SIGforum
So, I'm learning to code again ... and I have to be subjected to lunatics?
August 16, 2021, 05:49 PM
mark123So, I'm learning to code again ... and I have to be subjected to lunatics?
I ordered a book to learn a different programming language. I'm generally a C# guy but I haven't used it since about 2012, everything has changed in the ASP.NET world and I'm sort of tired of Microsoft deprecating all my software.
I'm moving to Python and probably Flask and/or Django.
I generally don't download the online resources as I want to learn to do the work myself but I figured I'd take a look just to poke around. Before you get to the link for the online resources I get this:
quote:
Coding is political
I've often been asked why I care so much about helping people learn to code. I've always responded by saying that code is power, and learning to code gives you power. The more you understand code, the more you understand how much impact tech platforms and products have on people's lives - whether through the implementation of specific features, or the lack of implementation of certain features. It matters little whether these impacts are intentional or not. When you've built a platform that a significant part of society uses for communication, for example, your code has direct impact on society itself. When you write code that helps determine who gets a loan, you impact who can afford to buy a home.
It is abundantly clear in the US, and in many places around the world, that those who have power are desperate to hold on to that power, and are willing to use force - "any means necessary" is an all too common phrase - to hold on to that power. And that force is disproportionally, to a mind-boggling degree, used against Black people, Indigenous people, and anyone who can be classified as a minority.
As you learn to code, please be aware of the power you are gaining. As you work on projects, whether your own projects or those that are controlled by someone else, please focus on projects that share power. Please refuse to work on projects that consolidate power, especially for those who will use it against others.
Then one of the links goes to a page where you can learn to make a program to calculate police killings.
I mean, the guy is smart and all credit is given but this garbage is just mindless. It's just so inescapable though. I quit watching TV (except Jeopardy!), I don't read the newspaper, but it still finds me. Where can I just not be subjected to this boring idiocy?
August 16, 2021, 05:57 PM
konata88Ironically, likely written by a liberal lefty unwittingly describing the liberal left.
"Wrong does not cease to be wrong because the majority share in it." L.Tolstoy
"A government is just a body of people, usually, notably, ungoverned." Shepherd Book August 16, 2021, 05:57 PM
jbcummingsProbably only via Para’s comet. I’m not sure there’s a real way to avoid it anymore. I walked into a grocery store today and got accosted by a mask wearing clown handing out face diapers. All for a few dollars of odds and ends. Geez!
———-
Do not meddle in the affairs of wizards, for thou art crunchy and taste good with catsup.
August 16, 2021, 06:06 PM
SW_SigThe last time I remember you talking about coding you were trying to sell a ring in the classifieds here.
August 16, 2021, 06:33 PM
mark123quote:
Originally posted by SW_Sig:
The last time I remember you talking about coding you were trying to sell a ring in the classifieds here.
I didn't really want to get into coding again. This time is just for me. The software that I use for scheduling and invoicing is just not cutting the mustard and they reply to my feature requests with
quote:
Currently, there isn't an option to [insert requested feature here] but that would be a nice enhancement in the future.
I will forward your request to our dev team.
and then nothing happens.
They don't even offer an AR report. It's literally one line of SQL.
August 16, 2021, 06:39 PM
mark123quote:
Originally posted by konata88:
Ironically, likely written by a liberal lefty unwittingly describing the liberal left.
It feels more like parroting than projection though.
August 16, 2021, 06:39 PM
mark123quote:
Originally posted by jbcummings:
Probably only via Para’s comet. I’m not sure there’s a real way to avoid it anymore. I walked into a grocery store today and got accosted by a mask wearing clown handing out face diapers. All for a few dollars of odds and ends. Geez!
Come on, Big Comet! Bring it on home!
August 16, 2021, 06:48 PM
Rey HRHquote:
Originally posted by mark123:
but this garbage is just mindless. It's just so inescapable though.
Actually, Mark, whatever they guy's politics may be which sound like he's a liberal or worst a leftist liberal, what he says that you quoted is ABSOLUTELY RIGHT.
Coding is power and politics is about power. So coding is political because politics is interested in all the forms of power.
So you can't fault the guy for stating what may be obvious but is true anyway.
"It did not really matter what we expected from life, but rather what life expected from us. We needed to stop asking about the meaning of life, and instead to think of ourselves as those who were being questioned by life – daily and hourly. Our answer must consist not in talk and meditation, but in right action and in right conduct. Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the right answer to its problems and to fulfill the tasks which it constantly sets for each individual." Viktor Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning, 1946.
