Chris Shiflett

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“I am losing precious days. I am degenerating into a machine for making money. I am learning nothing in this trivial world of men. I must break away and get out into the mountains to learn the news.” · JOHN MUIR

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Posts from blogs I like written in the last few days.

  • Thoughts on Go vs. Rust vs. Zig Simon Willison

    Thoughts on Go vs. Rust vs. Zig Thoughtful commentary on Go, Rust, and Zig by Sinclair Target. I haven't seen a single comparison that covers all three before and I learned a lot from reading th…

    Today · 21:28
  • The Resonant Computing Manifesto Simon Willison

    The Resonant Computing Manifesto Launched today at WIRED’s The Big Interview event, this manifesto (of which I'm a founding signatory) pushes for a positive framework for thinking about buildi…

    Today · 18:19
  • Pantone choosing a shade of white for its color of the year... Jason Kottke

    Pantone choosing a shade of white for its color of the year is a little too on the nose, especially when you consider they chose a color called Mocha Mousse last year.…

    Today · 18:06
  • Django 6.0 released Simon Willison

    Django 6.0 released Django 6.0 includes a flurry of neat features, but the two that most caught my eye are background workers and template partials. Background workers started out as DEP (Django…

    Today · 16:57
  • Text a community college librarian Simon Willison

    I take tap dance evening classes at the College of San Mateo community college. A neat bonus of this is that I'm now officially a student of that college, which gives me access to their library..…

    Today · 16:52
  • Fritolaysia Cuts Off Chiplomatic Relations With Snakistan. “Relations between the two countries... Jason Kottke

    Fritolaysia Cuts Off Chiplomatic Relations With Snakistan. “Relations between the two countries grew stale in 1994, when Fritolaysian rufflelutionaries crossed zestablished borders and forc…

    Today · 15:21
  • “Change starts with smaller actions, with going against the odds. And the... Jason Kottke

    “Change starts with smaller actions, with going against the odds. And the strangest possibilities can sometimes lead to the biggest gains. So open every door you can to the future that you…

    Today · 14:32
  • “The breakneck speed of New England’s transformation makes it the fastest-heating area... Jason Kottke

    “The breakneck speed of New England’s transformation makes it the fastest-heating area of the US, bar the Alaskan Arctic, and the pace of its temperature rise has apparently increased in…

    Today · 13:27
  • What ‘67’ Reveals About Childhood Creativity. “Through these quaint ready-made formulas the... Jason Kottke

    What ‘67’ Reveals About Childhood Creativity. “Through these quaint ready-made formulas the ridiculousness of life is underlined, the absurdity of the adult world and their teachers pro…

    Today · 12:43
  • How Ferrari’s F1 Team Improved Medical Care for Children Jason Kottke

    Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children (GOSH) in London improved their surgery-to-ICU handoff process by observing how Ferrari’s F1 team handled pit stops. GOSH doctors visited and obse…

    Today · 12:01
  • Really interesting post about Hammersmith Bridge, which has been closed since 2019,... Jason Kottke

    Really interesting post about Hammersmith Bridge, which has been closed since 2019, a presumed “loss” of 25,000 daily car trips. “The local economy has adapted, air quality has improved…

    Today · 11:11
  • To Grow, We Must Forget… but Now AI Remembers Everything. “What if... Jason Kottke

    To Grow, We Must Forget… but Now AI Remembers Everything. “What if human forgetting is not a bug, but a feature? And what happens when we build machines that don’t forget, but are now h…

    Today · 10:26
  • Sound Designing a Life Jason Kottke

    This is a charming short film on how a Foley artist would sound design a day in an ordinary life. Running hands through spaghetti noodles stands in for hair washing, a spray bottle sounds l…

    Today · 09:25
  • Matthew Rhys & Netflix are plotting an adaptation of Robert Caro’s The... Jason Kottke

    Matthew Rhys & Netflix are plotting an adaptation of Robert Caro’s The Power Broker. The consensus is that The Power Broker is unadaptable. But, the consensus also was that a 50-billion-pag…

    Today · 08:10
  • How MacKenzie Scott is giving away her billions. “Once you begin to... Jason Kottke

    How MacKenzie Scott is giving away her billions. “Once you begin to see Scott as [Toni] Morrison’s mentee — rather than as a certain Amazon founder’s ex-wife — you can’t unsee it.…

