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29 December 2025

Of grading and sky zombies

In the wake of that that had occurred in the University of Oklahoma where the teacher and teacher's aid were strongly disciplined for grading a student poorly for not completing the assignment, one would imagine that it would create an effective moratorium against free form essays assignments and encourage multiple-guess answers … or has it?

I'd like to propose a possible solution:

1. Students hand in their essay.
2. Every student is given 3-5 essays from other students to grade and they're given a guide as how to grade.
3. The teachers and teacher's aid grade the grading as a high quality grading indicates understanding of the topic and students are assigned a weighted average of the grade that other students had assigned.

This way, the teachers and teacher's assistants are never actually directly grading the assignment.

The student's essays were judged by their peers.

18 November 2025

Slideshare support email does not work

 As of today, 18th November 2025, examining the slideshare website for support info reveals the following:


I composed an email to the address indicated and I received the following bounce:



That was unhelpful. I guess that whomever's task it is to answer support emails for Slideshare are having an easy time with no work to do...

Lots of SSH login attempts

 Got a lot of login attempts via ssh on a machine...


WhatIsMyIP.com Whois Lookup Report for: 121.165.204.105 
% [whois.apnic.net]
% Whois data copyright terms    http://www.apnic.net/db/dbcopyright.html

% Information related to '121.160.0.0 - 121.191.255.255'

% Abuse contact for '121.160.0.0 - 121.191.255.255' is 'irt@nic.or.kr'

inetnum:        121.160.0.0 - 121.191.255.255
netname:        KORNET
descr:          Korea Telecom
admin-c:        IM667-AP
tech-c:         IM667-AP
country:        KR
status:         ALLOCATED PORTABLE
mnt-by:         MNT-KRNIC-AP
mnt-irt:        IRT-KRNIC-KR
last-modified:  2017-02-03T02:22:01Z
source:         APNIC

irt:            IRT-KRNIC-KR
address:        9, Jinheung-gil, Naju-si, Jeollanam-do
e-mail:         irt@nic.or.kr
abuse-mailbox:  irt@nic.or.kr
admin-c:        IM574-AP
tech-c:         IM574-AP
auth:           # Filtered
remarks:        irt@nic.or.kr was validated on 2020-04-09
mnt-by:         MNT-KRNIC-AP
last-modified:  2025-09-04T01:00:01Z
source:         APNIC

person:         IP Manager
address:        Gyeonggi-do Bundang-gu, Seongnam-si Buljeong-ro 90
country:        KR
phone:          +82-2-500-6630
e-mail:         kornet_ip@kt.com
nic-hdl:        IM667-AP
mnt-by:         MNT-KRNIC-AP
last-modified:  2017-03-28T06:37:04Z
source:         APNIC

% Information related to '121.160.0.0 - 121.191.255.255'

inetnum:        121.160.0.0 - 121.191.255.255
netname:        KORNET-KR
descr:          Korea Telecom
country:        KR
admin-c:        IA9-KR
tech-c:         IM9-KR
status:         ALLOCATED PORTABLE
mnt-by:         MNT-KRNIC-AP
mnt-irt:        IRT-KRNIC-KR
changed:        hostmaster@nic.or.kr 20240912
remarks:        This information has been partially mirrored by APNIC from
remarks:        KRNIC. To obtain more specific information, please use the
remarks:        KRNIC whois server at whois.kisa.or.kr.
source:         KRNIC

person:         IP Manager
address:        Gyeonggi-do Bundang-gu, Seongnam-si Buljeong-ro 90
address:        KT Head Office
country:        KR
phone:          +82-2-500-6630
e-mail:         kornet_ip@kt.com
nic-hdl:        IA9-KR
mnt-by:         MNT-KRNIC-AP
changed:        hostmaster@nic.or.kr 20240912
remarks:        This information has been partially mirrored by APNIC from
remarks:        KRNIC. To obtain more specific information, please use the
remarks:        KRNIC whois server at whois.kisa.or.kr.
source:         KRNIC

person:         IP Manager
address:        Gyeonggi-do Bundang-gu, Seongnam-si Buljeong-ro 90
address:        KT Head Office
country:        KR
phone:          +82-2-500-6630
e-mail:         kornet_ip@kt.com
nic-hdl:        IM9-KR
mnt-by:         MNT-KRNIC-AP
changed:        hostmaster@nic.or.kr 20240912
remarks:        This information has been partially mirrored by APNIC from
remarks:        KRNIC. To obtain more specific information, please use the
remarks:        KRNIC whois server at whois.kisa.or.kr.
source:         KRNIC

% This query was served by the APNIC Whois Service version 1.88.34 (WHOIS-US2)



Tool URL: https://www.whatismyip.com/ip-whois-lookup/

24 October 2025

Deleted by moderator: Britain has narrow and twisty rural roads whereas Canada has straight and wide rural roads, but...

