Other typed languages and tool sets like C# and Delphi come to mind here as well though you need libraries with 1-based data structures to solve the first point.
I feel old, because I vividly remember the PCX (1985) graphics file format: it was the defacto standard under DOS.
TIFF (1986) was slightly younger, and came from the scanner background resulting in very large files though unlike PCX (which had lossless compression), TIFF supported both lossless and lossy compression.
On Windows and OS/2, you had BMP (1985, lossless initially only black and white).
All three suffered from the same problems: different implementations causing all sorts of compatibility problems
Those were the reason for the implementation of newer file formats for graphics like JPG (1992, lossy) and PNG (1996, lossless).
Everytime when installing a pfSenserouter from scratch, I seem to re-learn a few of the below quirks. So it was finally time to document them (:
Quite a few of my pfSense configurations are just doing routing between various networks, should not provide DHCP leases and do not always need or have a WAN connected (i.e. they are LAN-only).
It took me a few queries to find the correct online solution for this problem: after adding a TrueType (and it’s extension: OpenType) font using the built-in MacOS Font Book, they do not show up in Pages or Preview, not even after validating the fonts in Font Book.
Solutions:
reboot (found this out myself)
killing the fontd font daemon from the Activity Monitor
restart font daemon (found out via the link below)
On July 17, 2025, the News Media Alliance reported that it had taken down the website.
It’s impossible to enjoy the content of online media by paying (for instance because payment systems are not compatible, but also because those media often have region blocks), so this is to longer ladders (and understanding how ladders work):
Kevlin uses the same Leap Year case as I have taught since the mid 1990’s: I like the way we both approach software development, though I can still learn a lot from Kevlin.
Non-programmers understand more than you might expect, just like you can get much more from a foreign news paper than you would think at first thought
You should know how to draw a Venn diagram with 4 sets allowing *all* combinations of those (search for “Venn’s four-set diagram using ellipses” in the link on the left)
Kevlin shows these 4 sets:
Common cases
Simple cases
Boundary cases
Edge cases
The first two and last two sound similar. They aren’t.
Wrinkles and various levels of code coverage: don’t fool yourself as that is easy to do
The way of thinking is “thorough” (note from self: AI is not thorough, it is statistics)
Calendars are difficult (and depending a lot on the period and region their usage are valid for) – I already knew that, but it was good to be reminded off; see presentations by Jon Skeet for more information on it, see the blog tag Jon Skeet, or for instance these links:
The Wiert Corner - irregular stream of stuff 