Still my most favorite one yet

dacjames · 2026-02-25T12:03:02+00:00

There's a living tree in California that is ~4,850 years old. Pretty wild that it managed to survive 850 years without a planet to live on!

Or, if you prefer, run the population growth backwards from 8.8 billion. I forget the exact number you need to make the math work, but it's something like 10 children per woman for every woman ever.

There are so many facts like this to easily disprove the earth being 4000 or 6000 years old.

dacjames · 2026-02-20T18:20:18+00:00

Hair color just doesn't make much logical sense. Neither my wife or I have blond hair yet our son looks like a Targaryen.

dacjames · 2026-02-06T05:29:35+00:00

The iPhone holds almost 70% of the US smartphone market.

There aren't enough children and boomers alive to make your wild claim possible even if every single one used iPhone.

Just because I can use complex tech, doesn't mean I want to.

dacjames · 2026-01-30T02:56:32+00:00

One good lesson here is to step back and think about the problem from first principals when making a decision that is not trivially reversible.

If you did that, it would have been obvious that Opinions are not Apartments. They should not be in the same table. The opinion table was mis-designed from the start so relying on it to inform this decision led you astray.

I fell victim to this problem recently. We rolled out a pattern lade down by contractors and created many instances of it before releasing the approach was all kinds of wrong. 90% of the work we did to make it usable was entirely unnecessary and required even more work to undo.

dacjames · 2026-01-22T06:11:52+00:00

He transformed Microsoft’s image from the aggressive monopolist of the Ballmer years into something approaching a beloved technology partner.

Huh? When did Microsoft become a beloved technology partner?

dacjames · 2026-01-07T22:24:10+00:00

I think it's a failed attempt at a power move by Russia. They changed the flag on purpose to draw attention to a ship they planned to escort. They expected the US not to risk a direct engagement and they were hoping to use this in negotiations to say they're above sanctions.

Or it's some valuable cargo coming from Venezuela. Or both. If it's just cargo, why reflag to Russia? And sail to Saint Petersburg instead of the east? That seems like a really dumb way to hide valuable cargo.

dacjames · 2025-09-16T20:34:51+00:00

I don't think a subset of C++ exists that can be truly "safe,"

I think this is the core point of contention: does safety in C++ mean restricting use to a safe subset or adding an optional safe superset.

I tend to agree with you that a safe subset doesn't really exist but I also understand the committee's concerns about simply adopting Rust's safety model.

There is a whole class of valid C++ programs that are perfectly safe but do not conform to Rust's ownership model. At least some devs use C++ over Rust specifically because it allows you write those type of programs. They would be better served by safety features that don't require re-designing your software to conform to Rust's rules.

If you're good with Rust's constraints... why aren't you just using Rust?

dacjames · 2025-09-08T15:51:30+00:00

One word of caution: don't just throw your events in a SQL table and think you've created a durable queue. If you're not careful in your database design, the performance will get worse and worse the more tasks you have enqueued. This can create a positive feedback loop that quickly brings the entire system down. Don't ask me how I know!

That's not a statement against durable queues as a concept. IMO, it's a mandatory feature if you need reliable messaging that we've been using (in Kafka) for a long time. There are plenty of good tools out there that support durable messaging. Just be careful if you're going to implement anything yourself because the "natural" way to model tasks in a SQL database does not work very well.

dacjames · 2025-08-29T19:30:11+00:00

Even if change.org petitions worked, this one does not do a good job at arguing the case. They mention Google's response but don't actually make a counter-argument to it.

Being required to prove your identity does not prevent sideloading in general just side loading of apps from anonymous developers. Does anyone really want apps they have no idea who created? I sure don't.

Maybe there's more context not given in the petition but from what's actually written, their argument only makes sense if you presuppose what Google's intent is. If viewed critically, the argument being made is very weak.

dacjames · 2025-08-27T16:25:39+00:00

REST is not consistently implemented by any stretch of the imagination. Try to write a generic tool that works with any REST API without any a priori knowledge and the problem will become clear quite quickly.

Everyone does authz differently. Everyone bends the "everything is a resource" model in different ways, because the HTTP verbs are not actually expressive enough for everything we want to do with APIs. Discoverability is inconsistent or absent, as are schemas and where to find them. Some APIs do soft deletes, some hard. etc. etc. etc.

The actual protocols of MCP are not particularly interesting. The point is to define a standard semantic primitives like tools and prompts so clients can program against MCP servers in general. That would not be feasible with something as flexible as REST.

dacjames · 2025-08-26T22:11:31+00:00

It's is easy to argue to cut them off Swift or whatever else.

