James Fenn @james@is.a.horrific.dev
- Website
- https://jfenn.me/
- Horrific Dev
- https://horrific.dev/
- Unicorn Utterances
- https://unicorn-utterances.com/
Admin
Writer of buggy software and slightly better blogs. he/him
Joined Jun 2020
Pinned toot
Got around to publishing the JVM & Android targets for my multiplatform git REST API wrapper. I ran into a bit of trouble publishing specific build variants, but my poke-it-until-it-works development methodology appears to have succeeded!
Next on the agenda, I'll be implementing some form of request caching and improving its error logs...
James Fenn
boosted
We are calling for RMS to be removed from all leadership positions in the FOSS community, including the FSF and GNU, and for the FSF board to resign. Join us. https://rms-open-letter.github.io/
Interesting CSS hack I wrote this week: apparently some elements are rendered differently during a transition - I noticed it as a small "jiggle" on my site's nav icons... (setting "backface-visibility" to "hidden" on the transformed element prevents the jitter)
I suppose the browser doesn't know when the back of an element is visible if animating a transform property, but does in a static position? (causing the jitter when it starts/ends)
Anyway, I have smooth un-jittery nav icons now. Just in case anyone was wondering how I did that.
(I know this seems trivial, but you have no idea how long I'd been searching for this fix - really, CSS is hard)
So it turns out programming is kinda hard! (lol)
In good news, though, all these mistakes have actually paid off, and my snake game can now run at about 30fps (that's twice what I had before!) - as long as I avoid any big light sources.
- I forgot to include a comma when adding arguments to a function, accidentally subtracting two numbers and making random parts of the background disappear. (3/3)
(It's nice having direct visual feedback for all my mistakes - makes these bugs a lot more interesting to find!)
- I wrote some code to keep track of chunk updates and reuse old data to avoid light-tracing on each frame, and used the wrong position value to index them with. (2/3)
This caused *no updates* to occur, drawing light maps on top of each other and creating this horrible mess:
I've been collecting a few of the more interesting ways I've broken my snake program so far:
- I forgot to replace the arithmetic operators on my Vector types (now an alias of a Long), causing an overflow error and making the snake sever its head. (1/3)
It's a bit annoying that - even in this simple example scene - I'm already reaching the limits of what Java can do in ~60ms (the amount of time I have to draw a frame)
I'm having to pedantically limit the amount of new object allocations and everything, just to get a mere 15fps.
This is why, on Android, the IDE warns against constructing new objects in the View.draw / onDraw functions: they provoke the garbage collector which can create a massive stutter as it pauses the entire application to free up memory space.
To be fair, my issue could also be "I've written poorly optimized lighting code that iterates over every pixel in the radius of each light and traces back to its source to determine the intensity"...
Nah, it couldn't be *my* code that's the problem, let's blame the JVM!
I've gone back to my hacky pixel game engine to write a strange wavy snake game and it... sort of works?
Still have a lot of random bugs/performance issues to work out, but this is a lot of progress from what I had the last time I worked on it.
I recently regained some of my motivation to work on software things - in the form of Java's MIDI APIs! I've been intermittently working on a Kotlin library for writing "music applications" (whatever that means) with Asynchronous Flows: https://jfenn.me/blog/2021-01-31-Audio-Automation/
It sort of seems like Flows aren't really meant for this, but funnily enough, it actually works *really well* - the format of `metronome(500).take(3).transform(...)` (and all the other Flow functions) is very intuitive to use in this manner.
I'm hoping to integrate this with something a bit more interactive, but the latency problems kind of prevent me from doing anything really time-sensitive with it. For now, I'm just focusing on the interface and maybe I'll find a better solution to that later.
James Fenn
boosted
The power of a federated social network is that it is so cheap to kick somebody off your server and then block wherever they go. It is why Gab is a failure even tho they forked Mastodon. They can't talk to anybody... well, except the terfs I guess. Instance moderation works.
I'm streaming again today! Me and Shane will be playing Minecraft... looking for yet more netherite to decorate our base. Join us at 8-11pm EST on https://twitch.tv/fennifith!
Corbin and Jahir are also streaming (something far more productive) right before me - go check out their work, too! https://twitter.com/crutchcorn/status/1341048159359946754
Well, using this program on my synthesizer definitely doesn't sound much like a Timpani, so it seems it isn't strictly adhered to, at any rate...
Why on earth does the General MIDI spec list Timpani as a "strings" instrument? Is there some critical feature of Timpani that I'm not getting here?
I've seen a drum once, I'm definitely qualified. This isn't right!
Today I'm streaming some Minecraft with Corbin - we're looking for netherite, not throwing our diamond tools in lava, and more!
We'll be live until about 10pm (EST) - come hang out!
https://www.twitch.tv/fennifith
https://www.twitch.tv/crutchcorn
James Fenn
boosted
If you don't want vendor lock-in, stop using companies that have over 30 years history of locking you in!!!! It's actually not that hard!!!!!! There are at least 5 other popular versions of Github!!!! And most other things!!
James Fenn
boosted
Having led a few teams in my day, I can say for a fact Pleroma's attitude is an extension of who leads that project. As the saying goes, attitude reflects leadership.
It's not magic Pleroma is so friendly with Gab aligned instances. Bigots feel comfortable using and contributing too that project.
And that's intentional. I don't give a shit how well built it may or may not be.
It has been used to make not only fedi and the world in general an unsafer and more hateful place.
James Fenn
boosted
So Facebook took down the group that ORGANIZED the group of white terrorists that came specifically to Kenosho to kill people.
How long have we been SHOUTING about the the lack of responsibility these social media platforms have been showing has DIRECTLY lead to violence against targeted communities?
We keep telling you what the problem is but white people don't want to listen. And these terrorists take advantage of it.
We're seeing time and time and time and time again.
James Fenn
boosted
Imagine living in fear that on any given day, government agents could shoot you for any reason and face little to no repercussions.
Many don’t have to imagine it. It’s their reality.
When our actions aren’t enough to alleviate that reality and the fear it carries with it, we cannot respond by giving up or demanding approval.
Instead, we listen and learn to see the vision of a world without that fear.
And we hold that vision and take what actions we safely can to make that vision a reality.
James Fenn
boosted
Microsoft should not buy Mozilla. That's nuts. If we live in a world where it is inevitable that big tech companies buy independent open-source projects, then we are living in an unhealthy system. (which we are, but still)
James Fenn
boosted
Everyone clamors around GitHub because it feels nice (for now). But when (and it will happen, companies move against people and community by design) they move away from people, so many tools and components of the ‘community’ will be stuck behind those doors. (https://v2.jacky.wtf/post/85740de7-cbda-4f4e-a1c0-2f5df580b7ca)
- Website
- https://jfenn.me/
- Horrific Dev
- https://horrific.dev/
- Unicorn Utterances
- https://unicorn-utterances.com/
Admin
Writer of buggy software and slightly better blogs. he/him
Joined Jun 2020
