Alan Donovan
@adonovan.bsky.social
Software engineer at Google in New York, developing analysis and refactoring tools for Go (#golang). Co-author of "The Go Programming Language" (gopl.io).
A touch of “Trump class” is how architects describe the new-look White House.
December 23, 2025 at 2:30 PM
A touch of “Trump class” is how architects describe the new-look White House.
We only hear the clangers in our own areas of expertise—call it the cinematic Gell Mann effect. I always wonder what the favorite terrible movie lines are of military people, doctors, teachers, geologists, etc.
December 21, 2025 at 6:26 PM
We only hear the clangers in our own areas of expertise—call it the cinematic Gell Mann effect. I always wonder what the favorite terrible movie lines are of military people, doctors, teachers, geologists, etc.
What even is that? Either very unusual feline anatomy or I’m struggling to read the picture. More pics please!
December 21, 2025 at 2:29 PM
What even is that? Either very unusual feline anatomy or I’m struggling to read the picture. More pics please!
Thanks, this is fascinating. Please do ask the Times to publish it to their wider audience.
December 20, 2025 at 4:42 PM
Thanks, this is fascinating. Please do ask the Times to publish it to their wider audience.
Everyone looks like someone with dubious characteristics if all you have to go on is a picture of them and a posteriori knowledge of their dubious characteristics.
December 19, 2025 at 7:18 PM
Everyone looks like someone with dubious characteristics if all you have to go on is a picture of them and a posteriori knowledge of their dubious characteristics.
It does seem to be working. My daughter tells me people now interact (and play cards) in lunch break. But some kids just sit in the bathroom stalls doomscrolling where no-one can see. Apparently the physical obstacles to phone use are weaker than the social ones.
December 18, 2025 at 1:32 PM
It does seem to be working. My daughter tells me people now interact (and play cards) in lunch break. But some kids just sit in the bathroom stalls doomscrolling where no-one can see. Apparently the physical obstacles to phone use are weaker than the social ones.
Once you've invested billions in one enormous power-hungry machine that will never deliver an iota of social good, they all start to look the same.
December 18, 2025 at 1:19 PM
Once you've invested billions in one enormous power-hungry machine that will never deliver an iota of social good, they all start to look the same.
The question is: was he ever in? He seemed to do nothing but complain about how a 9-5 job means working 8 full hours. Every day!
December 17, 2025 at 11:25 PM
The question is: was he ever in? He seemed to do nothing but complain about how a 9-5 job means working 8 full hours. Every day!
Always keep in mind that Google is not one entity but many, and just because one group is interested in publishing sci-fi-sounding astrophysical limit studies (which have a long tradition) does not mean it’s an actual plan for investment and engineering.
December 17, 2025 at 1:19 PM
Always keep in mind that Google is not one entity but many, and just because one group is interested in publishing sci-fi-sounding astrophysical limit studies (which have a long tradition) does not mean it’s an actual plan for investment and engineering.
Exercise 47. How much delta-V would be required to correct the Earth’s orbit to exactly 500.00s?
December 13, 2025 at 2:05 PM
Exercise 47. How much delta-V would be required to correct the Earth’s orbit to exactly 500.00s?
Titanic. I know, I everyone loves it, but I wanted to walk out of the theater. My friends told me to stop being such a dick. But there was a woman a few rows in front whose perfectly ill-timed laughter revealed that she was the only person in that room who understood me. Too bad I never met her.
December 13, 2025 at 4:40 AM
Titanic. I know, I everyone loves it, but I wanted to walk out of the theater. My friends told me to stop being such a dick. But there was a woman a few rows in front whose perfectly ill-timed laughter revealed that she was the only person in that room who understood me. Too bad I never met her.
(It is nonetheless a cracking read, and is the novelistic equivalent of a Dad Movie, being a relentless display of stoic competence.)
December 7, 2025 at 6:59 PM
(It is nonetheless a cracking read, and is the novelistic equivalent of a Dad Movie, being a relentless display of stoic competence.)
By that measure the ultimate bromance is O’Brien’s Master and Commander, recent editions of which come with a recommendation on the cover for a specific nautical dictionary that is required to understand any given page.
December 7, 2025 at 6:57 PM
By that measure the ultimate bromance is O’Brien’s Master and Commander, recent editions of which come with a recommendation on the cover for a specific nautical dictionary that is required to understand any given page.
There was lately a giant tortoise named Harriet, whose 175-year life was bookend and attested by two great naturalists: her start by Charles Darwin and her end by Steve Irwin.
December 5, 2025 at 3:00 AM
There was lately a giant tortoise named Harriet, whose 175-year life was bookend and attested by two great naturalists: her start by Charles Darwin and her end by Steve Irwin.
Nicholson Baker's Double Fold is a great critique of the rush to adopt microfiche technology as a replacement for paper despite its abundant shortcomings.
December 4, 2025 at 1:02 PM
Nicholson Baker's Double Fold is a great critique of the rush to adopt microfiche technology as a replacement for paper despite its abundant shortcomings.
If it's any consolation I have more than once donned my committee hat only to close a proposal I myself had filed. Sometimes my colleagues ask "Alan, would you liked to close this one since you opened it?" Other times it's more like "I'll get my coat".
December 4, 2025 at 1:32 AM
If it's any consolation I have more than once donned my committee hat only to close a proposal I myself had filed. Sometimes my colleagues ask "Alan, would you liked to close this one since you opened it?" Other times it's more like "I'll get my coat".
He's only infallible when he sits in his special chair.
December 3, 2025 at 6:47 PM
He's only infallible when he sits in his special chair.
The same parochialism reported the Titanic as "local man lost at sea."
November 30, 2025 at 3:45 PM
The same parochialism reported the Titanic as "local man lost at sea."
A tenth of Google's mobile client libraries?
November 30, 2025 at 2:06 AM
A tenth of Google's mobile client libraries?
There’s a lot to disaggregate. For maps alone I find it hard not to be generally positive about Google, but the company does so much else besides.
November 28, 2025 at 5:03 PM
There’s a lot to disaggregate. For maps alone I find it hard not to be generally positive about Google, but the company does so much else besides.
A man without ЯONOH.
November 26, 2025 at 2:39 AM
A man without ЯONOH.
Now that we have AI, no-one reads the middle these days.
November 21, 2025 at 10:15 PM
Now that we have AI, no-one reads the middle these days.
Act II:
Diner: Yes. It is. Trust me, I can tell a shit when I see one.
Waiter: You're absolutely right. Let me fix that again.
Diner: [shakes head] Why do I keep coming to this restaurant?
This is my every experience of coding with LLMs.
Diner: Yes. It is. Trust me, I can tell a shit when I see one.
Waiter: You're absolutely right. Let me fix that again.
Diner: [shakes head] Why do I keep coming to this restaurant?
This is my every experience of coding with LLMs.
November 21, 2025 at 5:15 PM
Act II:
Diner: Yes. It is. Trust me, I can tell a shit when I see one.
Waiter: You're absolutely right. Let me fix that again.
Diner: [shakes head] Why do I keep coming to this restaurant?
This is my every experience of coding with LLMs.
Diner: Yes. It is. Trust me, I can tell a shit when I see one.
Waiter: You're absolutely right. Let me fix that again.
Diner: [shakes head] Why do I keep coming to this restaurant?
This is my every experience of coding with LLMs.