Ben Zanin

Robertson screwdriver owner, believer in the value of personal-scale computing and skeptic of the value of computing scales any larger than that

(previously https://twitter.com/gnomon ; account de-funked)

Small hacks: https://git.sr.ht/~gnomon/

Pronouns: he/him
💍: Katie Lou Boo (npub1myf…3whl)
Home: 🇨🇦 Toronto, Canada
Trash animals: raccoons, possums, skunks, rats, squirrels, not geese

Public Key

npub12r057c0mkenl95y75a2hufpyuv8e7we9vqy2kjnk2z26rhun7u2sawqh4d

NIP-05 Address

[email protected]

Profile Code

nprofile1qqs9ph60v8amvelj6z02w4t7ysjwxrul8vjkqz9tffm9p9dpm7flw9gpz3mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuerpd46hxtnfduqs6amnwvaz7tmwdaejumr0dslm6gd3

Publishing to

relay.damus.io

nos.lol

Author Public Key

npub12r057c0mkenl95y75a2hufpyuv8e7we9vqy2kjnk2z26rhun7u2sawqh4d

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Last Notes

2026-06-17 13:49:06 CEST

RE: https://mastodon.scot/@andrewducker/116764925855918719
I am skeptical but curious about the results and the specific methodology and equipment
#note14sc…u820

2026-06-04 02:48:05 CEST

I love reading through a codebase liberally annotated with comments noting ideas and techniques cribbed from blog posts, textbooks, research papers, personal correspondence.
I feel like a lot of that ends up in pull requests instead of codebase comments now. That's not necessarily a bad thing, except that pull requests tend to be locked inside walled gardens while git repos move the history durably and fluidly.
Anyhow. Just something I really enjoy. Thanks to those who do that. Love it. ❤️

2026-05-21 13:25:38 CEST

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ANGINE DE POITRINE

2026-05-06 22:27:14 CEST

You know that 4GB AI model that Google Chrome silently installs on your machine?
Keep in mind that the Chrome team decided to do that because *they thought it was a good idea*. If user outrage is sufficient to cause that decision to be rolled back, they'll still push the same AI features, only hosted remotely instead of locally.
If you're going to trust software from a development team somewhere, you are making a decision to trust their processes and to accept their pressures.
Choose wisely.

2026-04-14 02:28:55 CEST

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oh jeez it's not a short list
- open source LED flashlight firmware
- folding bicycles
- mechanical keyboard designs
- music metadata tagging strategies and trade-offs
- pneumatic, mechanical, and other non-electric espresso makers
- mechanical side-release buckles
- scripting under POSIX sh, Bourne, and ksh93
- battery chemistry types

2026-03-17 01:09:42 CET

Not "Atlassian laid off 1,600 people, 10% of its workforce"
But rather: "Atlassian leadership, with 300,000+ paying customers & ~5.2 billion USD in revenue & 6+ billion USD in assets in 2025, failed to line up their financial projections with their own staffing projections, and acted to place the burden of this gap on their direct reports rather than leadership, executive compensation packages, assets, or shareholders"
Layoffs should be personally mortifying. Boards should change.
For shame.

2026-03-07 23:42:04 CET

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I worry that even in those cases where the slop isn't shipped directly to users, there will still be many management-down conversations with a shape like "my vibecoded MVP lit up in one weekend; of course it'll take longer to write a \"proper\" version, but six months? Really? How much can we improve the MVP with two weeks of work instead?"
And we're going to discuss over and over and over again how there is no smooth, iterative, safe progression from a house of cards to a skyscraper.

2026-03-06 15:52:00 CET

Me: *waiting for the bus*
Bus:
Bus:
Bus:
...
Bus: *three bi arrive at the same time*

2026-02-27 15:28:31 CET

I get the strong impression that early, learning developers are better served by the tools offered with fantasy game consoles than by professional dev tools these days.
That impression underscores my belief that good dev tools should optimize for joy, experimentation, discovery, learning, and play *first*, and raw throughput second, if it all.
1/2

2025-12-31 15:23:36 CET

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have... have you seen the extremely flirty Parmesan cheese ad spread
I feel like cheese flirting is its own special domain into which I dare not tread

2025-12-13 22:19:12 CET

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was it actually named wolfquest?? Do you remember on what platform it ran? I need to find out whether this was a real thing or some kind of hallucinated fever dream

2025-12-04 02:29:43 CET

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which is to say: I love Canada. I love my country. But the way we are behaving with petroleum is not an outlier: *it is what we do*. We can do so much better, and we absolutely should.
To do that, the industries profiting from this behavior need to be severely reined in; and to do _that_ we need to knock the slats out of their continued excellent success at keeping even the fact that they are doing it out of the public consciousness.
2/2

