313/books/coders-at-work/ + Wed, 03 Sep 2025 18:28:08 +0200 + http://localhost:1313/books/coders-at-work/ + <p><img src="http://localhost:1313/images/coders-at-work.jpg#floatright" alt="coders-at-work"></p> <p>Coders at Work is a book written by Peter Seibel, a programmer who decided to interview some of the most influential coders in the Computer Science field. I think this book is a must read for anyone who wants to gain an in-depth view of what prompted the best programmers in the world to start tinkering with computers and code.</p> <p>To be frank each chapter read of this book has motivated me to immediately stop anything that I was doing and just get to coding, so it is definitely a good motivator to get into the Computer Science field. Additionally, sometimes to new programmers it might be challenging and overwhelming to get to realize how much there is to learn and how advanced the people at the top are. There is no doubt whatsoever that each person interviewed in this book is a world-renown coder, a master of their craft. Nevertheless the interview format and the sometimes informal responses show that in the end they also started just like us from scratch, sometimes late in life. Because of this, I think the message of the book is that anyone can program, regardless of when they start or what background they are from.</p> + + + Lolita + http://localhost:1313/books/lolita/ + Tue, 19 Aug 2025 15:11:46 +0200 + http://localhost:1313/books/lolita/ + <p>Lolita is a very special book due to the sensitive subjects which it touches upon. Masterfully written, it talks about taboo topics such as relationship abuse and obsession, and includes themes of murder, rape and pedophilia. It has been widely regarded as a literary classic and masterpiece and included in some of the most prestigious book rankings in the world <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lolita">(see here)</a>. A colleague of mine told me that she could have not read on until the end, due to the books narrative. After getting into a discussion with her, I have decided to give the book a try.</p> + + + Klara and the Sun + http://localhost:1313/books/klara-and-the-sun/ + Sun, 27 Jul 2025 10:49:23 +0200 + http://localhost:1313/books/klara-and-the-sun/ + <p><em>Klara and the Sun</em> is a novel written by Kazuo Ishiguro. Set in a far dystopian future, it tells a story about the relationship between Josie, a home schooled, genetically modified child and Klara, an artificial friend (AF) and companion to Josie. It&rsquo;s a remarkable tale that tries to answer some of the most important questions we often ask ourselves: <em>What makes us human?</em>, <em>What does it mean to be human?</em> We encounter multiple themes throughout the book, but there are two which I would like to write about.</p> + + + Useful Links + http://localhost:1313/posts/useful-links/ + Sat, 26 Jul 2025 12:53:30 +0200 + http://localhost:1313/posts/useful-links/ + <ol start="0"> <li> <p><a href="https://atlarge-research.com/">atlarge-research.com</a></p> </li> <li> <p><a href="https://www.jwz.org">jwz.org</a></p> </li> <li> <p><a href="https://denshi.org">denshi.org</a></p> </li> <li> <p><a href="https://landchad.net">landchad.net</a></p> </li> <li> <p><a href="https://comfy.guide">comfy.guide</a></p> </li> <li> <p><a href="https://pad.envs.net/">pad.envs.net</a></p> </li> <li> <p><a href="https://envs.net/">envs.net</a></p> </li> <li> <p><a href="https://blog.orhun.dev/no-bullshit-file-hosting/">blog.orhun.dev</a></p> </li> <li> <p><a href="https://cs.stanford.edu/~knuth/index.html">cs.stanford.edu/~knuth</a></p> </li> <li> <p><a href="https://www.conventionalcommits.org/">conventionalcommits.org</a></p> </li> <li> <p><a href="https://www.unixdigest.com">unixdigest.com</a></p> </li> <li> <p><a href="https://stallman.org/">stallman.org</a></p> </li> <li> <p><a href="https://vintageapple.org/byte/">vintageapple.org</a></p> </li> </ol> + + + List of Books + http://localhost:1313/books/list-of-books/ + Fri, 25 Jul 2025 12:14:25 +0200 + http://localhost:1313/books/list-of-books/ + <p>This is a list of my favorite books.