#operanded

[damnatvs]

another fugitive at large had brought judith's team down south to virginia. aside from the fact that she was chasing a fugitive, she would take a couple personal days after the case to visit with her brother and brother in law. for now there was one stop she needed to make. "remy, i need a couple hours, i know we're in the middle of a case but i gotta go see my kid." okay so alyssa wasn't biologically her kid and they knew that, but remy just nodded. "whatever you need, just keep your phone on." sheryll was quick to add: "tell her we say hi."

so that's where she ended up, making the drive from richmond to quantico and walking into the bau bullpen. of course she wasn't empty handed, she brought donuts she wasn't mean. she saw a few familiar faces as she made her way over to @operanded's desk having known the bau from a few cases in which they had crossed paths during her career. "glad to see y'all are jettin' off across the country makin' my trip completely useless." she laughed.

"and i brought donuts!" she smiled opening the box and setting it down. "i am sorry to say that i did mostly come here just to see alyssa. but that doesn't mean that i don't love seein' your smilin' faces."

[qapsiel]

@operanded ;; unhinged meme (still accepting) Alyssa said: "I went to the silly goose convention and they all knew you."

                               CASTIEL HAS THE DISTINCT FEELING THAT HE JUST GOT INSULTED. He narrows his eyes at her, trying to think about how Dean would respond in a situation like this, but her entire sentence has just been absolutely illogical and downright bonkers. "Did you hit your head a little too hard today?"

[murkyhazed-is-archiving]

LIKED : tv muses starter call / @operanded

feat. jason gideon and alyssa williams.

               it   takes   a   special   kind   of   monster   to   bring   harm   to   your   own   flesh   and   blood.      working   these   cases,   they   were   never   easy,   but   when   it   involved   familial   torture?      those   were   the   cases   that   hit   extra   hard,   the   cases   that   were   even   more   time   sensitive.      it   was   made   worse   by   the   vast   range   from   home   to   abduction   sites.      the   clock   had   been   ticking   ever   so   loudly   in   jason’s   ear   as   they   raced   to   their   final   destination,   where   they   believed   (   and   prayed   )   the   final   victim   was   being   held.      garcia’s   magic   with   technology   had   proven   useful   once   again,   as   they   arrive   on   scene   and   finally   apprehend   that   sick   bastard.

               it   was   gideon   who   ventured   into   the   boathouse,   found   the   girl   tied   with   no   chance   at   escape.      his   approach   was   careful,   gentle,   god   forbid   he   cause   her   more   stress.      ❝   it’s   alright,   i   won’t   hurt   you.      my   name   is   jason   gideon,   you   might   remember   me   from   when   we   visited   the   campus.      you’re   safe   now,   and   he   can   never   hurt   you   again.   ❞

[roguexpogue]

🎵 - hi!

 *  ―  send 🎵 or ( ‘SHUFFLE’ ) for me to randomize my playlist and write a starter that either uses the lyrics or is otherwise inspired by the song in some way.

"Hey, you know their all the same." JJ wasn't the type to wanted to fit in. He'd rather be looked down on than be part of something he didn't believe in.

[nebulatrifid]

Midterms be midterming and I am one sad arcane edit away from breaking down into tears.

[piratesexmachine420]

I wanted to see if our friend The World's Dumbest Robot could figure out the extremely simple process of "set bit L of register A" in z80 assembly, and the results were...consistent.

What a moron.

[ladyofkythera]

"pi divided by 4" is my conlang's word for "to see"

to explain what i mean by this let me get here step by step

1. numbers are formed by assigning phonemes to a base-10 positional system, such that 1 = p 2 = i 3 = t 4 = e 5 = c 6 = a 7 = k 8 = o 9 = q 0 = u plus some extra stuff like -mu to mark negative numbers and schwa to mark some unspecified number (though schwa can also be used as padding for uncomfortable consonant clusters)

2. operations are formed by placing the operands after a prefix for that operation, such that 9+10 = xə-q-pu [xəq.pu] 9-10 = əx-q-pu [əχq.pu] 9·10 = pi-q-pu [piq.pu] 9:10 = q-q-pu [qəq.pu] (it is also possible to prefix particularly ambiguous operations with f- to specifically say that this is an operation, like pi which can mean 12, 3.141592..., or multiplication, but fpi specifically means multiplication)

