Andrew Dupont
@andrewdupont.net
apologies to all you programmers who followed me thinking i was going to post about programming (also @[email protected])
I feel like something is missing here, but I can't quite put my finger on it
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September 25, 2026 at 5:27 PM
I feel like something is missing here, but I can't quite put my finger on it
The tragedy of it is that utilitarianism is liberating in its simplicity (just try to reduce the net amount of suffering in the world!) and deserves a framework that _doesn’t_ serve to launder practically any selfish act into being moral
Great piece by @xriskology.bsky.social on how the effective altruism cult has helped destroy actual philanthropy - with dangerous and deadly results for many people in need:
Effective Altruism Is a Dangerous Cult — Here's Why
Understanding the "Scientology of Silicon Valley." (7,700 words)
www.realtimetechpocalypse.com
September 17, 2026 at 4:36 PM
The tragedy of it is that utilitarianism is liberating in its simplicity (just try to reduce the net amount of suffering in the world!) and deserves a framework that _doesn’t_ serve to launder practically any selfish act into being moral
When you start using keyboard with a new layout, how long does it take your brain to adjust? Not “new layout” like Dvorak — I mean subtle differences like “the arrow keys are farther away than they are on my laptop keyboard.”
Trying to decide how much longer I continue my current, uh, experiment.
Trying to decide how much longer I continue my current, uh, experiment.
September 10, 2026 at 4:49 PM
When you start using keyboard with a new layout, how long does it take your brain to adjust? Not “new layout” like Dvorak — I mean subtle differences like “the arrow keys are farther away than they are on my laptop keyboard.”
Trying to decide how much longer I continue my current, uh, experiment.
Trying to decide how much longer I continue my current, uh, experiment.
RETAILER: Your thing shipped and here’s the tracking number
COURIER (when given tracking number): I don’t know what the fuck they’re talking about. This “tracking number” is no more meaningful to me than if you had simply mashed on the keyboard
COURIER (24–36 hours later): Yeah, this is a package
COURIER (when given tracking number): I don’t know what the fuck they’re talking about. This “tracking number” is no more meaningful to me than if you had simply mashed on the keyboard
COURIER (24–36 hours later): Yeah, this is a package
September 8, 2026 at 9:10 PM
RETAILER: Your thing shipped and here’s the tracking number
COURIER (when given tracking number): I don’t know what the fuck they’re talking about. This “tracking number” is no more meaningful to me than if you had simply mashed on the keyboard
COURIER (24–36 hours later): Yeah, this is a package
COURIER (when given tracking number): I don’t know what the fuck they’re talking about. This “tracking number” is no more meaningful to me than if you had simply mashed on the keyboard
COURIER (24–36 hours later): Yeah, this is a package
Blog comment spam is getting clever! I can see how this one flew under the radar.
August 31, 2026 at 9:53 PM
Blog comment spam is getting clever! I can see how this one flew under the radar.
The meanest thing anyone was willing to do to Dolly Parton was cast James Woods as her love interest in a movie. Don’t know whose call that was, but I hope they apologize to her as part of a daily ritual
August 26, 2026 at 4:43 PM
The meanest thing anyone was willing to do to Dolly Parton was cast James Woods as her love interest in a movie. Don’t know whose call that was, but I hope they apologize to her as part of a daily ritual
TEAMS: Look, I get it. You don’t want to be using Teams; you wish you were using Slack. Here’s a preset to make all my keyboard shortcuts match Slack’s.
ME: Thanks! A pleasant surprise. But… how do I move up and down the channel list via the keyboard, like in Slack?
TEAMS: I don’t know what that is
ME: Thanks! A pleasant surprise. But… how do I move up and down the channel list via the keyboard, like in Slack?
TEAMS: I don’t know what that is
August 21, 2026 at 6:09 PM
TEAMS: Look, I get it. You don’t want to be using Teams; you wish you were using Slack. Here’s a preset to make all my keyboard shortcuts match Slack’s.
ME: Thanks! A pleasant surprise. But… how do I move up and down the channel list via the keyboard, like in Slack?
TEAMS: I don’t know what that is
ME: Thanks! A pleasant surprise. But… how do I move up and down the channel list via the keyboard, like in Slack?