</p> <ul> <li>Daniel Keyes <em>Flowers for Algernon</em></li> <li>Philip K. Dick <em>Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?</em></li> <li><a href="http://localhost:1313/books/klara-and-the-sun/">Kazuo Ishiguro <em>Klara and the Sun</em></a></li> <li>John Steinbeck <em>The Grapes of Wrath</em></li> <li>Harper Lee <em>To Kill a Mockingbird</em></li> <li><a href="http://localhost:1313/books/all-the-lovers-in-the-night/">Mieko Kawakami <em>All the Lovers in the Night</em></a></li> <li>Kazuo Ishiguro <em>An Artist of the Floating World</em></li> <li>Khaled Hosseini <em>The Kite Runner</em></li> <li>Victor Hugo <em>The Hunchback of Notre-Dame</em></li> <li>Kazuo Ishiguro <em>Never Let Me Go</em></li> <li>Umberto Eco <em>The Name of the Rose</em></li> <li><a href="http://localhost:1313/books/the-island-of-missing-trees/">Elif Shafak <em>The Island of Missing Trees</em></a></li> <li>George Orwell <em>Animal Farm</em></li> <li>Hermann Hesse <em>Siddhartha</em></li> <li><a href="http://localhost:1313/books/lolita/">Vladimir Nabokov <em>Lolita</em></a></li> <li>Paulo Coelho <em>The Alchemist</em></li> <li>Carlos Ruiz Zafon <em>The Shadow of the Wind</em></li> <li>William Wharton <em>Dad</em></li> <li>Albert Camus <em>The Plague</em></li> <li>Anthony Doerr <em>All the Light We Cannot See</em></li> <li>Fyodor Dostoevsky <em>Crime and Punishment</em></li> <li>Kazuo Ishiguro <em>A Pale View of Hills</em></li> <li>Albert Camus <em>The Stranger</em></li> <li>George Orwell <em>1984</em></li> <li>Ian McEwan <em>Atonement</em></li> <li>Gregory David Roberts <em>Shantaram</em></li> <li>Khaled Hosseini <em>A Thousand Splendid Suns</em></li> <li>Albert Camus <em>The Fall</em></li> <li>Anthony Doerr <em>All the Light We Cannot See</em></li> <li>Nancy Kleinbaum <em>Dead Poets Society</em></li> <li>Gregory David Roberts <em>In the Shadow of the Mountain</em></li> <li>Kazuo Ishiguro <em>When We Were Orphans</em></li> <li>John Steinbeck <em>The Pearl</em></li> <li>Richard Powers <em>Bewilderment</em></li> <li>Kazuo Ishiguro <em>The Remains of the Day</em></li> <li>Aldous Huxley <em>Brave New World</em></li> <li>John Steinbeck <em>Of Mice and Men</em></li> <li>Oscar Wilde <em>The Picture of Dorian Gray</em></li> <li>Nikolai Gogol <em>Dead Souls</em></li> </ul> + + + Good CS books + http://localhost:1313/posts/good-cs-books/ + Fri, 25 Jul 2025 11:29:52 +0200 + http://localhost:1313/posts/good-cs-books/ + <ol start="0"> <li> <p>Frederick P. Brooks, <em>The Mythical Man-Month: Essays on Software Engineering</em>.</p> </li> <li> <p>Carl Hamacher and Zvonko Vranesic, <em>Computer Organization</em>.</p> </li> <li> <p>David A. Patterson and John L. Hennessy, <em>Computer Organization and Design: The Hardware/Software Interface</em>.</p> </li> <li> <p>Andrew Tanenbaum, David Wetherall, Nick Feamster, <em>Computer Networks</em>.</p> </li> <li> <p>Tanenbaum, A.S., Bos, H.J., <em>Modern Operating Systems</em>.</p> </li> <li> <p>Maurice Herlihy, Nir Shavit, Victor Luchangco, Michael Spear, <em>The Art of Multiprocessor Programming</em>.</p> </li> <li> <p>Peter Seibel, <em>Coders at Work</em>.</p> </li> </ol> + + + diff --git a/public/js/code.js b/public/js/code.js new file mode 100644 index 0000000..fd2d33a --- /dev/null +++ b/public/js/code.js @@ -0,0 +1,20 @@ +// credit: www.jwz.org +setTimeout(function(){},0); +var p=0, q=-16, offset=50; + +function a(){ + if(window.setTimeout&&document.getElementsByTagName){ + var o=16; + + var b=document.getElementsByTagName("pre")[0]; + b.style.top=(p-o-offset)+"pt"; + var o=-(p-o)+"pt"; + p+=q; + + if(p<-2<<10||p>=0) q=-q; + + window.setTimeout(this.a,2<<6); + } +} +a(); +window.onload = a(); diff --git a/public/posts/coders-at-work/index.html b/public/posts/coders-at-work/index.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d6a1a99 --- /dev/null +++ b/public/posts/coders-at-work/index.html @@ -0,0 +1,86 @@ + + + + + + + + + + +
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+ +
+

