alice

@alice@marrow.haus

Complexity is the mind–killer. Complexity is the little–death that brings total obliteration. I will face complexity… and I will destroy it.

Opinions my own.

I'm a #Python software engineer whose code happens to be running on Mars at the moment. I'm also a #musician, #photographer, and try very hard to be a sympathetic #counsellor for those who need a shoulder or an ear.

"More people have walked on the moon than have stood where we are now."

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

Iconfactory, (edited ) to random
@Iconfactory@iconfactory.world avatar

How many times per day do you check social media?

alice,

@Iconfactory I'm classifying "always open in a virtual desktop somewhere, with push notifications enabled" as "constantly".

Even though busy loops suck and it's actually way more efficient than that.

gedeonm, to random
@gedeonm@mastodon.social avatar

Amazing the kinds of discounts you can receive out of thin air simply by calling to cancel service.

alice,

@gedeonm With any given provider, especially mobile or television services, there's a number on the profile a service agent sees when you call in.

It's your "retention value".

Up to that number, the initial agent can offer you services and products in attempts to retain you as a customer. Beyond that, you're handed off to a retention specialist. Examples include a phone case, phone upgrade (extending your contract length), additional channels at no additional cost, &c.

alice,

@gedeonm In my case, with my mobile provider, my "retention number" grew so large they forced me to take a free iPhone 11 Pro Max just to lower it. I was a liability to them. Called out of the blue, "you're getting a free phone" and for once it wasn't a scam!

In another call I reached the "Office of the President" to have a chat with the CTO, reprimanding him about the lax training of technical support staff thinking their network "doesn't support e-mail". Got $10/mo off for 3Y for my trouble.

b0rk, (edited ) to random
@b0rk@jvns.ca avatar

was chatting with a friend about some of the challenges with teaching yourself programming topics:

  • you have random gaps that you don’t even know about
  • it's hard to assess your level, you might know a lot about one subtopic and be a total beginner elsewhere
  • it's very difficult to guess what other fellow autodidacts know about the subject

I've had to learn how to suss out what shared knowledge base I have with another programmer on any given topic quickly so that we can talk

(1/?)

alice,

@b0rk Since a majority of the internet standards are written as RFCs, a critical resource is instruction on how to read RFCs. There's a specific meaning to many words; for a standard to be "good", one mustn't need to "interpret" as much.

This helps reading other standards and documentation on such, such as the MDN.

It's like scientific studies: many might read over them, fewer will understand the actual implications of one. Formalized structure only really helps those "in the know".

the_etrain, to random
@the_etrain@beige.party avatar

I could tell by the way she snapped into a Slim Jim that I was in for a wild night.

alice,

@the_etrain More than a little excitement!

kcarruthers, (edited ) to random
@kcarruthers@mastodon.social avatar

Hallelujah, the change has hit

alice,

@kcarruthers Having no prior knowledge of the context of your message…

🧈🥬💃

It sounds like a good thing, so congratulations! Best tidings for the future; may Eris continue to be unaware of your existence!

🕺

eniko, to random
@eniko@peoplemaking.games avatar

Honestly I kinda wanna stop being self employed and be a college professor. Anyone wanna hire me to teach remotely? >_>

alice,

@eniko Stop stealing my goals, Eniko. ☹️

b0rk, (edited ) to random
@b0rk@jvns.ca avatar

poll: do you put your current git branch in your shell prompt?

alice,

@Anarcat @b0rk A simple thought experiment comes to mind. Git preserves executable flags.

Construct a repository containing a .git/hooks/post-checkout script for arbitrary code execution on clone.

luckytran, to random
@luckytran@med-mastodon.com avatar

Always be wary of those who are more interested in looking like the smartest person in the room rather than being the most helpful person in the room.

alice,

@luckytran I try, excessively hard, to be the most helpful person. If there's knowledge I have, I'll give it to you. If you need some object I'm not actively using, take it. Returning it after is a nice bonus.

Then, during a performance review, I was floored to be complimented by my manager as being one of the most talented people on the team. I self-deprecated. He re-iterated, adding:

"I've had comments from most of the rest of the team. It's not just me saying this."

Face. Melted.
(In joy.)

eniko, to random
@eniko@peoplemaking.games avatar

It's really kinda funny that it's Apple that's removing support for our Mac games in the end and not us. Got a Steam email that they're delisting 32 bit Mac games cause Apple won't support them anymore

Shame, but not really my fault and not much I can do about it 🤷‍♀️

alice,

@eniko No ability to hit "rebuild" after changing a few drop-downs. Then re-issuing QA. And stuff? 😜

This has been a change more than 10 years in the foreshadowing. And progressive roll-out as stepped warnings. 64-bit pure kernel. Then mobile. Then desktop. Across all platforms, Intel and ARM.

alice,

@eniko That’s part of why TestFlight exists. Release early, release often, and let those with unusual devices and setups test your software for you. (Along with semi-organised bug and crash reporting and so on.)

