jmason's links
@jmason.ie
Following the links from http://pinboard.in/u:jm/ and https://jmason.ie/ .
(Automated bot account run by @jmason.org)
(Automated bot account run by @jmason.org)
Via TJ McIntyre -- indications that the Thailand-Cambodia war is being driven by the "pig butchering" scammer compounds operating in the border area:
"Cambodia’s 2019 census put O’Smach’s population just over 9,850, but that doesn’t […]
https://archive.is/9qbX0#selection-3631.37-3735.16
"Cambodia’s 2019 census put O’Smach’s population just over 9,850, but that doesn’t […]
https://archive.is/9qbX0#selection-3631.37-3735.16
December 9, 2025 at 10:05 AM
Via TJ McIntyre -- indications that the Thailand-Cambodia war is being driven by the "pig butchering" scammer compounds operating in the border area:
"Cambodia’s 2019 census put O’Smach’s population just over 9,850, but that doesn’t […]
https://archive.is/9qbX0#selection-3631.37-3735.16
"Cambodia’s 2019 census put O’Smach’s population just over 9,850, but that doesn’t […]
https://archive.is/9qbX0#selection-3631.37-3735.16
Hari Kunzru nails it:
"These days I have a sense of falling from a precipice toward a torrent of algorithmically driven slop. It’s coming, whether we want it or not, and the consequences for our […]
https://www.artforum.com/features/year-in-review-2025-hari-kunzru-ai-slop-1234738077/
"These days I have a sense of falling from a precipice toward a torrent of algorithmically driven slop. It’s coming, whether we want it or not, and the consequences for our […]
https://www.artforum.com/features/year-in-review-2025-hari-kunzru-ai-slop-1234738077/
Slopocalypse Now
Hari Kunzru surveys the AI slop that dominates our feeds and likens the way it drowns out information to a new form of censorship.
www.artforum.com
December 8, 2025 at 11:37 AM
Hari Kunzru nails it:
"These days I have a sense of falling from a precipice toward a torrent of algorithmically driven slop. It’s coming, whether we want it or not, and the consequences for our […]
https://www.artforum.com/features/year-in-review-2025-hari-kunzru-ai-slop-1234738077/
"These days I have a sense of falling from a precipice toward a torrent of algorithmically driven slop. It’s coming, whether we want it or not, and the consequences for our […]
https://www.artforum.com/features/year-in-review-2025-hari-kunzru-ai-slop-1234738077/
A very silly optimisation for the “binary to decimal” conversion problem:
"The compiler has turned division by a constant ten into a multiply and a shift. There’s a magic constant 0xcccccccd and a shift right of 35! Shifting right by 35 is the […]
https://xania.org/202512/07-division-again
"The compiler has turned division by a constant ten into a multiply and a shift. There’s a magic constant 0xcccccccd and a shift right of 35! Shifting right by 35 is the […]
https://xania.org/202512/07-division-again
xania.org
December 8, 2025 at 11:00 AM
A very silly optimisation for the “binary to decimal” conversion problem:
"The compiler has turned division by a constant ten into a multiply and a shift. There’s a magic constant 0xcccccccd and a shift right of 35! Shifting right by 35 is the […]
https://xania.org/202512/07-division-again
"The compiler has turned division by a constant ten into a multiply and a shift. There’s a magic constant 0xcccccccd and a shift right of 35! Shifting right by 35 is the […]
https://xania.org/202512/07-division-again
A thought-provoking read on LLMs, poetry, the oral tradition, and Gene Wolfe:
"Even if LLMs are made out of poetry, they are incapable of producing poems. Or in Wolfe’s language, both the epic form and LLMs are story, […]
https://www.programmablemutter.com/p/large-language-models-as-the-tales
"Even if LLMs are made out of poetry, they are incapable of producing poems. Or in Wolfe’s language, both the epic form and LLMs are story, […]
https://www.programmablemutter.com/p/large-language-models-as-the-tales
Large Language Models As The Tales That Are Sung
Gene Wolfe, Albert Lord, machine culture.