3. prepositions that indicate a movement in space and time are indicated by an angle within a spacetime diagram expressed as a radian, such that standing still is represented as 90º, or π/2 rad, or q-pi-i [q(ə).pi.ʔi], so a sentence like "qpii haa hhezb" would mean "i'm at rest relative to the planet", or "i'm at the planet" (note that i had to remove all the bullshit like existential quantifiers in that example sentence as to not bloat it so hard it strays from the point) so for indicating motion, one would have to slant that world line. if we wanted to express 45º, we could say π/4, or q-pi-e. but the issue there is that 45º in a spacetime diagram indicates traveling at the speed of light, which is impossible for an object with mass. so to express slower than light movement, we'd need some arbitrary number between π/2 and π/4... oh well, we'll figure that out some other day. what matters is that this frees q-pi-e semantically to be used for some other more nuanced meaning that relates to movement, and that is movement at lightspeed.

4. so, if i were to say "qpie hheza hab" that would mean that a planet is moving at lightspeed relative to me. but it can't do that, of course it can't! so the implication at play is that it's an image of the planet made out of photons that is moving at lightspeed. we can further specify that A is moving toward B with -zmu (meaning "negative redshift") so "qpiezmu hheza hab" means "[an image of] a planet is moving at lightspeed to me", or "a planet is illuminating me", and if the light hits me it's also probably hitting my retinas, meaning that i could also use it to mean "a planet is seen by me" note that even though this is glossed into english as a passive verb, it is a fully active verb with a fully active meaning. this comes down to a different idea between the languages of what it means to see. if you think about it, seeing is not an action you do at something, it's photons that do the action of getting in your eyes. the distinction doesn't really matter for natlangs but for a language built from scratch by a civilization with an understanding of modern physics, it makes sense

[damnatvs]

@operanded : “do i really have to tell you how he brought me back to life?”

did she have to? absolutely not. was judith going to sit in silence with her eyebrows raised as she waited for alyssa to continue talking? absolutely. it worked with all of her kids, from lexie to ryder. so for a moment she'd just sit and wait. at least until she couldn't anymore. maybe this time she'd just throw out some information that might help. "y'know i was the same way meetin' bergen. a part of me had died, or at least i thought it had, long before then. and meetin' him, i felt like i had just come up for air after bein' underwater for so long. that's how you know you got it bad. when bein' with them feels easy as breathin'." she pointed out.

it wasn't often she talked about it, hell she was pretty sure the last time she had talked about it was when maddie had asked how they had met when she was thirteen. "is that how your resident genius makes you feel?" she asked, her one eyebrow quirking back up as she smiled. "seems like he's a real good guy sweetheart."

[qapsiel]

a poke

Not the artfully windswept hair

[ntrlily]

Not to defend implicit operand sizes but a defense of AT&T syntax I truly don't get is that it not having implicit sizes is good and makes for better code like look if you're writing like, 8086 and you say

mov ax,bx

obviously it's going to be a word? There's no other size it could be?

in general you're not going to have a lot of mixups regarding operand size its not a huge concern...

[thahxa]

pls elaborate on why add and div are bad, as someone who has relatively little to doing asm besides doing kernel syscall shit in college

basically boils down to the fact that add is a 2-element instruction only, so you can't do something like add rax, rbx, rcx, only add rbx, rcx

div is worse! div calculates rdx:rax / [r/m] iirc, which basically forces you into a certain register allocation

all the weird new instructions are ~fine about this, since they all use 3 operand forms by default, and in reality while they all seem weird and obscure they're in there because someone asked for it

[roguexpogue]

✈️ — ever traveled anywhere interesting?

Yes, Costa Rica, Ireland, Scotland, England, pretty much half of Europe during a European tour. In Costa Rica I went horseback riding on a horse named Shakira. I asked why she was named that. The guide told me it's cause she's loco. I was given the crazy horse.

@operanded

[mentalisttraceur-software]

DeepSeek R1 First Impressions

DeepSeek R1 is almost as good as me at belabored exhaustive analysis and application of C89 rules. For practical purposes, it's equally good.

