Arrays of Boolean values in Java

I have Java methods taking Boolean arguments and I want to test every combination of those. To have our testing framework try those combinations I need to provide it with a two-dimensional array of the n-bit Boolean values. The code I once had is, ( more Java code. )

I thought that was quite neat. However, with advances in both Java and Google's Guava one can now replace all that with, ( less Java code. )

Admittedly I doubt that either is easily read.

Quintessentially English

I wonder if cups of tea are English in particular. I remember being amused years ago in reading some story in the Guardian Weekly, I think, in which somebody with passport trouble went to the British Consulate in Paris for help and indeed one welcome aspect of the help was a cup of tea. I am reminded of this in noticing that some Scottish Gaelic speakers appear to switch to English mid-sentence for the phrase cup of tea. I am sure they must have the words in their own language but perhaps as a familiar concept the custom is decidedly an import.

The demise of local banking in Britain

My bank's branch nearest campus has closed so this morning I did something new to me though familiar to others: I deposited a check via the post office, whose branches are more abundant. I don't get to use the fancy bank machine that scans the check, reads the amount and prints me a scan on the receipt, but I am happy to try to not use a bank branch unnecessarily. For years British banks have been closing local branches as people's banking moves online, partly because the banks themselves do what they can to steer customers to automated alternatives. Every few weeks even I go to the bank, not because I choose to but because what I want to do must be done in person, typically for security reasons.

The banks quite reasonably say that it is costly to operate a branch but when I go into one it is a large, grand place filled with people able to handle all manner of operations on a walk-in basis. I would be quite satisfied with making an appointment in advance for a specific kind of activity then going to perform it in some unassuming small office above a retail store; perhaps what I want to do could be available only on a couple of afternoons per week or something, based on who's scheduled to be on hand. That might allow a bank to maintain a local presence far more cheaply even as their competitors have moved out of their grand main-street buildings. They could even turn up in a large mobile van for all I care. However, I may be unusual both in generally having in-person banking patterns that are amenable to short-term forward planning and in my not caring about the grandeur of the establishment. I am well aware of who ultimately pays for that grandeur: the customer.