Category: Cutty’s Blog

Cutty’s Blog

The difference between lies and bullshit.

Posted on by Iain 'Cutty' Carlin

Philosopher Harry Frankfurt famously drew a distinction between lies and what he termed “bullshit”.

A lie is an untruth, but it is still tied to a fact. It is the corruption of the fact. Bullshit is speech with no basis in fact, in truth. Many of us think we live in an age of lies, when in fact we live in an age of bullshit.

Bullshit is like belief, its embrace affords no room for questioning.

Frankfurt’s notion of bullshit can help us better understand the nature of modern politics, advertising, news and even science (think climate change denial or anti-vaxxers).…

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Interface the virtual abstract

Posted on by Iain 'Cutty' Carlin

I’ve researched this several times now and keep forgetting the results. So, putting it here to record it for next time. What is the difference and usage for c# interfaces, virtual and abstract classes and methods? And where do you use them?

Interface

An interface specifies a contract.

  • Interfaces contain only declarations of the members in the class but cannot contain implementation details.
  • Interfaces do not have constructors
  • All methods in an interface MUST be implemented by the class
  • It only contains public access modifier because everything in the interface is public.
  • A child class can inherit from multiple interfaces (multiple inheritance)
  • [Note that properties in C# are in effect a method, so you can specify a property in an interface, but the property needs to be implemented by the derived class].
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If you’re going to be a dick, expect to be treated like one!

Posted on by Iain 'Cutty' Carlin

Don’t get me wrong, I know I’m a grumpy old bastard sometimes, and one of my character flaws is not admitting I’m wrong. But in the face of irrefutable proof that I’m wrong, I’ll most often accede the point.

However, one thing that gets my goat is when someone says something that is clearly wrong, is then proven wrong by stating the facts, then goes on to continue to rant about being treated disrespectfully rather than admit they were wrong in the first place!

If you’re going to act like a dick, expect to be treated with the same amount of respect as you gave!…

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A cloud mind…

Posted on by Iain 'Cutty' Carlin

Today’s Dilbert calendar strip got me thinking…imagine if it were possible to upload the contents of your brain for offline storage.

Wouldn’t it be great to have a backup of all your thoughts, memories and things you have learned over the years? Just like when your hard drive crashes on your computer, you might be able to restore your brain to a point in time. How useful would that be for people who get dementia or Alzheimers?

Even if you couldn’t restore to your biological brain mass, perhaps it might be possible to access those memories offline. In the Chrysler Club we often lament the loss of knowledge as former workers at Chrysler pass away and that history is gone forever.…

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Quote of the Day

Posted on by Iain 'Cutty' Carlin

“Life a good life. If there are gods and they are just, then they will not care how devout you have been, but will welcome you based on the virtues you have lived by. If there are gods, but unjust, then you should not want to worship them. If there are no gods, then you will be gone, but will have lived a noble life that will live on in the memories of your loved ones.”  – Marcus Aurelius (Roman Emperor and Philosopher)…

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