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Andy Pearce 🇬🇧👨🏻‍💻

@andy-pearce.com

600 followers 490 following 2.8K posts

I code for fun & profit, more the latter now I’m a father. Interested in anything but intolerance (but I’m not big on sports). Kind or not, at least be civil. All views my own. I occasionally blog about coding: http://www.andy-pearce.com/

www.andy-pearce.com

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Andy Pearce 🇬🇧👨🏻‍💻 @andy-pearce.com · 17h

I’m also not holding my breath, although I do appreciate my subconscious reminding me that I need to lose some weight.

Andy Pearce 🇬🇧👨🏻‍💻 @andy-pearce.com · 17h

I’m not holding my breadth that they’ll manage to do this. We’d have got more productive policy agreement out of Abbott and Costello than this bunch of bickering bozos.

Andy Pearce 🇬🇧👨🏻‍💻 @andy-pearce.com · 17h

This icon must be very puzzling to some of today’s children.

The “phone” icon from an Apple iPhone, which is in the shape of a landline handset.

Andy Pearce 🇬🇧👨🏻‍💻 @andy-pearce.com · 20h

youtu.be/bPsY_nhTtxg

Baked Potato Song | Shooting Stars | BBC

YouTube video by BBC Studios

youtu.be

Andy Pearce 🇬🇧👨🏻‍💻 @andy-pearce.com · 2d

The way things are, mildly upsetting experiences are bliss.

Just in case you were curious:

youtu.be/LsAiCs66l40

They Might Be Giants - Particle Man (Tiny Tunes)

YouTube video by ParticleMen

youtu.be

Andy Pearce 🇬🇧👨🏻‍💻 @andy-pearce.com · 2d

It’s like trying to refold a deflated airbed back into its original carry bag—it’s tantalisingly close, but whenever you try to squeeze the last bit in, another part bulges back out somewhere else.

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Andy Pearce 🇬🇧👨🏻‍💻 @andy-pearce.com · 2d

It is for Cambridgeshire, but it varies by council. This portal should jump you to the page on each council’s site to check their dates.

www.gov.uk/school-term-...

School term and holiday dates

Find your child's school term, half term and holiday dates on your local council's website

www.gov.uk

Andy Pearce 🇬🇧👨🏻‍💻 @andy-pearce.com · 2d

To complete the look, you may like to be adopted by a cat, with which you hold meaningful and in-depth conversations within clear earshot of passersby.

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Andy Pearce 🇬🇧👨🏻‍💻 @andy-pearce.com · 2d

I couldn’t quite tell if this was intended to be read to the tune of “Particle Man” by They Might Be Giants, or not. Either way, definitely above average.

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Andy Pearce 🇬🇧👨🏻‍💻 @andy-pearce.com · 3d

I agree with you, but not because I think the planning system is fine (it’s terrible, IMO), but because no government is ever capable of fixing it. A stable awful system is better than a system which is slightly differently awful every 5-10 years. But a good system would still be better!

Andy Pearce 🇬🇧👨🏻‍💻 @andy-pearce.com · 4d

With quality humour like this, it’s a larva minute round here.

Andy Pearce 🇬🇧👨🏻‍💻 @andy-pearce.com · 5d

In some ways buses actually work better in rural areas to link small towns—they are generally faster than walking or cycling due to less congestion. But they get cancelled because usage is low, as cars offer the same advantages for those with the privilege of owning and using them.

Andy Pearce 🇬🇧👨🏻‍💻 @andy-pearce.com · 5d

The problem is simply that nobody has done this—firms think about how to monetise sites, and monetisation will always inevitably lead to enshittification eventually. Donation-based funding like Wikipedia’s is probably the only antidote—if you make your site crap, donations will stop.

Andy Pearce 🇬🇧👨🏻‍💻 @andy-pearce.com · 5d

I think the old spirit could feasibly return, but it would be within sites, not across them. There would be little to stop someone seeing up a web hosting firm, run on donations like Wikipedia, which let people set up websites, blogs, wikis, forums, and chats for free, with no ads.

