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icameron commented on GitHub is no longer independent at Microsoft after CEO resignation   theverge.com/news/757461/... · Posted by u/Handy-Man
thewebguyd · 14 days ago
> Excel is a highly used tool possibly the most used tool and enables many users who do not consider themselves programmers to be productive with their PCs.

What frustrates me the most about this is I've seen some insane excel wizardry from the accounting department at various jobs over the years that is effectively programming, and that if these people had put just as much effort into learning Python & using a database, they'd be better off and might actually make good developers. In my view, Excel ends up becoming sort of an artificial barrier to departments outside of IT being able to make business software.

icameron · 14 days ago
Also a good point- but there is no python runtime on accounting and PMs computers. And it’s also a huge mess to try and support. Imagine some python code from 10 years ago, then juggling the versions, then god forbid any module dependencies. It’s simply not portable. Meanwhile the VBA written in 2000 is still working all contained in an excel Workbook.
icameron commented on GitHub is no longer independent at Microsoft after CEO resignation   theverge.com/news/757461/... · Posted by u/Handy-Man
scbrg · 15 days ago
Interesting. I consider Excel the worst of Microsoft's misdeeds. Not that there's not an abundance to pick from, but Excel may very well top the list.

It's perhaps the single worst database in the world; with no type control, no relationship management, no data safety whatsoever to speak of (it even actively mangles your data), its interface is utter madness, and yet - it's the most used database in the world.

It's perhaps the single worst development and runtime environment in the world, obscuring code, making reasoning about code and relations between code almost impossible, using a very obscure macro language that even morphs between different computers, and yet - it's the most used development and runtime environment in the world.

It's perhaps the single worst protocol/data exchange format in the world, with dozens of intentionally obscure, undocumented versions, insane format with surprising limitation (did I mention it actively mangles your data? - it's worth repeating anyway), supremely inefficient, and yet - it's the most used protocol/data exchange format in the world.

I can't really think of anything in the computing world that has done as much damage as Excel.

icameron · 15 days ago
Everything you say is not wrong. But despite being so horrible, the business world still runs on excel. Finance, underwriting, accounting, engineering tools, fantasy football leagues… Excel is a highly used tool possibly the most used tool and enables many users who do not consider themselves programmers to be productive with their PCs. It’s timeless and hated by many for valid reasons, but its impact is vast.
icameron commented on Software Rot   permacomputing.net/softwa... · Posted by u/pabs3
icameron · 21 days ago
Nobody has a better ecosystem of “industrial marine grade code rot resistance” than Microsoft. That I can run the same .NET web app code compiled 20 years ago on a new Server 2025 is an easy experience unequaled by others. Or the same 30 year old VBA macros still doing their thing in Excel 365. There’s a company that knows how to do backwards compatibility.
icameron commented on We may not like what we become if A.I. solves loneliness   newyorker.com/magazine/20... · Posted by u/defo10
squigz · 24 days ago
> It surprises me how people are less and less open to socialize, to the point that some even see you with disgust if you DARE to interrupt them from.their mobile phone trance.

Have you considered that maybe it's you, and you're just interrupting at the wrong time? Imagine someone's reading a book and you interrupt them and then you blame them for getting annoyed?!

icameron · 24 days ago
I’m not OP but similar in age and remember when it wasn’t always like that. You could talk to someone who was reading the paper on the bus, they wouldn’t be annoyed. Being in public it was fair game. There would be conversations happening between strangers. Now it’s silent on the bus and everyone is on their phones nobody is chatting up strangers.
icameron commented on AI.gov   ai.gov/... · Posted by u/davidgomes
icameron · a month ago
The first words of the header are Donald J Trump, then 3 pictures of Trump... and a blurry kid. This is a just a propaganda site of an egomaniac try to associate with the latest technology.
icameron commented on Overthinking GIS (2024)   scottsexton.co/post/overt... · Posted by u/todsacerdoti
rthnbgrredf · 2 months ago
GIS is truly impressive from a user's perspective: intuitive, powerful, and full possibilities. However, from a sysadmin's point of view, hosting an ArcGIS Enterprise setup - the market leader in this space - can quickly turn into a complex and frustrating experience.
icameron · 2 months ago
Truth. It’s a pure lock in, so many agencies are committed and sunk so much cost and effort into it that they’re never seriously going to consider any other vendor/solution. The ESRI documentation for any advanced topics falls apart quickly. I’ve spent days with their support liaisons, walking through the steps they have documented and getting different results.
icameron commented on The Rise of Whatever   eev.ee/blog/2025/07/03/th... · Posted by u/cratermoon
icameron · 2 months ago
Love this writing. One paragraph hit very close to home. I used to be the guy who could figure out obscure scripts by google-fu and rtfm and willpower. Now that skill has been completely obliterated by LLMs and everyone’s doing it- except it’s mostly whatever

> I don’t want to help someone who opens with “I don’t know how to do this so I asked ChatGPT and it gave me these 200 lines but it doesn’t work”.

icameron commented on What I learned gathering nootropic ratings (2022)   troof.blog/posts/nootropi... · Posted by u/julianh65
icameron · 2 months ago
They work until they don’t in my anecdotal experience. Any substance it seems the first time is the best. Then, slowly, my brain chemistry adapts, and it becomes less effective. Sometimes a higher dose works for a while. But it never lasts. Then side effects start to build up, and before long it’s counterproductive. SNRIs worked, until after a few months I lost all my endurance (running) and libido. Kratom was wonderful at almost everything, until it eventually stopped hitting as hard and skipping it caused withdrawals. Micro dose maybe worked but very quickly wasn’t effective (like after 2-3 times with psilocybin, or a couple months of ketamine) many others on this list have a similar track record with my brain. Good at first but the effect wears off after a while and usually end up worse off for it.
icameron commented on Bunker Busters probably failed to penetrate Iranian concrete   popularmechanics.com/mili... · Posted by u/myflash13
4gotunameagain · 2 months ago
Yeah obviously bombing a state is an escalation of conflict.

I wonder how much the US taxpayer paid for 6 B2 bombers to drop 12 mega bombs for the benefit of Israel.

icameron · 2 months ago
I heard a number of 260 million in an article, if that’s any help.
icameron commented on Show HN: Weather Watching   walzr.com/weather-watchin... · Posted by u/walz
icameron · 2 months ago
Just shows what our assumptions are about attire and culture. Short sleeves 75% and shorts are 62% currently, yet it’s a record high temperatures in NYC. (I know it’s hotter in Saudi Arabia and almost nobody wears shorts there.) The 2% umbrellas must be misidentified parasols.

u/icameron

KarmaCake day575March 15, 2013View Original