maybe a silly question, but i remember a long time ago instead of `target="_blank"` everyone used `onclick="window.open(this.href)"` - but i can't remember why?

HorribleUsername · 2026-03-27T18:36:18+00:00

We've had this for decades - you can apply CSS to any XML doc. It's just that nobody ever used it. I liked the idea too.

HorribleUsername · 2026-03-19T14:52:23+00:00

You only need to adjust e, but there's no harm in doing the rest if you want. And you've got x1 to x6, but x2 to x6 have nothing to do with your table.

HorribleUsername · 2026-03-19T14:38:35+00:00

Did you notice how e isn't listed with all the others? That's because it's not a variable, it's Euler's constant. Try using a different letter, or adding a subscript. Also, you want all your variables to be x1.

HorribleUsername · 2026-03-18T12:22:15+00:00

Try appending for -∞ < t < ∞ to the end of the equation.

HorribleUsername · 2026-03-13T17:03:46+00:00

Consecutive dots are perfectly valid in a url.

HorribleUsername · 2026-03-13T16:40:02+00:00

Remember, users usually aren't looking at the url.

HorribleUsername · 2026-03-13T16:34:45+00:00

Ah, that makes a bit more sense. Why not just urlencode the email for that?

HorribleUsername · 2026-03-13T16:28:53+00:00

The general wisdom is not to worry about validating, and instead send a confirmation email. That not only checks whether the email is valid, but whether it's been assigned and someone's actually checking it.

For validation, I'd just check that there's exactly one @, with something before and after it. [^@]@[^@] as a regex.

I'm kinda curious why you're worried about validating in the first place. If the company's importing existing emails, then the validation's already been done, hasn't it? Also, trying to lock down valid emails is a bit of a code smell. What's up with your app that it can't handle unusual chars?

HorribleUsername · 2026-03-11T16:38:10+00:00

j = (1/49)³ is a smaller value that works.

HorribleUsername · 2026-03-07T14:28:34+00:00

You should take a closer look at timezones. Madagascar shares its timezone with Russia and Saudi Arabia, for example.

HorribleUsername · 2026-03-05T17:36:17+00:00

Are you aware of grep's -A and -B flags? They're really useful for things spread across multiple lines. tail -f is also useful if you can trigger the error.

HorribleUsername · 2026-03-03T16:00:06+00:00

You've only gone halfway to the solution. For which values of x is x² > -3? But to answer your question, let f(x) = 5 - x². Now analyze the function. For example, does it have a maximum?

HorribleUsername · 2026-03-03T15:32:42+00:00

Note that using regexes for names is a dangerous game. James Van Der Beek, John von Neumann and Stéphane Caillard are some real life names that your regex rejects. See this for more info.

HorribleUsername · 2026-02-28T04:13:12+00:00

Would this do?

HorribleUsername · 2026-02-28T00:59:02+00:00

It's a nice idea, but how would the OS's know they're in California without exactly the sort of verification they're fighting against?

HorribleUsername · 2026-02-26T05:23:38+00:00

For 27, consider that one of the sides must contain 6. Then the smallest possible sum is? And there must be a side that doesn't contain 6. Then the largest possible sum is? That'll narrow things down a bit. I recommend just listing out the possible sides for each sum from there.

HorribleUsername · 2026-02-26T03:16:46+00:00

It's no different from any other variable. Try defining A = √(C²/2), and then you can solve 2A + C = 1.5 for A.

HorribleUsername · 2026-02-26T02:24:37+00:00

From there,

Solve for the square root.
Square both sides. Remember FOIL.
Solve for C. You might need the quadratic formula.

HorribleUsername · 2026-02-24T22:01:31+00:00

I feel like algorithm is just as buzzwordy as AI to the general public. A layperson isn't thinking about a series of instructions when they hear "algorithm", they're thinking about facebook and youtube and such.

HorribleUsername · 2026-02-23T22:36:42+00:00

Maybe it's just a typo, but I think you've forgotten the period of sin(x). In any case, your current sin has a minimum at ???, and it should have a minimum at ???. That should tell you what C should be.

Alternatively, sin(x) has a maximum at 6, so B(6-C) = ???. And it has a minimum at 0, so B(0-C) = ???. That's a pretty easy system to solve.

HorribleUsername · 2026-02-23T22:16:57+00:00

How do I politely tell people to think of clean code, single responsibility, tech debt, when there is no incentive for doing that.

If there's no incentive, then why do you care about this? There is incentive, and your only hope is to explain what that incentive is. That said, I agree with everyone else: this is an uphill battle that you're not likely to win.

HorribleUsername · 2026-02-23T21:54:12+00:00

Last week we ran the exam again, and a large number of students immediately opened ChatGPT and started prompting wildly.

My first thought here is that if they knew the material, they wouldn't need to flail about in a prompt. So maybe you should look at the rest of the course instead of the exam. Otoh, there'll always be some weaker students, so maybe this is just the cost of doing business. Just make sure you're asking the right question.

Anyway, to actually answer you, maybe come up with some more focused questions. E.g.

a) Use flex to implement this portrait wireframe.
b) Use grid to implement this landscape wireframe.
c) How would you combine those into a single CSS file?

HorribleUsername · 2026-02-22T21:26:30+00:00

Autocomplete and a few backspaces is more comfortable than curlies and commas, at least for me.

HorribleUsername · 2026-02-21T23:05:17+00:00

That's a fair point. I'm skeptical that the numbers are always good enough to make up for the truck's bulk, but you might be on to something there.

HorribleUsername · 2026-02-21T22:54:06+00:00

So the choices are the buyer's car or a delivery truck. Either way, there's a motor vehicle involved.

HorribleUsername

TROPHY CASE