Q: Britain has narrow and twisty rural roads whereas Canada has straight and wide rural roads, but Britain still has a much lower road traffic accident rate compared to Canada. What can we infer based on the above statement?

A: I am aware that most people are reductionist and like to resolve the one prime thing responsible for the phenomenon bit in reality, multiple things play a part. I shall attempt to be brief in my answer:

The UK driving licence is not trivial and in addition to the theory test, there is a practical component that is at least 40 minutes of driving.

People naturally drive more cautiously and are more aware of their surroundings when the road looks more dangerous. A great example of this would be roundabouts: They look more dangerous than a junction guarded by traffic lights but they're made safe by the drivers being cautious and more aware.

Straight and wide roads invite drivers to pay less attention to the road. They also invite drivers to drive faster. More speed and less attention would naturally result in more road traffic accidents, including single vehicle events where the vehicle enjoys a detour from the road.

Long straight roads are not good for human drivers. They may be great for autonomous vehicles but human boredom should be considered for roads intended for humans. As to why new roads in the UK are rarely straight, it's again because of multiple factors. Sure, an absolutely straight road would be the shortest road but it may not be the cheapest to construct and it may not be safest for human drivers.

29 September 2025

Java 25 First Impressions

About the most interesting thing in Java 25 is JEP 505 Structured Concurrency. It can clean up a lot of complex code where formerly, one had to jump through hoops to clean up on failure. It looks like it should work very well with the virtual threads that are already introduced. To properly leverage it, it does mean that engineers will need to be more careful around InterruptedException and don't just eat it as was commonplace before. JEP 513 is a 'meh' thing which can help but there was perfectly adequate workarounds using static methods to validate constructor arguments and more. Meanwhile JEP 495 feels kinda pointless.

10 August 2025

Innoventions INN-8668

 Because it is a current topic, I have decided to disassemble my RAMCHECK device for my first time.

The device looks like this:


and the serial number is 016698


And with the cover removed:

And exposing the motherboard below:


I dumped the firmware:


18 July 2025

repost: How do people learn to hate?

There's a way to learn to hate and many religions brainwash people into learning how to hate and it always starts with the little things:

  • Learn to hate specific foods. Get fussy. Throw tantrums.
  • Learn to hate colours.
  • Learn to hate topics.
  • Learn to hate people wearing colours that you hate
  • Learn to hate other people for liking things that you don't like.
  • Learn to hate people in restaurants eating things that you don't like.
  • Learn to hate people who are enjoying things that you don't like

That's the general idea… very soon, you will be able to hate anyone you choose to hate because you've forgotten how to like things. Your every waking thought would be about hate and it would consume you. People will use their hate to prejudge others.

23 June 2025

This is actually fantastic

For a very long time, I have thought that if something could be computed at compile time, it should be computed at compile time. 

It looks like C++ is now advancing seriously in that direction.

10 February 2025

LLM Hallucinations

Perhaps too amusing to not share...

>>> In the sci-fi series, Red Dwarf, what can kill a curry?

<think>
Okay, so I'm trying to figure out this question: "In the sci-fi series, Red Dwarf, what can kill a curry?" Alright, first of all, I need to recall the show Red Dwarf because it's been a while since I watched it. It's a British sci-fi sitcom that's been around for decades now. The main characters are two aliens, John and Tony, who live in a spaceship called the B2, which is kind of like their home away from home.

Now, the question mentions "what can kill a curry." Curries are these dishes with spices, right? They're pretty common in many cultures around the world. So, thinking about what could potentially kill a curry in this sci-fi context—maybe something from space or some alien element?

Wait, but curries themselves aren't harmful unless they have something toxic in them. Maybe it's more about the settings or situations on the ship that could affect a curry. For example, if there was an accident involving radioactive material or chemicals, maybe that would make a curry dangerous.

Alternatively, since Red Dwarf is a sci-fi show, perhaps something from outer space could be involved—like a meteorite or some kind of alien organism. Or maybe it's more about the crew's actions, like if they accidentally release something harmful into a food supply.

I should also consider that in the series, there are a lot of gags and funny situations because of the aliens' backgrounds and their interactions with Earth people. So maybe the "curry" isn't a real dish but just part of a joke or a made-up scenario for the show's humor.

Maybe I'm overcomplicating it. Perhaps in one of the episodes, they have a situation where a curry gets affected by something on the ship, like an experiment gone wrong that causes it to become dangerous.

Alternatively, could it be referencing a joke from the show? For example, maybe there's a play on words or a pun related to curries and some spaceship element.

I should also think about the possible answers people might give based on what they know. I've heard it before that in Red Dwarf, something like a banana could kill a curry because of some toxic reaction. But wait, is that accurate? Or was that from another show?

