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/

Public Key

npub12c2un6cf5j7e75mzxv5cjnyyuc8sek2asyd0h0v8j83fxzke60lqcdtlg9

NIP-05 Address

[email protected]

Profile Code

nprofile1qqs9v9wfavy6f0vl2d3rx2vffjzwvrcvm9wczxhmhkrerc5nptva8lspz4mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujumt0wd68ytnsw43qepxmlm

Publishing to

relay.mostr.pub

Author Public Key

npub12c2un6cf5j7e75mzxv5cjnyyuc8sek2asyd0h0v8j83fxzke60lqcdtlg9

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Last Notes

2026-06-17 13:58:14 CEST

I'm seeing people compare LLM generated code to "a hacky shell or Python script", as in a rough throwaway tool not meant to be built atop or understood.
Gently, I'll argue that this is misunderstanding the value of shell scripts in particular & rapid prototyping in general. The value and the point of shell scripts is to set down on disk the smallest kernel of a working idea specifically so it *can* be understood clearly, then iteratively expanded & replaced to cover surrounding special cases.

2026-06-11 18:44:24 CEST

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@nprofile…u76z Aww, you'll be absent for the first time whereas I'll be present for the first time. We should arrange some kind of Superman / Clark Kent running gag, or perhaps a more regionally appropriate one involving the Polkaroo.

2026-05-21 13:25:38 CEST

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@nprofile…ynd9 ANGINE DE POITRINE

2026-05-14 14:00:49 CEST

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2026/may/13/women-home-buyers-men-dating
https://www.wired.com/story/meet-the-sad-wives-of-ai/
https://sorayachemaly.substack.com/p/26-decentering-men-is-not-misandry
Some new developments on the "men as a demographic getting frustrated about having to treat women like actual equal people, women not tolerating anything less anymore" front.
(Dear men: live up to those ideals to which you've been paying lip service. This is the mess that the men before us left and that we get to clean up. That's the job.)

2026-05-13 03:15:12 CEST

Ticket title: *includes the word "perfdebug"*
Me: "omg I can only read this ticket in the voice of the Swedish Chef"
Everyone in the meeting: "porfdeeboog"

2026-04-30 02:09:15 CEST

Bringing back one of the classics:
https://web.archive.org/web/20191112013426/https://twitter.com/meakoopa/status/1194062297284648960
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/116/490/742/820/757/447/original/976031d8b0e38e99.jpeg

2026-04-14 02:28:55 CEST

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@nprofile…u8z9 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

2026-03-24 13:17:31 CET

I have a feeling, not yet filtered into reasonable thoughts & distilled into a proper argument, that the next phase of free software should focus on..:
1. software written by people (as opposed to businesses or their LLM pseudopods),
2. for people (as opposed to "customers" or other businesses),
3. using participatory processes (as opposed to projects like Android that accept no contributions, or have closed bug trackers or mailing lists),
4. emphasizing users learning & changing core code.

2026-02-26 04:31:43 CET

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@nprofile…gu7x @nprofile…3qha in all seriousness I feel like this is unfair to shadow IT.
Most shadow IT exists due to (perceived) necessity and a (perceived) inability to tap into necessary services through existing org structures. It's usually built with good intentions to solve real problems by people whose job does not include knowing better.
Agentic AI-based services are almost all being built by people whose job *does* include knowing better. They should.

2026-02-12 19:11:23 CET

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@nprofile…u76z "How can a light bulb betray me?"
You are gonna hate this
Philips/Signify just added a new feature called MotionAware¹. It measures fluctuations in Zigbee signal strength between bulbs to act as a motion/presence sensor.
They are also pushing hard for non-local user accounts², which means constant web connectivity.
All the pieces are in place to monetize your family room occupancy habits to advertisers.
Dystopian-ass timeline.
¹: https://www.philips-hue.com/en-us/support/article/motionawaretm--transform-your-hue-lights-into-motion-sensors/000011
²: https://www.philips-hue.com/en-ca/explore-hue/accounts

2026-01-28 23:51:27 CET

I use Debian by choice and I am required to care about macOS and Windows for professional reasons, and I am surprised every other day that the least annoying desktop experience of the three is Debian, by a huge margin.
It's not *great*. It's just OK. It's a little bit better than it was ten years ago.
But by just getting a little bit better every once in a while, and by not regressing catastrophically, it has now lapped two multi billion dollar multinational corp offerings.
smh