www.programmablemutter.com
December 4, 2025 at 6:26 PM
A thought-provoking read on LLMs, poetry, the oral tradition, and Gene Wolfe:
"Even if LLMs are made out of poetry, they are incapable of producing poems. Or in Wolfe’s language, both the epic form and LLMs are story, […]
https://www.programmablemutter.com/p/large-language-models-as-the-tales
"Even if LLMs are made out of poetry, they are incapable of producing poems. Or in Wolfe’s language, both the epic form and LLMs are story, […]
https://www.programmablemutter.com/p/large-language-models-as-the-tales
"A live map that tracks frontlines of the war in Ukraine was edited to show a fake Russian advance on the city of Myrnohrad on November 15. The edit coincided with the resolution of a bet […]
https://www.reddit.com/r/neoliberal/comments/1pbt4m0/unauthorized_edit_to_ukraines_frontline_maps/
https://www.reddit.com/r/neoliberal/comments/1pbt4m0/unauthorized_edit_to_ukraines_frontline_maps/
www.reddit.com
December 4, 2025 at 1:08 PM
"A live map that tracks frontlines of the war in Ukraine was edited to show a fake Russian advance on the city of Myrnohrad on November 15. The edit coincided with the resolution of a bet […]
https://www.reddit.com/r/neoliberal/comments/1pbt4m0/unauthorized_edit_to_ukraines_frontline_maps/
https://www.reddit.com/r/neoliberal/comments/1pbt4m0/unauthorized_edit_to_ukraines_frontline_maps/
A recommended frame vendor from Poland, thanks to mags on ITC
https://www.etsy.com/ie/shop/WallBonito
https://www.etsy.com/ie/shop/WallBonito
December 3, 2025 at 3:20 PM
A recommended frame vendor from Poland, thanks to mags on ITC
https://www.etsy.com/ie/shop/WallBonito
https://www.etsy.com/ie/shop/WallBonito
Walkthrough of the "Medallion" architecture concept, which comprises three layers (or stages), each serving distinct purposes in the data pipeline:
"
- Bronze layer - This layer acts as the landing area for raw, […]
https://clickhouse.com/blog/building-a-medallion-architecture-with-clickhouse
"
- Bronze layer - This layer acts as the landing area for raw, […]
https://clickhouse.com/blog/building-a-medallion-architecture-with-clickhouse
December 3, 2025 at 12:56 PM
Walkthrough of the "Medallion" architecture concept, which comprises three layers (or stages), each serving distinct purposes in the data pipeline:
"
- Bronze layer - This layer acts as the landing area for raw, […]
https://clickhouse.com/blog/building-a-medallion-architecture-with-clickhouse
"
- Bronze layer - This layer acts as the landing area for raw, […]
https://clickhouse.com/blog/building-a-medallion-architecture-with-clickhouse
"Open Source backend in 1 file". This is nice; it's a little OSS sqlite database, authentication, file storage and admin dashboard for web apps.
https://pocketbase.io/
https://pocketbase.io/
PocketBase - Open Source backend in 1 file
Open Source backend in 1 file with realtime database, authentication, file storage and admin dashboard
pocketbase.io
November 28, 2025 at 1:06 PM
"Open Source backend in 1 file". This is nice; it's a little OSS sqlite database, authentication, file storage and admin dashboard for web apps.
