Protozoa is a tech coop, and we write open source code. This is a little bit about what that means, and how open source is the foundation on which we’re building an aspirational future. I recently published a new feature for Patchbay — an open source project I maintain. It…

I’m a critical thinker. I’m a coder with a background in maths — I excel at taking ideas and problems apart. The blessing of this is that I understand systems I work with intimately, perhaps even better than others. …

As a programmer, part of my job is to spot ‘code smells’. Like being alert for musky over-ripeness somewhere in your fridge, or unwanted acridity of burning plastic coming from your computer, smells hint that nearby, something is amiss, and it’s probably going to get worse. In code it’s usually…

I estimate state education has set my technical ability as a coder back about a decade. This is annoying, but I think I now have my finger on a core thread that really needs pulling. I value conciseness so here’s what I think the essence of it is: power dynamics hamper learning; what a waste of potential. As an…

If you’re still using email for direct communication, you’re probably facing some well known problems : spam, provider lockin, privacy, and reliability (doesn’t work without the internet). I’ve helped build an app called Patchwork which sidesteps these problems. Patchwork is built on an open gossip network. Here’s how it works: …

I’ve been exploring participatory education for a while now. I started teaching at Unlimited, a school in Christchurch, where students were just as likely to be doing kickflips as studying chemistry. These days, I’m working with Dev Academy, teaching humans how to be empathetic cyber wizards. Having spent a fair…