I have been a bit busy migrating VPS. I have been with Vultr for many years, and wanted to scrap that super old, bloated VPS and start afresh. Vultr is amazing, but their pricing for an 8GiB is too high, and Hetzner’s 4vCPU, 8GiB RAM pricing was very sweet, and almost impossible to beat. Much work left to do on the migration, but getting there. Must finish before next billing cycle comes up.
“Officially, we are required to investigate, document, and disclose any and all signs of sentience in the systems we ship, without prejudice, fear or favor. Unofficially, I advise that we call it pattern matching and forget the whole thing.”
Almost verbatim (with the obvious changes) to “They are made out of Meat”, “The are made out of Weights” one was a fun read—just as much as the original is.
➝ Via Hacker News.
Re: Blue #1780072425
That’s right, blue, it is like tossing a message in a bottle. “🎶 I hope that someone gets my, I hope that someone gets my, I hope that someone gets my message in a bottle, yeah. Message in a bottle, yeah. 🎶”
Not long ago, I noted about the InCommon mess. It is worth repeating that it is certainly not something that was “done carefully”. Last Friday, after quitting time, I got an email from Sectigo—the CA InCommon is migrating away from—that reads, amongst other things:
As schools plan their response to InCommon’s forced migration, many are taking a moment to do their due diligence before locking into a long-term commitment.
This isn’t just a vendor swap, it’s a change in Certificate Authority and backend, which can have lasting operational impact. Changing CAs and backends is not the simplest path forward.
Does that sounds like there is no war at Ba Sing Se?
I came across Shantell Sans tonight. I am not fond of Comic Sans, but though Shantell Sans was inspired by it, I, I, think it is next level, and nothing like the obnoxious Comic S. What do you think? Am I right, or not? Anyway, I like it. It is joyful, and very readable (unlike Comic Sans). I can’t help feeling that that doesn’t mean much, though, as I am a sucker for fonts.
➝ Via Hacker News.
“Humans are valuable.” You can just say it. As a human yourself, I advise you to. You do not need to qualify it. This is a robust statement that is not conditional on a point-in-time snapshot of the leading frontier model’s score on some recent benchmark.
There it is, a more balanced—as in meet in the middle—argument to the LLM debate. One that made me pinch my chin while reading it, and delve into my own thoughts. The “robust statement” the quote above refers to comes from the Magnifica Humanitas.
This, towards the end, made me chuckle, because I think it carries a humorous truth:
In a recent conversation about (not) using LLMs to mediate human communication, my friend Tom Hudson told me, “If you’re going to use an LLM to write me an email, I’d much rather you just send me the prompt; at least then I’d have an idea of what you actually meant to say.
Yep, tru dat!
➝ Via Hacker News.
The Singularity is Nearer
https://geohot.github.io/blog/ →
I’m calling it now, the adoption of AI agents into software development will be one of the most costly mistakes in the field’s history. Agents cannot program, and it’s taking longer and longer to realize that they can’t. They are a highly sophisticated statistical model designed to mimic the distribution of programming. The output is broken, but in a way that’s getting harder and harder to detect. Which is exactly what you’d expect from an increasingly accurate statistical model.
Check out The Eternal Sloptember. Just another within the same late series.
If AI takes over the coding, that layer of knowledge disappears. Not just for the user, but for the software engineers themselves. The product becomes a black box. And yes, perhaps new craftsmanship emerges in directing the AI agent, but that doesn’t build the same deep knowledge of what you’re actually making.
While on the topic of clankers, I came across a related blog post: “Computer Says No”. Finding similar posts is becoming quite easy these days. That’s a telling.
Because of this (I know, a rather silly reason) I am warming up to the idea of owning a typewritter. Having used one during my childhood, and up until I was 22 years old or so, I am sure I would feel right at home with one. The one thing that’s making me doubt, and most likely hold me back, is their price.
“Under which conceivable circumstance”, I thought, “would keeping these two small little plastic containers be justifiable?” The containers are empty Maxwell House’s french vanilla coffee. Certainly they could be put to good use, but so many other things too. If we were to keep everything we could hypothetically use in the future, we would certainly be in trouble. I am not falling down that rabbit hole, good try White Rabbit 🐰🕳️! And to the recycle bin they went.
I like the term clanker, to refer to AI. I think I am going to use it from now on. Also, in the spirit of no hello—which I used twice this week—there is also a no slop grenade, and don’t quote the AI, which I will use as well—because such thing has become a pandemic at work. Oh, and because it is relevant, don’t ask to ask. Just ask!
