Some more (rather unsystematic) ideas:

- Most "learn programming" books focus too much on the nitty-gritty details (like number conversion) at the beginning, but don't provide much of an experience (that endorphine flush when the kid sees that something works)

- A library implementing sprites would perhaps be a good idea. It's easy to write simple games this way (pong or a simple platformer or a pacman style game).

The important thing is, that there are early successes which are not "oh, the computer prints a number now". Becasue kids today are used to this. There is no magic in computers printing stuff, even smart stuff. But my idea was, if we could make the program producing something easy to program (not much numeric knowledge required) and visually impressive, that this would help keeping up the interest.

https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-031-73350-5

(wait for it)

The Rise of Quantum Computing in Industry 6.0 Towards Sustainability --- Revolutionizing Smart Disaster Management

- Offers a new perspective on disaster management by integrating quantum computing
- Provides practical guidance to non-technical professionals
- Explores the cutting-edge intersection of quantum computing and disaster preparedness

-----

TIL:

- There is an "Industry 6.0". I must have been fast asleep between 2.0 and 3.0 already. Mayhaps people should not count up major versions for every tiniest shift in the market. I am hard pressed to count 4 further disruptions since "Industry 2.0" which was already damp squib.

- There is an intersection somehow between disaster management and quantum computing. The only one I can imagine is "turn of your quantum computer when the earth quakes hit --- something might break". Just goes to show that I don't have vision, better don't hire me. Or maybe I am really realistic and you should hire me as a detector of scammer trying to pull money from your pockets.

- The is practical guidance to professionals in an area that overlaps quantum computing. Given how many actually working quantum computers exist (who do more than shoveling a handful of bit in meaningless "calculations") that's really surprising.

Further down below we find phrases like " This proposed book acknowledges ... This proposed book offers ...". You can buy it, but now it's a "proposed book"?

Also to the tune of 188.- EUR when there is no sale.

Springer Nature should be terribly ashamed publishing such a "reputation laundering / faking" instrument.

Pro-tip to Springer: Phrases like "quantum computing" and "Industry 6.0" are a tell-tale. Use it. Have the heart to refuse to publish such drivel. Or are you trying to become a vanity press?

"This proposed book proposes a comprehensive strategy for catastrophe management that is adaptable, robust, and efficient by utilizing quantum computing in conjunction with other advanced technologies."

LOL. Doesn't Springer have any effing editors? Or did their brains start bleeding when they read this drivel, so that they weren't able anymore to fulfill their duties?

Summer is waning.
The need for blood is constant.
Our thirst grows daily.

(ref: https://hachyderm.io/@molly0xfff/115300543985668652)

#haiku #micropoetry

Curse
---------

When I umasked the gods, they were not happy. That I recognized them as what they are: Petty thiefs, adulterers, murderers.

They cursed me to see. Because I was then so happy to know, I'd now see through everything, see every weave and pattern others wouldn't see. That would teach me.

And it taught me.

I am living at the fringes. Warning, always warning. Always the doomsayer. Seeing black where others see white. Seeing doom, where others see opportunity.

I am a stealer of opportunities, equally despised everywhere.

Nobody wants to hear. About climate change. About the fires to come. About the city being razed. About this wooden horse on the beach.

#microfiction #maybe_poetry

🧵1/3

I have been thinking a bit, just now, why people who complain about the effort they have to put in --- to for example to self-host any service or to migrate to Linux --- annoy me so.

I think it's two factors.

One is totally my "fault" and that is that it works pretty well for me as it is and I am used to the "pain". My painless solution would also not look like anything the complainers would call painless (for example: "The command line, what horror")

The second is, that I fundamentally don't agree with the goal that "tech" (as they often call it) needs to be packaged in a friction-less way for the use to apply[1]. Because no friction means that you have the possibility to use it without having to learn anything.

Many people might argue that this is not necessarily a bad thing, but consider the following examples:

Reading is a very important cultural technique. You have to learn it to be able to exercise the power. There is no way around and it's part of the culture changing features of written language.

On the other side consider Windows, which is practically the epitome of "user doesn't need to know". What happens here is, that the power flowing from it mostly stays in other peoples hand (see the whole contemporary "it will update to Windows 11 and buy a new PC or it gets the hose again" experience makes apparent, but that's definitely not all).

So, if people complain about nerds, Linux bros or Foss bros --- usually without any evidence what actually happened, they are just venting their (hurt ....?) feelings --- that's to me typically a cause for blocking them without any interaction. We are so fundamentally different in outlook, that any contact won't make sense.

