@b0rk@jvns.ca avatar

b0rk

@b0rk@jvns.ca

programming and exclamation marks

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b0rk, to random
@b0rk@jvns.ca avatar

one small shipping update on the wizard zines store: If you're outside of the US and you just want to buy 1 printed zine (like https://wizardzines.com/zines/integers-floats/?utm_source=mastodon), now there's a "letter mail" shipping option at checkout! It's untracked but it's a lot cheaper than the tracked shipping.

b0rk,
@b0rk@jvns.ca avatar

@Kleist what did you order exactly? i’ll look into it

b0rk,
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@keyboardpipette yep! it’s available for all zines except the debugging zine

b0rk,
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@dzamir italy isn't on my list of PPP countries, should it be? I don't really have a sense for how much 11 euros buys in italy

ednl, to random
@ednl@mastodon.social avatar

Unfortunately I am not the target audience because it's part of my job to know this stuff :) but I have seen this zine grow on here and I think it's excellent AND fun if you want to know more about how your computer counts. By @b0rk: https://social.jvns.ca/@b0rk/110582856336720853

b0rk,
@b0rk@jvns.ca avatar

@ednl wow this is wonderful

b0rk, (edited ) to random
@b0rk@jvns.ca avatar

delighted to announce that my new zine "How Integers and Floats Work!" is out today!

You can get it here for $12: https://wizardzines.com/zines/integers-floats/?utm_source=mastodon

It explains all of the surprising facts about how your computer does math, and it was SO fun to write.

b0rk,
@b0rk@jvns.ca avatar

@hugoestr Vladimir (the illustrator who makes the covers) never misses, he's incredible

b0rk,
@b0rk@jvns.ca avatar

and here's the table of contents for How Integers and Floats Work! I'm really happy with the side by side layout of this one

b0rk,
@b0rk@jvns.ca avatar

@cuca I haven't written much about it but I use the affinity designer app on iPad, with an apple pencil

b0rk,
@b0rk@jvns.ca avatar

@autumn it is! I always handwrite the table of contents

b0rk,
@b0rk@jvns.ca avatar

@CaptWrungel I'm not sure, I've heard from a few people that they've given them to their kids! I'd love to hear whether it's a good level or not if you end up trying it

b0rk,
@b0rk@jvns.ca avatar

@qtko hooray, so happy to hear that!

b0rk,
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Reminder: if you’re in a country where $12 USD is a lot of money, I’ve set up purchasing power parity for “How Integers and Floats Work” — if you go to https://wizardzines.com/zines/integers-floats/?utm_source=mastodon, you should see a special discount for your country.

b0rk,
@b0rk@jvns.ca avatar

@dprk_ebooks yeah there's a page on fixed point arithmetic in the zine! (though it's not super in depth)

b0rk,
@b0rk@jvns.ca avatar

@justizin that's SO kind but I prefer to handle giving away free copies myself (we're going to be giving away some copies next week probably!)

b0rk,
@b0rk@jvns.ca avatar

@Sidneys1 basically there's a small server-side function I wrote that uses the client IP address to determine your country and then has a lookup table of discount rates/codes based on the country

b0rk,
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@justizin i hope the zine makes floating point a little more clear! would love to hear if it helps :)

b0rk,
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@RommelRico @Sidneys1 yea it's based on IP address

b0rk, (edited ) to random
@b0rk@jvns.ca avatar

"How Integers and Floats Work" is coming out later this week! Here's the about page.

You can sign up at https://wizardzines.com/zine-announcements/ to get an email when it's released!

b0rk,
@b0rk@jvns.ca avatar

I'm really happy with this “the way computers do math is weird" framing we arrived at -- I think it gets at why floating point weirdnesses and integer overflow can feel so upsetting (“it's MATH! it's supposed to behave how I EXPECT!”)

b0rk, (edited )
@b0rk@jvns.ca avatar

@benjohn yeah absolutely, it's fun to see something that I spent a lot of time learning about in math class ("the numbers modulo n”) have such a mainstream real-life application

b0rk,
@b0rk@jvns.ca avatar

@fclc You can sign up at https://wizardzines.com/zine-announcements/ to get an email when it comes out!

b0rk, to random
@b0rk@jvns.ca avatar

was on the @embedded podcast this week talking about my upcoming "How Integers and Floats Work" zine, plus some meta discussion about making zines https://embedded.fm/episodes/452

pinkhairedcyn, to random

I've long enjoyed the Computer Science cautionary tale about how Jon Postel was put in the position of deciding who legitimate governments were when handing out country code TLDs in the early 90s, but I didn't learn until today that he gave them out on a first-come, first-serve basis, meaning a lot of university CS departments and internet researchers ended up with the TLD for their entire country! (Citation: "Ruling the Root: Internet Governance and the Taming of Cyberspace by Milton Mueller)

b0rk,
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@pinkhairedcyn that’s so wild, makes me want to read more weird stories about internet governance.

b0rk, to random
@b0rk@jvns.ca avatar

32 bits is small

permalink: https://wizardzines.com/comics/32-bit-small/

b0rk,
@b0rk@jvns.ca avatar

definitely going to take out the "it's not the 90s, use 64 bits” line out of this one. I was already unsure about it (because it's obviously not true, you should use whatever size is appropriate for your use case) and from the responses I don't think it's adding much

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