Happy things thread!

[Travis B.]

I made a simple optimization to zeptoforth on the RP2040 which dramatically improved its performance, simply by grouping large constants into blocks of 32, which are preferentially placed at the ends of words unless the constant buffer runs out of space, where then the block is compiled inline at that point (with a branch to jump over it), rather than by compiling large constants individually throughout the code, with unnecessary padding and branch instructions to jump over each individual constant separately. It also has shrunk the code by 23K just by removing the extra padding and branches.

[Man in Space]

I have got MediaWiki back up. Hopefully for real this time.

@Travis B.: It’s encouraging to see your passion and your recent successes with zeptoforth. Even though I’m not in that wheelhouse, I can appreciate the talent and dedication.

[Travis B.]

I have got MediaWiki back up. Hopefully for real this time.

Good luck!

@Travis B.: It’s encouraging to see your passion and your recent successes with zeptoforth. Even though I’m not in that wheelhouse, I can appreciate the talent and dedication.

I always like it when I see some appreciation of what I put into it, even though I personally do not expect others to appreciate it because it's very niche (the embedded Forth world is very niche, and being an embedded Forth RTOS is even more niche). Thanks!

[Travis B.]

And on that note, release 0.30.0 of zeptoforth is out, now with RP2040 large literal/long call optimizations and proper priority handling for task queues (used by semaphores, queue channels, and byte streams).

[Linguoboy]

I was sick as a fucking dog last week. Yesterday I felt human again and then toward evening I thought I was relapsing, but I seem basically fine today. So hurray?

[Travis B.]

I was sick as a fucking dog last week. Yesterday I felt human again and then toward evening I thought I was relapsing, but I seem basically fine today. So hurray?

Good to hear you're feeling better!

[Ares Land]

I was sick as a fucking dog last week. Yesterday I felt human again and then toward evening I thought I was relapsing, but I seem basically fine today. So hurray?

Nice to hear! This year's bugs are exceptionally nasty (I was, likewise, sick as a dog like week.)

[Linguoboy]

Thanks, y'all. Yeah, I'm used to getting, say, one exceptionally bad cold or a three-day flu every winter, but it's been a minute since I had a fever severe enough that I needed to take something for it. (It spiked at about 39℃.) And I couldn't tell you the last time I missed an entire week of work but there was just no way I could get anything done, not even working from home.

In other good news, while I was at the clinic yesterday, I went ahead and got my second booster shot. So far the effects are mild (which always feels like a mixed bag, but after all that time feeling miserable, I'll take it).

[Travis B.]

In other good news, while I was at the clinic yesterday, I went ahead and got my second booster shot. So far the effects are mild (which always feels like a mixed bag, but after all that time feeling miserable, I'll take it).

My daughter's doctor's office does not even do COVID shots because they don't want to bother with paying for the special refrigerators needed...

[Travis B.]

Release 0.30.2 of zeptoforth is out. This does not change much in user-facing functionality but adds significant performance optimizations.

[Linguoboy]

Finally feeling human again. Yesterday I met up with some friends for brunch and had a wonderful time. As I was going home I realised I'd been there for over eight hours.

[Raphael]

I'm glad to hear that!

[Travis B.]

I'm glad to hear that!

Seconded!

[Raphael]

In trivial family tech support news, I have, now, finished switching my Mom's email access to Outlook, as opposed to the web interface she was using until now. (Normally, I'd prefer web interfaces to apps like outlook, but in her case, she insists on using an email provider with ridiculously little server space, so using Outlook and POP3 is the most effective way to keep her older mails around in the long term.)

The reason why this is making me so happy is that the process itself made me so unhappy so often while it was going on.

[Vardelm]

My wife and I are headed to Ireland in 2 weeks for a 2 week vacation. This is a celebration for me turning 50 and finishing grad school. We were planning to go last October, but COVID Delta got in the way. This will be the longest vacation we've ever taken. CAN'T WAIT, but have SO MUCH TO DO!!!!

[Raphael]

My wife and I are headed to Ireland in 2 weeks for a 2 week vacation. This is a celebration for me turning 50 and finishing grad school. We were planning to go last October, but COVID Delta got in the way. This will be the longest vacation we've ever taken. CAN'T WAIT, but have SO MUCH TO DO!!!!

Congratulations! I hope all goes well!

[Vardelm]

Congratulations! I hope all goes well!

Thanks! It's been 22 years since I drove on the right side of the car and the left side of the road. If we can get through the 1st half hour or so of that, I think we're golden.

[rotting bones]

Good luck.

[hwhatting]

Thanks! It's been 22 years since I drove on the right side of the car and the left side of the road. If we can get through the 1st half hour or so of that, I think we're golden.

I had to learn that for the first time when I was 53, and it went easier than I thought. Everybody else on the road doing it the same way keeps you from forgetting it. The only thing that took a couple of days to sink in is how to correctly enter a roundabout.
Have fun in Ireland!

[Vardelm]

I had to learn that for the first time when I was 53, and it went easier than I thought. Everybody else on the road doing it the same way keeps you from forgetting it. The only thing that took a couple of days to sink in is how to correctly enter a roundabout.

Way back in 93 & 99 when I went to the UK, I actually found driving harder when I came back! I had to constantly think more consciously over there, and so back here ended up overthinking too much. For example, when you're at a left hand turn at an intersection with cars in the opposite direction also turning left, WHICH SIDE DO YOU PASS THEM ON??!!!!!