@Korny@hachyderm.io
@Korny@hachyderm.io avatar

Korny

@Korny@hachyderm.io

Tech geek, polyglot coder, old-school agilista ex #ThoughtWorks, interested in tackling the climate crisis, being a good intersectional ally, and coping as a parent.
Like to tinker in #rust #rustlang #clojure #typescript #dataviz and others.
Pronouns he/him
Aussie living in #LeightonBuzzard UK
All opinions and comments are my own.

This profile is from a federated server and may be incomplete. Browse more on the original instance.

Korny, to random
@Korny@hachyderm.io avatar

I've wondered for a while now - is there any research on map routing algorithms that allow for significantly longer routes, which meet other criteria like "more peaceful" or "simpler" or "less pollution"?

The excellent app (based on data) allows for quiet/balanced/fast routes, but "quiet" isn't quite what I want.

For example part of my route from work to Euston could go via the canal around Regent's Park, but that option is never suggested as it is 10min longer:

Suggested 21 minute cycle route from near Paddington to Euston Station mostly along busy roads

Korny, to random
@Korny@hachyderm.io avatar

I'm no expert in this area - but very interesting to see this study by the IOC on trans people in elite sports, and the conclusion that it's far from simple and blanket bans are not the answer:
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/23/world/europe/paris-olympics-transgender-athletes.html?smid=nytcore-android-share

dcbuchan, to random
@dcbuchan@aus.social avatar

If you've gone from a 5-day work week to a 4-day work week I'd like to hear of your experience as I'm considering the same.

Did you have take a pay cut?
Do you work 5 days over 4?

How has it benefitted you?
How has it benefitted your employer?

(please boost)

Korny,
@Korny@hachyderm.io avatar

@dcbuchan
I moved to a 4 day week about 6 years ago so I'd have more time with my kid and my wife could return to part time work. I took a 20% pay cut - but marginal tax rates meant it was less than 20% drop in income.

It's been awesome - I would never look back. It was a complication when changing jobs but most places seemed fairly accommodating.

Cont...

Korny,
@Korny@hachyderm.io avatar

@dcbuchan

It's definitely better for my mental health and my relationship with my kids. And my productivity didn't drop anywhere near 20% - it's a bargain for my employers too.

Also it helped me learn to delegate - when I was a team leader I had to assign deputies for my non working day - "if there's a question about data science it should go to Zehra"

raganwald, to random
@raganwald@social.bau-ha.us avatar

In the centre of the back-end architecture was an app written for tellers to operate in a retail branch using terminals. This app was written in MUMPS: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MUMPS

The app was unmaintainable, but it was the source-of-truth for how almost every transaction was to be executed. Rewriting it was not a realistic option.

So they put a screen-scraper in front of it, with a custom JDBC interface. Our code thought it was talking to a database, but it was actually emulating a terminal!

2/2

Korny,
@Korny@hachyderm.io avatar

@raganwald
A core part of the UK policing data systems is an old mainframe system, with the main interfaces to "modern" systems being XML interfaces built on top of screen scraping.

(Not literal screens, but systems that intercept the underlying terminal protocols)

("Modern" is in quotes because they are only modern relative to the mainframe!)

Korny,
@Korny@hachyderm.io avatar

@raganwald
I should note the absolute worst part - those XML interfaces are run by private companies and the protocols are proprietary.

cstross, to random
@cstross@wandering.shop avatar

On which note it's worth reminding Americans that Brits do NOT say:
— elevator
— sidewalk
— railroad
— faucet
— crosswalk
— automobile
— 18-wheeler
— bellhop
— drugstore
— freeway/highway/turnpike/interstate
— parking lot
— attorney

(There are synonyms/equivalents but these are specifically AMERICAN things that flag you up as a foreign devil.)
https://mastodon.social/@tomhannen/112332893629022705

Korny,
@Korny@hachyderm.io avatar

@thorne
@cstross @tomhannen
In the UK "cookie" seems to have become a very specific word for american-style biscuits. Anything that is thick, chewy, and often with chunks of chocolate or other frills, is a "cookie". Everything else is a biscuit.

dangillmor, to random
@dangillmor@mastodon.social avatar

Jonathan Haidt's book is based on cherry-picked data, reaching foregone conclusions that are wrong -- dangerously wrong because so many people are trying to create policy based on them. @mmasnick explains in this superb review:
https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-coddling-of-the-american-parent

Korny,
@Korny@hachyderm.io avatar

@dangillmor
So good to see this detailed breakdown of Haidt's book. He seems to be getting a lot of traction amongst parents and the press.
@mmasnick @adrianco

Korny,
@Korny@hachyderm.io avatar

@dangillmor @mmasnick @adrianco
Apparently this article is (intermittently) paywalled - any open versions I can share?

Korny, (edited ) to random
@Korny@hachyderm.io avatar

Without checking - who actually said "delved too greedily and too deep"?

Korny, to random
@Korny@hachyderm.io avatar

Is anyone else finding that they are using the word 'delve' more these days?
"The effective altruists delved too greedily and too deep"...

Korny,
@Korny@hachyderm.io avatar

@otfrom
I think I'm using it because of the LLM chatter. Now my subconscious is prompting me to use it.

cford, to random
@cford@toot.thoughtworks.com avatar

Australian artist Archie Moore wins Venice Biennale with an enormous hand drawn indigenous family tree.

https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2024/apr/20/artwork-commemorating-indigenous-australian-history-triumphs-in-venice

Korny,
@Korny@hachyderm.io avatar

@cford
This looks amazing. A well deserved win.

