In Defense of Chalkboards
How many cruddy whiteboards have you used in your life? We have a bunch of them at my workplace. You draw on them and your marker squeals and skips. Then whe...
Welcome to Control-Alt-Backspace, a place for collecting ideas on regaining control in an increasingly complex world. Check out the manifesto to learn more about the purpose of this site or the sitemap for an overview of series and topics, or jump right in with recent posts below.
Control-Alt-Backspace updates every Monday. Got questions about something you read or suggestions for new posts? I love hearing from people – shoot me an email!
Recent Posts
Fix Your Control Key
Here’s a keyboard trick: although you may never have noticed it, the Control key on most keyboards isn’t in an effective position. If you have a desk...
The Control-Alt-Backspace Upgrade Strategy: Software
This is part two of a two-part series on my strategy for when and how to upgrade hardware and software for maximum effectiveness and minimum bother. ...
The Control-Alt-Backspace Upgrade Strategy: Hardware
This is part one of a two-part series on my strategy for when and how to upgrade hardware and software for maximum effectiveness and minimum bother. ...
Against Deadlines
I just counted: I have 205 tasks in my task manager – without my reading list, purchases list, or blog ideas list. And that’s only counting my pe...
Buying Duplicate Items
People today need a lot of items to go about their daily life, and sometimes dealing with them can get annoying. I’ve rarely seen this discussed anywhere...
Edit Week 2
This is the second Edit Week in Control-Alt-Backspace history (see here for an explanation of Edit Week).
On Answering Nine Questions to Pay for Groceries
Last night, I went to get some groceries, as most of us do from time to time. Buying groceries seems like it should be simple: you go into the store,...
It’s Probably Me
Back in my introduction to debugging, I observed that debugging often causes enormous frustration:
Take a Break
Debugging involves minutes or even hours of trial and error – and we tend to focus on the error part and get frustrated. Presented with error after error...
Scientific Method
Imagine for a moment that you’re an auto mechanic with a knack for attracting eccentric customers with unusual problems. Which of these scenarios would y...
Minimal Working Example
When we encounter a problem with a complex system, it’s easy to misidentify the problem. In other words, we can seize on some small piece of the syst...
Selections from The Technical Geekery Archives
This week I have been busy finishing up a project to clean up and reformat the archives of The Technical Geekery, a blog and website I maintained...
Gather Information
It is impossible to solve a problem without some kind of information about the problem.
Talking to Ducks
Have you ever called or gone to bother a friend or coworker for some information you can’t think of, only to remember the answer the moment you ask? ...
Debugging in Real Life: An Introduction to Debugging
One of the most critical and least popular activities when developing and maintaining software is debugging – fixing code that has been written incor...
Does Speeding Make Sense?
Most Americans exceed the speed limit almost every time they drive, to the point that we rarely even think about it. The conventional wisdom is that we’r...
The Power of Names
I have found people have a tendency to discount or ignore the important role of having names for things in human thinking. This can lead to neglecting or...
The Paradox of Documentation
When you buy a new consumer product, do you usually read through the manual? What if a small warning on the product says “read manual before using”? (I once ...
Do It Right the First Time
There’s never time to do it right but always time to do it over. Meskimen’s Law
