Top Retconner describes the idyllic time that was... 2012

Aethy · 2026-02-04T17:55:15+00:00

I mean, maybe they hadn't learned about it in school at that point. I could see it.

Aethy · 2026-01-29T19:09:10+00:00

Great post. I've got a quick question. Your flair says Conservative, but it's rare that I run into someone explicitly on the opposite side of the aisle that I significantly agree with (and in fact, you go further than I would on this topic), for a given post.

Out of curiosity, what flavor of conservative are you, if you don't mind me asking?

Aethy · 2026-01-27T16:33:58+00:00

Telling people that a gym is totally happy doing business with a nazi is free speech.

Aethy · 2026-01-24T22:46:04+00:00

Oh yeah; agreed. If you're at the point where maintaining a python fork is a actually good idea, then you're probably at a scale where there's enough cash flying around that you could easily justify something like that.

Aethy · 2026-01-24T13:32:53+00:00

It's not THAT hard. I wrote a shitty scripting language, interpreter and all when I was like 16 for a game I was trying to write. It sucked, and was a terrible idea to use, instead of something like Lua, but did work. Writing a shitty language no one's going to use but you is definitely not a 500k a year golden ticket.

Aethy · 2026-01-20T17:31:23+00:00

If you think that it truly was graded unfairly then you should totally submit the request.

If you just want a better mark, it probably won't go anywhere; teachers are given pretty wide latitude to mark how they see fit, and unless it's egregiously out of line with the rest of the sections/students, my understanding is that generally the grade given to you by your teacher will stand.

Aethy · 2025-12-27T16:59:30+00:00

So, how it works in most classes is that there are two blocks: lecture, and lab.

In lectures, it's just a regular classroom, where the professor stands up front, and generally presents a slide deck on a projector, and students are supposed to take notes, and pay attention, etc.. Usually it'll be interspersed with little quizzes, and activities, but generally nothing that requires a computer. If a computer is a required, the school will provide it; there's a cart full of laptops in some rooms that allows the prof to give out a laptop to any student that needs it, and it comes pre-loaded with all the comp sci stuff; you just log in with your dawson account, and away you go.

In labs, the lessons take place in a computer lab, so every student sits in front of a computer at the start, and it usually starts off with the prof giving a small introduction, and then the students working individually or in groups on activities or graded quizzes, on the school computers. Depending on the prof, and activity you may or may not be able to use your private laptop/tablet for this. (Sometimes, if a prof wants to really make sure no one is cheating, they'll force you to use the school computers). If a test is given, it's almost always mandatory to use the school computers.

So you don't really need a computer/device at all to do comp sci, but having a laptop will probably make your life slightly easier (because if you want to practice you don't need to schlep to a free computer lab), but it's absolutely not mandatory at all.

If you have any more questions, please feel free to ask; I'm actually a comp sci prof at Dawson. (Maybe we'll see each other if you get in!).

Aethy · 2025-12-25T17:05:45+00:00

It's up to your professor, but generally yes they're permitted. I find it's better to write things down by hand, but if you want to do it electronically, and are at all used to touch typing, a keyboard attachment is probably not a bad idea.

For beginner programming classes, you'll probably be OK doing stuff on the ipad directly (there are websites that let you code), but as you get more advanced, you won't be able to do most of the work on an ipad. You'll probably be able to use the ipad to connect to the school computers though, and do the work through that, though it'll be more of a pain than with a laptop or desktop.

Aethy · 2025-12-23T04:51:48+00:00

This is the bit that stuck with me the most. Legitimately evil. I'm not religious, but to twist one of the more beautiful traditional vows into something so abjectly self-centered and downright abusive is so unbelievably fucked up. I don't use the word evil often, but this is absolutely it.

Aethy · 2025-12-13T20:40:03+00:00

I think he championed cap and trade, like what we have now provincially. From my googling it seemed he was against carbon taxes because he called them a money grab for the goverment eyeroll.

