The Linux source code is also online…

I’m also a software engineer (at least in title). I agree with the social skills but a different thing came to mind. The ability to actually watch and understand what people are trying to do. I’m lucky as all my software is internal to my company. I don’t make what we sell, I make what tests the products we sell. And yes I test the tests and also test the test’s tests 😭.

I’ll give an example. I have an operation where the operator is to scan a number off a paper before testing. That number is for traceability we need to know which test results are for which unit. Previous engineer said since it’s scanned off the unit it will never be incorrect as long on the printed barcode is correct(separately validated) so no need to verify format.

I ran into an issue where units had an extra zero either before or after the number. So if number was 12345 sometimes it would be 012345 or 123450.

I went to watch the process. The operator scanned the unit( I watched them work all day, this was 1 unit out of a whole days work) and when they put the scanner down the scanner’s corner was on the 0 button of the keypad.

We did a 2 phase remiduation. Stage 1. Operator instructed to log in and then place keyboard on shelf away from workplace. Stage 2. Verify the number is in correct format in code. Yes the code update is simple but in our field needs weeks of work to test, validate, and release.

Actually watching the operator closely identified the problem. The code was not the issue, the code passed all requirements and tests. The issue was the tests and requirements did not match the user’s experience but if I stayed in my cube as for weeks I would not of been able to find the bug.

I equate an AI to an intern. It’s useful for some stuff but if I’m going to attach my name to it I’m going to review it and probably change a lot about it.

We can’t let you bring this bottle of “water” on the plane because it me an explosive…so I’m just gonna to throw it into this garbage can full of all the other potential explosives in the most densely packed area of the airport…

It might be a side effect of my work environment. I make the equipment that tests electronic medical implants. Theoretically if a unit put 1A of charge out instead of 1ma that could kill a person. Now on a practical level that’s not possible with our devices and even if it was we should be able to identify and prevent that unit from reaching the field.

Yes you are right, you want 99.99% uptime you need this stuff. In the field I’m in a single case escaping test can be months of engineering time to investigate, root cause analysis to determine the actual cause, expensive fixes for the short term and even more expensive fixes in long term to upgrade everything so it never happens again.

Boss being unhappy that you missed something is minor. Their boss’s boss’s boss is the real issue. That said we get regularly audited both in-house and external agencies so it’s unlikely. Multiple lines of defense, have a computer check it, have a person check that the computer actually checked it, have a computer verify that the person actually verified it. Have each of those systems regularly audited and verified to be effective.

It’s expensive but it is what is needed to be in this field.

Ok,this maybe too nerdy of a topic for here but that’s why I love unit tests.

Basically I write a piece of code that gets this input and generated that output. I also make a test to verify that I get a certain output given a certain input.

Now if I spend all day futzing within that code , changing variable names, refactor and extract a large function to 10 small ones, decide to re-write all the SQL queries to linq arguments…I can fuck up and tests may fail. I fix the failing code to still pass the test. I know I delivered code that met the requirements, hopefully improved it, but I know I didn’t fuck it up enough to not do what it’s expected to do.

Plus source control…I mess around with code, my tests all pass…I commit it…I mess around more, can’t get the tests to pass, oh well quitting time roll back to previous working commit. Boss may be mad I didn’t improve it but at least I didn’t break it. Zero gain day is better than negative gain…

im surprised no one has said it yet but XKCD

My favorite story about this is I had a friend who was smart but quick to jump to conclusions and not technical.

He had a roommate who sometimes used his computer. He comes home one day to a message on the screen, full screen saying “This computer is locked by the NSA. We have detected illegal activity including child pornogry(yes spelt that way). You may send $300 in Walgreens gift card codes to (some yahoo email address I forget) or you will be arrested. This computer can not be unlocked.”

He panics thinking his roommate did something, shut down the computer, removed the hard drive and memory.

Two years later I hear about this and tell him it’s fake and let me take a look at it. Turns out the computer was not" locked". I got into the system by booting into safe mode. There was a program added to the start up folder of the start menu(this was in windows xp). That program literally just launched a window with that message, set to full screen with no close button. Out of curiosity I rebooted the system message popped up and I just hit alt-f4 and had full control of the system. These scans are designed for people to panic and not think critically.

All I’m going to say is I still remember “correcthorsebatterrystaple”…

This actually gave me an idea. Over break I wanted to practice dB design and entity framework. Designing a database and interface for santa to track kids naughty or nice could be a fun/interesting way of doing it.

For anyone wondering this is a VERY old xkcd comic.

Generally your blind spot is larger on the right side(especially on tractor trailers) so it’s more likely to result in an accident.

How old are they? If they are 4 that’s cute, if they are 24 I’m concerned for their safety.

The idea in the old days was you feasted after harvest when you had a lot of food to spare

So… Microbiologists are on average mass murders to degrees Hitler ghangis khan and Mao combined couldn’t even come close to… Got it. Staying away from anyone in the micro lab at work from now on.

You get a thieving license can you steal from the license off to get your application fee back?

True, if you count virus and bacteria then doctors are probably mass murders.

True but that’s more common of a thought connection.

One thing I always wondered is what counts as “management”?

For example I’m in manufacturing (not looking to start a union, my job treats me fairly well but I support them) and we have “team leads” who technically “manage” people but are very low on the totem pole.

We have supervisors who are higher, about the same as engineers, who “manage” the leads.

The we have directors and managers who basically run their whole group.

The it goes up to vps and divisional vps and eventually CEO and board of directors.

Where does “management” start? Really below vps/dvps everyone is just following orders. They may be following orders but with much more lead way. I can see a case that anyone who “manages” another person, even at a team lead level" could be counted as management and that just doesn’t seem fair.

Yeah but it didn’t answer the question of “can you connect them?”.

Others in this thread have said yes but chat gpt ignored the question and replied with a description of the question. It’s easy for a model like this to determine what a model name means(it seems complicated to humans but there is a logic to their naming).