AI-generated image of robot kittens playing with a ball of wool. A programmer sitting at a desk behind a computer is watching them.

Coding matters: Predictions, kittens and robots

Jacqui Coosner 2025-05-09

I made 3 predictions about the SARS system and I got all 3 right. But I still need a solution. Maybe a robot kitten will make me feel better?

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AI generated image of a thief, wearing a mask and running away with a trolley. A woman is chasing him.

Coding matters: The trolley thief

Jacqui Coosner 2025-04-11

Two recent experiences lead to a reminder about password hygiene. And why you should not talk on your cell phone and drive.

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Image of an older man and a menacing robot staring at each other.

Coding matters: AI vs software developers

Jacqui Coosner 2025-04-04

I apologise: today I am writing a longer, more serious post. A dire future? The AI Futures Project is a small research group that tries to predict the future of AI. It has written a terrifying forecast of the next few years. It reads like the sci-fi stories where robots

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Internet of too many things. Cartoon image of a young man smartly dressed staring in frustration at his tablet while there is an open dishwasher next to him.

Coding matters: IoTMT

Jacqui Coosner 2025-03-28

There is such a things as too many internet-connected devices. Do you really need to remotely control your dishwasher?

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A collection of AI-generated cartoon images to illustrate the bug names for Hindenbug, Hydra, Higgs Bugson and Mad Girlfriend.

Coding matters: Creepy-crawly categories

Jacqui Coosner 2025-03-20

Programmers have their own way to classify bugs. Here are some of the weird names I found for different kinds of errors.

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AI generated image of a rubber duck on a deks. There is a computer on the desk, because you can see the hands on the keyboard and the screen contains code.

Coding matters: Talk to your rubber duck

Jacqui Coosner 2025-02-28

The tech industry has lots of slang and buzz words. And ducks. More ducks that you might have realised.

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AI generated image of a frustrated programmer at a desk with his hands in the air. There is a robot in front of him. There are question marks everywhere.

Coding matters: Don’t lose (AI) perspective

Jacqui Coosner 2025-02-21

Everything in the tech news is about AI. There is lots of hype and panic and fear. But sometimes we need to take a step back from the noise. There are other perspectives on what AI does and doesn’t bring to the table.

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AI-generated image of a woman speaking on the phone. She is smiling while her computer explodes in the background.

Coding matters: Support your call centre

Jacqui Coosner 2025-02-07

We all love to hate call centres. The endless repetition of "Press 1 for this" and "Press 2 for that", often with options that make it hard to choose. That dreadful announcement that "You are number 54 in the queue". Followed by the inane "Please be patient. Your call is

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DeepSeek, the Chinese AI, made headlines after it caused a crash of US tech stocks. It also led to a spate of jokes. One popular meme was this: *"I can't believe ChatGPT lost its job to AI"* That's a bit funny, even if it's not true. But for many people, this is a real fear. ## FOBO I came across the acronym "FOBO" in a reference to the talks at the 2025 World Economic Forum in Davos. It was a new acronym for me, so I googled it. It can mean two different things. In the Davos context, it refers to *Fear of Becoming Obsolete*. We're all familiar with this fear. Even before AI, tech professionals have always worried that their skills may become outdated. New languages, new frameworks, new technologies. It's impossible to keep up. Add AI into the mix, and the fear doubles. ## A different FOBO The other meaning of FOBO is *Fear of Better Options*. I found even more search results for this. This is when you are so overwhelmed by the available choices, that you can't make a decision. Instead you constantly worry that there might be a better option. Like novices who can't decide which programming language to learn. I suppose you could get double FOBO. You can be afraid of becoming obsolete *and* overwhelmed by the different recommendations to prevent that. ## So many fears Out of curiousity, I asked Copilot about other acronyms relating to fear. It came up with these: * FODA - Fear of Doing Anything. * FOGI - Fear of Getting Involved. * FOJI - Fear of Joining In (or: Fear of Judgment or Inadequacy). * FOMO - Fear of Missing Out. * FORO - Fear of Running Out. (Remember the great toilet paper rush of 2020?) * FOTT - Fear of Trying Things. And for those in the tech world, Copilot provided a few more: * FOBI - Fear of Being Insecure. * FAANG - Fear of Algorithms and New Generations. Hmm. Without AI, I only found FOMO, FOBO and FORO. When I challenged Copilot on one of its suggestions, I got this response: *"I apologize for the confusion! It appears there was a mistake. FOGT doesn't actually stand for "Fear of Getting Hacked." I must have had a typo in my earlier response."* AI typos aside, it's easy to think up more acronyms like those. Try FOP - Fear of Purple / Pants / People / Politics. Or anything else that starts with P. ## We can't just be scared What about acronyms that are not about fear? JOMO, or "Joy of Missing Out", is the opposite of FOMO. It's for those of us who enjoy being alone at home (preferably with chocolate and a good book). JOMO is a real acronym. I asked Copilot for acronyms starting with "joy", that relate to technology. There aren't any, so it invented some. Like JOYDIGI - the Joy of Digital Innovation Growth Initiatives. I don't think that is going to catch on anytime soon. This seems like an area where we need to work on our terminology. And while you think about that, try doing a RAK - Random Act of Kindness. Do you have any positive acronyms to share?

Coding matters: The fear factor

Jacqui Coosner 2025-02-03

There’s a lot of FOBO in the tech industry. Jacqui gets some input on other fear acronyms, and the shortage of more positive acronyms.

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Coding matters: Lost in emoji translation

Jacqui Coosner 2025-01-24

Good grammer, correct spelling and proper punctuation are important. They matter for programming, and they matter for communication. But now we need to think about those emojis.

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Coding Matters

Coding matters: Predictions, kittens and robots

Coding matters: The trolley thief

Coding matters: AI vs software developers

Coding matters: IoTMT

Coding matters: Creepy-crawly categories

Coding matters: Talk to your rubber duck

Coding matters: Don’t lose (AI) perspective

Coding matters: Support your call centre

Coding matters: The fear factor

Coding matters: Lost in emoji translation

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