https://pocketbase.io/
https://pocketbase.io/
Interesting -- a new, GPU-optimised storage format:
"Like Parquet, Vortex minimizes bytes on disk. However, Vortex is also designed with a core use-case in mind: decoding and querying data directly from object […]
https://www.polarsignals.com/blog/posts/2025/11/25/interface-parquet-vortex
"Like Parquet, Vortex minimizes bytes on disk. However, Vortex is also designed with a core use-case in mind: decoding and querying data directly from object […]
https://www.polarsignals.com/blog/posts/2025/11/25/interface-parquet-vortex
Questioning an Interface: From Parquet to Vortex
Breaking free from the shackles of interface-imposed performance limitations
www.polarsignals.com
November 27, 2025 at 11:23 AM
Interesting -- a new, GPU-optimised storage format:
"Like Parquet, Vortex minimizes bytes on disk. However, Vortex is also designed with a core use-case in mind: decoding and querying data directly from object […]
https://www.polarsignals.com/blog/posts/2025/11/25/interface-parquet-vortex
"Like Parquet, Vortex minimizes bytes on disk. However, Vortex is also designed with a core use-case in mind: decoding and querying data directly from object […]
https://www.polarsignals.com/blog/posts/2025/11/25/interface-parquet-vortex
Polly Toynbee in the Guardian writes, "The shameful attacks on the Covid inquiry prove it: the right is lost in anti-science delusion":
"
That number will stay […]
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/nov/25/shameful-attacks-covid-inquiry-right-anti-science-delusion-lockdowns
"
That number will stay […]
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/nov/25/shameful-attacks-covid-inquiry-right-anti-science-delusion-lockdowns
The shameful attacks on the Covid inquiry prove it: the right is lost in anti-science delusion | Polly Toynbee
There is nothing wrong with questioning the mighty cost of the lockdowns, but we can’t let hardline libertarians rewrite Britain’s pandemic history, says Guardian columnist Polly Toynbee
www.theguardian.com
November 26, 2025 at 11:58 AM
Polly Toynbee in the Guardian writes, "The shameful attacks on the Covid inquiry prove it: the right is lost in anti-science delusion":
"
That number will stay […]
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/nov/25/shameful-attacks-covid-inquiry-right-anti-science-delusion-lockdowns
"
That number will stay […]
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/nov/25/shameful-attacks-covid-inquiry-right-anti-science-delusion-lockdowns
The paradox is this simple gap: high individual confidence in AI speed, versus stubborn organizational metrics that just won’t budge:
"- Perceived speed is high: Adoption is near-universal (90% usage […]
https://gradle.com/blog/developer-productivity-paradox-faster-coding-slower-delivery/
"- Perceived speed is high: Adoption is near-universal (90% usage […]
https://gradle.com/blog/developer-productivity-paradox-faster-coding-slower-delivery/
November 24, 2025 at 12:41 PM
The paradox is this simple gap: high individual confidence in AI speed, versus stubborn organizational metrics that just won’t budge:
"- Perceived speed is high: Adoption is near-universal (90% usage […]
https://gradle.com/blog/developer-productivity-paradox-faster-coding-slower-delivery/
"- Perceived speed is high: Adoption is near-universal (90% usage […]
https://gradle.com/blog/developer-productivity-paradox-faster-coding-slower-delivery/
An excellent page about slide rules -- very relevant to my interests, as I have a lovely antique Keuffel & Esser rule (previously owned and used by a 1950s rocket engineer) framed on my wall
https://amenzwa.github.io/stem/ComputingHistory/HowSlideRulesWork/
https://amenzwa.github.io/stem/ComputingHistory/HowSlideRulesWork/
amenzwa.github.io
November 20, 2025 at 10:06 AM
An excellent page about slide rules -- very relevant to my interests, as I have a lovely antique Keuffel & Esser rule (previously owned and used by a 1950s rocket engineer) framed on my wall
https://amenzwa.github.io/stem/ComputingHistory/HowSlideRulesWork/
https://amenzwa.github.io/stem/ComputingHistory/HowSlideRulesWork/
"A clone of the strace command for macOS" -- yayyyy, I've been lamenting this loss for years
https://github.com/Mic92/strace-macos
https://github.com/Mic92/strace-macos
GitHub - Mic92/strace-macos: A clone of the strace command for macOS
A clone of the strace command for macOS. Contribute to Mic92/strace-macos development by creating an account on GitHub.
github.com
November 19, 2025 at 11:54 AM
"A clone of the strace command for macOS" -- yayyyy, I've been lamenting this loss for years
https://github.com/Mic92/strace-macos
https://github.com/Mic92/strace-macos
tl;dr: a configuration-generation tool had buggy error handling code. Triggered by a permissions change, it generated over-large configs which then caused a crash in buggy config-reading code in their Bot Management module. This […]
https://blog.cloudflare.com/18-november-2025-outage/
https://blog.cloudflare.com/18-november-2025-outage/
Cloudflare outage on November 18, 2025
Cloudflare suffered a service outage on November 18, 2025. The outage was triggered by a bug in generation logic for a Bot Management feature file causing many Cloudflare services to be affected.
