@JSAMcFarlane@mastodon.ie

John McFarlane @JSAMcFarlane@mastodon.ie

· 2mo ago

Replying to

@CiaraNi@mastodon.green all hail their noodly appendages!

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John McFarlane @JSAMcFarlane@mastodon.ie

· 5mo ago

Replying to

@EUCommission this is undermined by the fact that tech companies can successfully lobby to hide the real cost of their datacentres.

US tech firms successfully lobbied EU to keep datacentre emissions secret

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/apr/17/microsoft-us-tech-firms-lobbied-eu-secrecy-rules-datacentre-emissions

theguardian.com

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John McFarlane @JSAMcFarlane@mastodon.ie

· 5mo ago

Can someone help me figure out how to optimise this XOR away? Nothing seems to work!

```
int main() {
auto return_value{0};
return return_value ^ return_value;
}
```

😜

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John McFarlane @JSAMcFarlane@mastodon.ie

· 6mo ago

RE: @workchronicles@mastodon.social

Best of luck in Croydon!

mastodon.social

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John McFarlane @JSAMcFarlane@mastodon.ie

· 6mo ago

Replying to

@regehr@mastodon.social I will throw the bottle through the interdimensional portal and into the sink where elsewhen me can discover it. Very Interstellar.

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John McFarlane @JSAMcFarlane@mastodon.ie

· 6mo ago

Replying to

@vitaut organ doner

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John McFarlane @JSAMcFarlane@mastodon.ie

· 3mo ago

Replying to

@libreture@mastodon.social also this guide is much smaller and partially paywalled (to maintain impartiality) but still has good suggestions for ebook stores... https://www.ethicalconsumer.org/retailers/shopping-guide/ethical-bookshops (Any excuse to plug E.C., sorry!)

Ethical Consumer

Ethical Bookshops | Ethical Consumer

Looking for the most ethical bookshop? Our guide rates and ranks 27 top UK bookshops, providing Best Buys, recommended brands, and which to avoid. Find your next great read while supporting ethical businesses.

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John McFarlane @JSAMcFarlane@mastodon.ie

· 3mo ago

Replying to

@GetCarter@mastodonapp.uk shit, I'll miss Pembroke! I was going to sail there next month. 😭

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John McFarlane @JSAMcFarlane@mastodon.ie

· 4mo ago

Replying to

@simonzerafa@infosec.exchange @xkcd@mastodon.com.br I hear it's been held back.

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John McFarlane @JSAMcFarlane@mastodon.ie

· 7mo ago

Replying to

@oatmeal Finish the drawing. It's NOT a fish!

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John McFarlane @JSAMcFarlane@mastodon.ie

· 5mo ago

Just paid €25.91 for ADHD meds with the exact change and the pharmacist *didn't* say 'perfect'. This supports my theory that 'perfect' is the Irish word for 'imperfect'. Worried my research might be ending today tho.

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John McFarlane @JSAMcFarlane@mastodon.ie

· 5mo ago

Replying to

@FandaSin @bagder more generally, it needs to be signed because it's a quantity. Unsigned should generally be avoided for types requiring arithmetic.

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John McFarlane @JSAMcFarlane@mastodon.ie

· 5mo ago

The greatest trick Waterfall ever pulled was convincing the world it was Agile.

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John McFarlane @JSAMcFarlane@mastodon.ie

· 5mo ago

Replying to

@regehr@mastodon.social tempted to share a photo of my PVs😂

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John McFarlane @JSAMcFarlane@mastodon.ie

· 7mo ago

Replying to

@dazfuller@mstdn.social @rhempel@mstdn.ca TBF, it's made only slightly worse

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John McFarlane @JSAMcFarlane@mastodon.ie

· 6mo ago

Replying to

@ccferrie @psneeze (I see what you did there)

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John McFarlane @JSAMcFarlane@mastodon.ie

· 4mo ago

Replying to

@FranceskAlbs@mastox.eu Expedia also. https://www.ethicalconsumer.org/transport-travel/shopping-guide/ethical-sustainable-travel-companies#boycotts

Ethical Consumer

Travel booking companies | Ethical Consumer

Finding an ethical and sustainable travel booking company. Ratings for 29 travel companies, with recommendations, best buys, and what to avoid. The reduction in flying during the global pandemic led to a rise in interest in 'slow holidays' and more local vacations. This guide gives you all the options for sustainable holidays.