    Today · 07:30
  • An irresistible video title: Army of Crabs Protect Spy Robot From Stingray.... Jason Kottke

    An irresistible video title: Army of Crabs Protect Spy Robot From Stingray. “A 4-meter stingray can eat 50 crabs a day.” 💬 Join the discussion on kottke.o…

    Yesterday · 15:40
  • Sweats & Swots Jason Kottke

    “Ugh, this kid is so sweaty!” my son exclaimed as he came under attack in some game he was playing. This was a few years ago; my ears perked up and I asked him what he meant. He explained…

    Yesterday · 15:13
  • How to Fix a Typewriter and Your Life. “It’s like Zen. There... Jason Kottke

    How to Fix a Typewriter and Your Life. “It’s like Zen. There are times when it is just very relaxing to be standing in front of the machine and slowly cleaning it, tweaking the adjustment…

    Yesterday · 14:21
  • An Online Collection of Found Cassette Tapes Jason Kottke

    Intertapes is a collection of found cassette tapes — some contain music and others voice memos. Each entry includes images of the tape, a description/track listing, and the actual audio (…

    Yesterday · 13:25
  • “If new proposals detailed in an FDA memo are put into place,... Jason Kottke

    “If new proposals detailed in an FDA memo are put into place, experts told me it would mean the end of annual flu shots. And end of most vaccines for pregnant people. And maybe the end of u…

    Yesterday · 12:39
  • Quoting Mitchell Hashimoto Simon Willison

    Since the beginning of the project in 2023 and the private beta days of Ghostty, I've repeatedly expressed my intention that Ghostty legally become a non-profit. [...] I want to squelch any possi…

    Yesterday · 12:18
  • I love the remix of Radiohead’s Everything In Its Right Place in... Jason Kottke

    I love the remix of Radiohead’s Everything In Its Right Place in the midst of Kelly Lee Owens’ Boiler Room set (~33:50 mark). Had me chair dancing this AM! …

    Yesterday · 12:10
  • Janet Sobel, a Forgotten Pioneer of Abstract Art Jason Kottke

    The painting above was made in 1945 by self-taught artist Janet Sobel; it’s called Milky Way. Sobel was a Ukrainian-born artist who was a pioneer in abstract expressionist art and in drip…

    Yesterday · 11:04
  • The best telescopes for astrophotography. Boy, if I needed an expensive new... Jason Kottke

    The best telescopes for astrophotography. Boy, if I needed an expensive new hobby, this might be the one at the top of the list. 💬 Join the discussion on kott…

    Yesterday · 09:52
  • What’s the best way to lift people out of poverty? “Cash giving... Jason Kottke

    What’s the best way to lift people out of poverty? “Cash giving programs believe the people experiencing poverty best understand what they need to escape it.”…

    Yesterday · 08:49
  • A much-touted 4K remaster of Mad Men recently premiered on HBO Max... Jason Kottke

    A much-touted 4K remaster of Mad Men recently premiered on HBO Max and they forgot to apply digital effects to scenes in some of the episodes so you can see crew in the background, etc.…

    Yesterday · 07:36
  • TIL: Dependency groups and uv run Simon Willison

    TIL: Dependency groups and uv run I wrote up the new pattern I'm using for my various Python project repos to make them as easy to hack on with uv as possible. The trick is to use a PEP 735 depe…

    Two Days Ago · 22:55
  • Steven Heller’s Font of the Year: Fillmore John Boardley

    Read the book, Typographic Firsts In my past Font of the Month columns, I admitted to extreme fixation for ‘stencilism’ and avaricious hoarding of stencil type and lettering specimens. The…

    Two Days Ago · 21:00
  • An opportunity to learn: Advent of Code [blog] Remy Sharp

    I've written about Advent of Code in the past, but that was 5 years ago, so this warrants a new post, and there's an extra opportunity, I think.…

    Two Days Ago · 17:00
  • An Astonishing Graph Jason Kottke

    For most of human history, around 50% of children used to die before they reached the end of puberty. In 2020, that number is 4.3%. It’s 0.3% in countries like Japan & Norway. This drama…

    Two Days Ago · 16:10
  • Very Good Music Fun Facts from Go Jeff Go including: “Hall and... Jason Kottke

    Very Good Music Fun Facts from Go Jeff Go including: “Hall and Oates never referred to themselves as “Hall and Oates.” All their records say Daryl Hall and John Oates. Also, there is a…

