Mendanbar's recent activity

  1. Comment on Megathread for Elon Musk and the US Department of Government Efficiency - second thread in ~society

    Mendanbar
    Link Parent
    WTF does that even mean?? That's terrifying.

    Joe Gebbia, the Airbnb co-founder now working on streamlining the retirement process for government employees, said: "We really believe that the government can have an Apple Store-like experience."

    WTF does that even mean?? That's terrifying.

    15 votes

  2. Comment on US Department of Government Efficiency plans to rebuild Social Security administration codebase in months, risking benefits and system collapse in ~society

    Mendanbar
    Link Parent
    I should clarify my statement above RE port vs rewrite by saying that a port would be possible (and maybe even fine in function) but much less maintainable. I don't have direct experience with...

    I should clarify my statement above RE port vs rewrite by saying that a port would be possible (and maybe even fine in function) but much less maintainable. I don't have direct experience with COBOL, but I did work on some Fortran->C/C++ converted code at one point (lovingly called C-Tran by my colleagues). You lose a lot of the advantages of the target language (including readability and maintainability) with a direct port.

    2 votes

  3. Comment on US Department of Government Efficiency plans to rebuild Social Security administration codebase in months, risking benefits and system collapse in ~society

    Mendanbar
    Link Parent
    It looks like he's asking the speaker (Ian Brown, if I'm interpreting the video correctly). George Hotz seems to be the host that kicks or mutes Ian. This isn't exactly damning video evidence,...

    It looks like he's asking the speaker (Ian Brown, if I'm interpreting the video correctly). George Hotz seems to be the host that kicks or mutes Ian. This isn't exactly damning video evidence, since everyone is talking so much that Elon really doesn't have much time to elaborate even if he wanted to. Then it seems like Hotz takes the cue and covers Elon's ass a bit, but that's up for some speculation.

    Edit: Just to be clear I'm not a fan of Elon by any stretch, and I didn't watch the rest of the video to see if there were further context clues.

  4. Comment on US Department of Government Efficiency plans to rebuild Social Security administration codebase in months, risking benefits and system collapse in ~society

    Mendanbar
    (edited )
    Link Parent
    I took a class in COBOL way back when. As I recall, It's a much simpler language geared specifically for business applications (mostly focused on manipulation of data). Honestly direct porting or...

    I took a class in COBOL way back when. As I recall, It's a much simpler language geared specifically for business applications (mostly focused on manipulation of data). Honestly direct porting or rewriting could in theory be equally fine options.

    My concern (and it seems a lot of others in this thread) is that the compressed timeline leaves zero room for verification that the new system behaves the same as the old one. I would expect something this important to spend months/years in a nonproduction QA environment alongside the original system to fully verify that every transaction is flawlessly duplicated WRT inputs/outputs.

    Edit: Additionally, since this is a government system handling funds ultimately belonging to taxpayers, I would expect to see a bunch of documentation surrounding this process. But we know how this administration likes to find ways to avoid documenting things, so this may be a bit of a tall order.

    Edit 2: Striking out "equally" (see my clarification)

    6 votes

  5. Comment on US Department of Government Efficiency plans to rebuild Social Security administration codebase in months, risking benefits and system collapse in ~society

    Mendanbar
    Link Parent
    Exactly. This would be a valid reason, and could have easily been presented as such in the article.

    If anything, the reason to upgrade is because the world is running out of Cobol engineers.

    Exactly. This would be a valid reason, and could have easily been presented as such in the article.

    1 vote

  6. Comment on US Department of Government Efficiency plans to rebuild Social Security administration codebase in months, risking benefits and system collapse in ~society

    Mendanbar
    Link Parent
    This interpretation is giving me "Fixed the glitch" vibes, and unfortunately seems totally plausible.

    This interpretation is giving me "Fixed the glitch" vibes, and unfortunately seems totally plausible.

    7 votes

  7. Comment on US Department of Government Efficiency plans to rebuild Social Security administration codebase in months, risking benefits and system collapse in ~society

    Mendanbar
    Link Parent
    1000% agree. It's ruining my enjoyment of the classic "Idiocracy".

    1000% agree. It's ruining my enjoyment of the classic "Idiocracy".

    6 votes

  8. Comment on Tildes Minecraft Survival in ~games

    Mendanbar
    Link Parent
    It might be worth trying an alternate launcher. There were a lot of under the hood changes for 1.21.4 and it broke my favorite launcher (GD Launcher) for a while in a similar fashion. It's working...

    It might be worth trying an alternate launcher. There were a lot of under the hood changes for 1.21.4 and it broke my favorite launcher (GD Launcher) for a while in a similar fashion. It's working now, but I switched to Prism launcher for a couple of months and that got me through.

    1 vote

  9. Comment on US Department of Government Efficiency plans to rebuild Social Security administration codebase in months, risking benefits and system collapse in ~society

    Mendanbar
    (edited )
    Link
    I'm more than a little worried that this scenario will play out: Musk's team attempts a rewrite and breaks everything Things are terrible chaos for a while (weeks? months?) Someone else is...

    I'm more than a little worried that this scenario will play out:

    • Musk's team attempts a rewrite and breaks everything
    • Things are terrible chaos for a while (weeks? months?)
    • Someone else is required to come in and fix it (or roll it back to older code/infrastructure)
    • Musk claims victory and credit for "making it all better"

    From the article:

    In order to migrate all COBOL code into a more modern language within a few months, DOGE would likely need to employ some form of generative artificial intelligence to help translate the millions of lines of code, sources tell WIRED

    This line is pure speculation, but I wouldn't be surprised if the likes of "Big Balls" would use AI in this way with little or no code review.

