educated_foo tag:blogs.perl.org,2009-11-03:/users/educated_foo//40 2013-04-11T05:21:01Z A blog about the Perl programming language Movable Type Pro 4.38 Slideshare? Really? tag:blogs.perl.org,2013:/users/educated_foo//40.4550 2013-04-11T05:01:49Z 2013-04-11T05:21:01Z While I enjoy reading the presentations people post here, I've never been that happy with their using Slideshare. What's wrong with just putting a PDF somewhere? As it turns out, Slideshare is actually somewhat slimy -- they got caught using... educated_foo While I enjoy reading the presentations people post here, I've never been that happy with their using Slideshare. What's wrong with just putting a PDF somewhere? As it turns out, Slideshare is actually somewhat slimy -- they got caught using ETags to force tracking cookies on people who explicitly block them. (Do a search for "slideshare kissmetrics" and you'll see that they were proud of it.)

They're welcome to whatever business model they choose, as long as they're open and honest about it. But really, you're better off uploading your slides elsewhere.

]]> Holy bloat, Batman! tag:blogs.perl.org,2013:/users/educated_foo//40.4386 2013-03-02T13:52:22Z 2013-03-02T14:01:31Z Let's compare the latest constant.pm to a minimal equivalent: $ ./perl -Ilib -le 'print $^V'; /usr/bin/time -l ./perl -Ilib -le 'use constant X => 1..5; print X' 2>&1 | grep 'maximum resident' v5.17.10 3829760 maximum resident set size $ /usr/bin/time... educated_foo $ ./perl -Ilib -le 'print $^V'; /usr/bin/time -l ./perl -Ilib -le 'use constant X => 1..5; print X' 2>&1 | grep 'maximum resident' v5.17.10 3829760 maximum resident set size $ /usr/bin/time -l ./perl -I/tmp -le 'use constant X => 1..5; print X' 2>&1 | grep 'maximum resident' 1200128 maximum resident set size That's 2.6MB bloat to define a constant. (The culprit turns out to be utf8, natch, to handle Unicode constants. (Why, God?!)). For reference, /tmp/constant.pm, which does most useful constant-type stuff, is here: 
package constant;

sub import
{
    shift;
    my $caller = caller;
    if (ref $_[0] eq 'HASH') {
        while (my ($k, $v) = each %{$_[0]}) {
            *{"$caller\::$k"} = sub () { $v };
        }
    } else {
        my $k = shift;
        my @vals = @_;
        *{"$caller\::$k"} = sub () { @vals };
    }
}
1;
]]> Same feeds, less spam tag:blogs.perl.org,2012:/users/educated_foo//40.2996 2012-03-26T16:24:25Z 2012-03-26T16:29:13Z I subscribe to both blogs.perl.org and ironman.enlightenedperl.org, so whenever "JT Smith" posts something, I receive 2-3 copies, when I would rather receive 0. Today, I finally took a few minutes to fix this with one of the few useful things... educated_foo I subscribe to both blogs.perl.org and ironman.enlightenedperl.org, so whenever "JT Smith" posts something, I receive 2-3 copies, when I would rather receive 0. Today, I finally took a few minutes to fix this with one of the few useful things Yahoo has ever created: Pipes. Enjoy Perl news with less spam (RSS).

]]> The date matches MM/01/YYYY -- it's a release! tag:blogs.perl.org,2012:/users/educated_foo//40.2875 2012-02-27T02:10:54Z 2012-02-27T02:26:13Z Calling whatever happens to be lying around on a particular date a "stable release" is a laughably bad idea (the "rhythm method" is also lousy birth control). A "release" is something you want lots of people to use; "the stuff... educated_foo Calling whatever happens to be lying around on a particular date a "stable release" is a laughably bad idea (the "rhythm method" is also lousy birth control). A "release" is something you want lots of people to use; "the stuff in version control on the first of the month" is something else entirely.

Perl releases used to take awhile -- so do releases of POSIX, HTML, C, and C++ -- and that was not a bad thing. It's the difference between a platform and a fad.

]]> LOLchromatic wonders how to stalk you tag:blogs.perl.org,2011:/users/educated_foo//40.2597 2011-12-22T02:33:15Z 2011-12-22T02:41:33Z No, really. This clown apparently thinks he can make money by stalking you online. The problem, as even he recognizes, is that you're able to prevent creeps like LOLchromatic from stalking you. The solution is that most people don't know... educated_foo No, really. This clown apparently thinks he can make money by stalking you online. The problem, as even he recognizes, is that you're able to prevent creeps like LOLchromatic from stalking you. The solution is that most people don't know that LOLchromatic and his ilk exist.

]]> More thought, less dogma please tag:blogs.perl.org,2011:/users/educated_foo//40.2491 2011-11-25T20:28:48Z 2011-11-25T20:45:53Z I recently came across a link to an old article by MJD. The sections "On Forking", "New Versions", "NP Complete Problems", and "Why I Hate strict" are particularly worth reading. His basic point in each section is that you should... educated_foo I recently came across a link to an old article by MJD. The sections "On Forking", "New Versions", "NP Complete Problems", and "Why I Hate strict" are particularly worth reading. His basic point in each section is that you should think about the problem you're trying to solve when you write code, and stay mindful of why you are doing certain things. I wish there were more smart, thoughtful people like MJD in the Perl community nowadays, and fewer dogmatists.

]]> Test::Tiny and/or TAP::Tiny? tag:blogs.perl.org,2011:/users/educated_foo//40.1353 2011-01-13T01:53:59Z 2011-01-13T02:17:39Z Perl test output (the so-called "Test Anything Protocol" or "TAP") is simple: "1..N" declaring that N tests are planned, then either comments starting with "#", or lines starting with "ok X" or "not ok X" saying whether or not test... educated_foo Perl test output (the so-called "Test Anything Protocol" or "TAP") is simple: "1..N" declaring that N tests are planned, then either comments starting with "#", or lines starting with "ok X" or "not ok X" saying whether or not test number X succeeded. Generating it should be simple. Parsing it should be almost as simple.

However, the code to generate and parse test output is a byzantine nightmare: Test::Simple and its dependencies are at least 1345 SLOC, and the various TAP-parsing modules are at least 3918 SLOC (including an IteratorFactory!).

Both generating and parsing the subset of "TAP" used by most programs can take around 50 SLOC. This seems like a perfect opportunity for a ::Tiny module.

]]> Really? tag:blogs.perl.org,2010:/users/educated_foo//40.340 2010-03-08T03:41:59Z 2010-03-08T03:48:26Z P****, the P*** I**, apparently has a blog. Unfortunately, it has a "please socially network me" crapstain (1) on every post, and requires Javascript and cookies to post. Color me not surprised. (1) http://imgur.com/kmupS.png... educated_foo P****, the P*** I**, apparently has a blog. Unfortunately, it has a "please socially network me" crapstain (1) on every post, and requires Javascript and cookies to post. Color me not surprised.

(1) http://imgur.com/kmupS.png

]]> FAIL tag:blogs.perl.org,2009:/users/educated_foo//40.67 2009-11-30T07:51:57Z 2009-12-01T08:49:39Z http://img16.imageshack.us/img16/2696/screenshot20091130at124.png Sad...... educated_foo http://img16.imageshack.us/img16/2696/screenshot20091130at124.png

Sad...

]]> Mi-grat'-o-ry tag:blogs.perl.org,2009:/users/educated_foo//40.46 2009-11-26T06:48:38Z 2009-11-26T06:51:24Z The Free Market has spoken: good bye, use.perl.... educated_foo The Free Market has spoken: good bye, use.perl.

]]>