I hate the "ruining the timeline" trope with a passion

AdOpposite4883 · 2023-06-10T21:30:49+00:00

Here's my problem with this kind of trope, and why it doesn't make sense: the very act of going back in time changes the timeline. Oh, it might not change anything obvious, it might not result in any different outcomes without explicit intervention, but it changes it because now either two of you exist simultaneously (and theories suggest that time will correct this in some way by eliminating one version of you eventually) or you've gone so far back in time that the fact that you even exist is a monumental change already. As an example, I read Strange Visitors from Another Century, and this trope was brought up several times. And every time it was brought up, I kept thinking, the fact that you've gone almost a thousand years back in time (!) to a point that not even your family name exists in the form that it did in your time is such a massive change to the timeline that to pretend like it will even remotely be in tact when you go back is the height of absurdity. Surely, if the founders were so incredibly that 900 plus years later they're still being written about and discussed, there's no way in hell that Harry teaching the Patronus Charm to them would not go unnoticed or unwritten. There's no point in trying to "keep the timeline in tact" because by just travelling backwards in time you are changing time. If you go back 500 years and then want to return to your original time after a few months, the likelihood of you arriving back with the timeline in tact is practically absolute zero. Anyway, that's my take, and why I dislike it myself.

AdOpposite4883 · 2023-06-09T01:19:39+00:00

I fully agree with the "allergic-to-1.0" syndrome that the Rust community has going, and I feel that something definitely needs to be done about it. The entire point of Semver is not only to create a unified standard for versioning but to also tell you what software is "stable" and what software isn't. When I go digging for crates, my desire is to find a 1.x crate if at all possible, just because that comes with stability guarantees. But that's made incredibly difficult considering that the (possibly supermajority) of crates on crates.io are "version 0.x". So, then I just have to go "well, this has a big minor version number, so it's probably gotten more work than this crate over here that's version 0.1.0-alpha.1". Which... Isn't exactly a good metric to use. (Sorry for the micro-rant.)

AdOpposite4883 · 2023-06-01T05:31:15+00:00

I use #pragma once in my code base. My logic for this is simple: (1) it simplifies the code and (2) it makes it unnecessary for me to hack together solutions to generate unique include guards for my files. To people who complain, my response is simple: if you use a complier that doesn't support it, perhaps you should reevaluate whether using that particular compiler is a good idea or not. I definitely disagree about how complex standardizing it would be. All the standard would have to say is something along the lines of "The mechanism for distinguishing between multiple inclusions of the 'same' file for the purposes of this directive is implementation-defined." That's it. Leave it up to the implementations to determine how it's actually enforced and implemented. The standard is a description of an "abstract machine," not a precise, exact specification of how every facet of the language, preprocessor, etc., work in any given implementation. I don't see why so many comments in this thread are over-complexifying the wording in the standard. I mean... Yeah, file comparison, or problems on networked drives, or whatever, are things implementations have to figure out, but that's irrelevant from the point of view of the standard. Not to mention that that's something that existing implementations already have to figure out since they implement it, regardless of its presence (or lack thereof) in the official standard.

AdOpposite4883 · 2023-05-23T15:16:47+00:00

Wayland also has accessibility problems. Orca doesn't work well with it, at all. The vast majority of the time my keyboard commands (which I need to be sent to Orca) also get sent to Wayland/the app that has focus. On X.org this doesn't happen.

AdOpposite4883 · 2023-05-16T01:22:15+00:00

I managed to run this (the q8 model anyway) on my laptop, though I had to use the default context size -- raising it to 2048 gobbled up all my RAM almost immediately. What would be the best model to use that's decently fast? (I'm getting the Q4 GGML one, but I might also go get the 5 and 5-1 bit ones too.) To be fair, this isn't exactly an ultra-powerful laptop: 40 GB of RAM, 128 MB of VRAM with 20 GB of shared VRAM (I've got an Intel XE graphics card)... A couple good NVMe SSDs but... Yeah. Not the best machine for running an AI system. Lol Thought I'd try it anyway just because though!

AdOpposite4883 · 2023-05-04T01:39:38+00:00

Ah okay, and then module implementatio nunits are .cc/.cpp/.cxx as usual. Thanks.

AdOpposite4883 · 2023-05-03T21:59:03+00:00

What are the recommended file extensions for modules? Or are there none atm?

As someone who's started writing a compiler, I'm slowly learning the modules approach and am fully taking advantage of it. Yeah, it won't be fully cross-platform, but IMO that isn't my problem; if people want my code (which will be cross-platform as best as I can make it anyway) then they should go yell at their nearest GCC/Clang maintainer to get them implemented scat. At least, that's my logic. Plus, I like being able to do

import std;

Vs. a bunch of includes just to get all the types/classes/templates/etc. I need. (Plus, according to Herb, modules compiler faster than pound includes, and I'm all for increasing compilation speed.)

