Ted
@desfontain.es
A little pinch of randomness here and there and poof, your data is now protected. Magic! ✨
(I don't read DMs. Send me an email instead.)
🌉 bridged from ⁂ https://hachyderm.io/@tedted, follow @ap.brid.gy to interact
(I don't read DMs. Send me an email instead.)
🌉 bridged from ⁂ https://hachyderm.io/@tedted, follow @ap.brid.gy to interact
I left home for 2 weeks and this guy decided it was a good time to try and become a real tree 🌱
February 6, 2026 at 9:31 AM
I left home for 2 weeks and this guy decided it was a good time to try and become a real tree 🌱
First ever guest post on my blog! ✨ Georgi Ganev writes about SMOTE, a popular data augmentation technique used in ML training. Despite what people apparently think, it does not provide any privacy guarantees… 🙃
https://desfontain.es/blog/smote-and-mirrors.html 🌈
https://desfontain.es/blog/smote-and-mirrors.html 🌈
Guest post: Balancing your dataset? Mind the privacy leaks! - Ted is writing things
Why SMOTE, a popular data augmentation technique, exposes your sensitive data.
desfontain.es
February 3, 2026 at 5:05 PM
First ever guest post on my blog! ✨ Georgi Ganev writes about SMOTE, a popular data augmentation technique used in ML training. Despite what people apparently think, it does not provide any privacy guarantees… 🙃
https://desfontain.es/blog/smote-and-mirrors.html 🌈
https://desfontain.es/blog/smote-and-mirrors.html 🌈
An older family member, who struggles with tech, seems to have accidentally deleted all their Signal messages (on iOS). Anyone know how that could have happened? The only official method seems way too complex for them to have done it by accident.
February 2, 2026 at 5:08 PM
An older family member, who struggles with tech, seems to have accidentally deleted all their Signal messages (on iOS). Anyone know how that could have happened? The only official method seems way too complex for them to have done it by accident.
What is "privacy auditing"? Ask three privacy experts and you might get three different answers! So I wrote this ✨ new blog post ✨ to shed some light on this admittedly confusing terminology 👀
➡️ https://desfontain.es/blog/privacy-auditing-terminology.html 🌈
➡️ https://desfontain.es/blog/privacy-auditing-terminology.html 🌈
Three kinds of “privacy auditing” - Ted is writing things
What academics call
desfontain.es
January 28, 2026 at 10:04 AM
What is "privacy auditing"? Ask three privacy experts and you might get three different answers! So I wrote this ✨ new blog post ✨ to shed some light on this admittedly confusing terminology 👀
➡️ https://desfontain.es/blog/privacy-auditing-terminology.html 🌈
➡️ https://desfontain.es/blog/privacy-auditing-terminology.html 🌈
RE: https://hachyderm.io/@tedted/115961697730486110
This seems to have attracted a bunch of bot replies on Bluesky. All promising "no AI" while their portfolios are full of graphics for products/companies that don't seem to exist, and fantasy pictures without a consistent art style. Truly […]
This seems to have attracted a bunch of bot replies on Bluesky. All promising "no AI" while their portfolios are full of graphics for products/companies that don't seem to exist, and fantasy pictures without a consistent art style. Truly […]
January 27, 2026 at 9:48 AM
RE: https://hachyderm.io/@tedted/115961697730486110
This seems to have attracted a bunch of bot replies on Bluesky. All promising "no AI" while their portfolios are full of graphics for products/companies that don't seem to exist, and fantasy pictures without a consistent art style. Truly […]
This seems to have attracted a bunch of bot replies on Bluesky. All promising "no AI" while their portfolios are full of graphics for products/companies that don't seem to exist, and fantasy pictures without a consistent art style. Truly […]
current status: watching german news
January 26, 2026 at 6:31 PM
current status: watching german news
I just booked a bunch of non-refundable trains for a vacation and it just hit me now that InterRail exists and I could probably have saved a good half of the price with it
January 25, 2026 at 8:20 PM
I just booked a bunch of non-refundable trains for a vacation and it just hit me now that InterRail exists and I could probably have saved a good half of the price with it
I signed up for my first ever classical chess tournament. Will happen in March, 5 games over 3 days (90+30 time control). It will either be lots of fun, or an emotionally crushing experience, or maybe both 😺
January 16, 2026 at 11:12 PM
I signed up for my first ever classical chess tournament. Will happen in March, 5 games over 3 days (90+30 time control). It will either be lots of fun, or an emotionally crushing experience, or maybe both 😺
You think answering "thanks, you too" to a waiter telling you "enjoy your meal" is embarrassing?
