dampier

All due respect, I think "explains that" would be more accurate than "explains how" here

Heh ... agreed. A comment here would definitely not go amiss.

If you read the code, you will notice that the FIRST time this error is encountered, it will always be logged.

The test in question is done frequently, and subsequent failures are about 100 times less interesting than the first. Unless you just like filling up disks with log files while your network is acting up.

Finally, note that the "_ok" flag will be RESET and the resolved condition logged once the test finally returns to succeeding.

These guys are doing Good Things.

This fills me with hope.

Functionally striking, visually beautiful -- it makes me feel suddenly like things are coming together in a way that might stick this time around.

In form: Value placed on aesthetics -- beautiful & functional design -- is a concept that's taken root in the marketplace at large.

In code: Like gfodor commented, it feels like the doors are open wider than they've been in a long time to new ideas, and that we see some elegant language mechanisms being rediscovered and rising to the top.

In tools: The same pattern ... with lots of points of reference, a critical mass of seekers and open source contributors, and bootstrapped on powerful tools that allow rapid expression of new ideas, the good ones see the light of day and, if successful, can take an advantage of an unprecedented kinetics of this ecology to rise to viability and then prominence.

I hope you'll forgive me if I'm blowing this out of proportion to wax elegiac or whatever -- it just suddenly feels like a good day to be a programmer.

This fills me with hope.

Functionally striking, visually beautiful -- it makes me feel suddenly like things are coming together in a way that might stick this time around.

In form: Value placed on aesthetics -- beautiful & functional design -- is a concept that's taken root in the marketplace at large.

In code: Like gfodor commented, it feels like the doors are open wider than they've been in a long time to new ideas, and that we see some elegant language mechanisms being rediscovered and rising to the top.

In tools: The same pattern ... with lots of points of reference, a critical mass of seekers and open source contributors, and bootstrapped on powerful tools that allow rapid expression of new ideas, the good ones see the light of day and, if successful, can take an advantage of an unprecedented kinetics of this ecology to rise to viability and then prominence.

I hope you'll forgive me if I'm blowing this out of proportion to wax elegiac or whatever -- it just suddenly feels like a good day to be a programmer.

Agreed on all counts. I was there in February, and can't recommend it highly enough for any self-respecting nerd. Many wonderful artifacts from the history of human ingenuity, and an incredible sense of place. It was there that I saw my first Dekatron!

Mr. Sale's enthusiasm for and dedication to this functioning piece of history -- and to educating more recent generations about it -- were truly inspiring. It was fun to see a group of schoolchildren hanging on his every word as he pointed out parts of the machine ... after which he simply went back to tinkering with it alongside his colleague.

I'm really sad to learn of his passing. But I'm deeply grateful for the legacy he's left behind.