Coders at Work

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Coders at Work by Peter Seibel is a great book which I recommend everyone read. +It relates the experience and learning journey of some of the best programmers of all time, and gives precious insights into their work – what drove them to become great, what they think is important when programming, and what are their visions for the future. +These 3 subjects together with answers corroborated from all interviewees form guidelines on how one can become a great programmer themself.
+Here is what I think about each chapter and person.

+
    +
  1. Jamie Zawinski
    2. +
+

Jamie Zawinski currently owns a nightclub in San Francisco, the DNA Lounge (imagine how cool this is) and he does not do much programming nowadays as he used to. +Nevertheless, he began work on Netscape which later evolved into Mozilla Firefox. +Jamie is a person that has a very outspoken political views and opinions about certain things, which you can read about on his great blog www.jwz.org. +I both agree with him on many current worldwide issues and admire him for his past contributions.

+
    +
  1. +

    Brad Fitzpatrick

    +
    2. +
  2. +

    Douglas Crockford

    +
    3. +
  3. +

    Brendan Eich

    +
    4. +
  4. +

    Joshua Bloch

    +
    5. +
  5. +

    Joe Armstrong

    +
    6. +
+ +
+ + + + diff --git a/public/posts/denounce-ai/index.html b/public/posts/denounce-ai/index.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d5f17ca --- /dev/null +++ b/public/posts/denounce-ai/index.html @@ -0,0 +1,89 @@ + + + + + + + + + + +
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+ +
+

Denounce AI

+

Recently I have read a blog post by Jamie Zawinski on Anthony Moser’s opinion about the current developments in AI. +Now I want to try to formulate my own arguments against the overwhelming reliance on AI nowadays. +It’s been my point of view for a while, however I would like to now clearly state why I think the direction the technology world is heading is wrong.

+

AI, although currently being hyped beyond reason, has been around since the previous century. +However, with the release of ChatGPT to the public, generative models have entered the lives of everyone. +As a Computer Science student I have first hand witnessed the effects of a paradigm shift in many domains, and after 2 years I believe that relying on content generated by artificial intelligence is simply harmful.

+

As an avid fan of english literature I really like reading well-written books. +It is a great feeling to be able to appreciate the intricacies of the language and the craftsmanship of the author, who has taken the time (sometimes decades) to write about a certain topic. +If you read a lot, you can often tell a well-written book from a poorly constructed one, and if enough people realize this, the society awards great writers with prizes and honors. +However, with the rise of large language models, essays, books, novels and much more can be created with a single prompt to the model. +While the quality of such writing can often be questionable, it’s important to realize that this takes away the very essence and purpose of writing in the first place. +When you put pen to paper you both try to advance your own thinking and convey your feelings and views to a broader audience. +It is your opinion and findings that matter, and this is by no means a trivial process. +Using artificial intelligence to write for you, or help you write, or correct your writing defeats the purpose of writing something in the first place. +This is also the right moment to point out the current concerns regarding this for the book authors and artist of any other kind as well. +AI is slowly getting better and better at this kind of work, rendering virtually impossible for me right now to distinguish e.g., electronic music generated by AI and created by humans. +This poses a threat to the literature and artistic community, and by proxy, to readers and everyone interested in art. +I consciously cannot use such technology knowing that it displaces the very people I admire the work of.

