How to work with me: a follow-up

Looking at traffic sources for this blog, I noticed that one of them isn't spam —shocking! I skimmed through it and the comments, but it was particularly the title, Servant Mentality, what caught my attention.

The comments there and in general the ones I saw here and on Hacker News were very particularly polarized: on one end, those who take offense. On the other, those that don't.

The software industry, and the psychology of programming languages fundamentally changes the psique of humans.

I'm not saying it is the only thing that does it, nor that it does it to everyone, but there is strong correlation.

When programming, optimization becomes part of everyday vocabulary: from actual algorithm optimization and latency analysis to timeline estimates and defect triage. One thing learned is, there is no silver bullet, only incremental improvements applied to the measured bottlenecks.

There are those who take passion in what they do and take the lessons to "hack" their lives too. Optimizing life can become a very entertaining hobby worth talking about with those who share the passion for it.

Optimizing doesn't come without downsides.

Eventually, some people realize that sugar-coating things are a sign of uncertainty, as there is no need to beat around the bush when respect is not in jeopardy. You say what you want and how, expect an honest response or rebuttal and iterate until a better state is reached.

Turns out that the extreme logical mind can often be at odds with an emotional mind with regards to criticism: the logical —optimizer— mind can take joy in pointing out defects and addressing them —self included, objectively— while the emotional mind can be obstructed and manipulated by an immature ego which by fear defends actions as if they were immutable extensions of the self; defending work as if they were actual appendages at risk.

It is immature and ineffective to argue otherwise, but logic also dictates that friction is ineffective which is where “pick your battles” comes from.

Projections

When reading the list, the vast majority of the readers are picturing an imaginary author. When I read it, I picture a real author because I actually know him. So it's natural for the former to project their insecurities and frustrations and reveal a lot about themselves, unknowingly.

To those with reasonable arguments —in either direction— thank you.

To the whiners, thank you. Your unreasonable arguments are entertaining. Haters gun’ hate.

What our software says about us

1. Attention to detail: if we care and how much.
2. Comprehension of the subject and problem.
3. Eloquence: comprehension and mastery of the language.
4. Use of adequate tools.
5. Are the ideas compatible with the language constructs in use?

Indeed, someone looking at your code can tell if you want to quit, if you're an idiot, if you like being an idiot, if you're awkward and if you should be doing something else.

But in all seriousness, it really tells a lot.

For those actually writing and designing the languages themselves, respek.

I can only strive for it.

Quick parse_url

Let's say you have an insane URL like a Google Analytics beacon:

var url = 'http://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmwv=5.2.4&utms=23&utmn=353317006&utmhn=www.something.something.com&utmt=event&utme=5(monetization_partner*buy_amazon*%2Fseries%2FThe_Millennium_Trilogy_Stieg_Larsson)(1)8(user_type*logged_in)9(119*true)11(1*2)&utmcs=UTF-8&utmsr=2560x1440&utmvp=1103x767&utmsc=24-bit&utmul=en-us&utmje=1&utmfl=10.3%20r183&utmdt=The%20Millennium%20Trilogy%20-%20Small%20Demons&utmhid=1278954452&utmr=0&utmp=%2Fseries%2FThe_Millennium_Trilogy_Stieg_Larsson&utmac=UA-xxxxxxxx-x&utmcc=__utma%3D76481800.571237505.1328141482.1328580205.1328639116.18%3B%2B__utmz%3D76481900.1328141480.1.1.utmcsr%3D(direct)%7Cutmccn%3D(direct)%7Cutmcmd%3D(none)%3B&utmu=6QAAAAAAAAAAAAAQ~';

Now let's say you want to figure it out:

url
  .split(/[?&]/)
  .forEach(function(param){
    console.log( decodeURICompontent(param).replace('=', ': ') ) 
  });

It will look like this:

http://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif
utmwv: 5.2.4
utms: 23
utmn: 353317006
utmhn: www.smalldemons.com
utmt: event
utme: 5(monetization_partner*buy_amazon*/series/The_Millennium_Trilogy_Stieg_Larsson)(1)8(user_type*logged_in)9(119*true)11(1*2)
utmcs: UTF-8
utmsr: 2560x1440
utmvp: 1103x767
utmsc: 24-bit
utmul: en-us
utmje: 1
utmfl: 10.3 r183
utmdt: The Millennium Trilogy - Small Demons
utmhid: 1278954452
utmr: 0
utmp: /series/The_Millennium_Trilogy_Stieg_Larsson
utmac: UA-xxxxxxxx-x
utmcc: __utma=76481800.571237505.1328141482.1328580205.1328639116.18;+__utmz=76481900.1328141480.1.1.utmcsr=(direct)|utmccn=(direct)|utmcmd=(none);
utmu: 6QAAAAAAAAAAAAAQ~

So there's that. Enjoy.

Somewhat-related rant

I figure you may want to know what the parameters mean, so here you go. The GIF Request Parameters for Google Analytics (mostly) say:

Tracking code version: 5.2.4
Session counter (not on GA page): 23
Unique GIF id: 353317006
Host Name: www.smalldemons.com
Type of request: event
Extensible vars: 5(<category>*<action>*<label>)(1)8(user_type*logged_in)9(119*true)11(1*2)
Encoding (not on GA page): UTF-8
Screen resolution: 2560x1440
Viewport (not on GA page): 1103x767
Screen color depth: 24-bit
User language: en-us
Java Enabled (not on GA page): 1
Flash version: 10.3 r183
Page title: The Millennium Trilogy - Small Demons
Analytics-AdSense id: 1278954452
Referral URL: 0
Page request: /series/The_Millennium_Trilogy_Stieg_Larsson
Account: UA-xxxxxxxx-x
Cookie: __utma=76481800.571237505.1328141482.1328580205.1328639116.18;+__utmz=76481900.1328141480.1.1.utmcsr=(direct)|utmccn=(direct)|utmcmd=(none);
Crazy sum*: 6QAAAAAAAAAAAAAQ~

*Some fool with a lot more time than me figured it's a bitmap (not an image!) of functions blah blah blah.

Also, if you wonder if this data could be used by third parties to track you, it appears possibly maybe.

I've changed a couple of numbers in this data, just so I don't get a hater commenting on my stupidity. But hey, haters gun' hate anyway.

CSS debug rule

* {
    background:transparent !important;
    box-shadow: -0.6ex -1.6ex .6ex rgba(161, 8, 0, 0.33);
    font-size: 1.01em;
    left: .3em;
    outline: 1px solid rgba(161, 8, 0, 0.33);
    position: relative;
    top: .6em;
    transition:all 1s
}

Tiny carousel

Thinking always beats compression.

setInterval(function(){
  $('#carousel img:last-child, #testimonials blockquote:last-child')
    .fadeOut(1e3, function(){
      $(this).prependTo(this.parentNode).show()
    });
}, 5e3);

Take a look at a simple animation algorithm.