Patrick Smith
@royalicing.com
webassembly in elixir: https://useorb.dev · components everywhere: https://components.guide · blog: https://royalicing.com · he/him
You have to laugh that a technology comes along that eliminates the need for most software methodologies and layers of management and people start debating which software methodologies and layers of management work best for their coding agents.
February 14, 2026 at 1:05 PM
You have to laugh that a technology comes along that eliminates the need for most software methodologies and layers of management and people start debating which software methodologies and layers of management work best for their coding agents.
Apple used to be the brand of high standards.
People would look up to the bar they set with software design, ethics, and respecting the user.
If they dilute those things they risk not just those things, but the entire Apple brand and the company’s purpose for existing.
People would look up to the bar they set with software design, ethics, and respecting the user.
If they dilute those things they risk not just those things, but the entire Apple brand and the company’s purpose for existing.
February 14, 2026 at 12:36 PM
Apple used to be the brand of high standards.
People would look up to the bar they set with software design, ethics, and respecting the user.
If they dilute those things they risk not just those things, but the entire Apple brand and the company’s purpose for existing.
People would look up to the bar they set with software design, ethics, and respecting the user.
If they dilute those things they risk not just those things, but the entire Apple brand and the company’s purpose for existing.
The great thing about coding agents + chatbots is that I’m not idling too much. But it also means I’m not taking time off as much as I could. Every half thought is thrown into either a ChatGPT exchange or the active Codex session to see what it makes of it.
February 13, 2026 at 7:40 AM
The great thing about coding agents + chatbots is that I’m not idling too much. But it also means I’m not taking time off as much as I could. Every half thought is thrown into either a ChatGPT exchange or the active Codex session to see what it makes of it.
These fucking Epstein Files are like the DVD commentary for Me Too.
February 13, 2026 at 1:19 AM
These fucking Epstein Files are like the DVD commentary for Me Too.
Two things I wish ChatGPT let me do:
Highlight parts (in my question or in the response) that I think are most important. I can then at the end prioritize these in a summary.
👍 or 👎 particular parts.
This would be signal sent over for its next response that I don’t have to explicitly type out.
Highlight parts (in my question or in the response) that I think are most important. I can then at the end prioritize these in a summary.
👍 or 👎 particular parts.
This would be signal sent over for its next response that I don’t have to explicitly type out.
February 13, 2026 at 1:09 AM
Two things I wish ChatGPT let me do:
Highlight parts (in my question or in the response) that I think are most important. I can then at the end prioritize these in a summary.
👍 or 👎 particular parts.
This would be signal sent over for its next response that I don’t have to explicitly type out.
Highlight parts (in my question or in the response) that I think are most important. I can then at the end prioritize these in a summary.
👍 or 👎 particular parts.
This would be signal sent over for its next response that I don’t have to explicitly type out.
Apple or Google should create Pull Requests for Life.
You prompt, they study based on the information they know about you to work out what to send to who (family, friend, service).
They present it to you with a Merge to Life button, or you add notes and it tries again.
You prompt, they study based on the information they know about you to work out what to send to who (family, friend, service).
They present it to you with a Merge to Life button, or you add notes and it tries again.
February 12, 2026 at 11:35 AM
Apple or Google should create Pull Requests for Life.
You prompt, they study based on the information they know about you to work out what to send to who (family, friend, service).
They present it to you with a Merge to Life button, or you add notes and it tries again.
You prompt, they study based on the information they know about you to work out what to send to who (family, friend, service).
They present it to you with a Merge to Life button, or you add notes and it tries again.
Idea: Ads for Codex where it forces you to watch a YouTube video on the feature/algorithm you just asked the agent to implement, so at least you have some understanding of how it works.
February 12, 2026 at 7:28 AM
Idea: Ads for Codex where it forces you to watch a YouTube video on the feature/algorithm you just asked the agent to implement, so at least you have some understanding of how it works.
If you look at the implementation of a high-level language like Ruby, you can see a lot of it is implemented in fast C.