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John McFarlane @JSAMcFarlane@mastodon.ie

· 5mo ago

"These forged knives at €99 are flying off the shelves" 😟

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John McFarlane @JSAMcFarlane@mastodon.ie

· 7mo ago

@eugenialoli now imagining what an adventure this would be: https://www.tremor-pdl.com/en/events/angine-de-poitrine/

tremor-pdl.com

Angine de Poitrine

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John McFarlane @JSAMcFarlane@mastodon.ie

· 5mo ago

Replying to

@BoydStephenSmithJr @Kimota94 @slava g++ with -Werror is one such static analyser. https://godbolt.org/z/bEKh5EW7h

godbolt.org

Compiler Explorer - C++ (x86-64 gcc 4.0.4)

int& f() { int n = 0; return n; }

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John McFarlane @JSAMcFarlane@mastodon.ie

· 5mo ago

Replying to

@mkretz@floss.social oh hey, looks like P2781 might satisfy the aims of P0827, nice!

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John McFarlane @JSAMcFarlane@mastodon.ie

· 5mo ago

Replying to

@Sdowney@mastodon.social @fishidwardrobe@mastodon.me.uk @foonathan@fosstodon.org future me is all about git blame. And current me finds consistently that a refactor precedes a feature add, making individual commits more readable.

I rearrange the existing code to have a feature-shaped hole. Then the feature is neatly dropped in. Typically, that's 2 commits I want to keep around, and never squash.

While doing this, I rebase like there's no tomorrow.

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John McFarlane @JSAMcFarlane@mastodon.ie

· 5mo ago

Replying to

@seanmiddleditch a quick search reveals it has latest g++. I've never used it but I wouldn't write it off too quickly. https://slackware.pkgs.org/15.0/slackware-testing-x86_64/gcc-g++-15.2.0-x86_64-1_slack15.0.txz.html

slackware.pkgs.org

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John McFarlane @JSAMcFarlane@mastodon.ie

· 5mo ago

Replying to

@shelldozer @regehr https://blog.quarticcat.com/posts/no-more-oom/#ninja--cmake

QuarticCat

No more OOM in C/C++/Rust builds

I’ve seen people complaining about some gigantic C/C++/Rust projects engulfing all of their memory during building from time to time. Fortunately, there are a few simple methods to alleviate the pain without sacrificing speed. By “simple,” I mean you don’t have to modify your code! Root of the problem Usually, the most memory-consuming part of C/C++/Rust builds is the linking phase. To link object files, the linker must read all of them into memory.

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John McFarlane @JSAMcFarlane@mastodon.ie

· 10mo ago

Replying to

@dascandy@infosec.exchange @DanielaKEngert@hachyderm.io @ami@floss.social @vitaut@mastodon.social @meetingcpp@mastodon.online LLM (noun): misguided fuzzer

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John McFarlane @JSAMcFarlane@mastodon.ie

· 7mo ago

Replying to on mstdn.social

@grickle@mstdn.social @llamasoft_ox@toot.wales

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John McFarlane @JSAMcFarlane@mastodon.ie

· 8mo ago

Replying to

@pheeef@chaos.social all aboard the data bus!

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John McFarlane @JSAMcFarlane@mastodon.ie

· 10mo ago

Replying to

@DanielaKEngert@hachyderm.io @vitaut@mastodon.social @meetingcpp@mastodon.online retired programmer at CppDUG on the first C compiler he encountered: "you could feed Shakespeare into that thing and get code out!"

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John McFarlane @JSAMcFarlane@mastodon.ie

· 10mo ago

Replying to

@DanielaKEngert@hachyderm.io @vitaut@mastodon.social @meetingcpp@mastodon.online worse still: hackers crafting traffic specifically to exploit bugs!