+

What is even more interesting is that many large language models are trained on books, which are later completely discarded and thrown out. +Anthropic, the company behind the Claude AI model, has destroyed millions of print books to train their AI. +Here is a very good article about this. +In essence, to train the AI, one must scan the books first, preferably quickly. +According to Anthropic, the most efficient way to go about this is to strip the books of their cover, rip out the pages and scan just the printed paper. +This irreversibly destroys the books, which are later thrown out. +It’s a good moment to ask oneself – is this what I’d like to happen to my book, if I ever wrote one? +I will not raise the ethics concerns behind such actions, it’s also not my aim to start a debate about this. +However, I think the question above is worth asking to yourself.

+

I think the point made by Hayao Miyazaki, the studio Ghibli founder behind some of the best animated movies of the last century summarizes it pretty well. +Recently there has been a viral video going on of him saying in 2016 how he believes AI to be an insult to life itself. +As strong of an opinion as it is, I sympathize with his standpoint of view. +Being an artist and designer, seeing your life’s work being completely overtaken by soulless software must be terrifying.

+ +
+ + + + diff --git a/public/posts/dijkstra-knuth/index.html b/public/posts/dijkstra-knuth/index.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f509fd1 --- /dev/null +++ b/public/posts/dijkstra-knuth/index.html @@ -0,0 +1,84 @@ + + + + + + + + + + +
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Dijkstra and Knuth

+

It has long lingered on my mind to reflect partially on my experience of the last 3 years, as the B.Sc. of Computer Science I have recently undertaken is soon coming to an end. +Fortunately, this is not the end of my journey as a Computer Scientist, but there are specific things that I did not realize about Computer Science before I embarked on this endeavour, most important of which is this: Computer Science is 90% reading and understanding and 10% coding. +I believe it to be the most important thing I have learned about the field itself in the last 3 years. +Here is why. +Dealing with complex problems is hard. +Programming is all about solving complex problems, programmers live by optimizing our code the best we can, and try to find solutions to problems that we encounter while doing so. +While it is no doubt nice to have a working code that does something cool, or a solution to a problem that meets the specification, I don’t think that is the mindset a programmer should have – that is, at this stage, to solve a problem is not about getting to a solution somehow.

+

Solving coding tasks requires time. +This might be difficult to admit for some, as it has been for me. +But understanding a problem requires patient reading and digesting the context, possible solutions and most importantly doubts one might have about their own solution. +Needless to say, if you have solved a problem without asking questions about it, then it wasn’t a difficult (by proxy important) problem to be solve in the first place. +Reading code is hard. +It’s sometimes like reading an essay in a foreign language. +Your head hurts, your eyes are getting sore, and after 6 hours of staring at the screen you conclude you don’t understand anything anymore. +One of my favourite quotes about computing from Temple OS creator, Terry Davis, reflects this perfectly (it’s too long to include here, so this is the link to the GoodReads quote page). +It would almost seem like this time has been wasted, since you might have not produced a line of code. +Nevertheless, this is all there is to programming.

+

After 3 years, it appears to me that my views about Computer Science aligns with those of Donald Knuth and Edsger Dijkstra the most. +I had first stumbled on Donald Knuth’s blog long ago, while exploring Jamie Zawinski’s blog and looking for top figures in CS to study. +On his blog Knuth writes: What I do takes long hours of studying and uninterruptible concentration. I try to learn certain areas of computer science exhaustively; then I try to digest that knowledge into a form that is accessible to people who don’t have time for such study. +There it is. +Computing takes time. +There’s no silver bullet yet, and we as programmers have to take our time to think about problems in depth. +There have been many comments on the peculiar style of teaching and way of being of Edsgar Dijkstra, but I believe he has made some really good points about this too. +What describes my experience over the last 3 years well is his quote: The competent programmer is fully aware of the strictly limited size of his own skull; therefore he approaches the programming task in full humility[…]. +I think this the approach to take, because so often computers help us verify and point out that we indeed really don’t know anything, we are just pretending we do.