Agentic coding lets you go another abstraction higher than a scripting language *using* C.
qip is made for this world:
github.com/royalicing/qip
Agentic coding lets you go another abstraction higher than a scripting language *using* C.
qip is made for this world:
github.com/royalicing/qip
GitHub - royalicing/qip: Pipelines of safe determinism in a probabilistic generative world
Pipelines of safe determinism in a probabilistic generative world - royalicing/qip
github.com
February 12, 2026 at 6:52 AM
If you look at the implementation of a high-level language like Ruby, you can see a lot of it is implemented in fast C.
Agentic coding lets you go another abstraction higher than a scripting language *using* C.
qip is made for this world:
github.com/royalicing/qip
Agentic coding lets you go another abstraction higher than a scripting language *using* C.
qip is made for this world:
github.com/royalicing/qip
Is celebrating faster LLMs like celebrating faster Xerox copiers? It looks fantastic for productivity but does everyone now want to read books with double the page count? Does everyone now want software with double the features?
AI is changing the supply side but is it changing the demand side?
AI is changing the supply side but is it changing the demand side?
February 12, 2026 at 1:48 AM
Is celebrating faster LLMs like celebrating faster Xerox copiers? It looks fantastic for productivity but does everyone now want to read books with double the page count? Does everyone now want software with double the features?
AI is changing the supply side but is it changing the demand side?
AI is changing the supply side but is it changing the demand side?
One reason why CLI tools are a massive win for AI agents is the auth story is friendly.
You don’t have sessions expiring every week or constant two factor or emails you have to click a link in.
Like mobile apps once you sign in they stay signed in.
You don’t have sessions expiring every week or constant two factor or emails you have to click a link in.
Like mobile apps once you sign in they stay signed in.
February 11, 2026 at 2:04 AM
One reason why CLI tools are a massive win for AI agents is the auth story is friendly.
You don’t have sessions expiring every week or constant two factor or emails you have to click a link in.
Like mobile apps once you sign in they stay signed in.
You don’t have sessions expiring every week or constant two factor or emails you have to click a link in.
Like mobile apps once you sign in they stay signed in.
I really like how Safari adds its tagline to the top of every page…
February 10, 2026 at 5:05 AM
I really like how Safari adds its tagline to the top of every page…
You decide you must ship really, really fast either because:
- It’s the most important factor to competitively stay alive in your market.
- Your output is being quantified and this is the only metric you have to show for your work.
- It’s the most important factor to competitively stay alive in your market.
- Your output is being quantified and this is the only metric you have to show for your work.
February 10, 2026 at 2:06 AM
You decide you must ship really, really fast either because:
- It’s the most important factor to competitively stay alive in your market.
- Your output is being quantified and this is the only metric you have to show for your work.
- It’s the most important factor to competitively stay alive in your market.
- Your output is being quantified and this is the only metric you have to show for your work.
AI is catnip for software builders because the feedback loops are so quick: Does it compile? Do the tests pass? You can know this in a few minutes.
But AI is yet to change the feedback loops that matter to a business: those loops with the market and with customers.
But AI is yet to change the feedback loops that matter to a business: those loops with the market and with customers.
February 8, 2026 at 7:47 PM
AI is catnip for software builders because the feedback loops are so quick: Does it compile? Do the tests pass? You can know this in a few minutes.
But AI is yet to change the feedback loops that matter to a business: those loops with the market and with customers.
But AI is yet to change the feedback loops that matter to a business: those loops with the market and with customers.
Apple has gone from the company everyone looked up to because “they lead user friendly design” to “they control the iPhone”.
This has been corrosive to both Apple itself and its ecosystem of developers.
This has been corrosive to both Apple itself and its ecosystem of developers.
February 7, 2026 at 1:20 AM
Apple has gone from the company everyone looked up to because “they lead user friendly design” to “they control the iPhone”.
This has been corrosive to both Apple itself and its ecosystem of developers.
This has been corrosive to both Apple itself and its ecosystem of developers.
The things that stand the test of time are protocols. Everything else is temporary glue.
Sent over the network? Protocol.
Serialized to disk? Protocol.
Documented for others? Protocol.
Invest significant effort when designing protocols, and prefer established standards.
Sent over the network? Protocol.
Serialized to disk? Protocol.
Documented for others? Protocol.
Invest significant effort when designing protocols, and prefer established standards.
February 6, 2026 at 2:47 AM
The things that stand the test of time are protocols. Everything else is temporary glue.
Sent over the network? Protocol.
Serialized to disk? Protocol.
