emma // eibhleag
@hopping.rocks
🌱 temporarily embarrassed ecologist moonlighting in software. scot, ish 🏴
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emma // eibhleag
@hopping.rocks
· Oct 3
oh gosh, it's been a minute since I started one of these things from scratch.
attempting to rediscover the joy and community in engaging around systems instead of merely building them for a living 🌱
attempting to rediscover the joy and community in engaging around systems instead of merely building them for a living 🌱
I don't see this happening _soon_ but I do see it happening.
(please)
(please)
i bet you could get a bargain on a bunch of really good software engineers right now just by promising they don't have to use ai
January 13, 2026 at 3:26 PM
I don't see this happening _soon_ but I do see it happening.
(please)
(please)
Reposted by emma // eibhleag
Our statement concerning the decision to not grant interim pay relief to the member's fired by Rockstar. We remain confident in the strength of our case against Rockstar Games and we reiterate our firm belief that Rockstar broke the law when it summarily dismissed 31 union members.
January 13, 2026 at 1:30 PM
Our statement concerning the decision to not grant interim pay relief to the member's fired by Rockstar. We remain confident in the strength of our case against Rockstar Games and we reiterate our firm belief that Rockstar broke the law when it summarily dismissed 31 union members.
Reposted by emma // eibhleag
Me in 2025: Don't use AI note takers in meetings because they can lead to unchecked errors and unfair and discriminatory outcomes
Me in 2026: Don't use Grok in military planning unless you want to accidentally start a war
Not a fan of this rate of change
Me in 2026: Don't use Grok in military planning unless you want to accidentally start a war
Not a fan of this rate of change
January 13, 2026 at 7:50 AM
Me in 2025: Don't use AI note takers in meetings because they can lead to unchecked errors and unfair and discriminatory outcomes
Me in 2026: Don't use Grok in military planning unless you want to accidentally start a war
Not a fan of this rate of change
Me in 2026: Don't use Grok in military planning unless you want to accidentally start a war
Not a fan of this rate of change
Reposted by emma // eibhleag
We'll be publishing our full report from the hearing tomorrow afternoon (UK time), but needless to say, there's an awful lot of additional context to understand about what happened here.
This is a really tough outcome for the union's members, especially those who were in the UK on work visas.
This is a really tough outcome for the union's members, especially those who were in the UK on work visas.
BREAKING: A UK judge has *denied* interim pay to the 31 employees fired by Rockstar Games last year, saying she "was unable to conclude that it appears likely that the tribunal will find that the principal reason for the claimants’ dismissal" was union organizing www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Fired Rockstar Employees Denied Pay by UK Judge
The 31 staffers argued they were dismissed for unionizing. Rockstar said they were fired for leaking information in an online chat group.
www.bloomberg.com
January 12, 2026 at 9:02 PM
We'll be publishing our full report from the hearing tomorrow afternoon (UK time), but needless to say, there's an awful lot of additional context to understand about what happened here.
This is a really tough outcome for the union's members, especially those who were in the UK on work visas.
This is a really tough outcome for the union's members, especially those who were in the UK on work visas.
omg please! there's so much low-frequency noise at the root of the average repository
show me the entry-point to the project.
(I would also flatten / eliminate a whole bunch of directory-based organisation, but that's another story)
show me the entry-point to the project.
(I would also flatten / eliminate a whole bunch of directory-based organisation, but that's another story)
All Git repository tool configuration files (CI, issue template, etc.) should go in to `.config` like Cargo Nextest: nexte.st/docs/configu...
Currently we have .gitlab, .config, .cargo, ..., and it creates clutter.
Currently we have .gitlab, .config, .cargo, ..., and it creates clutter.
Configuring nextest - cargo-nextest
Configuring nextest: information about profiles and hierarchical configuration.
nexte.st
January 12, 2026 at 7:50 PM
omg please! there's so much low-frequency noise at the root of the average repository
show me the entry-point to the project.
(I would also flatten / eliminate a whole bunch of directory-based organisation, but that's another story)
show me the entry-point to the project.
