Tom Forsyth

Graphics coder and HW architect, previously at Muckyfoot, RAD Game Tools, Valve and Oculus, currently back at Intel.

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TomF_at_mastodon.gamedev.place@mostr.pub

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Last Notes

2024-09-04 19:56:36

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@npub1kj2…kt8a Except "Journey of the Sorceror" of course. That's fantastic.

2024-08-26 23:27:07

This week marks a whole year at Rec Room. I still feel like a New Kid even though plenty of folks have joined after me. There's still gigantic chunks of the codebase I have no idea even exist. But I'm slowly making a cozy little nest in the rendering system that I understand well.
The one frustration is I have a big feature that still hasn't actually shipped. It's really really close, but nooooot quite. The reasons why are good and valid - but it's still annoying.

2024-08-19 20:00:57

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@npub1c3x…w30t Yeah, whereas these barred owls are actually becoming a bit of a pest and driving out other owl species.

2024-08-18 13:36:53

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@npub1kav…9n8w Time to "do your own research". But like - actual science. Keep a diary, change diet and drink and sleeping position - see if anything correlates. Yeah, getting old sucks.

2024-08-16 04:26:47

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@npub1e9u…krf8 Oh gods I used to fix hifis and you would indeed get the "I have replaced every single component and it still doesn't work" yeah that's because every new component gets destroyed by the existing ones.

2024-08-07 08:56:34

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@npub1znz…8l64 He's irritatingly nice. A real assault on my cynicism.

2024-08-07 07:00:32

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@npub109f…lxyh Fair! And in this case you are broadly correct.

2024-08-07 06:44:55

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@npub109f…lxyh It looks that way, but the actual implementation is radically different. Getting the Big Cores to support AVX512 per-lane predication was quite the drama production and cost a bunch of area.

2024-08-06 18:51:54

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@npub13nz…9l73 Those are some strange-looking kangaroos.

2024-08-05 09:07:37

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@npub1grk…nqea Yes indeed. I do love the Lynch one, but for all the wrong reasons.

2024-08-05 08:33:13

A friend visited us for the weekend and hadn't seen Dune or Dune 2 so we rewatched them, one per night. Those movies remain amazing, and it was fun rewatching them through someone else's eyes. A bunch of little bits I missed first time around. Highly recommend a rewatch.

2024-08-05 07:36:39

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@npub1pu3…8r76 You're heard of cargo cults. They're just sticking coconut shells on their shoulders to mimic the true Super Metroid.

2024-08-05 06:39:00

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@npub1faa…qx58 Down in Fraggle Rock.
(and now it's a proper haiku. Sorry about the heat 😞 )

2024-08-05 06:31:26

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@npub1elw…rcy2 I mean yes they make my head explode why do you ask? :-)

2024-08-04 19:22:48

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@npub17c8…vr2l It's fine. It's yet another social site. Rather quiet.

2024-08-04 19:17:33

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@npub17c8…vr2l Bluesky has "feeds" which I haven't really dug into, but each is a different algorithm, and I think you can tune your own maybe?

2024-08-04 18:06:58

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@npub1pze…j2zs If it's a Windows machine, search in settings for "power button". You can set it to do nothing, but yeah setting it to just sleep is fine - you won't lose work.

2024-08-04 18:00:03

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@npub1pze…j2zs I cover my desktop power buttons with little cardboard flaps to prevent cat-paws turning them off. A laptop is a new one for me though!

2024-08-04 05:32:52

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@npub1qhe…5p47 i740 says not.

2024-08-04 05:32:06

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@npub1c5u…sr87 So wrong. I want one.

2024-08-03 20:29:24

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@npub1pze…j2zs Sheeeeeet. If this gonna be that sort of party...

2024-08-02 20:19:27

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@npub1kav…9n8w I still find it somewhat magical that it works, but never adds or removes pixels.

2024-08-02 06:36:58

I enjoy different accents and this channel. And this particular video about the apparently mythological "mid-atlantic" accent is fascinating: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xoDsZFwF-c

2024-08-02 04:22:43

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Full video of racing my #Caterham in the Mini Enduro in Seattle in May this year. A fun running battle with the Ironmaster BMW, and a bit of action against a Mitjet
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-shBlktQf0

2024-08-02 03:44:39

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@npub1pze…j2zs You can see them trying to evolve a Theory of Mind as you watch.

2024-08-02 03:43:57

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@npub1tr6…kwal Or, if all you get from your efforts is a rather wet fart and nothing more solid - "make dew"

2024-08-02 03:38:48

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@npub1pze…j2zs Unfortunately I'm not sure there are any "normal" cameras any more. Mobile phones ate them, just like they ate calculators and MP3 players and e-readers and GPS navigation thingies.