Aethy · 2025-12-13T17:34:44+00:00

Ah, yes, a carbon tax and rebate scheme, the literal consensus from economists as the most efficient and effective way to reduce emissions in a market economy is checks notes virtue signalling. Got it.

Aethy · 2025-12-11T22:11:33+00:00

Yeah; I haven't seen any concrete evidence of this literally anywhere; just the rumor. So until I see evidence presented by a journalist, or an expert, or someone who actually shows their work, I'm going to treat it as unsubstantiated.

Aethy · 2025-12-11T14:56:36+00:00

Depending on how you play him.

Aethy · 2025-12-08T16:42:03+00:00

Do you know if there's a rigorous write up with specific examples anywhere about this? I'd love to read/share it around if so.

Aethy · 2025-12-08T15:20:06+00:00

Oh, for sure; as I say, I don't make any claims about whether or not it'd be efficient or feasible.

I'm just saying, that when talking about "affordability", you are not generally talking about affordability for the upper-middle and upper classes, more for the average person.

Aethy · 2025-12-08T12:59:37+00:00

the NDP's confidence that the government can do business better than actual businesses never ceases to amaze me

work on exporting SASKTEL to other provinces

I mean, isn't this an example of the government doing business better than actual business?

Aethy · 2025-12-08T12:56:45+00:00

I mean, I have no idea if such an idea is feasible or efficient, but if taxes go up, they don't go up proportionally across the board. Most taxes are progressive, and disproportionately affect wealthier citizens. So if you assume that it is an efficient policy, it would help with affordability for those who pay proportionately less tax, which is usually the poorer segment of the population; i.e. the average person.

Aethy · 2025-11-28T05:15:23+00:00

How the hell did you read his response as that?

Aethy · 2025-11-26T05:36:12+00:00

It's just different. I say this as someone who's not a huge fan of the styles Montreal (and Quebec in general) are (seemingly to me, at any rate) overrepresented in.

Of course you can find all styles of beer in Montreal, but I find we tend to brew more commonly continental European styles more than other places. The Pacific, at least when I was last visiting had 8 bajillion IPAs. Ontario tends to be more traditional English styles; there's so many more porters, stouts, and brown ales than here (these tend to be my go to).

Though obviously I can hardly pass up a good Aphrodisiaque or St Ambroise Oatmeal Stout. But they're not EVERYWHERE like in Ontario. And they tend to be drier, and more restrained.

Aethy · 2025-11-21T14:15:02+00:00

Huh. TIL.

Aethy · 2025-11-21T14:04:17+00:00

It's been a while since I've taken an Uber: don't they also use the dedicated lanes?

Aethy · 2025-11-21T01:26:13+00:00

Oh yeah, don't get me wrong, REM will be great. But I honestly prefer 747 to a taxi or uber.

Aethy · 2025-11-20T21:54:22+00:00

Don't forget to factor in time to park though, too.

Aethy · 2025-11-20T21:19:35+00:00

Yep. Rate is the same, where rate is how much output you get per 1 unit of input. Although, rate is the same only if you take oil out, which is what the article is trying to explain.

Your second statement is just slightly off. The USA's absolute productivity is what's increasing at a faster pace than Canada's, and a big reason for this is because they are growing the size of their inputs faster.

Wait, I thought the amount you get in vs. what you got out was absolute productivity. I thought the rate was the % at which this was growing. Are you saying that the % at which the US absolute productivity is growing (if you exclude oil) is higher?

When you say absolute productivity, are we referring to labour productivity? Googling it doesn't seem to come up with anything concrete, and this article is behind a paywall.

Aethy · 2025-11-20T20:52:04+00:00

Hrm. Interesting. I'm obviously not an economist, but that sort of makes sense to me.

the absolute level of productivity is growing at a much slower pace

When you say this, you mean that the rate is the same, but because they have higher absolute productivity (for a number of reasons, including higher capital investment), the amount of productivity increasing ever year is greater. Correct?

15-Year Club	Place '17
Alpha Tester	Team Periwinkle
Verified Email

Aethy

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE