r.stricklin
@yardape.bsky.social
just a guy made of dots and lines
What is going on with Dario Amodei? That guy doesn't know whether to scratch his watch or wind his butt. Anderson Cooper's face during that interview speaks for all of us, I think.
October 1, 2026 at 12:19 AM
What is going on with Dario Amodei? That guy doesn't know whether to scratch his watch or wind his butt. Anderson Cooper's face during that interview speaks for all of us, I think.
I have reached the age at which apparently it is no longer possible to eat Fritos, however small the quantity. My God.
September 24, 2026 at 9:34 AM
I have reached the age at which apparently it is no longer possible to eat Fritos, however small the quantity. My God.
these tech industry bozos writing effusive praise for Meta Muse are the same NPC jabronis who follow Google Maps directions into lakes.
September 23, 2026 at 1:29 AM
these tech industry bozos writing effusive praise for Meta Muse are the same NPC jabronis who follow Google Maps directions into lakes.
None of this is news to me, but I don't know if I've heard it all framed together in this way before, and I find this conversation useful as a result: www.youtube.com/watch?v=CK8M...
Why Google, Apple & Big Tech Keep Making Everything Worse | Cory Doctorow and Trevor Noah
YouTube video by Trevor Noah
www.youtube.com
September 13, 2026 at 11:10 PM
None of this is news to me, but I don't know if I've heard it all framed together in this way before, and I find this conversation useful as a result: www.youtube.com/watch?v=CK8M...
Spotted: boxed copy of Magee AUTOMENU for MS-DOS on eBay. This was my first "real hacking" experience in the 80s. Inherited a copy on a secondhand Turbo XT clone with no doc and reverse engineered the menu definition file format. Was more bottleshaking than actual hacking, but still. I was maybe 9.
September 11, 2026 at 6:01 AM
Spotted: boxed copy of Magee AUTOMENU for MS-DOS on eBay. This was my first "real hacking" experience in the 80s. Inherited a copy on a secondhand Turbo XT clone with no doc and reverse engineered the menu definition file format. Was more bottleshaking than actual hacking, but still. I was maybe 9.
I don't know how this happened but I am watching kids on youtube discovering Dolly and getting a little weepy about it.
September 9, 2026 at 2:33 AM
I don't know how this happened but I am watching kids on youtube discovering Dolly and getting a little weepy about it.
five glorious weeks of summer break.
only gotta deal with work. the start of hockey season. nine months of undone housework. you know. nbd.
only gotta deal with work. the start of hockey season. nine months of undone housework. you know. nbd.
August 25, 2026 at 3:08 AM
five glorious weeks of summer break.
only gotta deal with work. the start of hockey season. nine months of undone housework. you know. nbd.
only gotta deal with work. the start of hockey season. nine months of undone housework. you know. nbd.
someone in the food court at the student union building is whistling Taylor Dayne.
August 21, 2026 at 8:39 PM
someone in the food court at the student union building is whistling Taylor Dayne.
spoiler: the coyote did not help himself. that asshole rabbit abides yet.
August 21, 2026 at 5:32 AM
spoiler: the coyote did not help himself. that asshole rabbit abides yet.
I am left to conclude that the tech industry (writ large) has fully lost the plot, and confused "data" for "meaning".
August 19, 2026 at 12:14 AM
I am left to conclude that the tech industry (writ large) has fully lost the plot, and confused "data" for "meaning".
tiny, yet unequivocal win: hummingbird at the hardy fuchsia by the driveway as I left the house.
tiny, yet unequivocal win #2: spelling fuchsia correctly the first time
tiny, yet unequivocal win #2: spelling fuchsia correctly the first time
August 13, 2026 at 8:45 PM
tiny, yet unequivocal win: hummingbird at the hardy fuchsia by the driveway as I left the house.
tiny, yet unequivocal win #2: spelling fuchsia correctly the first time
tiny, yet unequivocal win #2: spelling fuchsia correctly the first time
Inevitable mailing list flamewar over use of AI. My perspective, since it's off topic to the list itself, is... congratulations on your results, but if you're looking for recognition, I think you'll be disappointed to find it comes in proportion to the amount of effort you put in: essentially zero.
August 11, 2026 at 5:34 AM
Inevitable mailing list flamewar over use of AI. My perspective, since it's off topic to the list itself, is... congratulations on your results, but if you're looking for recognition, I think you'll be disappointed to find it comes in proportion to the amount of effort you put in: essentially zero.
University administration helped themselves to my phone number when I re-enrolled, so they could send me text messages about campus safety issues. It's been a non-stop horrorshow: stabbings, assault, robbery, fire, homicide... but last night something new: "Rabid bat found on U Way NE near 41st".
