Robert Atkins
@ratkins.net
I miss Usenet. Prompt engineering and other things at https://beams.tech, ex Pivotal Labs. Also @ratkins, @[email protected]
I hope these are all real. But it’s at least good propaganda.
Slow-motion footage of Shahed being shot down with an M134D Minigun mounted on a Mi-8 helicopter.
February 5, 2026 at 10:42 PM
I hope these are all real. But it’s at least good propaganda.
Reposted by Robert Atkins
if you wanted more harbingers of woke 2, tech workers once again able to make their execs sweat would be high on the list
Tim Cook told Apple staff at an all-hands that he's "deeply distraught" with the US' current approach to immigration and he will press the issue with lawmakers (Mark Gurman/Bloomberg)
Main Link | Techmeme Permalink
Main Link | Techmeme Permalink
February 5, 2026 at 7:56 PM
if you wanted more harbingers of woke 2, tech workers once again able to make their execs sweat would be high on the list
Reposted by Robert Atkins
I've found god.
It's my turn to hide now.
It's my turn to hide now.
February 5, 2026 at 7:04 PM
I've found god.
It's my turn to hide now.
It's my turn to hide now.
Great example of how LLMs are good at building software where there’s already a good and exhaustive test or verification suite.
I always hated Cucumber-style tests (way too much scaffold required to allow actual business users to define tests they wanted & they wouldn’t do it anyway) but maybe now?
I always hated Cucumber-style tests (way too much scaffold required to allow actual business users to define tests they wanted & they wouldn’t do it anyway) but maybe now?
"Over nearly 2,000 Claude Code sessions and $20,000 in API costs, the agent team produced a 100,000-line [C compiler written in #rustlang] that can build Linux 6.9 on x86, ARM, and RISC-V."
www.anthropic.com/engineering/...
www.anthropic.com/engineering/...
Building a C compiler with a team of parallel Claudes
Anthropic is an AI safety and research company that's working to build reliable, interpretable, and steerable AI systems.
www.anthropic.com
February 5, 2026 at 10:20 PM
Great example of how LLMs are good at building software where there’s already a good and exhaustive test or verification suite.
I always hated Cucumber-style tests (way too much scaffold required to allow actual business users to define tests they wanted & they wouldn’t do it anyway) but maybe now?
I always hated Cucumber-style tests (way too much scaffold required to allow actual business users to define tests they wanted & they wouldn’t do it anyway) but maybe now?
Reposted by Robert Atkins
At least since writing software becomes sooo much easier, even in languages/frameworks you don't know, companies will finally build desktop & mobile apps in native toolkits like AppKit, GTK, UIKit instead of Electron & RN, since it's super easy to generate for 3 platforms separately, right?
Right?…
Right?…
February 5, 2026 at 6:50 PM
At least since writing software becomes sooo much easier, even in languages/frameworks you don't know, companies will finally build desktop & mobile apps in native toolkits like AppKit, GTK, UIKit instead of Electron & RN, since it's super easy to generate for 3 platforms separately, right?
Right?…
Right?…
Reposted by Robert Atkins
3-Year-Old Willing To Die For Bluey https://theonion.com/3-year-old-willing-to-die-for-bluey/
February 5, 2026 at 5:00 PM
3-Year-Old Willing To Die For Bluey https://theonion.com/3-year-old-willing-to-die-for-bluey/
Fucking love Reddit.
“How do I do *thing* (because *reason*)”
“You should do *other thing*“
🤦♂️
“How do I do *thing* (because *reason*)”
“You should do *other thing*“
🤦♂️
February 5, 2026 at 8:31 PM
Fucking love Reddit.
“How do I do *thing* (because *reason*)”
“You should do *other thing*“
🤦♂️
“How do I do *thing* (because *reason*)”
“You should do *other thing*“
🤦♂️
Reposted by Robert Atkins
If you want to know what’s going on in the oceans, check out their seashell media.
February 5, 2026 at 3:29 PM
If you want to know what’s going on in the oceans, check out their seashell media.
Reposted by Robert Atkins
Really enjoying Colbert's final season of "fuck it, we're going down swinging" tour.
Sir Ian McKellen performing a monologue from Shakespeare’s Sir Thomas More on the Stephen Colbert show. Never have I heard this monologue performed with such a keen sense of prescience. Nor have I ever been in this exact historical moment.TY Sir Ian, for reaching us once again.
#Pinks #ProudBlue
#Pinks #ProudBlue
February 5, 2026 at 1:33 PM
Really enjoying Colbert's final season of "fuck it, we're going down swinging" tour.
