Debugging code

This is a pretty good summary of the process of working on a large, legacy code project.  Even if it's one your past self wrote.  That guy's an idiot.  What was he thinking?

Pouring fuel on the fire

No not that one.  The serious one.

So, after thousands of girls reported being gang raped, the British police and government officials responded by raping the girls some more.

"The Venn intersection of Bezmenov and Orwell"

“As I mentioned before, exposure to true information does not matter anymore,” said Bezmenov. “A person who was demoralized is unable to assess true information. The facts tell nothing to him. Even if I shower him with information, with authentic proof, with documents, with pictures; even if I take him by force to the Soviet Union and show him [a] concentration camp, he will refuse to believe it, until he [receives] a kick in his fan-bottom."

“The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.”  ―George Orwell,1984

I'm boosting the signal.  Bad Cattitude has the right of it.

A crisis of competence

“yes, the emperor has no clothes, but clotheslessness is a lifestyle choice and we should be welcoming and accommodating and tell him how stunning and brave he is and if you don’t you’re a sartorialist oppressor and need struggle sessions to show you the light now move over the emperor has some kindergarteners to read to”

Quantum Zoo

Here is a handy diagram I made of the quantum zoo from the Standard Model.  It doesn't include the two heavier "generations" of the massive particles (quarks, electrons, neutrinos).

e: electron (electromagnetism) (-90°)
v: neutrino (weak force)
y: photon (electromagnetism)
g: gluon (strong force) (holds quarks together)
u: up quark (nucleus, strong force, electromagnetism) (+60°)
d: down quark (nucleus, strong force, electromagnetism) (-30°)
W: W boson (electroweak force) (nuclear decay) (translates charge rotation) (± 90°)
Z: Z boson (weak force) (repels neutrinos)
H: Higgs boson (mass)

blue: matter
red: antimatter
green: force carrier

Note that particle decay involves a 90 degree shift (along with a spin reversal), and anti-particles are 180 degrees apart.

Pions are a type of composite particle made of a quark and its antiquark.  They don't last long, but transmit the strong nuclear force to hold the nucleus together.

In this chart, "Q" is electric charge and "T" is my designation for what I call "chrono charge".  Positive is matter, negative is antimatter, zero is neutral.  Chrono charge replaces both lepton number and baryon number, and works better for most purposes.  Chrono charge, like electric charge, is conserved, and must be an integer in a composite particle.  Note that T + Q is always an integer - the definition of quantization.

Happy New Year!

Hoping you all have a happy new year!  May it be better than the last!

Hmm...

Perhaps, given the history of the last few years, I should stop saying that?

Enjoy 2025!  Embrace the suck!

Merry Christmas!

 Best wishes for a very merry Christmas to all!

Goblin Bazaar

Goblins are bizarre, but that's not what this anthology is about.  It's about bazaars with goblins.  Run by goblins.  Goblins selling things.  Goblins being sold.  Goblins buying and selling you, if you let them.

It's a lot of fun.  Go check out the Goblin Bazaar.  It's the price of a fancy cup of coffee, but will last you a lot longer.

Cover art by Cedar Sanderson