combatentropy

I'm curious why Apple went with USB-C for laptops but not phones. With laptops it was more surprising, because they ditched the beloved MagSafe.

I see no technical advantage in Lightning over USB-C. So the only reason I can think of for Apple to prefer Lightning is profits. But then why relent on MagSafe? Is it because it sells so far fewer laptops than phones that laptop accessories are just a blip?

Also what makes Apple's history incongruous is that they were the ones who first embraced USB with gusto, putting no other kind of port on the iMac, in 1998.

This is an old project, released in 2003 by Dean Allen (1966-2018). His personal website was textism.com, and he also invented a markdown language called Textile.

I've never used it. It bills itself as a "Content Management System", which I've always thought was an amorphous term. I suppose you could use it for a blog, wiki, or something similar.

Before rendering judgment, please read SQLite's own page on the subject. I think you will see that the choice wasn't sloppy but thoughtfully designed, https://sqlite.org/datatype3.html

My takeaway from that is: (1) for many people, SQLite is not your database, but you already knew that, (2) it is nice there exists a database out there with this flexibility, if you want it, and (3) if you choose it, you might consider declaring columns NUMERIC. From the documentation: "A column with NUMERIC affinity may contain values using all five storage classes. When text data is inserted into a NUMERIC column, the storage class of the text is converted to INTEGER or REAL (in order of preference) if the text is a well-formed integer or real literal . . . If the TEXT value is not a well-formed integer or real literal, then the value is stored as TEXT." So NUMERIC is kind of like TEXT except when the text is a pure number.

Some ask, why would you want a database like this? I don't know, perhaps to match your application language if it is also typed dynamically. For example, PHP.

> Jira, Confluence, Gmail, chats, documents, dashboards

The top users of these pieces of software have all been canned, since they obviously were doing no real work.

In 1982 Apple was having programmers report lines of code. Bill Atkinson refactored Quickdraw and put down a negative number, -2000 lines of code. Then they stopped asking him to fill out the form. https://www.folklore.org/StoryView.py?story=Negative_2000_Li...

It's not so much that you need to reduce your accent but that you must acquire a different accent, the one that happens to be mainstream. I don't know if that helps, but that is what a linguist would say. Everyone has an accent. It is just a matter of which is considered standard.

It seems like it would be hard for someone new to a language to even discern an accent. You have my congratulations for even becoming conversant in more than one language. I took several years of Spanish and still cannot carry on a conversation or read much of anything in it.

So is that a bug or a feature ;)

It's nice to know what the ANSI standard is, but what's a practical example?

The only time I use a limit-clause is to paginate. On the other hand, if I wanted to make sure to get all rows whose column value was between 1 and 3, even if it would be more than 3 rows, then I would use a where-clause:

  select * from table where id <= 3 order by id

not:

  select * from table order by id fetch first 3 rows with ties

Right. It isn't something I recommend running in production before every insert. It's just something I have done sometimes, like as part of a big database change, and only to "reference" tables. Like suppose there is a table of 10 rows to populate a dropdown menu. Now I need to add an 11th, but for some reason the sequence got out of wack, and the next sequence value is 15. So I manually set it back to 11.

Do you mean enumeration, whereby an attacker starts at some ID and tries several in sequence?

It has never been a problem for me and my applications. Just because you know a record exists, doesn't mean you can see it. For example, if you are authorized to view https://www.example.com/records/100, and you decide to try https://www.example.com/records/101, then the code will check to see if you're authorized to see record 101. If not, then you will get Unauthorized.

I suppose there are situations where it's a problem if someone finds out that record 101 even exists, but not in any of my apps.

Thank you for uncovering this edge case. To summarize, Postgres reserves a batch of 32 serial numbers from its sequence objects. Then, in the case of a crash, or the promotion of a "follower", that batch is lost.

I consider ID numbers somewhat opaque, like GUIDs but maybe not that opaque. Fretting about gaps in ID numbers can cause hair loss. This is just one of many ways gaps can happen.

