billpg

8 ms·

61.
by billpg 1y ago
I wonder if the language could support a tagged pointer type, where you ask the compiler for n extra bits along with the pointer. If the pointer's internal structure has space for those bits, it uses them, otherwise the compiler alloca
62.
by billpg 1y ago
I they had stuck with LiveScript, we'd be using LSON ("Ell-Son") as a data format.
63.
by billpg 1y ago
I kinda want Oracle to go further and insist that no-one can call it "JavaScript" any more. Let's all it "JS" and completely break from Java. "What does JS stand for?" "It stands for itself."
64.
by billpg 1y ago
"Would you like to leave a tip for your server?" "20%." "And the cook?" "What?" "The cook wants in on the no-tax-on-tips so we're asking how much you'd like to tip him. We'
65.
by billpg 1y ago
You could say that for almost all of most language's standard libraries. Imagine you ad a standard library string-to-integer parser that didn't know about minus signs. Sure, you could write your own function that wrapped the parse
66.
by billpg 1y ago
"The job of a parser is to perform the opposite of stringification as precisely as possible." Is it though? String-to-float parsers are quite flexible in the range of inputs they allow. "1000", "1E3", "10E
67.
by billpg 1y ago
Keeping it simple. Once you've got the mantissa and exponent out, you can check your number is in range by a simple check that the exponent is within range. For a 32 bit signed integer the limit is 2E9. This means that the exponent is
68.
Dear String-to-Integer Parsers(owl.billpg.com)
10 points by billpg 1y ago|14 comments
69.
by billpg 1y ago
How does that work in practice? Suppose the Table family type their son Bobby's name into a form. The Perl program now has a "tainted" string in memory - "Robert'; DROP TABLE Students --". The Perl code passes
70.
by billpg 1y ago
Or any reason to actually free the hostages.
71.
by billpg 1y ago
I wonder if an American friend could set it up for me. My gmail mailbox but their US phone number. (Thanks for the recommendation!)
72.
by billpg 1y ago
Who do y'all use for a dialable USA phone number these days? (I'm in England.) I have (had) a +1-423 Skype number to receive calls (twice a month or so) that took messages that I could play in the Skype web-app.
73.
by billpg 1y ago
We use unskilled labour (cows) to perform the necessary chemical reactions to convert grass and water into milk. The milk needs to be pasteurised before it is fit to use and the cows produce a significant amount of manure. I think we can do
74.
by billpg 2y ago
Most (all?) SQL client libraries will allow you indicate a parameter placeholder and supply that parameter value separately.
75.
by billpg 2y ago
I was going to buy a domain back in my student days, but I stopped when I realised I didn't have a phone number. I used the public phone-box on the corner whenever I needed to actually call anyone. It was a little annoying to have to r
76.
by billpg 2y ago
Thank you. I read that the tunnel "will link Denmark and Germany" and I had to check a map to confirm that yes, they are already linked. By land. By a lot of land. You're not experiencing memory loss.
77.
by billpg 2y ago
It's (channel-name)@gmail.com I'll take a cheque.
78.
by billpg 2y ago
But why?
79.
by billpg 2y ago
"You need to choose an access PIN." "How about (digits)?" "You can't use that one. Someone else has already chosen that." "Wait, now I know someone else's PIN code. I could use that and it'd
80.
by billpg 2y ago
Then it isn't a personal identification number. We should call them PANs, or Personal Authentication Number. If you'll excuse me, I need to go fight some windmills.
81.
by billpg 2y ago
Anyone else seeing this? "This server couldn't prove that it's annas-archive.org; its security certificate is from *.hs.llnwd.net. This may be caused by a misconfiguration or an attacker intercepting your connection."
82.
by billpg 2y ago
Because of the risk of auto-linkification, I'm of the opinion that browsers should put the entire dot-zip domain into the this-is-dangerous realm with big scary warnings if anyone follows a link. (Or at least any file downloads.)
83.
by billpg 2y ago
If you were to ask me to write some code to convert an int64 into ascii decimals, I'd start with a 20 character buffer (because int64 will never need more), loop to populate the buffer with ascii decimal digits from the lowest signific
84.
by billpg 2y ago
Is the moment of birth defined down to the second? The process of giving birth seems more like a process (to this lay person who failed high school biology) rather than a strict binary not-yet-born/born.
85.
by billpg 2y ago
Question asked, question answered... What is a second? (johndcook.com) An Unreasonable Amount of Time (allenpike.com)
86.
by billpg 2y ago
"The insurance companies don't have medical training either." Remember that.
87.
by billpg 2y ago
"1.1 System Requirements. This version of GW-BASIC requires MS-DOS version 3.2 or later." Does Windows 10 count as "or later"?
88.
by billpg 2y ago
I feel the main problem with email is that it isn't default-deny. When I set up a mailbox, no-one should be able to send me messages until I pre-approve the sender.
89.
by billpg 2y ago
I look forward to my not-techie heirs learning the difference between 301 and 302 redirects.
90.
by billpg 2y ago
I would caution against using the C pre-processor, unless you're very careful indeed. {"data": #include "/home/myservice/secrets.json" }

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