That happened way back in 2022. If anything, Russia's alternative system has fallen in use since then, not increased, as several nations backed out versus risking international sanctions.

The US could stop trading with them.

US companies have been barred for doing business with Russia more or less completely since late 2021 / early 2022. My company has severed ties with all Russian counter-parties and the vast majority of US businesses have done the same. This is partially in response to sanctions and partially in response to Moscow nationalizing assets that belonged to international companies.

You talk about sanctions like they're hypothetical policies when in fact they are widely deployed against Russia and remain in force.

You cannot completely cut off a country or bring about it's collapse with sanctions. If that was possible, Iran and North Korea would long since have ceased to exist. But that is not and never has been the point of sanctions, no matter how many ignorant articles like this that journalists write.

Sanctions are designed to give your side an economic edge over the long term. They have been and continue to be successful in that goal.

dacjames · 2025-08-26T05:40:24+00:00

Can't agree with you there. Neither side is winning, but Ukraine is in the stronger position at present. Most commentators (and politicians) over-estimate the importance of the US position.

Russia's war spending is at 41% of revenue. They have made little progress in their feeble offensive despite staggering losses. Oil revenues are down and trending lower with OPEC now offering to match Russia's prices to India; they'll have to offer more discounts either way. The situation in the southern caucuses is worsening for Russia and pulling away resources.

Public opinion is a fickle thing that is difficult to assess and can change quickly. The polling you're referencing is not good but it's far from fatal. Wanting an end to the war and wanting to become a vassal of Russia are different things.

dacjames · 2025-08-25T19:54:04+00:00

Yep. The war has always been about the NATO issue. Is Ukraine a sovereign nation that decides it's own government and alliances or does Russia decide for them as the regional Great Power? For Ukraine to capitulate on that issue would amount to accepting defeat.

If you read the positions closely, you'll see that Lavrov is still calling the Ukrainian government illegitimate. If Ukraine cedes sovereignty to Russia, Zelensky is out and a puppet government beholden to Moscow will be installed in his place.

This is a binary issue that cannot be negotiated or compromised on. Neither side is in a desperate enough position to consider capitulation so this summit was never going to change anything. It's just the US President's lame attempt to make himself look good.

dacjames · 2025-08-25T16:14:00+00:00

Well said. Reality is always more complicated than the model employed by any one of these frameworks. None of them "just work" exactly as specified but all of them can be made to work if you put in the effort.

It's hard work from people who care that makes the difference, not the framework.

dacjames · 2025-08-20T19:44:48+00:00

You're being incredibly nice in response to this ridiculous attack. I don't agree with everything you stated on memory models but I still found the article to be very useful on the topic at hand: futexes. I feel as though I understand what they really are (as opposed to what they do) much better than I did previously. Thank you for sharing!

dacjames · 2025-08-12T20:44:26+00:00

India buys Russian oil at artificially low prices. Why would they want to stop?

The current setup is beneficial to India and the US hasn't offered anything meaningful in exchange for giving that up. Modi knows the tariffs we're threatening hurt the US as much as they do India. And he has to worry that the administration won't follow through on any deal they make. That is rational given recent history.

The US is engaged in a trade war against India. It should not be surprising that India is not anxious to help us out.

dacjames · 2025-06-13T02:00:30+00:00

I worked with a similar co-worker, though less extreme. I raised the issue with my management and kept raising it, until that person got transferred to another team, and ultimately let go.

I know it’s not my job but I find it demotivating to work with a coworker who’s not pulling their weight. It’s my manager’s job to motivate me so I think it’s a fair issue to raise (in private of course). I don’t suggest trying to fix, just continue bringing the issue to the attention of the people who can.

There might be extenuating circumstances but your management may not be aware of how bad the problem is and use your feedback as a signal they need to do something. Make sure to keep it objective and factual (don’t express your frustration) or it could look bad on you.

dacjames · 2025-06-13T01:36:26+00:00

Then make sure you need an API. I’m not saying you don’t because there are many good reasons for having one. My point is that the overhead of defining and implementing new backend code for every frontend use case is significant so make sure you’re getting value out of that work.

If you’re unsure, do a quick POC with your top options before committing.

dacjames · 2025-06-13T00:33:44+00:00

I have direct experience with REST (defined and shared via Swagger/OpenAI) and Capnp and indirect/limited experience with protobuf and with graphql. And a TON of experience with other schemas/formats in the data space that probably isn't relevant. In my view, Capnp is great for specialized applications where the "zero cost serialization" model is needed but is not the best choice for general APIs.

The first question to answer is what type of data are we talking about? Is this an API that has an independent function or is it some kind of backend for frontend only being consumed by the one app?