2025-12-04 02:25:56 CET

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not to rebut your point but rather than reinforce it: the Canadian asbestos industry fought tooth and nail with increasingly dirty tactics¹ to continue mining & selling asbestos from and to markets with weaker health regulations and vulnerability to Canada's reputation for prizing science and health care until a decades-long fight² finally banned the industry... *in 2018*.
1/2
¹: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5664636/
²: https://www.asbestos.com/news/2018/10/22/canada-asbestos-ban-exemptions/
³: https://www.canada.ca/en/environment-climate-change/news/2018/10/the-government-of-canada-takes-measures-to-ban-asbestos-and-asbestoscontaining-products.html

2025-11-06 17:38:57 CET

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I'm not sure how well this will work for your desire to synchronize read/unread messages between multiple machines though since most NNTP clients I know about keep those records in a machine-local file. Do you have this problem solved already?
It is possible to read groups from a local mirror via IMAP as well through public-inbox-imapd, but I believe that is read-only, so read/unread status would not be stored on your local server either.
...

2025-11-06 17:37:49 CET

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Adding additional mailing lists to my inbox (e.g. https://lore.kernel.org/git/_/text/mirror/ ) is a matter of running the mirroring instructions, waiting for the `public-inbox-index` step to finish, then either SIGHUP'ing or just stopping/restarting the public-inbox-nttpd process. (And updating my NNTP client subscription list, of course.)
...

2025-11-06 17:34:03 CET

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The indexing process on my machine took a few minutes and produced a ~175MB Xapian index and a ~1MB header index.
Then I started a local public-inbox NNTP daemon with..:
```
public-inbox-nntpd -l 127.0.0.1:1119
```
(When invoked interactively that process produces some interesting output on the console - worth peeking through once or twice.)
After that everything worked with no drama: I connected to my local NNTP server with a client (GNUS in emacs, in my case).
...

2025-11-06 17:30:11 CET

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Then after I had that initial repo clone in place, the other mirroring steps worked properly:
```
cd ~/public-inbox/ && \
public-inbox-init -V1 --ng inbox.comp.mail.public-inbox.meta \
meta ./meta https://public-inbox.org/meta \
[email protected]
public-inbox-index ./meta
```
That created the Xapian content indices and the sqlite3 message map header indices under ./meta/public-inbox/ and my config at ~/.public-inbox/config
...

2025-11-06 17:26:54 CET

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The key point that was missing from the public-inbox docs for me is that a V1 mirror _is only a bare git repo plus some extra metadata_, whereas a V2 mirror _is a directory that holds metadata and several git repos_. I needed this context to understand why I was failing to mirror the public-inbox development list.
I created ~/public-inbox/ and then per https://public-inbox.org/meta/_/text/mirror/ ran:
```
git clone --mirror https://public-inbox.org/meta ~/public-inbox/meta/
```
...

2025-11-06 17:26:34 CET

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That idea makes a lot of sense, it's similar to why I set up local list mirrors too.
(I'm going to thread a few responses in a row together here - apologies in advance for the spam. I'll mark the end of the thread when I get there.)

2025-11-06 15:06:13 CET

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I was a bit stumped at first too, unfortunately. (In particular I was tripped up by how the public-inbox list itself was a V1 archive but almost all the other lists I care about are V2, and the difference is material.)
Would you like some help? I've worked through these things recently, they're fresh in my mind.

2025-09-22 04:01:50 CEST

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"Did we calculate that the other shore was just over the horizon?"
"Yes, so we should see it momentarily."
They're paddling a single-hull inflatable boat _over the horizon_? Can we get a quick back-of-the-napkin calculation about the distance to the horizon based on the curvature of Mars? I am skeptical of their paddling speed estimates.
#monsterdon

2025-09-22 04:00:06 CEST

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ooh they brought pool floaties, good planning
#monsterdon

2025-09-22 03:58:28 CEST

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The crew preparing for the buffeting of explosively clawing up out of a gravity well by fastening nothing more than a car-style lap belt is pretty hilarious, you have to admit.
#monsterdon

2025-09-22 03:52:07 CEST

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MONSTER CLAW
#monsterdon

2025-09-22 03:50:40 CEST

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Ooh are we about to meet a rat-crab-bat-spider monster?
I think we are!!
Aww lookit the little cutie
#monsterdon

2025-09-22 03:48:20 CEST

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...could you please also not smoke a pipe in a spacecraft running an atmosphere of compressed oxygen and recirculated air
...directly next to the two-light alert panel with a green light labelled "NORMAL", a red light labelled "EXCESSIVE", and a panel title that reads "OXYGEN CONSUMPTION"
#monsterdon