(I would also flatten / eliminate a whole bunch of directory-based organisation, but that's another story)
writing #threads on a platform where I've not properly established a peer group is nerve wracking and feels a lil solipsistic, because I'm necessarily "in dialogue" primarily with people I haven't met yet
If you only do work that can be evaluated numerically, you can only achieve the results that kind of work brings.
Everything else is off the table.
(reality: you will probably smuggle in work that cannot be evaluated that way. it will not be rewarded)
Everything else is off the table.
(reality: you will probably smuggle in work that cannot be evaluated that way. it will not be rewarded)
January 12, 2026 at 4:24 PM
writing #threads on a platform where I've not properly established a peer group is nerve wracking and feels a lil solipsistic, because I'm necessarily "in dialogue" primarily with people I haven't met yet
If you only do work that can be evaluated numerically, you can only achieve the results that kind of work brings.
Everything else is off the table.
(reality: you will probably smuggle in work that cannot be evaluated that way. it will not be rewarded)
Everything else is off the table.
(reality: you will probably smuggle in work that cannot be evaluated that way. it will not be rewarded)
January 12, 2026 at 2:40 PM
If you only do work that can be evaluated numerically, you can only achieve the results that kind of work brings.
Everything else is off the table.
(reality: you will probably smuggle in work that cannot be evaluated that way. it will not be rewarded)
Everything else is off the table.
(reality: you will probably smuggle in work that cannot be evaluated that way. it will not be rewarded)
I've always felt like "data is the new oil" unintentionally nailed the externalities.
We made a mistake by calling the output of AI ‘slop’. In academia it is now looking much more like toxic pollution, on the verge of laying waste to previously fertile plains. Suing for royalties is only a small part of the battle.
December 22, 2025 at 11:54 AM
I've always felt like "data is the new oil" unintentionally nailed the externalities.
❤️🌱
"Together, workers can transform their jobs, their careers, and their lives for the better."
Our statement of solidarity with 5 other game workers unions in Europe including @stjv.fr, @csvi-cgt.bsky.social & @gwuireland.bsky.social
www.gameworkers.co.uk/one-industry...
Our statement of solidarity with 5 other game workers unions in Europe including @stjv.fr, @csvi-cgt.bsky.social & @gwuireland.bsky.social
www.gameworkers.co.uk/one-industry...
One Industry, One Fight - IWGB Game Workers
Video Game Unions Present a United Front Across Western Europe - We vow to increase cooperation between our unions in both the short and long term, and to stay united in front of all that’s going on i...
www.gameworkers.co.uk
December 9, 2025 at 2:51 PM
❤️🌱
I need to join this organization.
We need a professional organization for people who went into software engineering and ended up having to invent or discover their own bespoke form of applied information systems, organizational, and user research as a survival mechanism
December 8, 2025 at 9:53 PM
I need to join this organization.
Reposted by emma // eibhleag
Hundreds of UK moderators have left TikTok - sparking safety fears, whistleblowers reveal
news.sky.com/story/hundre...
news.sky.com/story/hundre...
Hundreds of UK moderators have left TikTok - sparking safety fears, whistleblowers reveal
Sky News has seen correspondence from TikTok to the employees telling them to sign termination contacts by 31 October. Hundreds did.
news.sky.com
December 4, 2025 at 9:32 AM
Hundreds of UK moderators have left TikTok - sparking safety fears, whistleblowers reveal
news.sky.com/story/hundre...
news.sky.com/story/hundre...
