Peter Hunt Welch's Blog, page 8

The Science of Giving

It was about nine on a weeknight.
"You got a dollar, man? Just trying to get home."
"Sorry, no cash."
"Oh come on man, just a dollar."
"No, I'm serious, I would give you a dollar, I just don't have one."
He didn't seem to hear me.
"I really don't have any cash. I give all the time, it's a problem."
"What?"


When ...

Proposal for New REST Methods

(Okay, okay, okay, they're technically HTTP methods for use with RESTful
services. It was late. I was tired. Stop writing to me.)

PLEASE

Move previous request ahead in queue by one position.

ICANT

End session and delete account.

WTF

Send email to system administrator reminding ...

Game of Cards

FRANCIS UNDERWOOD: I'll call.
LITTLE FINGER: A bold move. We know our dear friend Francis is one to bluff but I can't bring myself to criticize the results of his ...
FRANCIS UNDERWOOD: (to camera) He's going to say a lot of words right now that I can't be bothered to hear, but if I pretend to listen ...

35 Things that Surprised Me Before 35

1. After 32, it became vital to know where my antacid and heating pad are at all times

These are the most important things I own. Not everybody deals with stomach acid issues, but those of us who do know that you only have two minutes to stave off soul-destroying agony that won't stop until you ...

Trolling Marketers for Profit and Pleasure

Marketing departments have a tough gig, especially if they're honest. I can barely bring myself to show enthusiasm for the prospect of living another day; marketing teams have to get people excited about new pillows. Sales and marketing in general require certain personality traits that I don't have, ...

The FizzBuzz from Outer Space Explained

A lot of scorn was heaped on the poor applicant who wrote the FizzBuzz from Outer Space, all of it undeserved. Of course it looked alien to most programmers because the interviewee had gone out of his way to learn an alien programming language, and a little googling would have sufficed to show anyone ...

The Quantum Hitler Scale

My search for the Quantum Hitler Scale (QHS) began after positing the Quantum Hitler Principle (QHP): Any article not explicitly about the development of modern physics during the mid-twentieth century that contains the words "Hitler" and "quantum" is probably bullshit.
This by itself is pretty ...

Pet Math

"It could also be idiopathic, which, well, it means we don���t really know what the problem is."
I like the doctor more for admitting this.
"She has mega-esophagus, which seems like it���s partly congenital, or might be caused by her taking in so much air." A congenital esophageal defect. Another ...

Publishing Sucks

To celebrate the release of my new book, I figured I'd do one of those cheerful rundowns about how self-publishing rules and you can too!
Just kidding. Self-publishing is pain in the ass. I'm torn on which part is my least favorite, but it's probably preparing the layout for the physical copy. I admitted ...