I want to be be empowered by being free from obvious / non-replaceable dependencies from big corporations.

They want to be free from having to deal with Linux/FOSS when using it.

There is no common ground.

I am bit more tolerant with people boosting these complaints, but since this typically means they are agreeing, if they do this a lot, they will be unfollowed. I just feel offended by baseless moaning about bro-ness in my timeline and this is a very clean way to get rid of it.

[1] I call this software suppositories for obvious reasons ...

Question: Is there a #Lisp oriented mastodon server?

Original post form May/11:

I just discovered I got blocked by somebody whose opinion and posts I highly value.

Since can't imagine (or remember) which interaction might have triggered this course of action, I tried to reconstruct our last interaction(s) from web searches, and discovered the following:

(a) This is practically impossible to find past interaction with specific accounts.

(b) A couple of other accounts *I* have been following formerly which now block me without me remembering any untowards interaction with them.

This all makes me unexpectedly sad.

I think I'll put in another Mastodon moratorium for an indeterminate length of time.

Looking back, Mastodon did not really work for me, with what I'd term "meaningful" connections. This is very likely the way my mind works.

If anybody can recommend communities related to #lisp, #agile, #softwareengineering or #infosec, I'd appreciate if you could reply or DM. I am still missing connection there (after 2.5 years of Fedi, which should tell me something).

----

Part of the problem (of not being able to reconstruct interaction) is, that all my posts are set to auto-delete after 1 week.

TIL: This has disadvantages.

----

(Why repeat this? For pinning. I got an unfortunate case of Fediplaining in reply to the original post, and I want to drop that)

I know I shouldn't buy at Amazon ;-). I was just looking for the sample pages, though, and, my, has the Amazon search function become bad.

Search for "Winnaker Physics Behind Semiconductor Technology" I don't get the book in the first 15-30 hits. If I search for "WinnakerPhysics Behind Semiconductor Technology" instead, it's the first search hit ...

I am not even sure I want to hear any explanation for this, expect "they're plein sh*t at searching"

1/2

(equal #P"/tmp/" #P"/tmp") => NIL

#lisp #abcl

Any idea what happens here? (1) is there a better way to compare path-names? (2) Shouldn't EQUAL structurally compare everything, even path-names?

Das ist derselbe Wissing, der auch sachlich vollkommen abwegig Panik schürt bei der Verschärfung/Änderung der Abgasnormen: https://www.heise.de/news/Wissing-warnt-von-Aus-fuer-alte-Diesel-Autos-9821263.html

Der ADAC: "Betriebsuntersagung ist abwegig". Der ADAC! Eine Loby-Organisation, der man nicht vorwerfen kann, nichts selbst gezielt etwas Panik zu erzeugen, wenn es um Lobby-Ziele geht.

...

"Schwache Fahrradbremsen jedoch wurden bisher nicht in nennenswertem Umfang als Ursache für Fahrradunfälle ausgemacht, vielmehr spielten gefährliche Infrastruktur, also schlechte Radwege, oder mangelnde Fahrradbeherrschung (zum Beispiel zu starke Bremsvorgänge) bei Alleinunfällen ein Rolle."

https://www.sazbike.de/markt-politik/verkehrssicherheit/bundesverkehrsministerium-plant-gesetzesverschaerfung-fahrradbremsen-2928526.html

#Lisp
https://github.com/glycerine/zygomys

Another lisp (lisps sometimes feel like weed: Leave a computing environment unpoliced for some for some time, sure as hell, a lisp has parachuted in and taken root)

What's beyond me, though, why almost everybody who makes their own (un-common, non-scheme) lisp, insists practically on their own vocabulary for defining (e.g.) functions. They avoid the time honored *defun*, the logical *define* and even the non- mutilated *define-function*. Instead they use *defn*.

The Common Lisp is starting to feel like a very natural way to write code. And they're right. After a while you do stop noticing the parentheses.

@cwebber@octodon.social If you find Meta too difficult, wait until you find out about the Metaobject Protocol.

@mwl
I could really use "Running you own Mailserver" just now. I just discovered that god-forsaken gmail doesn't accept mail from MTAs any more that are no set up with SPF or DKIM. But some help desks seem to receive their mail via gmail, so since their web interface doesn't allow to upload screen shots, I cannot send them screenshots now.
As I said: I could really use it now...

Lost my twitter account password and realized I just don't care any more.

I'm done.