Reposted by emma // eibhleag
Striking for me as a physicist who also does social science work is the way these physicists were suddenly totally ok with autoethnography as data because they personally enjoyed using GPT-5. A case study in how values orient our empirical practices if there ever was one lol
November 27, 2025 at 6:37 PM
Striking for me as a physicist who also does social science work is the way these physicists were suddenly totally ok with autoethnography as data because they personally enjoyed using GPT-5. A case study in how values orient our empirical practices if there ever was one lol
Reposted by emma // eibhleag
This thread highlights one way Tech (as a culture of professional practice) is deeply antagonistic to observation, measurement, and feedback (in a systems & cybernetics sense), choosing instead to base industry learning on make-believe and trendy counter-knowledge dressed in the aesthetics of “data”
These are just zombie statistics. Tech is rife with it. Every industry focused "research report" acts like its sample is a census, and it creates wild estimates with no regard for generalizability, representation, or context for claims. And honestly unfortunately a lot of researchers participate
I keep seeing some version of this when it comes to AI-generated code related stats being shared and I am just begging people to dig deeper. I saw folks on here share a stat that says, "AI-generated code contains 322% more security vulnerabilities." And I'm like okay, what's the source on this? 🧵
November 25, 2025 at 6:11 PM
This thread highlights one way Tech (as a culture of professional practice) is deeply antagonistic to observation, measurement, and feedback (in a systems & cybernetics sense), choosing instead to base industry learning on make-believe and trendy counter-knowledge dressed in the aesthetics of “data”
Reposted by emma // eibhleag
Software engineering needs a reckoning and a professionalism. It needs actual teeth with which individual workers can use to push back and say "no, I won't put my name on this work". It needs the structure in place for software to be held to a standard of quality befitting its societal criticality
November 24, 2025 at 8:20 PM
Software engineering needs a reckoning and a professionalism. It needs actual teeth with which individual workers can use to push back and say "no, I won't put my name on this work". It needs the structure in place for software to be held to a standard of quality befitting its societal criticality
increasingly believe that they're called "non-functional requirements" because a system which fails to meet them would indeed be non-functional.
November 22, 2025 at 1:55 PM
increasingly believe that they're called "non-functional requirements" because a system which fails to meet them would indeed be non-functional.
possibly the single thing I find most stressful about the purported AI revolution is that we are not yet even very good at building software in general.
almost every anxiety and criticism around AI is an existing failing of software manifest on a massive scale
almost every anxiety and criticism around AI is an existing failing of software manifest on a massive scale
November 22, 2025 at 1:45 PM
possibly the single thing I find most stressful about the purported AI revolution is that we are not yet even very good at building software in general.
almost every anxiety and criticism around AI is an existing failing of software manifest on a massive scale
almost every anxiety and criticism around AI is an existing failing of software manifest on a massive scale
something I'm always struck by in software is how our expertise in a limited field puts us in positions of responsibility in areas we lack primary experience or training in.
and then I look at what CEOs of LLM providers are asked to opine on...
and then I look at what CEOs of LLM providers are asked to opine on...
November 19, 2025 at 3:37 PM
something I'm always struck by in software is how our expertise in a limited field puts us in positions of responsibility in areas we lack primary experience or training in.
and then I look at what CEOs of LLM providers are asked to opine on...
and then I look at what CEOs of LLM providers are asked to opine on...
the "scientific" content in the linked article was so far off the mark that it was physically exhausting to read.
praying that "thermodynamic" doesn't become the new "quantum" for pseudo-spiritual indirection
praying that "thermodynamic" doesn't become the new "quantum" for pseudo-spiritual indirection
November 19, 2025 at 3:31 PM
the "scientific" content in the linked article was so far off the mark that it was physically exhausting to read.
praying that "thermodynamic" doesn't become the new "quantum" for pseudo-spiritual indirection
praying that "thermodynamic" doesn't become the new "quantum" for pseudo-spiritual indirection
Reposted by emma // eibhleag
it’s only “tech debt” if it comes from the tech region of business, otherwise it’s just sparkling cutting corners.
November 17, 2025 at 10:20 PM
it’s only “tech debt” if it comes from the tech region of business, otherwise it’s just sparkling cutting corners.
When you say "software is subject to the second law of thermodynamics" it sounds polemic or metaphorical, but information has a physics and your system is not exempt from that.
(more thoughts on this than fit in a post, watch this space)
(more thoughts on this than fit in a post, watch this space)
Refactoring isn’t optional in modern software engineering. It’s the economic engine of healthy codebases.
Organisations that treat refactoring as a luxury end up paying for it twice: first in slowed delivery, and later in firefighting and reworking...