+ +
+ + + + diff --git a/public/posts/good-cs-books/index.html b/public/posts/good-cs-books/index.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..8d20e42 --- /dev/null +++ b/public/posts/good-cs-books/index.html @@ -0,0 +1,81 @@ + + + + + + + + + + +
+ + + +
+ +
+

Good CS books

+
    +
  1. +

    Frederick P. Brooks, The Mythical Man-Month: Essays on Software Engineering.

    +
    2. +
  2. +

    Carl Hamacher and Zvonko Vranesic, Computer Organization.

    +
    3. +
  3. +

    David A. Patterson and John L. Hennessy, Computer Organization and Design: The Hardware/Software Interface.

    +
    4. +
  4. +

    Andrew Tanenbaum, David Wetherall, Nick Feamster, Computer Networks.

    +
    5. +
  5. +

    Tanenbaum, A.S., Bos, H.J., Modern Operating Systems.

    +
    6. +
  6. +

    Maurice Herlihy, Nir Shavit, Victor Luchangco, Michael Spear, The Art of Multiprocessor Programming.

    +
    7. +
  7. +

    Peter Seibel, Coders at Work.

    +
    8. +
+ +
+ + + + diff --git a/public/posts/index.html b/public/posts/index.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9466cc1 --- /dev/null +++ b/public/posts/index.html @@ -0,0 +1,117 @@ + + + + + + + + + + + + +
+
+
+ my logo +

