John Feminella
@jxf.me
🥰: bits, bots, bucks, blocks
⏪: Two Sigma, EY, HHCS, Thoughtworks, Pivotal, Forge.
👤: Thing builder, conf speaker, curiosity advocate, dad.
⏪: Two Sigma, EY, HHCS, Thoughtworks, Pivotal, Forge.
👤: Thing builder, conf speaker, curiosity advocate, dad.
Pinned
John Feminella
@jxf.me
· Jun 26
[Client → Server] PSH, ACK
│ Payload (17 bytes): 0xF0 0x9F 0x91 0x8B 0x20 0x48 0x69 0x2C 0x20 0x42 0x6C 0x75 0x65 0x73 0x6B 0x79 0x2E
👋 Hi, Bluesky.
│ Payload (17 bytes): 0xF0 0x9F 0x91 0x8B 0x20 0x48 0x69 0x2C 0x20 0x42 0x6C 0x75 0x65 0x73 0x6B 0x79 0x2E
👋 Hi, Bluesky.
Spotted this very handsome great-tailed grackle delightedly enjoying a bath outside my hotel.
September 17, 2026 at 12:50 PM
Spotted this very handsome great-tailed grackle delightedly enjoying a bath outside my hotel.
Famously, Jesus also tried turning it off and then on again, but it took 72 hours to reboot.
NEW: Pope Leo XIV’s brother, John, told Italian media that the pope helped him file his tax return and, over a video call, got him back into a computer he had locked himself out of.
Prevost propped his iPad on the dead machine and asked his brother what to do. “Because I’m computer illiterate.”
Prevost propped his iPad on the dead machine and asked his brother what to do. “Because I’m computer illiterate.”
Pope Leo XIV Does Tech Support and Tax Prep for His Brother in Suburban Chicago
John Prevost locked himself out of a new computer, propped his iPad on top of it, and called the Vatican. Then he told Italian TV what makes him proudest of his brother: “He hasn’t collapsed yet.”
www.thelettersfromleo.com
September 16, 2026 at 4:36 PM
Famously, Jesus also tried turning it off and then on again, but it took 72 hours to reboot.
Actual quote from an Anthropic architecture doc explaining their new function hooks: "A hook is Koa-style middleware: it reifies an endomorphic continuation."
September 16, 2026 at 4:23 PM
Actual quote from an Anthropic architecture doc explaining their new function hooks: "A hook is Koa-style middleware: it reifies an endomorphic continuation."
I'm almost certainly in a bubble with `jj`, the distributed version control system that's also Git-compatible. But it's a very nice bubble.
I wouldn't be overly surprised if, in five years, enterprises are starting to try it out.
I wouldn't be overly surprised if, in five years, enterprises are starting to try it out.
September 14, 2026 at 8:03 AM
I'm almost certainly in a bubble with `jj`, the distributed version control system that's also Git-compatible. But it's a very nice bubble.
I wouldn't be overly surprised if, in five years, enterprises are starting to try it out.
I wouldn't be overly surprised if, in five years, enterprises are starting to try it out.
Had to dredge up my chemistry knowledge to explain to the kids that this toy is not "salt water powered", but rather uses up a much more limited resource, magnesium:
2Mg + O₂ + 2H₂O → 2Mg(OH)₂
Notice the salt water (NaCl in H₂O) doesn't appear anywhere in the reaction!
2Mg + O₂ + 2H₂O → 2Mg(OH)₂
Notice the salt water (NaCl in H₂O) doesn't appear anywhere in the reaction!
September 12, 2026 at 4:32 PM
Had to dredge up my chemistry knowledge to explain to the kids that this toy is not "salt water powered", but rather uses up a much more limited resource, magnesium:
2Mg + O₂ + 2H₂O → 2Mg(OH)₂
Notice the salt water (NaCl in H₂O) doesn't appear anywhere in the reaction!
