this post was submitted on 16 Jan 2025
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Last weeks thread here

Welcome to this week’s casual kōrero thread!

This post will be pinned in this community so you can always find it, and will stay for about a week until replaced by the next one.

It’s for talking about anything that might not justify a full post. For example:

  • Something interesting that happened to you
  • Something humourous that happened to you
  • Something frustrating that happened to you
  • A quick question
  • A request for recommendations
  • Pictures of your pet
  • A picture of a cloud that kind of looks like an elephant
  • Anything else, there are no rules (except the rule)

So how’s it going?

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[–] nick@campfyre.nickwebster.dev 5 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Currently working on my PhD thesis which is due at the end of the month. I'm cutting it quite close but if everything goes according to plan I should have it all done on time.

[–] Dave 4 points 1 month ago (1 children)

That's great! Is it too personal to ask what your PhD is in? I see you have some info on your website, I assume your PhD is not "writing a new programming language" but rather something that your new language pushes the boundries on?

[–] nick@campfyre.nickwebster.dev 3 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Thanks. The type system of the language has some interesting novelty but my key research area is automatic parallelisation of code written in that language.

[–] Dave 3 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Ooh interesting, is that something that exists in some form in other languages or is it an entirely new concept?

[–] nick@campfyre.nickwebster.dev 3 points 1 month ago (1 children)

There's a spectrum of how automatic things get in different languages but there's the issue of making it an unobservable optimisation, and also making it not over parallelise. There are lots of interesting approaches in academia but nothing really in mainstream languages and nothing that definitively solves the problem. That being said, I also do not solve the problem lol, I just offer a potential direction that could.

[–] Dave 3 points 1 month ago (1 children)

That sounds really cool but I don't know enough to ask more questions haha. Good luck getting it done!

[–] liv 3 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Awesome, you're on the final stretch! Remember to hydrate!

[–] nick@campfyre.nickwebster.dev 3 points 1 month ago

Thanks, will do 🫡

[–] Dave 5 points 1 month ago (2 children)

So there I was, in The Warehouse, and there was a big rack of Oreo flavoured coke with a deep discount, down to 50c a can.

I looked at it and thought "that sounds terrible!". And since they had to sell it for 50c when the original price was $1.50/can this discount to get rid of it backed up my assumption that it would be terrible.

With evidence to back up my hypothesis, I had to devise an experiment to confirm it.

So I bought one, and it was terrible. I'm not even sure how it was supposed to taste like Oreos. It reminded me of something but I'm not sure what.

Anyway, the end. That's the whole story, sorry i didn't have anything more exciting to say 😅

[–] Venator 3 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I tried some at a party, to me it tastes like someone dropped a whole oreo sleeve into a coke and then filtered the oreo chunks out: so basically coke + the soluble parts of an oreo, which is mostly sugar.

[–] Dave 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I honestly didn't get Oreo vibes from it (I was drinking it room temp, not sure if that matters). But as someone else pointed out, it's reminiscent of vanilla coke that I don't like, so probably not a good tester.

[–] Venator 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Maybe there's some ingredient that only some people can taste thats in vanilla and oreo coke that's overwhelming any other flavours.

[–] Dave 2 points 1 month ago

I think it's in my head. I was introduced to spiced rum recently. Drinking a couple with coke, yum yum, then my wife mentioned "it's a bit like vanilla coke". Suddenly I realise she's right, and now I don't like it anymore 😅. All in my head.

[–] nick@campfyre.nickwebster.dev 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I kind of like Oreo coke. Kind of like a coke vanilla but a bit sweeter?

[–] Dave 2 points 1 month ago

Oh shit is that it? I never liked vanilla coke, maybe that's what I didn't like about it.

[–] liv 4 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Hi everyone, hope you're all well.

Have been enjoying the lack of heat in the North Island this summer. For those of us who can't thermoregulate properly, it's very relaxing!

In backyard news, the swan plants are huge but not seeing much action, and the lemon tree has somehow survived having 2/3 of its limbs cut off.

[–] Dave 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Great to hear you're well! When do the caterpillars come for the swan plants?

[–] liv 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Thanks! Been a bit of a weird year but starting to feel improvements, fingers crossed. Was glad to come here and see you guys!

I should be starting to see caterpillars by now. January is the peak laying month and eggs hatch in 1 or 2 weeks. I'm not sure why there are fewer butterflies; something might have affected the overwintering ones. Will have to have a better look though.

On the plus side last spring there were cinerarias here and some lovely magpie moths.

[–] Dave 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Do you normally cover some of the swan plants to limit the caterpillars so there's enough food to go around? Maybe that isn't necessary if there are less butterflies?

[–] liv 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I think people do that if their plants are small? Usually where I live there are a couple of big plants on the go (over 2 m high) from year to year, so if I see any caterpillars trying to eat seedlings I ferry them over to those.

I'm not actually the owner of the garden, and the plants are self-sown, so it's all a bit random. If I ever win lotto the butterflies, birds, and bees can have a whole garden of stuff though.

[–] Dave 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Haha OK I guess it would be a bit tricky to keep the butterflies off a 2m high plant. Seems like your caterpillars are living in a post-scarcity society 🙂

[–] liv 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Its sort of post apocalyptic, there aren't nearly as many plants as I would like but the ones we do have are huge and there's hardly anyone on them yet!

[–] Dave 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Well lucky for the ones that do get a go at the feast! You'll probably have some very fat caterpillars

[–] liv 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Here's hoping! The other possible problem is OE, a protozoan parasite. According to wikipedia I should try again to establish tropical milkweed, which would be awesome because it's so pretty.

Last time all my seedlings got eaten by snails when I planted them out (unfortunately I don't have the capacity to actually garden) so will have to think of a new method if I get time/energy.

[–] Dave 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Ah interesting! Can you get bigger plants that will be less affected by the snails?

[–] liv 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

That is the million dollar question. As far as I know you can only get them as packets of seeds (from the Butterfly trust people, not garden centres).

To grow them bigger than last time, I'll need to find something a bit bigger to keep them in, somewhere to put it, and have enough well days to not neglect them.

I guess another idea would be to get heaps of seeds and try to just scatter them all through the undergrowth and hope for the best, but not sure it would work with milkweed.

[–] Dave 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Ah that sounds like a big job! Scattering them might work, but if you already have snails eating them then even if they do germinate there's no guarantee they will live. Challenging!

Grow them inside and invite the butterflies in? 😅

[–] liv 2 points 1 month ago

Indoor space is on my lotto list too! I like your ideas! 😄

Just went out and killed a bunch of aphids. I normally don't kill insects but those guys are like humans and will actually kill the whole plant if left to their own devices.