Software, systems, and small discoveries.
“Is this response cached?” sounds like a yes-or-no question. The useful questions are a little more specific: who can keep it, how long can they reuse it, and what happens when that time runs out?
A short field guide to freshness, validation, and the surprisingly important difference between no-cache and no-store.
Cache-Control: max-age=300
ETag: "revision-7"A terminal pipeline is easier to understand when each stage has one clear job. Start with a few lines of input, inspect the middle, and only then connect the whole thing.
The trick is keeping the evidence visible—including the exit status when an early command fails.
A folder full of backup files is a reassuring sight. Opening a restored document is better evidence. A small backup plan can begin with a very ordinary question: what would it take to get one useful file back?
Encryption is only one part of the story. A useful introduction to TLS keeps identity, confidentiality, and integrity in view—and remembers where those guarantees end.
Names are often the first documentation a file gets. A date, a subject, and a plain extension can make a directory useful long after the surrounding context has disappeared.
A reading note on Simon Willison's advice about writing down what you learn. A useful note can be small, specific, and unfinished in its ambitions.