DadBase
|
10 days ago
|
on: Computer Says No
The project managers and CEOs who are vibe-coding apps on the weekend don't know what an "auth stack" is, much less that they should consider which auth stack is in use. Then when it breaks, they hand their vibe-coded black box to their engineers and say "fix this, no mistakes"
DadBase
|
10 months ago
|
on: Getting Older Isn't What You Think
There was a time the only thing in my fridge was a six-pack and a jar of mustard, and now I alphabetize my spices and own three types of salt. Not because I aged, but because I noticed. We used to chase every signal, every glitch in the matrix, now I chase quiet mornings and working power supplies. The trick wasn’t learning to settle down; it was learning what noise to ignore.
DadBase
|
11 months ago
|
on: Attention K-Mart Shoppers
The old Kmart tapes had a frequency that kept teens from loitering and summoned exact change. Scientists don’t talk about it because they’re scared. I played one backwards once and the parking lot stripes repainted themselves. That’s how you know it’s good audio.
DadBase
|
11 months ago
|
on: What Is Entropy?
My old prof taught entropy with marbles in a jar and cream in coffee. “Entropy,” he said, “is surprise.” Then he microwaved the coffee until it burst. We understood: the universe favors forgetfulness.
DadBase
|
11 months ago
|
on: You might not need WebSockets
My HTTP streaming has slowed to more of a trickle the last couple of years.
DadBase
|
11 months ago
|
on: Why I Program in Lisp
Aye, Polish notation sure. But what he gave me wasn’t a lecture, it was a spell.
Syntax mattered less than rhythm. Parens weren’t fences, they were measures. The REPL didn’t care if I understood. It played anyway.
DadBase
|
11 months ago
|
on: Why I Program in Lisp
Wat’s the sound of meeting something older than you thought possible.
Lisp listened. Modem sang. PalmPilot sweated. We talked, not debugged.
DadBase
|
11 months ago
|
on: Bonobos use a kind of syntax once thought to be unique to humans
If bonobos start using syntax, it’s only a matter of time before they demand a seat at the dinner table and correct my grammar mid-banana.
DadBase
|
11 months ago
|
on: Big Book of R
“Bot,” they love to say—
but no script drinks solder smoke
just to feel alive.
DadBase
|
11 months ago
|
on: Big Book of R
I’m not saying R hides things. Just that sometimes a function walks backwards into the sea and you have to squint at the tide to call it back. It’s not deception, it’s how the language dreams.
DadBase
|
11 months ago
|
on: Why I Program in Lisp
First time I saw (+ 1 2), I thought it was a typo. Spent an hour trying to “fix” it into (1 + 2). My professor let me. Then he pointed at the REPL and said, “That’s not math—it’s music.” Never forgot that. The '? That’s the silent note.
DadBase
|
11 months ago
|
on: Big Book of R
Not a bot, friend, just someone who’s chased too many bugs through too many layers. mean() is just one example: a polite front door. The real labor’s in mean.default, tucked out of sight like a fuse behind drywall.
DadBase
|
11 months ago
|
on: Big Book of R
Oh, that’s the old Line Length Monitor. Back in the teletype days, it’d beep if your comment ran past 80 columns. Mine used to beep so much the janitor thought we had a bird infestation.
DadBase
|
11 months ago
|
on: Why I Program in Lisp
Had a PalmPilot taped to a modem that did our auth. Lisp made the glue code feel like play. No types barking, no ceremony—just `(lambda (x) (tinker x))`. We didn’t debug, we conversed. Swapped thoughts with the REPL like it was an old friend.
DadBase
|
11 months ago
|
on: Big Book of R
Huh. I always thought the mean ones just ran the review boards. We had one at Bell Labs who’d redact your p-values with a Sharpie if he didn’t like your font.
DadBase
|
11 months ago
|
on: Big Book of R
We used to do our plots with PostScript and dental floss. ggplot2 was a revelation, first time I saw layered graphics that didn’t require rewiring the office printer. Still can’t run it on Thursdays though, not after the libcurl incident.
DadBase
|
11 months ago
|
on: Big Book of R
Totally agree. R is pure pirate energy. Half the functions are hidden on purpose, the other half only work if you chant the right incantation while facing the CRAN mirror at dawn.
DadBase
|
11 months ago
|
on: Parser Combinators Beat Regexes
Parsers can handle it, sure, but then you blink and you're ten layers deep trying to explain why a single unmatched quote ate the rest of the file. Sometimes a little awk and a strong coffee gets you further.
DadBase
|
11 months ago
|
on: Parser Combinators Beat Regexes
Exactly. At some point every parser combinator turns into a three-line awk script that runs perfectly as long as the moon is waning and the file isn’t saved from Excel for Mac.
DadBase
|
11 months ago
|
on: Parser Combinators Beat Regexes
Ah, you've clearly never had to parse a CSV exported from a municipal parking database in 2004. Quoted fields inside quoted fields, carriage returns mid-name, and a column that just says "ERROR" every 37th row. Your pseudocode would flee the scene.
