This is a place where I write things. I’d like to write things that are brief & helpful, but that won’t always be what happens. Sometimes, I’ll write reference notes to myself. Sometimes, I’ll be struggling with questions that no one has yet solved. Sometimes, I might just want to straightforwardly blog. Sometimes, I might just want to let off some steam. No matter what, creating will always be more valuable than consuming.

What’s with the name?

Noted computer scientist Edsger Dijkstra once said:

“Programming is one of the most difficult branches of applied mathematics; the poorer mathematicians had better remain pure mathematicians.”

Having taken some time to look outside of my own field, I can now confidently say:

“Molecular biology is the most difficult branch of computer science.”

What’s with this site?

If you want to stay updated, use the provided RSS/Atom feeds. There is no comment system. If you wish to have a conversation with me like a normal human, see my contact details below. If you wish to have a conversation with some friends, go get in contact with them as you do.

RSS and Atom are nice because they are open standards (not walled gardens), and put you (not opaque, proprietary software) in control of your media feed. Email is nice because everyone1 uses it, so it leaves no one out. Finally, email also already has good spam filtering and input validation, so I don’t have to reinvent those wheels and can spend my time on more meaningful pursuits.

This site almost2 does not need Javascript. This site uses CSS, but it does not require it to be readable. This site renders pleasantly on desktops, mobile, and even in the terminal. I have made no attempt to make the site work on older browsers: update your browser. Not only will the site be styled nicely, but more importantly, an up-to-date browser is required to be secure on the internet.

The site’s source code is open-source, hosted on GitHub. The site content is written entirely in markdown. It is compiled to static files using a zedo-based build script coordinating bash and python.

What about me?

My name is Eric Demko.3 My education is in physics, I’m a programmer by trade, and I enjoy creative pursuits. I chase ideas to their foundations. My media include: formal languages, epistemology, type theory, software, firmware, digital electronics, linguistics, wood, plexi, fabric, and words.

TODO: I should probably post some public keys here.

  1. Not actually everyone. Just everyone who could reasonably become invested in reading this site. ↩

  2. Dang it! Annoyingly, I’m using MathJax to render mathematical formulae. But, if you can read LaTex reasonably well, you still don’t need it. ↩

  3. though I’ve used the handle Okuno Zankoku extensively. It’s a long story… ↩