James Cook @falsifian@mastodon.sdf.org
- Homepage
- https://www.falsifian.org/
- https://www.facebook.com/falsifian
- https://twitter.com/falsifian
Joined Apr 2021
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Say you're using a block of memory to store data that you're going to need later. Then you can't use that same memory for something else, unless you swap out the data or compress it or something first, right?
Not quite!
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Hi! My main skills are in #programming theoretical CS and #math. I'm interested in #foss, #ballet, #music (playing the #piano), #hex (the board game), and lots of other things I'm forgetting.
I've been taking time to relax and play after having most recently worked at #google. Some things I've been doing:
* teaching
* projects, e.g. https://www.falsifian.org/blog/2020/11/18/sound/
* #reading, mostly #scifi and #fastasy
A question: how many of you have friends who use Mastodon who you met elsewhere?
James Cook
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A nice blog post by my partner Colin. Way out at the tail end of unpopular #Wikipedia articles, it turns out there is an interesting mechanism determining which get the least visits.
James Cook
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I committed a change to the #OpenBSD kernel related to CPU frequency scaling.
Most laptop users will benefit from a better battery life (estimated like +15% to +30% from my experience).
Explanations in the commit message: https://marc.info/?l=openbsd-cvs&m=165222104109566&w=2
It should be available in one or two days in the snapshots, but you can build your up to date kernel now if you know how (or follow instructions, it's easy https://man.openbsd.org/release#2._Build_and_install_a_new_kernel )
A nice essay on the appeal of roguelikes, and how permadeath makes your stories memorable:
https://dirt.substack.com/p/dirt-the-permadeath-drive?s=r
James Cook
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There's a very neat park near us with a natural eternal flame (methane gas seep that can be lit) behind a waterfall. It's quite amazing.
That's obvious, but before I thought about it I imagined it as some sort of organic outgrowth of awk and Bourne shell.
I've been fixated on it for the past couple of days, for some reason. I might give it a try as my go-to language outside of work. Looks like a fun language to use.
Also, this talk was entertaining: http://www.wall.org/~larry/pm.html
#perl was made the way it is on purpose.
James Cook
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UDF file system facts
In 2021 we funded a fsck_udf command to recover corrupt UDF file systems, which was completed by reinoud@.
UDF's important because it's open and patent free. It's usually used on DVD/BR, but it can be used on anything else too.
It supports Unix permissions, unlike FAT. Unlike exFAT, it's patent-free for everyone, not just Windows and Linux.
Most OSes support UDF 1.02, but in NetBSD we support R/W up to version 2.60.
Consider formatting your shared drives with UDF. 😃
James Cook
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IDE's should add cobwebs to commented out code after 100 commits.
James Cook
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Demo of a new OpenBSD GUI package manager
I'm writing a GUI package manager for #OpenBSD on top of pkg_tools
I chose #Godot as a framework because it let me do exactly what I want, it just works, and it's not painful to write, + it's super fast on my T400 (Core 2 Duo 2.6 GHz)
Currently, you can search packages using their name and comment, and there is a switch to add DESCR to the search, you can also mark packages for install and install them.
I need to figure how to associate installed packages to the list of available packages, that will permit to show installed packages and deselect them for removal.
There is another limitation right now, a package with flavors or various versions is displayed multiple time under its package name (like the dozen of vim are all seen as "vim").
The program is using a json file as input data, generated from sqlports and a python script looking for packages names, description, comment and some logic to determine if a package is a GUI program or a console program (by looking for librairies like GTK,GL,SDL,curses etc..).
It's impressive how Godot is effective, it took me less than 2 hours to do all of this.
James Cook
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If you look carefully you can even recognise some constellations. Due to the way the ball projects the image, the constellations in the background and within the ball are symmetric relative to the center of the ball.
It seems the joke here is not as clear as I thought.
I just think it's funny that a company feels it helps to write "genuinely thank you" instead of just "thank you" in their promotional material. It makes them seem even more fake, maybe.
James Cook
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Hey all, I need some #historical info for a #scene in my #novel. Where would a #brainscience #computerscience genius give a lecture in #SanFrancisco or SF area in 1981? Think someone like #MarvinMinsky. Where would some young people have a chance to listen to him? #writing #research
James Cook
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This morning, my toddler insisted that I make him a hovercraft. I think I would call this a success
#diy #MakeStuff
James Cook
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Inasmuch as so many people are following me today: hello, nice to see you here, I guess I should post more here now, and also, here's a cat.
James Cook
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@solenepercent @solene Thanks, that was a nice article. I was a NixOS user for many years but switched to OpenBSD a couple of years ago. Both are great in their own way.
- Homepage
- https://www.falsifian.org/
- https://www.facebook.com/falsifian
- https://twitter.com/falsifian
Joined Apr 2021
