The DMZ

@slebetman: I think you have to be a programmer to really get this story, to follow the logic, to sense the alien-ness of the weirdly designed code, and grasp the blood-chilling implications of an LED flashing when it really shouldn't. — Beta May 28 '14 at 5:29

Anonymous

I've been given a new work laptop, or rather, I need to go pick my new one up.

Anonymous

And I only just now realised how much of a fucking headache this will be...

MechMK1

8:39 AM

@forest I'll give it a shot

forest

Highly recommended read while the lights are out in front of a dim CRT monitor.

MechMK1

But man, it reminds me of the PS3

> Why was programming for the PS3 so hard?

"Well, when you sit infront of your computer, you have a mental model of how that computer works. Perhaps you think of it as a group of programs that you start to do certain tasks. Perhaps you think of it as a group of buttons that do something when pressed.

Now imagine using a computer designed by an alien. It's completely different, but it still makes *sense* in some way. Now imagine you are given one of those alien computers, get one year to figure it out and now you have to be proficient at using it. That's how programming for the PS3 felt like"

The reason why the early PS3 tanked so hard was because Sony refused to give proper support to people. Apparently, that would cause them to "understand the system better" and result in better games

The fact that a ton of early PS3 titles didn't make use of the PPU at all and were in reality barely above PS2 level tells you a lot about how well that worked out for them

Sony even had employees in certain gamedev forums, where people complained that the PS3 was too fucking weird, and these employees were instructed to "urge people to use the PPUs", but not give any actual support

Like, how fucking weird is that?

forest

hah

The PS4 is much simpler. It's a pretty standard x86 machine running butchered FreeBSD.

MechMK1

Yeah. It was actually one of the things that Microsoft tried to sell to developers with their "DirectXBox"

"It's a standardized PC in a box. Develop your game for that and you will know it will run on every one of them"

forest

As silly as PS3 hardware is, I honestly prefer the more complex and "unique" game hardware. That's the way it was done in the past, when each company designing the hardware had to come up with their own clever tradeoffs. But this was also back when games were simple enough that you could accurately count the number of cycles that would pass for any given screen refresh.

And you had to ensure your routine was light enough to operate within a frame.

MechMK1

8:50 AM

Exactly. My personal favourite was the NES

forest

I liked Speccy (ZX Spectrum 48, 128, and the Russian Pentagon clone)

MechMK1

How we fit an NES game into 40 Kilobytes

►

forest

Also the Atari 2600, just because of how limited its hardware was.

MechMK1

I love this video. They showed off all their design decisions, and how they got around some of the hardware limitations

E.g. only being allowed to draw X sprites per line

The original black and white gameboy was similar. Tetris did a cool optimization where a tetromino is a sprite as long as it moves, but once it is set, it becomes background

On the Genesis, a guy was able to do pixel-perfect collision detection, because the Genesis had a flag which indicated if a sprite was overlapping another sprite

So all you had to do was to check that flag and you'd always get perfect collisions

Anyways, my meeting starts in 5 minutes, so I'll be back in like 30-60 minutes

forest

Some unique arcade machines also had some neat optimizations or features. The game system with Galaga and Pacman had three Z80 processors that were used in very cool ways.

There's even a complete annotated disassembly of the code for those processors.

aight, ttyl

Anonymous

8:56 AM

Meetings, psh.

Anonymous

God, I have only been at work like an hour or so, I am already exhausted.

Anonymous

I want to go home >.<

forest

I know that feeling.

Anonymous

It doesn't help that Saturday night was so heavy.

Anonymous

26 tequila shots later...

Anonymous

9:04 AM

lul

Anonymous

In hindsight that much alcohol was not only a bad idea but totally unnecessary.

2

MechMK1

9:55 AM

I just had to star that :D

My coffee is 50% coffee and 50% Baileys

Anonymous

10:10 AM

@MechMK1 Hahah.

Anonymous

Yeah, we did a drinking challenge potentially the worst idea I've ever had.

MechMK1

Yeah that doesn't sound like a good idea

It's actually remarkable how very little alcohol I drink. Like, the occasions on which I drink are probably N.Y.E. and my birthday

And even then, very little

MechMK1

10:29 AM

0

A: Please don't refer to 2019 as 'a great year'

The fact that this is marked as status-declined is just a big middle finger to the community. It's a middle finger to those who felt like their beliefs have been systematically invalidated by a faceless corporation. It's a middle finger to neo-pronoun users who have been flagged as trolls becau...

