TomMasz

Have you ever heard a 911 call? People don’t speak in complete sentences. Not everyone speaks English. They yell. They cry. They whisper. There’s background noise. Sometimes they need instructions on CPR or first aid. They may not know where they are. This is a recipe for disaster.

Cue “Talking Tina” from Twilight Zone.

A couple of years ago, but I don’t drive all that far most days. It sure seems like there are fewer and fewer. For instance, last summer, I saw fireflies for the first time in over a decade. This can’t be good.

There’s no analogy for any of this that doesn’t have some flaw.

They’ll have jobs right up to the introduction of the next gen AI.

The dishes have never been softer! Granted, that’s a whole 'nother problem, but it’s still worth mentioning.

The planet is healing.

At least the number of times I have to use the Clean Java Language Workspace in VS Code has declined recently. I mean, I still have to, just not as often.

Inertia, at least in some cases. It takes a lot of work to rebuild your audience. Leaving is accelerating, though, albeit slowly.

Many have gone looking. Few have returned.

That’s the Prelude Light. It comes on just before the enormous fireball erupts.

I use Pocket and Fakespot. Now what? I requested my Pocket data to be downloaded, so I’ll have that at least. Fakespot was really valuable, losing it really sucks.

Beginners are the least likely to ask thoughtful questions. We include slides in lectures about how to ask a question, but when there’s an assignment deadline and you’re inexperienced, it’s more likely you’re going to just blurt out “help me!” rather than provide a detailed explanation that doesn’t require repeated prompting. It takes time to learn how to work through an issue yourself before asking. Students are often facing time pressure and that can drive bad behavior. Correcting them is important, just don’t do it in a way that crushes their spirit.

Ever ask a question on SO? I tell my students to search there but never, ever ask a question. The unmitigated hostility is not what new developers need or deserve. ChatGPT won’t humiliate you for asking a question that someone else has already asked.

Black Mirror has its work cut out for it, that’s all I’ll say.

Behold the next generation of voters.

I ask myself this simple question: Are you making things better? I find meaning in helping others, and this is my guiding principle. I hope that when my time comes, I can say that I did make things better, that I did help others.

Jimi Hendrix’s version of All Along The Watchtower by Bob Dylan. It’s likely to be the only version of the song most people have ever heard.

The canola oil I buy has rape seed in the ingredients. In very small type, of course.

He knows the words.