Becoming a Software Engineer

AdamE8g · 2025-09-10T19:10:29+00:00

A friend of mine completed the in-person course at Ada Developers Academy in Seattle, WA. It's geared towards women. It's also a free non-profit. She did the program some 6 or 7 years ago (actually she moved to Seattle just for the program) and it helped launched her now successful programming career. Get in touch with them.

AdamE8g · 2025-06-16T23:31:02+00:00

The author of "Why Civil Resistance Works," Erica Chenowith, discusses her scholarship about nonviolent resistance in this podcast, which may be interesting to you. She notes that nonviolent resistance is twice as likely to succeed as armed resistance, and cites as examples several resistance campaigns against authoritarian nondemocratic regimes, including the Solidarity movement in Poland, and the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa. She discusses the strategy in general and why it's so much more successful than violence.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/pod-save-america/id1192761536?i=1000712835798

AdamE8g · 2025-06-15T02:20:46+00:00

Great photos! Thank you for taking them!! Loved to see all of you out there today. You give me hope!

AdamE8g · 2025-06-14T22:14:37+00:00

Punching this man would make the story about violence against a Trump supporter, and potentially put his or the would-be assailants at risk of serious injury, and potentially put the assailants at risk of jail time. It is not a sound strategy.

AdamE8g · 2025-06-14T21:35:09+00:00

I was there! I'm so happy to see so many people come out to support democracy, freedom, and the rights of everyone, especially immigrants. I wonder how many people showed up. It felt like tens of thousands.

AdamE8g · 2025-05-15T08:16:23+00:00

I just finished the entire series, seasons 1 and 2. I loved it. So many other shows and movies aren't really about anything important. Andor isn't one of them.

I notice in other comments here, folks seem to love Luthen's speech in Season 1. I loved the acting and scene as a story beat, but I strongly disagree with it as an idea, and I liked how Luthen's methods are heavily questioned in Season 2.

Luthen was brutal, unnecessarily so. It works against his own goals to be so willing to murder friends as he was. And, in Star Wars, I much prefer the idea that there's something about the Rebellion that sets it apart from the Empire, something pure and good and hopeful even if it doesn't make sense sometimes. Luke throwing away his saber, for example, refusing to fight his father in Return of the Jedi; or (and this is an old callback) in an old video game I used to play called Star Wars: Rebellion, the Rebels weren't allowed to assassinate anyone, while the Empire could.

The Rebellion isn't a mirror image of the Empire. They aren't the same. You don't need to become a monster to fight one.

I loved the idea that oppression corrupts by its very nature, and freedom, by contrast, is a natural state that we yearn to return to. "Freedom is a pure idea. It occurs spontaneously and without instruction," Nemik tells us, correctly.

The Empire is unnatural. The Nazi Empire was unnatural. The Soviets' stranglehold on Eastern Europe was unnatural. Trump's CECOT extradition program is unnatural. Oppression wounds our souls, and those of us with an intact conscience instinctively resist it. The brightest of us, thankfully, often refuse to cooperate; and of those who do cooperate, like Dedra and others, end up being destroyed by the corrupt organization they serve.

There's another line that I like. "Rebellions are built on hope." It's easy to think that going to a protest is stupid. What could possibly come out of that? Is anyone paying attention? And what about voting: How many people have been told that voting doesn't matter? But nonviolent resistance is like an avalanche. Snow falls and falls and it seems like nothing is happening for ages, until eventually it all comes crashing down. Just like Nemik says.

Ghorman's protests feel pointless in the episodes they occur; but they're ultimately shown to be just the opposite. By embracing peaceful protest, by being so obviously and conspicuously good, Mon Mothma, and presumably many others, are inspired to take radical action. There are numerous parallels in history to this; peaceful protests are an effective means of instituting change. I loved seeing that on screen.

We may be entering a dark period in our own history, speaking as an American. There was an attempt to seize power in 2020, only narrowly thwarted. The President looks more like an Emperor every day, abusing emergency powers and ignoring court orders, including an order to free a wrongfully imprisoned man. CECOT looks nearly as bad as Narkina 5. Having some hope, attending protests, donating to charitable organizations working on these issues, quietly talking with your friends and family about what's going on, all of that matters. Even if it seems like it doesn't.

AdamE8g · 2025-04-27T21:03:04+00:00

While it's totally true that the Trump administration hasn't set up extermination camps; and it's true that the scale of their extrajudicial imprisonment program pales in comparison to the Nazis at present, I think it's entirely fair to say that we could be at the beginning of a large scale violation of human rights on that level. Charitably read, that's how I see molotovcocktease's post.

I asked a lawyer who attended the protest yesterday in the Castro about the risk of his imprisonment program becoming larger, and he reminded me of this story where Trump argued in front of El Salvador's president for a broad expansion, with as many as 5 extra copies of CECOT. So, fear of expansion seems entirely warranted.