2024-08-01 05:51:57

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@npub1aw2…8vv5 Remember that typically Nintendo consoles make money primarily for Nintendo.

2024-08-01 05:30:53

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@npub1wu9…g8q5 Aha! I'm terrible at cryptics, but I did get this one.

2024-08-01 01:14:59

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@npub167n…4su3 They're not wrong. I am also 37, and have been for well over a decade.

2024-07-31 21:39:15

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Full video of the #Caterham Cup race 2. Some interesting times with a novice in a Formula Mazda, and then a great view of a close battle between two Caterhams.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hE3cx1cuZ-M

2024-07-31 21:34:51

Highlights of racing my #Caterham in the Mini Enduro in Seattle in May this year. A fun running battle with the Ironmaster BMW, and a bit of action against a Mitjet
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i24YSAKIfmQ

2024-07-30 15:44:12

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Full video of the #Caterham Cup race 1. A great back-and-forth with Tamer with a rather too-exciting finish.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcHFBFNGXTw

2024-07-30 03:30:39

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@npub1xnp…8gp7 Also we like to be reassured that pounding yourself against rocks does eventually yield results.

2024-07-30 03:29:07

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@npub1xnp…8gp7 Caves of Qud!
Oh wait it's not a joke :-(

2024-07-29 22:23:41

Highlights of my racing #Caterham in the Caterham Cup races in Seattle on May 11th/12th this year. First race is a great back-and-forth with an exciting finish. Second race is full of incidents and ends with a great battle.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bd9gHybP1pc

2024-07-29 07:30:35

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@npub1mdk…tyu8 This is a nonsensical request. Somebody talking out their arse.

2024-07-28 04:11:27

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@npub13z4…cxvd This is pretty close - same time period. I remember it being quite fun.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mafia_(video_game)

2024-07-28 03:48:20

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@npub1683…f0qg Look it's clearly forgotten the Safe Word give it a break.

2024-07-27 18:21:32

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@npub1d4d…vwfy Do you know the clever trick to trade very very fast and get lots of money? Can't believe I still remember it after all these decades...

2024-07-27 10:42:49

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@npub1pu3…8r76 This sounds like an interesting step on the way to being an Architecture Astronaut.

2024-07-27 10:41:47

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@npub1xnp…8gp7 Cascadia united! Trudeau needs to get those tanks rolling across the border.

2024-07-27 01:38:16

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@npub1qfa…y6fn This subject has produced more people talking out their asses than I have seen in a long time. Some of them might be accidentally right. I would wait for the actual data.

2024-07-26 05:44:36

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@npub1xcs…rpjj I have made little flip-up cardboard protectors for mine - like the missile launch button on a fighter jet! So far the cats have not managed to defeat it.

2024-07-26 04:05:53

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@npub1c5u…sr87 Vampirism. Ah ah ah ah ah ah!

2024-07-24 18:45:48

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@npub1e6t…jj6r IIRC, the Shuttle was not actually in the game?

2024-07-24 08:22:38

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@npub1elw…rcy2 This is the advert I kept waving in my parents faces until they gave in. 16k of full colour computing!

2024-07-23 23:23:01

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@npub1vu0…00z0 Don't pay them, and watch them get madder and madder that even charging 10% interest doesn't seem to work.

2024-07-23 19:27:10

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@npub1tak…90fl Bsky is fine, and its own fun flavour of unhinged, but it's not got the vicious streak of Twitter. All three have a place in my diseased little heart.

2024-07-23 18:28:20

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@npub1km2…ae6d Why would you be so pointlessly rude? Have a mute.

2024-07-23 08:48:05

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@npub1e8j…pvqw How'd that work out in 2016?

2024-07-23 04:09:46

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@npub1em0…fqzu Wendell. Seems to do a lot of 1+1 = 34 thinking.

2024-07-23 03:57:52

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@npub1em0…fqzu I have not been impressed by his previous coverage of this.

2024-07-23 03:46:25

Intel's update on the CPU instability problems. Looks like they're close to a fix: https://community.intel.com/t5/Processors/July-2024-Update-on-Instability-Reports-on-Intel-Core-13th-and/m-p/1617113

2024-07-23 01:18:45

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@npub10r2…w6yx I hope you're not trying to do electronics without a multimeter!

2024-07-23 01:13:39

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@npub1c5u…sr87 But like a real-life parallel is David Hasselhof, who was "big in Germany" as a pop star for unfathomable reasons:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Hasselhoff#1980s

2024-07-23 01:10:53

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@npub1c5u…sr87 Usually also a side reference to this song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tl6u2NASUzU
(the lyrics of the song are actually about being a drug addict)

2024-07-22 03:54:57

I'm sorry. To all the people who left Twitter in disgust - I totally understand and admire. But man the quality of shitposting there in the last 48 hours is just off the scale. Just absolute carnage on both sides. Total memebath.

