skybrian's recent activity
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Comment on The end of reading is here in ~books
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Comment on US Federal Communications Commission approves test of space mirror to light night sky despite outcry in ~space
skybrian Link ParentPlants and animals also have to deal with changes in sunlight due to weather, so it might not be so bad for limited hours per day or occasional use. I can imagine good and bad scenarios, but it...Plants and animals also have to deal with changes in sunlight due to weather, so it might not be so bad for limited hours per day or occasional use. I can imagine good and bad scenarios, but it seems like studies would be needed to figure it out.
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Comment on US Federal Communications Commission approves test of space mirror to light night sky despite outcry in ~space
skybrian Link ParentMaybe that's why they want to launch lots of satellites?Maybe that's why they want to launch lots of satellites?
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Comment on How Ukraine built a war fighting state in ~society
skybrian LinkFrom the article: [...] [...]From the article:
I've been following the Ukrainian-Russian war since 2022. Most Western analyses favored the Russians to win because of their much bigger population and economy. Yet the Ukrainians continue to hold back the Russians and have recently shifted the momentum their way. How did the Ukrainians achieve this? The following are some of my imperfect observations.
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Russia's population is ~5x that of Ukraine's, and its economy is similarly larger. Defenders have the advantage, but Ukraine needs to do more than defend to win. The obvious implication is that the Ukrainians must kill Russians relentlessly, produce more combat power per worker, and use that combat power more effectively.
The outcome of the war has global importance. Many countries support their favored side. Ukraine has the support of most industrialized, rich countries, while Russia relies on nearby autocracies. These outside actors can and do have large impacts on the fighting.
The victory formula for Ukraine is to develop better technology, manage its resources shrewdly, and leverage allies.
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The upside is that Ukrainians have built a war machine that can grind down Russian forces and inflict serious damage to their combat power and economy. Some sources claim the kill-to-loss ratio is 8:1 in Russians to Ukrainians lost, up from only ~2:1 in previous years. Early in the war, Russia could correct some of its woes by eliminating severe underperformance compared to its theoretical capabilities. Now the Russians need to increase the theoretical ceiling, the tempo, and execute at a higher level to regain the upper hand. The Ukrainians would introduce a few copies of a new weapon before their full war industrialization, giving the Russians time to adjust. New weapons now come in the hundreds or thousands, dealing severe damage in the absence of immediate adjustment.
The downside is that Ukrainian strategic victory relies on a Russian collapse. The Ukrainians seem to lack the ability at this time to conduct a theater-wide, combined arms offensive with tactics and weapons adapted for drone warfare. It is a waiting game unless Ukraine's ability changes.
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How Ukraine built a war fighting state
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Comment on The end of reading is here in ~books
skybrian Link ParentI think of science fiction as fantasy with tech vibes. It can be very good fantasy (for example I recommend Ada Palmer) and it can be scientifically or historically informed with bits of truth in...I think of science fiction as fantasy with tech vibes. It can be very good fantasy (for example I recommend Ada Palmer) and it can be scientifically or historically informed with bits of truth in it, but even supposedly “hard” science fiction often cuts corners. And as for the “human condition,” one wouldn’t read Ursula K Le Guin’s anthropological science fiction to understand what any real society is like, but rather to imagine other possibilities. (Often, impossible possibilities, but you can suspend disbelief.)
Similarly, historical fiction is usually historically inaccurate, and even stories that are historically well-informed often fill in details we simply don’t know much about. Sometimes it inspires me to read actual history, and then it’s often surprising the very basic things we simply don’t know and can only guess at. That’s particularly true of ancient history.
What good is all this reading? It increases the range of possibilities we can imagine when speculating. Often, it doesn’t help much for narrowing it down to what did happen, because you need real evidence for that.
So I’ve accepted that it’s mostly entertainment that keeps the mind active. And you can say that of a lot of things.
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Comment on US Federal Communications Commission approves test of space mirror to light night sky despite outcry in ~space
skybrian (edited )Link ParentI think batteries are a better solution in most places, but that’s more cost-effective for evening and overnight use rather than seasonal energy storage. Near the poles during winter, I think it...I think batteries are a better solution in most places, but that’s more cost-effective for evening and overnight use rather than seasonal energy storage.
Near the poles during winter, I think it might be quite nice to get a bit of sunlight? Perhaps for a holiday event. Assuming the environmental effects can be lived with and that would have to be studied.
