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Git wishlist: aggregate changes across non-contiguous commits
(This is actually an essay on the difference between science and engineering.)My co-worker Lemuel recently asked if there was a way to see all the changes to master from the last week that pertained to...
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Princess Andromeda
After decapitating Medusa the Gorgon, Perseus flies home on the winged sandals lent to him by Hermes, But he stops off to do some heroing. Below, he spots the beautiful princess Andromeda, chained to a...
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Technical devices for reducing the number of axioms
In a recent article, I wrote:I guessed it was a mere technical device, similar to the one that we can use to reduce five axioms of group theory to three. …The fact that you can discard two of the...
View ArticleWorkarounds for semantic problems
At work we have a Git repostory hook (which I wrote) that prevents people from pushing changes to sensitive code without having it reviewed first. But there is an escape hatch for emergencies: if your...
View ArticleWhy didn't git add -p work?
It has sometimes happened that I couldn't get my git add -p to work. I would carefully edit a chunk, and then Git would say Your edited hunk does not apply. Edit again (saying "no" discards!) [y/n]? e...
View ArticleDLR insurance business
DLR is the Docklands Light Railway, a light rail system that operates in East London. The fare collection system is interesting. You buy a ticket, but you don't have to show it before you board....
View ArticleOpposites again
In a (still unpublished) discussion a while back, of the complexities of the idea of “opposites”, I said:"Opposite" extends to all sorts of situations in which logic doesn't apply. Red is the opposite...
View ArticleMore workarounds for semantic problems
(Previously) Philippe Bruhat, a devious master of sending a single message that will be read in two different ways by two different recipients, suggested an alternative wording for magic phrase...
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