2Mg + O₂ + 2H₂O → 2Mg(OH)₂
Notice the salt water (NaCl in H₂O) doesn't appear anywhere in the reaction!
The problem with Amp orbs (ampcode.com), Pi (pi.dev), and all of the interesting "bake your own agentic environment/runtime" stuff is it's impossible to talk about it without sounding unhinged.
The level of weird and unnecessary jargon is bizarre and makes me suspicious.
The level of weird and unnecessary jargon is bizarre and makes me suspicious.
September 11, 2026 at 11:54 AM
The problem with Amp orbs (ampcode.com), Pi (pi.dev), and all of the interesting "bake your own agentic environment/runtime" stuff is it's impossible to talk about it without sounding unhinged.
The level of weird and unnecessary jargon is bizarre and makes me suspicious.
The level of weird and unnecessary jargon is bizarre and makes me suspicious.
Increasingly tempted to add a mandatory "slop check" to everyone's CI pipelines to prevent slop PR messages, log strings, comments, and other text from slipping through (or reduce them, at least).
September 9, 2026 at 7:44 PM
Increasingly tempted to add a mandatory "slop check" to everyone's CI pipelines to prevent slop PR messages, log strings, comments, and other text from slipping through (or reduce them, at least).
Nailed directly in the soul by opusfived.dev. Opus do just one thing challenge level: impossible. (This is why good harnesses are everything!)
Opusfived
Make one button blue. Change nothing else. A short interactive comedy about agentic AI assistants that can never just do the thing.
opusfived.dev
September 9, 2026 at 3:20 PM
Nailed directly in the soul by opusfived.dev. Opus do just one thing challenge level: impossible. (This is why good harnesses are everything!)
Our cats watching me make dinner over a hot stove instead of simply going into the woods and hunting a field mouse.
September 6, 2026 at 8:32 PM
Our cats watching me make dinner over a hot stove instead of simply going into the woods and hunting a field mouse.
Hiked 8 miles this morning with some friends along the very peaceful and lovely Robinson River. It is now time for lunch: BLTs with greenhouse tomatoes from the garden.
September 6, 2026 at 6:26 PM
Hiked 8 miles this morning with some friends along the very peaceful and lovely Robinson River. It is now time for lunch: BLTs with greenhouse tomatoes from the garden.
My "our website is completely legal" sign has people asking a lot of questions that are answered by the sign.
September 1, 2026 at 12:43 PM
My "our website is completely legal" sign has people asking a lot of questions that are answered by the sign.
If a character in a movie explains their plans in detail, the plan is guaranteed to go awry or fail completely.
If they say "I've got a plan" but don't elaborate further, it goes off without a hitch. Any apparent derailing of the plan will turn out to be accounted for in the plan.
If they say "I've got a plan" but don't elaborate further, it goes off without a hitch. Any apparent derailing of the plan will turn out to be accounted for in the plan.
August 30, 2026 at 12:49 PM
If a character in a movie explains their plans in detail, the plan is guaranteed to go awry or fail completely.
If they say "I've got a plan" but don't elaborate further, it goes off without a hitch. Any apparent derailing of the plan will turn out to be accounted for in the plan.
If they say "I've got a plan" but don't elaborate further, it goes off without a hitch. Any apparent derailing of the plan will turn out to be accounted for in the plan.
"We've got his hard drives." Sir... that is a PC power supply unit.
August 29, 2026 at 3:38 PM
"We've got his hard drives." Sir... that is a PC power supply unit.
Happy 35th birthday Linux!
August 25, 2026 at 11:42 PM
Happy 35th birthday Linux!
A note for code authors in this AI era:
* PR has more than one goal? It's too complicated.
* Can't understand the PR's goal? It's too complicated.
* Can't understand how the commit achieved a step in the goal? It's too complicated.
* Can't review a commit? it's too complicated.
* PR has more than one goal? It's too complicated.