Reposted by Robert Atkins
A reminder that Epstein's email address was @gmail.com - Google have copies of everything to or from that email address.
February 5, 2026 at 1:31 PM
A reminder that Epstein's email address was @gmail.com - Google have copies of everything to or from that email address.
Reposted by Robert Atkins
With the size most monitors are now, any advantage of collapsing scrollbars to a few pixels wide, when not in use, is completely outweighed by how much more difficult they are to find and use. Thanks Microsoft.
February 5, 2026 at 12:55 PM
With the size most monitors are now, any advantage of collapsing scrollbars to a few pixels wide, when not in use, is completely outweighed by how much more difficult they are to find and use. Thanks Microsoft.
Reposted by Robert Atkins
Turns out when the metaphorical barrel of a gun is pressed against your forehead, a lot of luxury beliefs like being an alt-health quack sudden vanish from your mind.
SOUTH CAROLINA MEASLES VACCINATIONS UP OVER 7,000 DOSES IN JAN 2026 Y/Y, LED BY 72% SURGE IN SPARTANBURG COUNTY SOUTH CAROLINA REPORTS ONE CASE OF MEASLES-RELATED ENCEPHALITIS AMID OUTBREAK
February 5, 2026 at 2:43 AM
Turns out when the metaphorical barrel of a gun is pressed against your forehead, a lot of luxury beliefs like being an alt-health quack sudden vanish from your mind.
Reposted by Robert Atkins
That news story about the 13 year old who swam 4K, ditched his life jacket because it was slowing him down, notified someone, and then got his family saved is bananas. A story that should be told for generations.
Hero teen 'passed out' after open-ocean swim to save family
A WA mother says asking her teenage son to swim 4 kilometres through rough seas to get help after their family was swept out to sea, was "one of the hardest decisions" she has ever made.
www.abc.net.au
February 5, 2026 at 9:32 AM
That news story about the 13 year old who swam 4K, ditched his life jacket because it was slowing him down, notified someone, and then got his family saved is bananas. A story that should be told for generations.
Reposted by Robert Atkins
Jesus *christ*. A 4k ocean swim at *13*?! That is incredible.
February 5, 2026 at 12:37 PM
Jesus *christ*. A 4k ocean swim at *13*?! That is incredible.
How about, “fund the ICC to the point where it’s not even optional for nation states to participate, let alone billionaires, and investigate and prosecute every single Epstein file creep, Panama-papers tax-avoider and genocidaire.” Space-laser any fuckers who won’t comply.
Pop Quiz:
You've got Elon's money. What's the first thing you buy that makes you happy?
For me it's, "pay every single campaign on GoFundMe." There's only been $30bil raised by GFM its entire existence, I could drop $30bil like it was *nothing*, do immeasurable good, and be instantly beloved.
You've got Elon's money. What's the first thing you buy that makes you happy?
For me it's, "pay every single campaign on GoFundMe." There's only been $30bil raised by GFM its entire existence, I could drop $30bil like it was *nothing*, do immeasurable good, and be instantly beloved.
Elon COULD be happy
He'd need to learn an art, make amends to his children, give to the poor, make friends, love a movie, play a video game, literally do anything but be Elon Musk - the one thing he cannot do
That money could buy anyone happiness except for him
He'd need to learn an art, make amends to his children, give to the poor, make friends, love a movie, play a video game, literally do anything but be Elon Musk - the one thing he cannot do
That money could buy anyone happiness except for him
February 5, 2026 at 3:49 PM
How about, “fund the ICC to the point where it’s not even optional for nation states to participate, let alone billionaires, and investigate and prosecute every single Epstein file creep, Panama-papers tax-avoider and genocidaire.” Space-laser any fuckers who won’t comply.
Reposted by Robert Atkins
Something that unsettles me here lately is that I have to look elsewhere for any sense of what’s happening in Ukraine, and what’s happening in Ukraine is very bad indeed.
February 5, 2026 at 7:40 AM
Something that unsettles me here lately is that I have to look elsewhere for any sense of what’s happening in Ukraine, and what’s happening in Ukraine is very bad indeed.
It’s not even that! It’s the probability distribution around when your food will arrive that goes from “so far before advertised it’ll be cold by the time you’re ready for it”, through “the advertised time” to “never” (that last is way higher than zero and catastrophic if you’re feeding kids.)
my most peepaw-coded trait is that I angrily refuse to use DoorDash (and similar apps) because I know the markup is so insane versus “picking the food up myself” - and that money doesn’t go to the restaurant.
