Probably not relevant to the article, I had to rant. I'm drunk, and suffering!

I'm trying the old vibe coding, except with actual specs. I feel like I have to. I hate it.

I think refining the spec/prompt with Claude makes sense. I found it helped me crystallise my spec and highlight gaps & pitfalls.
At which point, I should've just coded it.
I'd have known what it does, and it would be exactly what I needed.
But I figured I'd see what Claude could do.

So, my "dev->staging->prod" (project isn't in production state yet, thought it would be good to try AI on something) database migration system with a planning, apply and rollback stage was built by Claude.
There are system tables that should migrate fully (but allow for review if they are structurally different) and there are data tables that should only alter schema (not affect data). It's decently complex that it would take me a week or so to write and generate, but maybe I can spend a day or 2 writing a spec and seeing what clause can do.

It wanted to use python, and told me that migra is outdated and tried to generate something that would do it all.
I told it to use results (the migra replacement), and after convincing it that results was the actual library name and that it can produce schema differences (and telling it that it is a different API than migra cause it tried to use it as if it was migra, and.... So much wasted time!), I finally got working code. And all the logs and CLI etc resulted in SUCCESS messages.
Except that tables are named like "helloThere" were ignored by it, cause it hadn't considered tables might have uppercase. So I got it to fix that. And it's working code.

It looks nicely complex with sensible file names.
Looking at the code: there are no single responsibilities, no extensibility. It's actually a fucking mess. Variables sent all over the place, things that should be in the current command context being randomly generated, config hard coded, randomly importing a function from another file (and literally the only place that other function is used) because.... I don't know.
It's just a bunch functions that does stuff, named be impressive, in files that are named impressively (ignoring the content). And maybe there are context related functions in the same file, or maybe there are "just does something that sounds similar" functions.

The logging?
Swallows actual errors, and gives an expected error messaged. I just want actual errors!

It's hard to analyse the code. It's not that it doesn't make sense from a single entry point. It's more that "what does this function do" doesn't make sense in isolation.
"Where else might this be a problem" has to go to Claude, cause like fuck could I find it it's probably in a functionally similar function with a slightly different name and parameters or some bullshit.

If I didn't know better, and looked at similar GitHub projects ... Yeh, it seems appropriate.

It is absolutely "manager pleasing complexity".
But it does work, after telling it how to fix basic library issues.

Now that it works, I'm getting Claude to refactor it into something hopefully more "make sure functions are relevant to the class they are in" kinda thing. I have low expectations

I don't EVER want to have to maintain or extend Claude generated code.
I have felt that all the way through this experiment.
It looks right. It might actually work. But it isn't maintainable.
I'm gonna try and get it to be maintainable. There has to be a way.
Maybe my initial 4-page spec accidentally said "then randomise function location".

I'm gonna try Claude for other bits and pieces.
Maybe I'll draw some inspiration from this migration project that Claude wrote (if I can find all the bits) and refactor it into something maintainable (now that I have reference implementations that seems to work, no matter how convolutedly spread they are)

I clean my windshield if someone is too close behind.
The wind always carries some spray over the top and hits their car and they have to wipe their windshield.
It might seem petty, but seems to trigger something subconscious that makes them back off a bit.
It always seems to work

Yeh, Linux doesn't have to be scary these days.

Damn experts, what do they know?

I think improved road safety is a great idea. 20mph lowers emissions and wear on both roads and cars.
I just wish they made it 20mph in other areas, rather than where I drive.
I think it's a great idea, and support it. Just... Not in my back yard.

It's a server with integrated UPS and KVM console.

Timpsons apparently has really interesting business models.
A friend of mine has worked on a few of their conferences, and apparently it's both fascinating and they come across as a genuinely wholesome business.

It's a franchise, but the franchisee (ie the shop) has complete control over what they sell and what services they provide (I dunno if there are any guard rails). So if they want to offer dry cleaning, they can. If they want to offer phone repairs, they can. If they want to only partially offer something, then they can rely on the Timpsons service network to provide the actual service (so dry cleaning without owning dry cleaning equipment).

https://www.timpson.co.uk/about-timpson

The management teams delegate authority but retain responsibility and we have only 2 rules:

• Look the part
• Put the money in the till

And apparently they look after their staff really well. Actually good/useful perks & benefits. In addition to the compassionate leave you've mentioned, I'm sure my friend said something about timpsons owning some property that they allow their staff to book for free (like free accomodation for holidays). Or maybe they do block bookings of stuff, or something. I wasn't hugely paying attention tbh.

Food literally grows itself in the ground. And yet we buy it from supermarkets. Absolute scam!

Pretty sure votes are public. It's just that most (all?) the front ends only show the number.
It's kinda how the fedi spec works. Nothing is private.
I know kbin/mbin showed who voted.

I think Ticketmaster and Live Nation absolutely are to blame for hyperinflated ticket prices.
The fact that scalpers also operate is reprehensible.

I will however say that production values of a modern gig are many factors higher than they were decades ago.
Safety standards are much higher, requiring more crowd control, more planning, more specialised equipment (both for the venue, and for the production).
It's no longer "a stack of speakers and a mixing desk with 8 channels". PA design and installation is both a science and an art in itself to achieve an even frequency response throughout as much of the venue as possible. Never mind the production of the actual music.
It's no longer "120 par cans over the stage and a bunch of power", it's a huge quantity of intelligent lighting fixtures with months of planning and days of programming.
Never mind the video side of things requiring months of preproduction with kit that would make the lighting or sound budget look like fisher price.
And all of this has to be built and run with redundancy, so the equipment list is essentially doubled, and likely a lot of spares.
Venue costs are also higher. So all of that production has to be orchestrated to go in and come out in as fast a time as possible. And packed on and off trucks in specific ways to facilitate this. Logistics of a tour are intimidating.

There are also entire university degrees based around these roles in production, people want and make a career out of touring. Places on tours are highly sought after.

Gigs are no longer just a band playing. There is a lot more show to it.
Whether this is actually what fans want is up for debate. And if it actually makes the experience better is also up for debate.

Ticket prices are obscene, and I don't think they are inline with the production provided.
However, if the live music is in demand then there will be people that pay. A band can only play so many gigs, and venues are limited.
Some of the increased cost can be attributed to making the job easier and safer for all the crew, staff and fans.
Some of the increased cost can be attributed "putting on a better show".
Some of the cost can be attributed to some of these jobs moving from the "passion and hobby" to "a career".
Some of these costs can be attributed to the increased skill level required to put on these gigs.
Some of these costs can be attributed general cost of living & inflation increases.
But I think most of the costs can be attributed to the exploitative behaviour of Ticketmaster etc.

Including, funnily enough, water!

Baseball hats = cool.
Backwards baseball hats = rad.
Cowboy hats = manly.
The guy is trying to apply maths he doesn't understand to a situation he has no experience in to try and appear like he belongs.
Classic musk.