bugsmith's recent activity
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Comment on The modern tech interview in ~tech
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Comment on The modern tech interview in ~tech
bugsmith LinkI've recently been interviewing again, which has sparked the fire to write about the whole process. It's something I've considered writing about before, but I've spent four years in my current...I've recently been interviewing again, which has sparked the fire to write about the whole process. It's something I've considered writing about before, but I've spent four years in my current role without bothering to interview anywhere. Surprisingly it's changed a lot since then!
I mention interviewing at a British fintech in the article... I'm very happy to say I was successful and will be starting there in November! It's the pink themed neobank. I've interviewed at a few places in the past months, and their process was a breath of fresh air. I'd be happy to expand on any of it if someone is interested.
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The modern tech interview
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Comment on Best options for domain registrar and static site hosting in 2026? in ~comp
bugsmith LinkI have my site on Bunny.net, a European alternative to Cloudflare. And they're awesome! They don't have a free option like Cloudflare, but I currently pay €1/month for all my hosting, CDN and DNS....I have my site on Bunny.net, a European alternative to Cloudflare. And they're awesome! They don't have a free option like Cloudflare, but I currently pay €1/month for all my hosting, CDN and DNS.
I host my blog on Codeberg pre build, and just have an action setup to push the built files to Bunny on change.
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Comment on Atlas: The Animated Movie in ~movies
bugsmith LinkI cannot believe how well he has recovered since he had a stroke. Incredible rehabilitation. And it's clearly not stopped his drive. I was surprised to see this is the entire movie and not just a...I cannot believe how well he has recovered since he had a stroke. Incredible rehabilitation. And it's clearly not stopped his drive.
I was surprised to see this is the entire movie and not just a teaser. I'll definitely give it a watch in the next week or so.
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Comment on What programming/technical projects have you been working on? in ~comp
bugsmith LinkGiven the recent announcement of allowing Tildes to naturally sunset, I'm playing around with the idea of building something to fill the eventual void. I've been toying around with various...Given the recent announcement of allowing Tildes to naturally sunset, I'm playing around with the idea of building something to fill the eventual void. I've been toying around with various programming languages and frameworks.
Initially I was convinced I wanted to use Go, as it's what we use at work, but honestly I don't think it's necessarily the best choice for something I'd ideally want other people to contribute to, or more importantly, something I want to be able to iterate on quickly to test things out and integrate feedback.
I am leaning towards one of Python and Django or Elixir and Phoenix. The former felt like the obvious choice, but having played around with Phoenix for a couple of weeks, I'm am strongly leaning towards that.
I'm not silly enough to overlook how stacked the odds are of me building something like this that would actually get used by a critical enough mass, so it's as much a project of learning and joy.
Given I expect Tildes to still be around for quite a long time, it's not something I feel in a great rush to get out, so I'll likely build a bunch of PoCs and see what feels good.
The much bigger challenge will be taking the best of Tildes and creating policies and tools that foster a similar quality of community - but that's certainly not something I intend to tackle alone.
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Comment on Remain | Official teaser in ~movies
bugsmith Link ParentI basically had the same reaction to this coming into the thread. Funny how a word becomes ingrained in your head to have such a strong association with an event. Instead it's a Shyamalan psycho...I basically had the same reaction to this coming into the thread. Funny how a word becomes ingrained in your head to have such a strong association with an event. Instead it's a Shyamalan psycho thriller starring Jake Gyllenhaal.
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Comment on Software for humans in ~tech
bugsmith Link ParentI'm not who you asked but here's mine: AI assisted: I designed the code, with or without iterating in a solution with an LLM or another human. I may have accepted "autocompletions" provided by an...I'm not who you asked but here's mine:
AI assisted:
I designed the code, with or without iterating in a solution with an LLM or another human. I may have accepted "autocompletions" provided by an LLM, or used a tool like Claude Code to describe a function and accepted a whatever it generated (after reviewing it and understanding how it works). I may even so large scale refactors using the same tools, but all under my review and guidance.Vibe coded:
I described an end goal and let an LLM agentically / iteratively design and write it autonomously with minimal review or understanding of the underlying code.The former is using tools to speed up my own workflow.
The latter is outsourcing entirely and blindly trusting something works as intended and is of good quality.
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Comment on What are your "how on earth did I not learn this sooner" tech moments? in ~tech
bugsmith Link ParentI wish Mac did this natively as well. My workaround for that is using the 'Clipboard History' function of Raycast.I wish Mac did this natively as well. My workaround for that is using the 'Clipboard History' function of Raycast.
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Comment on What are your "how on earth did I not learn this sooner" tech moments? in ~tech
bugsmith Link ParentIs this an iPhone thing? I just tried on my (Samsung) Android device and this didn't work.Is this an iPhone thing? I just tried on my (Samsung) Android device and this didn't work.
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Comment on What server location should I use for a VPN? in ~tech
bugsmith Link ParentWhat makes you trust Mullvad and not, say, Proton or IVPN?What makes you trust Mullvad and not, say, Proton or IVPN?
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Comment on Is there any interest in building a Tildes successor? in ~tildes
bugsmith Link ParentNo it's not the tech that does it, but it's important that the right tools are available. Without doubt though, it's the administration, policies, and the community that has been attracted that...No it's not the tech that does it, but it's important that the right tools are available. Without doubt though, it's the administration, policies, and the community that has been attracted that does it. And I'm not trying to pretend that would be easy to replicate.
