archevel's recent activity
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Comment on Tildes Book Club - Spring 2025 nomination thread - Books from minority or diverse or disadvantaged perspectives in ~books
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Comment on Work life balance in a startup in ~life
archevel LinkFor me it comes down to if I enjoy the work I'm doing. If I am not it is time to leave (given that's feasible), if I do enjoy the work then work-life balance isn't an issue. I am fortunate in that...For me it comes down to if I enjoy the work I'm doing. If I am not it is time to leave (given that's feasible), if I do enjoy the work then work-life balance isn't an issue. I am fortunate in that I currently have a lot of leeway in how I choose to spend my time. Some days I might work 4 hours others I might do 12. The important thing to me isn't the exact amount of time, it's about the value I create. So far this attitude has served me well career wise, but that could just be an indication that I work too much (overall).
That said. Getting praised for doing a task well or expedientlyight be nice, but at the end of the day it's a business arrangement. Be loyal to people not organizations. If a colleague asks for help, I tend to drop everything and aid them to the best of my ability. If a boss tells a team that they need to "go the extra mile" or some such nonsense for the for of the company, then I would likely start looking for an exit.
As for vetting a team/manager I don't think there is a solid way to do that unless you know someone who works for/with them. Glassdoor gives one perspective, but that is skewed to people who have left the place for various reasons. Talking to the team & manager is often your best bet, but be aware that you'll likely not see/hear anything that will out you off (unless they are truly transparent and looking for someone who will thrive in their particular environment, which can be very hard to tell).
My recommendation for others is to pick jobs primarily based on your impression of your immediate boss/manager. Secondly on your impression of the team. A distant third would be based on the work you expect to be doing. A bad boss can make life really difficult and working with people you despise will be soul crushing. In contrast doing some meanial work you don't enjoy, but in good company can still be rewarding.
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Comment on Advice Needed: Simple and Reliable notifications in ~comp
archevel LinkDo you have an easy way of checking on the status of e.g. backups? If so would setting a calendar notification with a link to the status check work? I.e. you set a notification to check your...Do you have an easy way of checking on the status of e.g. backups? If so would setting a calendar notification with a link to the status check work? I.e. you set a notification to check your backups after they've run. It won't be pushing notifications when something fails (so might not be what you actually want), just a reminder to check the status.
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Comment on Very unusual behaviour trying to use Duck Duck Go. Any suggestions for what to do? in ~tech
archevel Link ParentJust guessing, but the SSL cert issue could be just because you are accessing the site via the ip and not the domain the certificate is issued for. Also unless you are in the Netherlands it isn't...Just guessing, but the SSL cert issue could be just because you are accessing the site via the ip and not the domain the certificate is issued for.
Also unless you are in the Netherlands it isn't that surprising you'd resolve different IPs for the same domain. I assume DDG has servers in multiple regions in the world and you just get the "closest" one.
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Comment on What programming/technical projects have you been working on? in ~comp
archevel LinkLast weekend I finally got around to trying out Nixos on my laptop. I have a fairly new Dell XPS 16 and I had been running Xubuntu on it with a newer kernel to make the audio work, but I hadn't...Last weekend I finally got around to trying out Nixos on my laptop. I have a fairly new Dell XPS 16 and I had been running Xubuntu on it with a newer kernel to make the audio work, but I hadn't managed yet to get the webcam operational. Since I use the laptop as my daily driver I didn't want to commit to switching distro in case it was too unstable or I didn't like it for some reason. So far so good though!
I now have a set up with Nixos running Hyprland and it was fairly smooth getting it running. I wrote a short blog post about the steps I needed to get the webcam working on the Dell XPS 16. It was a bit involved, but I got a lot less anxious now since Nixos has such a nice way of rolling back changes. I feel I'm a lot less worried about updates breaking things since I can the just roll back! This is also possible for other setups, but with my plain Xubuntu install that was not the case.
I haven't yet experimented with Home Manager, so that might be something I look into next. For now I've just set up my user config the classic way with a bunch of dotfiles. Neovim is installed to my liking with a few plugins I like. I did end up installing Rider for .Net development, the neovim setup with csharp-ls had showed a bunch of spurious errors. So I'll probably dig into that setup too to see if I can ditch it at some point. The refacoring tools on Rider is nice though; and it has a Vim plugin so might not be worth the effort.
Anyway, it was that special kind of nerd fun setting up my system from scratch again :)
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Comment on Tildes Book Club - Nominations thread in ~books
archevel LinkI've enjoyed the previous picks of the book club I've read so here are a few of my suggestions: Maus - I haven't read this yet and a recent post here on tildes reminded me of it. Aniara - Read...I've enjoyed the previous picks of the book club I've read so here are a few of my suggestions:
Maus - I haven't read this yet and a recent post here on tildes reminded me of it.