A friend of mine, who is single, wished me a good honeymoon today. Guest what I answered 🫥
A friend of mine, who is single, wished me a good honeymoon today. Guest what I answered 🫥
January 15, 2026 at 9:36 PM
You think answering "thanks, you too" to a waiter telling you "enjoy your meal" is embarrassing?
A friend of mine, who is single, wished me a good honeymoon today. Guest what I answered 🫥
A friend of mine, who is single, wished me a good honeymoon today. Guest what I answered 🫥
Making pumpkin soup. First step: melt 330g of butter. #frenchcooking
January 13, 2026 at 6:15 PM
Making pumpkin soup. First step: melt 330g of butter. #frenchcooking
I wrote a ✨ new blog post ✨ discussing some proposed changes to the definition of personal data under GDPR.
tl;dr: good for my business, not great for society at large 🤔
Link ➡️ https://desfontain.es/blog/digital-omnibus-personal-data-definition.html ✨
tl;dr: good for my business, not great for society at large 🤔
Link ➡️ https://desfontain.es/blog/digital-omnibus-personal-data-definition.html ✨
On “simplifying” GDPR's definition of personal data - Ted is writing things
I don't think it's a great idea to redefine what counts as anonymized data according to GDPR, like the European Commission is currently proposing. Here's why.
desfontain.es
January 8, 2026 at 2:30 PM
I wrote a ✨ new blog post ✨ discussing some proposed changes to the definition of personal data under GDPR.
tl;dr: good for my business, not great for society at large 🤔
Link ➡️ https://desfontain.es/blog/digital-omnibus-personal-data-definition.html ✨
tl;dr: good for my business, not great for society at large 🤔
Link ➡️ https://desfontain.es/blog/digital-omnibus-personal-data-definition.html ✨
LibreOffice takes *dozens of seconds* to load even small documents on my laptop. Are there faster alternatives? Preferably open-source, and that don't require me to install a billion dependencies? I don't need many features, this is mostly to read docs & spreadsheets.
January 6, 2026 at 12:43 PM
LibreOffice takes *dozens of seconds* to load even small documents on my laptop. Are there faster alternatives? Preferably open-source, and that don't require me to install a billion dependencies? I don't need many features, this is mostly to read docs & spreadsheets.
I don't have a whisk problem. I can stop buying whisks whenever I want
January 5, 2026 at 9:22 PM
I don't have a whisk problem. I can stop buying whisks whenever I want
Wrote up a list of my favorite books read in 2025 ✨
https://desfontain.es/blog/favorite-reads-2025.html
https://desfontain.es/blog/favorite-reads-2025.html
Favorite reads of 2025 - Ted is writing things
A list of the books that I particularly enjoyed reading this year.
desfontain.es
December 30, 2025 at 2:43 PM
Wrote up a list of my favorite books read in 2025 ✨
https://desfontain.es/blog/favorite-reads-2025.html
https://desfontain.es/blog/favorite-reads-2025.html
This essay from 2 years ago resonates even harder today. Strong recommend:
https://catherineshannon.substack.com/p/everyone-is-numbing-out
https://catherineshannon.substack.com/p/everyone-is-numbing-out
December 27, 2025 at 11:37 PM
This essay from 2 years ago resonates even harder today. Strong recommend:
https://catherineshannon.substack.com/p/everyone-is-numbing-out
https://catherineshannon.substack.com/p/everyone-is-numbing-out
Yessss what a nice milestone for 2025 🥳
Reached 1900 in blitz earlier this year too. Maybe I'll get to 2000 in one of the formats next year?
Reached 1900 in blitz earlier this year too. Maybe I'll get to 2000 in one of the formats next year?
December 25, 2025 at 11:59 PM
Yessss what a nice milestone for 2025 🥳
Reached 1900 in blitz earlier this year too. Maybe I'll get to 2000 in one of the formats next year?
Reached 1900 in blitz earlier this year too. Maybe I'll get to 2000 in one of the formats next year?