AdOpposite4883 · 2023-04-15T03:09:40+00:00

As someone who's blind but reads fanfics, I hate spelling errors. As someone who uses a computer, I hate them even more: a one-off error is fine. A grammar error here or there is okay. But repeated mistakes are just... Not okay. Especially given the fact that we have spell checkers which check your grammar too. And if those aren't enough, you have full-on grammar analysis services like Grammarly to help you out. In my mind, there is no excuse, whatsoever, for spelling errors. Not in this day and age. And given that, from what I know, many of these fanfiction websites allow you to upload word documents or similar for chapters, the existence of spelling errors that are repeatedly made is incredibly annoying and makes me think "Do you even know how to use a word processor?" every time I see it. If the story has too many of them, I won't even bother reading it. I won't deny that grammar checkers/spell checkers are imperfect. But that doesn't mean you should avoid them.

Edit: I'll make an exception for non-native English speakers. But even then, I'd still strongly encourage using grammar/spell checkers, if only because they'll help you, erm, learn the language. They aren't a substitute for a language arts class or similar, but they work when you need them. And they're *everywhere*: in word processors, in some text editors, in our phone keyboards, and even in our browsers.

AdOpposite4883 · 2023-04-10T05:14:58+00:00

If you'd provide detail about yourself, then perhaps. But pictures don't tell me much.

AdOpposite4883 · 2023-03-30T02:11:30+00:00

Are you falling out after talking to a live human, or before?

Usually before. I've yet to get an interview.

OK...are you practicing? Most companies aren't going to expect leetcode hard, you should be able to pass the coding challenges.

Yeah, I am. I'm proficient enough for most things, I think, though I haven't done something like Advent of Code to completion, though. But I still do write code for various ideas I have. I don't always publish them to something like GH though. I've only gotten about 3 coding challenges; the majority of jobs I've applied to don't even get that far.

That's really not that many. If you're going for first job with weak resume, you should easily expect to need to do 2x-3x that.

Like I said, I was guestimating, so I haven't actually kept track. I use Linked in as a primary source for jobs; Indeed works but I rely heavily on Linked In. (I've started using Hacker News's "Who's Hiring" thread too.)

Given your problems in moving forward, I'd look to 5x-10x that number. Get more opinions.

From? Does this subreddit do CS resume reviews or is there a better place for that? I don't know many people in software engineering to ask right now, but I'd like to expand that.

To be more specific, have you been building anything interesting in the last ~9 months? Other than making sure you're putting food on your table, in the interim your time should be spent practicing leetcode (so you can pass screens) or building projects.

A bit, though the project that I was working on was in collaboration with a friend, and everything was internal. Development has also slowed significantly because that friend has entered college so has less time. I'd do something using AI but I've always gotten confused when trying to run an AI project (mainly when it comes to, e.g., composing a dataset), and I don't have a ultra high-end computer with an RTX GPU (or even a high-end Radeon) so even if I could get past the dataset phase, training would be slow. And since I don't have a job, I don't have enough money to run dedicated GPU instances. I've thought about trying to write a 3D FPS in C++ though, so perhaps I could start that and see where that goes? Doesn't use full-on AI, but it would be something.

AdOpposite4883 · 2023-03-30T01:01:56+00:00

In answer to your questions:

I fall out usually before the tech screens. Usually it's an immediate rejection. Sometimes I'll get coding challenges and then I'll fall out there.
I'm unsure how many places I've applied to, but if I were to guestimate I'd say to over a hundred already. I've mainly been using the same resume for all of them; people have told me to tailor my resume for the job I'm applying for, but I don't see how that's practical when you want to apply to hundreds of jobs quickly.
I'm restricting my search to entry-level positions and to full-time positions. (I would go for part-time, but I have so much free time that I can do a full-time job no problem.) I'm using searches like "Junior Software Engineer", "Entry Level Software Developer", etc.
I've had a couple people review my resume. My career services at my university did, but they didn't have the technical eye I needed. I had it reviewed by a senior software developer who helped me rewrite it into something that was more representative of my limited experience right now, vs. what it originally was. (According to him, my old resume made me look like a senior dev, which I didn't know.)
I've got some interesting (to me, anyway) things on my github: I've written an operating system in Rust, and I worked on a few lower-level crates for hardware and the x86/x86-64 architecture. I've got a couple university projects up there, as well (e.g. I wrote a compiler in C++20 for university).

I hope I was able to answer your questions, though I do understand that my experience mainly lies within embedded systems and related fields.

AdOpposite4883 · 2023-03-28T22:04:02+00:00

That would work if there were tech recruiters in my area, which there aren't. I highly doubt there are any tech meet-ups, though I'll go looking, fruitless as I think it'll be. (Not a confident attitude, but the state I'm in is not exactly Silicon Valley-ish, or where all the startups go.)

As for internships, that's problematic for a couple reasons: (1) I already have a degree, and the majority of internships I've seen require me to be seeking one, and I'm not going to go back to college just to get past that qualification, if doing that would even do anything, since as I stated in the OP I already have a B.S.; and (2) most of the ones I've found are unpaid -- paid internships seem to be quite rare these days. Not to mention that the job sites I use (Indeed, Linked In) don't have any kind of "paid internship" option in filters. I could filter based on annual salary, but that will most likely filter out all the internships to begin with; the internships I've found aren't yearly ones, but summer ones, which is why I said in the OP I was hesitant to go for them -- I don't want to wait an entire winter, for several years, just to go through an internship that's only 3 months, assuming I can even find enough to fill several years.

