Posts by arclight@mastodon.social
(DIR) Post #ARHpKddMMn62sBh3SK by arclight@mastodon.social
2023-01-03T14:39:34Z
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A recent thread from @bitsavers has added another computer history/memoir to my list (Dave Packard's "The HP Way"); see https://oldbytes.space/@bitsavers/109622471689143002(Aside: Here's a positive use case for QTs - referring to but not hijacking threads)I preemptively wonder if the corporate hagiographies are much less insightful than one is led to believe. Aren't case studies just business fairy tales set in far-gone idyllic lands not beset by the modern pestilence of product managers, VCs, oligarchs, and SAP?
(DIR) Post #ARHpKfPFmD08N16okK by arclight@mastodon.social
2023-01-03T14:48:15Z
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Dunno. My impression is that the key to business success in the US is to be a tall white man, ideally one with affluent parents. Beyond that, it's luck, networking, and flexible ethics. Ability, effort, and vision are somewhere down there around penmanship and diction. #SmallDictionEnergy
(DIR) Post #ARHpKguqAFrV3GtYcS by arclight@mastodon.social
2023-01-03T14:55:41Z
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Aside: An appalling fraction of high-level managers and C-suite types in the nuclear industry are unable to correctly pronounce the word "nuclear".IMO that should disqualify you from a management role in this field. It displays a fatal inattention to detail and an inability/unwillingness to observe, reflect, and adjust one's behavior and habits.New.Clee.Ur.It's not difficult; it's just preschool phonics.
(DIR) Post #ARHpKiPiaw9hhKLjO4 by arclight@mastodon.social
2023-01-03T15:08:48Z
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"Nuculer" is a shibboleth of incompetence at best, malice at worst.
(DIR) Post #ARTzh49zPmZD1V0YWe by arclight@mastodon.social
2023-01-09T23:51:30Z
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My feed is weird:
(DIR) Post #ARdN2mrDLC7Q09EowC by arclight@mastodon.social
2023-01-13T17:03:35Z
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"Loving" Python today.`from datetime import datetime please datetime import datetime the datetime goddamn datetime datetime datetime module datetime`
(DIR) Post #ARdN2oMRkYhCfIrHG4 by arclight@mastodon.social
2023-01-13T17:07:56Z
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pathlib is giving me fits. Apparently oldpath.rename(newpath) requires some sort of goat sacrifice if newpath is just oldpath with its suffix changed via oldpath.with_suffix('.whatever')Maybe Python redefines the word "rename" and I'm just not Pythonic enough to be let in on the secret. Hell, they did it with "range". "range" apparently means "iterator" now.It is what it is. :/
(DIR) Post #ARdN2plIXeAX0fUddI by arclight@mastodon.social
2023-01-13T17:27:23Z
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"Oh gosh! You must be an Old, trying to use datetime. Everyone knows you're supposed to use OverripeAubergine from the CantileveredBurlap framework instead"Because the Python way is to name modules the same way Sherwin Williams names paint colors.That's not "Blue", it's "Cyanotic Vagrant"...
(DIR) Post #ARdN2rCdBVcvTjHysK by arclight@mastodon.social
2023-01-13T17:49:52Z
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It's helpful to read through the Zen of Python periodically. Every time I do, I understand more and more why I feel alienated by design decisions, practices, values, and aspects of the community. High level docs like that reinforce that the maintainers' values are often diametrically opposed to my own. You can't and shouldn't ignore that.
(DIR) Post #AS8iUfVgNAACGC3p2G by arclight@mastodon.social
2023-01-26T21:25:30Z
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I was compelled to explain in a large training session that Excel and MathCAD are not, Not, NOT acceptable tools for performing QL-1 nuclear safety calculations.I absolutely hate that I have to keep explaining this to degreed engineers doing safety-critical work.
(DIR) Post #AS8iUgNDA8yuwD6ZTE by arclight@mastodon.social
2023-01-26T21:26:02Z
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I am going to die on this hill whether I want to or not.
(DIR) Post #AS8iUgymuR2Uokga2a by arclight@mastodon.social
2023-01-26T21:31:23Z
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This just makes me want to cry.Excel is suitable only for tasks less important than Girl Scout cookie sales tracking. Do not bet anything more valuable than a box of Thin Mints on Excel.
(DIR) Post #AS8iUi6cimtwJLMLtQ by arclight@mastodon.social
2023-01-28T03:22:49Z
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@mhoye I think we're on the same page here. Excel is the world's most popular functional programming system. The problem is that it's sold and viewed as an easy-to-use tool for "non-programmers". The problem is that it is in fact a programming system, spreadsheets are software, and should be treated with the same rigorous review process as software written in traditional languages. Hiding the programming aspect of the system has a secondary effect of making them virtually impossible to verify.
(DIR) Post #AS8iUinAAcveRHGKCO by arclight@mastodon.social
2023-01-26T21:35:00Z
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People advocating that Excel, MathCAD, etc. are suitable are required to show difference listings between two versions of a worksheet and demonstrate they can perform a code review of a hundred page worksheet. I've done V&V on >100 page MathCAD worksheets so I know about that which I speak.
(DIR) Post #AS8iUkP8AwtTRK2A1A by arclight@mastodon.social
2023-01-26T21:45:01Z
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MathCAD has two very interesting failure modes - off-by-pixel errors (code execution order depends on typographical position on a page) and keming errors (rendering of unary minus is indistinguishable from fraction solidus leading to negation operator visually disappearing)
(DIR) Post #AS8iUlu0bdBg5NUKmm by arclight@mastodon.social
2023-01-26T21:50:20Z
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I have been on the losing end of arguments over whether a 100+ page MathCAD worksheet was considered "Software" (which requires QA) or a "one-time-use program" (which does not) when the "one-time-use" MathCAD was turned over to a client as a reusable tool.I don't work there anymore.
(DIR) Post #AS8iUmJX4jbVMXQiZM by arclight@mastodon.social
2023-01-28T03:30:50Z
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@mhoye I can't really speak to the pink collar aspect; I'll have to forward that to my wife who is the Excel expert in the family ;)
(DIR) Post #AS8iWNPed2KCiC3VM8 by arclight@mastodon.social
2023-01-28T04:27:38Z
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@mhoye I think you're really misunderstanding what I'm saying and that we're probably in furious agreement.My wife works in emergency management and is regularly called on for complex Excel tasks. She is _literally_ the Excel expert in the household.It's not that I consider Excel a toy, I consider it a tool used far outside of its intended scope of use by people who are not treated as programmers, not given adequate training or tools for their work. That's a problem.
(DIR) Post #AS8ia1WXx87hz11CTY by arclight@mastodon.social
2023-01-28T17:14:41Z
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@cdemwell @mhoye I understand that; I've chosen my words carefully and am open to clarification and questions. However, I'm not interested in arguing over words I haven't said, positions I don't hold, or hair-splitting over terminology or tone. Sorry/thanks.
(DIR) Post #ASRnCX8pw5k7sddpjM by arclight@mastodon.social
2023-02-06T13:50:43Z
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@0xabad1dea Curious how much of this 'mandatory' crap goes away if you're a corporate client vs a single user. Could one choose "use my organization's security policy" instead MS's default info harvesting if one set up a tiny single-user "organization"?Granted, the last thing I want to do is set up MS Enterprise Infrastructure at home; just curious how much corporate clients get to control their own security/privacy policy compared to us mere individuals.