Bernd Wachter
@bernd.wachter.fi
Random ramblings, and writing about my toy projects - Emacs stuff, RFID, remote control, LLM, in any combination.
Interested in some of what I'm playing with? I may be available for contracting through my company (https://bsky.app/profile/aardsoft.fi)
Interested in some of what I'm playing with? I may be available for contracting through my company (https://bsky.app/profile/aardsoft.fi)
gaming PC. And to train it on a new concept (like a specific person) as little as 10 training pictures can give decent results.
January 18, 2026 at 8:53 AM
gaming PC. And to train it on a new concept (like a specific person) as little as 10 training pictures can give decent results.
I had a lot of fun with one trained on mashed potatoes, transforming some family pictures into a mashed potato world. But obviously that can be used for more harmful purposes as well.
Problem here is that even in 2023 technical and resource needs were achievable for a horny teenager with a decent
Problem here is that even in 2023 technical and resource needs were achievable for a horny teenager with a decent
January 18, 2026 at 8:53 AM
I had a lot of fun with one trained on mashed potatoes, transforming some family pictures into a mashed potato world. But obviously that can be used for more harmful purposes as well.
Problem here is that even in 2023 technical and resource needs were achievable for a horny teenager with a decent
Problem here is that even in 2023 technical and resource needs were achievable for a horny teenager with a decent
and shared as 'new' model. There are various platforms for model sharing (like civitai). Doing that is still a lot of effort, though. But there are extension options for base models - prominent one Low-Rank Adaptation, LoRA).
That allows teaching new abilities with very limited resources.
That allows teaching new abilities with very limited resources.
January 18, 2026 at 8:53 AM
and shared as 'new' model. There are various platforms for model sharing (like civitai). Doing that is still a lot of effort, though. But there are extension options for base models - prominent one Low-Rank Adaptation, LoRA).
That allows teaching new abilities with very limited resources.
That allows teaching new abilities with very limited resources.
translate to LLM models. Re-training the complete model is unrealistic for fun, as that'd require 6-figure investments. So what matters is availability of a trained model that can be customised. First prominent one was stable diffusion in 2022.
That base model can be re-trained with extra data
That base model can be re-trained with extra data
January 18, 2026 at 8:53 AM
translate to LLM models. Re-training the complete model is unrealistic for fun, as that'd require 6-figure investments. So what matters is availability of a trained model that can be customised. First prominent one was stable diffusion in 2022.
That base model can be re-trained with extra data
That base model can be re-trained with extra data
Some comments about the 'open source' section there. I'll base this on the stable diffusion model, as that's what I played with a lot back in 2022/2023 before the concept lost its novelty, but everything more or less applies to newer, higher quality models as well.
"Open source" doesn't directly
"Open source" doesn't directly
January 18, 2026 at 8:53 AM
Some comments about the 'open source' section there. I'll base this on the stable diffusion model, as that's what I played with a lot back in 2022/2023 before the concept lost its novelty, but everything more or less applies to newer, higher quality models as well.
"Open source" doesn't directly
"Open source" doesn't directly
erwarten wuerde. Wenn er sich darauf jetzt Vollzeit konzentrieren kann duerfte das zu spektakulaeren Ergebnissen fuehren.
January 5, 2026 at 11:49 AM
erwarten wuerde. Wenn er sich darauf jetzt Vollzeit konzentrieren kann duerfte das zu spektakulaeren Ergebnissen fuehren.
Das ist der Kontext der den ersten Meldungen zu seinem Ruecktritt gefehlt hat - und eine Bewertung schwierig gemacht hat. Mit dem Kontext sieht das jetzt vernuenftig aus - ist mir paarmal aufgefallen dass er anscheinend tiefer in Operationsplanung drin war als man es vom Leiter der Organisation
January 5, 2026 at 11:49 AM
Das ist der Kontext der den ersten Meldungen zu seinem Ruecktritt gefehlt hat - und eine Bewertung schwierig gemacht hat. Mit dem Kontext sieht das jetzt vernuenftig aus - ist mir paarmal aufgefallen dass er anscheinend tiefer in Operationsplanung drin war als man es vom Leiter der Organisation
You're going to get a letter. And if you annoy me even further I'll also make you respond by letter instead of giving you my email address. And I'll cackle with glee, knowing how this messes with your precious processes.
December 31, 2025 at 10:11 AM
You're going to get a letter. And if you annoy me even further I'll also make you respond by letter instead of giving you my email address. And I'll cackle with glee, knowing how this messes with your precious processes.
something else. The parcel was quite damaged from the trip, plus we got another sandbox during the wait, so we just refused delivery.
December 30, 2025 at 2:45 PM
something else. The parcel was quite damaged from the trip, plus we got another sandbox during the wait, so we just refused delivery.
