Flying Spaghetti Code Monster

This is the Samsung Note 2’s “Page Buddy”...

Mon, 15 Apr 2013 15:46:28 -0400

This is the Samsung Note 2’s “Page Buddy” feature, which pops up a context-sensitive home page when you do a few particular actions. In this case, the page appears because I plugged in my headphones. It’s an interesting idea, but poorly executed. Note the message at the bottom which appeared when I tried to move an app:

“Cannot edit recommended apps”. Fascinating. I understand that there is probably some underlying process that watches the apps I tend to use when my headphones are in. Someone probably spent a lot of time developing that. As a software developer, I feel their pain.

As a user, I don’t care. I want to place my own damn apps there.

Unfortunately for their app-choosing process, they’ve merely found the apps I tend to use the most, regardless of headphone status. I gain no advantage to messaging with headphones, or using the calculator, or Polaris. The only one vaguely related to headphones is the Media Player… And regrettably, not even that is useful to me, because I use Google Play instead. So I’m stuck with an uneditable toolbar that’s 4/5ths worthless. Unfortunate.

This is how STEM makes me feel; we’re not killing the magic,...

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 01:39:36 -0400

This is how STEM makes me feel; we’re not killing the magic, we’re creating it.

oh.

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 02:27:49 -0400

oh.

GPOY, folks.

Sun, 31 Mar 2013 00:13:29 -0400

GPOY, folks.

I'm at home this weekend:

Sun, 31 Mar 2013 00:11:02 -0400

Dad: Hey, "Sexy Adult Toys for Sale" is on!
Me: Sweet, what channel?
Mom: Triple zero, because that's what you are.

timetravelandrocketpoweredapes: Super Antics #6 by Kerry...

Tue, 26 Mar 2013 02:51:13 -0400

timetravelandrocketpoweredapes:

Super Antics #6 by Kerry Callen

1. You can’t remove underwear without taking off your pants first.

2. This guy is definitely not 18.

Superman, stay the hell away from my kids.

laughingsquid: Friend Makes a Woman Hospitalized with...

Fri, 15 Mar 2013 23:55:42 -0400

laughingsquid:

Friend Makes a Woman Hospitalized with Short-Term Memory Loss an Informative FAQ

Fascinatingly enough, when we lose our short-term memories, we do tend to go into loops. We’re like algorithms: same input gives same output. Of course, our memories change the algorithm, so the same input doesn’t give the same output.

Here’s a fun game. Take a logical statement and convert it into the following format:...

Sat, 09 Mar 2013 15:47:16 -0500

Here’s a fun game.

Take a logical statement and convert it into the following format: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conjunctive_normal_form

Done? Cool. Try a harder statement.

Done? Great work. Try something with 7 variables and a complex if-else clause.

What’s that? Three pages of intermediate, inebriated steps and you’ve lost both the meaning of logic and your life? Well, seems you’ve arrived right on my doorstep! Come on in, please don’t mind the fire and brimstone, you know how the weather gets around here.

Badass JavaScript: An Iron Man Like 3d Hologram Controlled by Leap Motion and Three.js

Thu, 07 Mar 2013 19:47:46 -0500

Badass JavaScript: An Iron Man Like 3d Hologram Controlled by Leap Motion and Three.js:

badassjs:

The Leap Motion is a very cool piece of technology. It’s a small $80 box that you can put on your desk to control an ordinary computer using hand motions. It’s extremely accurate, allowing for very fine motor control using all of your fingers. If you haven’t seen it, be sure to check it…

MITCHELL MITCHELL LOOK IT’S THAT THING YOU’VE ALWAYS WANTED

I’ve been waiting for this GIF set since the midnight...

Thu, 07 Mar 2013 19:21:58 -0500

I’ve been waiting for this GIF set since the midnight release of this movie.

Flying Spaghetti Code Monster: Can we please stop sugar-coating and idealizing the crap out of programming in the computer science tag?

Sat, 02 Mar 2013 00:03:18 -0500

Flying Spaghetti Code Monster: Can we please stop sugar-coating and idealizing the crap out of programming in the computer science tag?:

musicspeakswhenwordscannot:

musicspeakswhenwordscannot:

Just… wow. It gets really old. Like all of these videos made by people who don’t even program making it sound like you just sit there and type a little and things happen? Then you go play video games and eat free food? It’s kind of downplaying my whole career and…

The irony is that my curriculum DOES teach computer science like that. They plop down some really complicated stuff in front of you even if you’ve never touched a compiler and then take off without you. I realize there are programs that aren’t this blatantly terrible, but I know that they are widespread in this issue after having talked to other university students about it. But I do agree. It is easy to get started with the right resources. Finding the right resources though is very, very difficult.

