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Caolan McMahon

@caolan@hachyderm.io

mastodon 4.6.6

I'm a software developer working mostly in #JavaScript and #TypeScript. I like to grow food, bake bread, walk, climb, and run.

I also write #Scheme, #Zig, #Python, and #Rust.

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15 Posts

Joined December 10, 2022

Homepage:

https://caolan.uk

Location:

Derbyshire, UK

Posts

Caolan McMahon @caolan@hachyderm.io · Jul 02, 2026

A Speed Limit for Computers https://caolan.uk/notes/2026-07-02_a_speed_limit_for_computers.cm A few thoughts on the marginal disutility of computing power and whether a machine with politically derived limits might be more equitable.

Caolan McMahon @caolan@hachyderm.io · Jun 05, 2026

Did everyone in the UK enjoy their summer?

Caolan McMahon @caolan@hachyderm.io · Jun 05, 2026

Interesting links from May 2026
https://caolan.uk/links/log/2026-05.cm

Caolan McMahon @caolan@hachyderm.io · Jun 05, 2026

I'm a little sad asm.js is no more - an optimised subset of vanilla JS was a cool idea. Though, I guess it makes sense to reduce attack surface when WebAssembly exists.

https://spidermonkey.dev/blog/2026/05/20/saying-goodbye-to-asmjs.html

#JavaScript

Caolan McMahon @caolan@hachyderm.io · May 27, 2026

We watched 'Quicksilver' (1986) with Kevin Bacon as a failed stock broker turned bicycle messenger last night. It's such a bad film. So, so bad.

I kinda want to watch it again.

Caolan McMahon @caolan@hachyderm.io · May 21, 2026

Remember the DOOM difficulty scale where each increment was represented by a face getting more and more bloody? I propose that as an alternative to semver.

Caolan McMahon @caolan@hachyderm.io · May 20, 2026

Electric cargo bikes are such a game changer. On a whim, I stopped by the wholefood cash and carry today and picked up about 18kg of groceries: wheat grain, rye grain, rice, muesli, 12 tins of chopped tomatoes, tea bags. I honestly didn't notice them on the bike and had a nice ride through the park and quiet streets to get home.

Also! I forgot my wallet. Oh no! But because the cash and carry is a co-op staffed by humans with agency they were like: "no worries, here's the bill, just send us the money when you get home" (I did).

Compare that with driving a noisy car to the big supermarket and turning out empty pockets to the helpless cashier. Another world is possible, folks.

Caolan McMahon @caolan@hachyderm.io · May 01, 2026

Interesting links from April: https://caolan.uk/links/log/2026-04.cm

Caolan McMahon @caolan@hachyderm.io · Apr 24, 2026

No wonder my laptop is sluggish today, according to Firefox: "Web sites are currently using 17,179,869,179 GB of disk space."

Caolan McMahon @caolan@hachyderm.io · Apr 06, 2026

Replying to @alifeee@mastodon.social

@alifeee yes, I do! In fact, that's what I sat down to doodle when I did this: https://hachyderm.io/@caolan/116260943697948378

Caolan McMahon @caolan@hachyderm.io · Mar 13, 2026

Replying to @tom@theclacks.cloud

@tom@theclacks.cloud it's genuinely so much nicer to use than a modern laptop - you know, apart from all the horribly outdated internals and low resolution :)