@jneen@unstable.systems

jneen collective @jneen@unstable.systems

· 5mo ago

Replying to

employers will likely say that you should be hypervigilant all the time, no matter what but hypervigilance, famously, destroys your mind and body. when employers act like it's expected, it is a very strong message that they do not care about their workers.

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jneen collective @jneen@unstable.systems

· 5mo ago

Boosted by @kkarhan@jorts.horse

Replying to

what *actually* happens is the workforce pretends to be hypervigilant all the time ("i always check the output!") in ways that are clearly, obviously impossible, and which if true would have turned them into an empty husk of a human being - just to say they "aren't vibe coding" (they are)

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jneen collective @jneen@unstable.systems

· 5mo ago

Replying to

not to mention most of the devs i see in the field are generating their *tests* with AI, which completely defeats their purpose in catching AI errors.

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jneen collective @jneen@unstable.systems

· 5mo ago

Replying to

we already had this discourse a decade ago over TDD, and the result was a pretty universal "automated tests are important and you should have them, but it doesn't mean you don't need QA"

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jneen collective @jneen@unstable.systems

· 5mo ago

Replying to

i think the idea that there is a quick, easy measure of "good code" that is universally applicable and not filled with holes is... well it's just not true, and we're not even close to defining the problem rigourously, let alone solving it.

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jneen collective @jneen@unstable.systems

· 5mo ago

Replying to

As for automated testing / acceptance checks as a replacement, that mitigates the problem somewhat, but certainly doesn't eliminate it. The tool can make your tests pass, sure, but did it architect it correctly? How do you structurally evaluate that? You fall into the linter tar-pit pretty quickly with that approach.

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jneen collective @jneen@unstable.systems

· 5mo ago

Replying to

This is why programming needs to be a Trade. Regardless of economic position, there needs to be some way for programmers to have leverage over decision-making, even if that is only to prevent employers from shooting their own eyes out.

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jneen collective @jneen@unstable.systems

· 3w ago

the US state department reverted the gender marker on my passport. I'd had F for 10 years.

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jneen collective @jneen@unstable.systems

· 5mo ago

"i will save time by skipping the boilerplate" actualy just statistical error. most code is not boilerplate. Boilerplate Georg, who assumes that all code written by other people is boilerplate, is a statistical anomaly and should not have been counted

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jneen collective @jneen@unstable.systems

· 4mo ago

hey who decided it was in any way appropriate to have an AI "interviewer" handle applicants before they spoke with a human being

this should be illegal

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jneen collective @jneen@unstable.systems

· 5mo ago

Replying to

This was a lot less of a problem in the 2010s, because we had a certain amount of economic leverage. But it's becoming painfully obvious something else is needed now.

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jneen collective @jneen@unstable.systems

· 4w ago

Jax H.

is this anything?

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jneen collective @jneen@unstable.systems

· 5mo ago

Replying to

just saw someone real fullthroatedly argue on here that programmers still have too much leverage because we are "used in decision-making to undermine other orgs" used by whom used by whom, my friend

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jneen collective @jneen@unstable.systems

· 5mo ago

Replying to

programmers are workers. you may be confusing us for elon musk or sam altman.

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jneen collective @jneen@unstable.systems

· 5mo ago

Boosted by @joe@f.duriansoftware.com

framework guy i'm so sorry but you gotta go back to the drawing board with calling it "in-cell touch design"

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jneen collective @jneen@unstable.systems

· 6mo ago

Boosted by @SuperDicq@minidisc.tokyo

social media sites should have a "compose with AI✨" button but if you press it you're immediately permabanned

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jneen collective @jneen@unstable.systems

· 5mo ago

Replying to

@crowbriarhexe The tragedy of Agile in particular is that it came about as a response to the toxic Taylorism and micro-management of waterfall, only to become the very face of Taylorism and micro-management in our current climate.

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jneen collective @jneen@unstable.systems

· 5mo ago

Replying to

@baldur@toot.cafe maybe it's just me, but I've noticed a change in the last 5 years or so. never in my career before had i ever been told "orders come from the top, do as you're told" and now seemingly every programmer i talk to is dealing with something like that. alone. "i don't like it but i don't want to get fired" is such a pervasive mentality, and i think part of it is because we've been so disempowered in the workplace for so long - but willing to accept it when salaries were high. i hope something changes soon.

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jneen collective @jneen@unstable.systems

· 5mo ago

Replying to

@trentshell @jkb

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jneen collective @jneen@unstable.systems

· 5mo ago

Replying to

@duarte @trentshell @jkb i tend to think it's bad for prototyping as well! the point of prototyping isn't to have a fully working polished version of the thing, it is to smoke out issues early and increase your own understanding before building the real thing. llms skip all of that!