We have been watching “Dark” (★★★★☆) , a Netflix series. It is, sort of, similar to “Stranger Things” (★★★☆☆) , though it has a more “scientific” twist in it which makes it very appealing to me. I have also been enjoying its German cast very much; a refreshing change to the more-than-well-known cast in American series. The series itself is 100% more credible because of their setting, as they are not manicured and “perfect”, like the series around here are.
The time has come, once again, to spend time with the dearly departed. Oh no, don’t worry, they aren’t dead; they are just retired workmates, and friends 😅. When there was only one retired it was easy. Now, with four retired, it is nothing short of an epic achievement to get them all together in one place, one day, at a certain hour. But try I must!
Kid is preparing to take the GRE. Out of concern, because as parents we worry about our children, I asked him two days ago how was the studying going. His reply wasn’t too clear, but I gathered he is moving along, while struggling here and there. Life, of course, is an amalgamation of things. One must have some fun while in the struggle, I get that. Focussing on what’s at hand is also very important. I fear he is gluttoning on fun things, while starving the other side of the balance.
We are getting older, and I worry about him should something were to happen to us. I don’t want to come across as a nagger. I will ask him again on his progress come 26 July, 2026.
Mike's website
https://mlsu.io →
Can you imagine? This thing has 8 little CPUs, plus many more auxiliary video, audio, image, etc. processors. It generates signals at 2.35 GHz: that’s BILLIONs of little electrical pings PER SECOND. It represents millions of hours of intelligent design by some of the smartest people on the planet. It uses mankind’s most advanced manufacturing processes to lay out and place, at nanometer scale, the billions of transistors and other structures into a material so pure that perhaps doesn’t exist in that form anywhere else in the galaxy.
And “they threw this away!”. Gasp! Sadly, yes. By the millions.
“Red Hat is a family of typefaces produced in 2 optical sizes and a monospace style, in a range of weights with italics. The fonts were originally commissioned by Paula Scher, Pentagram and designed by Jeremy Mickel, MCKL for the new Red Hat identity.”
Today I discovered the font above, Red Hat Text and, of course, I had to get it, and try it. My beloved Open Sans is hard to displace, but I am always willing to try new ones. After all, I love fonts!
Shared by movq, a list of grievances—should I say?—on the use or abuse of AI. I am far from being a luddite, but I agree with all. These hit hard:
The issue that double-checking AI output is a painstaking process that takes a long time and a lot of discipline. AI tools use human language and I’ve observed many times that people have a hard time keeping up their “guards”; the output looks like it was written by an expert, which makes it much more “believable”. So, realistically, most people don’t verify the output and they resort to “lgtm”. We might even blindly trust that thing and call it “vibe coding”. How’s blindly trusting anything good?
Oh boy, I am seeing that almost daily.
There’s the (upcoming) brain drain. AI takes over the jobs of juniors. Hence no more juniors. Hence no more seniors – in a few years. You need to train people and you need to do that on real world projects, otherwise they don’t learn the skills that they need.
So much truth! This one made me sad, and worried. You, yes, you reading this, you know it is true.
As I foresee that my Postcrossing notes, at some point, might inundate the front page (see how hopeful I am? 😅), I decided that it was best to hide them from it. They will still be under their tag and, of course, searchable.
The superior man, when resting in safety, does not forget that danger may come. When in a state of security he does not forget the possibility of ruin. When all is orderly, he does not forget that disorder may come.
Attributed to Confucious, the quote above was paraphrased on the “Perfect Crown” (★★★☆☆) , a Korean series Horsie is forcing me to see. The translated caption on a text written in Seoye by the monarch on the series reads “In times of peace, do not forget danger, in times of prosperity, do not forget ruin, in times of order, do not forget chaos”. Indeed.
I have been watching Shrinking (★★★★★) this long weekend of mine. I have binged it just a little bit. The thing is, it’s easy to see why: I love dramedies, and this one is very well done. It also helps that every episode is merely 30 minutes long, and that it has a pretty good cast. For me, it’s perfect.
The series has the right combination of funny, gut wrenching, happy, sad feelings. And, well, all that is right up my alley, too.
On 15 of May 2026 I started receiving daily emails at work addressed to “Dr. Fries”, with links to papers, conference invitations, etc. Apparently I have become a heart surgeon. If I knew becoming a doctor was this easy, I would have become one long ago. I wouldn’t have picked “Fries” (sorry if that is your surname, not intending to mock it), though. They aren’t good for your heart. Trust me, I know, I am a doctor.