TEAMS: I don’t know what that is
My earliest years of web dev trained me to recognize “URL in address bar changes several times before reaching destination” as an anti-pattern. Even though now I see it half a dozen times per day, it’s been hard to re-train myself to recognize this as “normal and safe authentication flow”
August 20, 2026 at 9:25 PM
My earliest years of web dev trained me to recognize “URL in address bar changes several times before reaching destination” as an anti-pattern. Even though now I see it half a dozen times per day, it’s been hard to re-train myself to recognize this as “normal and safe authentication flow”
OK, let's see what the Nextdoor folks are talking about tod—
August 12, 2026 at 3:13 PM
OK, let's see what the Nextdoor folks are talking about tod—
If you try to log into something at work and it fails inexplicably, eventually check to see if you’re typing in an email address that belonged to you three jobs ago
August 10, 2026 at 7:09 PM
If you try to log into something at work and it fails inexplicably, eventually check to see if you’re typing in an email address that belonged to you three jobs ago
Is this a “normal” thing to post on Nextdoor? Sure; I’ve read far stranger.
Is this a “normal” thing to post on Nextdoor in response to someone else’s lament that a beloved local restaurant is closing? A harder question to answer.
Is this a “normal” thing to post on Nextdoor in response to someone else’s lament that a beloved local restaurant is closing? A harder question to answer.
August 5, 2026 at 5:16 PM
Is this a “normal” thing to post on Nextdoor? Sure; I’ve read far stranger.
Is this a “normal” thing to post on Nextdoor in response to someone else’s lament that a beloved local restaurant is closing? A harder question to answer.
Is this a “normal” thing to post on Nextdoor in response to someone else’s lament that a beloved local restaurant is closing? A harder question to answer.
As AI inserts itself into how humans produce things with computers, at what point do we ensure that nobody misuses “its”/”it’s” again? I would’ve guessed that’d be way closer to the beginning than “brainrot deepfake TikTok engagement bait,” but maybe that’s why I’m not a “thought leader”
August 4, 2026 at 3:59 PM
As AI inserts itself into how humans produce things with computers, at what point do we ensure that nobody misuses “its”/”it’s” again? I would’ve guessed that’d be way closer to the beginning than “brainrot deepfake TikTok engagement bait,” but maybe that’s why I’m not a “thought leader”
You’re right. You’re absolutely right. I feel silly for bringing it up. I’ll just accept _the mother of all coincidences_ and we can restart this whole news cycle. You can proceed with your plan to _further_ monetize the World Cup and let’s please never speak of my faux pas again
August 1, 2026 at 5:12 PM
You’re right. You’re absolutely right. I feel silly for bringing it up. I’ll just accept _the mother of all coincidences_ and we can restart this whole news cycle. You can proceed with your plan to _further_ monetize the World Cup and let’s please never speak of my faux pas again
I have an involuntary reaction to text formatted with seemingly RANDOM capitalization like this.
I know it's because Nextdoor (like most sites) doesn't offer richer formatting options than this — but my brain is trained to believe that this is simply how NIMBYs type.
I know it's because Nextdoor (like most sites) doesn't offer richer formatting options than this — but my brain is trained to believe that this is simply how NIMBYs type.
July 30, 2026 at 4:41 PM
I have an involuntary reaction to text formatted with seemingly RANDOM capitalization like this.
I know it's because Nextdoor (like most sites) doesn't offer richer formatting options than this — but my brain is trained to believe that this is simply how NIMBYs type.
I know it's because Nextdoor (like most sites) doesn't offer richer formatting options than this — but my brain is trained to believe that this is simply how NIMBYs type.
Discord’s business model is aimed at making money from people who use it for reasons other than I do (open-source work).
It’s as if I were able to use Pinboard for free because it had decided its only revenue would come from charging a small fee every time someone bookmarked erotic fan fiction.
It’s as if I were able to use Pinboard for free because it had decided its only revenue would come from charging a small fee every time someone bookmarked erotic fan fiction.
July 17, 2026 at 5:47 PM
Discord’s business model is aimed at making money from people who use it for reasons other than I do (open-source work).
It’s as if I were able to use Pinboard for free because it had decided its only revenue would come from charging a small fee every time someone bookmarked erotic fan fiction.
It’s as if I were able to use Pinboard for free because it had decided its only revenue would come from charging a small fee every time someone bookmarked erotic fan fiction.
I am not English; but I have followed the New Orleans Saints for most of my life, so I get it
July 15, 2026 at 9:05 PM
I am not English; but I have followed the New Orleans Saints for most of my life, so I get it
I am paralyzed by the sheer number of ways a modern employer can put badges on my dock icons that, when pursued, lead to content that could not be less relevant to me
July 14, 2026 at 5:23 PM
I am paralyzed by the sheer number of ways a modern employer can put badges on my dock icons that, when pursued, lead to content that could not be less relevant to me
No more threatening words from a World Cup commentator than these: “Wonderwall is playing; let’s listen in.”
