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Lena "Tracer" Oxton, Cadet and Test Pilot Extraordinaire

@andrewthewhip.bsky.social
36 followers 70 following 801 posts

yeah alright we'll try it I guess dottxt.substack.com

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Lena "Tracer" Oxton, Cadet and Test Pilot Extraordinaire @andrewthewhip.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Horrifying, Tyler Cowen of all people is apparently doing a lecture at my high school Alma mater 😔😔
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Lena "Tracer" Oxton, Cadet and Test Pilot Extraordinaire @andrewthewhip.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Not to snark too much, but this reinforces my belief that despite how everyone talks about it, people's feelings of "fairness" is almost never actually about "commission vs flat fee", but about the actual absolute numbers www.theverge.com/tech/1004133...
theverge.com
Beehiiv creators are buzzing about a new price increase
Some plans are going up by more than $10 per month.
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Lena "Tracer" Oxton, Cadet and Test Pilot Extraordinaire @andrewthewhip.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Et voila: dottxt.substack.com/p/updating-t...
dottxt.substack.com
Updating The Style Guide
for immediate release
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Reposted by Lena "Tracer" Oxton, Cadet and Test Pilot Extraordinaire
Aura/Moom @moomanibe.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
I frequently see "AI" boosters implying that LLMs are simply an innate and superior part of coding now, inescapable, and that literally all programmers agree with them. And, well. That, too, is a form of propaganda
Looking at my software peers in 2026 I see fatigued faces, I see frustration, and I see a lot of people looking for a way out of an industry that seems poised on the brink of collapse. LLMs are being pushed on us at every turn, most people seem at best frustrated by them, and ultimately they seem to appeal most to people who see the production of software as a purely mechanical means to an end. They are antithetical, however, to the idea of software as a craft, or something requiring both initial and ongoing care. As an expression of the soul.
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Lena "Tracer" Oxton, Cadet and Test Pilot Extraordinaire @andrewthewhip.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Good! unsung.aresluna.org/the-left-han...
unsung.aresluna.org
The left hand should know what the right hand is doing – Unsung
A blog about software craft and quality
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Lena "Tracer" Oxton, Cadet and Test Pilot Extraordinaire @andrewthewhip.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
“Art is essential human expression… We had art before we had caloric surplus” JOHNATHAN!!!!
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Lena "Tracer" Oxton, Cadet and Test Pilot Extraordinaire @andrewthewhip.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
It sure does suck that, as we’ve seen from the last decade, Apple can continue to get worse and there isn’t really an alternative option! 9to5mac.com/2026/09/29/j...
9to5mac.com
John Ternus wants to reshape Apple, here's how - 9to5Mac
New CEO John Ternus has plans to “overhaul” Apple in an attempt to make it “run faster and leaner,” according...
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Lena "Tracer" Oxton, Cadet and Test Pilot Extraordinaire @andrewthewhip.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Style guide update: I am definitely shifting away from putting agency into the LLM itself, but I might start saying that when someone does something with an LLM their fundemental verb is "Uncovering", rather than "creating" or "generating" birdsnfrogs.github.io/2026/09/12/F...
birdsnfrogs.github.io
Happy, those able to know the causes of things
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Lena "Tracer" Oxton, Cadet and Test Pilot Extraordinaire @andrewthewhip.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Remember how in like 2013 or whatever I followed katuriankaturiankaturian.tumblr.com purely for the pillowman reference and then like 7 years later found it out was Troian Bellisario's personal tumblr
katuriankaturiankaturian.tumblr.com
It's about what you leave behind
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Lena "Tracer" Oxton, Cadet and Test Pilot Extraordinaire @andrewthewhip.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
There is probably some actual term for this effect, but optimization is always relative to some baseline, meaning in some circumstances if everyone "optimizes" then no one does (especially true when, like w/ Youtube, it's fundementally *competitive* optimization) www.theverge.com/tech/999140/...
theverge.com
YouTube is building AI creator tools that do almost everything for them
The future of creating on YouTube looks like a lot of AI
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Lena "Tracer" Oxton, Cadet and Test Pilot Extraordinaire @andrewthewhip.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
I do find it funny that it’s companies like Uber, Dropbox, and Spotify touting their AI productivity stats re: products that have gotten obviously demonstrably worse in the last years? dropbox.tech/culture/lear...
dropbox.tech
What Dropbox has learned from deploying AI at company scale
Learnings from deploying AI at company scale, and what organizations need to consider as they move from AI adoption to broader transformation.