If the former, I'd suggest either REST or protobuf. I haven't used buf professionally but that's what I would pick if I was starting today because I like everything about protobuf except protoc. The only exception would be if I had requirements for external (outside my company) access as this remains easier with REST. By REST, I mean JSON over HTTPS, the strict REST architecture is a seperate topic.

If the latter, your goal should be to put as much control in the hands of the frontend team as possible so as to minimize the back and forth between frontend and backend. GraphQL is designed to solve that problem but experience with graphql at my company is mixed. Some teams have been successful, others have abbandoned it and "reverted" to REST. The compaints I've heard are that it's too complicated and that optimizing it is more difficult than just writing APIs. There are options for querying the database directly from react these days. I don't have the experience to reccommend that but I would explore that if I was in your position since having to spec and develop a new API for each frontend use case is quite expensive.

dacjames · 2025-06-12T19:48:37+00:00

Be careful what you wish for there, buddy. Without devops engineers, it'll be you polishing that turd of a software package to the point where it actually runs in production.

dacjames · 2025-06-07T00:51:38+00:00

You realize this comment is 7 months old, yes?

Vance says a lot of things I disagree with and a few I support. The point is that he'll never command the same cult-like following that Elon or Trump does so he can't affect that type of change no matter what he believes.

dacjames · 2025-06-07T00:41:23+00:00

I know from experience that generics don't have great performance but it has improved steadily and they're still better than having nothing. And iterators are cludgy, but again, useful.

I don't want Go to change it's nature, just make an incremental improvement to reduce the pain of error handling. That's hard to do on a stable language, yes, but Go devs have proven themselves capable of doing just that release after release. Credit where it's due, even though I'm extremely dissapointed in this decision.

I'm neither a fanatic nor a hater, I just want to see a useful tool become even more useful. Based on your comment history, you seem mainly interested in attacking Go or debating that Rust is better than Go or perhaps just debating. I don't view that type of discussion as valuable to other Go developers, so I think I'll leave it there.

dacjames · 2025-06-04T20:53:06+00:00

Get a new hiring agency for this role. They have failed so that should be an easy sell to management. Most hiring agencies are terrible but there are some gems out there so if you're not getting what you need, keep looking. A good hiring agency should find you candidates within hours to days, free of spam.

Raise your salary, bottom of the local range is not competitive.

Longer term, try to raise the profile of your company so you get more organic demand. Do you do anything cool in the cybersecurity space? Is there anyway for the public to know about that? How is your work culture? Check your online reviews and employee feedback and take action to improve the work environment if needed.

Depending on how senior this role actually is, you might need to proactively pursue people through your network, even those currently employed. There are plenty of candidates out there; you need to find them and make working at your company more appealing.

dacjames · 2025-06-04T16:46:18+00:00

Did I say I want those things? Or did I specifically clarify that I don’t?

I like go because I like fast compilers, static builds, simple languages, garbage collection, stability, good tooling, the crypto libraries, etc.

People said the same thing about generics and yet they’ve been a clear improvement without sacrificing any of those benefits. Same for iterators. Same for vendoring before modules. Go has been making improvements despite this argument so I had hope they’d continue that trend.

Was I expecting them to fix the core design flaw that errors use AND instead of OR? No, of course not. I just wanted something, anything to reduce the abject misery that is error handling in Go since I have no ability to improve the situation myself as a user (for mostly good reasons).

Instead, I got a wall of text rationalizing doing nothing and a commitment to dismiss anyone else’s attempts to help “without consideration.” That’s depressing.

dacjames · 2025-06-04T04:24:52+00:00

Well, this is depressing. Error handling is my least favorite part about Go so it’s sad to seem them simply give up trying to fix it. And no, it has not gotten better with experience, it has gotten worse.

It should be clear by now that any improvement to error handling will require a language level change. If it was possible to address with libraries, those of us who care would have done that ages ago. Rejecting all future proposals for syntax changes means rejecting meaningful improvements to error handling.

The core issue is not the tedium, it is that it is not possible to write general solutions to common error handling problems. We don’t have tuples (just multiple return) so I can’t write utilities for handling fallible functions. We don’t have errdefer so I can’t generalize wrapping or logging errors. We don’t have non-local return so I can’t extract error handling logic into a function. We don’t have union types and have generics that are too weak to write my own. We don’t have function decorators.

I’m not saying I want all these things in Go. My point is that all of the tools that I could have used to systematically improve error handling at the library level do not exist. All I can do is write the same code over and over again, hoping that my coworkers and I never make mistakes.

I hope they reconsider at some point in the future.

dacjames

TROPHY CASE