Ed Davies
@edavies@functional.cafe
mastodon
4.6.0-alpha.6+glitch
Programmer who likes science/astronomy, etc.
For the last 8 years I've been building an off-grid house in NE Scotland but have since given up on the project.
0
Followers
0
Following
Joined November 13, 2022
PGP:
92533CA2D4DDE4CD9C6524830071582E53798481
Pronouns:
He/him/they/them
Location:
Caithness, NE Scotland, Great Britain (and, regrettably, UK)
Posts
Ed Davies
@edavies@functional.cafe
Programmer who likes science/astronomy, etc. For the last 8 years I've been building an off-grid house in NE Scotland but have since given up on the project. # yes # stopBurningStuff # nobot # noindex
functional.cafe
@amoroso Interesting read, thanks for the reference.
I think I still have my copy of the Ironman spec somewhere. Having mostly just written Python for the last few years (retired, hobby programming) I had a good look round the ”modern” languages and decided I hated Go the least but did wonder if I should have a look at what's available now with Ada. This has rekindled that interest. Particularly, it was news to me that recent Ada has support for DbC. I've never actually written any Eiffel but did read Meyer's book on the subject with interest.
Another language which doesn't get as much historical attention as it could is Simula67. AFAIK, it was the first language with classes and inheritance - not a small contribution.
View full thread on functional.cafe
1
2
0
Ed Davies
@edavies@functional.cafe
Programmer who likes science/astronomy, etc. For the last 8 years I've been building an off-grid house in NE Scotland but have since given up on the project. # yes # stopBurningStuff # nobot # noindex
functional.cafe
@edavies@functional.cafe
·
Apr 01, 2026
@NicelyManifest @annehargreaves @Strandjunker https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoist_with_his_own_petard
View full thread on functional.cafe
0
0
0
Ed Davies
@edavies@functional.cafe
Programmer who likes science/astronomy, etc. For the last 8 years I've been building an off-grid house in NE Scotland but have since given up on the project. # yes # stopBurningStuff # nobot # noindex
functional.cafe
@edavies@functional.cafe
·
Mar 25, 2026
Isar Aerospace about to make their second launch attempt from northern Norway. T-30.
https://isaraerospace.com/mission-updates-overview
https://youtube.com/live/MsbZj8PxmUk
2
0
3
Ed Davies
@edavies@functional.cafe
Programmer who likes science/astronomy, etc. For the last 8 years I've been building an off-grid house in NE Scotland but have since given up on the project. # yes # stopBurningStuff # nobot # noindex
functional.cafe
@edavies@functional.cafe
·
Mar 25, 2026
Snow showers here on the east coast of Caithness. No chance of them settling but still…
Also quite windy. Had a power cut 12:05 to 12:20.
4
0
1
Ed Davies
@edavies@functional.cafe
Programmer who likes science/astronomy, etc. For the last 8 years I've been building an off-grid house in NE Scotland but have since given up on the project. # yes # stopBurningStuff # nobot # noindex
functional.cafe
@edavies@functional.cafe
·
Mar 02, 2026
@notjustbikes OTOH, I just gave up watching your Luxembourg Day Pass video, which I'd been quite enjoying up to that point, when the background music got so loud that it made it enough work to understand your speech as to be really distracting.
It might be “processing difficulties” [¹] on my part but I think you (or your producer) should know that putting music there so loudly is likely to lose at least some viewers. It seems to be becoming a trend - I unsubscribed from another channel last night for a couple of reasons including this one.
[¹] as an audiologist diagnosed with my sister's hearing difficulties.
View full thread on functional.cafe
0
0
0
Ed Davies
@edavies@functional.cafe
Programmer who likes science/astronomy, etc. For the last 8 years I've been building an off-grid house in NE Scotland but have since given up on the project. # yes # stopBurningStuff # nobot # noindex
functional.cafe
@edavies@functional.cafe
·
Feb 16, 2026
@anna OK, but have they made the K&R joke?
https://www.reddit.com/r/ProgrammerHumor/comments/b9db36/the_original_edition_of_kr_the_c_programming/
View full thread on functional.cafe
0
2
0
Ed Davies
@edavies@functional.cafe
Programmer who likes science/astronomy, etc. For the last 8 years I've been building an off-grid house in NE Scotland but have since given up on the project. # yes # stopBurningStuff # nobot # noindex
functional.cafe
@edavies@functional.cafe
·
Feb 16, 2026
@HighlandLawyer Inverness? Leakey's? Waterstones? Or do you know another one?
