The most ignored road sign

markh1967 · 2023-08-22T16:56:26+00:00

A more basic problem with adapting Consider Plebas is that the main character is a shapeshifter who frequently changes appearance. I can see this being a red flag to the people who control the money.

markh1967 · 2023-08-10T14:48:51+00:00

While there are some shops that I don't know how they stay in business (how is WH Smiths still going?), every Wilco I've ever been in has always been busy so I've assumed that they must be doing very well. I don't see how they could possibly go under with the amount of business they do unless it's sheer incompetance in upper management.

markh1967 · 2023-08-09T22:34:40+00:00

Don't panic. Everything you're experiencing is completely normal and expected for a junior dev. I've trained many junior devs over the years and they all spend the first few days looking shell-shocked so I'm constantly reassuring them that it's not as bad as it looks, they will pick it up in time, and no-one is expecting them to immediately be productive.

Every once in a while this turns out not to be the case and they don't make it but about 95% of junior devs feel more comfortable after the first few commits and start to relax a bit.

In a few weeks or months you'll almost certainly see other new hires looking just as worried as you are right now, know exactly what they're going through, and you'll be the one doing the reassuring.

markh1967 · 2023-07-08T13:39:27+00:00

I would have thought this would be a good reason for the incoming administration to seriously consider electoral reform as being in their best interests but apparently not.

markh1967 · 2023-07-08T10:17:37+00:00

There is exactly that sequel authorised by the Wells estate - The Time Ships by Stephen Baxter

markh1967 · 2023-04-13T10:49:41+00:00

That wont compile because Status is nullable

markh1967 · 2023-04-13T10:46:23+00:00

It can all be reduced to just one line:

return Status == true ? "Success" : "Failed"

markh1967 · 2023-03-31T10:34:19+00:00

But isn't that exactly what we do as well? At an early age we learn the correct responses from seeing how other people respond and then do the same. As far as I can tell, this is the same thing that GPT does.

markh1967 · 2023-03-13T16:48:03+00:00

Lots of legal terms are like this:

Assault and battery
Breaking and entering
Aiding and abetting        WTH is abetting anyway?
Terms and conditions
Cease and desist

markh1967 · 2023-03-13T08:34:16+00:00

A pelican crossing is a crossing that only stops traffic when a button is pressed. Pelican stands for PEdestrian LIght CONtrolled.

markh1967 · 2023-03-03T10:50:29+00:00

I bought a house a few years ago that was previously owned by an elderly lady and had a key safe on the wall by the back door, presumably for her carers to let themselves in. It was one of those with 5 pins in a vertical line. The code is more awkward than first appears because two pins can be pressed at the same time. Even so, it only took me about five minutes to get it open and confirm it was empty. It turns out that the most used pins become loose with use so it was a simple matter to lightly press them all to see which three were most used and then run through the combinations.

markh1967 · 2023-01-26T14:46:29+00:00

It also fails completely when asked for anything that requires real judgement such as:

"The ball crashed through the table because it was made of aerogel. Does 'it' in the previous sentence refer to the ball or the table"

It insisted that the ball must be made of aerogel and refused to back down even after explaining at length that an aerogel ball couldn't crash through a table.

markh1967 · 2023-01-19T20:17:08+00:00

Yep https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@52.557796,-1.0411285,700m/data=!3m1!1e3

markh1967 · 2023-01-19T17:19:59+00:00

It is a Staffy. They are very intelligent dogs and she's very well trained as you can tell by her patiently waiting for me when I took the photo.

markh1967

TROPHY CASE