It would also make sense that this should only be allowed to be used with approval of the government of the land affected.
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Comment on US Federal Communications Commission approves test of space mirror to light night sky despite outcry in ~space
skybrian LinkFrom the article: [...]From the article:
In a license issued on Thursday, the Federal Communications Commission gave the green light for Reflect Orbital of Hawthorne, Calif., to launch its Eärendil-1 satellite into low Earth orbit. The company plans to deploy its test satellite this year but has said it eventually wants to send as many as 50,000 big mirrors into space.
The approval came despite a flood of opposition from astronomers, wildlife experts and others who say the light from the mirrors could distract airplane pilots, wreak havoc on astronomical observations and interfere with circadian rhythms, the light-and-dark cycles that help people, animals and plants know when to wake and sleep, to bloom or to migrate.
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Roughly the size of a dorm fridge, Reflect Orbital’s first prototype, once in space about 400 miles up, would unfurl a square mirror nearly 60 feet wide. The mirror would bounce sunlight to illuminate a circular patch about three miles wide on the Earth’s surface.
Reflect Orbital hopes to launch 1,000 larger satellites by the end of 2028, and 5,000 others by 2030. The largest mirrors are planned to be nearly 180 feet wide, reflecting as much light as 100 full moons.
The F.C.C. stressed, however, that it was approving only “a single demonstration satellite” that would test a technology that could advance American leadership in outer space. “Reflect Orbital’s demonstration satellite is an example of a potentially groundbreaking technology,” the commission said in its order granting the license.
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US Federal Communications Commission approves test of space mirror to light night sky despite outcry
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Comment on Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson finally explains his decision to bid $3.2B for parking meters before walking away in ~transport
skybrian Link ParentRevenue alone doesn’t give us the full story here. We also need to know how much it cost to build, as well as how much the expenses are to maintain and operate the highway.Revenue alone doesn’t give us the full story here. We also need to know how much it cost to build, as well as how much the expenses are to maintain and operate the highway.
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Comment on Zig creator weighs in on the Bun Rust rewrite in ~comp
skybrian Link ParentI don't know what it would even mean if Linux "went down." If some controversy happened, the various Linux distributions and tech companies that use the Linux kernel could start up a new fork...I don't know what it would even mean if Linux "went down." If some controversy happened, the various Linux distributions and tech companies that use the Linux kernel could start up a new fork pretty quick, like Redis / Valkey.
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Comment on Zig creator weighs in on the Bun Rust rewrite in ~comp
skybrian Link ParentZig has been pre-1.0 for a decade and I think it’s fine to ignore it until it’s stable. They haven’t even finalized the language yet, let alone the standard library or the tools. Maybe it will be...Zig has been pre-1.0 for a decade and I think it’s fine to ignore it until it’s stable. They haven’t even finalized the language yet, let alone the standard library or the tools. Maybe it will be good when it’s done, though.
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Comment on What are you reading these days? in ~books
skybrian LinkI’m up to book 8 of the Rivers of London series by Ben Aaronovitch, which is a combination police procedural and urban fantasy about a secret magic police organization. Sometimes it feels a bit...I’m up to book 8 of the Rivers of London series by Ben Aaronovitch, which is a combination police procedural and urban fantasy about a secret magic police organization. Sometimes it feels a bit trashy but it’s fun and, despite the recurring characters and sticking strictly to a first-person point of view, has a fair bit of variety. The author clearly likes to mix it up.
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Comment on Zig creator weighs in on the Bun Rust rewrite in ~comp
skybrian Link ParentThat’s a common critique and I think the pursuit of growth and riches is responsible for a lot of problems, including the race to build out AI as fast as possible. But it’s also responsible for a...That’s a common critique and I think the pursuit of growth and riches is responsible for a lot of problems, including the race to build out AI as fast as possible. But it’s also responsible for a lot of the products and services we use every day. The innovation produced by tech companies isn’t all bad but people choose to dwell on the bad side of it.
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Comment on Introductions | July 2026 in ~talk
skybrian Link ParentI’m using Shelley, which is a coding agent written by the folks at exe.dev.I’m using Shelley, which is a coding agent written by the folks at exe.dev.