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Lena "Tracer" Oxton, Cadet and Test Pilot Extraordinaire @andrewthewhip.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
At some point I should go back a decade and see to what degree was John Gruber always like this and I’ve changed, vs he changed
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Lena "Tracer" Oxton, Cadet and Test Pilot Extraordinaire @andrewthewhip.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Post-collapse-Groupon continues to post-collapse-Groupon 🙃 www.investing.com/news/stock-m...
investing.com
Groupon opens platform to AI agents and third-party builders By Investing.com
Groupon opens platform to AI agents and third-party builders
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Lena "Tracer" Oxton, Cadet and Test Pilot Extraordinaire @andrewthewhip.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
I'm working my way through The Bard In The Borderlands and it is interesting that so far 2/2 R&J adaptations have played with a class or power difference and put the Capulet analogs above the Montague ones
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Lena "Tracer" Oxton, Cadet and Test Pilot Extraordinaire @andrewthewhip.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
The youtube essayists got to me dottxt.substack.com/p/david-lync...
dottxt.substack.com
David Lynch Is Wrong About Twin Peaks
or more accurately, david lynch at the time was wrong about twin peaks and fans and theorists of twin peaks are wrong to treat that out-of-date opinion as gospel
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Lena "Tracer" Oxton, Cadet and Test Pilot Extraordinaire @andrewthewhip.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
The premise is.... you have funny celebrities on..... and have them host episodes........... of The Muppet Show deadline.com/2026/09/the-...
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Lena "Tracer" Oxton, Cadet and Test Pilot Extraordinaire @andrewthewhip.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Oh hell yeah techcrunch.com/2026/09/09/a...
techcrunch.com
Automattic's board forces CEO Matt Mullenweg into leave of absence | TechCrunch
Mullenweg said in a company Slack message that it was against his will.
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Lena "Tracer" Oxton, Cadet and Test Pilot Extraordinaire @andrewthewhip.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Wake me up when they announce actual phone features that aren't the AI stuff I'll turn off day one
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Lena "Tracer" Oxton, Cadet and Test Pilot Extraordinaire @andrewthewhip.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
No one told me Garret Dillahunt was in Lanterns, I would've watched day one!!
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Lena "Tracer" Oxton, Cadet and Test Pilot Extraordinaire @andrewthewhip.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Impressive that John Ternus chose to make his first official act as CEO doing the Lake Ontario nonsense! Good start!
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Lena "Tracer" Oxton, Cadet and Test Pilot Extraordinaire @andrewthewhip.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
Tell me that the Onion is based in a Chicago and has ex-Grouponers without telling me theonion.com/stella-lefty...
theonion.com
Stella Lefty Admits Nepotism May Have Helped Her Get Groupon+
LOS ANGELES—Responding to scrutiny concerning her tech billionaire father, artist Stella Lefty admitted in an interview Friday that nepotism may have played a role in helping her get Groupon+. “I had ...
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Lena "Tracer" Oxton, Cadet and Test Pilot Extraordinaire @andrewthewhip.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
Crucial Stanford-class-of-the-2010s experience: seeing the latest screenshot dunks on LinkedIn nonsense from an out of touch a16z VC and realizing you were both on the writing staff of a comedy musical 13 years ago
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Lena "Tracer" Oxton, Cadet and Test Pilot Extraordinaire @andrewthewhip.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
...... as an apple paypig, I was ready to stomach the ludicrous price and worse camera to get the folding phone, but I am genuinely second-guessing that now that I'm seeing rumors it won't have an action button, as not a joke running shortcuts on the action button is one of my most-used features
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Reposted by Lena "Tracer" Oxton, Cadet and Test Pilot Extraordinaire
Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 20/08/2026
perfect synopsis of modern Republicanism
Darline Graham: I tripped up on one question last night, regarding Taiwan. I don't speak politician. I was just honest. Of course, Taiwan is our friend. But I think people in South Carolina are more worried about boys in girls sports.