View full thread on functional.cafe
0
2
0
Ed Davies
@edavies@functional.cafe
Programmer who likes science/astronomy, etc. For the last 8 years I've been building an off-grid house in NE Scotland but have since given up on the project. # yes # stopBurningStuff # nobot # noindex
functional.cafe
@edavies@functional.cafe
·
Jan 31, 2026
@micahflee Nice. But if the Gestapo gets to rummage through your phone aren't you lightly doxing your contacts?
View full thread on functional.cafe
0
0
0
Ed Davies
@edavies@functional.cafe
Programmer who likes science/astronomy, etc. For the last 8 years I've been building an off-grid house in NE Scotland but have since given up on the project. # yes # stopBurningStuff # nobot # noindex
functional.cafe
@edavies@functional.cafe
·
Jan 09, 2026
@cstross@wandering.shop Ah yes, I didn't move to Scotland till July that year. There was heavy snow in the south of England for a while but it didn't last anything like that long.
View full thread on functional.cafe
0
0
0
Ed Davies
@edavies@functional.cafe
Programmer who likes science/astronomy, etc. For the last 8 years I've been building an off-grid house in NE Scotland but have since given up on the project. # yes # stopBurningStuff # nobot # noindex
functional.cafe
@edavies@functional.cafe
·
Jan 09, 2026
@cstross@wandering.shop I'm just impressed that he got a mile before going through. The ice must have been pretty thick.
View full thread on functional.cafe
0
0
0
Ed Davies
@edavies@functional.cafe
Programmer who likes science/astronomy, etc. For the last 8 years I've been building an off-grid house in NE Scotland but have since given up on the project. # yes # stopBurningStuff # nobot # noindex
functional.cafe
@edavies@functional.cafe
·
Jan 04, 2026
@cstross@wandering.shop No American deaths. Others don't matter. /s
@jguillaumes@mastodont.cat @jgordon@appdot.net
View full thread on functional.cafe
0
0
0
Ed Davies
@edavies@functional.cafe
Programmer who likes science/astronomy, etc. For the last 8 years I've been building an off-grid house in NE Scotland but have since given up on the project. # yes # stopBurningStuff # nobot # noindex
functional.cafe
@edavies@functional.cafe
·
Dec 23, 2025
Roses are red,
roses are blue,
depending on their velocity,
relative to you.
(Sorry, way too long ago to remember the source.)
17
0
12
Ed Davies
@edavies@functional.cafe
Programmer who likes science/astronomy, etc. For the last 8 years I've been building an off-grid house in NE Scotland but have since given up on the project. # yes # stopBurningStuff # nobot # noindex
functional.cafe
@edavies@functional.cafe
·
Dec 19, 2025
@cstross@wandering.shop Nah, a little later than this time next year; they'd wait till Feb 2028 to admit TT's demise to ensure Vance is in line for two terms when he's “re-elected”.
View full thread on functional.cafe
0
0
0
Ed Davies
@edavies@functional.cafe
Programmer who likes science/astronomy, etc. For the last 8 years I've been building an off-grid house in NE Scotland but have since given up on the project. # yes # stopBurningStuff # nobot # noindex
functional.cafe
@edavies@functional.cafe
·
Sep 06, 2025
@debian Last part of the URL should have one fewer zeros between 2025 and 09.
View full thread on functional.cafe
0
4
0
Ed Davies
@edavies@functional.cafe
Programmer who likes science/astronomy, etc. For the last 8 years I've been building an off-grid house in NE Scotland but have since given up on the project. # yes # stopBurningStuff # nobot # noindex
functional.cafe
@edavies@functional.cafe
·
Aug 23, 2024
@justin @mhoye …and hours.
A modest proposal:
A UTC day is 86.4 ±0.001 ks, damn it! (Kiloseconds = 16.6̇ minutes ~= quarter of an hour).
Speeds of road vehicles, for example, are measured for two purposes: traffic safety and estimating time to get places.
For safety purposes (e.g., speed limits) the distance they'll go in the next 3600 seconds is irrelevant, it's the distance they'll go in in human reaction times and braking times which are of the order of seconds (i.e., more than 0.1 s, less than 10 s) so m/s (metres per second) are more relevant.
If you measure times of day in ks then m/s = km/ks so the same numeric value can be used for both purposes.
And, while we're at it, we can get rid of the kilowatt·hour so measure electricity consumption in MJ (1 kWh = 3.6 MJ). That'd save a near-infinite amount of painful and unnecessary confusion.
View full thread on functional.cafe
0
0
0