    Two Days Ago · 14:55
  • Level Devil. This game is hilarious and diabolical.... Jason Kottke

    Level Devil. This game is hilarious and diabolical. 💬 Join the discussion on kottke.org →…

    Two Days Ago · 13:51
  • Retrospekt refurbs and sells retro technology (VHS tapes, cassette players, instant cameras,... Jason Kottke

    Retrospekt refurbs and sells retro technology (VHS tapes, cassette players, instant cameras, typewriters, iPods). 💬 Join the discussion on kottke.org →…

    Two Days Ago · 12:59
  • A Line in a Tom Stoppard Play Inspired a New Breast Cancer Treatment Jason Kottke

    In a letter to the Times of London, Dr. Michael Baum tells how a line in Arcadia by Tom Stoppard sparked an idea which resulted in adjuvant systemic chemotherapy, a therapy Baum helped pionee…

    Two Days Ago · 12:06
  • Anthropic acquires Bun Simon Willison

    Anthropic acquires Bun Anthropic just acquired the company behind the Bun JavaScript runtime, which they adopted for Claude Code back in July. Their announcement includes an impressive revenue u…

    Two Days Ago · 11:40
  • I’m in Charge at This Hertz Location, and Buddy, You’re Not Getting... Jason Kottke

    I’m in Charge at This Hertz Location, and Buddy, You’re Not Getting a Car Today. “Tell me, honestly, when you reserved a rental car through Hertz, you thought… what? That we were goin…

    Two Days Ago · 11:23
  • Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair Jason Kottke

    In just a few days (Dec 5), the entirety of Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill duology will be released in theaters as one four-hour-long film. Here’s the trailer: Quentin Tarantino’s KIL…

    Two Days Ago · 10:37
  • Introducing Mistral 3 Simon Willison

    Introducing Mistral 3 Four new models from Mistral today: three in their "Ministral" smaller model series (14B, 8B, and 3B) and a new Mistral Large 3 MoE model with 675B parameters, 41B active.…

    Two Days Ago · 10:30
  • A list of 25 Things to Say to Your Children, including “You... Jason Kottke

    A list of 25 Things to Say to Your Children, including “You can do hard things. I’ve seen you do them before and you can do them again.”; “I’m proud of you.”; and “It’s so bra…

    Two Days Ago · 09:46
  • Paul Ford on normalized AI & what happens when bubbles burst. “When... Jason Kottke

    Paul Ford on normalized AI & what happens when bubbles burst. “When the bubble is big, every idea feels like a billion-dollar idea. I yearn for cheap ideas from strangers.”…

    Two Days Ago · 08:49
  • David Byrne’s Tiny Desk Concert Jason Kottke

    There are a few artists where you hear their name and “Tiny Desk” together and you think, well, that’s going to be great. David Byrne is one of those and his performance does not disa…

    Two Days Ago · 07:45
  • Claude 4.5 Opus' Soul Document Simon Willison

    Claude 4.5 Opus' Soul Document Richard Weiss managed to get Claude 4.5 Opus to spit out this 14,000 token document which Claude called the "Soul overview". Richard says: While extracting C…

    Three Days Ago · 17:35
  • DeepSeek-V3.2 Simon Willison

    DeepSeek-V3.2 Two new open weight (MIT licensed) models from DeepSeek today: DeepSeek-V3.2 and DeepSeek-V3.2-Speciale, both 690GB, 685B parameters. Here's the PDF tech report. DeepSeek-V3.2 is D…

    Three Days Ago · 16:56
  • 100 Notable Small Press Books of 2025. The big end-of-year lists mostly... Jason Kottke

    100 Notable Small Press Books of 2025. The big end-of-year lists mostly feature books from big publishers; this list aims to spread the attention to smaller publishers.…

    Three Days Ago · 16:27
  • Keene, NH has been replacing their stop-lighted intersections with roundabouts, resulting in... Jason Kottke

    Keene, NH has been replacing their stop-lighted intersections with roundabouts, resulting in big reductions in pollution, accidents & injuries, and costs. “Slowly moving is better than wait…

    Three Days Ago · 15:40
  • Why Is Everyone Running In Rom-Coms? Jason Kottke

    I am not generally a fan of rom-coms so I didn’t think I was going to post Evan Puschak’s newest video, but he’s so good at them. Puschak argues that rom-coms are compelling because t…

    Three Days Ago · 14:48
  • I Was Stabbed in the Back With a Real Knife While Performing... Jason Kottke

