WillAdams

5 ms·

61.
by WillAdams 2mo ago
The classic example of writing tight and efficient code is: https://folklore.org/Negative_2000_Lines_Of_Code.html
62.
by WillAdams 2mo ago
Maybe they didn't --- it was presented to me as an urban myth, and I've never really liked the idea, and it seems that instead, there is a "Stipulated Fine program", which allows large companies like UPS to waive the rig
63.
by WillAdams 2mo ago
Yes, but UPS is not the manufacturer, and the version of the story I was told noted that they specifically retained a lawyer to argue that the tickets need not be paid because the manufacturer field was not correctly filled out (why NYC cit
64.
by WillAdams 2mo ago
For an example of how that plays out with a malicious corporation, look up how much Fed Ex and UPS pay in parking fines/tickets in NYC. Urban myth is that a previous version of the ticket paperwork required that the vehicle manufacture
65.
by WillAdams 2mo ago
Which is something I argue against constantly (and at least my local library tries hard not to) --- discarded books are placed on tables near the children's area usually and folks are free to pick them up (it might be that a few of the
66.
by WillAdams 2mo ago
At a minimum, it was set by the Japanese Ministry of Education to be used on all computers in schools from primary through college --- if implemented there would have been an entire generation of Japanese students who grew up with that OS.
67.
by WillAdams 2mo ago
"Whoever destroys a book destroys a link in the chain of human knowledge" -- Thos. Jefferson
68.
by WillAdams 2mo ago
Twist on that was the fake immunization campaigns run in Pakistan so as to find relatives of Osama Bin Laden. Or, just check Strom Thurmond's list of children on Wikipedia.
69.
by WillAdams 2mo ago
As a slightly different take on this, a pervasive rumour in the pen computing circles is that one of the reasons Jobs killed the Newton was that the USMC had just had a very successful test of the Newton MessagePad and some sort of wireless
70.
by WillAdams 2mo ago
Yeah, Rob Blessin of Black Hole Computing bought the Cubes and Slabs (sans hard drives) when the CIA moved on to white hardware. At the time, I didn't have the need/funds for a spare, but did grab a NeXT-branded Canon inkjet print
71.
by WillAdams 2mo ago
I wonder if one can do the reverse? Turn in a physical check and get an account?
72.
by WillAdams 2mo ago
Unfortunately, one no longer gets physical checks, instead, one gets an account in The Bank of the Island of San Seriffe: https://www-cs-faculty.stanford.edu/~knuth/boss.html (unfortunately, I have yet to find another
73.
by WillAdams 2mo ago
For an example of this, see: https://www.reddit.com/r/openscad/comments/1p6iv5y/christmas... (a blind person using OpenSCAD to create 3D models using an LLM and also by direct programming/editing)
74.
by WillAdams 2mo ago
That was certainly not the intention nor goal of the folks who first set up a futures market for flour in Chicago at the beginning of the previous century.
75.
by WillAdams 2mo ago
"as reliable a supply as weather and other unforeseen circumstances and human efforts spread across as wide an area as is possible"
76.
by WillAdams 2mo ago
No, the point of a futures market is to have a reliable supply which matches demand and allows everyone who works to produce and use a given commodity to have a reasonable expectation of demand and how production should be matched to it. Go
77.
by WillAdams 2mo ago
Mostly font editors use Bézier curves with four control points, so the effect of moving an off-curve point is limited to that portion of the curve from the associated on-curve node up towards the opposing on-curve node as affected by the ot
78.
by WillAdams 2mo ago
Yeah, editing TrueType fonts w/ B-splines which have a shared off-curve control point between two on-curve control points is nightmarish as a small change will ripple through the entire outline.
79.
by WillAdams 2mo ago
Yes, it is. The most notable aspect of this (and one which I've complained in the past) is the inability to write out file, which has security implications.
80.
by WillAdams 2mo ago
Thanks! I've been suffering for analysis-paralysis trying to pick an environment for a current project --- hopefully this will get me actually working.... If you have occasion to try Literate Programming, or have any interest in the co
81.
by WillAdams 2mo ago
I've had good success w/ using Lua in LuaLaTeX, so hopefully a good fit for me to exercise my programming chops. I think it will be interesting to maintain two parallel versions for comparison/contrast. Thanks!
82.
by WillAdams 2mo ago
Is it able to access the file system and write/read files? I've been doing that via PythonSCAD for my current project https://github.com/WillAdams/gcodepreview and it might be interesting to do a re-write in
83.
by WillAdams 2mo ago
Two thoughts/questions: - do you feel that this could be used to make a (simple) drawing program? - have you considered setting up your codebase as a Literate Program? http://literateprogramming.com/ Notably, that woul
84.
by WillAdams 2mo ago
The thing is, the subtle distinctions do seem to matter in terms of reader acceptance and comprehension, at least in my experience of setting type. Like most things, it's a gradient/continuum, and achieving true excellence is the
85.
by WillAdams 2mo ago
The antidote for that of course is for folks to read Charles Petzold's _Code_: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/44882.Code
86.
by WillAdams 2mo ago
Cue the classic instance of Bill Atkinson writing "-2000 lines": https://www.folklore.org/Negative_2000_Lines_Of_Code.html
87.
by WillAdams 2mo ago
The use of Century Schoolbook by the Supreme Court is more a matter of their accepting the default selection of the Government Printing Office (GPO) --- before they switched to using Adobe InDesign, their updated design manual was available
88.
by WillAdams 2mo ago
Interestingly, the eye complaint was a recurring one about various novel typefaces, esp. see Benjamin Franklin's autobiography where he substitutes text set in Caslon (the old approved standard) for Baskerville (the upstart the person
89.
by WillAdams 2mo ago
There's a reason mathematics was known as "penalty copy" and was notoriously difficult to typeset and even more difficult to turn a profit on. For a deep dive into both ends of that, see the history of publication of Knuth&#x
90.
by WillAdams 2mo ago
For an accessible introduction before beginning this, consider his _Introduction to Mathematical Philosophy_: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Introduction_to_Mathematical_P... and for ease of reading see the various PDF

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