Screenshot of text and code. Text reads: "Even with relaxed memory model, out-of-thin-air values are not allowed to circularly depend on their own computations, for example with x and y initially zero, " - code shows two threads setting x and y to the other with relaxed loads and stores, only if equal to 42 - "is not allowed to produce r1 = r2 = 42 since the store of 42 to y is only possible if the store to x stores 42, which circularly depends on the store to y storing 42. Note that until C++14, this was technically allowed by the specification, but not recommended for implementors."

TIL prior to C++14, bootstrap paradoxes were allowed
(... just "not recommended for implementors")

For me, the biggest takeaway is that many people in charge of trans healthcare view transition as harm, as a failure, as an unfavourable outcome to avoid. They fundamentally conceive of trans existence as a disease to cure, and feel themselves righteous advocating for our eradication.

the "go easy on me if this is the wrong place to bring this up" right before that is really just *chefs kiss*

(admittedly, it was about their actual question, but.)

Picture of a squirrel on a big branch, looking suspiciously at the camera. It's lit by the sun on one side, fur glowing and light shining slightly through an ear with a chunk missing. Beyond it, pale blue skies.

and this not-bird (which was treating me with such unearned suspicion!)

A European Robin, standing on a small branch, head turned back to look at the camera. Its wings are spread slightly behind it, slight shining on its chest and shining through its tail feathers.

The same robin, standing on a small branch with its mouth wide open. It's looking away from the camera, towards the sun, orange chest feathers glowing bright.

(this robin was very helpfully posing for me)

Picture of a blue tit, a tiny bird with a short beak, a tuft of blue and white hair on its head, and tiny yellow and white feathers around its body. We're viewing it through some branches, and it's clinging to one, pinning an even tinier flower to its branch, eating the bottom of it.

saw some birds :)

it's posix shell opposite land! "{ ... }" introduces a new lexical scope, "( ... )" doesn't :D

now, is this a GOOD idea? well, I said it might be a hot take :P

I think there's actually *some* utility beyond if-let & co. Like today, if you want to try matching a handful of patterns, you end up with `if let ... && let ... { ... }`, but by allowing `(let ...)` to bind outside the parens, or changing precedence of || / &&, you can do it without a new scope

maybe a hot take, but I think let pattern = ... should be an expression that evaluates to a bool, with all the usage that implies

hell yeah, new becky chambers book this year :D

"We introduce an efficient multi-string matcher called FDR.⁵
...
⁵ It is named after the 32nd president of the U.S."

lol, fair enough, I guess?

learning about dns zones, properly this time:

"A zone contains all the domain names the domain with the same domain name contains, except for domain names in delegated subdomains"

is dns just an elaborate excuse for nonsensical sentences??

struggling with BIND9 because I hate myself*

* wanted to test out dns01 acme challenges against a .local domain so my testing k8s cluster can fetch certificates like a real environment. but now I am learning about bind9 zone files and this is so so much more than I bargained for

Compute Autoscaling Report A deep-dive into the numbers behind Neon Autoscaling.

some cool people at work wrote a report on the part of the product I work on: neon.com/autoscaling-...

~3 years after release, turns out it's helping a lot of people! :)

genuinely would recommend reading if you've ever operated a production database - it's got some neat info & solid methodology

got another 479 emails from zendesk yesterday

wondering how long it takes before they start getting blocked by major email providers...

Also got this lmao, looks like zendesk forgot to stop people from using it as an abuse platform

“Are the arts important?” Humanity practiced them long before they had use for science and will practice them long after math is gone. Is the dawn important? Is dusk?

"I have an idea for a blog post, I'll just quickly sketch what I'm thinking" <- this is a trap, do not fall for it!

(got sucked into a fugue state, and now here I am, 4 hours later, wondering why there's so much other stuff I still need to get done today...)

oh fuck it, free to read www.patreon.com/posts/alrigh...

Close-up picture of a european robin from the side, perched on a thorny branch and looking into the distance. It's a very tiny bird, and its feathers are kind of puffed out to make it round and cozy. There's a little bit of soft light hitting it from the front, making the orange feathers on its breast almost glow.

saw a lil robin yesterday

TIL that the guy who runs the NYT today is actually the great-grandson of the guy who ran it during WWII, where their stance was basically: "reporting on the holocaust would make us look biased"

Picture of a small painted statue of an angel between two lamps, a flock of birds motion-blurred in flight behind them against a white sky. The angel holds a shield with the flag of England on it, white with a red cross. The lamps to either side mimic royalty, with curled metal strips suggesting the shape of a crown and little plain flags curling around the top.

and this one, too

(although the deeper meaning here is left as an exercise for the reader)

Monochrome picture of a statue of lady justice on top of a building. She holds a spear and scales, perfectly balanced, looking down to the side below.

Monochrome picture looking up at a statue of lady justice. She's looking down at the camera, almost smug, with scales that look unbalanced from this angle. She holds a spear in her other hand.

went out and took some more photos

honestly love the story that these two tell - that the scales of Justice only look balanced when it's not looking at you

Despite threats, billionaires don't leave the largest population centers, because it's where there is the most money to be had from the collective value generated by human beings, and despite what they insist, they don't generate wealth; they collect it.

The social media discourse of engaged partisans is toxic even when politics are irrelevant Abstract. Prevailing theories of partisan incivility on social media suggest that it derives from disagreement about political issues or from status compet

finally got around to reading this paper: doi.org/10.1093/pnas...

beyond just the conclusions (which are really interesting!), it's really cool to see the care that was taken to establish that the authors weren't measuring a different effect that could lead to the same results

this is a really really good article

this is such a good piece of writing, really cannot recommend it enough

Picture of a seagull against a white sky, sitting atop a metal and blue glass structure.

A very grey picture of a cormorant sitting atop a leafless tree, against a colorless sky. Everything is muted - the branches of the tree, the colors of the cormorant, the sky. The cormorant stares into the distance.

and saw some birds, of course

Picture of a wet city street, cars between red brick buildings, pointed towards a church tower fading as it pokes up into the fog, and a much larger gothic cathedral, disappearing into the white blanket sky.

particularly liked this view