2026-01-25 22:50:33 CET

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@nprofile…40hh @nprofile…0pxx @nprofile…mudw @nprofile…ne7g I constructed my own lighting rig for this purpose after looking at a few more elegant options that didn't put out as many lumens, or projecting the lighting pattern, or using the batteries that I wanted.
It's an Emisar DW4K, a D4K (both with SST20-DR 660nm red LEDs), a Sofirn silicone diffuser, an Armytek AWM-01 clamp, a Fenix ALB-10 quick release mount, a Fenix ALD-10 GoPro adapter, and a GoPro bicycle saddle clamp. The batteries last for 6+ hours.
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/115/957/895/771/773/443/original/c308f3f3e942255b.jpg
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/115/957/895/777/928/252/original/e11d950e409003a4.jpg
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/115/957/901/633/997/708/original/4d6f79b06de7d752.jpg
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/115/957/902/515/095/861/original/189515969046a283.jpg

2025-12-03 04:39:02 CET

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@nprofile…jnxp the vagen biking bable

2025-11-27 20:13:50 CET

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@nprofile…dcm7 mould management will become your entire personality

2025-10-26 02:27:44 CET

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@nprofile…4unj *looks up from adjusting clamping forces with a tenths dial indicator holding a gourd in place on the bed of a CNC mill* yeah a paring knife works too

2025-10-13 19:43:11 CEST

@nprofile…q5wq hey, how are you and SWMBO feeling?

2025-10-04 19:42:07 CEST

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@nprofile…t3wn @nprofile…sgk6 on exactly that topic, have you seen these tools?
https://hypem.com/merch-table
https://remixrotation.com/convert-spotify-playlist-to-cart-on-amazon-or-beatport
They'll peek at a Spotify playlist or account and search out purchasable versions!

2025-10-03 04:37:36 CEST

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@nprofile…0j8a dire Least Weasels

2025-08-22 22:28:03 CEST

For pete's sake, @nprofile…muyw : 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*.

2025-08-07 04:38:46 CEST

Hell of a thing to hear "buy into our tool fad or get of this industry" from the CEO of a company built on the halo of goodwill surrounding a movement literally built on & from determination to write software that cannot be taken away from anyone again.
Hell of a thing.
I don't think it's dunderheaded point-missing of cataclysmic proportion. I think it's a calculated risk to mortgage social credibility with developers against social credibility with investors.
I think it's a losing bet.

2025-07-30 19:43:17 CEST

HEY #BikeTO #mastobikes GUESS WHAT: we're keeping the bike lanes on Bloor, University, and Yonge, per Cycle Toronto's charter challenge of Ontario Bill 212.
https://www.cycleto.ca/cycle_toronto_wins
https://assets.nationbuilder.com/cycletoronto/pages/8767/attachments/original/1753895854/CycleTO___EcoJustice_Release.pdf?1753895854
https://assets.nationbuilder.com/cycletoronto/pages/8767/attachments/original/1753891585/Cycle_Toronto_v._AGO_Reasons_for_Judgment_PBS_July_30_2025.pdf?1753891585
Two months ago I stood out in the rain while the names of my neighbours killed in traffic were read aloud¹. This decision is a concrete step towards doing something to prevent future deaths.
¹: https://mastodon.social/@gnomon/114549722429678597

2025-07-29 02:42:29 CEST

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@nprofile…q5wq I recently got a Netgear WAX630E on the strength of how well it has served @nprofile…827z over the last couple of years...

2025-07-17 01:50:08 CEST

Dear Toronto driver with the rainbow "this Tesla does not support fascism" sticker on the back: while it's fine that you have the good sense to be embarrassed about your vehicle, apparently you didn't pay attention to Musk's behavior before your purchase, which was more or less identical to it afterward.
I'm not quite sure which part of _paying the price of that vehicle to the company that made it_ qualifies as not supporting the people who profit from that company.
You can do better and more.

2025-07-16 13:56:07 CEST

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@nprofile…cee8 hey, on that topic, have you considered creating an @[email protected] account for posts from yourself in that role, to give your personal account a bit of space separate from those duties? I've seen admins on other instances adopt that model and it seems to work well for them. (It's usually called out which admin is using that account with a short signature in each post, plus a note in the account bio linking to the personal user accounts of the admin users plus the server policy page about it.)

