Scripting News: Friday, December 15, 2023
I think now, if Bluesky announced outbound RSS 2.0 support, really good RSS support, they'd blow the whole thing up.#
Not sure if you all know, I was a math major in college. #
It was the weirdest choice for me because, until my first semester of college, not been interested in math. I thought it was boring. #
Turns out math wasn't boring, the teachers were boring. #
I had a math professor in freshman year, at Lehman College, in the Bronx, who showed me first that I could do it, and then led me to the discovery that hey this is amazing. So I majored in it. #
I didn't do great, B-minus average. But there was one class I got an A in, a summer class (in New Orleans), and it was the only class I took. I think that made a big difference, I could just focus on this one subject. My mind has always been like that, I like to zoom in on things. #
Anyway, I remember one day, almost 50 years ago, the professor was standing in front of the class, fuming, angry. We had all turned in proofs that didn't work and that included grad students, he pointed out (I was an undergrad). #
He said this: "You're supposed to know when you've proven it." #
Might be the most important thing I learned from all the math. #
It's not math if your proof doesn't work. #
Next story#
A few years later I'm a grad student in Computer Science, and a teaching assistant for a class in assembly language. First semester I was learning it along with the students, although I had already had a class in assembly, you don't really learn it until you teach it. #
Anyway, I promised to post example code on the door of my office for students to copy if they needed help on an assignment. I did. When I got back, one of my office mates, whose name I remember to this day, was, like my math prof at Tulane, fuming, this time at me. #
She said this -- you have to run your code before you post it. #
There was fire coming out of her eyes. #
She was right. I was shamed. And obviously never forgot it.#
Same story really. A proof that doesn't work isn't math. And code that doesn't run isn't software. #
Linkblog items for the day.
Rudy Giuliani must pay election workers $148 million for defamation. npr.org
Adam Mosseri on Threads plans, video transcript. manton.org
Why Automattic spent $50M on Texts.com. techcrunch.com
The power of open formats. feedland.blog
Google Groups ending support for Usenet. google.com
Billionaires Are Bankrolling Judges' Luxury Travel. levernews.com
Whole Earth Index. wholeearth.info
Bluesky isn't a mere Twitter clone, says CEO Jay Graber. fastcompany.com
Elon Musk told bankers they wouldn't lose any money on Twitter purchase. arstechnica.com
Colds, Coughs, and Covid: Why it Feels Like Everyone Is Always Sick. nytimes.com
Google Kills the Geofence Capability that Will Show ~30,000 Trump Supporters Swarmed the Capitol on Trump's Orders. emptywheel.net
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