Korny, to Bluey
@Korny@hachyderm.io avatar

almost-final was so good. Tears here. (Wouldn't mean much for non-fans - start with Sleepytime for a better introduction)

Adam_Cadmon1, to random
@Adam_Cadmon1@mastodon.online avatar

Been using VLC for at least 15 years? It's a beast of a media player.

Anyone have a preferred alternative?

Korny,
@Korny@hachyderm.io avatar

@notroot
Looks nice - I've been using Cantata (OSX) for ages but it's abandoned so I'm always on the lookout for a good player for a large offline music collection.
@Adam_Cadmon1

deirdresm, to ai
@deirdresm@hachyderm.io avatar

This is the single best explanation (long!) I've read about why LLMs are a con. Great piece from @baldur.

https://softwarecrisis.dev/letters/llmentalist/

Korny,
@Korny@hachyderm.io avatar

@deirdresm
@baldur @GeePawHill
Love this bit:

> A popular response to various government conspiracy theories is that government institutions just aren’t that good at keeping secrets.

> Well, the tech industry just isn’t that good at software. This illusion is, honestly, too clever to have been created intentionally by those making it.

GeePawHill, to random
@GeePawHill@mastodon.social avatar

The only possible responsible position is to stop telling people that LLMs are "AI".

If you are doing that, or if your org is doing that, please, please, stop it.

Marketing is one thing. I don't care for it, but it's at least somewhat of a gray line.

Telling people an LLM-based system is "artificial intelligence" is a) a fucking lie, and b) doing great harm to people who do not know better.

You oughta be ashamed of yourself.

Korny,
@Korny@hachyderm.io avatar

@simon
@GeePawHill
"Discipline" is a funny term for an area that has been largely full of unsubstantiated hype for most of that time period.

I've been annoyed by dubious claims of AI since I read Weizenbaum's "Computer Power and Human Reason" as a teen, in the 80s.

But I also feel, pragmatically, that raging against misuse of language becomes pointless once the language use is this widespread - better to emphasize the distinction between what we call AI, and AGI which doesn't actually exist.

Korny, to random
@Korny@hachyderm.io avatar

Gorgeous spring blossoms today in London - a lovely time of year for cycling.

Korny, (edited ) to random
@Korny@hachyderm.io avatar

Relating to a few recent discussions - which of these do you prefer:

CreateMap<Widget, Sprocket>()   
 .ForMember(dest => dest.Active,   
 opt => opt.MapFrom(src => src.Status == ApplicationConstants.StatusOpen))   
 .ForMember(dest => dest.Status, opt => opt.MapFrom(src => src.Status))  
// etc

or:

const widgetToSprocket = (widget: Widget): Sprocket => {  
 return {  
 active: widget.status === applicationConstants.statusOpen,  
 status: widget.status,  
// etc
Korny,
@Korny@hachyderm.io avatar

Simplified horribly to fit post limits.

The mapper creates global type mapping that is later injected. It can do special defaults like converting nulls to zeros, mapping fields with the same names, mapping child objects with their own mappers.

The just code example is just code. (it helps that it's in a language with easy assignent of nested structures).

Both are fully type checked, in case that isn't obvious.

Korny,
@Korny@hachyderm.io avatar

Please boost for reach. Does voting in a poll boost it? I don't really know how these things work.

Korny,
@Korny@hachyderm.io avatar

@rubenwardy
The former uses the popular c# library Automapper: https://automapper.org/

> AutoMapper is a simple little library built to solve a deceptively complex problem - getting rid of code that mapped one object to another. This type of code is rather dreary and boring to write, so why not invent a tool to do it for us?

So far I've mostly avoided voicing my options - but yeah, I'm not a huge fan. I can see situations where it could be handy, converting Objects which are 95% automatic.

Korny,
@Korny@hachyderm.io avatar

@rubenwardy
Yep. And other similar conventions.

Korny,
@Korny@hachyderm.io avatar

10 people isn't a huge sample size :-)

But yeah - it feels like most people are happy with a simple jfdi approach. Even if it's a but more verbose in real examples, it gives you so much less friction - your tooling understands it, you can easily see what is going on at the point where you call the code.

But I've met any number of senior software engineers who just love building "magic" stuff like the mapper, and then using it everywhere.

See also most mocking tools!

marick, to random
@marick@mstdn.social avatar

A theory: the software craftsmanship movement failed because it unnecessarily mixed the idea of hands-on craft learning with an authoritarian, top-down, master/apprentice structure, way too much based on medieval guild systems.

In fact, peer-to-peer learning and slightly-advanced-teaching-less-advanced are the main ways of bringing up novices. (https://podcast.oddly-influenced.dev/episodes/legitimate-peripheral-participation)

Got off on the wrong foot. Never recovered.

Agile got off on the right foot, then fell on its face. I guess that’s better?

Korny,
@Korny@hachyderm.io avatar

@marick
It sure didn't help that the very name "craftsman" implied stereotypical gender roles too.

  • All
  • Subscribed
  • Moderated
  • Favorites
  • •
  • JUstTest
  • tacticalgear
  • DreamBathrooms
  • osvaldo12
  • GTA5RPClips
  • ngwrru68w68
  • magazineikmin
  • everett
  • Youngstown
  • slotface
  • rosin
  • mdbf
  • kavyap
  • modclub
  • anitta
  • InstantRegret
  • Durango
  • cubers
  • khanakhh
  • ethstaker
  • thenastyranch
  • normalnudes
  • provamag3
  • tester
  • cisconetworking
  • Leos
  • megavids
  • lostlight
  • All magazines
    •