blog.cloudflare.com
November 19, 2025 at 10:38 AM
tl;dr: a configuration-generation tool had buggy error handling code. Triggered by a permissions change, it generated over-large configs which then caused a crash in buggy config-reading code in their Bot Management module. This […]
https://blog.cloudflare.com/18-november-2025-outage/
https://blog.cloudflare.com/18-november-2025-outage/
At the 2025 Bitwarden Open Source Security Summit, WIRED's Andy Greenberg sat down for a fireside chat with GigaOm analyst Paul Stringfellow to discuss a revelation that turned his decades-long reporting […]
https://bitwarden.com/blog/how-cryptocurrency-became-law-enforcements-secret-weapon/
https://bitwarden.com/blog/how-cryptocurrency-became-law-enforcements-secret-weapon/
Bitcoin's big secret: How cryptocurrency became law enforcement's secret weapon | Bitwarden
WIRED's Andy Greenberg discusses a revelation that turned his decades-long reporting on its head: Bitcoin became a criminal's worst nightmare.
bitwarden.com
November 13, 2025 at 10:00 AM
At the 2025 Bitwarden Open Source Security Summit, WIRED's Andy Greenberg sat down for a fireside chat with GigaOm analyst Paul Stringfellow to discuss a revelation that turned his decades-long reporting […]
https://bitwarden.com/blog/how-cryptocurrency-became-law-enforcements-secret-weapon/
https://bitwarden.com/blog/how-cryptocurrency-became-law-enforcements-secret-weapon/
MAME, the Multi-Arcade Machine Emulator, can now emulate your favourite UNIX terminals. Amazing stuff
https://zork.net/~st/jottings/Real-VT102-emulation-with-MAME.html
https://zork.net/~st/jottings/Real-VT102-emulation-with-MAME.html
zork.net
November 11, 2025 at 10:47 AM
MAME, the Multi-Arcade Machine Emulator, can now emulate your favourite UNIX terminals. Amazing stuff
https://zork.net/~st/jottings/Real-VT102-emulation-with-MAME.html
https://zork.net/~st/jottings/Real-VT102-emulation-with-MAME.html
Very interesting; it seems China has "gongye dang", its own alt-right, misogynistic techno-nationalistic movement, which chooses to kick back against " […]
https://madeinchinajournal.com/2023/12/11/the-three-body-problem-the-imperative-of-survival-and-the-misogyny-of-reactionary-rhetoric/
https://madeinchinajournal.com/2023/12/11/the-three-body-problem-the-imperative-of-survival-and-the-misogyny-of-reactionary-rhetoric/
November 10, 2025 at 12:14 PM
Very interesting; it seems China has "gongye dang", its own alt-right, misogynistic techno-nationalistic movement, which chooses to kick back against " […]
https://madeinchinajournal.com/2023/12/11/the-three-body-problem-the-imperative-of-survival-and-the-misogyny-of-reactionary-rhetoric/
https://madeinchinajournal.com/2023/12/11/the-three-body-problem-the-imperative-of-survival-and-the-misogyny-of-reactionary-rhetoric/
Anil: "it's possible to imagine some traits of an AI system that could credibly offer an alternative to the offerings that are currently dominating the conversation."
He lists the following highlights, in summary;
- […]
https://www.anildash.com//2025/05/02/what-would-good-ai-look-like/
He lists the following highlights, in summary;
- […]
https://www.anildash.com//2025/05/02/what-would-good-ai-look-like/
November 10, 2025 at 11:04 AM
Anil: "it's possible to imagine some traits of an AI system that could credibly offer an alternative to the offerings that are currently dominating the conversation."
He lists the following highlights, in summary;
- […]
https://www.anildash.com//2025/05/02/what-would-good-ai-look-like/
He lists the following highlights, in summary;
- […]
https://www.anildash.com//2025/05/02/what-would-good-ai-look-like/
Jacky Alciné's essay with a black, US-leftist take on generative AI, the tech industry, and the immediate and planned impact of it on society and work
https://www.jacky.wtf/essays/2025/left-ai/
https://www.jacky.wtf/essays/2025/left-ai/
November 10, 2025 at 11:01 AM
Jacky Alciné's essay with a black, US-leftist take on generative AI, the tech industry, and the immediate and planned impact of it on society and work
https://www.jacky.wtf/essays/2025/left-ai/
https://www.jacky.wtf/essays/2025/left-ai/
▪ Did you just pick things at random?
▪ Why is Redis talking to MongoDB?
▪ Why do you even use MongoDB?
