Al's blog

An interview question I hate: “Tell me about a time you dealt with conflict”

I hate that interview question. Not because I don’t have examples to give, but because it pulls you toward a narrow answer focused on one particular type of conflict and the approach you used to resolve it. Every case is different, and thinking about why that is has made me a better manager and (hopefully!) a better interviewee. Recently I completed a leadership course with my local Education and Training Board. To be honest, there Read more

By albertw,

Why can’t I connect to localhost? Another Dirt MUD Mystery!

Time for another look at the Dirt code. When I got the MUD running, I noticed something odd: I could only connect using the system hostname or its IP address. Connections to localhost, 127.0.0.1, or even the host’s IPv6 address all failed: So it works, but seems not to be accepting connections on all interfaces. Check what we’re actually listening on First stop netstat (or ss): So the process is bound specifically to 192.168.0.76. It Read more

By albertw,

Debugging a 64-bit Segfault in an Old MUD Codebase – more detail!

I want to look at the problem in the previous blog post about using gdb to figure out a segfault in a bit more detail. As a refresher this is what gdb showed us as the problem: I said that the address didn’t look right, and that’s probably one of the most frustrating things about learning this kind of debugging. I have sat down many times with experienced engineers to work through crash dumps, and Read more

By albertw,

Debugging a 64-bit Segfault in an Old MUD Codebase

Once I got the MUD built and running, it didn’t take long to hit problems. In fact, the very first time I connected: Good start. 1. Run it under GDB First step: run the server under GDB so we can see where it crashes. The –args lets us pass arguments (-f keeps the MUD in the foreground). Then: Pretty quickly we hit: I didn’t even need to connect this time, the NPC movement message alone Read more

By albertw,

We Had Online Multiplayer Gaming in the 1990s – And I’ve got one of those worlds working again!

It may come as a surprise to some, but online multiplayer gaming didn’t begin with World of Warcraft or even EverQuest. Back in the 1990s, long before broadband and GPUs were household staples, we had Multi‑User Dungeons – MUDs. These were text‑based online worlds you connected to over telnet, and they came in all flavours: social hangouts, Dungeons & Dragons–inspired adventures, exploration‑heavy quest worlds, and everything in between. One of the most beloved of these Read more

By albertw,

Building with AI: Lessons from Devloping a Django App with Claude

I’ve recently been exploring AI-assisted development, specifically using Claude to build a Django-based inventory management application for scout and youth groups. So how did it go? In a couple of weeks of part-time work, I built and deployed a functional MVP to production: www.armaria.club (app.armaria.club). Here are my key takeaways. These aren’t universal rules, just what worked well for me while developing a real application with AI assistance. I’m also very aware that with the Read more

By albertw,

17th Dalkey Scouts

I’m helping getting the 17th Dalkey Scouts back up and running. Initially for Beavers and Cubs but we’ll get to Scouts as well in a year or two! Check out www.dalkeyscouts.ie and https://www.facebook.com/17thDalkey for more! Read more

By albertw,

Choosing a map for your adventures

Choosing a map for an adventure is easy right? The standard map for hiking for many years has been the Ordnance Survey 1:50000 set of waterproof laminated maps which retail for about €25. More recently, though the company has apparently been inexistance for over 30 years, EastWest mapping have produced €9.99 maps of specific areas of interest at a scale of 1:25000 and are water resistant. I am aware that the OS issue some 1:25000 maps but I don’t have one to compare with so here’s my thoughts on what map you should get out of the two I have. Read more

By albertw,

Slieve Carr

Ever since I first got interested in Summits On the Air, one mountain in the west of Ireland has been calling me. In the Nephin range in Co. Mayo lies Slieve Carr. At 721m it is not even in the top 40 highest mountains in Ireland, but as it is often referred to as ‘the most remote mountain in Ireland’ it had remained un activated. Read more

By albertw,