mjkw

+
+ + + +
+
+ +
+
+

Recent posts

+
+ + + + +
+
+
+ + + + diff --git a/public/posts/index.xml b/public/posts/index.xml new file mode 100644 index 0000000..dde431e --- /dev/null +++ b/public/posts/index.xml @@ -0,0 +1,68 @@ + + + + mjkw + http://localhost:1313/posts/ + Recent content on mjkw + Hugo + en-us + Mon, 29 Dec 2025 11:13:45 +0100 + + + Music + http://localhost:1313/posts/music/ + Mon, 29 Dec 2025 11:13:45 +0100 + http://localhost:1313/posts/music/ + <p>My favourite pieces:</p> <ol start="0"> <li> <p>Sergei Rachmaninoff, Six moments musicaux, No. 3, Andante cantabile</p> </li> <li> <p>Fryderyk Chopin, Etude Op. 25, No. 11, Winter Wind</p> </li> <li> <p>Felix Mendelssohn, Song Without Words Op. 102, No. 4</p> </li> <li> <p>Sergei Prokofiev, Piano Concerto No. 3 in C major, Op. 26 - I. Andante - Allegro</p> </li> </ol> + + + Coders at Work + http://localhost:1313/posts/coders-at-work/ + Sun, 28 Dec 2025 18:46:07 +0100 + http://localhost:1313/posts/coders-at-work/ + <p><em>Coders at Work</em> by Peter Seibel is a great book which I recommend everyone read. It relates the experience and learning journey of some of the best programmers of all time, and gives precious insights into their work &ndash; what drove them to become great, what they think is important when programming, and what are their visions for the future. These 3 subjects together with answers corroborated from all interviewees form guidelines on how one can become a great programmer themself.<br> Here is what I think about each chapter and person.</p> + + + Mythical Man Month + http://localhost:1313/posts/mythical-man-month/ + Mon, 22 Dec 2025 17:25:54 +0100 + http://localhost:1313/posts/mythical-man-month/ + <p><em>The Mythical Man-Month</em> by Frederick. P. Brooks is a book about his experience during development of OS/360. It was recommended to me by my honors project supervisor, Prof. Alexandru, but even without his recommendation I would have likely stumbled upon this book. Its contents are hailed as timelessly relevant and some of the most universal truths about working on coding projects are described inside. While I admit I don&rsquo;t get all of the books many premises, some of them really speak to me. Taking after the opening of the 18th chapter of the book: <em>For brevity is very good, whether we are, or are not understood</em> I wil go through some of it&rsquo;s premises and try to relate them to my own experiences.</p> + + + My CV + http://localhost:1313/posts/my-cv/ + Sat, 20 Dec 2025 12:11:48 +0100 + http://localhost:1313/posts/my-cv/ + <p><a href="http://localhost:1313/images/cv.pdf">Open PDF</a></p> + + + Dijkstra and Knuth + http://localhost:1313/posts/dijkstra-knuth/ + Sun, 14 Dec 2025 17:14:30 +0100 + http://localhost:1313/posts/dijkstra-knuth/ + <p>It has long lingered on my mind to reflect partially on my experience of the last 3 years, as the B.Sc. of Computer Science I have recently undertaken is soon coming to an end. Fortunately, this is not the end of my journey as a Computer Scientist, but there are specific things that I did not realize about Computer Science before I embarked on this endeavour, most important of which is this: Computer Science is 90% reading and understanding and 10% coding. I believe it to be the most important thing I have learned about the field itself in the last 3 years. Here is why. Dealing with complex problems is hard. Programming is all about solving complex problems, programmers live by optimizing our code the best we can, and try to find solutions to problems that we encounter while doing so. While it is no doubt nice to have a working code that does something cool, or a solution to a problem that meets the specification, I don&rsquo;t think that is the mindset a programmer should have &ndash; that is, at this stage, to solve a problem is not about getting to a solution <em>somehow</em>.</p> + + + Denounce AI + http://localhost:1313/posts/denounce-ai/ + Fri, 12 Sep 2025 23:08:15 +0200 + http://localhost:1313/posts/denounce-ai/ + <p>Recently I have read a blog post by <a href="https://www.jwz.org/">Jamie Zawinski</a> on <a href="https://anthonymoser.github.io/writing/ai/haterdom/2025/08/26/i-am-an-ai-hater.html">Anthony Moser&rsquo;s opinion</a> about the current developments in AI. Now I want to try to formulate my own arguments against the overwhelming reliance on AI nowadays. It&rsquo;s been my point of view for a while, however I would like to now clearly state why I think the direction the technology world is heading is wrong.</p> <p>AI, although currently being hyped beyond reason, has been around since the previous century. However, with the release of ChatGPT to the public, generative models have entered the lives of everyone. As a Computer Science student I have first hand witnessed the effects of a paradigm shift in many domains, and after 2 years I believe that relying on content generated by artificial intelligence is simply harmful.</p> + + + Useful Links + http://localhost:1313/posts/useful-links/ + Sat, 26 Jul 2025 12:53:30 +0200 + http://localhost:1313/posts/useful-links/ + <ol start="0"> <li> <p><a href="https://atlarge-research.com/">atlarge-research.com</a></p> </li> <li> <p><a href="https://www.jwz.org">jwz.org</a></p> </li> <li> <p><a href="https://denshi.org">denshi.org</a></p> </li> <li> <p><a href="https://landchad.net">landchad.net</a></p> </li> <li> <p><a href="https://comfy.guide">comfy.guide</a></p> </li> <li> <p><a href="https://pad.envs.net/">pad.envs.net</a></p> </li> <li> <p><a href="https://envs.net/">envs.net</a></p> </li> <li> <p><a href="https://blog.orhun.dev/no-bullshit-file-hosting/">blog.orhun.dev</a></p> </li> <li> <p><a href="https://cs.stanford.edu/~knuth/index.html">cs.stanford.edu/~knuth</a></p> </li> <li> <p><a href="https://www.conventionalcommits.org/">conventionalcommits.org</a></p> </li> <li> <p><a href="https://www.unixdigest.com">unixdigest.com</a></p> </li> <li> <p><a href="https://stallman.org/">stallman.org</a></p> </li> <li> <p><a href="https://vintageapple.org/byte/">vintageapple.org</a></p> </li> </ol> + + + Good CS books + http://localhost:1313/posts/good-cs-books/ + Fri, 25 Jul 2025 11:29:52 +0200 + http://localhost:1313/posts/good-cs-books/ + <ol start="0"> <li> <p>Frederick P. Brooks, <em>The Mythical Man-Month: Essays on Software Engineering</em>.</p> </li> <li> <p>Carl Hamacher and Zvonko Vranesic, <em>Computer Organization</em>.</p> </li> <li> <p>David A. Patterson and John L. Hennessy, <em>Computer Organization and Design: The Hardware/Software Interface</em>.</p> </li> <li> <p>Andrew Tanenbaum, David Wetherall, Nick Feamster, <em>Computer Networks</em>.</p> </li> <li> <p>Tanenbaum, A.S., Bos, H.J., <em>Modern Operating Systems</em>.</p> </li> <li> <p>Maurice Herlihy, Nir Shavit, Victor Luchangco, Michael Spear, <em>The Art of Multiprocessor Programming</em>.</p> </li> <li> <p>Peter Seibel, <em>Coders at Work</em>.</p> </li> </ol> + + + diff --git a/public/posts/music/index.html b/public/posts/music/index.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..fc2dbaa --- /dev/null +++ b/public/posts/music/index.html @@ -0,0 +1,73 @@ + + + + + + + + + + +
+ + + +
+ +
+