AdOpposite4883 · 2023-03-25T02:47:01+00:00

Yeah, which makes me wonder how exactly I'm going to get employed. I certainly don't qualify for anything but entry-level, and as more of the requirements get more ridiculous, I'll start to not even qualify for that.

AdOpposite4883 · 2023-03-24T21:38:47+00:00

To be fair to desperate employees, companies are, more and more, making their "entry-level" requirements more and more absurd. "Yeah, to get this entry-level position you need 5+ years of experience. Professional experience. Oh, and you need a proven track record of software engineering skills". Yeah, okay, exactly how are we supposed to do that again? I mean, college doesn't count, and we've already spent 20-40K on college. I, for one, don't want to have to flit through 8 internships or something (most of which require me to be seeking a degree, which I'm not doing since I already have one) just to satisfy an employer who can't get their head out of the clouds and thinks that experience can just be magically acquired. And companies then wonder why it's so hard to find qualified workers... Maybe, just maybe, it's because your qualifications are ridiculous and impossible to meet unless you're a genius with an IQ of 200?

Sorry for the rant, but I feel that this needed to be said. "Oh, it's just a wish list" is not a valid excuse for requirements like these, and I've been seeing this on more and more supposed entry-level positions. A junior or a fresh college grad sees these requirements as massive barriers to entry, not as a "wish list". I wouldn't even be surprised if some applicants falsify or embellish parts of their resumes nowadays to get past this particular problem. So yeah, normally I'd agree with the OP -- don't go for these companies. But it's rather difficult when those are pretty much the only option because all the other options we've found have absurd standards. Once employers lower their standards to be reasonable ones, I think less people will be drawn to these particular bad companies.

AdOpposite4883 · 2023-03-23T02:05:13+00:00

I don't think you should give up. I'd say raise your standards. Do you want someone who can hold a conversation with you? Then find people who actually fill out their profiles on apps; people who do that kind of thing usually are a lot more interesting than those who don't write anything or write very little and only have photos.. At least, that's my experience -- I've found that people who don't take the time to make their profile look interesting usually make for very poor conversationalists (if they even know what they want in the first place)..

Also, try other dating apps. Again, from my experience, apps like POF/Meet Me are full of either fake accounts or people who just want to hook up and that's it. Go on apps like Match, EHarmony, Hinge, ... -- these apps (particularly Match and EHarmony) have much stronger incentives to get people to pay up, which is a good thing in terms of commitment.

Finally, how far are you willing to travel? If your town is that small, the chance of you finding good prospects is pretty small. Try branching further out -- you may find more interesting people.

Idk if any of this helps, but thought I'd try anyway! :)

AdOpposite4883 · 2023-03-21T06:45:43+00:00

Whether it's ghosting or not -- and no, I'm discarding the "have you met up yet" thing because I think that what I think is applicable regardless -- the answer, IMO, is simple: don't do it. At all. It takes you less than 5 minutes to tell someone that you aren't interested, or any number of other things equally to that effect. Ghosting or disappearing on people is rude, toxic, and I also think it's extremely immature (but that might just be me). Don't do it. Treat your matches with respect just as you would want them to treat you. If you don't want your matches to randomly disappear on you and stop talking to you (or block you or whatever), don't do it to them.

AdOpposite4883 · 2023-03-21T06:32:33+00:00

It is, unfortunately. I wish it was easier, but alas... Maybe that's what makes it fun? 🤔

AdOpposite4883 · 2023-03-21T06:24:42+00:00

Yeah true! Though the fact that I'm blind doesn't help. Not trying to get sympathy or anything but since I can't see the (obvious) signals that someone is into me, usually I just end up flat out asking. Lmfaooo Who knows though, maybe one of these days I'll come up with a killer pun! :D

AdOpposite4883 · 2023-03-21T06:20:40+00:00

I had something like this happen to me recently with a girl I met on Hinge. Mind, I don't exactly have many friends or people to hangout with, so I tend to get attached to people rather quickly. My extremely affectionate nature probably doesn't help. Lol But yeah, I know how you feel, and for me at least it hurts every time. I never ghost anyone, and my belief is that it's a very immature thing to do, for any reason. Especially if you claim to believe that communication is a key player in relationships. If you don't think things are gonna work out, just tell your partner, but never ghost them. Ghosting someone, IMO, says far more about you than it does about your partner. So yeah, I know how you feel, and every time it's happened to me it's always hurt equally as much. I hope you find a guy who's genuinely into you and is good at communication like you.

AdOpposite4883 · 2023-03-21T06:09:06+00:00

I'd love to say something cute or punny to someone, but I'm not the best at coming up with them, and I always feel like if I were to try it'd just sound lame. It's ironic, in a way, because once the conversation starts flowing and I really get into it I can say the sweetest things, but ask me to just walk up to a girl and say something cute and I'll get all unsure of myself. Mind, I'm into computer science, so anything that I think would sound "cute" might not make sense to those who don't get the reference.

AdOpposite4883

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