I asked: "How would you implement zig-zag encoding in strictly portable C89?" It was spitting out thinking output for at least a minute, but it got a basically-perfect solution on first try:

unsigned int zigzag_encode(int n) { return (((unsigned int)n << 1) ^ ((n < 0) ? -1 : 0); }

It also provided a `zigzag_encode_long`.

Note that this code will optimize on modern C compilers to the best assembly you could write. There is no branch in the produced code with even just `-O1` (`clang`, `gcc`), the branch is how we portably tell the compiler the right idea.

The only thing DeepSeek did "wrong" vs the above, was redundantly add an `(unsigned int)` cast to the `-1`. I mentioned this as I would to a person: that the usual arithmetic conversions would take care of it at the `^`. It reasoned the rest on its own: yes, because the left operand is already at least an unsigned int, so integer promotion will make the left side an unsigned int as well.

We talked at length about how we can prove that the above is portable to the most pathological C89-conformant implementations. It kept taking longer to "think", but it didn't show any weakness until the very last question.

I asked it to help me rigorously prove if the maximum value of unsigned integers is required by the C standard to be a Mersenne number (2^n-1). To have all bits one, that is.

What if an implementation just decided to arbitrarily not use one or more of the top values? I.e., why not `#define UINT_MAX 0xFFFFFFFE`?

DeepSeek R1 didn't seem to conceive of this possibility until I made it explicit. (But it did a great job of ruling out all others.)

Finally, it gave a longer, non-trivial argument, which I don't find convincing. Basically, it seemed to be saying that since integers used "pure binary representation", and every value bit could be either one or zero, well then the maximum value always has all value bits one - in other words, it seemingly assumed that just because each value bit individually was allowed to be one or zero, the possibility of them all being one at once must be both legal and used to represent a distinct value.

I see a shorter argument, which follows directly from what the standard does say: C89 has two definitions of `~`:

flip all the bits;

subtract from maximum value of that unsigned integer type.

The only way both can be true at once is if the maximum value is all value bits one. DeepSeek R1 agreed.

So what does this all mean?

This is an insane level of competence in an extremely niche field. Less than a year ago I tested LLAMA on this, and LLAMA and I didn't even get past me hand-holding it through several portability caveats. DeepSeek R1 and I just had a full-blown conversation that most devs I've talked to couldn't have with me. DeepSeek R1 managed to help me think in an extremely niche area where I'm basically a world-class expert (since the area in question is C89 portability, "world-class expert" is derogatory, but still).

If it's this good in one domain, it's this good in most domains. I bet it can do comparably well in Python, Go, JavaScript, C++, and so on.

In other words, it's already better than many devs in areas like this. I've seen plenty of devs making 6-figure USD salaries who didn't bother to know any of their day job tech stack this deeply. There's a market adjustment coming. Knowledge and expertise are about to become dirt-cheap commodities.

AI will eat current software dev jobs even faster than even I thought - and I already thought it would be sooner than most expect. Meanwhile, much of the industry is busy rationalizing from human intuition and ignorance that it just can't happen.

For years I've thought that the future is human devs delegating to teams of AI. That future is almost upon us, and this AI is good enough that I will be seriously experimenting with making that future a reality. I think if you hack together the right script to hook it up to a sandbox with dev tools, and prompt it just right... you might already be able to get this thing to actually do useful dev work.

[tatters-the-bat]

One of Fauxtail's top music artists, a techno/noise musician who goes by the stage name "Operand"!

They're significantly less public-facing than, say, the pop idol Cici, but they still make regular releases and often livestream to interact with fans - usually gaming and chatting, but sometimes they show off sneak peeks of their upcoming tracks.

Their most popular album is titled 'Environment,' with their usual techno styling with hints of breakcore and glitch hop.

