Matt B
@m8ttyb.bsky.social
Desert rat, dreamer, & former narwhal ∙ Escaping into the world for dad-like adventures ∙ he/him
Staff DevOps Engineer @ Geospan
Previously IBM, Mozilla, and Planet Labs
Staff DevOps Engineer @ Geospan
Previously IBM, Mozilla, and Planet Labs
Reposted by Matt B
Trump has expanded his attacks upon the “liberal” media by going after popular hosts and comedians. After hinting that they helped take down Colbert, his people are growing overconfident and threatening other shows. Enter South Park—then sit back and enjoy what happens next.My write-up linked below.
July 25, 2025 at 2:49 PM
Trump has expanded his attacks upon the “liberal” media by going after popular hosts and comedians. After hinting that they helped take down Colbert, his people are growing overconfident and threatening other shows. Enter South Park—then sit back and enjoy what happens next.My write-up linked below.
Reposted by Matt B
As a taxpayer, I would be willing to sacrifice however many F-35s it takes to get any male American who needs it penis enlargement surgery.
Because if the number of giant trucks with those dangerously extended mirrors is any indication, there is a major epidemic of tiny dicks in this country.
Because if the number of giant trucks with those dangerously extended mirrors is any indication, there is a major epidemic of tiny dicks in this country.
July 22, 2025 at 9:29 PM
As a taxpayer, I would be willing to sacrifice however many F-35s it takes to get any male American who needs it penis enlargement surgery.
Because if the number of giant trucks with those dangerously extended mirrors is any indication, there is a major epidemic of tiny dicks in this country.
Because if the number of giant trucks with those dangerously extended mirrors is any indication, there is a major epidemic of tiny dicks in this country.
Reposted by Matt B
I don't buy into the AGI hype, but also, the downplaying of LLMs that says they're "just next-word prediction machines" doesn't seem to capture what they're capable of.
Surprising result from OpenAI: one of their research models achieved a gold medal performance in this year's International Mathematical Olympiad /without/ using tools
Just a classic next-token-predicting LLM with a bunch of reinforcement learning layered on top
simonwillison.net/2025/Jul/19/...
Just a classic next-token-predicting LLM with a bunch of reinforcement learning layered on top
simonwillison.net/2025/Jul/19/...
OpenAI’s gold medal performance on the International Math Olympiad
OpenAI research scientist Alexander Wei: I’m excited to share that our latest @OpenAI experimental reasoning LLM has achieved a longstanding grand challenge in AI: gold medal-level performance on the ...
simonwillison.net
July 19, 2025 at 4:52 PM
I don't buy into the AGI hype, but also, the downplaying of LLMs that says they're "just next-word prediction machines" doesn't seem to capture what they're capable of.
Reposted by Matt B
they tried to "un-woke a robot and it went full nazi" is something out of a 30 Rock TV show
July 9, 2025 at 1:32 AM
they tried to "un-woke a robot and it went full nazi" is something out of a 30 Rock TV show
Reposted by Matt B
Hitler used tariffs to “liberate” Germany from a globalized world order—careening the economy backwards, Timothy W. Ryback writes.
Hitler’s Terrible Tariffs
By seeking to “liberate” Germans from a globalized world order, the Nazi government sent the national economy careening backwards.
bit.ly
April 22, 2025 at 1:45 AM
Hitler used tariffs to “liberate” Germany from a globalized world order—careening the economy backwards, Timothy W. Ryback writes.
Reposted by Matt B
NEW from me: A whistleblower says DOGE may have taken sensitive labor data...and then someone posted a threatening letter to his door.
www.npr.org/2025/04/15/n...
www.npr.org/2025/04/15/n...
A whistleblower's disclosure details how DOGE may have taken sensitive labor data
A whistleblower tells Congress and NPR that DOGE may have taken sensitive labor data and hid its tracks. "None of that ... information should ever leave the agency," said a former NLRB official.
www.npr.org
April 15, 2025 at 12:07 PM
NEW from me: A whistleblower says DOGE may have taken sensitive labor data...and then someone posted a threatening letter to his door.
www.npr.org/2025/04/15/n...
www.npr.org/2025/04/15/n...
Reposted by Matt B
Jon Stewart admits folks here were right & he wasn't: "I did not think he would get this authoritarian this fast. I really didn't. I'm sorry. Who could have known? Maybe if someone out there had yelled at me on Bluesky about this, I would have known. But no one did. Except every day. In all caps."
Jon Stewart has a message for his Bluesky critics: 'My bad'
April 15, 2025 at 6:31 AM
Jon Stewart admits folks here were right & he wasn't: "I did not think he would get this authoritarian this fast. I really didn't. I'm sorry. Who could have known? Maybe if someone out there had yelled at me on Bluesky about this, I would have known. But no one did. Except every day. In all caps."