July 18, 2026 at 7:50 PM
University administration helped themselves to my phone number when I re-enrolled, so they could send me text messages about campus safety issues. It's been a non-stop horrorshow: stabbings, assault, robbery, fire, homicide... but last night something new: "Rabid bat found on U Way NE near 41st".
I appear to have some new neighbors who have decided my yard should be made over more to their own taste.
July 5, 2026 at 3:19 AM
I appear to have some new neighbors who have decided my yard should be made over more to their own taste.
apparently we are busy re-learning the expensive lessons around the failure of AI "expert systems" in the '80s.
Ford Has Been Rehiring Quality Inspectors After AI Fell Short
Ford Motor Co. took an unusually human approach to fixing its stubborn quality problems: It brought back what it calls “gray beard” engineers to help train younger staff and to reprogram the artificia...
www.bloomberg.com
June 25, 2026 at 7:36 PM
apparently we are busy re-learning the expensive lessons around the failure of AI "expert systems" in the '80s.
was on the phone with an old friend, trying to put my finger on why things feel so crazy, so cannibalistically self-consuming, so unserious, so much like there is no mission for anything anymore except to take as much as one can grab
June 24, 2026 at 4:35 AM
was on the phone with an old friend, trying to put my finger on why things feel so crazy, so cannibalistically self-consuming, so unserious, so much like there is no mission for anything anymore except to take as much as one can grab
getting reeeeeal sick of front end devs writing "slick" web page UIs that load elements asynchronously, so that I click something, the page rearranges itself under my click, and lo! something I didn't want is now clicked. a modal dialog, an ad... knock it off already. go home and review yourselves.
June 10, 2026 at 9:30 PM
getting reeeeeal sick of front end devs writing "slick" web page UIs that load elements asynchronously, so that I click something, the page rearranges itself under my click, and lo! something I didn't want is now clicked. a modal dialog, an ad... knock it off already. go home and review yourselves.
Digitalis makes me feel uneasy, ever since I was very small and somebody told me it was poisonous. But as a patch of wildflowers, purple and white, in the highway median… it sure looks cool.
May 31, 2026 at 4:23 AM
Digitalis makes me feel uneasy, ever since I was very small and somebody told me it was poisonous. But as a patch of wildflowers, purple and white, in the highway median… it sure looks cool.
If I'd known before I joined the community theater pit orchestra in high school for a production of "Gypsy" that I would be powerless to keep the music from getting stuck in my head, even after 30+ years, would I still have done it? Probably. But, what a curse.
May 14, 2026 at 5:57 AM
If I'd known before I joined the community theater pit orchestra in high school for a production of "Gypsy" that I would be powerless to keep the music from getting stuck in my head, even after 30+ years, would I still have done it? Probably. But, what a curse.
Something that's been puzzling me: US cents weren't withdrawn, or demonetized. They just stopped making new ones. Basically overnight, retailers put up signs about "the shortage" and struggled to make exact change. But at that time, there were something like 200bn of them in circulation. How?
May 7, 2026 at 9:49 PM
Something that's been puzzling me: US cents weren't withdrawn, or demonetized. They just stopped making new ones. Basically overnight, retailers put up signs about "the shortage" and struggled to make exact change. But at that time, there were something like 200bn of them in circulation. How?
Some utter cretin up the street somewhere not only has gotten himself a by-God "Dixie" horn for his car, but is blowing it all hours.
May 5, 2026 at 3:26 AM
Some utter cretin up the street somewhere not only has gotten himself a by-God "Dixie" horn for his car, but is blowing it all hours.
Trying not to Vaguebook. Here is a true story, made into a serviceable aphorism.
Mumbleth birthday the other day. Leaving friend's condo with leftover cake... fumbled it in the stairwell. Dropped it down two flights. The box held, but the cake... as they say, its vibes had been very harshed.
Mumbleth birthday the other day. Leaving friend's condo with leftover cake... fumbled it in the stairwell. Dropped it down two flights. The box held, but the cake... as they say, its vibes had been very harshed.
May 4, 2026 at 6:40 AM
Trying not to Vaguebook. Here is a true story, made into a serviceable aphorism.
Mumbleth birthday the other day. Leaving friend's condo with leftover cake... fumbled it in the stairwell. Dropped it down two flights. The box held, but the cake... as they say, its vibes had been very harshed.
Mumbleth birthday the other day. Leaving friend's condo with leftover cake... fumbled it in the stairwell. Dropped it down two flights. The box held, but the cake... as they say, its vibes had been very harshed.
I failed to attend to The Ditch Is Full Of Dandelions season. Unwise.
May 4, 2026 at 6:06 AM
I failed to attend to The Ditch Is Full Of Dandelions season. Unwise.