It is just an artifact of "sequences", the database object in Postgres that autogenerates the "next" ID number for a column --- automatically set up if you declare a column of type "serial", but that's all a serial column is. Serial just means: make the column of type integer, and create a sequence for it, and set the column's default value to nextval(sequence).

You can mitigate gaps somewhat, like if you're testing and retesting a bunch of inserts, rolling back each time. Well, after a few tests, the next number in the sequence is far beyond the last number in the table. So you can call another sequence function, setval, to reset it. Something like:

   select setval('sequence_name', (select max(id) from table));

Further reading: https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/functions-sequence.h...

Newspapers had the same rule, called the inverted pyramid, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inverted_pyramid_(journalism)

Thanks for sharing.

Well, first of all, I would echo some of the advice of others here. A sabbatical can salve burn-out, though you rightly sense that as soon as you go back to work, the feelings will foam up again --- unless you address the source.

It's probably good that you do _something_ besides sit around at home. Preferably it would be something to get you out of the house and around other people. It could be volunteering, something very unlike your day job, maybe something to get your blood flowing. For example, it might be counterproductive to choose on a hobby programming project to do in your room. Hammering houses together for the homeless, and then going to lunch with the other volunteers, sounds better. But it could be anything. Maybe your spouse could help you brainstorm a hundred things before you try some.

But that won't cure you either. You say you are a perfectionist. I find that admirable and can sympathize with it, but there are few surer roads to disappointment than looking for perfection in others, or even yourself! It's possible your feelings are partly genetic. It could also come from your dad. Even if what caused his depression did not reach you directly, moods and attitudes can be contagious. Furthermore, a great part of your feelings may be arising from your own thoughts. I have found that practically all of my feelings can be traced to some thought. It was tricky at first, because often there is a delayed reaction, or the thoughts are so fast that they fly under the radar.

You might try reading a book by Chris Thurman called The Lies We Believe. I went to seem him in Austin, and I think he is a top-notch psychologist. His writing is very easy to read and down to earth --- not the typical academic gobbledygook. It belongs to the class of counseling called Cognitive Behavioral Therapy --- which is just a fancy name for what I just said, that feelings follow thoughts. Later you might seek out a trusted psychologist to meet with face to face. I found that it isn't so much that a counselor waves a magic wand or knows some esoteric theory that solves all my problems. Most of all it was him listening, in a nonjudgmental way. And most of the advice was simple. Mental problems can often be like the tangle of cords behind your TV or computer. Our first impulse, when we're in pain, is to thrash and pull on them. But that just makes the knots tighter. We need someone who can gently help us slowly untangle them, one loop at a time. It takes time.

Burnout happens to many. What's curious is how young you are, and there's nothing in your post to point to the reason. Do you know the reason?

You should let your child have lots and lots of freedom to do whatever he wants, even if that is often watching television or whatever. Ideally you would have a lot of outdoor places for him to roam --- whether that be a large amount of land that you live on or just a green neighborhood.

This is based on my own experience, because I was allowed to manage my free time. When I got out of school, I had a chore or two, but the rest of the evening was mine to manage. (I was expected to do my homework at some point, though, and make decent grades. In fact I made A's and B's.) But the rest of the time I watched about 2-3 hours of TV, drew a lot, jumped on the trampoline, and in general ran around outside (We lived on five acres).

My parents never sent me to summer camp. The summer was mine. They never made me take piano lessons or join the boy scouts. Nothing.

I graduated magna cum laude, started my own business (which failed) then pivoted to a completely different field (web programming) and taught myself everything, through books, blogs, etc. That was 15 years ago and professionally speaking, I lead a very stable life.

When I hear about today's children being shuttled from school to one extracurricular activity or another, where they have very little unstructured time, I scream on the inside on their behalf. I've known a handful of adults who were homeschooled, and most of them have turned out very poorly. They basically are walking time bombs: quiet and obedient through childhood, then they get out of the house and explode.

As my mother wisely said, "Kids need to be kids." (We had a very strong religious teaching, however, in my household --- firm but not oppressive. I ascribe my own acceptance of that teaching as a key reason I did not just squander all that freedom on drugs, sex, and rock'n'roll. But most of all, I felt very, very loved and accepted as a person, even if I were to screw up royally.)

