hi guys, i am looking for sites to add to my webring! gimme ur urls :p thanks @X for suggsting neocities!

How Freedesktop/RedHat harass other projects into submission

https://blog.vaxry.net/articles/2024-fdo-and-redhat

Freedesktop/RedHat's CoC team is worse than you thought

https://blog.vaxry.net/articles/2024-fdo-and-redhat2

Strags respond

https://drewdevault.com/2024/04/09/2024-04-09-FDO-conduct-enforcement.html

The Official RDrama Computer Science Reading Group

My dear !codecels, hello and welcome to the first meeting of RDrama's Computer Science Reading Group! Here's the idea - we (read: I) pick a computer science textbook, then post a list of sections and exercises from that textbook each week. In the thread, feel free ask questions, post solutions, and bully people for asking stupid questions or posting stupid solutions. If you don't want to read along, I'll post the complete exercises in the OP, so you can solve them without needing to read the book.

SICP

The book I'm starting with is 'the Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs' (abbreviated SICP). It's a software engineering textbook written by Gerald Jay Sussman and Hal Abelson from MIT. The book builds programming from the ground up: starting with a very simple dialect of Scheme and growing it into a language with lazy evaluation, object-orientation and a self-hosting compiler. It's a fun book: the exercises are hands-on and interesting, the writing is informative without being droll, and both the book itself and a corresponding lecture series (complete with a 80s synth rendition of 'Also Sprach Zarathustra') are available for free online.

Languages

The book uses (a small subset of) Scheme as its primary language, but feel free to try using a different language. The book's dialect of scheme is available through Racket, but most lisps will work with only minor changes. Other dynamically-typed, garbage-collected languages with higher-order functions will also not require much hacking: there is an edition written in JavaScript , as well as a partial adaptation to python . High-level, statically typed languages might also work: Java/Kotlin/C# seem doable, but I don't know those languages well. Strongly typed languages like Haskell will require some real hacks, and I'd avoid doing it in C, C++ or Rust.

Exercises

The book is split into five chapters:

• Building Abstractions with Procedures
• Building Abstractions with Data
• Modularity, Objects and State
• Metalinguistic Abstraction
• Computing with Register Machines

This week, I'll be posting exercises from the first chapter. The chapter is pretty easy for those familiar with programming already, so I just want to get it out of the way. Here are the selected exercises:

Exercise 1.8

Newton's method for cube roots is based on the fact that if y is an approximation to the cube root of x, then a better approximation is given by the value (x/y² + 2y) / 3. Use this formula to implement a cube-root procedure which is wrong by at most 0.01.

Exercise 1.12

The following pattern of numbers is called Pascal's Triangle.

    1
   1 1
  1 2 1
 1 3 3 1
1 4 6 4 1
   ...

The numbers at the edge of the triangle are all 1, and each number inside the triangle is the sum of the two numbers above it. Write a procedure that computes elements of Pascal's triangle.

Exercise 1.18

Devise a procedure generates an iterative process for multiplying two integers in terms of adding, doubling, and halving and uses a logarithmic number of steps.

Exercise 1.31

Write a procedure called product that returns the product of the values of a function at points over a given range (product(l, r,step,f) = f(l) * f(l+step) * f(l + 2 * step) * ... * f(r)). Show how to define factorial in terms of product. Also use product to compute approximations to using the formula π/4 = (2 * 4 * 4 * 6 * 6 * 8 ...) / (3 * 3 * 5 * 5 * 7 * 7 ...)

Exercise 1.43

If f is a numerical function and n is a positive integer, then we can form the nth repeated application of f, which is defined to be the function whose value at x is f(f(...(f(x))...)). For example, if f is the function x → x + 1, then the nth repeated application of f is the function x → x + n. If f is the operation of squaring a number, then the nth repeated application of f is the function that raises its argument to the 2 * nth power. Write a procedure that takes as inputs a procedure that computes f and a positive integer n and returns the procedure that computes the nth repeated application of f. Your procedure should be able to be used as follows: repeated(square,2)(5) = 625

Have fun!

Potential sites to farm drama

You can a few free chats with the new model so I uploaded the Paris pic I posted yesterday

It easily recognized it, so I thought I'd keep the conversation on Paris.

I asked the old model, no joy.