2025-07-11 00:50:03 CEST

Sweet, Murderbot (TV series) has been picked up for season 2!
No mention of the expected release date, but that's fine. No need to rush.
https://www.thewrap.com/murderbot-season-2-renewed-apple-tv-plus-alexander-skarsgard/

2025-07-09 04:52:33 CEST

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@nprofile…p8uv @nprofile…y9ay I don't know, I'm seeing corroboration from a couple of sources. Haven't tracked back to primaries though, to be fair.
https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/prince-williams-friend-dies-after-swallowing-a-bee-at-polo-match/
https://people.com/prince-william-friend-sunjay-kapur-dies-after-swallowing-bee-windsor-polo-match-11754293
https://www.vice.com/en/article/billionaire-dies-after-swallowing-a-bee-during-polo-match/

2025-06-26 06:23:22 CEST

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@nprofile…q5wq c'mon, use bash

2025-06-17 03:27:33 CEST

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@nprofile…0n93 my lettuce has never been sunburned

2025-06-16 22:10:00 CEST

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@nprofile…cee8 I see that people are recommending screw extractors and pliers; I'll go one step further and specifically recommend a parallel-jaw plier wrench, the Knipex 86 03 150 pliers wrench, https://www.knipex.com/products/pipe-wrenches-and-water-pump-pliers/pliers-wrenches-pliers-and-a-wrench-in-a-single-tool/pliers-wrenches-pliers-and-wrench-single-tool/8603150

2025-05-31 02:22:46 CEST

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@nprofile…8kev I think that might be normal only for some kinds of hydraulic disc brakes? I have Hope hydro brakes on my Brompton and the bite point is definitely adjustable, and for my preference it's pretty short. (And I have a pleasantly even spectrum of force between the pads just touching the rotors and full lock-up, the modulation of braking force is smooth and superb.)

2025-05-30 14:39:55 CEST

I don't know if it's like this for everyone, but for me it seems to be so much easier to increase barbell squat weight rather than rep count, even if it ends up being the exact same power output. Bah.
Also, in related news: curse you, leg day

2025-05-30 14:09:50 CEST

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(Which isn't to say that Pride Toronto is a perfectly run organization, nor that it has had a spotless track record of financial management in the past, nor that corporate sponsorship of Pride in the abstract is an uncontroversial topic. Those are all things worth keeping in mind. In this specific case though I still think it's worth casting a bit of blame on two large companies making these particular sponsorship decisions, in this way, at this particular time, in this political climate.)

2025-05-30 14:06:19 CEST

Google and Home Depot both pulled verbally committed but non-contracted financial support for Toronto Pride 2025 on short notice¹ ².
😐👎
Of course corporate sponsors get to make and reevaluate sponsorship decisions at their discretion, and shouldn't be penalized for doing so; but I feel that it's quite reasonable to take a dim view of their poor timing in this case.
¹: https://www.thestar.com/business/pride-toronto-loses-two-more-corporate-sponsors-just-weeks-before-festival-launch/article_ecb8d784-cd2f-4c7a-aaa2-fc7e12a2b208.html , paywall bypass at ²
²: https://archive.is/1Q3AC

2025-05-29 14:10:04 CEST

If you use curl, the yearly curl user survey is up now and @nprofile…kxk4 wants to hear what you think about it!
https://daniel.haxx.se/blog/2025/05/19/the-curl-user-survey-2025-is-up/
It takes a few minutes but it's worth spending that time, on the one hand because the responses really are taken to heart to set and adjust the project priorities, and on the other hand because people have put a lot of work into that project and it's worth telling them you've benefited from that work!

2025-05-29 03:17:19 CEST

"data", singular: it's fine, TNG did it too so you're in good company
"data", plural: technically correct, the best kind of correct, also probably intolerably pedantic and strictly wears tube socks
"datum", singular: yeah OK this person is going to be insufferable in several predictable and at least a dozen wildly surprising ways
"datums", plural: this is going to get weird, probably a blackle post

2025-05-23 03:00:35 CEST

I have not re-watched Empire in like ten years and this is the best way I could have done it. A live performance of the score would have been more than excellent enough, but that the Toronto Symphony Orchestra is doing it in perfect synchronization with the dialog and sound effects is just tremendous.
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/114/554/430/010/000/105/original/056e39299873ace7.jpg

