HeyLaughingBoy

At my first job, our entire order-entry and inventory management system was written in QBASIC. I wish I had the source to try it out with this.

I know someone who might, if we could figure out how to get it off a DOS 5.25" floppy!

So the TikTok memes about an "emotional support excavator" are real!

Showing my age, about 35 years ago, someone (wish I remember who, but google probably knows), wrote an article in Analog magazine called "The Dogma of Otherness" that spoke to the tendency of a certain demographic to always try to understand different perspectives, even when those perspectives were objectively hostile.

Some people just can't not think in shades of gray.

That's funny because the Bluesky app is the only social media app that I have installed. Everything else I do from the browser.

Nope. Like people working in all sorts of safety-critical jobs around the world, we exercise care and (hopefully good) judgement.

I always find it interesting that everyone outside the industry focuses on the downside and completely ignores the positives like, you know, actually keeping people alive.

To bring it back around to software, Jack Ganssle, author of several books, articles and seminars on embedded systems programming is the only person I know of who's had an EPIRB triggered three times.

I have a DVD somewhere about Donald Crowhurst's "attempts." I felt sorry for the poor guy, but he really should have just admitted that it was beyond him and given up.

That's like asking "why are you starting your own project. Couldn't you just contribute to an existing OSS project?"

Some people need to do it themselves.

Irene was pregnant? Good for her!

And on Saturday, I bought a package of four 1/3 lb burger patties (ground chuck) for $7.99 and a package of burger buns for under $2 at a gas station. Kwik-Trip FTW.

That price depends a lot on where you live and shop.

And here I was stupidly thinking that making meals at home was the default and eating out/getting takeout was the exception.

That has only been true in the largest corporation I've worked for (around $4bn annually). Even then, we (devs) had to challenge inconsistencies in requirements or incomplete specifications. The only job I've ever had where I could just do exactly what I was told and get away with it was right after I got out of college.

The code in cars is, by definition.

Not really. In those safety-critical areas, the code really is no different. What is significantly different is the surrounding process.

I had to make some software changes to an old medical device this year. The overwhelming majority of the effort was understanding what the customer wanted and giving them feedback into how that would change the existing system and the risks associated. Then, creating a plan to follow the necessary standard (IEC62304) and creating the associated documentation and getting it reviewed and approved.

The actual code that changed was probably only around 100 LOC but the project took several months. Heck, the code was simple enough that an intern could have done it.

I just learned about Alpha-Gal Syndrome yesterday through a Radiolab podcast. It was really interesting, but they didn't mention that it was spreading. I guess I shouldn't be surprised, since climate change.

Why is that a problem?

I love a good medium-rare prime steak, but I also used to live near a restaurant called Best Steak House, which was anything but. However, they delivered a passable steak/steak sandwich that was worth what you paid for it. And considering that they were in business for decades, probably most people felt the same way.

A great steak is an occasional luxury; a "just edible" one is an everyday meal.

> There's nothing sacred about human-written code

I suspect that there is a lifetime of knowledge and experience wrapped up in that statement and I agree wholeheartedly.

I love writing software and I've been doing it for decades. But I never forget that at the end, there's someone who's paid for it, and needs it to do a job that can't/won't be done manually. And that's why it exists. Not to satisfy my desire to express myself in code, not to allow me to create some golden tower of perfect architecture, but to do a job. Most likely a boring job in the service of increased profitability for some company.

And in the end, the only thing that matters to the customer is if it does that job well enough to be useful. I think -- hell, I know -- that many developers deliberately ignore this critical point.

I can believe that. When we (devs) implemented an interactive design/coding screening questionnaire, we had an uphill battle to get HR to approve us giving it to candidates. Apparently, the company had an internal rule of "No tests." We got past it by convincing them that it didn't have pass/fail criteria: it was an evaluation of their thought process and programming ability.

I am positive that I have answered exactly this set of questions as part of a screening test to be allowed to take a Management Certificate course about 15 years ago.

I don't miss those days. Constantly having chips in the eraser while you debugged the running version on the board and then finally programming an OTP (One-Time Programmable) device when you were ready to ship. I remember Parallax had some development devices that were a battery-backed static RAM with a cable that plugged into an EPROM socket. Faster to program and no eraser needed.

Still, when cheap Flash came along in the mid-90's, it was a godsend.

Before PLCs were popular, technicians built automation systems using various types of relays. The documentation was done using "ladder diagrams" and the procedure was known as "ladder logic." So the first PLCs tried to take advantage of this knowledge by being programmed the same way since it was already familiar.

Later systems added to this by being programmable with structured text.

The first time I came across a system that was programmed entirely with relays I was completely blown away by what was possible. And also by how heavy, noisy and power-hungry it was for a portable device.

You may have a unique perspective on that, though...

I think that age started over 100 years ago.

IIRC, at least 15 years ago, that's exactly what they did. They published a tool suite that your driver should pass before submission because otherwise it would fail when they got to it. I think the submissions were fully automated by that time.

Mine up until a few months ago. Didn't really care because you'd have to stop literally in front of my house to access it. And living on a street with only about 4 properties, that would merit a visit from me asking why you're parked in front of my house.

Not while Goodwill and eBay exist.

Even that's probably way overkill.

That's an escape, not a release.

That hasn't been the case for at least 20 years. And I'm being generous.

Yes. I live in a rural area. The two closest businesses (within 5 miles) are bars. IIRC, both have tie rails so you can ride your horse there. The horse will know the way home, so you just have to stay onboard.

Wife used to be a bartender (somewhere else) and one of the regulars usually showed up on a tractor because he had lost his license. She once fit 3 people plus herself in my 2-seater car as their sober cab.

Sadly, here in the midwest, people driving drunk in small towns is not particularly noteworthy. You learn to be extra careful driving past the bars late at night.