🧵 1/7
Organisations that treat refactoring as a luxury end up paying for it twice: first in slowed delivery, and later in firefighting and reworking...
🧵 1/7
November 18, 2025 at 2:08 PM
When you say "software is subject to the second law of thermodynamics" it sounds polemic or metaphorical, but information has a physics and your system is not exempt from that.
(more thoughts on this than fit in a post, watch this space)
(more thoughts on this than fit in a post, watch this space)
In my experience, folk reach for emoji when:
1. There's some unmet metadata/categorisation need (e.g. can't distinguish document types)
2. Presentation is tightly coupled to naming (e.g. document name doubles as your H1)
That is: emoji filenames are downstream of an existing archival challenge.
1. There's some unmet metadata/categorisation need (e.g. can't distinguish document types)
2. Presentation is tightly coupled to naming (e.g. document name doubles as your H1)
That is: emoji filenames are downstream of an existing archival challenge.
No no no begs every archivist. You are never going to be able to find anything. Please don’t start using emojis in file names. Who asked for this? What fresh hell is next?
November 12, 2025 at 2:02 PM
In my experience, folk reach for emoji when:
1. There's some unmet metadata/categorisation need (e.g. can't distinguish document types)
2. Presentation is tightly coupled to naming (e.g. document name doubles as your H1)
That is: emoji filenames are downstream of an existing archival challenge.
1. There's some unmet metadata/categorisation need (e.g. can't distinguish document types)
2. Presentation is tightly coupled to naming (e.g. document name doubles as your H1)
That is: emoji filenames are downstream of an existing archival challenge.
Reposted by emma // eibhleag
Rejecting the premise here. "AI" is not coming for your job. Companies are dumping people because they are putting more money into AI investment, not because there is labor replacement via productivity.
Even in the Amazon announcement, Jassy backed away from the framing that AI took those 14k jobs.
Even in the Amazon announcement, Jassy backed away from the framing that AI took those 14k jobs.
Much like dictatorship or climate change, the threat of AI taking your job is no longer hypothetical. It's here, as shown by last week's bloodbath at UPS, Amazon, etc.
Should the government be sending us $1,000 a month? Is there any alternative to UBI? My new column www.inquirer.com/columnists/a...
Should the government be sending us $1,000 a month? Is there any alternative to UBI? My new column www.inquirer.com/columnists/a...
AI is coming for your job. Will the government pay you? | Will Bunch Newsletter
Plus, the tragic neutering of Teen Vogue.
www.inquirer.com
November 4, 2025 at 11:02 PM
Rejecting the premise here. "AI" is not coming for your job. Companies are dumping people because they are putting more money into AI investment, not because there is labor replacement via productivity.
Even in the Amazon announcement, Jassy backed away from the framing that AI took those 14k jobs.
Even in the Amazon announcement, Jassy backed away from the framing that AI took those 14k jobs.
Was looking forward to a few weeks of not thinking about LLMs. Figured it was a good time to learn Dioxus.
Fresh project contains AGENTS.md.
😔
Fresh project contains AGENTS.md.
😔
November 5, 2025 at 2:01 PM
Was looking forward to a few weeks of not thinking about LLMs. Figured it was a good time to learn Dioxus.
Fresh project contains AGENTS.md.
😔
Fresh project contains AGENTS.md.
😔
Reposted by emma // eibhleag
Across the world, game dev unions are standing with us. @rockstargames.com - reinstate our members, now!
SAG-AFTRA stands in solidarity with the IWGB Game Workers Union exercising their right to organize following reports of union-busting at Rockstar. Our members’ union performances on Rockstar games are an integral part of the success and legacy of games like Grand Theft Auto.
November 4, 2025 at 9:33 AM
Across the world, game dev unions are standing with us. @rockstargames.com - reinstate our members, now!
arriving at bluesky after a couple years of post-twitter wilderness sure is like starting a new show half way through season 3
October 31, 2025 at 9:58 PM
arriving at bluesky after a couple years of post-twitter wilderness sure is like starting a new show half way through season 3