Nouvelle recette : soupe de potiron rôti. On continue sur la lancée de prendre des recettes simples et de les rendre merveilleuses avec un peu d'attention portée aux détails (et beaucoup de beurre) ✨
https://desfontain.es/recettes/soupe-de-potiron-roti.html
https://desfontain.es/recettes/soupe-de-potiron-roti.html
Soupe de potiron rôti - Les bonnes recettes de Ted
desfontain.es
December 20, 2025 at 1:42 PM
Nouvelle recette : soupe de potiron rôti. On continue sur la lancée de prendre des recettes simples et de les rendre merveilleuses avec un peu d'attention portée aux détails (et beaucoup de beurre) ✨
https://desfontain.es/recettes/soupe-de-potiron-roti.html
https://desfontain.es/recettes/soupe-de-potiron-roti.html
I'm packing books for presents and dismayed at how ugly all the covers are. Good art, ruined with unimaginative quotes from people I don't care about, or mentions of random literary prizes that won't exist in 5 years. And don't get me started on back covers that spoil half the story!
December 18, 2025 at 10:20 PM
I'm packing books for presents and dismayed at how ugly all the covers are. Good art, ruined with unimaginative quotes from people I don't care about, or mentions of random literary prizes that won't exist in 5 years. And don't get me started on back covers that spoil half the story!
Me: urgh, why is Typst using _text_ for italic and *text* for bold, this is a pointless and annoying divergence from the Markdown syntax
Me after a week of using Typst: wait actually this makes so much more sense than Markdown's syntax, all hail Typst
Me after a week of using Typst: wait actually this makes so much more sense than Markdown's syntax, all hail Typst
December 8, 2025 at 4:17 PM
Me: urgh, why is Typst using _text_ for italic and *text* for bold, this is a pointless and annoying divergence from the Markdown syntax
Me after a week of using Typst: wait actually this makes so much more sense than Markdown's syntax, all hail Typst
Me after a week of using Typst: wait actually this makes so much more sense than Markdown's syntax, all hail Typst
Some draws feel more satisfying than victories
December 8, 2025 at 11:19 AM
Some draws feel more satisfying than victories
La CNIL recrute pour leur équipe d'ingénierie et d'expertise technique: https://www.cnil.fr/fr/offre-demploi/ingenieuree-experte-au-service-de-lexpertise-technologique
Des gens sympas au service d'une mission positive et importante =)
Des gens sympas au service d'une mission positive et importante =)
Ingénieure(e) expert(e) au service de l’expertise technologique
L’équipe
www.cnil.fr
November 28, 2025 at 11:05 AM
La CNIL recrute pour leur équipe d'ingénierie et d'expertise technique: https://www.cnil.fr/fr/offre-demploi/ingenieuree-experte-au-service-de-lexpertise-technologique
Des gens sympas au service d'une mission positive et importante =)
Des gens sympas au service d'une mission positive et importante =)
Nouvelle recette: soupe de carottes caramélisées 🥕
Parfois, le secret, c'est un procédé scientifique optimisé 🧪
Parfois, c'est du beurre 🧈
… parfois, c'est les deux 👀
https://desfontain.es/recettes/soupe-de-carottes-caramelisees.html
Parfois, le secret, c'est un procédé scientifique optimisé 🧪
Parfois, c'est du beurre 🧈
… parfois, c'est les deux 👀
https://desfontain.es/recettes/soupe-de-carottes-caramelisees.html
Soupe de carottes caramélisées - Les bonnes recettes de Ted
desfontain.es
November 26, 2025 at 10:48 PM
Nouvelle recette: soupe de carottes caramélisées 🥕
Parfois, le secret, c'est un procédé scientifique optimisé 🧪
Parfois, c'est du beurre 🧈
… parfois, c'est les deux 👀
https://desfontain.es/recettes/soupe-de-carottes-caramelisees.html
Parfois, le secret, c'est un procédé scientifique optimisé 🧪
Parfois, c'est du beurre 🧈
… parfois, c'est les deux 👀
https://desfontain.es/recettes/soupe-de-carottes-caramelisees.html
Words to live by in Ed Zitron's latest blog post: « I learn a great deal by coming to things from the perspective of being a dumbass, a valuable intellectual framework of "I need to make sure I understand each bit and explain it as simply as possible." »
November 24, 2025 at 5:11 PM
Words to live by in Ed Zitron's latest blog post: « I learn a great deal by coming to things from the perspective of being a dumbass, a valuable intellectual framework of "I need to make sure I understand each bit and explain it as simply as possible." »