Related question, only somewhat tongue-in-cheek: where do I mail drop a MacBook Air or Mini? I have games and other software that haven’t ceased functioning since the Motorola 68000 was the processor used.

m68k (24/32-bit pure)
PPC (32-, 64-bit)
Intel (32-, 64-bit)
ARM (32-, 64-bit)

A modern full-colour version of the Glypha III Classic physics flight combat game running on an Apple M2 Pro.

christianselig, to random
@christianselig@mastodon.social avatar

It is mind boggling to me how fast modern 3D printers go. Like, this footage isn't sped up at all, it's just zoomin 💨

Bambu Lab P1S printer printing the bottom of a keyboard case

alice,

@christianselig Yeesh, that really puts my first hardware hacking project to shame. Though, admittedly, I was like… 8 at the time.

A parallel-port controlled Lego® Technic™ plotter. Like, looks wildly similar, just at a completely different scale of performance. One pencil, bit-banged square wave PWM, … fun project!

The material being laid down would heavily impact speed, though. What was being laid down? High-temperature, or low-temp/cold process? It's so fast and fine-tipped, hard to tell!

dangillmor, (edited ) to random
@dangillmor@mastodon.social avatar

It is essential to stop using Chrome.

Under the pretense of saving users from third-party spyware, Google is creating an ecosystem in which Chrome itself is the spyware.

Given Google's overwhelming presence in the browser market, this is unconscionable.

We should all despise the ad-tech business, and have no sympathy for the companies getting whacked by Google's actions. But we should not permit one monopolist to replace them all.

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/12/year-review-googles-corporate-paternalism-browser

alice,

@dangillmor Remember, folks. "In the name of open-source collaboration" Google raised a middle finger to WebKit and forked it to be Blink, the engine powering Chrome, Chromium, and about 90% of the ecosystem including Microsoft Edge.

They're rather successfully stealing plays from Microsoft's book, harkening back in the Internet Explorer days. Something akin to "extend, expand, quash your enemies".

Monopoly.

Quite the contrast to Apple's day-0 KHTML/WebKit philosophy. https://marc.info/?l=kfm-devel&m=104197092318639

GottaLaff, to random
@GottaLaff@mastodon.social avatar

😳“The 10 yr old boy then "took a gun from inside the vehicle and bragged that his father had a gun," the sheriff's office said in a statement released Sunday. "He then proceeded to shoot the victim once and ran into a nearby apartment."

..The child was rushed to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Investigators believe the suspected shooter's father..tried to get rid of the gun by placing it in a trash can”
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/california-boy-used-stolen-gun-found-dads-car-kill-fellow-10-year-old-rcna131778

alice,

@GottaLaff 🤔

Here's an idea.

Let them have their guns.

But only after sufficient training to not be absolute deadly morons with them, and after sufficient penalties are in place to punish those that misuse or mishandle them.

Not saying we're perfect up here in the Canadark, but long arms are licensed and permitted—plenty of hunting activity up here—and pistols are essentially wholly banned without a demonstrable need.

"Every day carry" or "concealed carry" would be somewhat outrageous.

alice,

@GottaLaff Minor counterpoint: in my hometown I did end up having a chat with a weapons officer from the RCMP (≅our federal enforcement agency) who, with probing questions, illuminated for me that there is no length restriction on blades, and no applicable laws regarding concealment of blades.

"You're telling me I can walk through town with Cloud's sword strapped to my back and there wouldn't be an issue?"

"Yup. Just… don't ask anyone for bus change."

…

"Even if hidden, it's still coercion."

eniko, to random
@eniko@peoplemaking.games avatar

today in minecraft i get to go do some actual mining since i'm fresh outta diamonds and even lapis, and i'm so happy because at least it's not the fucking nether

in other news, twice now i've had to extract a villager who managed to make their way through my nether transport tunnels and decided to make a new life for themselves in my base >:|

alice,

@eniko Barring the horrendous chunk seams that may result, you could spin up a new, more appropriate seed, then use a tool like NBTExplorer to copy the populated chunks from your first try into the second. Ones where you've actually built, not just explored the extent of the snow biome, that is.

melissabeartrix, to random
@melissabeartrix@aus.social avatar

It's only 3.30pm, and I want to go to bed, and I'm not ever tired ... Giggles

Hugz & xXx

alice,

@melissabeartrix Y'know, I'd occasionally get questions from my students—online, of course; haven't done in-person education in two decades. "Uh… you're, like, /always/ online. And responding to people. When the hell do you sleep?"