I would have to disagree with you on accessibility on the grounds that many people don’t even know how to get started with this stuff, which is why we need some serious awareness education. There are also many people who cannot afford computers. They’re still expensive equipment for the average high schooler or younger. They are definitely becoming accessible more-so than like a lab for chemistry but when it comes to accessibility the main issue is probably accessibility of knowledge. It is VERY hard to find good DIY programming tutorials that click with me personally, and if I was not sure I wanted to do computer science I would not have learned to program on the grounds that I wouldn’t pay for a class I didn’t have to take when I was already in a tight financial situation. I can imagine people who are not as interested as me would not even go looking for those things, and maybe that’s alright? Which is something the video seemed to condemn, it seemed to try to build computer science up by undervaluing people who didn’t do computer science. One time it even mentioned that “all productive members of society should be forced to code” and I thought that was even more outrageous of a claim.

I think that awareness was the goal of the video I was talking about, but they did a terrible job giving accurate information and seemed to commodify computer science and programming in general. I wasn’t upset that there were qualified people in the video, but as it went on I was questioning their qualifications more and more. There were a couple people that were “taking a programming class” or “taken a programming class in college/high school” that made some pretty broad and inaccurate generalizations about programmers and programming and people who do not program. I’d rather a more realistic take on it be shown, because I don’t really think lying to people about what their possible future career would entail is going to make anyone stick around.

By video, do you mean this one? Because, yeah, not the best argument I’ve ever seen. I think the ultimate message, about “programming should be offered in schools” is a good one, and would go a long way towards awareness, access to resources, and helping with some of the financial constraints of getting started. Also, many good online resources are appearing, and I think as more public interest appears for CSCI, the university programs will improve their teaching abilities.

I’m sorry to hear that your program is awful… I know of at least two others that are reportedly so. Pacing is a big issue with these things… what did your program start out with? We started with a dialect of LISP; it was pretty gross.

Can we please stop sugar-coating and idealizing the crap out of programming in the computer science tag?

Fri, 01 Mar 2013 22:07:47 -0500

musicspeakswhenwordscannot:

Just… wow. It gets really old. Like all of these videos made by people who don’t even program making it sound like you just sit there and type a little and things happen? Then you go play video games and eat free food? It’s kind of downplaying my whole career and it’s getting really annoying. Computer science is awesome and great and in my opinion the best use of time ever but it’s still difficult sometimes and you need to be determined and not just there for free food and video games.

You’re right, it’s not easy. Not at all. I just got back from ~8 consecutive hours in the lab with little headway — Yay, using a language and libraries with terrible documentation!

But, I will support the underlying message: The upper-level stuff is really tough, but anyone can get started. I think the intimidation factor of computers scares a lot of potentially great programmers off, because they haven’t got any exposure to it and movies/books/etc make it look like you have to be an utter genius to do ANYTHING with it.

Would you learn to play an instrument if they plopped some Franz Liszt in front of you at your first lesson? Would you ever learn rock-climbing by starting on a real cliff? Would you paint if the only acceptable level of competency was Monet? No, no, no. You have to start with accessibility. But starting with this accessibility doesn’t stop us from admiring the true professionals in any of these activities.

And lastly, accessibility is one of those things that makes computer science so awesome. You can’t sit down and create a chemical compound you’ve been thinking about for the past week, unless you have access to some impressive lab and the requisite chemicals. You can, however, sit down and prototype a program pretty quickly, with a resource you likely already have. If this trivializes my career choice, so be it. But if it weren’t for that accessibility, I wouldn’t be a CSCI student, and neither would several of my best friends. I think that’s worth it.

inothernews: “Russians have seen so much crazy shit that...

Wed, 20 Feb 2013 14:07:55 -0500

inothernews:

“Russians have seen so much crazy shit that they’ve become unfazeable.” — JON STEWART, from last night’s The Daily Show.

I did not realize Russia was so aggressive!

Your Lord and Master Stands on High: kr-studios: thedistanceinsidious: kr-studios: Maybe I should be using...