By god, I will drive or walk my ass over to the restaurant and get it myself.
By god, I will drive or walk my ass over to the restaurant and get it myself.
February 5, 2026 at 12:22 PM
It’s not even that! It’s the probability distribution around when your food will arrive that goes from “so far before advertised it’ll be cold by the time you’re ready for it”, through “the advertised time” to “never” (that last is way higher than zero and catastrophic if you’re feeding kids.)
Reposted by Robert Atkins
The Turin Test tests whether an AI assistant is capable of booking a 2-week vacation to Turin, Italy, for a family of 4 (2 adults, 2 children), and compares that vacation to one booked and managed by a human travel agent.
February 5, 2026 at 3:17 AM
The Turin Test tests whether an AI assistant is capable of booking a 2-week vacation to Turin, Italy, for a family of 4 (2 adults, 2 children), and compares that vacation to one booked and managed by a human travel agent.
Reposted by Robert Atkins
Buying software invariably means lock-in, and if you're smart you should plan for how much you're ok with.
Sorry, paused to have a totally coincidental quick chat with @charity.wtf ON THIS VERY TOPIC, during which we both said, almost simultaneously, "build vs buy isn't a binary choice, it's a continuum"
because buying software doesn't meant you don't have to build anything! it's worse than that!
because buying software doesn't meant you don't have to build anything! it's worse than that!
February 5, 2026 at 2:38 AM
Buying software invariably means lock-in, and if you're smart you should plan for how much you're ok with.
“Sure did, Miss!”
look, when I tell people I make some bomb-ass dildos,
Hospital evacuated as 'man found to have WW1 artillery shell in rectum'
The discovery of the century-old shell prompted a hospital evacuation amid fears it could explode
www.standard.co.uk
February 5, 2026 at 11:41 AM
“Sure did, Miss!”
Reposted by Robert Atkins
The CIA just stopped publishing their World Factbook and took every page, including the archived copies of previous versions!
This sucks. It was public domain, so I recovered the 2020 edition (the last one published as a zip file) and shared it to GitHub simonwillison.net/2026/Feb/5/t...
This sucks. It was public domain, so I recovered the 2020 edition (the last one published as a zip file) and shared it to GitHub simonwillison.net/2026/Feb/5/t...
Spotlighting The World Factbook as We Bid a Fond Farewell
Somewhat devastating news today from the CIA: One of CIA’s oldest and most recognizable intelligence publications, The World Factbook, has sunset. There's not even a hint as to why they …
simonwillison.net
February 5, 2026 at 12:25 AM
The CIA just stopped publishing their World Factbook and took every page, including the archived copies of previous versions!
This sucks. It was public domain, so I recovered the 2020 edition (the last one published as a zip file) and shared it to GitHub simonwillison.net/2026/Feb/5/t...
This sucks. It was public domain, so I recovered the 2020 edition (the last one published as a zip file) and shared it to GitHub simonwillison.net/2026/Feb/5/t...
Reposted by Robert Atkins
"Mastodon: I came for the social interaction but I stayed anyway"
February 5, 2026 at 10:39 AM
"Mastodon: I came for the social interaction but I stayed anyway"
Reposted by Robert Atkins
Democracy dies in darkness
– Washington Post
Also
Will the last person leaving please turn out the lights?
– Washington Post
– Washington Post
Also
Will the last person leaving please turn out the lights?
– Washington Post
February 4, 2026 at 10:52 PM
Democracy dies in darkness
– Washington Post
Also
Will the last person leaving please turn out the lights?
– Washington Post
– Washington Post
Also
Will the last person leaving please turn out the lights?
– Washington Post
I’ll note the apps specified as lagging (iMessage, FaceTime, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp…) are the end-to-end encrypted ones so be careful what you wish for.
largest creators and purveyors of CSAM in the world are “failing to detect child abuse”.
www.abc.net.au/news/2026-02...
www.abc.net.au/news/2026-02...
Online safety watchdog says tech giants failing to detect child abuse
Major tech companies including Apple, Google, Meta and Microsoft are still failing to do enough to detect and stop child sexual abuse, eSafety has claimed.
www.abc.net.au
February 5, 2026 at 10:35 AM
I’ll note the apps specified as lagging (iMessage, FaceTime, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp…) are the end-to-end encrypted ones so be careful what you wish for.
Reposted by Robert Atkins
This pup found a stick shaped like an old timey pipe earlier today and has already solved three mysteries. 13/10
February 4, 2026 at 9:59 PM
This pup found a stick shaped like an old timey pipe earlier today and has already solved three mysteries. 13/10