About 6 years ago I had them bounce a sandbox (so, big, heavy) between Helsinki, Turku and Rovaniemi for a few weeks. Was my first ever PostNord delivery, and when their truck finally showed up our elderly neighbour popped out of her house just to tell us that PostNord sucks, and we should use
December 30, 2025 at 2:45 PM
About 6 years ago I had them bounce a sandbox (so, big, heavy) between Helsinki, Turku and Rovaniemi for a few weeks. Was my first ever PostNord delivery, and when their truck finally showed up our elderly neighbour popped out of her house just to tell us that PostNord sucks, and we should use
Not sure yet if it's worth polishing that up for more generic use or sharing - layouting will take quite a bit of work to get it right (especially re-layouting on buffer size changes), and SVG or PNG import of network diagrams would be nice, but also will be a pain to make it work
December 30, 2025 at 2:00 PM
Not sure yet if it's worth polishing that up for more generic use or sharing - layouting will take quite a bit of work to get it right (especially re-layouting on buffer size changes), and SVG or PNG import of network diagrams would be nice, but also will be a pain to make it work
I can adjust node properties (like frequencies, for luaradio), and export to a native format. I also can move point to a connection, and insert a node in there - something that has been annoying me with most graphical editors. Breaking a connection to insert a node should be just a simple operation.
December 30, 2025 at 2:00 PM
I can adjust node properties (like frequencies, for luaradio), and export to a native format. I also can move point to a connection, and insert a node in there - something that has been annoying me with most graphical editors. Breaking a connection to insert a node should be just a simple operation.
This PoC defines a bunch of geometrical shapes, and then allows defining libraries on top of that. I started two for now - network nodes, and luaradio nodes. I can then insert nodes from the loaded library with minibuffer completion, and with a different command select two nodes I want to connect.
December 30, 2025 at 2:00 PM
This PoC defines a bunch of geometrical shapes, and then allows defining libraries on top of that. I started two for now - network nodes, and luaradio nodes. I can then insert nodes from the loaded library with minibuffer completion, and with a different command select two nodes I want to connect.
Potato salad is pretty low effort, and can be prepared quite a bit ahead of eating. Never had store bought potato salad on Christmas (and wouldn't want to, that stuff is disgusting).
December 25, 2025 at 8:42 PM
Potato salad is pretty low effort, and can be prepared quite a bit ahead of eating. Never had store bought potato salad on Christmas (and wouldn't want to, that stuff is disgusting).
I'm guessing you're from the North. A proper South German potato salad is vinegar based.
December 25, 2025 at 8:19 PM
I'm guessing you're from the North. A proper South German potato salad is vinegar based.
I had the same thing happen a few years ago with a glass teapot. Was also commenting that maybe having the teapot in a box with no padding thrown in a large box with no padding is not an ideal strategy, which they ignored. They proceeded to just send new ones, and 4th try they got lucky.
December 22, 2025 at 7:22 PM
I had the same thing happen a few years ago with a glass teapot. Was also commenting that maybe having the teapot in a box with no padding thrown in a large box with no padding is not an ideal strategy, which they ignored. They proceeded to just send new ones, and 4th try they got lucky.
running is not worth the benefit. LLMs will stick around for the useful cases (especially self hosted), but we need that current bubble to burst as fast as possible to move focus to energy efficiency for training. The faster companies can't burn money on keeping it going, the better.
December 21, 2025 at 8:12 AM
running is not worth the benefit. LLMs will stick around for the useful cases (especially self hosted), but we need that current bubble to burst as fast as possible to move focus to energy efficiency for training. The faster companies can't burn money on keeping it going, the better.
Another bad focus is the idea of replacing junior developers with LLMs - first, it doesn't work properly. Second, LLM can help a senior developer speed up some things because of their experience. We need juniors to learn by themselves to get there. Also, the current energy cost for training and
December 21, 2025 at 8:12 AM
Another bad focus is the idea of replacing junior developers with LLMs - first, it doesn't work properly. Second, LLM can help a senior developer speed up some things because of their experience. We need juniors to learn by themselves to get there. Also, the current energy cost for training and
Majority of what we see here where people complain about AI use is just use of where they're really bad at - and that's the part that's hyped, because it's accessible and everywhere now. And we're in a bubble with way too much cash thrown at it, and the cases where it is useful wouldn't cover that.
December 21, 2025 at 8:12 AM
Majority of what we see here where people complain about AI use is just use of where they're really bad at - and that's the part that's hyped, because it's accessible and everywhere now. And we're in a bubble with way too much cash thrown at it, and the cases where it is useful wouldn't cover that.
There are things where LLMs are indeed useful - e.g., for reverse engineering code I have steps too fuzzy to easily script, but repeatable enough that you could train a monkey to spot patterns and do it. Embedding LLMs into my scripts can save weeks there. The chatbot is just stupid, though.
December 21, 2025 at 8:12 AM
There are things where LLMs are indeed useful - e.g., for reverse engineering code I have steps too fuzzy to easily script, but repeatable enough that you could train a monkey to spot patterns and do it. Embedding LLMs into my scripts can save weeks there. The chatbot is just stupid, though.
And it talks to me. I've recycled my json in/out daemon for libnfc, ripped out nfc functions and glued some tty handling in, and added debug functions to check command building. Second command is sending the reset to the actual device, with device response.
December 13, 2025 at 10:48 AM
And it talks to me. I've recycled my json in/out daemon for libnfc, ripped out nfc functions and glued some tty handling in, and added debug functions to check command building. Second command is sending the reset to the actual device, with device response.