I wonder who downvoted this immediately :D

Anonymous

10:44 AM

@MechMK1 I am the opposite, I probably drink way more than I should.

Anonymous

Bet my liver hates me.

forest

10:57 AM

@MechMK1 It's always the same few people. :P

@J.J I don't drink much anymore. Last time I did, I did some bad things to people I love.

It turns out that violent drunks looking for a fight and young children don't go well together.

Now I just get high. Much more pleasant for everyone.

Anonymous

I don't get violent while drunk.

Anonymous

I just get... Stupid.

forest

11:12 AM

I get stupid and violent. Except when I'm drunk, I don't think I'm either. :D

Anonymous

Hahahah.

MechMK1

@forest Ms. Chipps is eternally mad at me

Anonymous

Is it all alcohol that makes you violent when drunk or just beer?

Anonymous

Because I found a lot of guys get violent from beer

forest

All alcohol. Well, if there's enough of it.

Anonymous

11:14 AM

But from other drinks not so much

Anonymous

That could be psuedoscience I dont know

Anonymous

Just my experience

MechMK1

Last time I was really drunk people were mad at me

It was at a LAN party and we were playing CSS

I still out-sniped everyone

forest

@J.J Or a social thing. Drinking beer puts you in a different mindset than drinking vodka.

Even if that mindset is social in nature rather than chemical.

MechMK1

> How can he still shoot so well? he can't even talk anymore

Anonymous

11:16 AM

@forest Yeah, that too.

MechMK1

When I eat some weed brownies or some mushrooms I usually get very talkative

Doesn't matter what we talk about

Anything is fine

forest

I don't really drink beer. Vodka mostly (well, used to).

Anonymous

I find though, most men become more violent when they drink.

MechMK1

Philosophy, ethics of gene manipulation, IT, etc...

Anonymous

Maybe not to the point they do actually use violence.

Anonymous

11:17 AM

But they certainly become more lairy and willing to fight.

forest

Some people are more prone to violence than others.

For me at least, I lose my inhibitions. Everything stems from that.

MechMK1

Man I don't even remember the last time I had a physical fight. Must have been back in high school

Anonymous

I've had a few...

Anonymous

It is never a good thing.

forest

Most fights end the moment you pull out a knife.

Anonymous

11:19 AM

Even if you "win" - it's not winning, it doesn't feel good.

MechMK1

Or a gun

Though I dislike the idea of physical violence

forest

Yeah but pulling out a gun can get you in trouble with the law for using threats of deadly force.

Pulling out a knife on the other hand is safer, especially if you can do it smoothly.

MechMK1

In Austria, you are required to respond appropriately to any threat

Anonymous

You pull out a weapon in a fight in the UK and you are arrested & prosecuted for intent to take life.

MechMK1

So if like 5 people are about to gang up on you, pulling out a gun is absolutely legit

Anonymous

11:20 AM

The least you get; GBH (if you use the weapon)

forest

I'm pretty sure if I pulled out a benchmade spring-assist in the UK, they'd act like it was a WMD. :D

Anonymous

The most you get; attempted murder.

Anonymous

What you're likely to get?

Anonymous

Intent to take life.

MechMK1

My gf weighs about 40kg and is 1.55m tall. Imagine a guy who weighs 120kg and is 2.10m tall threatens her

You think pepperspray or a knife would help her?

Anonymous

11:21 AM

Self defence isn't really a thing in the UK, Mech. (Sadly)

forest

If she's good with a knife? Yeah.

MechMK1

No, you pull out the G19

forest

But a gun would still be better.

MechMK1

Absolutely

forest

At least if you know how to use it safely.

MechMK1

11:22 AM

Because here is the thing: Literally everybody knows that a gun can take them out

forest

I'm just partial to knives because they're easier to threaten people with without getting yourself shot, or arrested. If you pull a knife and they do as well, you both back down. If you pull a gun and they do as well, one of you is going to the ER and the other to jail.

MechMK1

So they back down

Anonymous

I do wish guns were legal in the UK.

Anonymous

Especially because I have female friends who have been sexually assaulted in the streets.

MechMK1

@J.J The UK is fucked in this regard

Anonymous

11:23 AM

And that would never have happened if they were armed.

Anonymous

And when I say assaulted

Anonymous

I mean, pretty much raped or nearly raped.

