I am writing a blog post about why it is bad to use AI.
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@mcc @glyph not sure if you saw, but Terry Tao made this analogy and had some interesting things to say https://mathstodon.xyz/@tao/116252708577614828
tangentially, I've also been thinking about how ten years ago people were saying "data is the new oil" and at the time I was like "ah hm yes" but I didn't think about how ten years hence we would of course be building data refineries that no one wants to live next door to
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@JamesWidman Sorry to bother. Inserting dots makes that word past my word filter. I have it muted as it's been affecting my mental health a lot lately, so I'd really appreciate it if I could avoid it in any form (unfortunately, I can't avoid it in the real life
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@JamesWidman Sorry to bother. Inserting dots makes that word past my word filter. I have it muted as it's been affecting my mental health a lot lately, so I'd really appreciate it if I could avoid it in any form (unfortunately, I can't avoid it in the real life
)@lesley updated, and i'll try to remember that in future posts.
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@lesley updated, and i'll try to remember that in future posts.
@JamesWidman Thanks a lot!
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@mcc @glyph @mhoye I had that argument with a previous employer over mob programming.
They were trying to make everyone do it, it was burning some of us out.
Their response was “you can just not do it and the rest of the team will do it without you”.
Well, oh Einstein of managers, what do you think is going to happen when all the tools and communication structures the team uses assume mob programming, just like is required to do it properly? It’s not a real option to just not engage. You’ve just forced several of your staff out of a job because it was that or burning them out within weeks, and you’ve managed to paint it as their fault.
Ever since then I’ve been incredibly cynical about any “cultural shifts”. If it’s optional then it’s totally not optional they just don’t want to take the responsibility.
@FayeDrake I've been fortunate to avoid mob programming so far - it's hard enough not to get drowned out in a meeting whilst the more extroverted (or desperate to show their value as the employer pushed competition for advancement) dropped suggestions in a stream of consciousness.
Tho I had fab experiences with pair programming as we were working on a simulator which had a comfy car seat and a projected view of the world up front. This view was driven by the same machine we developed on, so inevitably we would end up with the "subject" (another dev during testing) being able to comfortably observe the changes and collaborate. I think it also helped that you didn't have someone literally over your shoulder and talking into your ear
(And now I remember that this workstation did this all with its 256MB of RAMBus memory
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@FayeDrake I've been fortunate to avoid mob programming so far - it's hard enough not to get drowned out in a meeting whilst the more extroverted (or desperate to show their value as the employer pushed competition for advancement) dropped suggestions in a stream of consciousness.
Tho I had fab experiences with pair programming as we were working on a simulator which had a comfy car seat and a projected view of the world up front. This view was driven by the same machine we developed on, so inevitably we would end up with the "subject" (another dev during testing) being able to comfortably observe the changes and collaborate. I think it also helped that you didn't have someone literally over your shoulder and talking into your ear
(And now I remember that this workstation did this all with its 256MB of RAMBus memory
)@arakin yeah… that was essentially the argument I had.
We had certain individuals who talked without gaps, and when confronted by others responded by saying they needed to do this to think. When it was posited that maybe other people needed space to think, and the opportunity to contribute, the response was that this was our problem. Because letting people talk as much as they like is easy, but making sure all needs are met is hard and requires effort and skill. And acknowledges that the majority of engineers can’t just pick this up from first principles.
I do not feel like I’m emotionally intelligent, but I’m told I am. I think it’s because I’ve spent a tonne of sleepless nights working out why this sort of thing is bullshit and how to explain that to people. And when that fails, putting myself in a position to veto it.
Fortunately, I am the senior engineer now, and at least for the time being I have enough clout to tell people to fuck off when they start trying lazy and toxic bullshit like that.
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@arakin yeah… that was essentially the argument I had.
We had certain individuals who talked without gaps, and when confronted by others responded by saying they needed to do this to think. When it was posited that maybe other people needed space to think, and the opportunity to contribute, the response was that this was our problem. Because letting people talk as much as they like is easy, but making sure all needs are met is hard and requires effort and skill. And acknowledges that the majority of engineers can’t just pick this up from first principles.
I do not feel like I’m emotionally intelligent, but I’m told I am. I think it’s because I’ve spent a tonne of sleepless nights working out why this sort of thing is bullshit and how to explain that to people. And when that fails, putting myself in a position to veto it.
Fortunately, I am the senior engineer now, and at least for the time being I have enough clout to tell people to fuck off when they start trying lazy and toxic bullshit like that.
@arakin but yeah, pair programming is amazing as long as you get two people who are trying in good faith to work together and lift each other up rather than making it an ego thing
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@arakin but yeah, pair programming is amazing as long as you get two people who are trying in good faith to work together and lift each other up rather than making it an ego thing
@arakin the other issue I have with mob programming is that a lot of its proponents are somewhat religious about it while not actually getting the point.
In my experience (which is probably a biased sample) about 4/5 of them profess it will cure cancer, but actually just like the fact it lets them take over the team permanently and talk all the time. These are the loud and dangerous ones which I make a point of putting myself in a position to tell to fuck off.
The remaining 1/5 are actually clued up on it, know the theory behind it, have enough emotional intelligence to understand than making sure all needs are met is the most importantly part and are worth listening to.
But again, it’s probable my sample is biased.
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@arakin the other issue I have with mob programming is that a lot of its proponents are somewhat religious about it while not actually getting the point.
In my experience (which is probably a biased sample) about 4/5 of them profess it will cure cancer, but actually just like the fact it lets them take over the team permanently and talk all the time. These are the loud and dangerous ones which I make a point of putting myself in a position to tell to fuck off.
The remaining 1/5 are actually clued up on it, know the theory behind it, have enough emotional intelligence to understand than making sure all needs are met is the most importantly part and are worth listening to.
But again, it’s probable my sample is biased.
@FayeDrake Thank you for your detailed response! I've been stuck in a tiny company as one of just three developers for so long now I've missed out on larger team integration work (which I miss), though you reminded me I didn't miss some of the hassles I had at my previous employer
All things i guess I have to look forward to in my next role. (just as soon as I find one!)
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@griotspeak @FayeDrake @glyph @mhoye Is mob programming the one with random encounters
@mcc
It's mafia-style programming. "Nice code. Be a shame if something happened to it."
@griotspeak @FayeDrake @glyph @mhoye -
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