"With the rise of autocratic governments worldwide, VPN-literacy is more essential than ever.” said one expert, “This bold project definitely comes at the right time.”

#UKSocialMediaBan

I'm a senior software engineer with 35 years of experience. I've worked across an unusually wide range of domains: mobile game backends, privacy-preserving data platforms, high-throughput COVID testing infrastructure, email and account systems, e-payment processing, job marketplace systems, and bioinformatics. I pick up new domains quickly and have a track record of doing it repeatedly. I understand how to turn business needs into engineering requirements.

I've worked remotely since the 1990s and can operate with minimal supervision. I don't need hand-holding to find the right problem to solve. Several of my most valued projects were self-directed: I identified the need, built the thing, and shipped it.

Some of the technologies I'm familiar with include: Python, Perl, TypeScript/JavaScript, Haskell, Go, C, Java. Postgres, MySQL, SQLite. Flask, SQLAlchemy. AWS (Lambda, S3, RDS, SQS, EC2). Docker, Git. Github and Gitlab.

I've also repeatedly picked up new languages and stacks as needed: Haskell for differential privacy research, TypeScript for a 24/7 AWS Lambda system, Flask for my most recent employer. I've become productive with new systems over and over, and I can do it quickly.

I'm also a published author (Higher-Order Perl, Morgan Kaufmann), longtime blogger, and conference speaker with a reputation for making complex ideas clear.

My résumé is at https://plover.com/~mjd/cv/Mark%20Jason%20Dominus.pdf

mjd@pobox.com

Thanks for your attention!

#OpenToWork #remoteWork #softwareEngineering #Python #backend #hiring

#fediHire #getFediHired

1c flour
1c sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/4tsp salt

1 oz toasted sesame oil
1 oz earth balance buttery spread (or, butter)
1/2 oz neutral oil
1 oz tahini

2 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs

1/2 c soy milk (or, milk)

1 tbsp sesame seeds

Whisk the dry ingredients together. Melt the butter. Whisk in the tahini, then the oils, then the eggs and vanilla, then the milk. Add the dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Bake at 350 in a 9-inch cake pan; I used a parchment liner. After 5 or 10 minutes, sprinkle the sesame seeds on top, then continue baking for a total of 20 minutes.

I thought it was pretty good, but I would have made the following changes:
1. Bake it for two more minutes
2. Try a little less sugar -- maybe 7/8c
3. More sesame seeds

Attachment: A brown/silver Maine Coon cat sleeping curled up under some wire shelving next to a cardboard box. He has crammed himself into a very small space.

Attachment: A brown/silver Maine Coon cat sleeping curled up under some wire shelving next to a cardboard box. His white back paw sticks out next to his head at a funny angle.]]> https://honk.novalis.org/u/novalis/h/bb4W6p5V99m1PT4hfb Thu, 14 May 2026 23:32:56 UTC https://honk.novalis.org/u/novalis/h/bb4W6p5V99m1PT4hfb You know how there's Wikipedia, and then there's the spin-off Wiktionary for words, and Wikidata for data? They should do one for units of measure. They could call it Wikifeet.

Note that the diagram is a little misleading. An octopus does not have a north arm and a south arm as shown here. It has four arms on the left, and four on the right.

So here we see that the frontmost of the left arms is directly connected to the rearmost of the left arms, but this connection bypasses the other two left arms. It is, however, connected directly with the third arm back on the right.

#octopus #wtf

Attachment: Diagram from Nature paper, with a schematic showing which arms are connected with nerve cords. The caption is: “*Arm control*: Octopuses coordinate their eight arms using a network of intramuscular nerve cords that bypass the brain. Each connects arms separated by two others. Separate nerve fibres, the axial nerve cords, connect the arms to the brain.” Source: Arm-control diagram, A. Kuuspalu et al. Curr. Biol. 32, 5415-5421 (2022) ]]> https://mathstodon.xyz/@mjd/116528109322991755 Wed, 06 May 2026 14:31:31 UTC https://mathstodon.xyz/@mjd/116528109322991755 Apple TV has just produced a version of the Scottish Play set on a plane: MacBeth Air.

She would have just had a UUID.