No, probably not. Maybe it's more about the crew experimenting with something that makes curries go bad when exposed to certain conditions on the ship.

Alternatively, maybe it's referencing a specific episode where they have to deal with something like a toxic food spill or an explosion in one of their experiments involving curries.

I think I've heard before that there was an episode where John and Tony accidentally create a dangerous chemical which affects all the food on the ship, including curries. So maybe that's what it's referring to.

In summary, my understanding is that in Red Dwarf, due to various mishaps or experiments involving curries, they become dangerous because of some toxic substance introduced into them by the crew. </think>

The answer to "What can kill a curry" in the sci-fi series *Red Dwarf* involves situations where curries on board the spaceship B2 become dangerous. This typically happens due to experiments gone wrong, introducing toxic substances or harmful conditions that render the curries unsafe. Specifically, in an episode of the show, John and Tony accidentally create a chemical that affects all their food, making it dangerous for consumption.

**Answer:** In *Red Dwarf*, curries on board the spaceship B2 can become dangerous due to experiments gone wrong by the crew, such as introducing toxic substances or harmful conditions. Specifically, in one episode, an accident leads to a toxic chemical affecting all their food, including curries.

26 April 2024

The build process

In my opinion, the build process should be: 

* Compile 
* Build packages
* Test packages. (On a separate instance from the build)

My opinion from reading
SSH Backdoor from Compromised XZ Utils Library https://www.infoq.com/news/2024/04/xz-backdoor/

31 July 2023

Random thought, tweet as a generic verb/noun

Now the company formerly known as Twitter no longer wishes to use "tweet", it is entirely possible for the remainder of the world's population to use "tweet" as a generic verb/noun to indicate an individual posting on some short-message social media service...

Example:
I tweeted on Telegram...
My Facebook tweet ...

Thus completing the dilution and destruction of the Twitter brand.

03 March 2023

Why is Google's blogger so broken?

I can continue to post articles using their Android app but it seems impossible to do it on their revamped web site because it seems to believe that I don't have any sites.

19 March 2022

Review of Amazon order which Amazon rejected

Since Amazon has refused to post review of this product, I shall instead post my opinion here:
This order clearly indicates in the description sold by "Tiago's Store" that the product is 188g total for the full sized product.

The product I received is clearly marked as being substantially less than 188g. It is clearly marked as being 149g.
There appears to be no means to correct this mistake or even provide a pro-rata refund of the missing product to make good the transaction.

For some reason, Amazon's review reviewers believe that my complaint falls into the category of "It appears you reviewed shipping or packaging experience." I'm not complaining about the shipping nor the box that the product arrived within. My complaint is only that I did not receive the product that I had expected and nothing to do with the shipping or packaging experience.

In my opinion, the seller "Tiago's Store" is actively defrauding customers by deliberately misrepresenting their stock and Amazon is doing no one any favours by defending such behaviour.

If I was in the UK receiving this product, I would be at least protected by the Trade and Descriptions Act and the Sale of Goods Act. It is unfortunate that there does not appear to be any equivalent consumer protection laws in the USA. Sure, there are laws with titles which claim to protect consumers but just like this sale, the titles of laws in the USA are purely aspirational and are not actually representative of what the law provides.

01 March 2022

Product Documentation

No closed source product should ever display an error which the docs do not explain how to remediate.


If people or corporations want to be lazy with documenting their product, they should at least open source it.

17 June 2021

Random thought: Fixing Java

If Oracle simply changes Java so that null.toString() returns the string "null" instead of throwing a NullPointerException, they will probably solve the majority of mysterious bugs in Java programs.

08 June 2021

Of blips and blobs...

Random thought . o O ( databases have blobs of binary data... Why not have blips of binary code? Blobs and blips... Blips and blobs... )

18 May 2021

Random thought: False Hope of Extensibility

Common Java anti-pattern is to name some classes as "DefaultFooClass" when there's actually no way to use any other implementation.

I think it should be called the "False Hope of Extensibility" anti-pattern.

01 May 2020

Standards have fallen. Disappointed by IEEE

Personally, I'm disappointed that the IEEE is reporting this as a good idea. It's not and I'll just outline a few of the issues:
- Horribly exothermic, a lot of lost energy.
- Did I say lost energy? Making aluminium from aluminium oxide takes a lot of energy.
- Hydrogen embrittling of the gasoline engine.
- Accelerated corrosion of the exhaust manifold.

Come on! This shouldn't even have passed a basic engineering review. This is basic A Level chemistry!


Photo: Kelly Wilkinson/Indy Star/USA TODAY Network/Imagn Content Services
Kurt Koehler, founder and president of AlGalCo, shows his HOT (Hydrogen on Tap) system, Thursday, April 9, 2020. It sits in a City of Carmel Street Department truck.