Be Conservative in What You Send, Liberal in What You Receive

A one-sheet on posture toward the people around you The principle, and its known failure Jon Postel wrote it for computers talking to each other: send strictly correct output, accept anything you can reasonably interpret. It let a fragile early internet work despite everyone's software being slightly wrong. Engineers later turned against it. Broken implementations … Continue reading Be Conservative in What You Send, Liberal in What You Receive

The Physics of the Grip: Why Leia Was Right

"The more you tighten your grip, Tarkin, the more star systems will slip through your fingers."-Princess Leia in Star Wars Leia wasn't making a political prediction—she was stating a physical law. The Grip as Mandate Tarkin's grip is pure mandatrophy. The Death Star represents the ultimate centralization fantasy: consolidate all military power into a single … Continue reading The Physics of the Grip: Why Leia Was Right