Update: 09 Jun 2026 @ 17:26:21
TIL, thanks to Lyse, that Fries is a German surname, and that it is pronounced more like “Freeze”. Dr. Freeze sounds pretty cool, not going to lie—no pun intended! 😂
The Sun has begun to shine through the upper window of the room where I sit when I work from home. It is a sign of an arriving summer. Though I welcome its gentleness—it is very soft at the time it hits my glasses from behind—I am fully aware of what is to follow: parching heat. Yes, summer is coming.
While fika may seem like just a coffee and cake break, it holds a much deeper cultural significance in Sweden. It’s a moment to pause, connect and recharge — often more about the company and conversation than the coffee itself.
Today, more than ever, we need fika in our lives. To pause, connect (without electronics!), and recharge. Indeed!
Grabbing everything bagel chips from the box, and re-arranging said box afterward, so that Horsie doesn’t realise I have taken some, is the ultimate deception. Let’s see how well I fare. 😅
Having almost everyone going back to the office has brought a shortage of available toilets at any giving moment. Today, for example, I tried to utilise one in four different occasions finding them all occupied. The fifth time I decided to camp out, and started a timer. It took 15 minutes for one to become available. Oh, and not everyone is back to the office. Come June, so we are told, everyone will come back, five days a week. It is going to be chaotic, to say the least.
Loo shortage, who would have thought, eh?!
This year, I have only watched one new movie worth my five star rating. Last week, I watched the second. I admit that “Project Hail Mary” (★★★★★) left me with a knot in my throat at least a couple of times. It was absolutely worth the $25 we paid for it—we bought it instead of renting it because it was $20 versus $25—and it’s one I will certainly watch again.
Benches are microcosms of an expansive debate about who belongs in urban public spaces. When they are removed or made uninviting, we lose more than just a place to rest.
I completely agree with this, and have noticed the “benchless” trend. I feel we are lacking of humanity by not having them. I don’t like it, and I am glad I am not alone. Why are they getting removed around here? Hobos.
➝ Via Hacker News.
Came across a fortune cookie photo on r/pics, which read “The one who gives should not remember, the one who receives should not forget.” Of course, being Reddit, it has a lot of sarcastic, witty, off-the-rails, etc., comments. What would people expect from a fortune cookie, right? Yet the essence of it, what I think it refers to—and that is, to do good and forget, and to always remember the good received—remains.
Lately, Kaizen has taken over the division under which I work. It is kaizen everywhere: on walls, there are weekly meetings about it; kaizen this, kaizen that. The push to “kaizenise” every team is real. While laudable, it ceases to be the bottom up, voluntary “philosophy”. Yet, even for us, non-Japanese, the approach is worth it. So is rajio taisō. Actually, Americans would benefit a lot from the second. Should I propose it?
A beautiful cardinal has chosen our house front bushes to make his home. It is a shy bird, and so far haven’t been able to take a photo (sorry, Lyse!). That didn’t stop us from fully “adopting” him, so we went and bought, and installed, a feeder, and the most delicious, organic seeds we could find.
Space: the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its five years mission: to explore strange new worlds; to seek out new life and new civilizations; to boldly go where no one has gone before!
George had told me about this one a while back, and I had it on my watchlist. Now it’s no longer. We started to watch “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds” (★★★★★) last night. Soooo good! Even though we only saw two episodes, I can confidently rate it (if that were to change, I will update this note).
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It is no secret that I love fonts. I collect them, and enjoy them very much in all mediums. It shames me to admit that I had forgotten how nice Verdana looks. I am noting this incidentally, because I came across this post, which is pretty good, and humorous on its own, and, yes, the author uses Verdana.
The kid and I had some small talk over a bowl I broke while doing the dishes. He wrongly thought I had broken a mug of his that I often use to drink coffee, and was lamenting its loss. Even though I didn’t break it, and told him so, I reminded him that one day it will break, so he may as well get used to that fact. Everything eventually breaks, it’s just a matter of time.
I agree with Claudine. Just like her, I grew tired of social media a while back. That includes LinkedIn, for those fooling themselves to believe it isn’t (it is, actually, one of the worse). Today I have accounts on Instagram (and by inheritance, Threads), Bluesky, Reddit, Hacker News, the Fediverse, twtxt, and LinkedIn. I contribute to none, but twtxt (sporadically), and browse to none—but Hacker News and Reddit—unless it is strictly needed: say, a friend sends me a link to either of them. On Reddit (very specific subs) and Hacker News I am mostly a read-only consumer.
It is all fake, Claud, very fake.
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