[ OC: Ivan Jewel (Goat, They/Them) ]

[sweet7simple]

Terms and definitions that you can maybe apply to your fan works

I don't know anything about computer or mechanical engineering (it's very funny to me that I am in the Transformers fandom and I don't even care about cars), but I do care about improving my writing. I have gathered a list of terms that sound very sciencey and applicable to mechs, some from Martha Wells's "Murderbot Diaries," some from fanfiction/fandom (shout-out to the Crime in Crystals series by Aard_Rinn and Baebeyza, they wrote Transformers better than any Transformers comic/TV show did), and a lot from just surfing through Google and going, "well, what the hell is this? Okay, but what the hell is THAT?".

Also, as I was writing this post, I ended up getting sucked into this article:

And this really bloated my already long list of terms. Very easy to read if you want to glance it over yourself.

It's not an exhaustive list and who knows if it will be useful to you - but maybe you can reblog with your own add-ons of terms and definitions you think make a Transformers fan work just that much better.

The list is below the cut:

100% CPU Load - CPU is fully occupied with too many processors/applications/drivers/operations - not necessarily synonymous with an overload.

Actuators* - A device that causes a machine or other device to operate (Ex: a computerized unit instructs the actuator how to move the tires on a vehicle); create linear and rotary movement (Ex: A hydraulic actuator on a valve will move that valve in response to a sensor/signal); Linear actuators "move a piston back and forth inside a cylinder to build pressure and 'actuate', or complete an action".

* Think of actuators as devices that help produce linear motion and motors as devices that help produce rotational movement. Hence, some consider actuators as a type of motor. But a motor is not a type of actuator (jhfoster.com).

Alternator - Converts mechanical energy to electrical energy with an alternating current. The stator and rotor inside the alternator work as magnets and rotate to generate the alternating current. Then the alternating current (AC) is transformed into a direct current (DC) that charges the battery.

Archive (Archive files) - used to collect multiple data files together into a single file for easier portability and storage, or simply to compress files to use less storage space.

Arithmetic Log Unit (ALU) - the part of a central processing unit that carries out arithmetic and logic operations on the operands in computer instruction words. In some processors, the ALU is divided into two units: an arithmetic unit (AU) and a logic unit (LU).

Augment - Make something greater; increase.

Auxiliary Battery - Designed to run as a backup to the starting battery and provide power to some essential equipment like engine start/stop and other systems that require power while the engine is off to put less strain on the main battery and alternator.

Bandwidth - A measurement indicating the maximum capacity of a wired or wireless communications link to transmit data over a network connection in a given amount of time.

Behavioral Coding - A term used in Martha Wells' Murderbot Diaries; essential, code for behaviors.

Branch Instructions - Use programming elements like if-statements, for-loops, and return-statements; used to interrupt the program execution and switch to a different part of the code.

Branch Predictors - Track the status of previous branches to learn whether or not an upcoming branch is likely to be taken or not.

Buffer - A region of memory used to store data temporarily while it is being moved from one place to another.

Cathodes vs Anodes - Cathodes are the positive electrode while the anode is the negative electrode; electrons flow from the anode to the cathode and this creates the flow of electric charge in a battery or electrochemical cell.

Catastrophic Failure - Complete, sudden and unexpected breakdown in a machine, indicating improper maintenance.

Central Processing Unit (CPU) - Primary component of a computer that acts as its "control center"; complex set of circuitry that runs the machine's operating systems and apps; the brains of the computer. * Components: Instruction Set Architecture (ISA), Control Unit (CU), Datapath, Instruction Cycle, Registers, Combinational Logic, the Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU), etc...

Clock - Determines how many instructions a CPU can process per second; increasing its frequency through overclocking will make instructions run faster, but will increase power consumption and heat output.

Combustion Chambers - An enclosed space in which combustion takes place, such as an engine; jet engines also have combustion chambers.

Condition Codes - Extra bits kept by a processor that summarize the results of an operation and that affect the execution of later instructions.

Control Bus - Manages the communication between the computer's CPU and its other components.

Control Unit (CU) - Manages the execution of instructions and coordinates data flow within the CPU and between other computer components.

Cybermetal - Element native to Cybertron and Cybertron alone.

Datapath - The path where data flows as it is processed; receives input, processes it, and sends it out to the right place when done processing; datapaths are told how to operate by the CU; depending on instructions, a datapath can route signals to different components, turn on and off different parts of itself, and monitor the state of the CPU.

