jbqueru

jbqueru, 12 days ago to random

"We value your privacy" and "1556 partners". Probably not even a record.

E_OVERFLOW

Look, I can understand a dozen partners, one for analytics, one for telemetry, a few for logins, a handful of privacy-respecting ad networks. But I challenge anyone building such a site to convince me separately about the need to involve 1556 other companies.

jbqueru, 26 days ago to random

Hmmm. Write Z80 first, then port to 6502? Write 6502 first, then port to Z80? Write 68000 first, then port to both Z80 and 6502? Write a bytecode interpreter on both 6502 and Z80 and then code to that bytecode?

I guess I'm looking for an excuse to think about writing code instead of, you know, actually writing code.

jbqueru, 27 days ago to random

Well well well, it very much seems like I have landed myself a new job. I wasn't looking for one yet, but that one was looking for me and it seems to be a great match. I expect the formal paperwork on Monday.

jbqueru, 1 month ago to random

Write the first version as if you're going to throw it away. You will, anyway.

(Paraphrased from Fred Brooks).

jbqueru, 1 month ago to random

I'll be a lot more impressed by AI-based code-generating tools when I can tell them something like "port the game Solaris from the Atari 2600 to the Amstrad CPC" and they output something that works.

(I'm currently studying the theoretical possibility of such a port. It might be feasible, but it's not a simple task).

jbqueru, 1 month ago to random

Oh joy, Ubuntu upgrade introduced some crazy lag in the terminal. Very much not fun.

jbqueru, 1 month ago to random

No matter how I look at it, I can't get myself to call the TI 99/4A a computer in its default configuration, because 256 bytes of CPU-accessible RAM doesn't make a computer in my personal opinion. As shipped, it's a game console with a keyboard, with the same graphics chip and substantially the same sound chip as the ColecoVision and the SG-1000.

In turn, that makes it one of the early consoles to have a 16-bit CPU, possibly the first one.

jbqueru, 1 month ago (edited 1 month ago) to random

As I'm unpacking after moving, I'm still missing one computer I'm looking for... but my BeBox is out!

jbqueru, 1 month ago (edited 1 month ago) to random

I just gave ChatGPT another chance at helping me write some code. I pasted some uncommented chunk of assembly (not trick code), and asked it to comment that code.

The most it was able to guess "intelligently" is that the code had to do with graphics. Beyond that, though, it was quite useless. It tried to comment instructions one by one with their literal meaning, and even got that wrong. It also couldn't group sequences of instructions into logical groups.

(1/4)

jbqueru, 1 month ago to random

Everyone: "Do not use the shadow registers in the Z80, they are reserved for the operating system."

Me: "I am the operating system, and I will use the shadow registers any way I like."

jbqueru, 1 month ago to random

My wife @eugenialoli has been working on installing Linux on various old computers for which a lot of other options are now unsupported.

She's been finding that machines with 2GB or RAM or 16GB of storage tend to struggle, whether while installing the OS, booting, installing common apps or running those apps.

2GB of RAM is an incredibly large amount. As is 16GB of storage.

WTF are we software people doing as an industry that makes us consume so many resources?

jbqueru, 2 months ago to random

At times, I tell myself that I'm not qualified to think about the xz situation.

Also, I remind myself that I've architected some major build system (and been scared by complexity and the security implications), that I've been tech lead for a major Open Source initiative (and got burned out in the process), and that I've had a production server breached when an attacker exploited a flaw in ssh that exfiltrated my sudo-enabled password.

Sadly, I've been there...

jbqueru, 2 months ago to random

It's weird how I don't mind writing code that's more complex than necessary... until I force myself to comment it.

I don't like to comment code that's more complex than it needs to be. Force me to comment such code, and I'll simplify it, that I would otherwise have left both uncommented and unnecessarily complex.

(1/2)

jbqueru, 2 months ago to random

When your hardware has off-by-one errors, how do you expect your software to make sense?

At least that's an area where Nintendo Entertainment System and Sega Master System agree, both have an (understandable) off-by-one error in their sprite coordinates.

jbqueru, 2 months ago to random

We're starting to get our office set up in our new home. We have desks, monitors, and I have one machine somewhat hooked up (though it is still missing a lot of its peripherals). I like being able to sit down with a proper chair, to work with a proper keyboard and a proper screen, and fiddling with some code.

jbqueru, 3 months ago to random

As a matter of habit, I'm still formatting my assembly code a bit narrower than 80 columns (I think my editor could show 75 or 76 columns on Atari ST, back in the day).

Right now, I'm just asking myself, why?

And, just like that, I'm switching to 120 columns (which seems to allow a comfortable side-by-side diff).

jbqueru, 3 months ago to random

Second round of covid for me. Damn. Feels like a big cold for now, and I can't seem to get much sleep. Everything is put on hold until I feel better.

jbqueru, 3 months ago (edited 3 months ago) to random

#CDCSays the faster you drive, the fewer risks you take, since you spend less time on the road.

jbqueru, 3 months ago (edited 3 months ago) to random

Interview question: it took 5 movers 7 hours to load our belongings into the truck, from our garage at street level. If a moving truck shows up to unload at our new house at 4pm with a crew of 4 and they need to bring things upstairs through a narrow staircase, what time will it be when they're done?

Oh, it's not an interview question, it's my life right now, and I expect I'll be up very late tonight.

jbqueru, 3 months ago (edited 3 months ago) to random

Poll: I'm going to be writing equivalent code for a variety of targets (essentially porting code to a bunch of targets). How should I organize my code in git?

jbqueru, 4 months ago to random

We got to Greece on Tuesday, my first 3 days in Greece were rough, where I was lost and overwhelmed.

Yesterday was better, I received some good news on the bureaucracy side, and I was able to spend a bit of time setting up our house. Hopefully, we'll be able to move in by the end of the weekend.

Goals for the day: test drive a car, set things up in the house to the point where we can live in it, gather measurements for the major appliances (stove, washing machine, dishwasher).

jbqueru, 4 months ago to random

First impressions of Greece: well, the airline lost my luggage. They have absolutely no trace of it. Fuck.

jbqueru, 5 months ago to random

Our house in Spokane, WA is officially sold, the transaction closed today.

I think of this moment as the turning point in the process of moving from the US to Europe.

If everything goes as planned, we'll be in our new house in about 3 weeks.

jbqueru, 5 months ago to random

I'm riding a train in Europe today, in ideal conditions: no heavy luggage, no connection, within a single state. And it's magical.

While I continue to prefer flying for complex trips (because the airline industry knows how to handle complexity), in simple cases I can't imagine flying when there's a direct high-speed train.

jbqueru, 6 months ago to random

Status: burning out.

We're a few days from flying out as part of the process of moving, I keep having a list of about 10 important things to do before we leave, but I add things to that list about as quickly as I can cross things out.

It feels like it never ends, and I'm worried that we'll leave behind something critically important that can only be done in person.