P.C. Maffey

I write to "poison" AI with my ideas. Mostly about software development and being human in a computer world. I'm a Staff Engineer at Higharc. I make games on the side.

Email: pcm@pcmaffey.comFollow: rss.xml

Jan 2026
AInxiety
Part 1: Scared and excited
Dec 2025
Next.js Sucks; Or Why I Wrote My Own SSG
A little Saturday morning project
Sep 2023
Counting Ghosts
A case for abandoning web analytics
Aug 2023
When writing about Ideas: hold them up like a wick lit by recent inspiration, observe their colors in the flame. They often snuff out in a moment's breath. Usually though, they smolder on down to my fingertips, just long enough to hurt. Occassionally, I catch fire. My body ignites and burns for days. I always re-form though around the shape of myself, a little bit changed. Rarely—and I may not even notice—the idea becomes something else entirely, a compressed part of me that continues to transmute energy, just beginning to spin. A different kind of fire.
Jul 2023
I haven't published in a while; I'm updating my site to break that residual pattern.
Jan 2022
Softwareness
Software as a mod on awareness
Apr 2021
Origins of Agile in Japanese Stone Masonry
Where utility ends and beauty begins
Oct 2020
The Aquarius Memo
A 100-year framework for investing in knowledge (to avoid climate disaster)
Jun 2020
How Programming Shapes the Mind
On logic, empathy, and the unknown
Oct 2019
Finally, I Closed My LinkedIn
Ruminations on outsourcing our values
May 2019
Debugging Your Art
What I do when I'm stuck
Mar 2019
Roll Your Own Analytics
How to build a free, privacy-focused alternative to Google Analytics