Why not instead apply syntax highlighting to the URL?

It isn't for that kind of tech writer. It is "for pundits, journalists, bloggers, and assorted scribblers who write about technology".

> And what follows is an ordered list.

Isn't it just a numbered list? You can number things, but that doesn't mean it's in order of importance, just the order it popped into the writer's head.

> Of mostly unsubstantiated nonsense explained in bloated language. That opposite of what I'd expect from good tech writing.

I agree. At first I thought this was for "tech writing" in the sense of user manuals. But this is for journalists. And it's more just a vague rant.

A post three days ago highlighted comments here that had the phrase "why not simply": https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27415725

Hacker News often trims clickbaity words from headlines. Modern headlines are low on substance and high on curiosity-inducing phrases ("How", "Why", "You wouldn't believe..."). This is in contrast to the style of newspaper headlines before the internet, when editors tried to summarize the entire story in one sentence. Naturally such a headline was low on detail, but the goal was the beginning, middle, and end of the story, so that a harried reader could skim the headlines and know the news of the day.

This is because the paper already had your money. Nowadays, news sites don't make money until you click each story. A sad situation for readers.

I have read the article. I can make an attempt at an old-style headline. Something like, "International cooperation halted the depletion of the ozone layer 1989-2019." Less enticing, eh? Now you know whether you really care for the details.

Which brings me to another problem with the article: it could be a third as long. This was a general problem even pre-internet, moreso in magazines than newspapers, which William Zinnser pointed out in his book On Writing Well. The first few paragraphs can often be excised, with nothing lost. It's as if the writer is warming up to writing the article, out loud. First there is a lot of philosophy. Then there is what could pass as an encyclopedia entry for Ozone Layer. Then a human-interest story of the discovery of the hole. This has its place (like in an encyclopedia) but you need to bear your readers in mind, and you are doing them a favor if you omit information that most of your readers already know. No need to bring newborn babies up to speed with each article.

The headline isn't even accurate, because we have not "fixed" it. The damage stopped at the beginning of this century, but the article itself says that the layer won't completely recover until the end of this century.

I don't know why such a short, lightweight, 9-year-old article was plucked from the past and upvoted 50 times onto Hacker News' front page.

> Happiness research is a great example of why psychology isn’t science. How exactly should "happiness" be defined? The meaning of that word differs from person to person and especially between cultures. What makes Americans happy doesn’t necessarily make Chinese people happy.

I would say that the specific cause may differ but the feeling does not. And even the differences in the causes are exaggerated. Sushi may make you happy. A cheeseburger makes me happy. In both cases, our favorite food makes us happy. Paris makes you happy. London makes me happy. In both cases, our favorite city makes us happy. Our parents fighting would make our childhoods unhappy, though the particular individuals who fight would differ. Interests shared with a mate, studies show, makes a marriage happier, though the particular interests may vary from couple to couple.

Yeah, it's hard to measure concretely. But even the most concrete sciences, like physics and astronomy are squishy, just ask quantum physicists. And I see revisions to biology in the news several times a year.

Just because you can't nail down every last fact, doesn't mean that you can't comb through the foam to extract and build a body of knowledge.

12 is a Highly Composite Number, which means it has a lot of factors: 1, 2, 3, 4, 6. In fact, it is a Superior Highly Composite Number. I have heard this makes it extra useful for fractions. --- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/12_(number)#Mathematical_prope...

Yes, and discussed here about a week ago too: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26749737

?

The article is pretty light on how these platforms do so.

Do they not simply bubble up popular posts: ones with likes, retweets, and comments? That might mean a politicized post, but it also could be a positive one about the kindness of a stranger or some cute picture of your kids.

These platforms may well be incentivizing enraging posts. I just don't know how they're doing it, and this article did not help me understand it.

