@peterludemann.bsky.social
Retired from software {Google, Yahoo, start-ups, IBM, BNR}; sometime bicyclist, sailor, & non-gardener; easily amused by PL design and type inferencing.
Los Altos, California (previously Tokyo, Osaka, Toronto, Ottawa, Victoria, Vancouver)
Los Altos, California (previously Tokyo, Osaka, Toronto, Ottawa, Victoria, Vancouver)
The problem is that my dimensions (especially girth) do not remain constant, whereas that "right outfit" stays the same, regardless of my dimensional changes over time.
December 21, 2025 at 2:39 PM
The problem is that my dimensions (especially girth) do not remain constant, whereas that "right outfit" stays the same, regardless of my dimensional changes over time.
The average Canadian has access to high quality care. Plus some subtle benefits - e.g. when my brother-in-law was being treated for a rare cancer in another city, my sister received subsidies for her hotel costs, and priority on the ferry from her home.
December 3, 2025 at 11:26 PM
The average Canadian has access to high quality care. Plus some subtle benefits - e.g. when my brother-in-law was being treated for a rare cancer in another city, my sister received subsidies for her hotel costs, and priority on the ferry from her home.
Coincidentally, the Japanese word for grey means "ash colour" (hai-iro) and the word for mouse/rat (nezumi) can also be used for dark grey. I suppose that naming colours after objects of that colour is a universal linguistic feature.
December 3, 2025 at 11:16 PM
Coincidentally, the Japanese word for grey means "ash colour" (hai-iro) and the word for mouse/rat (nezumi) can also be used for dark grey. I suppose that naming colours after objects of that colour is a universal linguistic feature.
Needs a comma (in both languages)
December 3, 2025 at 12:49 AM
Needs a comma (in both languages)
You're also referring to Kyoto?
(Last time I was there a teenager was sitting in a "priority seat" while I was standing right in front of him with a cane. I read out loud the sign above his head and he sheepishly stood up.)
(So much for the weebs who say Japan is full of respect and discipline)
(Last time I was there a teenager was sitting in a "priority seat" while I was standing right in front of him with a cane. I read out loud the sign above his head and he sheepishly stood up.)
(So much for the weebs who say Japan is full of respect and discipline)
December 2, 2025 at 11:42 PM
You're also referring to Kyoto?
(Last time I was there a teenager was sitting in a "priority seat" while I was standing right in front of him with a cane. I read out loud the sign above his head and he sheepishly stood up.)
(So much for the weebs who say Japan is full of respect and discipline)
(Last time I was there a teenager was sitting in a "priority seat" while I was standing right in front of him with a cane. I read out loud the sign above his head and he sheepishly stood up.)
(So much for the weebs who say Japan is full of respect and discipline)
Single track lines are all good therapy. Enoden, Rakuden, Usmachi-sen, etc.
Every time I go to Hakone, I buy the Free Pass, just to ride in the train (and endure the buses).
Every time I go to Hakone, I buy the Free Pass, just to ride in the train (and endure the buses).
December 2, 2025 at 10:27 PM
Single track lines are all good therapy. Enoden, Rakuden, Usmachi-sen, etc.
Every time I go to Hakone, I buy the Free Pass, just to ride in the train (and endure the buses).
Every time I go to Hakone, I buy the Free Pass, just to ride in the train (and endure the buses).
JavaScript was a mistake.
"Brendan Eich reads up on every mistake ever made in designing a programming language, invents a few more, and creates LiveScript. Later, in an effort to cash in on the popularity of Java the language is renamed JavaScript. ..."
james-iry.blogspot.com/2009/05/brie...
"Brendan Eich reads up on every mistake ever made in designing a programming language, invents a few more, and creates LiveScript. Later, in an effort to cash in on the popularity of Java the language is renamed JavaScript. ..."
james-iry.blogspot.com/2009/05/brie...
A Brief, Incomplete, and Mostly Wrong History of Programming Languages
1801 - Joseph Marie Jacquard uses punch cards to instruct a loom to weave "hello, world" into a tapestry. Redditers of the time are not imp...
james-iry.blogspot.com
November 30, 2025 at 2:13 AM
JavaScript was a mistake.
"Brendan Eich reads up on every mistake ever made in designing a programming language, invents a few more, and creates LiveScript. Later, in an effort to cash in on the popularity of Java the language is renamed JavaScript. ..."
james-iry.blogspot.com/2009/05/brie...
"Brendan Eich reads up on every mistake ever made in designing a programming language, invents a few more, and creates LiveScript. Later, in an effort to cash in on the popularity of Java the language is renamed JavaScript. ..."
james-iry.blogspot.com/2009/05/brie...