August 16, 2021, 06:51 PM
radiomanHey, I've been tasked with learning Python too. Same thing, used C# some years ago.
I haven't gotten very far yet. What online resources did you find and what books did you find useful?
If I get stuck along the way, can I get in touch??
.
August 16, 2021, 06:57 PM
mark123quote:
Originally posted by radioman:
Hey, I've been tasked with learning Python too. Same thing, used C# some years ago.
I haven't gotten very far yet. What online resources did you find and what books did you find useful?
If I get stuck along the way, can I get in touch?
This is a pretty good start:
https://youtu.be/t8pPdKYpowIYou can email me or text me (my phone number is in my email signature when I reply) any time. Ahem, any time before bedtime.
August 16, 2021, 07:23 PM
mark123quote:
Originally posted by Rey HRH:
quote:
Originally posted by mark123:
but this garbage is just mindless. It's just so inescapable though.
Actually, Mark, whatever they guy's politics may be which sound like he's a liberal or worst a leftist liberal, what he says that you quoted is ABSOLUTELY RIGHT.
Coding is power and politics is about power. So coding is political because politics is interested in all the forms of power.
So you can't fault the guy for stating what may be obvious but is true anyway.
I can't agree with you on this part specifically:
quote:
... that force is disproportionally, to a mind-boggling degree, used against Black people, Indigenous people, and anyone who can be classified as a minority. ...
But on this part, we agree:
quote:
Please refuse to work on projects that consolidate power, especially for those who will use it against others.
I will refuse to work for any mainstream media outlet or left wing political group. But I know that's not what he meant.
August 16, 2021, 07:29 PM
scratchyMurach's Python Programming is a decent resource.
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August 16, 2021, 07:43 PM
mark123quote:
Originally posted by scratchy:
Murach's Python Programming is a decent resource.
Unfortunately, I've already ordered this book. Honesty, it's pretty good so far. I just didn't require the politics. I'm burned out so bad on all of what's been reported and what's been suppressed over the last couple years. I just don't want it anymore.
August 16, 2021, 09:27 PM
rburgI hope I never need to code again. I retired from it, and I'm happy about that.
Unhappy ammo seeker
August 16, 2021, 09:44 PM
parabellumThat Monty Python thing sounds interesting.
August 16, 2021, 10:30 PM
LS1 GTOquote:
Originally posted by parabellum:
That Monty Python thing sounds interesting.
No it doesn't.
Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.
"If dogs don't go to Heaven, I want to go where they go" Will Rogers
The definition of the words we used, carry a meaning of their own...
August 16, 2021, 10:45 PM
lkdr1989Try W3Schools Python tutorials, I'm definitely still a novice but I thought they were pretty helpful.
https://www.w3schools.com/python/default.aspLearn Python Visually:
https://www.amazon.com/Learn-P...emirov/dp/0993836712
...let him who has no sword sell his robe and buy one. Luke 22:35-36 NAV
"Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves." Matthew 10:16 NASV August 17, 2021, 05:56 AM
mark123quote:
Originally posted by parabellum:
That Monty Python thing sounds interesting.
I do believe the language was named after Monty Python.
quote:
Originally posted by LS1 GTO:
No it doesn't.
Shut your festering gob, you tit! Your type makes me puke! You vacuous, toffee-nosed, malodorous pervert!
August 17, 2021, 06:39 AM
SPWAMike0317Interesting statement on coding is political.
After 40 years in IT I can say without equivocation it's a total bullshit perspective.
All knowledge is power. The Internet has provided tremendous access to knowledge. It is up to the consumer to chose wisely.
Let me help you out. Which way did you come in? August 17, 2021, 07:04 AM
mark123quote:
Originally posted by SPWAMike0317:
Interesting statement on coding is political.
After 40 years in IT I can say without equivocation it's a total bullshit perspective.
All knowledge is power. The Internet has provided tremendous access to knowledge. It is up to the consumer to chose wisely.
We haven't even mentioned that no one knows what color someone is between programmer and user. A minority may have programmed something we use every day but no one would ever know. A minority may be the end user of whatever mess that I come up with, I'll never know. It's impossible to know. It's making a mountain when you haven't even got a molehill to start with. It's generated outrage with absolutely no purpose.