@gvwilson@mastodon.social cover
@gvwilson@mastodon.social avatar

gvwilson

@gvwilson@mastodon.social

I program, write, and teach. Co-founder of Software Carpentry and It Will Never Work in Theory; co-editor of The Architecture of Open Source Applications.

This profile is from a federated server and may be incomplete. For a complete list of posts, browse on the original instance.

gvwilson , to random
@gvwilson@mastodon.social avatar

iNaturalist is looking for a Head of Engineering https://app.beapplied.com/apply/gotyyjtuxa must be US-based, and the "technical expertise" section reads like "please know everything", but if you care about conservation and open science, this is a chance to make the world a slightly better place.

gvwilson , to random
@gvwilson@mastodon.social avatar

I am standing for election to the board of the Python Software Foundation - you can read my pitch and those of the other candidates at https://www.python.org/nominations/elections/2024-python-software-foundation-board/nominees/ . Cc @ThePSF

gvwilson , to random
@gvwilson@mastodon.social avatar

Meanwhile, two regions in Ontario are about to roll out Idemia's facial recognition system "despite" its apparent tendency to think all Black people look alike: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/facial-recognition-technology-police-1.7228253

gvwilson , to random
@gvwilson@mastodon.social avatar

Pioneering computer scientist, electrical engineer, and transgender activist Lynn Ann Conway has died at the age of 86. Every modern silicon chip incorporates her ideas, and her courage was an inspiration to many. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynn_Conway Long may she run...

gvwilson , to random
@gvwilson@mastodon.social avatar

This felony conviction is the only thing Trump has actually earned in his entire life.

gvwilson , to random
@gvwilson@mastodon.social avatar

The two hardest problems in computer science are compassion and organizational change. [thanks SL for the correction]

gvwilson , to random
@gvwilson@mastodon.social avatar

Nobody on the Voyager team should have to pay for their own drink ever again.

gvwilson , to random
@gvwilson@mastodon.social avatar

Chapter 18 of "Software Design by Example in Python" builds a very simple log-structured database. I learned a lot from writing this chapter, and I hope readers will too. https://third-bit.com/2024/04/18/database/ As a bonus, this post includes a quote from one of the book's first reviewers - thank you @jenniferplusplus

gvwilson , to random
@gvwilson@mastodon.social avatar

Starting to wonder if AI is like spreadsheets: for every programmer pointing out flaws and deficiencies, a double dozen people are using 'em to do something they find useful. 1/4

Added: please see https://mastodon.social/@gvwilson/112265751571981599 for clarification.

gvwilson OP ,
@gvwilson@mastodon.social avatar

One of the challenges I faced when I stopped teaching HPC to parrticle physicists and started trying to teach everyday computing to everyone else was that every introductory example I could show them really was easier and more intuitive to do in a spreadsheet. When I say it was a challenge, I don't mean it was hard to come up with day-one examples where coding was obviously better: the challenge was for me to accept that my audience was right. 2/4

gvwilson OP ,
@gvwilson@mastodon.social avatar

So yeah, I know that greedy and/or intellectually dishonest people are overhyping AI for ugly reasons, and I know about all the things it does so badly that we make memes about it, but people like Simon Willison and Jon Udell are smarter and more thoughtful than me and they're taking it seriously, and, well, I can't stop thinking about how I misunderstood spreadsheets… 3/4

gvwilson OP ,
@gvwilson@mastodon.social avatar

(Note: while I appreciate people taking the time to educate me on the pros and cons of AI/ML, this thread was meant to be about the self-doubt I feel as an educator trying to figure out if I'm once again grabbing the wrong end of the wrong stick.) 4/4

gvwilson OP ,
@gvwilson@mastodon.social avatar

@judell I have no idea, though I like @jenniferplusplus 's EV-vs-ebike analogy https://mastodon.social/@jenniferplusplus@hachyderm.io/112266137867857170. It's 1995 all over again…

gvwilson , to random
@gvwilson@mastodon.social avatar

Just got email from someone wanting to "borrow" my GitHub account (by name) for one hour in exchange for $300 in Bitcoin. Now that we're here, the future is a deeply weird and unsettling place.

gvwilson , to random
@gvwilson@mastodon.social avatar

Docusign just admitted that they use customer data (i.e., all those contracts, affidavits, and other confidential documents we send them) to train AI:

https://support.docusign.com/s/document-item?language=en_US&bundleId=fzd1707173174972&topicId=uss1707173279973.html

They state that customers "contractually consent" to such use, but good luck finding it in their Terms of Service. There also doesn't appear to be a way to withdraw consent, but I may have missed that.

gvwilson , to random
@gvwilson@mastodon.social avatar

Please don't call it "idiot-proof": there aren't actually very many idiots in the world. Call it "weary-tolerant", as in, "Let's make this software upgrade process weary-tolerant so that people who've woken up at five in the morning to look after a sick kid can get a server back online on the first try." Or "multi-tasking compatible", as in, "Let's make this interface MTC so that people who are trying to put out three fires at once don't bork their installation by using tabs instead of spaces."

gvwilson , to random
@gvwilson@mastodon.social avatar

My 16-year-old only wanted one thing for Christmas: a CD player. Her wish came true, so she picked through the 400+ CDs stored in our basement and selected about a hundred to listen to.
Having spent A SOLID WEEK listening to nothing but Elton John, she has now discovered a mix CD of Culture Club, the Thompson Twins, and Howard Jones and is playing it on repeat.
Please send help.

gvwilson , to random
@gvwilson@mastodon.social avatar

I finally got around to creating some lists here on Mastodon:

  • Internet royalty
  • Embalmed persons
  • Those who are highly trained
  • Those who use the word "octothorpe"
  • Strays
  • Members of the Antimemetics Division
  • Those included in the present classification
  • Those who shiver as if they are cold
  • Those who are not countable
  • Components of group minds
  • Others
  • Those who have just broken a cherished coffee mug
  • Those who from a long way off look like punctuation
  • All
  • Subscribed
  • Moderated
  • Favorites
  • •
  • random
  • test
  • worldmews
  • mews
  • All magazines
    •