packrat
packrat.bsky.social
packrat
@packrat.bsky.social
Engineering educator, maker, and artist.
There's a funny story behind the -a flag on ping on a modern mac. ping doesn't have an -a flag in any of the native *nix streams, despite the obvious way that would be both useful and apt for name analogy.

That flag dates back to a very long weekend I spend back in the 90s fixing a computer lab. 1/
November 28, 2024 at 3:26 AM
Eldest is finally doing some slightly interesting maths homework, but we are both entirely unconvinced made up mnemonics like "simpify like a butterfly before you multiply like an iguana or something" are helpful, when we have the handy-dandy hammer of prime factorisation.

Yay. Hammer :)
November 22, 2024 at 12:11 PM
I'm continuing to see people claiming that various AI tools have already replaced software engineers. I think this has been vastly overstated, and as far as I can see the people saying this are a mix of out and out grifters, and people who don't interact with technical people. (1/2)
November 22, 2024 at 10:04 AM
How are people feeling about the tech job market right now? How about students currently doing a computer science degree?
November 18, 2024 at 1:27 PM
Are people genuinely frightened of tech interviews? I see lots of people complaining about them being terrible, but not very many folks suggesting how people can make them better.
November 18, 2024 at 4:47 AM
What are some professional settings that aren't pure tech in which you've used programming skills?

I'm interested in examples for a video I'm making and for a talk I want to give a tech school soon.
November 12, 2024 at 4:14 AM
What have people used CS/Programming for, way outside the regular paths of the tech sector. I'm trying to put together examples when talking to students who are using tech skills as a career change path.
November 10, 2024 at 2:10 PM
Big tech looks like it's back, and with it big tech interviews. There's a reason they lean on algorithms questions, and it may be for different reasons than you expect.

youtu.be/DtaIs6mftmU
Algorithms in tech interviews?
YouTube video by The Curious Engineer
youtu.be
November 10, 2024 at 11:19 AM
Because I periodically shifted media from from to another, (1000s floppy->DVD->HDD) I know that 360k 5.25" disks could last for decades in poor conditions while the HS 1.2Mb had over 35% corrupt in under a decade when stored carefully.

And this fact is of absolutely no use to anyone today.
November 8, 2024 at 1:55 PM
Seen a lot of folks hesitant about how to start learning to write code. It shouldn't be that daunting to pick a language and there are some simple things you can do to make it easier.

Video here. youtu.be/NUCVmj3ncsI
Where to start coding
YouTube video by The Curious Engineer
youtu.be
November 5, 2024 at 6:03 PM
GenAI Hallucinations are trippy. I don't thnk people appreciate the entirely new failure modes that AI assistance with writing code has, we're just not ready.

I should make a video about this.
October 31, 2024 at 4:15 AM
It's interesting that, since they are locked in pattern filtering, LLM errors are going to look plausible more than they're going to be useful or right.

This is a new failure mode and almost feels like malice.

I'm going to be making a video about this. What should I cover?

#llm #chatgpt #ai
October 30, 2024 at 12:13 PM
There’s a lot of big feelings about why tech interviews for engineers lean on algorithms but I don’t think a lot of folks appreciate why they do it.

I made a video explaining why this happens
youtu.be/DtaIs6mftmU and I’ll have some follow-ups on how to prep and crush the interview.
Algorithms in tech interviews?
YouTube video by The Curious Engineer
youtu.be
October 29, 2024 at 8:44 PM
I'm thinking about making a bunch of content around effectively bootstrapping a tech career for current and recently students. I'm aware things are hard out there, but there are ways to present a lot better.

Who would be interested in this? What should I cover?
October 29, 2024 at 6:50 PM
I was startled that tech journalists had such a flawed model of how scaled tech works that they were surprised #twitter didn't immediately turn off when lots of people were fired, even though the actual consequences kicked in pretty fast

I made a video about it:
youtu.be/A3b9u7wa6N4
Why didn’t Twitter break?
YouTube video by The Curious Engineer
youtu.be
October 29, 2024 at 5:05 PM