Nostr notes by I Can't Believe It's Not Zero!

malloc(3) — return a bad location in memory

2026-05-14T13:58:17Z

In reply to nevent1q…c5fc
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malloc(3) — return a bad location in memory

homeopathic levels of heat

2026-05-01T12:10:41Z

In reply to nevent1q…3g6k
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homeopathic levels of heat

Dismayed that we don’t get one of the rolling lounges for our ...

2026-04-11T16:25:36Z

Dismayed that we don’t get one of the rolling lounges for our flight to Tokyo

(Kids watching the Lego movie) Me: “do you even know who ...

2026-03-20T14:34:29Z

(Kids watching the Lego movie)

Me: “do you even know who Shaquille O’Neal is?”
Riley: “of course I know who Shaq is.”
“How?”
“I READ BOOKS, DAD.”

> doubles

2025-12-26T21:45:39Z

In reply to nevent1q…nugq
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> doubles

signaling true and negative false.

2025-12-10T17:31:28Z

In reply to nevent1q…8uwf
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signaling true and negative false.

Every otter deserves a sarcophagus. Debate me. ...

2025-11-08T16:50:02Z

Every otter deserves a sarcophagus. Debate me.

TFW you don't sext correctly: ...

2025-10-02T20:45:40Z

TFW you don't sext correctly: https://github.com/swiftlang/swift/pull/84655

TFW your kid is screaming your name from the bathroom, so you ...

2025-09-19T23:34:38Z

TFW your kid is screaming your name from the bathroom, so you hustle in and they say “what day is the middle of the week?”

at least re-invent the trapezoid rule like Mary Tai.

2025-07-22T02:25:45Z

In reply to nevent1q…wwgq
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at least re-invent the trapezoid rule like Mary Tai.

the difference (to my mind) is that if you have a solid ...

2025-06-22T19:56:50Z

In reply to nevent1q…959w
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the difference (to my mind) is that if you have a solid foundation in “how things actually work”, you can design an experiment to figure out what is really happening so you don’t get misled. Absent that foundation … all you can do is hope.

That doesn’t have to mean “writing assembly,” but “knowing that there’s an actual spec and knowing how to read one” is an _invaluable_ skill that’s severely diluted by vibe coding. Even the idea of having a spec is diluted.

when we’re all dead, the fundraising texts will stop, so

2025-06-14T13:39:29Z

In reply to nevent1q…rmfu
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when we’re all dead, the fundraising texts will stop, so

Decided to be the kind of guy who starts buying musical ...

2025-06-04T15:13:47Z

Decided to be the kind of guy who starts buying musical instruments as a midlife crisis.

Step 2: getting the inside stringer positioned ...

2025-05-19T17:37:54Z

In reply to nevent1q…w809
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Step 2: getting the inside stringer positioned

Now the fun starts ...

2025-05-19T16:10:04Z

In reply to nevent1q…det0
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Now the fun starts

Step 1 of moving it into place. ...

2025-05-19T14:32:32Z

In reply to nevent1q…vwfr
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Step 1 of moving it into place.

Definitely one of the weirder deliveries I've received. ...

2025-05-19T14:31:28Z

Definitely one of the weirder deliveries I've received.

if num_searches is reasonably small, then the branch predictors ...

2025-03-13T19:50:55Z

In reply to nevent1q…2kax
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if num_searches is reasonably small, then the branch predictors will have simply memorized the complete search tree being exercised (which may or may not be representative of what you want to measure).

curious about the timing harness used here—depending on what ...

2025-03-13T19:44:31Z

In reply to nevent1q…ut9e
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curious about the timing harness used here—depending on what you want to measure, it requires some care to disentangle “binary search is fast” from “branch predictors are really good”.

if you disassemble the program, the actual loop is pretty dead ...

2024-12-17T15:40:28Z

In reply to nevent1q…xpq9
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if you disassemble the program, the actual loop is pretty dead simple, and in particular has a very easy to characterize dependency on A, which lets you construct a solution pretty directly.

