em-dash's recent activity
-
Comment on Are Feeds - like RSS or Atom feeds - Really Worth It For A Personal Blog? in ~comp
-
Comment on Timasomo 2024: Week 3 Updates in ~creative.timasomo
em-dash Link ParentNo worries! Can't guarantee I'll get to it immediately either, life happens.No worries! Can't guarantee I'll get to it immediately either, life happens.
-
Comment on Timasomo 2024: Week 3 Updates in ~creative.timasomo
em-dash Link ParentI would love to take a look at it :D This sounds very much like it could be my kind of book.I would love to take a look at it :D This sounds very much like it could be my kind of book.
-
Comment on Paper: Feminism in Programming Language Design in ~comp
em-dash Link ParentThe multilingual language mentioned, inexplicably referred to as Arabic-based immediately after it was introduced*, was kind of an attempted gesture in that direction, but I agree that I would...The multilingual language mentioned, inexplicably referred to as Arabic-based immediately after it was introduced*, was kind of an attempted gesture in that direction, but I agree that I would have liked to see more of that and less of all the other things going on in this paper.
* I had a whole second paragraph here about how replacing one language not everyone speaks with a different language not everyone speaks is a non-solution. Upon rereading, I realized the mentions of Arabic in section 1.1 had led me to conflate Hedy with the Arabic-based Lisp mentioned in 6.2. I still think that one is a bad idea.
-
Comment on Using AI generated code will make you a bad programmer in ~tech
em-dash Link ParentThe problem is code exists in a context. Is this tiny helper function a security problem? That depends on how it's called. Is this database query going to be slow? That depends on the indexes and...The problem is code exists in a context. Is this tiny helper function a security problem? That depends on how it's called. Is this database query going to be slow? That depends on the indexes and size of the data. If I went around reviewing pull requests at work leaving comments like "make sure there are indexes!" without actually looking to see if there are indexes, or if the table being queried has a two-digit number of rows in practice and doesn't need indexes, I'd expect to be quickly told to knock it off.
Code review requires reasoning, something LLMs can only emulate. They are good at one thing, generating text. Generating text is not the hard part of code review.
Personally, I think there's some mostly-unexplored territory around automated code quality, but LLMs ain't it. I'd like to see a small fraction of this level of effort go into better deterministic static analysis tools. If I'm touching a tiny helper function deep inside a codebase, go look at all its callers, and their callers, etc., and see what behavior actually changes, and tell me - deterministically, with certainty - if that will cause issues.
-
Comment on Using AI generated code will make you a bad programmer in ~tech
em-dash Link ParentThat's a thing. It is not good. Effective code review requires domain knowledge and codebase knowledge, in addition to "best practices" knowledge. That's why code reviewers tend to be more senior...Maybe they are more useful for reviewing code I write rather than writing code I have to review
That's a thing. It is not good.
Effective code review requires domain knowledge and codebase knowledge, in addition to "best practices" knowledge. That's why code reviewers tend to be more senior employees; you can't just hire an intern and give them a How To Do Software Architecture Real Good book and tell them to review all the code everyone else writes.
-
Comment on I am disappointed by dynamic typing in ~comp
em-dash LinkI think the thing I'm missing here is why any of the author's proposed features depend on dynamic typing. For example: Lots of statically typed languages have callable non-function objects! Fewer...I think the thing I'm missing here is why any of the author's proposed features depend on dynamic typing. For example:
We can replace a function with an object that can be called for the exact same behavior, but also gives us an information sidechannel.
Lots of statically typed languages have callable non-function objects! Fewer let you replace functions, but that's not a dynamic typing thing, that's a "considering globally-defined functions to be constants" thing. That the two tend to correlate is a property of how languages influence each other, not of the type system.
For example, here's a direct C++ translation of the Python example from the article, using a mutable function reference since you can't overwrite the function directly.
-
Comment on Stacking laptops in ~tech
em-dash Link ParentI once accomplished this by physically removing the magnets that would trigger the lid sensor. You should probably not do this on a machine you don't own.I once accomplished this by physically removing the magnets that would trigger the lid sensor.
You should probably not do this on a machine you don't own.
-
Comment on Timasomo 2024: Week 2 Updates in ~creative.timasomo
em-dash LinkLast night, I assembled a prototype of my Steam Deck keyboard, and did some typing and hardcore gaming with it. It's in desperate need of real button labels (I at one point just ssh'd into my...Last night, I assembled a prototype of my Steam Deck keyboard, and did some typing and hardcore gaming with it. It's in desperate need of real button labels (I at one point just ssh'd into my laptop, pulled up the keymap in the qmk source, and referred to it while playing nethack), but I think the core idea is definitely sound.
