Skip Navigation

Amy
Amy @ lwhjp @lemmy.sdf.org
Posts
0
Comments
9
Joined
2 yr. ago

How common is it to need to know the absolute inner workings of something in order to do it?

Jump

  • Oh yeah, I totally get that.

    When I'm doing something for fun, I'm far more interested in the process than the end result, so I'll do everything from first principles. And probably never finish before I move on to something else. But that's fine.

    If it's something I need to get done, on the other hand, then by the time I've started we're probably already into crisis mode, and so getting it complete as quickly as possible becomes the goal. Then I'm all for finding whatever shortcuts I can.

    Fortunately I've explored a enough topics (particularly in programming) for fun by now that I have enough background knowledge to be good at it for a career. Experience does build up, and even if you're jumping around all over the place, eventually you'll start to see the bigger picture.

    • What made you suspect that you have or do not have ADHD? Why did (or didn't) you get evaluated?

    Jump

  • Well I'd kind of known since forever in a "ha ha, but everyone feels like that though, right?" way. Then some ADHD memes randomly came up on Youtube, and I realized that it was me, exactly. The same thing happened with egg_irl a while earlier, and since doing something about that had made my life much better, I went to see a psychiatrist, who immediately agreed that I had ADHD and prescribed me some drugs.

    It also didn't help that I'm predominantly-inattentive type, which is apparently more common in women (surprise!)

    • RISC OS Open: News: "Moonshots" Initiative to Secure the Future of the OS

    Jump

  • Many fond memories of using RISC OS as a kid. It's good to know that it's still alive!

    • The Piano Axioms in Prolog

    Jump

  • Bravo.

    • KB, MB, GB, and TB are all part of the metric system. What empirical measurements should we Freeℒ️ Americans use for computer memory?

    Jump

  • Most people would use "word", "half-word", "quarter-word" etc, but the Anglophiles insist on "tuppit", "ternary piece", "span" and "chunk" (that's 5 bits, or 12 old bits).

    • What is the most terryifying siren noise?

    Jump

  • Nothing followed by the sound of a lot of cars leaving the Facility very fast.

    • Find yourself

    Jump

  • TDD

     
        
const max12 = (x, y) => {
    if (x === 1 && y === 2) {
        return 2;
    } else if (x === 7 && y === 4) {
        return 7;
    } else {
        return x;
    }
};

    • Arthur C. Clark once said "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic". What technologies do we have today that would look like magic to people from the past?

    Jump

  • It's even cooler than lightbulbs, though (assuming we're talking about incandescents) - you send electricity back and forth into a wire that's just the right length, and (RF) light leaks out without it getting hot!

    • Literally 1970

    Jump

  • Um, actually... A signed 32-bit counter would loop back to December 1901, so the calendar is presumably 31-bit unsigned. (Sorry)