2024-07-14 22:07:06

Highlights of my racing #Caterham in the Caterham Cup races in Portland on April 27th this year. A number of equipment failures, and a slippery finish as the rain arrives.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6ixJWBO-eA

2024-07-14 05:21:28

Good morning Europe. Don't look at the US news today. Wait until tomorrow. Today is too much.

2024-07-05 07:41:35

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@npub109f…lxyh He'd still be a better president than the fraudster rapist. If Trump had dementia how would we even tell?

2024-07-02 17:48:31

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@npub159y…uf43 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wobbegong

2024-06-30 04:07:21

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@npub1t0x…swkd Or a high point. It all depends on your perspective!

2024-06-18 07:52:58

Those of you who watch my racing videos may know that I like to take my time. And as a result I'm about a year behind posting them.
My friend Cem is rather swifter. Here's a great battle from last weekend, in Portland. I'm in the white car 42, and what starts as a 3-way then becomes a 5-way. Crazy action!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3b8JP08Q00
Check out that epic moment at 7:45 when there's 4 Caterhams abreast down the straight!
Just one problem - the chicane is coming up, and 4 cars won't fit.

2024-06-02 04:47:17

Wife's Away So Watch Crap Films.
Today's film - "Don't Look Up". Dinosaur-killer is headed for Earth, and DiCaprio and Lawrence utterly fail to save it. I thought it would be Idiocracy 2.0, but it's subtler than that, and annoyingly plausible. Really this is great writing - it's a film worth watching!
Yes depressing. But you know that from the start. The stuff that happens on the way is the interesting part. So many lovely little touches.

2024-05-13 04:40:37

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@npub1c5u…sr87
Other folks: call to each other like... owls do?
Aussies: nah, drop bears ate all the owls.

2024-05-13 04:36:11

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@npub1c5u…sr87
> sounds like the ones that early morning huntsman spiders make when they click to each other on the walls.
Aussies: ah, such memories.
Non-Aussies: THA WAT NOW.

2024-05-11 05:40:25

Well it's too hot for my celtic brain, I'm knackered from having fun in cars all day, and I've just failed to see the aurora from either of my houses, and now I'm whingeing about it on the internet. I'm having a real #FirstWorldProblems day. Time for bed.

2024-05-10 05:50:45

Holy crap tomorrow's aurora looks insane! If you're anywhere even close to Canada, try to get somewhere without too much light pollution.
https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/communities/aurora-dashboard-experimental
https://cdn.masto.host/mastodongamedevplace/media_attachments/files/112/415/227/436/401/378/original/ae1a205d93de6103.png

2024-05-09 04:51:27

I'm glad Biden has found a place to draw a line against Netanyahu. It feels like he's been wanting to for a while. Behind the scenes the politicos have been trying to dangle the carrot for ages, and it's not worked, so now it's time for the stick.
Unfortunately, I don't think even copious applications of the stick months ago would have made a single bit of difference. Bibi just wants to kill people. What a mess.

2024-05-06 05:59:04

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@npub159y…uf43 Yeah it's a general problem when joining meshes at different levels of detail. Lots of different solutions, all of them messy and annoying in excitingly different ways :-)

2024-05-06 05:22:33

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@npub159y…uf43 What if the common denominator is a power of two? :-)

2024-04-30 16:58:41

Huh. I discuss electric vehicles with people quite a bit, and a lot of them would like to avoid Tesla for many reasons (build quality, El*n) but it's so hard to get away from the goodness of the amazing charging network.
And now that's gone. Seems like a poor decision. Oh well.

2024-04-29 15:29:37

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@npub1kav…9n8w Oddly I don't mind celery raw as a substrate for dressing. The bizarre tart/soapy taste works when it's on its own. Just... don't put it near other food.

2024-04-23 04:54:43

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@npub159y…uf43 Humans are a very strange shape indeed, and it's because they're optimised for exactly one thing - walking. But yeah it turns out if you don't RTFM and walk exactly correctly, it's exhausting.

2024-04-23 04:12:43

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@npub159y…uf43 Yup. Typically your recovery SHOULD be slower than the stroke. The "goal" is twice as long, but in practice at race pace it's more like 1.5x.

2024-04-18 01:38:58

All these years I've listened to Dire Straits - only just realised the "six blade knife" is a guitar. I am very intelligent.

2024-04-16 05:35:20

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@npub159y…uf43 Wait what - are those standard bindings or did you make them up?

2024-04-03 01:20:31

If the story of the xz backdoor interests you, you should read the old-school version - the book The Cuckoo's Egg by Clifford Stoll (yes, the Klein bottle guy) telling the tale of his 1980s hunt for hackers.

