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Type in the exact number of machines to proceed

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Re: Type in the exact number of machines to proceed

#91

Post by leetcrew »

dheera wrote: post #40
csmattryder wrote: post #8

I've seen this called "pointing and calling" [1], Japan's train drivers use the technique to force themselves to perform actions and take notice of the current environment. I personally took it to heart, it's a good system for forcing a cache miss in the brain - make sure you're on "database production" or "database localhost" etc. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pointing_and_calling

> I've seen this called "pointing and calling" [1], Japan's train drivers use the technique to force themselves to perform actions and take notice of the current environment. The concept makes sense, though I don't quite fully get how to translate it to other contexts besides train driving where unexpected and unpredictable events come up all the time. Let's say you're driving a car and the traffic light turns red. D…

I don't think it really applies to stuff like driving, which almost has to be muscle memory to work at all. even with something routine and non-urgent like switching gears in a manual, the steps have to happen faster than you can say what you're doing.

a good example from normal life is (physical) key management. I used to always forget my keys when walking out the front door, which was a big problem since it locks automatically. to solve the problem, I made my back right pocket be the designated "key pocket". I now slap my right butt cheek whenever I leave a building. it might look weird to observers, but I have not once forgotten my keys since I implemented this system.

Re: Type in the exact number of machines to proceed

#92

Post by verve_rat »

dingaling wrote: post #76
jrumbut wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even having a dry run mode is exciting. Doesn't even have to give complete results just "I was planning to delete 3 files and create 7 files", gives a hint whether the command will blow up the system or not.

I wish SQL had a dry-run mode in updates and deletes for that reason. "Run it as a query first" gets 90% of the way until you drop a constraint by accident whilst rewriting it as an update :o

Wrap it in a transaction and roll back the transaction at the end. Then remove the transaction when you are ready to do it for real.

You can jam a select in the end of the transaction to check what happens.

Re: Type in the exact number of machines to proceed

#93

Post by scott_s »

apozem wrote: post #57
dheera wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I've seen this called "pointing and calling" [1], Japan's train drivers use the technique to force themselves to perform actions and take notice of the current environment. The concept makes sense, though I don't quite fully get how to translate it to other contexts besides train driving where unexpected and unpredictable events come up all the time. Let's say you're driving a car and the traffic light turns red. D…

In high school, I drove a 1993 Toyota Tercel. It was a functional, reliable car, but it had no keyfob to lock the doors remotely. Getting out of your car, pressing the lock button on the inside of the driver's side door, and shutting the door are all routine, boring actions that make it easy to forget your keys inside the car. The keys can go in all kinds of places as you climb out of the car - jacket pocket, pants p…

That’s me approaching a blue mailbox with my letter to send in one hand, and my keys in the other.

Re: Type in the exact number of machines to proceed

#94

Post by cortesoft »

morty_s wrote: post #65
blantonl wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Watch and listen to pilots as they complete checklists. They point and callout each item, switch setting, etc.

Came here for this. A: “Passing control” B: “Taking control” A: “You have control” B: “I have control” This is how I remember it (6174, UH-1Y).

The TCP handshake IRL

Re: Type in the exact number of machines to proceed

#95

Post by xaedes »

leetcrew wrote: post #85
harikb wrote: post #62

I have a habit of creating cli tools, which potentially do dangerous things, to default to dry-run mode. For example, instead of the typical `--dry-run` or `-n` option, my scripts instead had a cheesy `--do-it` to be non-dry-run. It is annoying as hell to my colleagues, but saved the day many times.

works great until some asshole puts alias harikb_script='harikb_script --do-it' in their .bashrc to eliminate this annoying step.

This would help a bit: Don't accept the "--do-it" as first parameter, make it obligatory to be the last.