Diagnostic and Data Repair Sequence - Term used in Martha Wells' Murderbot Diaries; exactly what it sounds like.

Diode - A semiconductor device with two terminals (a cathode and an anode), typically allowing the flow of current in one direction only.

Discrete Circuit vs Integrated Circuit- Single device with a single function (ex: Transistor, diode) vs Devices with multiple functional elements on one chip (ex: Memories, microprocessor IC and Logic IC).

Drivers - A set of files that help software (digital components, such as Microsoft Office) interface/work with hardware (physical components, such as a keyboard); allows an operating system and a device to communicate.

Electromagnetic (EM) Field - A combination of invisible electric and magnetic fields of force; used in fandom by mechs to broadcast emotions to others.

Flags - A value that acts as a signal for a function or process. The value of the flag is used to determine the next step of a program; flags are often binary flags which contain a boolean value (true or false).

Full Authority Digital Engine Control (FADEC) - Consists of an electronic control unit (ECU) and related accessors that control aircraft engine performances.

Gestation Tank - Used in mech pregnancies, you can pry it from my cold, dead hands.

Heads Up Display (HUD) - A part of the user interface that visually conveys information to the player during gameplay.

Heat Spreader - Often used in computer processors to prevent them from overheating during operation; transfers energy as heat from a hotter source to a colder heat sink or heat exchanger.

HUB - A device that connects multiple computers and devices to a local area network (LAN).

Inductive Charging - How I imagine berths work; wireless power transfer (ex: Wireless charger or charging pad used for phones).

Instruction Cycle - Also known as fetch-decode-execute cycle; basic operation performed by a CPU to execute an instruction; consists of several steps, each of which performs a specific function in the execution of the instruction.

Instruction Set Architecture (ISA) - The figurative blueprint for how the CPU operates and how all the internal systems interact with each other (I think of it like a blueprint for the brain).

Irising - Term used in fanfiction (specifically the Crime in Crystals series) to describe the action of the of the spark chamber opening ("The Talk", chapter 6, my absolute favorite chapter out of the entire series). I just really liked how the word sounded in that context.

Life Codes - "For those of us who were forged, Primus, through Vector Sigma, generated a pulse wave. Each one a data-saturated life code faster than thought, brighter than light, racing across Cybertron, sowing sparks..." (~Tyrest/Solomus, Volume 5 of More Than Meets the Eye)

Memory Hierarchy - Represents the relationship between caches, RAM, and main storage; when a CPU receives a memory instruction for a piece of data that it doesn't yet have locally in its registers, it will go down the memory hierarchy until it finds it.

Levels: L1 cache (usually smallest and fastest), L2 cache, L3 cache, RAM, and then main storage (usually biggest and slowest); available space and latency (delay) increase from one level to the next

Depending on the multi-core (a core is usually synonymous with a CPU) system, each core will have its own private L1 cache, share an L2 with one other core, and share an L3 with more or more cores.

Motors* - Any power unit that generates motion; electric motors work by converting electrical energy into mechanical energy... when this happens within a magnetic field, a force is generated which causes shaft rotation.

Multitasking Operating System - Allows users to run multiple programs and tasks almost simultaneously without losing data; manage system resources (such as computer memory and input/output devices), allocate resources, enable multiple users, and eliminate long wait times for program execution.

Network - A set of computers sharing resources located on or provided by network nodes. Computers use common communication protocols over digital interconnections to communicate with each other.

Network Feed - The continuously updating stream of content that users encounter on networking platforms.

Neural Network - A type of machine learning process that uses interconnected nodes (like neurons) to teach computers to process data in a way similar to the human brain; a form of deep learning that can help computers learn from their mistakes and improve their time.

Nimbus - A luminous cloud or a halo surrounding a supernatural being or a saint; has been used in fanfiction synonymously or in junction with the corona of the spark.

Nodes - A connection point between devices that allows data to be sent and received between them.

Oil Sump/Oil Pan - Don't forget to change your mech's oil.

Out-Of-Order Execution - A paradigm used to minimize downtime while waiting for other instructions to finish; allows a CPU to choose the most timely instructions to execute out of an instruction queue.