Music

+

My favourite pieces:

+
    +
  1. +

    Sergei Rachmaninoff, Six moments musicaux, No. 3, Andante cantabile

    +
    2. +
  2. +

    Fryderyk Chopin, Etude Op. 25, No. 11, Winter Wind

    +
    3. +
  3. +

    Felix Mendelssohn, Song Without Words Op. 102, No. 4

    +
    4. +
  4. +

    Sergei Prokofiev, Piano Concerto No. 3 in C major, Op. 26 - I. Andante - Allegro

    +
    5. +
+ +
+ + + + diff --git a/public/posts/my-cv/index.html b/public/posts/my-cv/index.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a58ede0 --- /dev/null +++ b/public/posts/my-cv/index.html @@ -0,0 +1,59 @@ + + + + + + + + + + +
+ + + +
+ +
+

My CV

+

Open PDF

+ +
+ + + + diff --git a/public/posts/mythical-man-month/index.html b/public/posts/mythical-man-month/index.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..81e2859 --- /dev/null +++ b/public/posts/mythical-man-month/index.html @@ -0,0 +1,85 @@ + + + + + + + + + + +
+ + + +
+ +
+

Mythical Man Month

+

The Mythical Man-Month by Frederick. P. Brooks is a book about his experience during development of OS/360. +It was recommended to me by my honors project supervisor, Prof. Alexandru, but even without his recommendation I would have likely stumbled upon this book. +Its contents are hailed as timelessly relevant and some of the most universal truths about working on coding projects are described inside. +While I admit I don’t get all of the books many premises, some of them really speak to me. +Taking after the opening of the 18th chapter of the book: For brevity is very good, whether we are, or are not understood I wil go through some of it’s premises and try to relate them to my own experiences.

+

Perhaps the most well-known theorem is Brook’s Law: Adding people to a late project will make it even later. +This is exactly right – it is indeed the communication overhead, the time needed for new members to comprehend the already existing codebase, and the difficulty of rejecting the new colleagues ideas on how to improve things that contribute to making the project later even more. +Compared to, for example, the construction industry this is a stunningly unexpected discovery. +It goes against everyone’s best intuition, including mine.

+

While on the topic of construction, Brooks admits in the 20th Anniversary Edition of the book (the one I read), that his approach – build one to throw one away is now obsolete. +According to him, the right approach is to grow, not build software. +I also agree with this. +It is so much easier to design a system like this, rather than try to fit into one’s mind everything beforehand, expecting all things to work if we just conceptually figure out everything first. +This is not to be mistaken with the fact that majority of programmer’s work is inside their heads only – this is the essence of programming which Brooks talks about.

+

No Silver Bullet is one of the added chapters of the book, which was missing in the original edition. +It conveys a premise that I think is the most important thing that I have learned from this book. +That is – we cannot change the essence of programming, and for foreseeable years and decades to come, the struggle of the ordinary programmer will always be figuring out solutions to a problem within one’s mind. +No amount of abstraction, colorful IDEs and integrations, or pretty UI interfaces with hints and AI toolkits will overcome the fundamental truth about programming – our work has no physical counterpart in the real world, just like mathematical equations do not. +A mathematician may solve the equation on paper, but it is the thinking inside one’s head that produces the solution, unlike a painter who’s art is immediately visible on the first brush stroke and is the goal and final product of the work.

