Robert Smallshire
@robert.smallshire.no
Founding Tubetrain 🚀. Building Demonstrable® at Sixty North. Director for lithium explorer Transition Elements. "utterly competent". Geoscience PhD. 330 ppm CO₂. Caver. 🇳🇴🇬🇧
Reposted by Robert Smallshire
December 13, 2025 at 4:59 AM
Reposted by Robert Smallshire
"I hate AI because it states blatantly wrong things confidently sometimes. And also because it uses 50 gajillion gallons of water per query."
December 10, 2025 at 8:56 PM
"I hate AI because it states blatantly wrong things confidently sometimes. And also because it uses 50 gajillion gallons of water per query."
Slop in, slop out.
December 11, 2025 at 1:11 PM
Slop in, slop out.
Why are Apple emulating failing eyesight with their new Liquid Glass app icon filter?
December 10, 2025 at 8:59 AM
Why are Apple emulating failing eyesight with their new Liquid Glass app icon filter?
Empire of AI by @karenhao.bsky.social contains serious errors regarding data centre water use. I thought it was an important book which I’ve recommended to folks, but I won’t be recommending it further unless a heavily revised second edition is published. andymasley.substack.com/p/empire-of-...
Empire of AI is wildly misleading on AI water use
And the media environment that didn't catch this is getting this issue wrong
andymasley.substack.com
December 10, 2025 at 7:38 AM
Empire of AI by @karenhao.bsky.social contains serious errors regarding data centre water use. I thought it was an important book which I’ve recommended to folks, but I won’t be recommending it further unless a heavily revised second edition is published. andymasley.substack.com/p/empire-of-...
The people making a pig’s ear of programming _with_ AI are mostly the same ones who made a pig’s ear of it _without_ AI. Still talking only about features, still ignoring system qualities. Same mindset, new tools, same outcome.
December 9, 2025 at 11:33 PM
The people making a pig’s ear of programming _with_ AI are mostly the same ones who made a pig’s ear of it _without_ AI. Still talking only about features, still ignoring system qualities. Same mindset, new tools, same outcome.
When you realise that the Gell-Mann Amnesia Effect applies to all of Wikipedia.
Status: Fixing Human Slop on Wikipedia.
December 8, 2025 at 3:49 PM
When you realise that the Gell-Mann Amnesia Effect applies to all of Wikipedia.
Status: Fixing Human Slop on Wikipedia.
December 7, 2025 at 8:43 AM
Status: Fixing Human Slop on Wikipedia.
From 1998: “An [SGI] Octane system featuring 250-MHz R10000 processor, meanwhile, will drop from $38,995 to $24,995.”
I was coding on systems like this around the turn of the millennium. There’s a huge upside in how much money we’ll be prepared to pay for AI tooling. $200/month is nothing.
I was coding on systems like this around the turn of the millennium. There’s a huge upside in how much money we’ll be prepared to pay for AI tooling. $200/month is nothing.
November 30, 2025 at 8:27 AM
From 1998: “An [SGI] Octane system featuring 250-MHz R10000 processor, meanwhile, will drop from $38,995 to $24,995.”
I was coding on systems like this around the turn of the millennium. There’s a huge upside in how much money we’ll be prepared to pay for AI tooling. $200/month is nothing.
I was coding on systems like this around the turn of the millennium. There’s a huge upside in how much money we’ll be prepared to pay for AI tooling. $200/month is nothing.
I can't help but wonder if this post would have got more attention on his platform if I had omitted the word 'vibe'.
I became interested in a space-filling foam called the Weaire-Phelan structure. I struggled to build intuition from static pictures, so I vibe-coded a geometry generator in Python and a custom visualiser in ThreeJS. From idea to realisation in 90 minutes.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=cG1E...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=cG1E...
Visualising the Weaire-Phelan Structure
YouTube video by Robert Smallshire
www.youtube.com
November 29, 2025 at 9:01 PM
I can't help but wonder if this post would have got more attention on his platform if I had omitted the word 'vibe'.
I became interested in a space-filling foam called the Weaire-Phelan structure. I struggled to build intuition from static pictures, so I vibe-coded a geometry generator in Python and a custom visualiser in ThreeJS. From idea to realisation in 90 minutes.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=cG1E...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=cG1E...
Visualising the Weaire-Phelan Structure
YouTube video by Robert Smallshire
www.youtube.com
November 29, 2025 at 2:46 PM
I became interested in a space-filling foam called the Weaire-Phelan structure. I struggled to build intuition from static pictures, so I vibe-coded a geometry generator in Python and a custom visualiser in ThreeJS. From idea to realisation in 90 minutes.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=cG1E...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=cG1E...
Prediction (10 years) : The revolution currently underway in coding will be almost complete.
Prediction (10 years) : There will be more programming than ever, but primarily in English, not in high-level programming languages like Python, C# or Java.
English: HL-PLLs :: HL-PLLs : assembly
Prediction (10 years) : There will be more programming than ever, but primarily in English, not in high-level programming languages like Python, C# or Java.
English: HL-PLLs :: HL-PLLs : assembly
November 29, 2025 at 10:14 AM
Prediction (10 years) : The revolution currently underway in coding will be almost complete.
Prediction (10 years) : There will be more programming than ever, but primarily in English, not in high-level programming languages like Python, C# or Java.
English: HL-PLLs :: HL-PLLs : assembly
Prediction (10 years) : There will be more programming than ever, but primarily in English, not in high-level programming languages like Python, C# or Java.
English: HL-PLLs :: HL-PLLs : assembly
Computing finally produces phenomena that demand the scientific method to understand and leverage, only to reveal that Computer Scientists were never taught how to do science.