Overload - Orgasm; an electrical overload occurs when too much electricity passes through a circuit, exceeding its capacity; an information overload is when a system receives more input than it can process, or a state of being overwhelmed by the amount of data presented for processing.

Pedes - Feet

Pipelining - A technique used in computer architecture that allows a processor to execute multiple instructions simultaneously, improving overall performance.

Processing Capacity - The ability and speed of a processor, and how many operations it can carry out in a given amount of time.

Program Counter - A special register in a computer processor that contains the memory address (location) of the next program instruction to be executed.

Programmable Nanobots/Nanites - Cybertronian microbots programmed to do work at the molecular level; used popularly for surface healing and pigment in mechs.

Protected Storage - Provides applications with an interface to store user data that must be kept secure or free from modification; a storage method; a function in mainframe hardware.

Protoform - Formed of an ultra-dense liquid metal and are extremely hard to damage; the most basic Cybertronian form of raw, free-flowing living metal; first stage of Cybertronian life cycle

To create a Cybertronian, you need the protoform, the life-giving spark, and alt-form information.

Register - A type of computer memory built directly into the processor or CPU that is used to store and manipulate data during the execution of instructions.

Ex: "When you run a .exe on Windows... the code for that program is moved into memory and the CPU is told what address the first instruction starts at. The CPU always maintains an internal register that holds the memory location of the next instruction to be executed [the Program Counter]"...

Resource Allocations - The process of identifying and assigning available resources to a task or project to support objectives.

Risk Assessment - Focus on identifying the threats facing your information systems, networks, and data and assessing the potential consequences should these adverse events occur.

Routine - A component of a software application that performs a specific task (ex: Saving a file).

Servomechanism - A powered mechanism producing motion or force at a higher level of energy than the input level (ex: In the brakes and steering of large motor vehicles) especially where feedback is employed to make the control automatic.

Servos - Hands

Shellcode - A small piece of executable code used as a payload, built to exploit vulnerabilities in a system or carry out malicious commands. The name comes from the fact that the shellcode usually starts a command shell which allows the attacker to control the compromised machine.

Semiconductor - A material used in electrical circuits and components that partially conduct electricity.

Semiconductor materials include silicon, germanium, and selenium.

Struts - Bones; A rod or bar forming part of a framework and designed to resist compression.

System/System Unit (in computers) - A setup that consists of both hardware and software components organized to perform complex operations/The core of your computer where all the processing happens.

Task Specific Accelerator - Circuits designed to perform one small task as fast as possible (ex: Encription, media encoding & machine learning).

Teek - Used in Transformers fandom in conjunction with EM Fields; when a mech "teeks" another mech's field, they are feeling the emotions that mech is broadcasting.

Transistor - Enables a computer to follow instructions to calculate, compare and copy data.

Universal Serial Bus (USB) - A standard plug-and-play interface that allows computers and peripheral devices to connect with each other, transfer data, and share a power source; allows data exchange and delivery of power between many types of electronics; plug-and-play interface is also a type of sexual activity used in fandom.

Warren - Used to refer to a group of minibots with their own social hierarchy and culture (Seriously, read the Crime in Crystals series, it's better than canon).

[deedee-sims]

Hi DeeDee! I absolutely love your Write Articles mod; I think I downloaded the version that is incorporated to Midge's computer options. I just want to be able to edit it so that the hourly rate is more! I have some writer sims whose hourly rate can go up to 20K even ;) I tried my best to figure out how to edit but couldn't figure it out on SimPE. I previously tried to edit the financial consulting hourly rate too but failed at that as well... I'd appreciate so much if you could point the way!

Hi! Basically, there are lines in the Interaction - Write Article BHAV that say

Expression (Local 0x0002 := Const 0x2000:0x06)

Expression (Local 0x0002 := Const 0x2000:0x07)

Expression (Local 0x0002 := Const 0x2000:0x08)

This sets the amount of money that the sims earn as a base, depending on their creativity skill. The Consts are variables that refer to a game resource that's not included in the mod, but if you just want to change it to yourself quickly, you can:

Click on the little wrench icon next to the operands and change the Const to Literal, make sure you have Decimal checked, and you can just change the value to whatever. Then click okay, commit, and save the file.

I hope it helps!