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Comment on Is there any interest in building a Tildes successor? in ~tildes
bugsmith Link ParentGreat feedback, thanks for sharing. I think for me, the entire purpose would be to replicate or at least model on the existing foundations written in those documents. There are plenty of link...Great feedback, thanks for sharing.
I think for me, the entire purpose would be to replicate or at least model on the existing foundations written in those documents. There are plenty of link aggregators, discussion forums and Reddit-likes out there - so building just another of those would not be the goal.
The real goal would be to build a platform that has the tools to enforce and enable those values, with an active maintainer and a cycle of community feedback and development.
the fact that AI slop generators can't easily get in
This would certainly be a priority with any new platform. I think the existing invite system is a great filter for that, and would likely be replicated. I think we can also build tools to help identify, or let community members flags suspected meat-proxy interfaces, which is inevitable at some point.
All your points are great, and I think this would only work with at least a small committee of existing members from community who want to help build something based on those values.
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Comment on Is there any interest in building a Tildes successor? in ~tildes
bugsmith Link ParentYes, but it's a very dated codebase. Forking would be easiest, but for something maintainable and extensible it may be better to build fresh with a more modern stack.Yes, but it's a very dated codebase. Forking would be easiest, but for something maintainable and extensible it may be better to build fresh with a more modern stack.
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Comment on Is there any interest in building a Tildes successor? in ~tildes
bugsmith Link ParentSadly not, at least on the email front.Sadly not, at least on the email front.
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Comment on Is there any interest in building a Tildes successor? in ~tildes
bugsmith Link ParentYes, well repeated. I think that's important for anyone interested in this to consider. I'm not sure that it is. I agree that it could split the user base if not managed correctly. But if there is...Yes, well repeated. I think that's important for anyone interested in this to consider.
My feeling is that it's premature to discuss a successor.
I'm not sure that it is. I agree that it could split the user base if not managed correctly. But if there is interest, I think it's something that should be done with a lot of planning and agreement and it would be good to capture that well before it's needed.
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Comment on Is there any interest in building a Tildes successor? in ~tildes
bugsmith Link ParentHe didn't. He said the site is naturally being allowed to sunset. You'll notice that invites are not being regenerated for anyone, so there is a limit to how many new users can join. So the user...He didn't. He said the site is naturally being allowed to sunset. You'll notice that invites are not being regenerated for anyone, so there is a limit to how many new users can join. So the user base will only move in one direction.
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Comment on Is there any interest in building a Tildes successor? in ~tildes
bugsmith Link ParentI chose the word 'successor', because that's specifically what I'm talking about. I don't disagree with you about letting a thousand flowers bloom. But for me, I'm motivated to make sure there is...I chose the word 'successor', because that's specifically what I'm talking about. I don't disagree with you about letting a thousand flowers bloom. But for me, I'm motivated to make sure there is a space just like this one.
I wouldn't even be opposed to building something based off of the existing code, or at least matching the existing API so theoretically existing third party tools (like Three Cheers) could remain compatible.
I want more of what you've described too, but here I'm specifically talking about something I'd describe as a successor.
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Is there any interest in building a Tildes successor?
I love Tildes. I am not the most active member here, but I do make an effort to contribute. This site fills a hole for me not even close to be filled by other sites. It has that small local pub...
I love Tildes. I am not the most active member here, but I do make an effort to contribute. This site fills a hole for me not even close to be filled by other sites. It has that small local pub feel. All names are familiar, even if I haven't interacted with people directly and there is a general sense of people being aligned with wanting to be part of a 'better' community.
I know there has been a lot of discussion about missing features here and that ultimately leading to some users wanting to leave, because they can't block the content they don't want to see.
With Deimos's announcement that the site is being sunset, it immediately made we ask: Can we build a successor?
That has to be immediately followed with acknowledgment that it would be extremely hard (both in building the software and building the community) and very unlikely to succeed.
With that out of the way, is there any interest?
If there is, I'd like to here from you in this topic with your thoughts on how it should be run, must have features missing from Tildes, any features of Tildes not needed in an MVP (minimum viable product) and really any thoughts you have on the subject. What would be a deal-breaker?
I am especially interested to hear on thoughts of how it should be administrated. Do we like the benevolent dictator model? Would a committee be better? Are there other examples of systems that work well?
Tildes isn't going anywhere for a long while by the sounds of it, which I'm really grateful of. Please don't read this as any kind of descent, mutiny or call to leave. I mostly just want to make sure that if there's desire for this community to NOT be sunset, there's at least an option.
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Comment on BasicSync and Synctrain: solid apps for bringing Syncthing to phones in ~tech
bugsmith Link ParentAnd using wake lock in such a manner doesn't significantly affect battery life? I'm totally going to try this. I actually much prefer this approach to replacing STF with another similar app.And using wake lock in such a manner doesn't significantly affect battery life?
I'm totally going to try this. I actually much prefer this approach to replacing STF with another similar app.
That's great to hear! Do you work in HR?
For me this is really the critical part. Leetcode and its ilk are the worst offenders, because they had little overlap with work skills before LLMs. Now, they're almost insultingly redundant as skill tests.
Your approach sounds fantastic. I think requiring use of agents is absolutely fine, because it's a tool that now makes sense to expect some proficiency with in the workplace. Even engineers aren't being bullied into handing over all coding responsibilities to agents, I'd still expect most to be using them to research, refactor, catch bugs, etc.
My recent experience interviewing in the UK aligns with this, sadly. But I think it's going to change with time. So much of interviewing culture in the tech space drips down from FAANG (or whatever we call them now), and my understanding is they are largely doing these things.
Thanks, I'm excited to get going!