The future is going to be unpredictable

https://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/real.programmers.html

It's funny - i can tell many of y'all have never worked in retail and it shows - i wish everyone was forced to have a general public customer service job, it would humble the shit out of you.

So if it sucks so much why don't these people leave retail?

“you're homeless? just like…buy a house bro”

Could you explain why they are unable to move on from the job they hate? The only reason they would be unable to is if they are lazy or stupid.

Edit once again nobody here has two braincells to explain why these retail workers are precious and helpless little snowflakes who can't possibly get a different job.

This specific store has serious management issues. It is way worse than other Apple stores.

Apple needs to look into the management here.

People don't quit jobs they quit managers. I know someone that went from $120k a year to $60k a year because of hating a manager.

I opened that store in Maryland. I worked in the smaller one they had before that one opened and was there on the first day. I quit in May 2013 to ultimately start my own business but I can say that there were good managers and bad managers. The general manager was never around and had no idea what was going on and wanted me to rat on the lazy workers when I did my “anonymous” exit interview which went straight to his inbox. I made less than $40K working full time and that was after receiving a cost of living wage bump. The benefits were good with steep discounts on products and stock purchasing options. But management would constantly implement new strategies for the workflow of the room and how you handled support appointments, where people were positioned and the software we used to “check in” customers. They never gave it long enough to sink in before trying a new strategy. They were always busy and if someone called out I might find myself going 4 hours straight assisting people with tech issues before getting a bathroom break. We used to drink on our breaks just to ease the stress. But in the end you were a glorified customer service rep. From crazy customers on a daily basis being mad that they didn't backup their info or iCloud was full to constantly standing there as city kids walked through the store stealing phones and getting away with it. To the inability of Apple to be willing to promote the right people within the store. I'm so glad I left and never looked back. They deserve so much more. That store covers all of Baltimore City and County. There isn't another option even remotely close. They all should get a raise.

I worked in Apple retail for 7 years, and while there is a lot to dislike about the job, it's easily one of the best retail jobs you can get. Stupidly excellent health insurance, stock discounts, 401k matching, RSUs, education contributions…I challenge anyone to find those same benefits at a job where you walk by a fricking Auntie Anne's Pretzel shop every day.

Yes, the job is draining, the corporate kool aid is eye rolling, the customers irritating…but to suggest these things constitute “poor working conditions” is patently absurd.

I worked at this specific store for five years and I can completely understand their points. It was common that I would end up working 14+ days straight there due to shitty scheduling, often being there until 10:30 or 11 at night before having to be back there at 7 am the following morning for repairs. The store has been notorious for chewing employees up and spitting them out. It's entirely natural that the workers there would fight for change and would want a seat at the table — and after over a year of Apple negotiating in bad faith, the union has to utilize the tools at its disposal to achieve its goals.

Workers of any industry fighting for their rights in an era where ownership is further and further consolidating amongst an unaccountable class of the hyper rich is good for all of us.

And just because Apple retail is “better” than other retail jobs, like what do employees just go ok well we shouldn't complain then. Let Tim Apple and his $$$ executives treat us however

Fricking 🥾👅

These people wouldn't support the fricking weekend if we were discussing working conditions in the 1880s.

Ya, sounds like you and them should quit if it is that bad.

Every worker should have a union. We should be supportive of employees realizing they hold power over a trillion dollar company.

I wasn't surprised that the essence of the top comment here was, “they should be grateful”

Oh give me a break. It's a cushy retail job, it's not like they're tarring a roof in August or pulling a double at a hospital.

Instead of complaining because they have it good and others dont, help the roofers and nurses instead as well. Help them get unions and better conditions. We should be working towards making it better for everyone, not dragging people down to the worst industry imaginable.

These mfs have never done hard labor in their life.

Unions aren't just for hard labor jobs?

what exactly are their working conditions and what exactly are their demands? lay it all out as precisely as possible and I'll personally tell you who I think is right

From the article:

“The issues at the forefront of this action include concerns over work-life balance, unpredictable scheduling practices disrupting personal lives, and wages failing to align with the area's cost of living.

For further context (based on discussions with friends that used to work for Apple retail), Apple uses a scheduling service called Kronos to generate the work schedule. It's intended to distribute hours fairly, accounting for PTO/sick days/etc. However, the schedule it generates is erratic and unpredictable, and you don't get it with much advance notice, making it difficult to schedule things outside of work.”