July 11, 2026 at 11:51 PM
No more threatening words from a World Cup commentator than these: “Wonderwall is playing; let’s listen in.”
In other news, the phrase I never want to hear again after this World Cup is “I've seen it given before.” I bet you have! An individual referee has about 500% more leeway than they deserve to have; if anything, VAR is showing the seams in the rulebook
July 6, 2026 at 3:54 PM
In other news, the phrase I never want to hear again after this World Cup is “I've seen it given before.” I bet you have! An individual referee has about 500% more leeway than they deserve to have; if anything, VAR is showing the seams in the rulebook
Today we all get to enjoy these distinctly American ideas:
* Seeing Trump fuck up something you like and being powerless to stop it
* Watching other authority figures play along rather than tell him “no”
* Expecting other people to be adults when Trump acts like a child
* Seeing Trump fuck up something you like and being powerless to stop it
* Watching other authority figures play along rather than tell him “no”
* Expecting other people to be adults when Trump acts like a child
July 6, 2026 at 3:47 PM
Today we all get to enjoy these distinctly American ideas:
* Seeing Trump fuck up something you like and being powerless to stop it
* Watching other authority figures play along rather than tell him “no”
* Expecting other people to be adults when Trump acts like a child
* Seeing Trump fuck up something you like and being powerless to stop it
* Watching other authority figures play along rather than tell him “no”
* Expecting other people to be adults when Trump acts like a child
Nextdoor emails me regularly with summaries of recent discussions. That’s fine. I’m a weirdo who likes to know what my neighbors are irrationally paranoid about.
But “here’s a prompt from our robot that we think you might like to answer” is among the more sociopathic emails Nextdoor sends.
But “here’s a prompt from our robot that we think you might like to answer” is among the more sociopathic emails Nextdoor sends.
![An email from Nextdoor: “What's a Fourth of July tradition from your childhood that you still think… [See more]” posted by a user named “Ask Pasadena.” (This is an automated user that posts anodyne questions on Nextdoor; Nextdoor thinks this is worth emailing me about.)](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:kinmaagloqqgzyhpjpysez2d/bafkreifal5nutvc4n5ghv6bzygqgdfbydnjvjx6k7tnkfq3y5bxodn5ojy)
July 2, 2026 at 5:39 PM
Nextdoor emails me regularly with summaries of recent discussions. That’s fine. I’m a weirdo who likes to know what my neighbors are irrationally paranoid about.
But “here’s a prompt from our robot that we think you might like to answer” is among the more sociopathic emails Nextdoor sends.
But “here’s a prompt from our robot that we think you might like to answer” is among the more sociopathic emails Nextdoor sends.
We have prevailed through adversity. Time to celebrate the only way I know how
July 2, 2026 at 2:15 AM
We have prevailed through adversity. Time to celebrate the only way I know how
Non-US readers: if “David Beckham goes to Home Depot to help a random dude renovate his back yard” strikes you as a dumb idea for a commercial, then perhaps you understand why American fans _especially_ dislike hydration breaks
July 1, 2026 at 9:35 PM
Non-US readers: if “David Beckham goes to Home Depot to help a random dude renovate his back yard” strikes you as a dumb idea for a commercial, then perhaps you understand why American fans _especially_ dislike hydration breaks
Happy for England, but I'm curious how they're going to play even a half in Mexico City — in four days! — without dying of exhaustion. Rice might spontaneously combust
July 1, 2026 at 6:04 PM
Happy for England, but I'm curious how they're going to play even a half in Mexico City — in four days! — without dying of exhaustion. Rice might spontaneously combust
“The crowd have just seen how tight that offside call was… and it did _not_ go over well.”
*proceeds to show a graphic of Mbappe being obviously offside, raising the question of just what the fuck these French fans want*
(Look, I'm a USMNT homer, but I would not boo if Balogun was caught offside)
*proceeds to show a graphic of Mbappe being obviously offside, raising the question of just what the fuck these French fans want*
(Look, I'm a USMNT homer, but I would not boo if Balogun was caught offside)
June 30, 2026 at 9:24 PM
“The crowd have just seen how tight that offside call was… and it did _not_ go over well.”
*proceeds to show a graphic of Mbappe being obviously offside, raising the question of just what the fuck these French fans want*
(Look, I'm a USMNT homer, but I would not boo if Balogun was caught offside)
*proceeds to show a graphic of Mbappe being obviously offside, raising the question of just what the fuck these French fans want*
(Look, I'm a USMNT homer, but I would not boo if Balogun was caught offside)