2025-05-20 02:22:11 CEST

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@nprofile…d2rl mind linking to that wish list?
For, uh, research

2025-05-16 03:46:05 CEST

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@nprofile…q5wq oh it WAS deliberate

2025-05-08 20:36:32 CEST

In 2006, 19 years ago, the Nintendo Wii came to market. Its user interface included a separation of functions into "channels", each with its own distinctive background music.
Today this album came out, and I realized that I appear to have internalized all of that incidental Wii background music.
https://pokestir.bandcamp.com/album/wii-channels-collection-music-from-wii-channels

2025-05-03 02:12:22 CEST

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@nprofile…6m2n I don't love being a pedant so I hope this doesn't come across as nitpicking, but I think in the second text box there's a typo: "proram" instead of "program"?

2025-04-23 02:01:13 CEST

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@nprofile…npxa @nprofile…q5wq have you looked at the Goruck GR1? The price point is uhhh discouraging; in the last year or so they have drifted a little more towards the fashion rather than the utility side (which isn't to say fashion is bad, it's just not the domain in which Goruck originally found their footing); and they have a military-is-cool kind of angle which does not endear. But the GR1 has a terrific laptop sleeve, the pack is built like a damn tank, the stitching is excellent, materials are top tier.

2025-04-15 04:42:45 CEST

chat is this bash script real
https://www.ibis.ulaval.ca/services/bioinformatique/documentation-serveurs/telechargement-nanuq/
cc: @nprofile…s2jk @nprofile…dpa9 @nprofile…sr48 @nprofile…6m2n
(via: @nprofile…cuzg )

2025-04-11 04:56:34 CEST

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@nprofile…d2rl oh were you passing through Pearson?? I hope you're somewhere that you can rest a bit now.

2025-04-08 05:37:53 CEST

My friend @nprofile…7c3n passed away last month.
I wish he was still here. He was a good man, joyful and kind. Made the world better by being in it, brought delight to people who shared their joy. Built way too many Reviung keyboards. Never met a cat he didn't love. He was cycling across a country on the other side of the world, then he was interrupted by a stage four cancer diagnosis, now he's gone.

2025-04-08 05:07:08 CEST

The mechanical keyboard market is a ploy by Big Ziploc to increase the sale of tiny ziploc baggies

2025-03-27 13:38:33 CET

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@nprofile…8kev oh hang on!
In a previous photo you showed your new G-line with the Eerder Metaal seatpost hugger block in place, but I don't see it in this photo! Is it that easy to take on and off?? I thought it required removing the entire saddle!

2025-03-26 03:29:32 CET

LLMs are an interesting way to explore a large corpus of data, in theory, if the processing overhead wasn't simply unacceptable and if the accuracy was better.
However.
You know what actually does feel like magic? I have about 30G of SSD storage dedicated to mirroring a few mailing lists I care about, with another 120G for search indices. 25, 30 years of posts. Today at $JOB someone asked a question. In 5 minutes I had the bug number from 2012; in 6 I had the commit ID for the 2014 fix.
✨

2025-03-25 15:17:09 CET

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@nprofile…cee8 speaking of goat farms, are you following @nprofile…kyj5 and #BabyGoatCountdown 2025? It's coming up soon!!

2025-03-23 23:24:25 CET

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@nprofile…d2rl I didn't see whatever prompted you to say this, but I'm glad you're talking with Tay. Please tell them I care about them and hope they're OK.

2025-03-05 19:43:40 CET

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@nprofile…0n93 I got some vague handwaving about it in comp sci classes at Ottawa U and Carleton about a million years ago, but honestly the strongest guidance about avoiding global vars came from a careful examination of the performance costs of dynamic vs lexical scoping in RnRS Scheme. The takeaway was that globals were a convenience but are encumbered with a really quite surprisingly large perf cost. No mention of hygiene or "correctness", but that's the argument & lesson that stuck with me.

2025-02-14 03:53:56 CET

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@nprofile…6m2n do you mind if I share my favourite $PATH deduplication trick?

2025-02-13 13:11:39 CET

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@nprofile…zwgs beware, I'll I've

2025-02-11 01:24:35 CET

duckduckgo is void linux like void chickens stardew send toot

2024-05-12 13:23:13 CEST

Hmm, rhubarb compote and walnuts on oatmeal..?

2024-04-24 17:25:58 CEST

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