And before anyone says some nonsense like “sorry you can't hang out with your friends”, this mostly impacts people with college classes, kids (especially those with extra curricular activities), second jobs, and medical appointments that ask for consistency.

Darn sounds just like working on an oil rig or in a sweat shop

So no one should fight for better working conditions because oil rigs and sweatshops exist?

It's an Apple Store. How thought of a job can it really be? Go work construction - those people need a union.

Why can't retail employees have a union, too? Have you ever worked retail? It absolutely sucks.

Family member of mine left construction for Uber because he thought it would be easier, turns out construction was easier. Construction is physically demanding but it's not a difficult job otherwise.

People are so fricking soft these days. World is screwed

“we refuse to bend to the whims of trillion dollar corporations so we're taking a stand!!”

“YOURE SOFT!!”

who are the soft ones here? people fighting for better lives or the ones taking it in the a** by a corporation like a good little worker?

😂 generations fought in wars but you fricking pillow huggers can't get out of moms basement safely enough to work

!neolibs !chuds !anticommunists

Name: Hamish Paul Wilson

Website: https://icculus.org/~hamish/

Gender: Male

Born: May 13, 1994 (age 29)

Birthplace: Edmonton, Alberta

Residence: Rural Alberta, Canada

Citizenship: Canada, New Zealand

Profession: Farm Labourer

Notable Works: Blood Wiki, Tome of Blood, and Bloodite Interviews

Religion: Atheist

Ideology: Marxist

Found his address:

52322 Highway 759, Parkland County, Alberta T0E 2H0

Website is plain text: https://icculus.org/~hamish/

He graduated from high school in 2013, and what free time is not taken up by his gaming is often consumed by his other pursuits including free software development, writing, politics, and farming, with sheep, cattle, and chickens under his care.

NEEEEET. Also a creepy fanfiction writer. Admin of several niche fandoms including a game nobody cares about from 1997 that is a horror ripoff of Doom and Duke Nukem 3D.

T-Mobile, Verizon, and AT&T will pay a combined $10.2 million in a settlement with US states that alleged the carriers falsely advertised wireless plans as "unlimited" and phones as "free." The deal was announced yesterday by New York Attorney General Letitia James.

"A multistate investigation found that the companies made false claims in advertisements in New York and across the nation, including misrepresentations about 'unlimited' data plans that were in fact limited and had reduced quality and speed after a certain limit was reached by the user," the announcement said.

T-Mobile and Verizon agreed to pay $4.1 million each while AT&T agreed to pay a little over $2 million. The settlement includes AT&T subsidiary Cricket Wireless and Verizon subsidiary TracFone.

The settlement involves 49 of the 50 US states (Florida did not participate) and the District of Columbia. The states' investigation found that the three major carriers "made several misleading claims in their advertising, including misrepresenting 'unlimited' data plans that were actually limited, offering 'free' phones that came at a cost, and making false promises about switching to different wireless carrier plans.

Wew lad That's over $200k per state! It can even be used to cover lawyers fees and discovery costs in a case that took 9 years in court. Yuge government win here, folks!

The three carriers agreed that all advertisements to consumers must be "truthful, accurate and non-misleading." They also agreed to the following changes, the NY attorney general's office said:

• "Unlimited" mobile data plans can only be marketed if there are no limits on the quantity of data allowed during a billing cycle.

• Offers to pay for consumers to switch to a different wireless carrier must clearly disclose how much a consumer will be paid, how consumers will be paid, when consumers can expect payment, and any additional requirements consumers have to meet to get paid.

• Offers of "free" wireless devices or services must clearly state everything a consumer must do to receive the "free" devices or services.

• Offers to lease wireless devices must clearly state that the consumer will be entering into a lease agreement.

• All "savings" claims must have a reasonable basis. If a wireless carrier claims that consumers will save using its services compared to another wireless carrier, the claim must be based on similar goods or services or differences must be clearly explained to the consumer.

I bet that will learn them!

Major geomagnetic solar storm happening right now. Biggest in a long time. Starlink satellites are under a lot of pressure, but holding up so far. pic.twitter.com/TrEv5Acli2

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 11, 2024

They want you to print that shit on a piece of paper or login to your Microsoft account in case you forget it