iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

William O'Connell

@william-oconnell.bsky.social

Web developer, game designer, and magician. Liker of .webp files. williamoconnell.me

William O'Connell @william-oconnell.bsky.social · 16/05/2026

Seems easy to be mislead by the relative numbers. The absolute chart shows CS as still having better job outcomes than average. Agree that people shouldn't pick majors solely on job predictions though.

Chart showing recent US university graduates in full time enjoyment as a percentage. The line for computer science has decreased since 2015 but is still slightly above the "all graduates" line.

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William O'Connell @william-oconnell.bsky.social · 04/03/2026

Which search engine?

Google search results page for "jfk airport", showing an info card with links to call the airport, get directions, or visit their website.

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William O'Connell @william-oconnell.bsky.social · 17/01/2026

Is the screenshot from a Google SERP, or from Gemini? I guess it's not technically REST but the manual does seem to show an HTTP API.

Page from the ioLogik E2200 Series Manual, titled "CGI Commands". It reads:

Using a web browser or standard HTTP protocol will make it easier for a Security SCADA system to monitor and control an ioLogik via CGI commands.

Syntax to get the settings is as follows. Starting with the ioLogik's IP or URL, specify getParam.cgi with a question mark. Then specify the command with another question mark as the ending. The commands are case sensitive and the & sign is used to combine multiple commands.

http://IP/getParam.cgi?command_channel=?&command_channel=?&..... (Max 200 char)

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William O'Connell @william-oconnell.bsky.social · 06/01/2026

Yeah, I'm just basing that on this review of one the other books supposedly by this author:

Amazon review, two stars. It reads:
The first book I’ve read that seems to have been written by AI. No information at all about the author. The last page says the book was ‘manufactured by Amazon.com.au’! You do learn some things, but it’s very repetitive — the same information comes back 4 or 5 times throughout the reading, sometimes just one page later! Unfortunately there are no illustrations apart from the cover ‘photo’, which is an image created by AI. It feels like information scraped from the Internet and published as a book. Disappointing and misleading.

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William O'Connell @william-oconnell.bsky.social · 25/07/2025

Sigh... it's always Firebase.

Users from 4chan claim to have discovered an exposed database hosted on Google's mobile app development platform, Firebase, belonging to the newly popular women's dating safety app Tea. Users say they are rifling through peoples' personal data and selfies uploaded to the app, and then posting that data online, according to screenshots, 4chan posts, and code reviewed by 404 Media.

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William O'Connell @william-oconnell.bsky.social · 16/07/2025

"Usually, there's no need", but "in some situations it may be important"? Is there somewhere else where it's worded more strongly? I don't see why this is any different than non-alt text. If a framework gave compiler warnings for run-on sentences I would throw my laptop out a window.

Text from w3.org about image alt text:

Superfluous information in the text alternative:
Usually, there’s no need to include words like “image”, “icon”, or “picture” in the alt text. People who can see will know this already, and screen readers announce the presence of an image. In some situations, it may be important to distinguish between paintings, photographs, or illustrations, etc., but it’s best to avoid the more generic use of the terms.

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