Reposted by Matt B
Why isn’t all journalism like Kyle Clark?
VIEWER FEEDBACK: What are we seeing? Answer: President Trump keeping his campaign promise to use the justice system to reward his allies and punish his perceived rivals.
April 2, 2025 at 2:09 AM
Why isn’t all journalism like Kyle Clark?
Reposted by Matt B
I will forever think it is not ready and keep futzing 😁 but heck I need to push this thing live. Had some fun over the last couple of days building this with @11ty.dev - Contribute your TechCat 😻 #caturday techcats.netlify.app
TechCats
The cats of people who make websites.
techcats.netlify.app
March 23, 2025 at 10:35 PM
I will forever think it is not ready and keep futzing 😁 but heck I need to push this thing live. Had some fun over the last couple of days building this with @11ty.dev - Contribute your TechCat 😻 #caturday techcats.netlify.app
Oh boy, I needed this trip more than I care to admit. I need more AFK time.
We slipped out for an early spring trip to a remote corner of Utah for several days of desert bliss.
We slipped out for an early spring trip to a remote corner of Utah for several days of desert bliss.
March 23, 2025 at 12:51 AM
Oh boy, I needed this trip more than I care to admit. I need more AFK time.
We slipped out for an early spring trip to a remote corner of Utah for several days of desert bliss.
We slipped out for an early spring trip to a remote corner of Utah for several days of desert bliss.
Reposted by Matt B
Dude wake up they just RIF’d like half the Department of Education because y’all aren’t doing shit to stop them no matter whether the government is open or shut.
Either fight for this country, even when the odds look grim, or resign.
We have no need of summer soldiers.
Either fight for this country, even when the odds look grim, or resign.
We have no need of summer soldiers.
"These are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country."
— Thomas Paine, The American Crisis
— Thomas Paine, The American Crisis
March 14, 2025 at 2:34 AM
Dude wake up they just RIF’d like half the Department of Education because y’all aren’t doing shit to stop them no matter whether the government is open or shut.
Either fight for this country, even when the odds look grim, or resign.
We have no need of summer soldiers.
Either fight for this country, even when the odds look grim, or resign.
We have no need of summer soldiers.
Reposted by Matt B
18F, the federal government’s technology shop, was demolished by Musk’s team shortly after midnight. It was a cost-recoverable org, charging agencies for their expertise, using a consulting model. Its cost to government was negligible, its benefits huge. My team there once saved DoD $500 billion.
March 1, 2025 at 2:25 PM
18F, the federal government’s technology shop, was demolished by Musk’s team shortly after midnight. It was a cost-recoverable org, charging agencies for their expertise, using a consulting model. Its cost to government was negligible, its benefits huge. My team there once saved DoD $500 billion.
Reposted by Matt B
What the actual fuck?! America, it’s time to rise. When tyranny becomes law, rebellion becomes duty!
February 19, 2025 at 9:24 PM
What the actual fuck?! America, it’s time to rise. When tyranny becomes law, rebellion becomes duty!
Reposted by Matt B
They don't want to teach history so they can repeat it.
February 18, 2025 at 6:13 PM
They don't want to teach history so they can repeat it.
Reposted by Matt B
If you voted for Trump and cannot look at what’s happening and say “whups I fucked up” by now, I’m not sure I wanna hear your opinion on any topic.
That level of denial is a global epistemic toxin.
That level of denial is a global epistemic toxin.
February 15, 2025 at 10:32 PM
If you voted for Trump and cannot look at what’s happening and say “whups I fucked up” by now, I’m not sure I wanna hear your opinion on any topic.
That level of denial is a global epistemic toxin.
That level of denial is a global epistemic toxin.
Reposted by Matt B
You cannot fire so many people and shutter so many agencies and services and not expect things to start to go very bad very quickly.
Our job is to highlight not only the chaos and cruelty of the firings, but also the devastating consequences.
The public must turn on this madness and soon.
Our job is to highlight not only the chaos and cruelty of the firings, but also the devastating consequences.
The public must turn on this madness and soon.
February 16, 2025 at 1:44 AM
You cannot fire so many people and shutter so many agencies and services and not expect things to start to go very bad very quickly.
Our job is to highlight not only the chaos and cruelty of the firings, but also the devastating consequences.
The public must turn on this madness and soon.
Our job is to highlight not only the chaos and cruelty of the firings, but also the devastating consequences.
The public must turn on this madness and soon.
Reposted by Matt B
Thank god there's finally some useful technology. Yi-Fei Chen, aTaiwanese designer, has built a beautiful gun that collects and freezes tears, so you can shoot them at the person who caused them
December 1, 2024 at 5:49 PM
Thank god there's finally some useful technology. Yi-Fei Chen, aTaiwanese designer, has built a beautiful gun that collects and freezes tears, so you can shoot them at the person who caused them
Reposted by Matt B
This.