2025-09-22 03:47:25 CEST

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"Like the super intelligence that keeps a colony of ants working in perfect unity back on earth."
👀 @npub1ppe…qv2g 🐜
#monsterdon

2025-09-22 03:42:11 CEST

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"I know you think I acted like a hysterical female back there, but I can take care of myself. I won't get out of your sight."
"Have it your way, Irish."
*she immediately walks out of his sight*
welp✕3
#monsterdon

2025-09-22 03:40:54 CEST

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This horrid red filter for all these outdoor scenes on Mars is pretty hard on the eyes, but I expect it was probably a pretty clever way to shoot a bunch of footage with cheaper black and white film, and also camouflage some prop work and set dressing that would otherwise more strongly challenge the willing suspension of disbelief.
#monsterdon

2025-09-22 03:33:45 CEST

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"Suppose this alien infection spreads? To all of us?"
Maybe that was a thought worth considering before you put the other doctor behind an isolation *checks notes* uhhhh curtain? Oh well yolo
#monsterdon

2025-09-22 03:32:26 CEST

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WINDOW MONSTER
#monsterdon

2025-09-22 03:31:37 CEST

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"No no, I'll go. It's about time Iris and I had a chance to use this expensive equipment of ours."
...says the guy standing inside an interplanetary spaceship
#monsterdon

2025-09-22 03:23:46 CEST

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Oh jeez, can you even imagine the horrible consequences of using an electric razor in a zero-gravity craft with recirculated air? That's an out-the-airlock offense for sure.
Uhh also putting on perfume, that would not be great either.
#monsterdon

2025-09-22 03:21:46 CEST

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"Mars... the angry red planet."
*twelve dozen geese honk in perfect synchrony*
*train horns honk in the distance*
*ticker tape drops all over downtown*
THAT'S THE NAME OF THE MOVIE
#monsterdon

2025-09-22 03:19:31 CEST

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SPACE LECH CONFIRMED
please do not try to date your coworkers
especially when you have to share living quarters with them that are about the size of a couple of large phone booths taped together
_doubly especially not right at the beginning of the mission_
#monsterdon

2025-09-22 03:14:04 CEST

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If they keep referring to Dr. Ryan as "the girl" I'm going to get a bit ticked off.
#monsterdon

2025-09-22 03:11:48 CEST

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Call me OHSA brained but I feel like that rocket exit/entry ramp could really benefit from a handrail or something.
#monsterdon

2025-09-22 03:06:55 CEST

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"Then there is fuel aboard!"
"But there's only one question: how much?"
I thought we covered a whole bunch of other questions in the immediately prior scene..?
(voiceover) "The answers to these questions and many more..."
Right, exactly, more than just one question then.
#monsterdon

2025-09-22 03:00:07 CEST

Getting ready for #monsterdon, kicking off in just a moment!

2025-08-27 14:31:36 CEST

[@mos_8502](https://studio8502.ca/@mos_8502 ) hey man, how are you doing today? I've been a bit buried under work the last 4-5 weeks and behind on my timeline here, I only just saw your health scare the other day.

2025-08-23 01:19:40 CEST

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You're right, it will, and that's my main point: Mozilla has charged off in a direction that is causing it to lose decades of accumulated goodwill they earned by being careful stewards of the trust of their users. They are not being intellectually honest with themselves.
The fine points you're raising are valid and should be examined, carefully! But Mozilla needs to get the broad strokes right first, or those details won't even matter: the userbase will simply abandon them.

2025-08-22 22:28:03 CEST

For pete's sake, @npub16pr…crsg : if you want to measure whether the AI/ML features are worth a damn, put a big green "disable all AI in my browser" button on the version update screen and put some telemetry around how many people instantly click it.
Just about everyone I know who has taken the 142 update is working through about:config menus to toggle off everything under browser.ml.* and grumbling about it, or just straight-up abandoning Firefox in exasperation.
Turn the ship around. *Please*.