2024-03-12 15:48:17

Reading Biden's transcript I can see myself very easily. I constantly misremember what year something happened in my life, or how long I was at a job. I mean, I have a terrible memory in general, but I can be spectacularly wrong about what year something happened.
I know this isn't "average", but it is "normal", i.e. well within the bell curve of humanity. And you know how to solve the problem? You write stuff down. It's not exactly a debilitating weakness. You just write stuff down.

2024-03-06 05:18:44

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@npub1pu3…8r76 It tickles me that this is hard in real life, but relatively trivial in a demo-coding context. Especially an SDF tracer where t is a per-pixel parameter. But I don't remember actually seeing something like this. On the other hand, you have a 100x better knowledge of the demoscene - any examples?

2024-02-24 23:49:20

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@npub1kav…9n8w Hey I got no problem with ML. Very useful. It's the nebulous always-5-years-away "AI" (whatever that means) that annoys me :-)

2024-02-24 23:28:08

Blockchain tech turned out to be an interesting idea, but even if you cleaned up all the massive ethical problems, the practical application of it chewed so many resources it's wildly impractical.
I am starting to suspect that AI is going the same way. And I'm actually OK with that. Worth noting the same would have been true of flying cars. Some things just don't scale up well.

2024-02-19 06:18:44

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@npub1kav…9n8w It's still viral to some of us.

2024-02-19 06:04:31

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Her other massive hit was "Will You" which is an amazing song, BUT imagine trying to sell this song in today's pop environment. It's so full of Polite 80s British Tension it must make absolutely no sense to anyone under 30:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ou96vLl--e4

2024-02-19 05:22:49

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It's so alien to the modern mind that you can make a great video like this, in glorious 720 x 576, but then to store the original data for it for any length of time is so outrageously expensive that we... didn't. So much 80s culture just evaporated :-(

2024-02-19 05:20:53

Was randomly reminded of Hazel O'Connor's "Eighth Day" and looked it up, and it's even more of a banger than I remembered. Also, it was the 80s so we've basically lost the original master tapes, so this is as good as you get :-(
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ALdL8oV_sY

2024-02-18 20:31:18

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@npub1uuj…tj4d Yup, inconsistent texel density is surprisingly jarring in a lot of contexts.
BTW compare this to the Homeworld skyboxes, which were (AFAIK) all constructed without textures - just gouraud-shaded tris. Very interesting effect.
https://simonschreibt.de/gat/homeworld-2-backgrounds/

2024-02-17 02:24:31

Oh that's a fun bug! So Unity has both Matrix4x4 and float4x4, and the have slightly different syntax, but close enough. The big difference is float4x4 is significantly faster. So a lot of people replace one with the other - happy.
BUT....
To do matrix multiplication with Matrix4x4, you do a = b*c.
To do it with float4x4 you have to do a = math.mul(b,c)
OK whatever. The problem is that a=b*c COMPILES FINE. It just does the componentwise multiply is all.
W
T
F
people.

2024-02-04 19:25:51

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@npub1gax…20w3 Has it not? You're right that a mobile phone with a solar panel is basically everything you need for a really good one.

2024-02-02 07:00:16

OK. Having refreshed my memory on the "Limited" mode of Hardspace Shipbreaker (and died a few times unexpectedly), I think I'm ready to start a "no death" run. Wish me luck!

2024-01-26 07:45:00

I do find it interesting that when DeSantis dropped out, basically 100% of his support went to Haley. Which means they were all NeverTrumpers. Sure, they were clearly fascists and assholes, which is why they supported DeSantis in the first place, but absolutely first on their list of issues was NeverTrump, and they're willing to hold their noses and go for a woman instead. Good job I guess?

2024-01-24 23:39:35

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@npub1rfc…fll0 o_0

2024-01-24 22:42:15

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@npub1rfc…fll0 So GH work?!?!?!

2024-01-06 04:56:37

Someone reminded me that my absolute favourite UK-vs-US phrase is "boob tube". It means such utterly different things. Well done English.

2023-12-23 20:10:06

Some fantastically good/terrible advice on optimising the last few cycles out of your code for anything before the year 2000.
Sadly modern CPUs are too good at magically fixing most of this stuff for you :-(
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LiP39gJuqE

2023-12-20 01:35:54

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@npub1kav…9n8w But they were deciding based on the US Constitution. Which sets a strong precedent.

2023-12-20 01:20:58

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@npub1kav…9n8w Sure it can. That's exactly what the Constitution is doing here.

2023-12-20 01:13:40

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@npub17wr…prsu @npub1w2h…skvl Personal rudeness gets you a mute. Go scream at the world.

2023-12-20 01:12:23

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@npub1w2h…skvl See the Wikipedia article I linked. Their most likely legal argument is that POTUS is not an "officer of the USA", he is just "in an office of the USA". Which... yeah.