Andy Pearce 🇬🇧👨🏻‍💻 @andy-pearce.com · 6d

As far as supermarket pain points goes, the checkout has always been way down the list. Illogical and constantly changing allocation of products to aisles is much more impactful—but I suspect that’s a feature not a bug, from their perspective, because it increases chances of impulse purchases.

Andy Pearce 🇬🇧👨🏻‍💻 @andy-pearce.com · 6d

It’s worth noting that the context here is contemplating runtime failures. It’s also common to hear software classed as brittle if a change of requirements that should be easy to handle instead requires disproportionate amounts of work. This is also a very valid concern, but a different one. (3/3)

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Andy Pearce 🇬🇧👨🏻‍💻 @andy-pearce.com · 6d

A system which crashes if two requests arrive at the same time is fragile. A system which works fine until the memory limit on a single host is exhausted is brittle. Both are painful but brittle systems are in some ways more dangerous—fewer warning signs, and fewer quick fixes. (2/3)

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Andy Pearce 🇬🇧👨🏻‍💻 @andy-pearce.com · 6d

When discussing software systems I use “fragile” and “brittle” to describe different flaws. Fragile systems have no resilience—as stressors increase, so does failure likelihood. A brittle system, conversely, works reliably under increasing load up until a limit—but then fails catastrophically. (1/3)

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Reposted by Andy Pearce 🇬🇧👨🏻‍💻

Shiv Ramdas Mens Rice Activist @nameshiv.bsky.social · 6d

actual events of the video aside, this is a perfect encapsulation of where these nazis stand in society. There's one of them for every several thousand normal people. They know everyone thinks they're weird little freaks, which is why they spend all their time pretending to be mainstream

Queer Satanic @queersatanic.bsky.social · 6d

Wow, the University of Washington's Psych 201 class does *not* play

go fuckin Huskies

Nazi UW students fuck off

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Andy Pearce 🇬🇧👨🏻‍💻 @andy-pearce.com · 6d

The biggest user problem to solve is probably that people use their devices too much these days—but for some reason the mobile device manufacturers don’t seem so keen to solve that one effectively.

Andy Pearce 🇬🇧👨🏻‍💻 @andy-pearce.com · 7d

SUVs in the UK are still less absurd than some in the US, but they’re getting worse. The bonnets aren’t ideal but tend to be safer. I live in a rural area and have a Skoda Kodiak, which I’ve seen quite a few of here. You can see it vs. a Cadillac Escalade below.

www.carsized.com/en/cars/comp...

Cadillac Escalade 2020-2024 vs. Skoda Kodiaq 2021-2023

Cadillac Escalade SUV LWB 2020-2024 vs. Skoda Kodiaq SUV 2021-2023. Compare car dimensions (length, width and height) vs. street perspective.

www.carsized.com

Reposted by Andy Pearce 🇬🇧👨🏻‍💻

Djamila Knopf @Polaris #196 @djamilaknopf.bsky.social · 7d

I painted this autumn scene a few years ago. medium: Photoshop

a digital painting of a girl and a fox in front of a torii gate and shrine; autumn colours

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Reposted by Andy Pearce 🇬🇧👨🏻‍💻

Luisa @saturniasvart.bsky.social · 8d

'Shadows over Budapest'

#digitalart #illustration #conceptart #darkart #photoshop

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Reposted by Andy Pearce 🇬🇧👨🏻‍💻

Dan Kaszeta FRHistS @dankaszeta.bsky.social · 18d

Use only water or fresh air on tear gas or pepper spray.

No milk, vinegar, antacids, urine, etc. and especially not in eye.

Thank me later,

An actual expert

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Andy Pearce 🇬🇧👨🏻‍💻 @andy-pearce.com · 7d

Halloween has still not quite caught on in the UK to the same extent as in the US. Some might be disappointed by this, but others, I suspect, thankful.