2025-07-21 03:58:42 CEST

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"Maybe tomorrow it'll be our world again."
"Was it ever?"
Ooooooh, deep philosophical ruminations from the same movie that gave us an exposition sequence over fart noises in the men's room not ten minutes ago
#monsterdon

2025-07-21 03:55:53 CEST

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*jukebox explodes in a shower of sparks*
HAH, they make those things out of the same stuff as the bridge consoles in the NCC-1701-D?
#monsterdon

2025-07-21 03:53:37 CEST

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"I'll tell you one thing, you sure make love like a hero."
!?
!!?!?!?
Actually, you know what? Sure, whatever, why not. Have fun, you crazy kids. Stay safe.
#monsterdon

2025-07-21 03:47:44 CEST

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They said the thing! They said the title of the movie in the movie!!
*fireworks go off*
*a sick guitar riff blares out over the loudspeaker*
*Shredder's tunnel-boring machine emerges from the ground in the front yard for some reason and a dozen eagles fly up out of it in perfect formation*
#monsterdon

2025-07-21 03:45:24 CEST

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The wage-stealing truckstop owner happening to have a rocket launcher just lying around is the least implausible part of this film so far.
#monsterdon

2025-07-21 03:38:41 CEST

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*all the malevolent diesel trucks in the parking lot of the truck stop jolt to some kind of terrifying un-life, horns blaring as if to announce their murderous intent*
Hmmmm sounds like Ottawa during the trucker convoy
only better organized maybe
#monsterdon

2025-07-21 03:31:34 CEST

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Love the ice cream truck playing a tinkly rendition of "King of the Road" while rolling around in search of a victim.
#monsterdon

2025-07-21 03:20:08 CEST

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The waitress is still serving after taking a turkey knife to the arm and the shoe!?
Can I get an "OHSA" in chat please
#monsterdon

2025-07-21 03:17:17 CEST

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Oh good, a scene with a bunch of small children having fun at a baseball diamond! Surely nothing bad will happen here.
*coach is slammed in the crotch by a soda machine newly endowed with ballistic projection force, then killed by followup shots to the head*
*the entire team of kids is pelted by the same machine*
*a steamroller bursts through the fence and flattens a kid, Judge-Doom-in-Roger-Rabbit style*
😮
#monsterdon

2025-07-21 03:14:14 CEST

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Firstly, why is a motorized turkey knife hanging out next to the flat-top grill at all?
Secondly, malevolent motivation aside, why is it able to exert any cutting force at all without any mass or leverage behind it??
I am starting to get the feeling that there may be some holes in this plot
#monsterdon

2025-07-21 03:07:58 CEST

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None of the physics in this bridge disaster scene make sense..? People are falling in the wrong direction, vehicles lack traction when they should have it and have it when they should lack it, waterlemons seem to be caroming off windshields and sunroofs as if rocket propelled..?
Loving that AC/DC soundtrack though, that part is great.
#monsterdon

2025-07-21 03:05:00 CEST

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"Written for the screen and directed by STEPHEN KING"
Whoops, "Stephen", not "Steven". My bad.
#monsterdon

2025-06-26 03:48:05 CEST

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THE CREATURETTE

2025-06-18 03:52:08 CEST

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None of this needs atomically fueled data centers, thousands of gallons of potable water repurposed for cooling, or even very powerful computing machinery - cheap chips and a chunk of RAM from a decade ago will do just fine.
The magic isn't that I can change machines to do what I want; the magic is that while learning how to drive those machines, *I* grow in learning and understanding, in a way that I can share.
THAT'S why tech industry rot has failed to sour my optimism about computers.

2025-06-18 03:51:46 CEST

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Perhaps best of all, I can take these simple little multiplications of my own mental capabilities, package them up into bundles of code and documentation, and give them away to others.
Sometimes this gives another person the same extra mental abilities that my own computer assistance granted me. That would be magical enough!
*But sometimes those bundles come back even better, improved by others.*
It's power, agency, care; it's the candlelight of knowledge that grows less dim when shared.

2025-06-18 03:51:00 CEST

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It's because small-scale computing lets me exercise a better mind than the one I actually have.
By time-shifting through several problems, each one fitting into my limited mind well enough for a little while, when I'm at my best, I can build up tools & techniques that I can then piece together as abstractions and still use when I'm at my worst.
I can build myself an infallible memory for tasks that only come around every few months, or seasons, or years, and remind myself how to finesse them.

2025-06-06 03:44:46 CEST

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he said I could pick "feta, or mozzarella, or... one other thing"

2024-07-09 03:24:05 CEST

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speaking of berries growing in your garden, thanks for posting about haskaps the other month¹! Thanks to that photo I recognized them at the farmers market a couple of weekends ago (well, @npub1myf…3whl pointed them out in donuts at one of the vendor stalls) and made a point of snagging them. Delicious.
¹: https://studio8502.ca/@mos_8502/112651445555685167

2024-07-09 02:58:07 CEST

The grocery store had red currants in stock! I've never tasted these before, the opportunity for novelty piqued my interest.
Today I discovered that I don't love the taste of red currants!
Welp.
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/753/811/770/527/061/original/a00ff18f7214db11.jpg