Simon Batistoni
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simon.batistoni.net
Simon Batistoni
@simon.batistoni.net
290 followers 510 following 280 posts
Professional nerd for nearly a quarter-century. Dad, complete with dad jokes.
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simon.batistoni.net
So, uh, the Guardian appear to have some antipathy for Peter Thiel
A quote about Peter Thiel from the Guardian’s website: “Silicon Valley titan desperately tries to detach self from power in amateurish talks attempting to ape his favorite philosopher”
October 11, 2025 at 4:48 AM
simon.batistoni.net
I was genuinely surprised by the accuracy of this (20B in ollama on a 32GB RTX4060, websearch disabled). Speed was pretty decent, for the size and the depth of the model. About 3 minutes for these 2 answers, and I'm making it fetch the model over NFS.
Answers to two questions, from GPT-OSS running on ollama. "What was Margaret Thatcher most hated for? "Explain the geometric concept of the Golden Spiral, in 70 words or less, in a way my 4-year-old can understand." I can't reproduce the whole answers inside the character limit, but the Thatcher answer was generally accurate (Austerity, privatization, miners' strike, Poll Tax, Falklands, lack of empathy) and pretty well-written for an LLM. Here's the Golden Spiral answer, which took 7 seconds of hot markov-chain action: "The Golden Spiral is a special, wiggly line that grows just a bit each time you turn it. Imagine a tiny square, then another bigger square next to it. The line goes from the corner of the first square, wraps around inside, and comes out the next corner. It keeps spiraling, getting bigger like a snail shell or a flower petal, always a little longer than before."
August 6, 2025 at 12:18 AM
simon.batistoni.net
Best photo I’ve taken in years. A thunderstorm a few miles west of Coral Springs, FL. Love how you can kinda see how the whole system works
A top-to-bottom view of a compact thunderstorm in the Florida Everglades at dusk, taken from a moving car. The dark lower clouds and billowing upper Cumulonimbus are clearly visible, as is rain at the bottom of the storm, concentrated where the upper clouds are at their highest.
August 3, 2025 at 10:53 PM
simon.batistoni.net
Except they did give us
August 1, 2025 at 3:33 AM
simon.batistoni.net
Fantastic, a family car that trains your toddler to crouch down directly in front of vehicles, to coax out their funny fac--MROOOOOOW THUNK SQEEEEEEEEE

www.theverge.com/electric-car...
July 21, 2025 at 8:35 PM
simon.batistoni.net
I'm guessing this?
@mattyglesias on Twitter, from Apr 23 2025: "I am sort of open to the idea that we should be a country with a national ID card system and a rule that you're expected to have your papers on you at all times in case your citizenship is challenged. But if that's what conservatives want, we need to create the card."
April 23, 2025 at 6:50 PM
simon.batistoni.net
Post your favorite Star Trek character. Wrong answers only.

There is only one answer.
A picture of the ludicrous Star Trek The Next Generation “baddie” Armus, an oozing tar monster which zapped security chief Tasha Yar to death. It’s on a generic “rock planet” which is either somewhere outside San Bernardino, or a sound stage.
December 23, 2024 at 3:40 AM
simon.batistoni.net
If they like the “weird British 80s superhero” angle specifically, Super Gran is also a vibe
A promotional image of 80s Scottish kids TV character “Super Gran”, riding her trademark flying bicycle.
November 30, 2024 at 9:16 PM
simon.batistoni.net
Genius! We went for Stuffles tonight, but I might try pasties tomorrow.
A waffle made of leftover Thanksgiving stuffing, topped with turkey, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, bacon-wrapped sausage slices and gravy, on a white plate.
November 30, 2024 at 3:47 AM
simon.batistoni.net
There is a stark, unintentional poetry at work here.
A bluesky post from @brendannyhan.bsky.social reading “What could go wrong?” above a deleted quote-post
November 18, 2024 at 11:33 PM
simon.batistoni.net
You’ve been kidnapped. The characters from the last tv show you watched are trying to rescue you. Who’s coming to save you?

Uh, I was watching play.history.com/shows/the-ic..., about the early careers of Stallone and Schwarzenegger, so, uh, Rocky *and* The Terminator will be here shortly.
Arnold Schwarzenegger, wearing a colorful hawaiian-style shirt with a red, blue and yellow pattern involving several breeds of dog, with his arm around the shoulder of Sylvester Stallone, who is wearing aviatir sunglasses and a “preppy” navy shirt and olive sweater. The picture is likely from the mid 90s.
November 12, 2024 at 1:02 AM