Aniara - Read this in my teens and would like to read it again. Not entirely sure if the translation to English is any good though. Fairly short IIRC.
Story of Your Life and Others - Collection of short stories by the same author. One of which the movie Arrival is based on.
Odessey - Mostly to nudge myself to get around to reading it.
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Comment on Using AI generated code will make you a bad programmer in ~tech
archevel Link ParentHave you tried asking them for help? If they don't see seniors (which is what they presumably aspire to be) asking for aid/advice/help, then they'll likely emulate that behavior. Asking for help...Have you tried asking them for help? If they don't see seniors (which is what they presumably aspire to be) asking for aid/advice/help, then they'll likely emulate that behavior. Asking for help can make some feel vulnerable (e.g. what will they think of me if I can't solve this myself?) so showing them that it is safe and normal, by actually showing that vulnerability, is a way of establishing trust.
This can also lead into teaching moments. Maybe you have a .net app with some Entity Framework query that is looped over multiple times. Great! You can then discuss why this happens, why it is a problem, and what an appropriate approach is in general. Maybe you have a fairly simple feature that you could get done in a few hours. You can then ask someone else to pair with you on that. In short pull people in to help you rather than pushing yourself onto others :)
Note that some people don't like to do pair programming, so a short whiteboard session where you together go over the design might be better in some cases (like what @ButteredToast suggest). Lots of other considerations too, level of difficulty, describe the problem not necessarily the solution, be open to change your approach (even if you know your way is better) as a way to establish trust, etc etc.
Also this stuff is really hard! It's easy to fall back on just cranking out code as a senior dev since that's what you're probably comfortable with. But, the key to being a really good senior/lead dev is to enable others to become better developers. Doing that require another skill set than regular dev work.
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Comment on Using AI generated code will make you a bad programmer in ~tech
archevel Link ParentYeah, figured it must've been done already. I'm still hopefully it could be done and be helpful for catching e.g security issues. Maybe suggest performance optimizations. But as you say good code...Yeah, figured it must've been done already. I'm still hopefully it could be done and be helpful for catching e.g security issues. Maybe suggest performance optimizations. But as you say good code reviews are hard... And often come up too late (better to discuss the problem with someone first and come up with an initial design, code it up and iterate).
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Comment on Using AI generated code will make you a bad programmer in ~tech
archevel (edited )Link ParentI think your reasoning is flawed. Going with this analogy: The writer (as I interpreted them) isn't arguing that you'll become a bad driver from using an automatic transmission. They are arguing...I think your reasoning is flawed. Going with this analogy:
It reads like someone complaining how automatic transmission is gonna make people bad drivers, and how real drivers all drive stick.
The writer (as I interpreted them) isn't arguing that you'll become a bad driver from using an automatic transmission. They are arguing you'll be bad at driving with a manual transmission if you only ever practice driving an automatic. This seem like a wholly valid stance, people who've never done a particular activity will be worse at it than those that have (in general). An even more apt analogy might be that of a "driver" of a self driving car. If they've only ever used self driving vehicles; should they be allowed to drive a regular car? Arguably they wouldn't be allowed to drive the self driving car if they don't have a license, but I hope it illustrates the point.
If you build better code with AI, that is great! In most contexts it is more important to deliver value than delivering it using artisinally crafted hand made assembly code (even if the latter is superior in X and Y ways). Speed of delivery usually trumps other concerns. But, using AI to write your code most certainly will leave you lacking in ability when/if you need to work without it. As with everything; it's a trade-off.
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Comment on Using AI generated code will make you a bad programmer in ~tech
archevel Link ParentI think the key thing to realize about this is that what is boring code for a senior dev is something that a junior have no to little experience of. Writing "boring" code is writing something...The idea that writing boring code is good for you like some kind of digital vegetable.
I think the key thing to realize about this is that what is boring code for a senior dev is something that a junior have no to little experience of. Writing "boring" code is writing something you've done a bunch of times before. If the problem is new, if the tools are new or if it's been a sufficient amount of time since you last did it, then it likely won't be "boring". I agree with you that you shouldn't write boring code (to some extent it is unavoidable, but it should be an aspiration). But I don't think "boring" code can be objectively defined. It can only be done in a subjective context.
On another note I've been thinking recently that it might be helpful to flip the table on AIs. Maybe they are more useful for reviewing code I write rather than writing code I have to review... Now, I don't want Clippy AI(tm) to critique my code every step of the way, but maybe when I commit it?
