David Carlton
@davidcarlton.bsky.social
These days, the main things that I'm spending time on are programming, Tai Chi, and Nei Gong. I blog at https://malvasiabianca.org .
I've hit the end of the new Japanese lessons in Duolingo. Very glad I did that, I learned a lot; for now, I'll keep on going for a while with the daily reviews, I think, some consolidation wouldn't hurt.
January 16, 2026 at 5:10 PM
I've hit the end of the new Japanese lessons in Duolingo. Very glad I did that, I learned a lot; for now, I'll keep on going for a while with the daily reviews, I think, some consolidation wouldn't hurt.
Wait, in Exodus God is constantly hardening the Pharaoh's heart so that he (God) has excuses to send more plagues? I would say "what an asshole" but that's way too mild, that's flat out evil.
January 15, 2026 at 3:45 AM
Wait, in Exodus God is constantly hardening the Pharaoh's heart so that he (God) has excuses to send more plagues? I would say "what an asshole" but that's way too mild, that's flat out evil.
My least favorite thing about social media is people retweeting stuff that feels like it's just there to put a stick in the ground of "here's the side that I'm on in one of the divides of the moment".
January 14, 2026 at 9:44 PM
My least favorite thing about social media is people retweeting stuff that feels like it's just there to put a stick in the ground of "here's the side that I'm on in one of the divides of the moment".
I understand why Silksong wants to dole out the movement skills, but I'm three in and now the world traversal movement feels much better in a way that feels kind of fundamental to the character?
January 13, 2026 at 5:26 PM
I understand why Silksong wants to dole out the movement skills, but I'm three in and now the world traversal movement feels much better in a way that feels kind of fundamental to the character?
I like how working with Claude to implement code has me talking about design tradeoffs and about the sequence of operations, instead of just having that thinking all be in my head (or occasionally in notes).
January 12, 2026 at 8:26 PM
I like how working with Claude to implement code has me talking about design tradeoffs and about the sequence of operations, instead of just having that thinking all be in my head (or occasionally in notes).
Zero Patience is quite a movie.
January 11, 2026 at 6:24 AM
Zero Patience is quite a movie.
We're probably visiting Japan this spring; probably 4-5
days in Tokyo and then going to several smaller places for a week or so in total. Any of y'all have any recommendations for where to go? For reference, last time we went to Tokyo (incl. Kamakura), Kanazawa, and Osaka (incl. Kyoto, Nara).
days in Tokyo and then going to several smaller places for a week or so in total. Any of y'all have any recommendations for where to go? For reference, last time we went to Tokyo (incl. Kamakura), Kanazawa, and Osaka (incl. Kyoto, Nara).
January 5, 2026 at 6:58 PM
We're probably visiting Japan this spring; probably 4-5
days in Tokyo and then going to several smaller places for a week or so in total. Any of y'all have any recommendations for where to go? For reference, last time we went to Tokyo (incl. Kamakura), Kanazawa, and Osaka (incl. Kyoto, Nara).
days in Tokyo and then going to several smaller places for a week or so in total. Any of y'all have any recommendations for where to go? For reference, last time we went to Tokyo (incl. Kamakura), Kanazawa, and Osaka (incl. Kyoto, Nara).
Not thrilled with Silksong saying "the reward for this challenge room is you getting forced to get good at attacking diagonally down in order to escape the area". Having made it through that, I can see the benefits, but still…
January 5, 2026 at 6:52 PM
Not thrilled with Silksong saying "the reward for this challenge room is you getting forced to get good at attacking diagonally down in order to escape the area". Having made it through that, I can see the benefits, but still…
I continue to really like Ranzan.
December 28, 2025 at 4:57 AM
I continue to really like Ranzan.
Playing pickleball for the first time while visiting my brother's family; I'm enjoying it more than I expected, it's pretty fun.
December 21, 2025 at 12:45 AM
Playing pickleball for the first time while visiting my brother's family; I'm enjoying it more than I expected, it's pretty fun.
Recently, political spam text messages have been saying to respond with End instead of Stop to opt out. Are those identical, or is only Stop handled by the carrier and the sender doesn't want me to do it that way?
