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troi

@[email protected]

Retired programmer. "Telling a programmer there's already a library to do X is like telling a songwriter there's already a song about love."--P.Cordell.

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@dansup@mastodon.social avatar dansup , to random

Blocking someone should remove their replies from your posts, this is the type of safety features we need in the Fediverse!

troi ,
@troi@techhub.social avatar

@dansup I’m unsure how far this should go. I’m a free speech absolutist but I also respect the right to ignore, which blocking achieves.

A sticky problem. If I was designing something in this space I’d probably leave replies visible on the TL but flag them conspicuously as being from a blocked account.

Messy. I don’t like my idea either.

@CarveHerName@mstdn.social avatar CarveHerName , to random

, 12 Feb 1983, around 200 to 300 women protested the Law of Evidence in Lahore. The law effectively made women’s testimonies worth half that of men’s.

The police used tear-gas and batons before arresting 50 of the protestors. The day is now Pakistan's Women's Day.

A policeman appears to have a woman in an armlock as they move through a crowd.
ALT
troi ,
@troi@techhub.social avatar

@CarveHerName Coming soon to a North American country near you :(

troi ,
@troi@techhub.social avatar

idriss Seems predictable to me. Programmers on the left or middle of some distribution identifying "good" programmers or engineers will use AI and be comfortable having completed some task. Those on the right of the distribution may or may not use AI but will insist on understanding what has been created.

Now, an interesting question for me unrelated to the post is "what would be a good metric to identify
really good programmers?"

troi ,
@troi@techhub.social avatar

idriss makes sense. The 80-20 rule might apply here. A good programmer knows where to spend their time. I've been kicking this around with an old boss and we don't have any firm ideas. A metric should be quantifiable, but your interest & care gets into self actualization. Maybe a version of Maslow's hierarchy of needs for software developers?

I am also thinking the word "good" was a bad choice. It's too subjective and has a negative implication for anyone to the left side of the bell curve. Competent programmers are a thing and I suspect they actually keep most things running smoothly.

I wish I had my old copy of Weinberg's The Psychology of Computer Programming. It's been decades since I read it so I don't recall if it addressed this sort of question, but it might suggest something.

troi ,
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@Camille@lemmy.ml avatar Camille @lwhjp@piefed.blahaj.zone avatar lwhjp +1 for Literate Programming!

@randahl@mastodon.social avatar randahl , to random

Do we want to work for Google for free?

I feared this day was coming — this is the first site I see closing down, because Google has stolen their content.

The owners of this cycling inspiration site asks: What is the reason to continue creating content, when Google just steals it and serves it as AI answers to keep all the traffic to itself?

It seems our EU politicians are soundly asleep at the bike handlebar.

https://www.holland-cycling.com/blog/321-holland-cycling-com-stops-in-2026

Via @saarmuller .

troi ,
@troi@techhub.social avatar

@randahl @saarmuller A successful parasite does not kill its host. This mad rush to AI is doing to the internet what cat and rabbits did to Australia.

@aeryn_thrace@mastodon.social avatar aeryn_thrace , to AcademicChatter group

Were you taught the scientific method, its purpose, history, etc.?

(I mean explicitly, as a model of how all experimental science is done, not vaguely, nor as part of the discipline you trained in, but in general terms.)

academicchatter@a.gup.pe icon AcademicChatter group

troi ,
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@aeryn_thrace academicchatter@a.gup.pe icon AcademicChatter group yes, in high school, in Texas. my home state is not what it once was, sigh.

troi ,
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@aeryn_thrace academicchatter@a.gup.pe icon AcademicChatter group I think it’s more effect or symptom of something else going on. A ‘canary in the coal mine’. Is this world wide? I know the sad state of the US, but here we don’t get enough exposure to gauge civics and science education of other countries.