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John McFarlane @JSAMcFarlane@mastodon.ie

· 4mo ago

Replying to

@waider@mastodon.ie @clickhere@mastodon.ie there are 7 buses and 2 trains in the continental US and they're all absolutely brilliant!! I really miss riding the Caltrain. https://www.caltrain.com/rider-information/bicycles/bikes-train

caltrain.com

Bikes on the Train | Caltrain

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John McFarlane @JSAMcFarlane@mastodon.ie

· 6mo ago

Replying to

@psneeze wasn't he in the a cappella group Christian Brothers?

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John McFarlane @JSAMcFarlane@mastodon.ie

· 2mo ago

I happened to be listening to an episode of I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again yesterday on a train journey. Bill Oddie wrote and performed all the songs and many of the jokes. I was quite surprised. Bye bye, Bill. #billoddie https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/b00r92l4 (sadly unavailable outside the UK)

bbc.co.uk

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John McFarlane @JSAMcFarlane@mastodon.ie

· 5mo ago

Replying to

@moanos wow, I was planning on ordering both soon! A spare battery would be great for long journeys, and Android keeps reporting water in the USB socket, for which I'm pretty sure a replacement is the solution. (I've already fixed my kid's FP4 with a replacement USB socket.) Sounds like you already have a taker, but would happily pay post to Ireland if otherwise.

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John McFarlane @JSAMcFarlane@mastodon.ie

· 5mo ago

Replying to

@fesshole@mastodon.social why I never wear jumpers

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John McFarlane @JSAMcFarlane@mastodon.ie

· 5mo ago

"Do to ints as you would have ints do to you." Scott, 7:12

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John McFarlane @JSAMcFarlane@mastodon.ie

· 6mo ago

Replying to

@rollbear you don't need faith when you have contracts!

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John McFarlane @JSAMcFarlane@mastodon.ie

· 7mo ago

Replying to on functional.cafe

@dmbaturin@functional.cafe I'm bookmarking this for the next time capitalisation of INTERNET comes up in conversation.

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John McFarlane @JSAMcFarlane@mastodon.ie

· 2mo ago

Replying to

@kevlin@mastodon.social probably something else but Jira Isn't Really Agile always amuses

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John McFarlane @JSAMcFarlane@mastodon.ie

· 5mo ago

Don't want to jinx it, but it's looking hopeful for the SNP.

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John McFarlane @JSAMcFarlane@mastodon.ie

· 5mo ago

UPFs have overtaken smoking as the #1 killer: https://youtu.be/kBvhtgucc5s?is=qChbeOd31DK2qxmp

Why the ‘big food’ industry is killing us – and how to fight back | Prof. Brian Elbel & Tim Spector

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John McFarlane @JSAMcFarlane@mastodon.ie

· 4mo ago

Replying to

@cmconseils@mastodon.social reminded of https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAHxhCeEx6E

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John McFarlane @JSAMcFarlane@mastodon.ie

· 5mo ago

Replying to

@nic@toot.wales @eclectech@things.uk @purplepadma@beige.party what replaces the BBC?

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John McFarlane @JSAMcFarlane@mastodon.ie

· 5mo ago

Replying to

@mkretz@floss.social UDL bike shedding? Tough gig!

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John McFarlane @JSAMcFarlane@mastodon.ie

· 6mo ago

Replying to

@psneeze Pop Quiz: Who was the founding member of Boys Town?

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John McFarlane @JSAMcFarlane@mastodon.ie

· 5mo ago

Replying to

@EUCommission it also means accountability, transparency and limits to lobbying power. "Microsoft ghostwrote EU policy that keeps data centres' energy use secret": https://www.corporateeurope.org/en/2026/04/copy-paste-govern

Corporate Europe Observatory

Copy, paste, govern | Corporate Europe Observatory

The EU Commission’s policy on data centres keeps information on individual centres' energy and water use under wraps. Research now reveals the Commission copied and pasted an amendment suggested by Microsoft and Digital Europe. The aim? In the face of growing resistance, to prevent NGOs from obtaining information on data centres.

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