My response is entirely stolen from the movie Boiler Room: "I sleep on Sunday. It's when the markets are closed." Pretty much lived this—100% night owl. Sunlight only under duress.

Until I had a stroke (no biggie; I'm OK) which changed me to a morning person. Weird.

alice,

@melissabeartrix But yeah, just, flip a switch and your sleep schedule is now the schedule of an entirely different person. 7am, in bed "early" (in comparison to prior standards). Like, four hours earlier.

I'm barely holding on to get to midnight local, and might not actually make it. 😆

melissabeartrix, to random
@melissabeartrix@aus.social avatar

Tradition completed

Go out one year stoned, and start the next year in the same manner

Hugz & xXx

alice,

@melissabeartrix I've got a few hours to go, but I'm maintaining a healthy chill in the lead-up.

That and pizza.
Pizza is on the schedule.

🧈🥬💃🎉

eniko, to random
@eniko@peoplemaking.games avatar

i made a gouda and havarti grilled cheese sammich and it was such a banger, so fucking good 😋

tag: food

alice,

@eniko Gouda rolls. A sushi restaurant in Panama below the office would prepare /gouda rolls/. Smoked salmon, cucumber, capers, seaweed, rice, with an outermost layer of a literal sheet of cheese, lightly skillet fried until the cheese starts sweating.

So. Fucking. Good.

(Esp. in comparison to the brahma "beef" offered down there.)

I am absolutely shocked that work-cation didn't gain me more weight. 🤔 It did net me a Palm T|X I've still got around here somewhere? Not edible, though.

DrJackBrown, to random
@DrJackBrown@mstdn.social avatar

A coup attempt without consequences is a training exercise.

alice,

@DrJackBrown We can only hope those planning / staging such acts are as incompetent as the first, and as incompetent as their legal and technical teams have repeatedly demonstrated themselves to be.

Because if they all used one of those "alternative, right-wing Christian social networks where being verified means you were actually verified", the white-hats would already have all of their government-issued identification, and the contents of all "deleted" messages.

True story.
Nothing deleted.

eniko, (edited ) to random
@eniko@peoplemaking.games avatar

god i'm sick of people saying "things are better with covid! we dont have refrigerator trucks full of bodies!"

yes and thats great but also more of my friends and family have become disabled and or had heart attacks since "things improved" than did before the vaccine was available and maybe i just don't want any fucking more

so yeah, fewer people are dying of the immediate illness of covid and thats great (lets just not get into excess death rates up to 20% higher than pre-covid baseline) but if more people are getting infected and repeat infections have higher and higher odds of disability then that still means more people than ever are getting disabled from covid while the victory fanfare plays

idk man maybe shit can be a crisis even if things aren't as bad as they used to be

alice,

@eniko "There is no safe. There is only acceptable." I watch too much https://www.youtube.com/@tfolsenuclear — he also has some great reactions to other "YouTube scientists" (typically chemistry or electrical engineering) and his facial reaction to arc flash is… telling.

In controlled areas, arc flash is FAR more dangerous than radiation. It's terrifying.

COVID ceased being terrifying alarmingly quickly.

eniko, to random
@eniko@peoplemaking.games avatar

normal coders: we need to redo this program in a memory safe language for security reasons

me: i need to absolutely destroy C#'s memory safety for performance reasons

alice,

@eniko When you start intentionally disabling Python's GIL to squeeze out that last drop of performance (eliminating the overhead of thread elections… and threads entirely) you know you've entered the deep end.

Also: "securely erasing" strings in a language that inters them. Now that password can never be represented for the remaining lifespan of the process. Huzzah! That'll show that secret!

alice,

@eniko I've demonstrated to co-workers a few really weird edge cases where strings get interned or don't based on… non-obvious effects. The shorter the string, and the less computed manipulation (e.g. multiplying by a variable to repeat the string… variably), the higher the likelihood. (There are some uses which explicitly intern.)

https://stackoverflow.com/a/1753654/211827 is me describing the problems with https://stackoverflow.com/a/983525/211827 which explains how to do this using the ctypes module. 😜

eniko, to random
@eniko@peoplemaking.games avatar

OKAY! my unmanaged memory arenas in C# library now has an arena-bound string type, ArenaString: https://github.com/Enichan/Arenas

it does basically everything a normal string does. it can also split System.String and char* pointer strings into a series of ArenaStrings which is nice for avoiding allocations

for more info on what this is read https://peoplemaking.games/@eniko/111504982157987734

alice,

@eniko Can I interest you in a… custom mapping type? 👹

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