I don't really think that those factors are direct causal related (oppressing structures and wikipedia browsing) instead I think there is an indirect link there:
More oppressing/partiachalic societies tend to be the ones where the main of the population has the free time to indulge in "useless" information gathering, they don't have the time/ more pressing needs
so in effect the browsing behaviour is not directly linked to oppression through some causality but rather indirectly to how much can be spend leisurely
Oh very interesting, as for me it is the complete opposite: I grew up only knowing real truffle and am now in a position where the fake stuff is just too intense for me, which is kinda sad as some "higher class" restaurants happily combine the two, to get you the look (eg by grating in front of you) and the taste (via some oil in the sauce)
I'd be very grateful if they started labelling it accordingly as they do it with other synthetic flavours (eg strawberry, GER)
> Like [..] CPU Branch Prediction Idiocy
Can you elaborate on that or point me to some sources as I thought branch prediction was a good thing for speed (until now)
See the CPU slowdowns and related security issues that resulted from branch prediction, basically CPUs would optimistically assume access and so could be tricked into executing what you wanted...which there was no OS or security level control that could be used to fix that.
They had to patch "micro code" to turn off the branch prediction in order to fix the security issues, which if they hadn't had that basically a ton of institutions would have been SOL (think banks unable to patch security holes in their computer systems - bodes poorly if you also realize banks aren't usually able to patch their systems overnight).
While the summary in this reply is at best misleading if not simply wrong, the linked Wikipedia article is good. I recommend just reading that article and disregarding the comment.
Also yes, branch prediction is "a good thing" without which processors wouldn't be able to reach the performance they have today. Starving the whole instructing pipeline at every branch for dozens of cycles is not great.
Even the processor on the BCM2835 used in the first raspberry PI had branch prediction, and for good reason.
As for assuming access and tricking into execution of what you wanted, branching forms the foundation for many if not all OS level security features, in the form of boolean flags, bits behind protected memory (protected by more branching), etc. If the result of a compare causes code to execute that should not (for security reasons), then you have caused execution of what you wanted, which can lead to exposure of e.g. operating system secrets. And with such access it then becomes (sometimes) possible to executing more of what you wanted.
I.e. trusted code could be used to cause insecure results.
Oversimplification, sure, but the truth (exposure of register results due to fault of the hardware) is overly technical and under-emphasizes the severity of the issue, so it is somewhat intentionally misleading...
But this is exactly the point (which I think is good). This whole thing is applicable if you produce software commercially, regardless if OSS or not
I read it as this:
In effect, if you make money of the software you destribute you are responsible to address security issues
I hope that this is a change for the better. Now everyone who piggy-backed on some OSS project so far has to either maintain a fork (-> more contributions) or provide incentive for the dev to fix it (money?)
wow, this really resonates with me as I am 18, straight out of highschool and landed my first job at a swift shop for enterprise programming, I really didn't care where I started, I really just want to pogram stuff
Can you share more of your story and maybe give me some advice, I really don't want to end up burnt out
I don't regret my path at all! I learned a lot at these early jobs, and honestly at 18 I wouldn't have gotten anything better (and for good reason).
I started uni at 19 (math & computer science at a local state university, I didn't have to go into debt for it) and that gave me a big boost in my programming ability (i continued working in that first job part-time throughout school). After that I went through several jobs in the next ±decade and made sure to always apply to places where I'd learn something new and level up as a developer.
At that point I knew a lot better what I wanted & didn't want to do. But I don't think I could have learned that without that experience and I don't regret it as it really helped me hone my skills and learn a lot. I also learned that the people you work with often make a bigger difference to the experience than the product you work on.
...and may I ask, how did your hobby roguelike projects factor into your career? (Hi ido! It's been some years!) Were they significant for gaining skills, or are coworkers and existing codebases crucial for learning from? I often feel like I learn more slowly writing code from scratch rather than studying and contributing to someone else's.