* Can't understand the PR's goal? It's too complicated.
* Can't understand how the commit achieved a step in the goal? It's too complicated.
* Can't review a commit? it's too complicated.
August 25, 2026 at 6:31 PM
A note for code authors in this AI era:
* PR has more than one goal? It's too complicated.
* Can't understand the PR's goal? It's too complicated.
* Can't understand how the commit achieved a step in the goal? It's too complicated.
* Can't review a commit? it's too complicated.
* PR has more than one goal? It's too complicated.
* Can't understand the PR's goal? It's too complicated.
* Can't understand how the commit achieved a step in the goal? It's too complicated.
* Can't review a commit? it's too complicated.
What I thought I was doing: calmly putting a single dusty, cracked 1×1 Lego that's been under the couch for six weeks into the recycling bin
What my children perceived: Dad laughing evilly as he permanently destroys a vital and irreplaceable piece of their imaginarium, like some kind of MONSTER
What my children perceived: Dad laughing evilly as he permanently destroys a vital and irreplaceable piece of their imaginarium, like some kind of MONSTER
August 23, 2026 at 3:08 PM
What I thought I was doing: calmly putting a single dusty, cracked 1×1 Lego that's been under the couch for six weeks into the recycling bin
What my children perceived: Dad laughing evilly as he permanently destroys a vital and irreplaceable piece of their imaginarium, like some kind of MONSTER
What my children perceived: Dad laughing evilly as he permanently destroys a vital and irreplaceable piece of their imaginarium, like some kind of MONSTER
Tired mouse hunters after a long but exciting day of catching two (2) field mice in the backyard.
August 20, 2026 at 11:09 PM
Tired mouse hunters after a long but exciting day of catching two (2) field mice in the backyard.
Anthropic removed a line in the system prompt that said "Default to no comments", so naturally Claude has now gone buckwild with comments.
Teams love reviewing PRs like:
```
// let me sing you the song of my people: [5,000 more tokens]
const TEASPOONS_PER_TABLESPOON: i32 = 3;
```
Teams love reviewing PRs like:
```
// let me sing you the song of my people: [5,000 more tokens]
const TEASPOONS_PER_TABLESPOON: i32 = 3;
```
August 13, 2026 at 3:17 PM
Anthropic removed a line in the system prompt that said "Default to no comments", so naturally Claude has now gone buckwild with comments.
Teams love reviewing PRs like:
```
// let me sing you the song of my people: [5,000 more tokens]
const TEASPOONS_PER_TABLESPOON: i32 = 3;
```
Teams love reviewing PRs like:
```
// let me sing you the song of my people: [5,000 more tokens]
const TEASPOONS_PER_TABLESPOON: i32 = 3;
```
Before, it was a bug.
Now, it is a feature.
Now, it is a feature.
August 10, 2026 at 12:01 PM
Before, it was a bug.
Now, it is a feature.
Now, it is a feature.
Beds are just shelves that I lay my bone armor mech suit onto when I'm not using it.
August 9, 2026 at 3:29 PM
Beds are just shelves that I lay my bone armor mech suit onto when I'm not using it.
Hypothesis: The "it's not X, it's Y" pattern that LLMs are so fond of outputting can be traced back to a single, very prevalent phrase in the training data:
July 28, 2026 at 12:26 PM
Hypothesis: The "it's not X, it's Y" pattern that LLMs are so fond of outputting can be traced back to a single, very prevalent phrase in the training data:
Me looking at the air quality numbers on AQINow.
Chernobyl: Not Great, Not Terrible Quote
Alt: Clip from Chernobyl of Dyatlov saying "Not great, not terrible."
static.klipy.com
July 17, 2026 at 12:07 PM
Me looking at the air quality numbers on AQINow.
My wife is out of town so the cat is settling for scratches from me tonight.
July 12, 2026 at 12:52 AM
My wife is out of town so the cat is settling for scratches from me tonight.