Documented for others? Protocol.
Invest significant effort when designing protocols, and prefer established standards.
Sent over the network? Protocol.
Serialized to disk? Protocol.
Documented for others? Protocol.
Invest significant effort when designing protocols, and prefer established standards.
the stricter your compiler
the more explicit your inputs & outputs
the stronger your sandbox isolation
the clearer your errors
the tighter your types
the more idempotent & deterministic your system
the more freedom you can give your agent to roam
the more explicit your inputs & outputs
the stronger your sandbox isolation
the clearer your errors
the tighter your types
the more idempotent & deterministic your system
the more freedom you can give your agent to roam
February 5, 2026 at 8:32 AM
the stricter your compiler
the more explicit your inputs & outputs
the stronger your sandbox isolation
the clearer your errors
the tighter your types
the more idempotent & deterministic your system
the more freedom you can give your agent to roam
the more explicit your inputs & outputs
the stronger your sandbox isolation
the clearer your errors
the tighter your types
the more idempotent & deterministic your system
the more freedom you can give your agent to roam
Loving using Makefiles, so I can run `make test` and it runs all the tests, and Codex can run all the tests. No bullshit skill files or slash commands.
February 5, 2026 at 8:21 AM
Loving using Makefiles, so I can run `make test` and it runs all the tests, and Codex can run all the tests. No bullshit skill files or slash commands.
The stronger the contract, the more you can set your agent free.
February 5, 2026 at 8:05 AM
The stronger the contract, the more you can set your agent free.
Fat loops, lean interfaces.
Make each trip around the loop substantial, batching work together.
And keep interfaces lean, minimizing your contract so you can improve the implementation in the future.
Make each trip around the loop substantial, batching work together.
And keep interfaces lean, minimizing your contract so you can improve the implementation in the future.
February 5, 2026 at 7:43 AM
Fat loops, lean interfaces.
Make each trip around the loop substantial, batching work together.
And keep interfaces lean, minimizing your contract so you can improve the implementation in the future.
Make each trip around the loop substantial, batching work together.
And keep interfaces lean, minimizing your contract so you can improve the implementation in the future.
I’m so glad my blog is just a bunch of Markdown files in folders. It means I can iterate on new posts using coding agents like Codex.
It can judge unclear sentences, suggest synonyms, and wrangle with the awful syntax for tables.
It can judge unclear sentences, suggest synonyms, and wrangle with the awful syntax for tables.
February 4, 2026 at 6:39 AM
I’m so glad my blog is just a bunch of Markdown files in folders. It means I can iterate on new posts using coding agents like Codex.
It can judge unclear sentences, suggest synonyms, and wrangle with the awful syntax for tables.
It can judge unclear sentences, suggest synonyms, and wrangle with the awful syntax for tables.
Software product development that is focused primarily on extracting the most money is to reverse engineer the worst in humans.
Software product development that is focused primarily on creating the most meaningful value is to reverse engineer the best in humans.
Software product development that is focused primarily on creating the most meaningful value is to reverse engineer the best in humans.
February 4, 2026 at 12:43 AM
Software product development that is focused primarily on extracting the most money is to reverse engineer the worst in humans.
Software product development that is focused primarily on creating the most meaningful value is to reverse engineer the best in humans.
Software product development that is focused primarily on creating the most meaningful value is to reverse engineer the best in humans.
Nothing shows how tech’s power dynamics haven’t drastically changed yet like Claude putting Google first on their login page.
January 30, 2026 at 1:44 AM
Nothing shows how tech’s power dynamics haven’t drastically changed yet like Claude putting Google first on their login page.
Reposted by Patrick Smith
Tomorrow’s front page of the Minnesota Star Tribune: Jan. 23, 2026
January 22, 2026 at 11:19 PM
Tomorrow’s front page of the Minnesota Star Tribune: Jan. 23, 2026
Tech in 2020: omg are you not formatting your code? let’s blindly install these 600 lint rules and 200 dependencies. why aren’t you using infrastructure-as-code to deploy to production? what is wrong with you?
January 20, 2026 at 9:17 AM
Tech in 2020: omg are you not formatting your code? let’s blindly install these 600 lint rules and 200 dependencies. why aren’t you using infrastructure-as-code to deploy to production? what is wrong with you?