Sergei Rogovtcev
1.5K posts
are there people out there who just want to refactor every day? just wake up and find the worst code and just chip away at it and clean it up wake up the next day do it again, infinitely improving things with zero external impact?
Ya, Hollywood is cooked
Maybe the third time's a charm 😄. Yesterday, I posted that we could eliminate things like country-name dropdowns and replace them with free text, perhaps using an LLM to correct errors. Too many people came back with ways to improve dropdowns, but missed my main point: an LLM, when used judiciously, can both save you work and improve the UX. Instead of focusing on country-name dropdowns, how about we replace the entire name-and-address dialog with a single free-text "name and address" field and let the LLM handle everything else, including JSON conversion? No complex forms at all, so it's a win in the UX department, and there's way less work for you. There's a simple prompt and response that demonstrates how this would work in the attached image. Note that the LLM has corrected all significant misspellings in the original and added the correct ZIP code. Of course, I would still verify the generated JSON and present the data to the customer for approval (in a format more appropriate than JSON) before accepting it, but that's just one "ok" button. I'm actually using this as an example in a class I'm putting together, implemented as a microservice-sized agent that uses a micro-front-end architecture to create a form you can embed on any page (in an iframe, but there are other possibilities, of course). The UI entirely eliminates the need for a complicated address-entry screen (and associated JSON-coversion code), replacing it with a single free-text field and an "okay" button. I'm using a local LLM instance, so there's no per-token cost. Not too shabby.
“I'm the one who steps from the shadows; all trenchcoat and arrogance. I'll drive your demons away, kick 'em in the bollocks when they're down, leaving only a nod and a wink and a wisecrack. I walk my path alone... Because, lets be honest... Who'd be crazy enough to walk it with me?” Anyway. NYE has been slain.
For Christmas in 2019, I was gifted a subscription to a training program with an online coach. I had been working out on my own for a few months before that, but really didn’t know what I was doing and wasn’t following any programming or direction. I started working with that coach in January of 2020. At first, I would only work out in my apartment complex’s gym, and only late at night when I knew nobody would be there. I I was small and weak and scared but I did the thing anyway. And eventually I became less small, and less weak, and not scared anymore. This January marks 6 years I’ve been on this journey. Through different training styles (bodybuilding-style training at first, then powerlifting, then CrossFit) and vastly different body shapes (all told I’ve gained ~35 pounds and dropped 10% body fat), coaches, illnesses (3 rounds of Covid? 4?I don’t remember) and injuries (including several broken bones lol), I have stayed consistent. Not perfect (never perfect), but consistent. It has changed me in so many more ways than physical. Here’s to another year of getting stronger, better, healthier, and happier. 💪🏻
What Final Fantasy VII fans wanted vs. what we got.
I get what this is going for but it is exactly backwards. TV in the 90s: - buy a guide, scout out everything in advance - plan a schedule, track channels and times - manage space on your DVR, lose recordings, cry - 30% ads - often actually watch live, with ads and everything - if you miss it, you miss it - huh, that's on, okay, sure - you think it's good because you grew up without DVR TV 2025: - watch anything anyone has ever made - any time, on demand, it tracks your place in everything - even if you buy everything you want, less total cost - if they make you watch ads it's like 2 minutes per hour - even those 2 minutes make you angry - okay, sure, it takes 30 seconds to navigate sometimes - you complain because of paradox of choice
Software Engineers are not paid for writing code. They’re paid for solving problems. The faster you accept this, the better your life and career will be.
Scientists create Liquid Trees; a tank full of water and micro-algae that could be an alternative to trees in urban areas.