    DOGE would also need to develop tests to ensure the new system’s outputs match the previous one. It would be difficult to resolve all of the possible edge cases over the course of several years, let alone months, adds the SSA technologist.

    This is the most important paragraph of the article, and it's a blurb nearly at the end.

    Edit: I also don't love the author's harsh take on COBOL. There are many benefits to modernizing and moving away from COBOL, and I agree that it should likely be undertaken. But it's not an emergency dumpster fire purely because it's an old language and codebase.

    10 votes

  10. Comment on Tildes Minecraft Survival in ~games

    Mendanbar
    Link Parent
    You can't say stuff like this without linking the video! I had to go looking for it so I could enjoy it all over again. :D FWIW I also got Holy Hand Grenade instruction vibes

    You can't say stuff like this without linking the video! I had to go looking for it so I could enjoy it all over again. :D

    FWIW I also got Holy Hand Grenade instruction vibes

    1 vote

  11. Comment on What do you do with your diplomas? in ~life

    Mendanbar
    Link
    I have mine and my wife's packed away in the fire safe with other documents. They are a point of personal pride for me, but not something I need to advertise to anyone. 🤷‍♂️

    I have mine and my wife's packed away in the fire safe with other documents. They are a point of personal pride for me, but not something I need to advertise to anyone. 🤷‍♂️

    1 vote

  12. Comment on What are some good stories told from non-human perspectives? in ~books

    Mendanbar
    Link
    I read The Wild Robot and its sequel to my kids, and found I actually really enjoyed it. I'm planning to read them the third in the series soon.

    I read The Wild Robot and its sequel to my kids, and found I actually really enjoyed it. I'm planning to read them the third in the series soon.

    7 votes

  13. Comment on The future is Niri in ~comp

    Mendanbar
    Link Parent
    I nearly didn't post either. It's hard to justify being negative in a time where it feels we're absolutely bombarded with negativity 24/7. I thought it important enough to point out though because...

    I nearly didn't post either. It's hard to justify being negative in a time where it feels we're absolutely bombarded with negativity 24/7.

    I thought it important enough to point out though because it did distract me from the intent of the article. I can only guess at the author's motivations, but it seemed like they naively thought that they wouldn't be taken seriously unless they were seen as older. But in fact they established plenty of credibility by mentioning that they have experience with Sway and i3. Maybe the author (or someone else) will see this comment and take it to heart to improve their writing. 🤷‍♂️

    I think I'm in noise territory now, so feel free to mark as such. 🙂

    4 votes

  14. Comment on The future is Niri in ~comp

    Mendanbar
    Link
    This is a super minor nitpick, but the author's representation of time is rubbing me the wrong way. Unless my math is broken, the author is 20. Hmmm What? This was in relation to tiling window...

    This is a super minor nitpick, but the author's representation of time is rubbing me the wrong way.

    The worst "street-cred" I have is that I've been using tiling window managers for thirty-five percent of my life: five years with Sway and two with i3.

    Unless my math is broken, the author is 20.

    This may be worse than finding grey hairs.

    Hmmm

    My decades of muscle memory stopped working

    What? This was in relation to tiling window managers, which by my count the author has used for 7 years (<1 decade).

    Again, I know this is a nitpick. But it was enough to completely distract me from the point of the article, and I was genuinely interested going in.

    14 votes

  15. Comment on Tildes Minecraft Survival in ~games

    Mendanbar
    Link Parent
    ha, the idea of the strip mall travel agency having an underground map room just cracks me up. Love it.

    ha, the idea of the strip mall travel agency having an underground map room just cracks me up. Love it.

  16. Comment on Tildes Minecraft Survival in ~games

    Mendanbar
    Link Parent
    I wonder if you could do something similar to what US maps do to show Alaska and Hawaii? Perhaps show them as some sort of inset.

    I also really would have liked to have Noox included as well as eye choirs.

    I wonder if you could do something similar to what US maps do to show Alaska and Hawaii? Perhaps show them as some sort of inset.

  17. Comment on Long-term experiences with Google search alternatives? in ~tech

    Mendanbar
    Link Parent
    I have not noticed any changes, FWIW. But I also was not aware of System1's acquisition. It is concerning to hear that a privacy focused search engine is now controlled by an ad conglomerate.

    I have not noticed any changes, FWIW. But I also was not aware of System1's acquisition. It is concerning to hear that a privacy focused search engine is now controlled by an ad conglomerate.

    2 votes

  18. Comment on Long-term experiences with Google search alternatives? in ~tech

    Mendanbar
    Link
    I've been using Startpage as my default search for close to 10 years now and have no complaints. Very rarely do I find the need to visit Google search anymore, and even when I do try it doesn't...

    I've been using Startpage as my default search for close to 10 years now and have no complaints. Very rarely do I find the need to visit Google search anymore, and even when I do try it doesn't really give me better results.

    8 votes

  19. Comment on Tildes Minecraft Survival in ~games

    Mendanbar
    Link Parent
    You were able to fit an impressive amount on that map. I'm pleasantly surprised to see the cabana and volcano make the cut. :)

    You were able to fit an impressive amount on that map. I'm pleasantly surprised to see the cabana and volcano make the cut. :)

  20. Comment on (715) 999-7483 - A phone-powered multiplayer website builder in ~tech

    Mendanbar
    Link Parent
    I think someone tried exactly this, as one iteration had some comments in the source indicating what had changed. They were lost on the next update though.

    You might be able to convince it to put the text of the current (and maybe previous) prompts into the page, but it probably wouldn't update as new prompts come in.

    I think someone tried exactly this, as one iteration had some comments in the source indicating what had changed. They were lost on the next update though.

    3 votes