I abandoned the original plans I had for the dpad, in which I would just put a taller dpad on top of it, upon realizing that the dpad is special: it's the one button that tilts when pressed instead of just moving downward, so you can't just constrain it to move up and down like you can with other buttons. And the taller you make it, the more horizontal movement is generated by a given tilt angle. The four-separate-button arrangement shown there is me experimenting with what to do instead. It's... usable, but it does not feel good to use.
I'm also going to look around for some lower-profile diodes. The switches I'm using (KXT3) are very low profile, and part of what made button design so challenging is that the diodes (1N4148WS) are significantly taller and mounted right next to each switch, so the bottom of each button has to be shaped to hit the switch while missing the diode.
I have also gotten a friend sufficiently excited about this project to help me out with mechanical design :3 She is good at this sort of thing and will very likely have better ideas about some of these issues than my decidedly "idk just mess with the numbers until it fits right" approach to design.
-
Comment on Stacking laptops in ~tech
em-dash LinkYes, that would work. The magnets are much less powerful than you're probably thinking. They're only there to trigger a lid-closing sensor on the other side. You could place the laptops directly...Yes, that would work.
The magnets are much less powerful than you're probably thinking. They're only there to trigger a lid-closing sensor on the other side. You could place the laptops directly on top of each other and it'd be magnetically fine.
Heat is the bigger concern. Anything that keeps them a couple of inches apart and doesn't block the fans is good enough, unless you have very hot laptops.
-
Comment on Timasomo 2024: Week 1 Updates in ~creative.timasomo
em-dash Link ParentYep, that's one thing I discovered after printing this. It is just barely wide enough for full motion with the stock joystick, but I have a silicone cap on mine that adds a couple of millimeters...I'm sure you're already planning to, but probably want to fillet or chamfer the joystick hole.
Yep, that's one thing I discovered after printing this. It is just barely wide enough for full motion with the stock joystick, but I have a silicone cap on mine that adds a couple of millimeters of width and bumps into that circle.
-
Comment on Timasomo 2024: Week 1 Updates in ~creative.timasomo
em-dash Link ParentGames that need lots of buttons! Mostly this is PC-centric games that were designed for a keyboard and took full advantage of that, e.g. roguelikes or games that bind the number keys to inventory...Games that need lots of buttons!
Mostly this is PC-centric games that were designed for a keyboard and took full advantage of that, e.g. roguelikes or games that bind the number keys to inventory switching.
Recently I was playing multiplayer Satisfactory, which both expects almost as many separate keys as a classic roguelike for gameplay (the community controller mappings do a lot of binding unrelated actions to short and long press of the same button), and also meant I found myself wanting to type text and having no better option than the on-screen keyboard because I wasn't playing at a desk. I don't know yet if typing will be comfortable on this, but I've set up the layout to theoretically allow for it.
-
Comment on Timasomo 2024: Week 1 Updates in ~creative.timasomo
em-dash Link ParentI know that pain. I assume from the other tools you mention that you're aware drill presses are a thing, and you just don't have access to one?Ever tried to drill a 1 inch hole in 1/2 inch steel plate? It sucks.
I know that pain. I assume from the other tools you mention that you're aware drill presses are a thing, and you just don't have access to one?
-
Comment on Timasomo 2024: Week 1 Updates in ~creative.timasomo
em-dash (edited )LinkI didn't participate last year and hesitated to participate this year because I am uncertain whether deadlines (even informal ones) help or hurt me, but let's try it! Worst case, I'll just...I didn't participate last year and hesitated to participate this year because I am uncertain whether deadlines (even informal ones) help or hurt me, but let's try it! Worst case, I'll just silently stop posting and pretend it never happened.
I've been working on an addon keypad for the Steam Deck for a couple of months now, which is Technically Not Allowed, but my goal is to get a fully-usable prototype built by the end of the month. I have a working PCB with some microscope-and-a-steady-hand bodges and I'm waiting for one to show up with the real fixes; I expect that to be the last PCB revision. Electronically, it's fairly simple - it's just a weird-shaped USB keyboard, and the mechanical keyboard community has done a lot to make those easy to build. (This also means it's automatically compatible with any game that can use keyboard input.)
