Not sure I agree with the “three pillar” framing in this one. I think it’s more like he was able to use the LLMs effectively because he had already built those years of experience. Someone new trying to vibe code their way into designing robust distributed systems is going to need a similar amount of time to build the correct intuitions, because the LLM doesn’t give a shit one way or the other, it’ll just do what’s in the prompt.

On the other hand, commodotizing domains that fit a repeatable pattern isn’t so bad, is it? At work I sometimes have to remind people that we’re generally just building CRUD apps to interact with data, which isn’t exactly at the bleeding edge of software. I like the idea of software engineers getting to be more portable, but unfortunately the industry still thinks LLMs are going to replace most jobs, which is obviously not possible.

Not when you read Peter Hamilton and Alastair Reynolds lol.

It’s probably one of those ironic names, but Psychedelic Porn Crumpets always makes me die a little when I’m trying to tell people about 'em. Great band, dumb name.

Why not use python at that point? Sounds like the bus factor would be pretty big on this one

That’s odd, I can do either of those things independently. Maybe it’s just wired that way for some people?

Rush. Love the 70s and 80s eras especially, but it’s like having several favorite bands to choose from! If I’m in the mood for synths I’ll put on Signals, or if I want something heavier I’ll play the self-titled album. I literally never get sick of their songs though.

I wasn’t too much of a fan till I saw them live (twice!) and they actually slay. Great band!

I think we’re coming to the end of a 50 year cycle of rapid technological improvement that’s been a parasitic host for capitalistic predilections. Shareholders ride tech companies hard and put them away wet, fucking over workers and squeezing consumers in the process. Innovative and awesome companies end up getting subsumed into a shit whirlpool where the product gets worse, more expensive, and steals your data. So I guess the people in my example are the tech investors and MBAs feeding them, and their abuse of tech is what needs to die.

I’m also a software engineer who doesn’t care about most new tech. I strongly believe that human made objects and software can both reach a state of doneness. For example, books are a technology that’s “done”. Both physical and digital books do a great job at delivering written content, so there’s no need to keep buying the same damn thing every couple years. Phones are similar, yet the new ones just get shittier (no removable battery, no headphone jack). Kind of reminds me of how Microsoft keeps trying to solve the “problem” of programmers being needed to create programs. Powerapps being one of the latest examples.

Based on things I’ve seen I can actually believe this is real. Just goes to show that you can’t trust everyone to have a functional intuition for separating horrible ideas from good ones.

Hmm this seems like a solution to an extremely specific problem that may have been created by using docker for things outside its wheelhouse. Why would I have docker automation that I only trust to do specific things?

What do you mean about the metal content in the microwave? Does the larger chamber make it somehow immune to arcing?

One thing I’ve found interesting with AI art is that it’s changed how I look at handmade art. It is similar in a way to appreciating a handmade piece of furniture or a machine compared to a mass produced commodity item. Art that I previously would have dismissed instantly sometimes makes me think for a second about the artist and how it was made, even when it lacks a professional level of quality. That said, I’ve also seen enough AI art that I can distinguish between garbage slop and something (at least a little) interesting made in Comfy UI. There’s always been a lot of low quality art out there, but I think the real issue is with people trying to pass off low effort generated slop as real art, rather than the gen-AI tech itself (environmental impact notwithstanding).

But it’s better when it’s deep cold. People just need to get sturdier utensils.

You better be ready to pick up some drum sticks while I hop on the bass guitar, otherwise we can watch music videos on yt.

Just out of curiosity, did the take-home assignment direct candidates to include tests, or was there an implicit expectation of them using TDD? I’d probably be one of those to sound a little dismissive of TDD, though I do support testing for nontrivial functionality. I always wondered if anyone really used that workflow or if it was too idealistic for the real world.

Yeah! I’m not really a fan of C&C either but they were pretty good. Yeah Guerilla Toss is hella catchy for sure.

Saw them with Primus last year, great show.

Damn, I see a firewire port on there too!

If you’re using vscode you might be able to look through the individual file histories to recover some work.