When I first heard about it in grade 8, I thought it was the dumbest thing ever. The first pair, Introvert or Extrovert made sense. But I could never make up my mind on the rest: Intuitive or Sensing, Thinking or Feeling, Judging or Perceiving? I felt I could be either, depending upon mood.

Later I learned that these terms had hyperspecialized meanings, different from how most people use them in everyday speech, especially the latter two pairs (thinking and feeling, judging and perceiving).

Finally I heard that the last pair is some kind of key, which turns the meaning of the middle two pairs. If that does't make sense, that is expected. The letters are just symptoms of inner causes, called the Cognitive Functions, which only the most serious of devotees have heard of, and even fewer understand.

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To go back to basics, it is obvious to me that personality is partly biological. Whether you are introvert or extrovert, for example, doesn't seem to be changeable by sheer force of will or even long, continuous practice. The genetic origin doesn't mean you will match your parents. Just like hair color or the shape of the nose, it can vary, and genes from both sides interact to form a unique child each time. Child 1 can be the polar opposite of Child 2, and things are reinvented once again with Child 3 --- and I don't think it's all explained by birth order. I think there are personality genes.

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The best way I have found to approach Myers Briggs is backwards. Instead of taking a test or trying to understand the exact meaning of each letter, just read the prose descriptions of the 16. https://www.personalitypage.com/html/portraits.html I think you will find some familiar faces in there --- not only a few that sound like yourself but many that remind you of friends. And these are about how you are in default mode, when you are relaxed, not trying. Certainly you can imitate the others for a little while. But some things seem to go with your grain, and others against it. How are you when you behave automatically? That's all that it's about --- not your whole potential when you bring learning and effort into the mix. Some things that are easy and natural for others will always be harder for you, and vice versa.

So there's something to it. My main reservation is that I think 16 is too many, but only by a little. Maybe there are just 12 genetic types (which are further built upon by one's upbringing, experiences, etc., to make each of us unique).

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As a final note, back to the Cognitive Functions, I think they may be hard to grapple with at first, but they are what make Myers Briggs distinctive. It is the only personality theory that posits that how you feel on the inside is often the opposite of how you appear on the outside. For example, I think I am probably an INFJ. Alone in my thoughts or in writing, I am analytical, logical, factual, always trying to come to judgment on this theory or that. But at a party I am open, agreeable (to a fault), even gregarious if my energy is up. Likewise someone else may feel in touch with humanity in their inner selves, but socially will come across as coolly decisive and a hard-nosed debater.

Did you mean where it says "did you mean . . . "?

youmightneedtoreadtheintro

Only the directory is pronounced etsy. The rest of the time we say et cetera.

I don't even know how widespread etsy is for the directory. I hardly ever hear anyone pronounce anything, since most communication among programmers is written.

It is for the same reason that anyone ever nudges anyone else about pronunciation, spelling, or grammar: speed of communication.

If you pronounce "/etc" as "et cetera", then it will add a step in me parsing your speech ("Oh, he means 'etsy'").

Second, now I have an awkward decision to make when speaking back to you. Do I adapt my pronunciation to yours for the length of this conversation? Or do I pronounce it my way, causing the extra step in your translation of my speech, then also causing you to wonder why I am saying it differently, furthermore causing you to consider whether to change your pronunciation to mine, if nothing else to end this extra thought process every time?

Also, if I adapt my pronunciation to yours, I guess now I need to remember to say it your way every time we talk forever, and say it Henry's way when speaking to him, and now I have this whole table in my head of various pronunciations for various individuals.

And then what happens if I am in conversation with you and Henry at the same time? Do I say things your way, his way, or my way? And what do you do? And what does Henry do?

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Or we could just stop, agree upon a common pronunciation, and move forward at the normal speed of conversation.

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To clarify, the tone never should be condescending. This is a small matter. Therefore the tone should be light.

The pronunciation that is deemed "correct" is usually the one of the majority. So it is just an attempt to get everyone on the same page. It strikes me more as "inclusive" than "anti-inclusive". If I were "anti-inclusive", then I would silently let you say it your way, smile inside, and then talk behind your back to Henry about what a newb you are.