Category Archives: Programming

We keep making the same mistakes with spreadsheets, despite bad consequences | Ars Technica

Posted on January 31, 2024 by David K.

Spreadsheets represent unknown risks in the form of errors, privacy violations, trade secrets, and compliance violations. Yet they are also critical for the way many organizations make their decisions. For this reason, they have been described by experts as the … Continue reading →

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Why do people use VBA?

Posted on November 15, 2023 by David K.

Why do people use VBA? In order to answer this question, we must first look at another question – who actually uses VBA in the first place? In 2021 I ran a poll on /r/vba where I asked redditors why … Continue reading →

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Get a Job Doing Software Development, They Said

Posted on August 7, 2023 by David K.

It’ll be fun, they said. Every day, it seems, I bang my head on the wall. Today? Tower — a normally-great git frontend on Mac — decided to throw up its hands and refuse to work on my work laptop, … Continue reading →

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The State of Javascript Development

Posted on July 3, 2023 by David K.

Mocked in this article: The pain is barely tolerable when you reach dependencies. So, so many of them. There’s left-pad, the legendary tiny package that broke all internet, collectively causing the amount of pain and drama comparable to the destruction … Continue reading →

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The early days of Linux

Posted on April 15, 2023 by David K.

My name is Lars Wirzenius, and I was there when Linux started. Linux is now a global success, but its beginnings were rather more humble. These are my memories of the earliest days of Linux, its creation, and the start … Continue reading →

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Another Day, Another Boneheaded Move by #CorporateIT

Posted on March 21, 2023 by David K.

I’ve been having mysterious problems with both of my corporate computers. Things that used to run only sort of run now. Today, I finally figured out that this is happening because #CorporateIT, in its ineffable wisdom, has decided to suddenly … Continue reading →

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UNIX co-creator Ken Thompson is… a what user? • The Register

Posted on March 17, 2023 by David K.

Elder statesman of system software makes a shocking revelation: Thompson replies: I have for most of my life – because I was sort of born into it – run Apple. Now recently, meaning within the last five years, I’ve become … Continue reading →

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Can GPT-4 *Actually* Write Code? – by Tyler Glaiel

Posted on March 17, 2023 by David K.

I test GPT 4’s code-writing capabilities with some actual real world problems. Source: Can GPT-4 *Actually* Write Code? – by Tyler Glaiel Can these new large language models really replace software engineering? GPT is showing that it can write trivial … Continue reading →

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Programming vs. Achievement Hunting

Posted on March 6, 2023 by David K.

Last night, in my continuing saga of playing Fallout 76, I finished all the main quest lines, and turned my attention to one of the first side quests that you’ll run into when starting the game. You meet a robot … Continue reading →

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Caring about Costs is Cool

Posted on March 2, 2023 by David K.

But costs aren’t just about the bottomline, they’re also a measure of efficiency. I have a distinct distaste for waste. Money spent on the frivolous or the ill-considered is money that can’t be spent elsewhere. Like an engine drinking too … Continue reading →

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