Also towns with "Chipping" in them (Chipping Norton etc)
November 29, 2025 at 6:15 PM
Also towns with "Chipping" in them (Chipping Norton etc)
Not just getting rid of single family only zoning, but allowing small businesses, shops, cafes in walkable 15-minute neighborhoods.
www.noahpinion.blog/p/why-japane... (can confirm from experience that Japanese cities are nice to live in for the reasons stated, although Vancouver West End isn't bad)
www.noahpinion.blog/p/why-japane... (can confirm from experience that Japanese cities are nice to live in for the reasons stated, although Vancouver West End isn't bad)
Why Japanese cities are such nice places to live
The secret sauce of dense, mixed-use urbanism.
www.noahpinion.blog
November 29, 2025 at 2:08 AM
Not just getting rid of single family only zoning, but allowing small businesses, shops, cafes in walkable 15-minute neighborhoods.
www.noahpinion.blog/p/why-japane... (can confirm from experience that Japanese cities are nice to live in for the reasons stated, although Vancouver West End isn't bad)
www.noahpinion.blog/p/why-japane... (can confirm from experience that Japanese cities are nice to live in for the reasons stated, although Vancouver West End isn't bad)
Also, BC law requires that private landowners allow access to waterfront. The UK and Scandinavia have laws that permit hiking across private lands.
November 28, 2025 at 7:26 AM
Also, BC law requires that private landowners allow access to waterfront. The UK and Scandinavia have laws that permit hiking across private lands.
And BC has a law that requires private landowners to provide access to waterfront. Although the UK and Scandinavia have even better laws allowing hiking etc on private lands.
November 28, 2025 at 7:25 AM
And BC has a law that requires private landowners to provide access to waterfront. Although the UK and Scandinavia have even better laws allowing hiking etc on private lands.
That's fairly true of Vancouver's west side, less so of the east side and the suburbs. The big parks (Stanley, Queen Elizabeth, UBC / Pacific Spirit) are mostly west side (plus Burnaby's Central Park) and the north shore (Cypress, Lynn Canyon, Waterfront). Much of the waterfront is parks.
November 28, 2025 at 12:34 AM
That's fairly true of Vancouver's west side, less so of the east side and the suburbs. The big parks (Stanley, Queen Elizabeth, UBC / Pacific Spirit) are mostly west side (plus Burnaby's Central Park) and the north shore (Cypress, Lynn Canyon, Waterfront). Much of the waterfront is parks.
About double-consonants for short vowels -- German has a similar spelling rule even though Middle German used double letters for long consonants, which have disappeared in modern German. I wonder if English and German orthography influenced each other (also Dutch?)
November 27, 2025 at 9:12 PM
About double-consonants for short vowels -- German has a similar spelling rule even though Middle German used double letters for long consonants, which have disappeared in modern German. I wonder if English and German orthography influenced each other (also Dutch?)
A nearby street has trees that herons and egrets like to nest in. People from elsewhere who park on the street (under the trees) return to find their cars with large white splotches. As nesting season progresses, cars avoid the street that is now covered in white and smells strongly of rotten fish.
November 27, 2025 at 3:00 AM
A nearby street has trees that herons and egrets like to nest in. People from elsewhere who park on the street (under the trees) return to find their cars with large white splotches. As nesting season progresses, cars avoid the street that is now covered in white and smells strongly of rotten fish.
Which is also why click bait articles have 10 paragraphs of filler before the one sentence that fills in the detail that was left out of the headline.
November 26, 2025 at 8:07 AM
Which is also why click bait articles have 10 paragraphs of filler before the one sentence that fills in the detail that was left out of the headline.
Should have done a Vickrey auction. :)
November 26, 2025 at 5:47 AM
Should have done a Vickrey auction. :)
"Road diets" - narrowing a road is far more effective than a speed limit sign.
German Town's Traffic Plan: Remove Signs, Curbs www.npr.org/2008/01/19/1...
German Town's Traffic Plan: Remove Signs, Curbs www.npr.org/2008/01/19/1...
German Town's Traffic Plan: Remove Signs, Curbs
Bohmte, a small town in Germany, is implementing a "Shared Space" plan to decrease its traffic accident rate: strip a busy main street of road signs, curbs, sidewalks and stop lights, then mix the car...
www.npr.org
November 25, 2025 at 9:40 AM
"Road diets" - narrowing a road is far more effective than a speed limit sign.
German Town's Traffic Plan: Remove Signs, Curbs www.npr.org/2008/01/19/1...
German Town's Traffic Plan: Remove Signs, Curbs www.npr.org/2008/01/19/1...
You're proposing "54-40 or fight" again? IIRC, Britain initially claimed the land south to the Columbia River (hmm ... 2 Vancouvers)
November 25, 2025 at 9:32 AM
You're proposing "54-40 or fight" again? IIRC, Britain initially claimed the land south to the Columbia River (hmm ... 2 Vancouvers)
A visit to traffic court is eye-opening and depressing.
November 25, 2025 at 9:20 AM
A visit to traffic court is eye-opening and depressing.
Pension funds investments, not just Japan, but also Canada: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CPP_Inv...
CPP Investments - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
November 23, 2025 at 8:46 AM
Pension funds investments, not just Japan, but also Canada: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CPP_Inv...