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Comment on Introductions | July 2026 in ~talk
skybrian Link ParentIt's hosted on exe.dev, which is a fairly new startup that I highly recommend for hobbyist-level hosting. For $20/month you get multiple Linux VM's and some AI credits that you can use with their...It's hosted on exe.dev, which is a fairly new startup that I highly recommend for hobbyist-level hosting. For $20/month you get multiple Linux VM's and some AI credits that you can use with their coding agent. They have quite a few LLM's you can try and they add new ones fairly quickly after they're announced. You can buy more usage though them, but it's at API prices, so it can be fairly expensive depending on which LLM you use.
To try it out, I asked it to vibe-code a personal links website, not intending to use it much. It wrote something that was bare-bones but worked, using Go and Sqlite by default. A bit later I asked it to do a rewrite using Deno since I'm more comfortable in TypeScript, and it snowballed from there. There's quite a bit of UI that you can't see on the admin-only pages.
I was spending quite a bit of money on Claude for a while while adding various features to the website, then tried out Chinese LLM's to save money. Recently I connected my ChatGPT subscription to my exe.dev account, which seems to give me more-or-less unlimited GPT-5.5 usage. (There are three-hour limits but I never hit them.) So at $40/month total for both subscriptions, it seems like a pretty good deal.
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Comment on Introductions | July 2026 in ~talk
skybrian Link ParentI wrote a bookmarklet that lets me click or tap paragraphs to select or unselect them. (The software has a pretty generous limit on the amount selected, so it's mostly self-restraint.) Then I save...I wrote a bookmarklet that lets me click or tap paragraphs to select or unselect them. (The software has a pretty generous limit on the amount selected, so it's mostly self-restraint.) Then I save it to to a post on my Links website by pressing a button. (I also wrote a Chrome extension that does the same thing, because some websites block bookmarklets from running.) After it's saved as a post, I can edit it before posting it to Tildes. Since Tildes doesn't have draft topics, this serves as a place to save drafts.
I find the links on various other websites I visit, including blogs that I'm subscribed to using an RSS reader. On most days I will visit Hacker News and Bluesky. I have a bit of an Internet addiction.
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Comment on Rewriting Bun in Rust in ~comp
skybrian (edited )Link ParentThat's not the normal way to install Bun and only contributors are expected to do that. (The instructions about how to compile Bun are on the "contributing" page.) It seems unlikely that the Bun...That's not the normal way to install Bun and only contributors are expected to do that. (The instructions about how to compile Bun are on the "contributing" page.)
It seems unlikely that the Bun team made any compatibility promises that cover building from source. Internal changes like that aren't normally covered by compatibility guarantees.
If it were a Zig library rather than an executable, that would be different, because library API's are inherently tied to a specific language. An executable’s “api” is the command line interface, and for Bun there is also its JavaScript API, as well as an experimental foreign function interface that’s not Zig-specific.
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Comment on Zig creator weighs in on the Bun Rust rewrite in ~comp
skybrian LinkSilicon Valley venture capital dates back to the 1970’s. VC’s funded companies like Intel and Apple. Founders do need to be careful about it, but it’s a weird thing to shame someone for. VC’s...This attention could have been harnessed in a few different ways. For example, he could have easily achieved a solid living via crowdfunding, even for San Francisco standards. But having graduated from the Thiel Fellowship school of thought rather than university, he was essentially groomed from a young age into uncritically embracing the Silicon Valley mindset, and he took venture capital.
Silicon Valley venture capital dates back to the 1970’s. VC’s funded companies like Intel and Apple. Founders do need to be careful about it, but it’s a weird thing to shame someone for. VC’s aren’t necessarily to blame for a company’s own management problems.
We probably tried to tell you to try enabling it and you didn't listen. We have good advice, damn it!
The word “probably” sticks out here. He can’t remember whether they did or not, didn’t check, and then says they “didn’t listen?”
Two, I actually don't have any personal criticisms of Jarred.
In which case maybe he shouldn’t have posted this, or at least got someone to read it over.
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Comment on Rewriting Bun in Rust in ~comp
skybrian Link ParentI don’t know how many outside contributions they actually get. Do you know if they had a lot of pull requests they wanted to keep? In theory they could have a coding agent rewrite them too.I don’t know how many outside contributions they actually get. Do you know if they had a lot of pull requests they wanted to keep?
In theory they could have a coding agent rewrite them too.
I prefer reading articles and books by historians who tell you about the debates between different historians (the historiography) and what consensus there is, along with an overview of what evidence historians have to work with, as well as their own personal opinion. They can be biased too, but at least they give you context.