Computer scientist and educator. Creator of ChessCraft. Senior scientific programmer at Environment Canada.
Posted by Stuart Spence in ChessCraft
After years of strange problems and bad performance with MongoDB, this week I successfully migrated chesscraft.ca to PostgreSQL. This took lots of preparations, went smoothly, and is performing great, so I thought I'd write about it. Writing here is cathartic. Also, others might find it useful.
Look what …
Posted by Stuart Spence in ChessCraft
I've just released version 1.15 on Google Play and Steam. It should be available very soon on Steam, and a few days from now on Google Play.
What's new in 1.15:
Posted by Stuart Spence in ChessCraft
I've just released version 1.14.0 on Google Play and Steam. It should be available very soon on Steam, and a few days from now on Google Play.
What's new in 1.14:
Posted by Stuart Spence in ChessCraft
I've often liked year-end reviews like from quanta magazine or Wendover. So why not do a short one for ChessCraft?
It has now been 5 years and 1 day since my first git version of ChessCraft. Remarkably, installs per month are still steadily going up, even though …
Posted by Stuart Spence in Blog
The free ChatGPT AI gave excellent or perfect answers to all my real ECCC interview questions: code writing and soft skills.
This post is written for public servants that need to know about the latest AI tool called ChatGPT. We should all understand what kind of text and interview answers …
Posted by Stuart Spence in Blog
The views expressed here are my own, and do not express the views of my employer or my union.
Here's my experience attending my union's annual general meeting. I felt some empowerment but mostly outrage and boredom.
Clearly my union is sclerotic and archaic. We gathered to vote and share …
Posted by Stuart Spence in Blog
If you love your stable diffusion art made with a vague prompt, consider checking out the artist instead.
I've made many thousands of SD images and I'm having a blast. I also love seeing what others have created. But I've only recently been able to put into words something that …
Posted by Stuart Spence in Blog
What's more important to you: climate science or social justice?
Canadian politics is better when all parties are strong. How can the Green Party of Canada (GPC) recover its legitimacy and relevancy? Here I describe a simple and likely controversial membership test. I can't think of any other way forward …
Posted by Stuart Spence in Blog
I often see these questions online:
"What are the differences between private and public sector IT?"
"What makes you stay in government IT?"
"Aren't government IT workers underpaid?"
This page is my list of the best things about public sector IT.
Disclaimer: The views expressed here are my own, and …
Posted by Stuart Spence in Blog
Most training videos are really bad. This is troublesome to me because I must constantly re-explain my philosophies and processes to colleagues or volunteers. This page aims to help.
Over the years I've made over a hundred training videos for public servants, high school and university students, workshops, and the …