In particular, the only loop-carried dependency is on A, so you just need to run the loop backwards to build the desired A up.

The new one is pretty fun if you haven't looked at it yet

2024-12-17T15:34:13Z

In reply to nevent1q…c3wt
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The new one is pretty fun if you haven't looked at it yet

if you have a solution for part 1, you ought to basically be ...

2024-12-16T18:43:35Z

In reply to nevent1q…kycf
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if you have a solution for part 1, you ought to basically be there. You can either continue your search until you identify all paths with equal cost, and then backtrack through your data structures to find the cells (this can be efficient because the adjacencies are trivial).

Alternatively you can do the dumb thing I did because I was lazy and just attach a set of all the squares in the history to the state in your data structures, and take their union when you find another path to the same state.

I haven't coded up option 1 because who has time for that, but it should be 50-100x faster on the inputs in question.

Actually managing to make time to do it this year, for the first ...

2024-12-16T18:36:05Z

In reply to nevent1q…lgqv
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Actually managing to make time to do it this year, for the first time in a long time.

Anecdata: this morning was the most crowded I've ever seen my ...

2024-11-05T15:18:51Z

Anecdata: this morning was the most crowded I've ever seen my polling place, and it isn't even close, including a line for new registrations out of the room and down the hall.

Found our friend in the garden again ...

2024-10-22T15:27:41Z

Found our friend in the garden again

the basic problem with duralex as a business in capitalism is ...

2024-10-12T15:14:37Z

In reply to nevent1q…0kqn
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the basic problem with duralex as a business in capitalism is that their products last forever so you don’t ever need to replace them.

Found a friend back in the garden this afternoon. ...

2024-09-29T20:36:02Z

Found a friend back in the garden this afternoon.

Didn’t really expect this to rebloom in September, but it’s a ...

2024-09-17T17:23:25Z

Didn’t really expect this to rebloom in September, but it’s a nice surprise. #Bloomscrolling

(more precisely, having the “raw bytes can alias everything” ...

2024-09-13T22:52:43Z

In reply to nevent1q…rd4q
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(more precisely, having the “raw bytes can alias everything” type be the same as “most-used currency type other than int” in a language with type-based aliasing rules was a mistake)

TBAA was a mistake

2024-09-13T22:43:21Z

In reply to nevent1q…fc3h
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TBAA was a mistake

The thing you spell `char x[256]` in C.

2024-08-27T01:55:17Z

In reply to nevent1q…tvff
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The thing you spell `char x[256]` in C.

As with most things. We have a Fisher-Paykel model (which I ...

2024-08-16T23:34:02Z

In reply to nevent1q…hskr
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As with most things. We have a Fisher-Paykel model (which I mostly bought because it has physical nobs instead of some touch-interface), and I really have zero complaints.

Notes on living in the ADU: - It's going to take a long time ...

2024-08-16T23:31:23Z

Notes on living in the ADU:
- It's going to take a long time to figure out where we want everything to go.
- A lot of people are skeptical of induction stoves but this thing kicks ass. Just an absolute delight to cook on.

Yeah, and then (if you keep going in math / physics) you learn ...

2024-08-16T23:27:28Z

In reply to nevent1q…yddu
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Yeah, and then (if you keep going in math / physics) you learn about Hamiltonians and you get to have the "WTF, this could all have been so much simpler" experience a second time.

In American high school, it's generally "physical ...

2024-08-16T23:23:52Z

In reply to nevent1q…jym4
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In American high school, it's generally "physical science" (i.e. lab technique and basic chemistry) -> biology -> chemistry -> physics. Which, yes, means that there basically isn't any molecular biology.

something about zincs, I guess, but that barely counts as ...

2024-08-16T23:15:08Z

In reply to nevent1q…l4g7
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something about zincs, I guess, but that barely counts as chemistry.

I'm trying to come up with some elaborate scenario where you ...

2024-08-16T22:57:48Z

In reply to nevent1q…dfa8
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I'm trying to come up with some elaborate scenario where you need to use chemistry while crossing the pacific and striking out.