41–50 of 64 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
When writing and running SQL one-offs interactively, I will surround it with `if 1 1 begin end` or comments, or add syntax errors at the top so that I won't accidentally run it without first selecting the part I want to run. I should get into the habit of writing `begin; rollback` instead for extra-safety. And I always write the WHERE clause before the DELETE or UPDATE keywords.
> And I always write the WHERE clause before the DELETE or UPDATE keywords. I sometimes get nervous typing 'rm -r' commands, since it starts with a very broad path, and only narrows-down as we type more, e.g. if we hit enter prematurely when typing 'rm -r ~/Downloads/archive.zip' we might delete our entire home directory, or all of our downloads. For this reason I often prefix dangerous steps with 'echo'; once I'm co…
> some automatic transmissions require the brake pedal to be depressed [to start] Hmm, I was always told to do so when I was learning to drive. At some point I stopped doing so and it’s never been an issue, should I be stepping on the brakes when starting my car?
Manuals on the other hand, again, almost all have a clutch interlock to start, but a lot of trucks and jeeps can have clutch defeats and will move when the starter is hit while parked in gear. It’s pretty dumb, but there are tiny scenarios off road you might want that. Most people just don’t want to press the clutch to start for some reason. In many of these vehicles it’s as simple as pulling a fuse.
> some automatic transmissions require the brake pedal to be depressed [to start] Hmm, I was always told to do so when I was learning to drive. At some point I stopped doing so and it’s never been an issue, should I be stepping on the brakes when starting my car?
Yes. Always. If your transmission is defective somehow you don't want the car to lurch when you start it.
For very very old transmissions, it’s probably possible to get this error, but nothing after 1995-1997.
I do this all the time for particularly scary yet infrequent scripts that I’m paranoid for accidentally executing. The simpler ones check an environment variable such as RUN_SCARY_THINGY is set to “yes”. The complex ones check that it has a timestamp that is within the past minute. Accidentally run the script without exporting the right var and it prints a message suggesting a cup of coffee.
When writing and running SQL one-offs interactively, I will surround it with `if 1 1 begin end` or comments, or add syntax errors at the top so that I won't accidentally run it without first selecting the part I want to run. I should get into the habit of writing `begin; rollback` instead for extra-safety. And I always write the WHERE clause before the DELETE or UPDATE keywords.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
When writing and running SQL one-offs interactively, I will surround it with `if 1 1 begin end` or comments, or add syntax errors at the top so that I won't accidentally run it without first selecting the part I want to run. I should get into the habit of writing `begin; rollback` instead for extra-safety. And I always write the WHERE clause before the DELETE or UPDATE keywords.
> And I always write the WHERE clause before the DELETE or UPDATE keywords. I sometimes get nervous typing 'rm -r' commands, since it starts with a very broad path, and only narrows-down as we type more, e.g. if we hit enter prematurely when typing 'rm -r ~/Downloads/archive.zip' we might delete our entire home directory, or all of our downloads. For this reason I often prefix dangerous steps with 'echo'; once I'm co…
(I was surprised to learn that on some systems, the flags are in a fixed position, at the start!)
Slightly different to what is described here, but one of my pet peeves is the "nuclear button" features that devs put in their software - ie easy to activate features that add marginal utility to specific niche workflows but cause irreversible damage to everyone else. Firefox deleting every single one of your pinned tabs on close if you have a second window open is an example of this, as is YouTube jumping to a diffe…
Slightly different to what is described here, but one of my pet peeves is the "nuclear button" features that devs put in their software - ie easy to activate features that add marginal utility to specific niche workflows but cause irreversible damage to everyone else. Firefox deleting every single one of your pinned tabs on close if you have a second window open is an example of this, as is YouTube jumping to a diffe…
Slightly different to what is described here, but one of my pet peeves is the "nuclear button" features that devs put in their software - ie easy to activate features that add marginal utility to specific niche workflows but cause irreversible damage to everyone else. Firefox deleting every single one of your pinned tabs on close if you have a second window open is an example of this, as is YouTube jumping to a diffe…
Niche workflows? This is one of the most useful features! :)
I do this all the time for particularly scary yet infrequent scripts that I’m paranoid for accidentally executing. The simpler ones check an environment variable such as RUN_SCARY_THINGY is set to “yes”. The complex ones check that it has a timestamp that is within the past minute. Accidentally run the script without exporting the right var and it prints a message suggesting a cup of coffee.