MechMK1

> Personal safety? What is that? Are you some kind of racist?

Anonymous

Not just a fucking spank or some shit.

forest

wow

Yeah, that's exactly what weapons are for.

Anonymous

11:23 AM

Which actually reminds me Mech, that was the first fight I ever had.

forest

I feel safer in a place with more guns than with less guns.

(Except for the places where no one knows how to use the damn things)

Anonymous

Guy grabbed my girlfriend in a bar when we first met

Anonymous

Rightly or wrongly I elbowed him straight in the jaw.

MechMK1

In Austria, if your life is threatened, you are legally allowed to use anything you want

Anonymous

I believe rightly, law thinks differently.

MechMK1

11:24 AM

There was a case where a guy killed someone with a sawed-off shotgun

forest

@MechMK1 What about an anti-tank missile? :D

MechMK1

You are allowed to use that

forest

Are those even legal to own there?

MechMK1

No

forest

In the US, any self-propelled explosive charge is illegal.

MechMK1

11:25 AM

But the situation was the following

Anonymous

So in the UK we have "reasonable force".

MechMK1

A guy was part of a "biker gang" and some kind of rivaling gang attacked him in his home with makeshift weapons

Anonymous

I.E; if someone breaks into your house and you need to kill them to get them out and you can prove you had to take such an action you will likely get a lesser sentence.

MechMK1

They attacked him with chains, wooden boards, baseball bats, etc.

Anonymous

The key point is you need to prove that you were required to use that much force.

Anonymous

11:26 AM

And that is very, very, very, very, very difficult.

forest

@J.J What is reasonable to someone sitting down in the daylight with nothing to worry about is different from what is reasonable to someone looking death in the face.

MechMK1

He shot one of the guys with a sawed-off shotgun

Anonymous

I know, Forest.

Anonymous

That's why it's a stupid law.

Anonymous

"reasonable force" means absolutely nothing.

MechMK1

11:26 AM

The fact that he was injured so badly, and that the pellets went from the bottom up into the body proved that his story was absolutely reasonable

Anonymous

And that's why so many people get arrested & prosecuted for simply defending themselves.

Anonymous

Do you want to know the fucked thing?

MechMK1

Of course, he had to face trial for owning a sawed-off shotgun

Anonymous

Back to that story about the guy touching my girlfriend, I broke the law - he did not.

MechMK1

But not for killing someone withit

Anonymous

11:27 AM

Although technically he could be charged with assault.

Anonymous

I was charged for battery.

MechMK1

@J.J Rapists deserve death.

Anonymous

For hurting someone who literally committed sexual assault.

forest

That's not rape.

Anonymous

And I am the bad one.

Anonymous

11:27 AM

It's utterly moronic.

Anonymous

UK law around violence is so backwards it hurts my brain.

forest

And anyway, most rapists are not violent but "technical" rapists (i.e. she was 17, or the condom broke).

MechMK1

> I'ma get medieval on your ass.

Anonymous

I know one thing...

Anonymous

I don't care what the law says, if you sexually assault someone, you're gonna get punched.

forest

11:28 AM

@J.J If you're defending someone and didn't seriously hurt him, there should be no charges.

MechMK1

@forest That's one thing, but I am talking about like actual rape

forest

Even then, death is never appropriate (except for self-defense).

Anonymous

I don't agree with bar fights.

Anonymous

BUT.

forest

However, being locked away so they're not a danger to society is of course necessary.

Anonymous

11:29 AM

I do agree with them when they are started because of sexual assault.

forest

@J.J Eh, if someone wants to fight, let them fight.

Anonymous

However most bar fights are just drunken dick measuring contests

Anonymous

I agree, Forest.

Anonymous

But I just think they're idiotic.

forest

Well yes, they are.

Anonymous

11:29 AM

As i said, most bar fights start because of dick measuring contests

MechMK1

I would say if I was in the position of my girlfriend (40kg, 1.55m tall), and a guy would try to rape me, I would have absolutely no inhibition of unloading all 15 rounds into him

Anonymous

Me too, Mech.

forest

@MechMK1 Not a good idea. Then you're defenseless if he has backup.

MechMK1

had*

:D

forest

Use the minimum number of bullets you can. That way you'll have more left if you need them.