Re: Type in the exact number of machines to proceed

#96

Post by UncleMeat »

chrisseaton wrote: post #52
shuntress wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>You can know that something is the right thing to do but not have the courage to physically harm someone to do it. In this specific case the "thing to do" is literally to harm hundreds of thousands of people. The reasoning behind this proposed interlock is that any logic which concludes that it is moral and rational to harm hundreds of thousands of people must also conclude that it is moral and rational to harm the…

> The reasoning behind this proposed interlock is that any logic which concludes that it is moral and rational to harm hundreds of thousands of people must also conclude that it is moral and rational to harm the "interlock" individual. Yes, but you can know it's the right thing to do, but not be able to physically do it. The president's ability to physically cut someone open is not relevant to whether it's a good ide…

It isn't about testing if the president can do surgery. It is about forcing the president to look somebody in the eye before they kill them.

Re: Type in the exact number of machines to proceed

#97

Post by cortesoft »

leetcrew wrote: post #91
dheera wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I've seen this called "pointing and calling" [1], Japan's train drivers use the technique to force themselves to perform actions and take notice of the current environment. The concept makes sense, though I don't quite fully get how to translate it to other contexts besides train driving where unexpected and unpredictable events come up all the time. Let's say you're driving a car and the traffic light turns red. D…

I don't think it really applies to stuff like driving, which almost has to be muscle memory to work at all. even with something routine and non-urgent like switching gears in a manual, the steps have to happen faster than you can say what you're doing. a good example from normal life is (physical) key management. I used to always forget my keys when walking out the front door, which was a big problem since it locks a…

I do a "wallet keys phone" mantra when I leave a building.... has a bit of a melody to it that I always repeat

Re: Type in the exact number of machines to proceed

#98

Post by cecilpl2 »

leetcrew wrote: post #91
dheera wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I've seen this called "pointing and calling" [1], Japan's train drivers use the technique to force themselves to perform actions and take notice of the current environment. The concept makes sense, though I don't quite fully get how to translate it to other contexts besides train driving where unexpected and unpredictable events come up all the time. Let's say you're driving a car and the traffic light turns red. D…

I don't think it really applies to stuff like driving, which almost has to be muscle memory to work at all. even with something routine and non-urgent like switching gears in a manual, the steps have to happen faster than you can say what you're doing. a good example from normal life is (physical) key management. I used to always forget my keys when walking out the front door, which was a big problem since it locks a…

After losing my wallet several times and not having a clue when the last time I had it on me was, I implemented a similar system. I now habitually triple tap my three designated pockets for phone, wallet, keys, every time I walk through a doorway.

That way, if any of them are missing, I know they must be in the room I just left.

Re: Type in the exact number of machines to proceed

#99

Post by js2 »

MaxBarraclough wrote: post #13
csmattryder wrote: post #8

I've seen this called "pointing and calling" [1], Japan's train drivers use the technique to force themselves to perform actions and take notice of the current environment. I personally took it to heart, it's a good system for forcing a cache miss in the brain - make sure you're on "database production" or "database localhost" etc. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pointing_and_calling

Worth mentioning that, assuming the single study on the matter can be believed, the pointing and calling method is extremely effective in reducing the incidence of silly mistakes (that is, mistakes made in simple routine tasks, by competent individuals). Unfortunately, it strikes many as looking rather silly, so it hasn't been widely adopted.

I learned a technique from a gray beard[0] when I worked as a student sys admin for the CS dept over two decades ago. Whenever typing a destructive command, he'd take his hands off the keyboard and drop them to his side, re-read the command, then put his hands back to press enter.

I do this whenever I'm on a production server (which is rare anyway). I use different colored prompts for local and remote shells.

[0] Technically he had no beard and if he had, it wouldn't have been gray.

Re: Type in the exact number of machines to proceed

#100

Post by cortesoft »

gumby wrote: post #34
xamuel wrote: post #3

I wish it were possible for similar prompts to appear before all sorts of policy-makers and bureaucrats. "It appears you are about to institute a policy which will require 400 million patients to sign an additional waiver every time they visit a clinic, this will waste a total of 354,921 human hours within the next year alone. Please type 354,921 to proceed."

The motivations are different: the cost to the rule maker of the effort by all those people is nil. While the cost of not adding the paper is the risk of something happening in the future which could cost them their job. This is why the shoe removal theatre was added to flying: the risk of something happening is essentially nil, but if it did, heads would roll. This is not a criticism of bureaucracy or regulation BTW…

In my experience, the protections are added after a Learning Review from an incident.
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