The case shown in that image is a redesign (of a very broken FreeCAD model) that I've done over this past week. It's a two-part shell that screws together from the back and then clips over the Deck, covering the left touchpad but leaving space for the other controls to poke through. I'll be putting extension buttons over the stock buttons that would be too far down in a hole to comfortably reach.
I have not tried printing the buttons yet; I expect them to need some iteration. That's probably what I'll be doing over the next week.
-
Comment on Use plain text email in ~tech
em-dash Link Parentthis post is vertically huge for comedic effect but I don't want to make people scroll past it t h e n I w i l l r e s p o n d t o y o u w i t h a s i m i l a r l e v e l o f i l l e g i b i l i t y- Exemplary
this post is vertically huge for comedic effect but I don't want to make people scroll past it
t
h
e
nI
w
i
l
lr
e
s
p
o
n
dt
oy
o
uw
i
t
ha
s
i
m
i
l
a
rl
e
v
e
lo
fi
l
l
e
g
i
b
i
l
i
t
y -
Comment on Use plain text email in ~tech
em-dash LinkI am begging people to stop hard-wrapping text. Invariably I will view it on a screen that is a different width than yours, and then all the text is either weirdly narrow or it double-wraps and...I am begging people to stop hard-wrapping
text.Invariably I will view it on a screen that is a
different width than yours, and then all the
text is either weirdly narrow or
it
double-wraps and you get one word on every
other
line, which is also annoying to read. The
correct
place to do text layout is client side, where
you
know all the details of the font and screen
width
being used, as well as any relevant accessibility
settings
the reader may have set. -
Comment on Reversing file access control using disk forensics on low-level flash memory in ~comp
em-dash (edited )LinkThis seems... excessive. Why not just mount it from another OS and change the permissions back? edit: they also suggest using it to recover from ransomware. If you have the foresight to set this...This seems... excessive. Why not just mount it from another OS and change the permissions back?
edit: they also suggest using it to recover from ransomware. If you have the foresight to set this up, why not set up regular backups instead?
-
Comment on The elite college students who can’t read books in ~humanities
em-dash (edited )Link ParentI was definitely a nerd, but not the reading sort of nerd. Being forced to read things for school thoroughly killed my enthusiasm for reading before it ever got a chance to develop. I didn't...imagine being a middle or high school nerd and not having read LOTR, Silmarillion, WoT, Dragonlance, Dune, William Gibson, etc.
I was definitely a nerd, but not the reading sort of nerd. Being forced to read things for school thoroughly killed my enthusiasm for reading before it ever got a chance to develop. I didn't realize until much later that it could be enjoyable.
(My school district had this well-intentioned attempt to incentivize students to read 25 books per school year. "Incentivize" almost immediately turned into teachers making it mandatory. Kids who already liked reading were fine, but the rest of us just resented it and picked 25 books we could either get through quickly or could credibly pretend to have read. It turns out forcing someone to do something 25 times is not an automatic path to them liking that thing. This was a thing throughout elementary and middle school for me. Everyone forgot about this program around the time I entered high school, but by that point the damage was done.)
(edit: I also just spontaneously remembered the time someone in my class got told off by our middle school literature teacher for reading Eragon during class. That's unrelated to the rest of this story, it's just bizarre enough to have stuck in my memory.)
-
Comment on The massive US port strike has begun: 'We are prepared to fight as long as necessary' in ~transport
em-dash Link ParentThis is oddly fascinating to me. How do they negotiate, then? Striking, in particular, seems somewhat ineffective if the people refusing to work don't actually work at the company you're trying to...Unions work differently here, any employee can join one even if their workplace is not unionized
This is oddly fascinating to me. How do they negotiate, then? Striking, in particular, seems somewhat ineffective if the people refusing to work don't actually work at the company you're trying to pressure.
-
Comment on I'm looking for a spicy wasabi snack that will kick my ass and make me regret eating it in ~food
em-dash Link ParentOnce in a while I realize that there is some aspect of other people's lives that I have literally zero idea about. For example, how much does a dominatrix cost? (edit: hundreds of dollars per...Once in a while I realize that there is some aspect of other people's lives that I have literally zero idea about.
For example, how much does a dominatrix cost?
(edit: hundreds of dollars per hour, it seems)
If you don't even want to go that far, a friend wrote a tool that just manages feeds and nothing else.
I don't use it myself (I looked into it then decided to bodge feeds onto my own weird custom SSG) but it may fit your needs.