MechMK1

11:30 AM

>He doesn't know about the backup revolver in my sock

And the backup-backup revolver hidden in one of the chambers of my backup revolver

Anonymous

See, the UK doesn't really have such a thing as self defence so it's a bit fucked.

forest

@MechMK1 top kek

Anonymous

For example I was told by an Inspector before that if someone punches me

Anonymous

I should do no more than push them off me

MechMK1

I'd rather go to prison and have my asshole intact than to get raped and live as a free man

Anonymous

11:31 AM

And I said to him "are you actually serious?" and he said "yes, if someone punches you and you punch them back technically you can be charged for battery even in self defence"

forest

You must have nice prisons there if you're going to leave with your asshole intact. :^)

MechMK1

We actually do

Anonymous

And he is technically correct.

forest

@J.J That's one of the dumbest things I've ever heard.

Anonymous

I know.

Anonymous

11:32 AM

But it's really how the UK law works.

MechMK1

@J.J The UK has such backwards laws it's insane

Anonymous

Of course, with a semi-decent lawyer (if it did go to court) you'd get off.

forest

The government should not be micromanaging people so much.

MechMK1

If a law protects criminals more than innocent civilians, then your law fails

Anonymous

But the fact remains that if you punch someone who punches you (even in self defence) then you used more force than was "necessary".

forest

11:33 AM

We need to be protected from being killed or maimed, not from being hit.

Anonymous

Because you know, pushing really does a lot.

Anonymous

Let me just push him 30x until he eventually uppercuts me officer.

Anonymous

lmfao.

forest

heh

MechMK1

@J.J You push a guy. he falls backwards. He hits his head. Now he has a brain injury. You need to pay for his medical costs for the rest of his life.

forest

11:34 AM

Just hit him with a stick so you can get charged with using a deadly weapon!

Anonymous

Well that's the other thing, Mech.

Anonymous

So technically a push could be more lethal than a punch.

Anonymous

The law doesn't define how damage works.

Anonymous

For example, if the above scenario took place I would be charged with GBH.

forest

Law defines how damage works worse than a 3rd rate video game physics engine.

Anonymous

11:35 AM

However, if I punched him he would only have a chipped jaw let's say.

MechMK1

By the way, my meta post was deleted

forest

wooow

Anonymous

Now - which is worse? The push right? Yet the police advocate not punching people.

MechMK1

The one where I was critical of Winterbash 2019

Anonymous

So tell me what I do?

forest

11:36 AM

That's remarkable.

Anonymous

Do I just... Run? And the answer to that as per the CPS is... Yes.

forest

They're really not hiding it anymore are they?

MechMK1

@forest No, they go into full retard mode

Anonymous

Also, I am pretty sure @MechMK1 is going to get "accidentally" removed from this site soon.

MechMK1

Silence anyone who dares to object

forest

11:37 AM

@J.J I was suspended a year myself for asking about a 3 hour suspension. :D

MechMK1

@J.J You bet I will

Anonymous

Hahahahhahahahahahahahhahahahah, wait, really @forest ???

forest

I'm sure MechMK1 and anyone else who remains critical will get "accidentally" removed.

Anonymous

You were suspended for a year for asking about a 3 hour suspension?

forest

@J.J On MSE, yeah.

MechMK1

11:37 AM

And my comment was again removed

forest

@J.J Yes. Apparently I was "bringing an argument out of chat" or something.

Anonymous

That's absolutely absurd @forest

Anonymous

If this isn't proof that censorship just doesn't work

forest

Btw, last time I talked about a suspension elsewhere here in the DMZ, I was suspended from all site chats for, I think it was 24 hours? MechMK1 remembers that.

Anonymous

I don't know what is.

forest

11:38 AM

@J.J Well, people are realizing what is happening.

Anonymous

This site is kinda a joke.

Anonymous

I got really mad when they implemented the "welcome" feature.

forest

Well, the company is at least. The community is great.

Anonymous

Or whatever the fuck they called it.

forest

Yeah everyone hates the welcome wagon.

MechMK1

11:39 AM

We're so welcoming to everyone

Doesn't matter if your question is shit

Anonymous

It's the most retarded feature I've ever seen.

MechMK1

It's a duplicate? No no, that's fine. Fuck the guy who marked it as a dupe

He's just a hateful troll

Someone told you to google something before asking a question? Fuck that guy for telling you what to do

forest

It's extremely Americentric too.

The idea of what is offensive and what is not is judged on an entirely American basis.