A single-use-site update for the classic, now-12-year-old architecture shitpost
https://wthhyb.sacha.house/
▪ Why is Redis talking to MongoDB?
▪ Why do you even use MongoDB?
A single-use-site update for the classic, now-12-year-old architecture shitpost
https://wthhyb.sacha.house/
wthhyb.sacha.house
November 6, 2025 at 10:40 AM
▪ Did you just pick things at random?
▪ Why is Redis talking to MongoDB?
▪ Why do you even use MongoDB?
A single-use-site update for the classic, now-12-year-old architecture shitpost
https://wthhyb.sacha.house/
▪ Why is Redis talking to MongoDB?
▪ Why do you even use MongoDB?
A single-use-site update for the classic, now-12-year-old architecture shitpost
https://wthhyb.sacha.house/
TIL that Ireland was a key founder of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty:
"Within the framework of the United Nations, the principle of nuclear non-proliferation was addressed in negotiations as […]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_on_the_Non-Proliferation_of_Nuclear_Weapons#History
"Within the framework of the United Nations, the principle of nuclear non-proliferation was addressed in negotiations as […]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_on_the_Non-Proliferation_of_Nuclear_Weapons#History
November 5, 2025 at 12:52 PM
TIL that Ireland was a key founder of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty:
"Within the framework of the United Nations, the principle of nuclear non-proliferation was addressed in negotiations as […]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_on_the_Non-Proliferation_of_Nuclear_Weapons#History
"Within the framework of the United Nations, the principle of nuclear non-proliferation was addressed in negotiations as […]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_on_the_Non-Proliferation_of_Nuclear_Weapons#History
"Aisuru, the botnet responsible for a series of record-smashing distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks this year, recently was overhauled to support a more low-key, lucrative and sustainable […]
https://krebsonsecurity.com/2025/10/aisuru-botnet-shifts-from-ddos-to-residential-proxies/
https://krebsonsecurity.com/2025/10/aisuru-botnet-shifts-from-ddos-to-residential-proxies/
krebsonsecurity.com
October 30, 2025 at 12:27 PM
"Aisuru, the botnet responsible for a series of record-smashing distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks this year, recently was overhauled to support a more low-key, lucrative and sustainable […]
https://krebsonsecurity.com/2025/10/aisuru-botnet-shifts-from-ddos-to-residential-proxies/
https://krebsonsecurity.com/2025/10/aisuru-botnet-shifts-from-ddos-to-residential-proxies/
James Padolsey suffered a stroke at the age of 29, but has been able to continue his software engineering career despite this. This is a list of some key advice he's collected since then, and is well worth taking on board, even […]
https://blog.j11y.io/2025-10-29_stroke_tips_for_engineers/
https://blog.j11y.io/2025-10-29_stroke_tips_for_engineers/
blog.j11y.io
October 30, 2025 at 11:51 AM
James Padolsey suffered a stroke at the age of 29, but has been able to continue his software engineering career despite this. This is a list of some key advice he's collected since then, and is well worth taking on board, even […]
https://blog.j11y.io/2025-10-29_stroke_tips_for_engineers/
https://blog.j11y.io/2025-10-29_stroke_tips_for_engineers/
"a memory system for Claude that gives it perfect recall of everything it's worked on as far back as you have logs"
https://blog.fsck.com/2025/10/23/episodic-memory/
https://blog.fsck.com/2025/10/23/episodic-memory/
blog.fsck.com
October 24, 2025 at 12:24 PM
"a memory system for Claude that gives it perfect recall of everything it's worked on as far back as you have logs"
https://blog.fsck.com/2025/10/23/episodic-memory/
https://blog.fsck.com/2025/10/23/episodic-memory/
"A vector search SQLite extension that runs anywhere" -- this is nifty. Vector embeddings in an embedded database!
https://github.com/asg017/sqlite-vec
https://github.com/asg017/sqlite-vec
GitHub - asg017/sqlite-vec: A vector search SQLite extension that runs anywhere!
A vector search SQLite extension that runs anywhere! - asg017/sqlite-vec
github.com
October 24, 2025 at 12:22 PM
"A vector search SQLite extension that runs anywhere" -- this is nifty. Vector embeddings in an embedded database!
https://github.com/asg017/sqlite-vec
https://github.com/asg017/sqlite-vec