Thu, 31 Jan 2013 01:57:40 -0500

Your Lord and Master Stands on High: kr-studios: thedistanceinsidious: kr-studios: Maybe I should be using...:

kr-studios:

thedistanceinsidious:

kr-studios:

Maybe I should be using C functions for saving and loading…

I’ll have you know that I threw something at the wall when I read this.

That’s been my general response to you posting vague lines like this.

When you get to a real…

He shouldn’t scare you. He’s not Caspar, but he’s got all the physical power of an ethereal, transparent being anyway.

leonsbuddydave: fualkner: aepokh: Squinting against wind My eyelashes are freezing It’s so...

Wed, 23 Jan 2013 00:14:30 -0500

leonsbuddydave:

fualkner:

aepokh:

Squinting against wind

My eyelashes are freezing

It’s so fucking cold.

Twenty-eight below zero;

I am Canadian, bitch,

I was born for this.

And then a plot twist,

Hitler was Canadian,

Now how do you feel?

I still feel no cold;

Our hearts froze when coonskin hats

stopped being cool.

aepokh: Squinting against wind My eyelashes are freezing It’s so fucking cold. Twenty-eight...

Wed, 23 Jan 2013 00:02:00 -0500

aepokh:

Squinting against wind

My eyelashes are freezing

It’s so fucking cold.

Twenty-eight below zero;

I am Canadian, bitch,

I was born for this.

leonsbuddydave: I feel so bad for Logan He was here in Wisconsin when the temperature ranged...

Tue, 22 Jan 2013 20:12:57 -0500

leonsbuddydave:

I feel so bad for Logan

He was here in Wisconsin when the temperature ranged between 12 - 30 F

Today, it’s -28

You missed out on the good stuff, Logan

Out there in the urban tundra, time slows to a crawl, and you spend every sustained second craving a death that will never come.

Introducing yourself to the warm recesses of man’s architecture after mere minutes beneath God’s brutal lashes is like fucking sex, Logan, there’s no drug, no book, no greater thrill than surviving this prodigious bullshit one more god damn time.

It makes boys into men and men into cynics, Logan.

There’s something they never tell you about the cold, Logan, something you have to behold to understand, and that’s the silence.

Nobody talks out there, Logan.

The wind doesn’t need to speak to remind you it’s there.

Even the squirrels stay their chittering and the dogs their barking, Logan, because every word of every aimless conversation is a morsel of heat you don’t get back until the climax.

Isn’t that scary, Logan?

Aimless conversation, constant communication, the translation of even inconsequential ideas is part of the experiences that define us as people, and yet it’s first piece of you to go when your breath fogs the air so thick you reach to suffocate a cigarette you never lit.

Our gods didn’t abandon us, Logan. We left them behind.

Quit CompSci and become a poet. Actually, stay in CompSci and write a sequel to Racter.

Period

Sat, 12 Jan 2013 04:27:12 -0500

Period:

tinkikiwi:

thenoodleboo:

robotsquid:

Seriously though your period is like coming home one day and finding that your spouse has constructed this entire new baby bedroom inside your house and you have to tell them “Sweetie we don’t have a baby” and then your spouse FLIPS THE FUCK OUT like “The FUCK do you mean we don’t have a baby I DID ALL THIS WORK” and then they spend the next week tearing the whole room apart and throwing it out into the street and screaming at you and then finally when the room is completely gutted they calm down and say “It’s okay hon we’ll have a baby next month” and then they start building the room again AND THIS SHIT KEEPS GOING FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE UNTIL YOU HIT LIKE 50 AND THEN YOUR SPOUSE LEAVES YOU BUT NOT BEFORE SETTING THE WHOLE HOUSE ON FIRE SO IT’S NEVER THE SAME AGAIN

actual best description of a period in the entire world

Except no matter how awesome an accurate this description is; it doesn’t make talking about menstruation any more acceptable.

Why would talking about menstruation be unacceptable? I understand it being a sort-of gross topic, or not wanting to discuss it in public or something, but this is Tumblr for goodness sake. I don’t know, seems a weird taboo, but then again I dislike taboos in general. Seems far better to me to joke about such things than let them fester in the dark… This goes for all uncomfortable topics.

But, full disclosure: I am male, so maybe there’s something I’m missing about all of this?

My curtain rod was about an inch too short.

Wed, 09 Jan 2013 02:32:11 -0500

My curtain rod was about an inch too short.

Now we’re talking. (re. Thomas, Logan: Github repo TBA)

Mon, 07 Jan 2013 18:45:29 -0500

Now we’re talking.

(re. Thomas, Logan: Github repo TBA)