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jneen collective @jneen@unstable.systems

· 5mo ago

Replying to

@AT1ST @kirakira it is *very* susceptible to what i've started referring to as "chicken efficiency measurements" based on this story: https://corporater.com/blog/the-chicken-kpi-be-careful-of-what-you-measure/

corporater.com

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jneen collective @jneen@unstable.systems

· 6mo ago

i don't know what to say about an industry where every company says they're hiring and not one company is actually hiring

why is this the way that it is

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jneen collective @jneen@unstable.systems

· 3mo ago

Replying to

@FritzAdalis@infosec.exchange @belehaa@wandering.shop @david_chisnall@infosec.exchange what a strange thing to announce

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jneen collective @jneen@unstable.systems

· 5mo ago

Replying to

@xan there's part of me that feels like they wouldn't have to do this if "reduce bus factor" wasn't actively being used as "make yourself replaceable" by management, and there was some source of job security that came from, i don't know, a union

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jneen collective @jneen@unstable.systems

· 5mo ago

Replying to

@crowbriarhexe that perception has indeed been very convenient to management. there's been times when i've seen people figure it out in the small, but i think it's very much starting to catch up to us as a bit of a wider phenomenon.

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jneen collective @jneen@unstable.systems

· 5mo ago

Replying to

@crowbriarhexe but maybe "programmers" and "programming" are too narrow of a word here, since i see ops, programming, design, accessibility, &c broadly on the same side here.

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jneen collective @jneen@unstable.systems

· 5mo ago

Replying to

@mmcknett obviously! lmao

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jneen collective @jneen@unstable.systems

· 5mo ago

Replying to

@grumble209 fair point, that does seem to be how it's shaking out

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jneen collective @jneen@unstable.systems

· 5mo ago

Replying to

@xan ha... ha ha ha... sob

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jneen collective @jneen@unstable.systems

· 5mo ago

Replying to

@baldur@toot.cafe If there's any organizing in this space that you're aware of I'd love to be part of it. Unclear how much leverage I'd have at the moment but in case more voices are needed for the class solidarity argument, I'm game.

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jneen collective @jneen@unstable.systems

· 5mo ago

Replying to

@baldur@toot.cafe maybe my early career was blessed, I'm not sure. But when employers are so willing to wield PIPs and other isolation tactics, folks who have families to think about aren't likely going to speak out publicly.

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jneen collective @jneen@unstable.systems

· 5mo ago

read ducks by kate beaton

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jneen collective @jneen@unstable.systems

· 5mo ago

Replying to

@rl_dane@polymaths.social @mirabilos@toot.mirbsd.org @baldur@toot.cafe basically that yeah. a lot of PIPs also come with orders to not tell anyone about it, which serves to isolate people. sometimes i suspect we may be entering the age of "everyone is on a PIP all the time" - we would never really know

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jneen collective @jneen@unstable.systems

· 5mo ago

Replying to

@mirabilos@toot.mirbsd.org @baldur@toot.cafe i remember being given the "we're deprecating in favour of AI, what do you envision your role in the company being" and i made a big enough stink about it that i was first up on their next round of "layoffs"

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jneen collective @jneen@unstable.systems

· 5mo ago

Replying to

@thomasfuchs i very much appreciate it :]. i've been looking for ways to talk more about tool design like this - it's something that feels very obvious to me but definitely isn't in general. the more i struggle to find employment in this industry (2 years of looking...) the more i feel like i just have to write.

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jneen collective @jneen@unstable.systems

· 6mo ago

Replying to

@aphyr great writing, wonderfully put

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jneen collective @jneen@unstable.systems

· 6mo ago

Replying to

@amsomniac@mastodon.mit.edu it took me an embarrassingly long time to see even quoted here in your post lmao

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jneen collective @jneen@unstable.systems

· 6mo ago

Replying to

@amsomniac@mastodon.mit.edu ha! inform and applescript are my usual cautionary tales. inform is actually very interesting as an art project itself, though - the fact that it exists is a marvel, and the things people have made in it as well

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jneen collective @jneen@unstable.systems

· 6mo ago

Replying to

@amsomniac@mastodon.mit.edu oh my god lmao that's a really funny one.

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jneen collective @jneen@unstable.systems

· 6mo ago

Replying to

@zwol@masto.hackers.town @Jetengineweasel@masto.hackers.town i think there may be part of this thread I can't see, but yes, it's 100% rehashing of a lot of basic UX stuff

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