MechMK1

First of all that

forest

^

As long as you aren't being a jerk to everyone, being accidentally offended is not a big deal.

Anonymous

11:41 AM

Off topic but: my org has Chrome sync disabled and I am trying to transfer everything to a new laptop, how do I transfer my bookmarks?

forest

But some people think that saying "google it" is just as offensive as dropping the hard R.

MechMK1

What if it offends me that you downvote my shitty question with shitty grammar that shows zero effort on my side? Should I have the option to disable downvotes on my question?

You know what? Great idea!

forest

@J.J Can you export to a file?

Anonymous

@forest Uh, looks like no.

MechMK1

Let's give new users the ability to disable downvotes on their questions

forest

11:42 AM

@MechMK1 Just wait until they disable downvotes because downvotes are "unfriendly". :D

Anonymous

Yeah, no.

forest

(Yes, there was actually talk about that, but I don't think it got far)

Anonymous

Let me say; I hate all of this fucking OneDrive shit.

MechMK1

Fuck OneDrive

And fuck Microsoft

Anonymous

Let me also say; please give me control of my browser it severely reduces UX when I cannot do anything.

MechMK1

11:43 AM

Fuck the welcoming wagon

Anonymous

Not like I have a choice, Mech.

Anonymous

It's either use OneDrive or... Don't.

Anonymous

But don't isn't an option, sadly.

forest

Fuck everything.

Anonymous

It's like when I asked for Linux.

forest

11:44 AM

The world is shit.

MechMK1

You have no right not to be offended. Grow thicker skin and man the fuck up.

Anonymous

They said "you can use Linux" I said "great".

Anonymous

They said "but... You won't be able to use Teams, Skype, any Office365 application so it will be bad".

Anonymous

So I said "so can I use it?" they said "no".

Anonymous

lmfao.

forest

11:44 AM

looool

MechMK1

LOL

my meta is suspended

Anonymous

^ HAHAHHAHAHAH

forest

pffffft

Anonymous

Sorry to say the obvious but what's going on is; they don't like you.

MechMK1

We want freedom of opinions as long as you express the correct opinions.

forest

11:48 AM

It's really a dumpster fire isn't it.

I fully agree with your bio. Doing this in spite of the company, not for it.

MechMK1

I'm this close to registering bannedfrommeta.com

Where people can just say they have been banned from meta, and that they don't understand why

forest

I miss the days when I'd have endless motivation to revenge spam.

Being mature is a pain in the ass.

MechMK1

Yes. Some answers were deleted. They were.... not nice. Please be nice. — Journeyman Geek ♦ 16 mins ago

How is "What Stack Exchange, Inc. is doing is a big middle finger to the community?" "not nice"?

How is what Stack Exchange, Inc. is doing "nice"?

2

Is public slander of a former moderator "nice"?

forest

I'd be a lot more angry at my own situation if it didn't appear to be so ubiquitous.

MechMK1

Is banning everybody who is critical of Stack Exchange, Inc. "nice"?

forest

11:52 AM

By their definition of nice, yes.

@MechMK1 You know why this is happening? New CEO, CTO, and director of public Q&A want to secure more funding from VC firms, and in order to do so, they have to appear to be following whatever the big buzzwords are which, the last few years has been "inclusiveness" and "diversity".

2

But they don't realize that SE and SO don't have problems with those, so they're grasping at straws.

MechMK1

Man I love diversity so much

Ever since our city got more diverse things just became so much better

> I highlighted "Friendly and constructive" for your benefit.

> Accusing folks of showing a middle finger to the community by declining a feature request to change the to the community counts as neither.

> Regards,
> Meta Stack Exchange Moderation Team

forest

In fact, a post was accidentally leaked which showed that they were trying to frame the whole "answer upvotes now count as 10 rep instead of 5" thing as something to be more welcoming to women. They couldn't find a way to make that work, so they discarded that idea and changed it.

MechMK1

@forest I don't get this "women in tech need special treatment" thing

forest

So they're just frantically trying to solve a "problem in tech" that simply doesn't apply to this site.

@MechMK1 Women need to be respected just like men.

And it's not respectful to women to assume they're delicate little flowers who can't take care of themselves and need some man to hold their hand through the "dangerous world of programming communities", which is what SE, Inc seems to be trying to do in the name of inclusiveness.

They're going about it the wrong way.

And it's making people feel less welcome, not more.

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