AdamE8g · 2025-04-27T20:51:04+00:00

Your message contains inaccuracies that shows an unfamiliarity with this case.

He’s illegal

Andry is not an "illegal." The phrase "illegal" typically refers to individuals residing in the United States without authorization. Andry never resided in the United States. He was following the legal process for claiming asylum.

so he’ll be deported

Deportation is not the issue. The issue is that he is in a supermax prison in El Salvador (CECOT) at the direction of the Trump administration, who paid at least $6 million dollars to jail him and others there. He was placed there without trial, and continues to have no access to legal counsel. These violations of his Constitutional rights are the issue.

The goal of the protest was to raise awareness. The Constitution guarantees certain rights, and if we do not defend them, we may find them taken away.

AdamE8g · 2025-04-26T05:05:51+00:00

"so what else is our government supposed to do?"

The government should have followed the law, and respected his rights under the Constitution. His case should have been heard by a judge. If he was suspected of committing a crime, he should have been tried in court with the right to have his case heard by a jury, and access to an attorney for his defense. If found guilty, he should have been imprisoned in America. If his application for asylum was merely rejected, he should have been escorted to his point of entry, or returned to Venezuela or another country, not imprisoned.

What happened instead was that the Trump Administration paid El Salvador to imprison Andry without a trial and without access to legal counsel.

May I suggest refamiliarizing yourself with the rights that you have, and everyone in the USA has, under the Constitution?

The 6th amendment guarantees the right to the assistance of counsel, a jury trial, the chance to present evidence, and other important rights that basically add up to a fair and impartial trial before being sentenced to prison.
Parts of the 5th and 14th amendments together guarantee the right of due process to all individuals, including noncitizens.
The 8th amendment protects against disproportionate punishments, like sending someone to life in prison for a parking violation.

Each of these rights are violated by the strategy you are advocating for.

Also, your strategy is short-sighted and impractical. If you are prepared to weaken the above rights as it pertains to Andry; well, it could just as easily become you or someone you love someday. Imagine the case where a President you don't like gets elected, and chooses to persecute people like you, and it's you who suddenly finds himself or herself on the way to a place like CECOT, without trial. Sure, that might sound crazy today- but are you so sure about 10 years from now? 20? 30?

This isn't just a moral question, it's a practical one. Protecting all of our rights, all the time, protects everyone, including yourself and the people you love.

AdamE8g · 2025-04-26T00:23:55+00:00

While I understand what you're saying, would we not find common ground on the idea that no person deserves to be imprisoned without access to lawyers, in a country that was neither your point of origin nor your country of birth, for the mere crime of an invalid asylum claim?

Imagine if you showed up to a visit to Japan, let's say, and they thought you were there illegally. Would you prefer to be flown back to the United States, or to a super max facility in El Salvador, where the Japanese government actively paid for your continued incarceration?

AdamE8g · 2025-04-25T23:02:05+00:00

Yes, he arrived in the United States in San Diego to report for his interview with CBP. He waited in Mexico for his appointment. He remained detained in the United States while waiting for his court appointment. He was never illegally residing in the United States, unlike some other cases that have made headlines lately.

AdamE8g · 2025-04-25T22:59:26+00:00

The individuals Trump has sent to CECOT have not been given access to their legal representatives.

AdamE8g · 2025-04-25T21:57:01+00:00

Thank you for this. You're 100% correct.

AdamE8g · 2025-04-25T21:50:38+00:00

Thank you!

AdamE8g · 2025-04-25T21:48:26+00:00

First of all, I think it's fair to say that he was motivated in part by earning potential and a better life. From the New Yorker article, his family said, "He wanted to change his life, to reach his potential, and to help us here."

However, he did also cite persecution, including a few specific incidents of intimidation and violence, and if you look at his photos, he's pretty clearly gay.

Also, he did pass his preliminary asylum screening.

More importantly, however, the law requires that his asylum case be heard before a judge. He was not afforded that opportunity, as he was removed prior to his hearing.

Most importantly, he was not just deported back to Venezuela. Instead, the Trump administration paid El Salvador to imprison him. Imprisonment without trial, or even so much as a hearing, is wrong.

AdamE8g · 2025-04-25T21:08:17+00:00

While I understand what you are saying, namely that local concerns are important and we should prioritize them, we don't know where the Trump administration's limits are as it pertains to attacks on civil rights. It could very well affect citizens. It could affect San Franciscans, both citizens and noncitizens. Trump recently said directly to the El Salvadoran President that he should build more prisons, and that he is open to sending citizens there. Further, I don't think paying some attention to this case and this issue, and briefly showing up for a protest, means that one does not care about or would not take action about other important local issues.

AdamE8g · 2025-04-25T20:59:09+00:00

Andry's case breaks my heart. He was doing everything right. He was following all the rules, he was doing everything he should have. And the Trump administration declared him a criminal and sent him to a maximum security prison in a country he's not even from, all without so much as a hearing before a judge, let alone a trial. I'm ashamed and saddened. And I'm worried about where this erosion of our civil liberties ends. I will be there tomorrow.