The “I bought it before I knew he was as asshole” bumper sticker is not enough; you’re still a supporter.
Selling absolutely is a form of advocacy, because flooding the market impacts price.
Real patriots sell their Teslas.
The “I bought it before I knew he was as asshole” bumper sticker is not enough; you’re still a supporter.
Selling absolutely is a form of advocacy, because flooding the market impacts price.
Real patriots sell their Teslas.
Elon Musk is celebrating the immiseration and death of the most vulnerable members of society.
This is what your Tesla symbolically represents, and materially supports... not just from the upfront price, but through charging, repairs, etc.
What price are you willing to pay to not be complicit?
This is what your Tesla symbolically represents, and materially supports... not just from the upfront price, but through charging, repairs, etc.
What price are you willing to pay to not be complicit?
Elon Musk thinks the poor are a "Parasite Class", & his philosophical guru Curtis Yarvin has "joked" that they should be melted down into biodiesel.
But this is a fascist ethos, & some say the true "Parasite Class" are those who have become grotesquely rich off the labor of others.
But this is a fascist ethos, & some say the true "Parasite Class" are those who have become grotesquely rich off the labor of others.
February 13, 2025 at 6:49 PM
This.
The “I bought it before I knew he was as asshole” bumper sticker is not enough; you’re still a supporter.
Selling absolutely is a form of advocacy, because flooding the market impacts price.
Real patriots sell their Teslas.
The “I bought it before I knew he was as asshole” bumper sticker is not enough; you’re still a supporter.
Selling absolutely is a form of advocacy, because flooding the market impacts price.
Real patriots sell their Teslas.
Reposted by Matt B
we have moved rapidly from “this loser never would’ve made it through the background check for a security clearance” to “this guy’s laptop is a crime scene”
Come for the news that “bigballs” hung out in cybercrime discords, stay for his old friends dumping on his coding abilities krebsonsecurity.com/2025/02/teen...
Teen on Musk’s DOGE Team Graduated from ‘The Com’
Wired reported this week that a 19-year-old working for Elon Musk's so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) was given access to sensitive US government systems even though his past associ...
krebsonsecurity.com
February 8, 2025 at 2:13 PM
we have moved rapidly from “this loser never would’ve made it through the background check for a security clearance” to “this guy’s laptop is a crime scene”
Reposted by Matt B
It feels pretty good watching dunking on these chuckleheads on their own platforms.
Not like good enough to justify the slide into oligarchic kleptocracy but you know — water from a stone and all that.
Not like good enough to justify the slide into oligarchic kleptocracy but you know — water from a stone and all that.
January 26, 2025 at 1:43 AM
It feels pretty good watching dunking on these chuckleheads on their own platforms.
Not like good enough to justify the slide into oligarchic kleptocracy but you know — water from a stone and all that.
Not like good enough to justify the slide into oligarchic kleptocracy but you know — water from a stone and all that.
Reposted by Matt B
This year's Winter Tech Forum is shaping up! www.wintertechforum.com
Winter Tech Forum: A Self-Organizing Open Spaces Conference & Retreat, March 3-7 2025 in Crested Butte, Colorado
A Self-Organizing Open Spaces Conference & Retreat
www.wintertechforum.com
January 22, 2025 at 11:02 PM
This year's Winter Tech Forum is shaping up! www.wintertechforum.com
Reposted by Matt B
They've begun their attacks on the US Digital Service and 18F — the true, effective public servants using technology to make government more effective & efficient. The folks who let you instantly and easily file your taxes online, for free. Who let veterans get the services they earned at VA.gov.
VA.gov Home | Veterans Affairs
Welcome to the official website of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Discover, apply for, and manage your VA benefits and care.
VA.gov
January 21, 2025 at 3:37 AM
They've begun their attacks on the US Digital Service and 18F — the true, effective public servants using technology to make government more effective & efficient. The folks who let you instantly and easily file your taxes online, for free. Who let veterans get the services they earned at VA.gov.
Reposted by Matt B
Today I honor Martin Luther King’s eloquence, wisdom and bravery. I see you Dr. King — your fire will never diminish. Your light will never ever be put out.
January 20, 2025 at 7:21 PM
Today I honor Martin Luther King’s eloquence, wisdom and bravery. I see you Dr. King — your fire will never diminish. Your light will never ever be put out.
Reposted by Matt B
Complex developer “productivity” metrics create an investment opportunity—hire folks who score poorly but are actually really good.
January 17, 2025 at 1:26 AM
Complex developer “productivity” metrics create an investment opportunity—hire folks who score poorly but are actually really good.