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Kim van Wyk

@kimvanwyk@fosstodon.org

mastodon 4.6.6

A #SouthAfrica happy husband, lapsed electronic engineer, software/DevOps/data engineer (mainly in Python for the last few years), proud member of the North Durban Lions club & all-round geeky type fellow.

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8 Posts

Joined November 04, 2022

Website:

https://kimvanwyk.co.za

Bluesky:

https://bsky.app/profile/kimvanwyk.co.za

Code:

https://gitlab.com/kimvanwyk

Location:

Durban, South Africa

Posts

Kim van Wyk @kimvanwyk@fosstodon.org · Jul 15, 2026

Replying to @malachy@mastodon.nu

@malachy@mastodon.nu I've always considered the economy of scale argument to be excellently presented in one of Terry Pratchett's most memorable passages: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boots_theory

Kim van Wyk @kimvanwyk@fosstodon.org · May 03, 2026

@neil@mastodon.neilzone.co.uk with the occasional chef's special of a very well done fillet mignon, i.e. (0x)deadbeef.

mastodon.neilzone.co.uk

Neil Brown (@neil@mastodon.neilzone.co.uk) - mastodon.neilzone.co.uk

Kim van Wyk @kimvanwyk@fosstodon.org · Apr 30, 2026

Replying to @davidism@mas.to

@davidism I'm reminded of Raymond Chan's frequent use of the Douglas Adams quote: "it rather depended on being on the other side of this airtight hatchway". https://devblogs.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/20060508-22/?p=31283 is a particularly good example - he has many similar blog entries on the theme.

Kim van Wyk @kimvanwyk@fosstodon.org · Apr 30, 2026

Replying to @molly0xfff@hachyderm.io

@molly0xfff given the sparse example, presumably you have a lot of reason to cry out "holey sheet" (I'll get my coat)

Kim van Wyk @kimvanwyk@fosstodon.org · Apr 13, 2026

Replying to @brianokken@fosstodon.org

@brianokken quite a lot of parents would cosin this sentiment

Kim van Wyk @kimvanwyk@fosstodon.org · Apr 13, 2026

Replying to @leoncowle@hachyderm.io

@leoncowle @uastronomer that's a different case entirely, in that you don't start with "Kind Regards" and then go to DEFCON-1 if you drop the "kind" during correspondence. For the equivalent I suppose you could change to "Utter Lack of Rgds" if you need to, but that does lack a certain subtlety.

Kim van Wyk @kimvanwyk@fosstodon.org · Apr 12, 2026

Replying to @uastronomer@mastodon.monoceros.co.za

@uastronomer the "kind" in "kind regards" does of course have a useful meaning in the understated British way of corresponding, particularly in work type emails. If your British or culturally-British South African correspondent starts writing "regards" during a mail thread instead of the "kind regards" they started with, you can rest assured they are *seething*.

Kim van Wyk @kimvanwyk@fosstodon.org · Mar 26, 2026

Replying to @GrahamDowns@mastodon.africa

@GrahamDowns@mastodon.africa I've gone with "Engineer" but that's mainly because my degree is in electronic engineering and I worked in embedded systems writing C for years. It's all desktop and server Python code these days but I still think of myself as an engineer before any other term.

Kim van Wyk

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