About

I design, implement, and maintain an automated production software build system, which uses hundreds of tools in a POSIX environment. This web log records some of my thoughts about the process of writing small tools, and their place in the system.

I use wily to process and edit text, since mousers outpace keyboardists, if actions are available; I want to structure the commands in my interface, to make commands available; and icons waste space.

Storytlr collects almost everything Jason.Catena@gmail.com puts on the web, except my professional work history.

Blog header image

My header was an excerpt from a diagram by Charles Babbage. It describes the units for certain results calculated by the second Difference Engine.

When I went to college for computer engineering, we had to do the same thing: construct an adder with carries from logic gates, and implement it in the lab and in a VLSI designer.

I used it for my software tools blog because to me it represents the lowest levels of computer programming: assigning meaning to the bare result of controlled physical action. No-one thinks of it, because there are many layers of software sitting on top of it that provide a much better interface.