Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Andrew Lilley Brinker @alilleybrinker.com · 4h

Totally fair! I am perhaps underestimating the degree of hero worship's role here. It is, in some ways, like the idea that many people view themselves as "temporarily embarrassed millionaires."

1 2

Andrew Lilley Brinker @alilleybrinker.com · 4h

I don't think it's solely hero worship, though I do think identification with the tech industry CEOs, investors, and the like (bluntly, big fans of the Acquired podcast) is highly correlated with opposition to unionization.

1 2

Andrew Lilley Brinker @alilleybrinker.com · 4h

Agreed that opposition to / disinterest in unionization isn't universal. That said, among the Professional Managerial Class of software developers, that position is common and generally is the default.

1

Andrew Lilley Brinker @alilleybrinker.com · 6h

Wow, gonna have to change my pre-workout. This is chilling stuff.

paris martineau @paris.nyc · 7h

my latest investigation for @consumerreports.org is based on months of reporting and 60+ lab tests of leading protein supplements

we found that most protein powders and shakes have more lead in one serving than our experts say is safe to have in a day (🧵)

www.consumerreports.org/lead/protein...

Protein Powders and Shakes Contain High Levels of Lead - Consumer Reports

CR tests of 23 popular protein powders and shakes found that most contain high levels of lead.

www.consumerreports.org

2

Andrew Lilley Brinker @alilleybrinker.com · 6h

There's a weird extension of the idea of "power corrupts" into "because power corrupts, we should never wield power," by the very people who *might* have a chance of wielding power well and justly, in a fight against future tyrants who would absolutely wield power unjustly.

3 11

Andrew Lilley Brinker @alilleybrinker.com · 7h

More seriously, that sucks and I hope things get easier and you can find joy

1

Andrew Lilley Brinker @alilleybrinker.com · 7h

Hey Atlas, have you considered shrugging?

1

Andrew Lilley Brinker @alilleybrinker.com · 7h

Good thing the US’s ability to grow native coffee hasn’t been hampered by large fires in the last couple of years… oh wait

1

Andrew Lilley Brinker @alilleybrinker.com · 7h

🧵 on what’s next for OSS as a culture/movement

Andrew Lilley Brinker @alilleybrinker.com · 7h

IMO the first era you identify was mostly a ZIRP phenomena, coupled with the forces identified in @sogrady.org‘s “The New Kingmakers.” It ended when ZIRP ended.

Andrew Lilley Brinker @alilleybrinker.com · 7h

I could go on, but basically: things are bleak and the forces at play don’t look good for OSS health and success for developers.

7

Andrew Lilley Brinker @alilleybrinker.com · 7h

OSS may continue to serve as a shibboleth for getting tech jobs, especially early career as new devs need to show value greater than perceived value of LLMs in their role to management.

1 2

Andrew Lilley Brinker @alilleybrinker.com · 7h

As for where we go next, we’re still in an extended period of weakening labor power, without a substantive labor organizing counterweight (the mostly PMC tech industry is systemically allergic to unionization). High interest rates also suggest weak supply of paid dev labor.

1 4

Andrew Lilley Brinker @alilleybrinker.com · 7h

The second era, of relicensing and of consolidation under mostly trade-association foundations (like the LF and its children), are a product of ZIRP ending and of post-Heartbleed organizing causing an influx of funding, mostly in the form of developer labor.

1 4

Andrew Lilley Brinker @alilleybrinker.com · 7h

IMO the first era you identify was mostly a ZIRP phenomena, coupled with the forces identified in @sogrady.org‘s “The New Kingmakers.” It ended when ZIRP ended.

1 6

Andrew Lilley Brinker @alilleybrinker.com · 8h

Last night’s game became a nail biter at the end, but watching Snell dominate a team known for low chase rate was beautiful.

fabianardaya.bsky.social @fabianardaya.bsky.social · 8h

On Blake Snell, of whom 'no one can say anything:' www.nytimes.com/athletic/671...

Andrew Lilley Brinker @alilleybrinker.com · 8h

My undergrad used C++ and that’s why I fell in love with Rust. It was a C++ that felt fun!

LaurieWired @lauriewired.bsky.social · 1d

Colleges do a terrible job of teaching C++.  

It’s not “C with Classes”. Injected into curriculums as a demonstration of early CS concepts, it leaves many with a sour taste.  

Students later immediately fall in love with the first language that *doesn’t* feel that way.

1 9

Andrew Lilley Brinker @alilleybrinker.com · 10h

I’ve said it before: this dynamic is part of why the attempted martial law in South Korea last year failed.

Soldiers didn’t want to fire on crowds of regular people breaking the President’s curfew.

"Online Rent-a-Sage" Bret Devereaux @bretdevereaux.bsky.social · 1d

This is correct, in part - as the grim, military historian in me feels the need to note - it is psychologically much harder to get soldiers to open fire on people they view as 'respectable.'

And I dread, with grim increasingly certainty, that we are headed to a point where that matters.

WhatSaraSaid @whatsarasaid.bsky.social · 1d

protests against this government should include white Boomer grandmothers who meet for pilates class, get a pitcher of mimosas & walk together to the public space

we need people in the street who think everyone can talk their way out of a speeding ticket, they're key to winning

14 36

Andrew Lilley Brinker @alilleybrinker.com · 19h

That’s how she affords all that Play-Doh

6

Andrew Lilley Brinker @alilleybrinker.com · 1d

Thanks! We'll see how it goes!

Andrew Lilley Brinker @alilleybrinker.com · 1d

However, he's not the sole author of the materials on the site I linked about merges. It's copied from a wiki which was being defaced and which he and others worked to save, so there are many authors.

Andrew Lilley Brinker @alilleybrinker.com · 1d

I don't think so. He's on Mastodon pubsub.leastfixedpoint.com/@tonyg

Tony Garnock-Jones, @[email protected]

https://leastfixedpoint.com/I like reflection and interpretation. I also like communication and resource management.

pubsub.leastfixedpoint.com

1 1

Andrew Lilley Brinker @alilleybrinker.com · 1d

I'll be saving this as evidence for "why we should just enforce linear history" on any future projects

2

Andrew Lilley Brinker @alilleybrinker.com · 1d

This prompted me to read about criss-cross merges, and uh, lol tonyg.github.io/revctrl.org/...

Criss-Cross Merge - Revision Control

tonyg.github.io

4 11

Andrew Lilley Brinker @alilleybrinker.com · 1d

I suppose, though I just don't think that's a meaningful difference. Needing to know how something works implies needing to be able to do the work to discover how something works.

Andrew Lilley Brinker @alilleybrinker.com · 1d

My favorite was, when trying to benchmark the OmniBOR CLI (which produces Artifact IDs for all files in a folder, recursively, with lots of SHA-256 hashing), finding that each successive run of the CLI got slower due to thermal throttling.

2