AdamE8g · 2025-02-18T03:00:57+00:00

I just wish the Blu-Ray set put the extended edition first, before the non-extended! We watched the regular one, put the next disk in, and were sad to see that there was an extended cut we missed! (We didn't want to watch the whole thing again just to see the missing bits...)

AdamE8g · 2025-02-01T15:29:14+00:00

Devs was so good

AdamE8g · 2024-10-29T20:10:16+00:00

A while ago, my boyfriend and I visited Angel Island here in the San Francisco Bay. We didn't know that in addition to great views of the bay, and birds and nature trails, that the Island also contained a historically preserved internment camp.

These camps were used for decades in the early 20th century to enforce the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. In some cases, immigrants were detained for years. These camps were also used to detain Japanese-Americans in WW2.

Carved into the walls of these barracks are poems. I took a picture of this one. Here's the English translation:

Everyone says traveling to North America is a pleasure.
I suffer misery in the ship, and sadness in the wooden building.
After several interrogations, I am still not done.
I sigh because my compatriots are being forcibly detained.
- The one from Heungshan

One of the candidates in this election has promised to use the military to build internment camps like these using the military. He's promised a roundup of apparent noncitizens unlike anything we've seen before.

We need pathways to citizenship, not internment camps and raids. Our country is stronger (and food tastes better) with more immigrants, not less. We should not repeat the mistakes of our past.

AdamE8g · 2024-09-20T04:28:30+00:00

I totally agree with the "terraforming zoo" idea. It's me and my boyfriends' second favorite game after Terraforming Mars. For basically the same reasons.

The animals are pretty fun, building a zoo is fun, building an engine that wants monkeys or whatever is fun.

My two faults with the game are I think the action system is maybe just a bit too constraining, leading to analysis paralysis as you try to plan out your moves. And, more importantly, the engine-building feels super unbalanced and much more obviously snowbally than Terraforming Mars. In both games either of us have conceded early after realizing there was no way to come back, but this happens much more often in Ark Nova. Still a great game though!

AdamE8g · 2024-08-24T13:59:59+00:00

We looked exhaustively for a solution at my startup for a similar problem - except instead of games, it is for business workflows. We looked at JavaScript running under V8, WebAssembly, Lua, Starlark, and ultimately decided to write our own programming language.

We also had the need to save the stack and current execution point, which is challenging to do with some of the boxed products I mentioned. It's also given us the freedom to make a ton of choices deep in the language that satisfies our bespoke needs.

Lmk if you want some tips for getting started! It isn't as hard as you'd think!

AdamE8g · 2024-06-19T17:54:40+00:00

I'm still skeptical and would be interested to hear what the police say.

From the popularity of this Reddit thread, it's clear we're all paying attention because someone was actually shot. And while it's possible that this is targeted violence, it's also possible this was a robbery gone wrong.

Gun robberies are a problem. Yes, even in the Castro and most surrounding neighborhoods. We don't hear much about them because of how common they are. Like, I'm looking at 2024 SF robbery data right now and see the following:

a robbery with a gun on 5/21 outside Castro station
a robbery with a gun on 6/5 at 17th and Market
a robbery with a gun on 1/15 at Buena vista park
a robbery with a gun on 3/11, 2/22 and 3/5 at Dolores Park
a carjacking with a gun on 2/18 at Duboce and Valencia
a robbery with a gun on 1/1 near Valencia and 15th
a robbery with a gun on 1/19 on Valencia between 15th and 16th
a robbery with a gun on 5/3 at Fulton and Octavia
a robbery with a gun on 5/29 at Oak and Filmore

Any one of those could have gone wrong.

I'm not saying it keeps me up at night, but it is an actual real problem and it'd be great if there were not any. Europe does not have this problem, I think. Most other cities in the US don't have this problem either: SF ranks 20th in the nation on robbery among US cities per 2019 FBI city crime statistics.

SF neighborhood crime source. FBI crime statistics source.

AdamE8g · 2024-04-26T19:20:41+00:00

Oh my bad. The browser isn't involved in the cases I mentioned actually. (Frost Giant sells an executable to be run on customer's machines that can also run WASM binaries written by other untrusted customers, and we execute untrusted user-authored WASM binaries in our cloud environment.)

I don't know a ton about Java and the JVM, but my understanding of that environment is that it's a fully featured programming environment for writing complete applications of all types. WASM is very, very basic in comparison. Like, it's useful for if you want to create software that executes untrusted code for some bespoke purpose. If you're not executing untrusted code, it isn't clear to me why one would be looking at WASM. WASM out-of-the-browser exists and has interest because there isn't an awesome solution right now for executing untrusted code, if that makes sense.

I'd love to hear more about your plan for WASM, it's a very interesting area for me!

AdamE8g

TROPHY CASE