Really Random Thoughs
From Ben's Writing
This is a collection, of sorts, that is can, at times, be really silly, or "in-jokie" that some people may not get, or may find that they insult their intelligence, others might have a deep appreciation of them, and, of course, there will always be people who will simply shake their head and sigh after reading of them. I'll admit I think I've assumed all those roles already, so I'll take no offence if you don't find them relevant, or, well, whatever...
Contents |
Computer Science
Software Engineering
Crash reporting
Various software packages, if they crash, offer the ability to send the crash information to the developers, for further analysis.
- Anonymized (unless identifier is needed in the case of a high profile client, etc.) tagged Core files, stack traces, configuration setting, logs, etc. should be packaged and sent to the software developer.
- Given some the possible volume of crash notifications (possibly multiple crashes due to the same error on multiple machines, or simply multiple distinct crashes, etc.) is it clear that it's worth analyses each case individually; however, common cases should be likely made to be a priority over other known problems, or feature addition.
- This wealth of data may help identify the weaker code in the entire base, assuming there are a clustering of errors. It may also be indicative of the effectiveness of the developer responsible for the problematic code. Versioning history would be a helpful means by which to pin-point the original developer. If a developer is introducing a disproportionate number of problems in the code, then a change needs to be made. It may simply be a matter of ignorance with respect to good coding techniques, etc. which can easily be addressed; however, some cases my be redolent of—tragically so—of a poor programmer.
UNIX and Linux "Stuff"
More or less
A place when sometimes more can equal less:
export more=less
Well, I'm lying, you can also do it in DOS (or Windows) with doskey, see Doskey Macros for details, if you really care that much.
English
In English we can arbitrarily give names to names using quotation marks. As an example: Chicago is the name of a city, whereas "Chicago" or 'Chicago' (which ever you prefer) is the name of the word itself; that is, it refers to the word Chicago and not the city. This mean we could assign names to names ad infinitum. For instance, ""Chicago"" is the name or a reference to "Chicago", and so on. This lead me to wonder whether or not sentences, or statements have names too.
We generally use quotes to surround sentences or fragments of them, to suggest to the reader that they are not our own, but that they are of importance in given context they are invoked in. That said, can the sentence "I am me" be referred to by the name ""I am me"". Certainly, we've attributed names to great accomplishments, or bodies of work, such as Fermat's Theorem, Moore's Law, etc.; but these are special cases, we rarely attribute names to benign staments such as: "Hey, how are you?", "I'm doing well, thanks!". These types of sentences are members of the set of "greatings" and "responses", respectfully, which refere to a much larger goups of sentences, not a singular one.
To be continued...
Psychology
Pseudologia Fantastica
Pseudologia fantastica can be characterized broadly in one of two ways: Sociopathic or Compulsive.
"A sociopath is typically defined as someone who lies incessantly to get their way and does so with little concern for others. A sociopath is often goal-oriented (i.e., lying is focused - it is done to get one's way). Sociopaths have little regard or respect for the rights and feelings of others. Sociopaths are often charming and charismatic, but they use their talented social skills in manipulative and self-centered ways (see, lovefraud, for more on sociopaths)." link
"A compulsive liar is defined as someone who lies out of habit. Lying is their normal and reflexive way of responding to questions. Compulsive liars bend the truth about everything, large and small. For a compulsive liar, telling the truth is very awkward and uncomfortable while lying feels right. Compulsive lying is usually thought to develop in early childhood, due to being placed in an environment where lying was necessary. For the most part, compulsive liars are not overly manipulative and cunning (unlike sociopaths), rather they simply lie out of habit - an automatic response which is hard to break and one that takes its toll on a relationship."
"The terms Pathological Liar, Habitual Liar and Chronic Liar are often used to refer to a Compulsive Liar."
For the purposes of this discussion, we will restrict ourselves to talking only about compulsive liars. Compulsive liars can be further divided into two groups: those for whom the compulsion to lie is derived from external pressures, and those for whom it is a way of dealing with internal struggles. Clearly there is some overlap between these two classifications, but again, for our purposes, and simplicity of exposition, we will assume they are disjoint.
Quick hypothesis: Individuals who are, or have been, compulsive liars would likely be better, in general, at mimicking the behaviour, mannerisms-in action as well as thought-of others.
