Byron Ellis
@fdaapproved.bsky.social
Computer things, sometimes I draw pictures of data. Sometimes I also take pictures or make simple noises in complicated ways.
Day job: BigQuery @ Google Cloud.
Day job: BigQuery @ Google Cloud.
Apropos of nothing really other than being weirded out by “Senior Dev” language is Medium posts, tech levels would be easier to explain if we used character classes instead. There’s some amount of XP involved (everyone states as a tank after all) but there’s more to it than that.
February 1, 2026 at 3:12 PM
Apropos of nothing really other than being weirded out by “Senior Dev” language is Medium posts, tech levels would be easier to explain if we used character classes instead. There’s some amount of XP involved (everyone states as a tank after all) but there’s more to it than that.
I feel like “momentum engineering” is perhaps a better term than “vibe coding.” The point is not to turn off your brain, it’s more like snowboarding on a deep powder day. The board is going to do what it’s going to do and its your job to not lose velocity and bog down.
January 20, 2026 at 2:06 PM
I feel like “momentum engineering” is perhaps a better term than “vibe coding.” The point is not to turn off your brain, it’s more like snowboarding on a deep powder day. The board is going to do what it’s going to do and its your job to not lose velocity and bog down.
Folks, we can’t call them agent fleets. That’s boring and besides… these things are clearly waaaghs.
January 9, 2026 at 8:19 AM
Folks, we can’t call them agent fleets. That’s boring and besides… these things are clearly waaaghs.
I like a roughly 1:1 meringue to filling ratio.
December 28, 2025 at 10:48 PM
I like a roughly 1:1 meringue to filling ratio.
So I had forgotten my current ramekin (a vintage 1980s one that my mom gave me) was smaller than my old one so I made the wrong amount… but things turned out OK in the end.
November 28, 2025 at 3:37 AM
So I had forgotten my current ramekin (a vintage 1980s one that my mom gave me) was smaller than my old one so I made the wrong amount… but things turned out OK in the end.
You know it’s serious when this bad boy comes out
November 27, 2025 at 6:22 PM
You know it’s serious when this bad boy comes out
Fork Tender is going to be the name of my shoegaze band.
November 27, 2025 at 3:33 AM
Fork Tender is going to be the name of my shoegaze band.
So maybe the math annotation thing was too much. Trying again: Right now LLMs are being used to make a very verbose C, complete with footguns. But if LLMs capture linguistics that implies it’s all languages at the same time and we should be trying to make “vague pseudocode” work instead.
September 1, 2025 at 3:16 PM
So maybe the math annotation thing was too much. Trying again: Right now LLMs are being used to make a very verbose C, complete with footguns. But if LLMs capture linguistics that implies it’s all languages at the same time and we should be trying to make “vague pseudocode” work instead.
My new favorite 20s AI explanation: LLMs are to Search Engines as JPEGs are to RAW. Which I guess makes fine tuning the LLM equivalent of Photoshop.
August 12, 2025 at 5:03 AM
My new favorite 20s AI explanation: LLMs are to Search Engines as JPEGs are to RAW. Which I guess makes fine tuning the LLM equivalent of Photoshop.
So… why do we think English is the way to go for the future of coding? Why not let me do like mathematics and define some very specific notation that solves this very specific problem that the LLM can then translate into working code? LLM as superposition of all programming languages or something.
August 8, 2025 at 12:11 AM
So… why do we think English is the way to go for the future of coding? Why not let me do like mathematics and define some very specific notation that solves this very specific problem that the LLM can then translate into working code? LLM as superposition of all programming languages or something.
Vibe coding hype aside I think AI coding’s true value is really in maintenance not initial implementation. Maintenance a) never goes away and never gets cheaper and b) is super boring and everyone hates doing it. Upgrading from library n to n+1 is awful and feels like a place models could shine.
July 14, 2025 at 12:16 AM
Vibe coding hype aside I think AI coding’s true value is really in maintenance not initial implementation. Maintenance a) never goes away and never gets cheaper and b) is super boring and everyone hates doing it. Upgrading from library n to n+1 is awful and feels like a place models could shine.
Some relaxing beats for a rainy afternoon.
April 27, 2025 at 2:47 AM
Some relaxing beats for a rainy afternoon.
Planted some strawberries from the experimental garden around the corner. Also got chives, sage and basil but they need to hang out a bit. Then did some noodling.
March 16, 2025 at 2:56 AM
Planted some strawberries from the experimental garden around the corner. Also got chives, sage and basil but they need to hang out a bit. Then did some noodling.
Tonight’s sunset looks like a photoshop fake.
March 3, 2025 at 2:20 AM
Tonight’s sunset looks like a photoshop fake.
Same basic patch, way more sinister
January 21, 2025 at 4:01 AM
Same basic patch, way more sinister
The last sunset of 2024 turned out pretty good.
January 1, 2025 at 5:14 AM
The last sunset of 2024 turned out pretty good.
This patch’ll work. After taking this video I discovered I can just spam the regen button on the lead line and it generally behaves.
December 16, 2024 at 3:31 AM
This patch’ll work. After taking this video I discovered I can just spam the regen button on the lead line and it generally behaves.
Somebody recently made a comment about having to teach people about folders when learning to code, which is true… but consider that since the 90s the best we’ve been able to do is Microsoft Emacs. I think maybe our tooling is just stuck in the 70s? (Cue Alan Kay popping out of the woodwork)
November 30, 2024 at 5:43 PM
Somebody recently made a comment about having to teach people about folders when learning to code, which is true… but consider that since the 90s the best we’ve been able to do is Microsoft Emacs. I think maybe our tooling is just stuck in the 70s? (Cue Alan Kay popping out of the woodwork)
Turned out OK I think.
November 29, 2024 at 1:54 AM
Turned out OK I think.
Thanksgiving Brunch is always Spinach soufflé.
November 28, 2024 at 9:30 PM
Thanksgiving Brunch is always Spinach soufflé.
I would definitely describe my baking style as “Chaotic Good.” Is brown butter in the recipe? No. Will brown butter make it better? Let’s find out.
November 27, 2024 at 10:55 PM
I would definitely describe my baking style as “Chaotic Good.” Is brown butter in the recipe? No. Will brown butter make it better? Let’s find out.
Whew, good thing I picked up that extra butternut squash yesterday. Squash to pie ratio is 4:1. Yes, I make my “pumpkin” pie with butternut squash.
November 27, 2024 at 8:19 PM
Whew, good thing I picked up that extra butternut squash yesterday. Squash to pie ratio is 4:1. Yes, I make my “pumpkin” pie with butternut squash.