December 21, 2025 at 12:44 AM
Recently, political spam text messages have been saying to respond with End instead of Stop to opt out. Are those identical, or is only Stop handled by the carrier and the sender doesn't want me to do it that way?
death stranding 2: malvasiabianca.org/archives/2...
death stranding 2 | malvasia bianca
malvasiabianca.org
December 12, 2025 at 4:11 AM
death stranding 2: malvasiabianca.org/archives/2...
I am glad to have played Wanderstop.
December 9, 2025 at 6:19 AM
I am glad to have played Wanderstop.
Never gotten an earthquake alert on my phone before. (I didn't feel anything.)
December 4, 2025 at 4:10 PM
Never gotten an earthquake alert on my phone before. (I didn't feel anything.)
I am glad to not have to deal with Apria Healthcare any more, their systems are quite bad. (Unsurprising, I suppose, the healthcare industry is a mess.)
December 3, 2025 at 6:00 PM
I am glad to not have to deal with Apria Healthcare any more, their systems are quite bad. (Unsurprising, I suppose, the healthcare industry is a mess.)
Pocket Casts' AI support response to my feedback is actually pretty good? An accurate summary / reflection of my feedback, a list of relevant documentation that was much better than normal, and instructions for how to get a human to further triage it.
December 2, 2025 at 7:40 PM
Pocket Casts' AI support response to my feedback is actually pretty good? An accurate summary / reflection of my feedback, a list of relevant documentation that was much better than normal, and instructions for how to get a human to further triage it.
I wonder how Duolingo's AI chats remember state from chat to chat, and how they decide what state they remember. (Lily knows that I have dogs, and I think she knows the name of one of my dogs; not sure if there's any other state that she's remembering.)
December 1, 2025 at 6:25 PM
I wonder how Duolingo's AI chats remember state from chat to chat, and how they decide what state they remember. (Lily knows that I have dogs, and I think she knows the name of one of my dogs; not sure if there's any other state that she's remembering.)
@jalbor.bsky.social Does Scott not have a Bluesky account? Anyways, on the last podcast he was talking about the excellence of Portal’s game design, so I though I should point y’all at the Dev Game Club podcast - thy just did a good series on that, including some interesting interviews.
November 30, 2025 at 6:10 PM
@jalbor.bsky.social Does Scott not have a Bluesky account? Anyways, on the last podcast he was talking about the excellence of Portal’s game design, so I though I should point y’all at the Dev Game Club podcast - thy just did a good series on that, including some interesting interviews.
@flantz.bsky.social just listened to the Brough podcast; on the question of aesthetics and abstract gameplay, go might be an interesting counterpoint to chess? Go is an amazing abstract game, but still the aesthetics matter in a way that (to me) they don't in chess.
November 29, 2025 at 5:46 PM
@flantz.bsky.social just listened to the Brough podcast; on the question of aesthetics and abstract gameplay, go might be an interesting counterpoint to chess? Go is an amazing abstract game, but still the aesthetics matter in a way that (to me) they don't in chess.
I like Bon Appetit Your Majesty. Or at least the two episodes I've seen of it.
November 29, 2025 at 6:24 AM
I like Bon Appetit Your Majesty. Or at least the two episodes I've seen of it.
Death Stranding 2 sure is a video game.
November 27, 2025 at 4:09 AM
Death Stranding 2 sure is a video game.
to a t: malvasiabianca.org/archives/2...
to a t | malvasia bianca
malvasiabianca.org
November 24, 2025 at 6:01 AM
to a t: malvasiabianca.org/archives/2...
I'm quite glad that I played Last War: Survival but I'm also glad it's off of my phone now; hope my days get less distracted going forward.
November 23, 2025 at 4:45 AM
I'm quite glad that I played Last War: Survival but I'm also glad it's off of my phone now; hope my days get less distracted going forward.
Nice having Claude help me get emails from the server where I run my blogs working again - it had been broken for a couple of years, which meant that it took a while for me to notice on those (rare) occasions when people leave comments on the blogs.
November 5, 2025 at 8:28 PM
Nice having Claude help me get emails from the server where I run my blogs working again - it had been broken for a couple of years, which meant that it took a while for me to notice on those (rare) occasions when people leave comments on the blogs.