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Comment on I am disappointed by dynamic typing in ~comp
archevel Link ParentC# is statically typed in general, but it has support for dynamic types via the dynamic keyword.C# is statically typed in general, but it has support for dynamic types via the
dynamickeyword. -
Comment on I am disappointed by dynamic typing in ~comp
archevel LinkThe higher order programs they describe in the post seem very similar to what aspect oriented programming does. It allows to basically inject behaviour by specifying cut points. In the Java world...The higher order programs they describe in the post seem very similar to what aspect oriented programming does. It allows to basically inject behaviour by specifying cut points. In the Java world this was popular (not entirely sure?) for a bit in the late 00s early 10s. Yes it has it's uses, but in practice seems fairly rarely useful for application development other than by consuming/using existing libraries (e.g. lombok).
Main point is that the type of behavior the author is advocating isn't exclusive to dynamically typed languages.
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Comment on Do you keep a diary? in ~talk
archevel LinkA few years back I got into the habit of scribbling down a few notes about the day in a tiny pad I kept in the breast pocket of my jacket. This usually happened on the tram back to my home and was...A few years back I got into the habit of scribbling down a few notes about the day in a tiny pad I kept in the breast pocket of my jacket. This usually happened on the tram back to my home and was mainly a way to organize my thoughts. It was also nice that I could go back and sort of reflect on if the week had been particularly challenging and how my mood had been.... I should get another pad :)
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Comment on What small questions do you have that aren’t worth a full topic on their own? in ~talk
archevel Link ParentEconomy of scale. The more kids you have the easier they will be on average! Nah, we just wanted more than one.Economy of scale. The more kids you have the easier they will be on average! Nah, we just wanted more than one.
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Comment on What small questions do you have that aren’t worth a full topic on their own? in ~talk
archevel Link ParentMolten rare earth minerals mixture and.... Hot chocolate.Molten rare earth minerals mixture and.... Hot chocolate.
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Comment on Addressing the cause of collapsing fertility: status in ~life
archevel Link ParentYou'd expect to see this in at least a few other countries too then, i.e Canada, Norway, Russia.You'd expect to see this in at least a few other countries too then, i.e Canada, Norway, Russia.
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Comment on Addressing the cause of collapsing fertility: status in ~life
archevel Link ParentJust the numbers on the wiki page. So methodology might have some impact... I'd be surprised if the used methodologies would have an impact on the measurement for the Nordic countries. Sweden at...Just the numbers on the wiki page. So methodology might have some impact... I'd be surprised if the used methodologies would have an impact on the measurement for the Nordic countries. Sweden at least register each person born here and there's likely highly reliable official sources for the data.
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Comment on Addressing the cause of collapsing fertility: status in ~life
archevel Link ParentDug a little bit into the fertility rates of different countries based on this Wikipedia article. Interestingly when comparing TFR in 2024 and looking at the change since 2022 (country by...Dug a little bit into the fertility rates of different countries based on this Wikipedia article. Interestingly when comparing TFR in 2024 and looking at the change since 2022 (country by country), the thing that stood out to me was that the ones that had managed to increase their numbers by more than 0.1 points were Denmark, Estonia, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Sweden (might have missed some scrolling on the phone). Most others either had no or a very small change in TFR (below my arbitrary cutoff) OR they had a decrease in TFR. So at a minimum the above mentioned countries seem to be bucking the trend. Might be interesting to look at them to see if there are some commonalities between them...
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Comment on Addressing the cause of collapsing fertility: status in ~life
archevel LinkEven if you accept the analysis that the low fertility rates can be explained by "status" I have a really hard time understanding why the proposals to fix the fertility rates don't adress the...Even if you accept the analysis that the low fertility rates can be explained by "status" I have a really hard time understanding why the proposals to fix the fertility rates don't adress the "status" issue. Instead the proposals focus on creating societies that undermines liberal values and liberties and assume that a consequence would be that fertility would therefore increase. Presumably the reason would be because women wouldn't have the option to raise their status through "success" (which according to the essay is at odds with fertility) and would instead do so through "virtue" and "dominance"?
Wouldn't a much more straight forward path be to just raise he status of parenthood in general? That could be done in a multitude of ways. The proposals just seem to attempt to frame liberal society as anathema to higher birth rates while note really presenting any evidence of this (quite to the contrary the Iran example seem to contradict it quite a bit). But alas, this is likely the intent of the author. They don't come across as interested in actually finding a solution to their perceived cause (low status of parenthood) of the issue (low fertility). Instead they just spout garbage conservative wet dreams... meh.
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Comment on A new AI model can hallucinate a game of 1993’s DOOM in real time in ~games
archevel Link ParentMy understanding is that is during inference, not during training which tend to be massively more resource intense. On the plus side you don't need to train a model more than once.My understanding is that is during inference, not during training which tend to be massively more resource intense. On the plus side you don't need to train a model more than once.
Ædnan by Linnea Axelsson.