November 26, 2025 at 6:37 PM
Computing finally produces phenomena that demand the scientific method to understand and leverage, only to reveal that Computer Scientists were never taught how to do science.
To all the programmers out there, TIL that the number of centiseconds in a day is divisible by 256.
November 24, 2025 at 9:06 PM
To all the programmers out there, TIL that the number of centiseconds in a day is divisible by 256.
Fractal yak shaving status: Annotating the disassembly of an operating system at well past my bedtime.
November 5, 2025 at 11:45 PM
Fractal yak shaving status: Annotating the disassembly of an operating system at well past my bedtime.
"I apologize - I made a mistake. When I did git stash drop, I permanently deleted your uncommitted changes."
Thanks, Claude. 🤦
Thanks, Claude. 🤦
October 28, 2025 at 1:29 PM
"I apologize - I made a mistake. When I did git stash drop, I permanently deleted your uncommitted changes."
Thanks, Claude. 🤦
Thanks, Claude. 🤦
Convinced the crisis of app UX is a result of a generation of designers who have never experienced computers being used (and needed!) for serious work.
A fucking avalanche of triviality.
A fucking avalanche of triviality.
October 24, 2025 at 3:42 PM
Convinced the crisis of app UX is a result of a generation of designers who have never experienced computers being used (and needed!) for serious work.
A fucking avalanche of triviality.
A fucking avalanche of triviality.
A new personal best.
October 17, 2025 at 12:16 PM
A new personal best.
Friday morning, 8½ hours of work lined up for the coding servant. The weekend starts here?
October 3, 2025 at 7:12 AM
Friday morning, 8½ hours of work lined up for the coding servant. The weekend starts here?
On decibels: ”The bel is named in the honor of Alexander Bell; this is in the same tradition that prompted us to name the “wat” in honor of James Watt.“
October 1, 2025 at 3:03 PM
On decibels: ”The bel is named in the honor of Alexander Bell; this is in the same tradition that prompted us to name the “wat” in honor of James Watt.“
I’d like to be able to claim this this is my 15 year old daughter’s first international independent travel experience 🇳🇴 ✈️ 🇬🇧 , but she’s already had a day out in Göteborg 🇸🇪 without asking.
September 26, 2025 at 4:36 PM
I’d like to be able to claim this this is my 15 year old daughter’s first international independent travel experience 🇳🇴 ✈️ 🇬🇧 , but she’s already had a day out in Göteborg 🇸🇪 without asking.
Go Trump!
[Not really]
[Not really]
A proposed stake comes as the Canadian mining company negotiates terms for a multibillion-dollar loan with the Trump administration.
Lithium Americas Shares Surge 90% As Trump Requests Stake
A proposed stake comes as the Canadian mining company negotiates terms for a multibillion-dollar loan with the Trump administration.
www.forbes.com
September 24, 2025 at 7:51 PM
Go Trump!
[Not really]
[Not really]
There are two rational responses to AI-assisted programming:
1) Do the same work in (much) less time. Work less. Enjoy life.
2) Manage multiple agents concurrently, and work just as much as before.
At an individual level many would prefer 1.
At a population level we'll all be driven to option 2.
1) Do the same work in (much) less time. Work less. Enjoy life.
2) Manage multiple agents concurrently, and work just as much as before.
At an individual level many would prefer 1.
At a population level we'll all be driven to option 2.
Until now, programming was a "single-threaded" activity. As a dev, I'd get "in the zone" and get it done.
AI agents change this: you can now kick off parallel coding tasks.
I see more devs do this... and this feels like brand new territory. We'll need to learn. A lot!
AI agents change this: you can now kick off parallel coding tasks.
I see more devs do this... and this feels like brand new territory. We'll need to learn. A lot!
September 23, 2025 at 7:49 PM
There are two rational responses to AI-assisted programming:
1) Do the same work in (much) less time. Work less. Enjoy life.
2) Manage multiple agents concurrently, and work just as much as before.
At an individual level many would prefer 1.
At a population level we'll all be driven to option 2.
1) Do the same work in (much) less time. Work less. Enjoy life.
2) Manage multiple agents concurrently, and work just as much as before.
At an individual level many would prefer 1.
At a population level we'll all be driven to option 2.
Reposted by Robert Smallshire
Workers have completed the main excavation of the Brenner Base Tunnel between Austria and Italy, set to become the world’s longest underground rail link. The project is a key part of the EU’s push to shift freight from road to rail, cutting pollution and boosting European trade.
September 22, 2025 at 11:25 AM
Workers have completed the main excavation of the Brenner Base Tunnel between Austria and Italy, set to become the world’s longest underground rail link. The project is a key part of the EU’s push to shift freight from road to rail, cutting pollution and boosting European trade.
A short tale illustrating the need for sovereign European AI:
Claude:
label. isHidden = true
label.wantsLayer = true
label. layer?. isHidden = true // Belt and suspenders
Me:
I'm British. Belt and *braces*. Suspenders are what ladies use to hold up their stockings.
Claude:
label. isHidden = true
label.wantsLayer = true
label. layer?. isHidden = true // Belt and suspenders
Me:
I'm British. Belt and *braces*. Suspenders are what ladies use to hold up their stockings.
September 22, 2025 at 6:45 AM
A short tale illustrating the need for sovereign European AI:
Claude:
label. isHidden = true
label.wantsLayer = true
label. layer?. isHidden = true // Belt and suspenders
Me:
I'm British. Belt and *braces*. Suspenders are what ladies use to hold up their stockings.
Claude:
label. isHidden = true
label.wantsLayer = true
label. layer?. isHidden = true // Belt and suspenders
Me:
I'm British. Belt and *braces*. Suspenders are what ladies use to hold up their stockings.