@akosma@mastodon.online
@akosma@mastodon.online avatar

akosma

@akosma@mastodon.online

Senior Architect at Red Hat • Computer historian • Amateur math hobbyist • Veteran software programmer • Author of https://mas.to/@deprogrammaticaipsum • Fedora user • Toots in the national languages of 🇦🇷,🇨🇭, & 🇬🇧 • Searchable profile at https://tootfinder.ch

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

akosma, to random
@akosma@mastodon.online avatar

Regular reminder:

"In this world, which is getting more and more closely interconnected, we have to learn to tolerate each other. We have to learn to put up with the fact, that some people say things that we don’t like. We can only live together in that way. And if we are to live together and not to die together, we must learn a kind of charity and a kind of tolerance, which is absolutely vital to the continuation of human life on this planet."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihaB8AFOhZo

akosma, to random
@akosma@mastodon.online avatar

current status

akosma,
@akosma@mastodon.online avatar

so this is how George R. R. Martin does his writing, I like it

akosma,
@akosma@mastodon.online avatar

@santiago rotfl

akosma,
@akosma@mastodon.online avatar

@maxhandelman 🤣 🤣 🤣

akosma,
@akosma@mastodon.online avatar

I actually have next to me the notes my mother took (yes, I still have them) while doing a training about MS-DOS, WordStar, and Lotus 1-2-3 (kids: that was the leading Office suite in 1987), and it's quite an emotional moment.

akosma,
@akosma@mastodon.online avatar

For those interested in the tech details, I'm using DOSBox for Linux and I downloaded WordStar from here. Works like a charm. https://winworldpc.com/product/wordstar/40

akosma,
@akosma@mastodon.online avatar

Interestingly, I also have Word for Windows 5.5 for DOS in there, and the documents it generates are 100% readable by LibreOffice; sadly, that's not the case with WordStar documents, and there's very little software out there that can read that format. Not even AbiWord can, and MS Office stopped reading those files around 20 years ago.

akosma,
@akosma@mastodon.online avatar

For comparison, LibreOffice can totally read Lotus 1-2-3 files, including graphs and everything. It's sad that WordStar did not get the same attention.

akosma,
@akosma@mastodon.online avatar

I found a Perl script that does the job, transforming those WordStar docs into pure text. It gets the job done.

akosma, to random
@akosma@mastodon.online avatar

I just stumbled upon some old blog post of mine, and those screenshots of Mac OS X of yore make me nostalgic. The depth. The vibrant colors. The strong contrast. The clarity. Le sigh.

https://akos.ma/blog/more-nib2objc-fun/

akosma,
@akosma@mastodon.online avatar

Also, nib2objc was fun.

akosma, to random
@akosma@mastodon.online avatar

Here's something to enjoy. Prepare your favorite beverage, lean back, close your eyes. Have an unforgettable weekend.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgS_2eW4RTM

akosma, to random
@akosma@mastodon.online avatar

Among the various reasons why I think 1989 was an annus mirabilis for music, is this album. https://open.spotify.com/album/4RZbMW9C2xsnuwad8rKOrl?si=XEvsg5BISMu1iejxWDG5CQ

akosma,
@akosma@mastodon.online avatar

Speaking about annus mirabilis, 1905 was the biggest of them all. Also, if you feel like you're underachieving, Einstein was 26 when he published those four papers. You're welcome. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annus_mirabilis_papers

akosma, to random
@akosma@mastodon.online avatar

I'm always amazed by the lengths people will go to avoid writing a single SQL query, instead using hilariously complex ORMs that will, eventually, have performance issues of their own, not to mention the horrendous APIs (and documentations thereof) they have to put up with.

BUT BUT BUT PORTABILITY

Portability? In 27 years, I've seldom seen apps switching databases. Actually, I've seen more apps being rewritten from scratch, which might or might not include a change in the underlying RDBMS.

akosma,
@akosma@mastodon.online avatar

OK, I'll give you the help against SQL injection attacks. That's useful. But couldn't that problem be solved separately? Spoiler alert: it can.

akosma,
@akosma@mastodon.online avatar

Just to be clear, I'm positive ORMs are fantastic in many scenarios; I'm just sad to see them generate more work during maintenance, either because they are inefficient, badly documented, discontinued, or whatever else.

It's a big tradeoff to consider; either taking longer for your version 1.0 or your MVP, either being able to optimize perf more easily later on (or avoid issues with discontinued or deprecated libraries in the future).

Decisions, decisions.

akosma, to random
@akosma@mastodon.online avatar

My AI-generated text detector consists of a simple, efficient, cross-platform, extremely fast filter, and here's a version in curly-bracket-pseudocode so you can adapt it to your own infrastructure, no matter which tech stack you use:

if (text.startsWith("In the ever-evolving landscape of…")) {  
 print("AI-regurgitated crap");  
 exit(1);  
}

You're welcome.

Patricia, to random
@Patricia@vivaldi.net avatar

Every time I hear this I just love it. And it shows a thing I’m sure has a name in linguistics, it’s easier to understand the accented foreign speech if the accent is of your own language. Also once you hear it it’s hard to unhear (maybe you need to know a little bit of Spanish)
https://youtu.be/KywKPORy7BQ?si=qmWsFY0SqhYADYJm

akosma,
@akosma@mastodon.online avatar

@elitalon da ganas de estar ahí es terrible

akosma,
@akosma@mastodon.online avatar

@elitalon este Andy Kusnetzoff, allá por los '90, era croniquero de "Caiga quien Caiga" en Buenos Aires, y se metía de polizón (de manera inexplicable) en la ceremonia de los Óscares, con tal asiduidad que al cabo de unos años Sigourney Weaver lo llamaba por su nombre y lo invitaban a la fiesta después de la entrega. Cabe aclarar que NUNCA tuvo invitación oficial y lo sacaron con la seguridad más de una vez. Un personaje profundo.

akosma,
@akosma@mastodon.online avatar

@elitalon que lo tiró las patas, YouTube recuerda todo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXgZr0R_P1w

akosma,
@akosma@mastodon.online avatar

@elitalon no te pierdas esta https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GB4Qj7SbNkU

akosma,
@akosma@mastodon.online avatar

@elitalon pobre la OP le copamos el thread, espero que no se chive

akosma,
@akosma@mastodon.online avatar

@elitalon es maravishoso

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