+

The Mythical Man-Month also gives me a clear goal to look forward to. +Brooks states: Very good professional programmers are ten times as productive as poor ones, at the same training and experience level. +Reading this reminded me of a friend of mine who also mentioned to me once that his goal is to become a 10X developer – a person who is able to do the work of 10 ordinary programmers. +I think this is a grand goal to work towards, certainly I would feel happy achieving.

+

There are multiple concepts that arise from the book which I have not mentioned. +It was a really tough read for me personally, as it’s a book that reads like a very old article. +Many concepts I had to look up, and to relate to some of the chapters has been really difficult. +So, I expect I’ll be updating this blog post often while coming back to the book.

+ +
+ + + + diff --git a/public/posts/useful-links/index.html b/public/posts/useful-links/index.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6231c79 --- /dev/null +++ b/public/posts/useful-links/index.html @@ -0,0 +1,99 @@ + + + + + + + + + + +
+ + + +
+ +
+

Useful Links

+
    +
  1. +

    atlarge-research.com

    +
    2. +
  2. +

    jwz.org

    +
    3. +
  3. +

    denshi.org

    +
    4. +
  4. +

    landchad.net

    +
    5. +
  5. +

    comfy.guide

    +
    6. +
  6. +

    pad.envs.net

    +
    7. +
  7. +

    envs.net

    +
    8. +
  8. +

    blog.orhun.dev

    +
    9. +
  9. +

    cs.stanford.edu/~knuth

    +
    10. +
  10. +

    conventionalcommits.org

    +
    11. +
  11. +

    unixdigest.com

    +
    12. +
  12. +

    stallman.org

    +
    13. +
  13. +

    vintageapple.org

    +
    14. +
+ +
+ + + + diff --git a/public/sitemap.xml b/public/sitemap.xml new file mode 100644 index 0000000..2f69d67 --- /dev/null +++ b/public/sitemap.xml @@ -0,0 +1,60 @@ + + + + http://localhost:1313/ + 2025-12-29T11:13:45+01:00 + + http://localhost:1313/posts/ + 2025-12-29T11:13:45+01:00 + + http://localhost:1313/posts/music/ + 2025-12-29T11:13:45+01:00 + + http://localhost:1313/posts/coders-at-work/ + 2025-12-28T18:46:07+01:00 + + http://localhost:1313/posts/mythical-man-month/ + 2025-12-22T17:25:54+01:00 + + http://localhost:1313/posts/my-cv/ + 2025-12-20T12:11:48+01:00 + + http://localhost:1313/posts/dijkstra-knuth/ + 2025-12-14T17:14:30+01:00 + + http://localhost:1313/books/ + 2025-11-07T16:05:35+01:00 + + http://localhost:1313/books/the-island-of-missing-trees/ + 2025-11-07T16:05:35+01:00 + + http://localhost:1313/books/all-the-lovers-in-the-night/ + 2025-09-28T16:40:54+02:00 + + http://localhost:1313/posts/denounce-ai/ + 2025-09-12T23:08:15+02:00 + + http://localhost:1313/books/coders-at-work/ + 2025-09-03T18:28:08+02:00 + + http://localhost:1313/books/lolita/ + 2025-08-19T15:11:46+02:00 + + http://localhost:1313/books/klara-and-the-sun/ + 2025-07-27T10:49:23+02:00 + + http://localhost:1313/posts/useful-links/ + 2025-07-26T12:53:30+02:00 + + http://localhost:1313/books/list-of-books/ + 2025-07-25T12:14:25+02:00 + + http://localhost:1313/posts/good-cs-books/ + 2025-07-25T11:29:52+02:00 + + http://localhost:1313/categories/ + + http://localhost:1313/tags/ + + diff --git a/public/tags/index.html b/public/tags/index.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..ded5d07 --- /dev/null +++ b/public/tags/index.html @@ -0,0 +1,68 @@ + + + + + + + + + + + + +
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+ my logo +

mjkw

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Tags

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