    I Was Stabbed in the Back With a Real Knife While Performing Julius Caesar. “I realised what had happened while acting out my character’s death, and thinking: I have to lie here until the…

    Three Days Ago · 13:58
  • I sent out my November sponsor newsletter Simon Willison

    I just send out the November edition of my sponsors-only monthly newsletter. If you are a sponsor (or if you start a sponsorship now) you can access a copy here. In the newsletter this month: Th…

    Three Days Ago · 13:53
  • On next-gen GLP-1 drugs. “A mere decade ago, obesity drugs powerful enough... Jason Kottke

    On next-gen GLP-1 drugs. “A mere decade ago, obesity drugs powerful enough for people to routinely drop double-digit percentages of their body weight were unheard-of. Today, there are two,…

    Three Days Ago · 13:11
  • A short video that explains *a lot* about the modern world &... Jason Kottke

    A short video that explains *a lot* about the modern world & conservatism. “They also want to feel normal. They want to walk around and see that most other people have made the same choice…

    Three Days Ago · 12:21
  • This Is Always Interesting: “52 Things I Learned In 2025” Jason Kottke

    One of my favorite end-of-year lists is Tom Whitwell’s annual record of 52 things he’s learned in the past year. Some favorites of mine from the 2025 installment: 4. You can unlock the…

    Three Days Ago · 11:38
  • Photographing the Microscopic: Winners of Nikon Small World 2025. “Overall Winner: A... Jason Kottke

    Photographing the Microscopic: Winners of Nikon Small World 2025. “Overall Winner: A rice weevil perched on a grain of rice.” 💬 Join the discussion on kot…

    Three Days Ago · 10:53
  • Quoting David Bauder, AP News Simon Willison

    More than half of the teens surveyed believe journalists regularly engage in unethical behaviors like making up details or quotes in stories, paying sources, taking visual images out of context o…

    Three Days Ago · 10:22
  • Adding to an “overwhelming body of evidence”, a recent study showed that... Jason Kottke

    Adding to an “overwhelming body of evidence”, a recent study showed that “suicidality scores dropped significantly an average of two years and up to five years after [trans youth] recei…

    Three Days Ago · 10:13
  • The Atlantic hurricane season has come to a close and Google’s DeepMind... Jason Kottke

    The Atlantic hurricane season has come to a close and Google’s DeepMind AI-based hurricane model performed really well in predicting track and intensity of storms.…

    Three Days Ago · 09:29
  • Q: “Want to Feel Old?” A: “Yes.” Jason Kottke

    In 2010, Randall Munroe’s fiancée (now wife) was diagnosed with cancer. Every once in awhile, he updates his audience at XKCD on how that’s going. The most recent missive: Fifteen Years.…

    Three Days Ago · 08:42
  • YouTube embeds fail with a 153 error Simon Willison

    YouTube embeds fail with a 153 error I just fixed this bug on my blog. I was getting an annoying "Error 153: Video player configuration error" on some of the YouTube video embeds (like this one)…

    Four Days Ago · 22:26
  • Twin Peaks: The Return Rob Weychert

    David Lynch, 2017, ★★★★ I’ve always been amazed Twin Peaks ever made it to air on network television in 1990, and its 2017 return, perhaps David Lynch’s most unfiltered vision…

    Four Days Ago · 21:58
  • Quoting Felix Nolan Simon Willison

    I am increasingly worried about AI in the video game space in general. [...] I'm not sure that the CEOs and the people making the decisions at these sorts of companies understand the difference b…

    Four Days Ago · 15:48
  • ChatGPT is three years old today Simon Willison

    It's ChatGPT's third birthday today. It's fun looking back at Sam Altman's low key announcement thread from November 30th 2022: today we launched ChatGPT. try talking with it here: chat.openai.…

    Four Days Ago · 15:17
  • Quoting Rodrigo Arias Mallo Simon Willison

    The most annoying problem is that the [GitHub] frontend barely works without JavaScript, so we cannot open issues, pull requests, source code or CI logs in Dillo itself, despite them being mostly…

    Four Days Ago · 07:32
  • Entries logged without comment for the week ending 11/29 Rob Weychert

    Added to the film diary:Kansas City ConfidentialPhil Karlson, 1952, ★★★★White HeatRaoul Walsh, 1949, ★★★★ Tagged: November 2025 Reply via email…

    The Other Day · 22:00

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