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Lena "Tracer" Oxton, Cadet and Test Pilot Extraordinaire @andrewthewhip.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
Justice for my favorite Weird Al song, Skipper Dan!!!! youtu.be/o4I-Y8XiBIs?...
youtu.be
'Weird Al' Yankovic: Tiny Desk Concert
YouTube video by NPR Music
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Lena "Tracer" Oxton, Cadet and Test Pilot Extraordinaire @andrewthewhip.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
Demo-ing with a Ted Leo riff, a review after my own heart!! www.theverge.com/gadgets/9825...
theverge.com
This tiny guitar amp is the most unhinged distortion pedal I’ve ever used
From the proud lunatics at Death By Audio and Rainger FX.
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Lena "Tracer" Oxton, Cadet and Test Pilot Extraordinaire @andrewthewhip.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
Absent a major correction it seems really clear that if you want to use good products, "is made by a VC-backed tech startup" should be treated as a big negative signal newsletter.pragmaticengineer.com/p/the-great-...
newsletter.pragmaticengineer.com
Headed for the Exit: the Great Engineering Leader Career Break
Trend: more CTOs, VPEs, and Heads of Engineering are walking away from their high-status, in-demand positions. There are many reasons, mostly related to AI, and to "founder mode"
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Lena "Tracer" Oxton, Cadet and Test Pilot Extraordinaire @andrewthewhip.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
I like the Acquired podcast quite a bit, but it is so funny whenever they do a media company to hear in-depth really smart analysis of business coupled with exceptionally pedestrian artistic critique
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Lena "Tracer" Oxton, Cadet and Test Pilot Extraordinaire @andrewthewhip.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Inspired by this, Obsession is a good reminder that most things about things are not about one thing, but about several things, almost always several contradictory things www.patreon.com/MaxRead/post...
patreon.com
"Obsession" as an AI movie | Read Max
Greetings from Read Max HQ! In today's issue: A quick essay on the movie Obsession and its relationship to AI. If you enjoy it, and other Re
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Lena "Tracer" Oxton, Cadet and Test Pilot Extraordinaire @andrewthewhip.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
For immediate release: dottxt.substack.com/p/my-mid-202...
dottxt.substack.com
My Mid-2026 AI Policy
except not actually
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Lena "Tracer" Oxton, Cadet and Test Pilot Extraordinaire @andrewthewhip.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
I have decided that LinaBell is my favorite of Duffy’s friends, but primarily because I’m headcanoning her as Veronica Mars
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Lena "Tracer" Oxton, Cadet and Test Pilot Extraordinaire @andrewthewhip.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
Man 2000s Coldplay is so good, I need to not forget this www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3IC...
youtube.com
What Does Coldplay Actually Sound Like?
YouTube video by Actually Sounds Like with Jim Lill
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Lena "Tracer" Oxton, Cadet and Test Pilot Extraordinaire @andrewthewhip.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
I didn’t realize that all that time I was beating up electric glove goons in the Spider Man games I was actually fighting ICE apnews.com/article/ice-...
apnews.com
AP Exclusive: ICE plans to give officers gloves that can deliver painful electric shocks
Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers may soon be outfitted with gloves that can deliver painful electric shocks that are intended to gain compliance from combative individuals.
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Lena "Tracer" Oxton, Cadet and Test Pilot Extraordinaire @andrewthewhip.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
A "turns out!"! backofmind.substack.com/p/chortle-on...
backofmind.substack.com
chortle on a chortle
an underestimated obstacle to infrastructure
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Lena "Tracer" Oxton, Cadet and Test Pilot Extraordinaire @andrewthewhip.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
This (from post.substack.com/p/an-authors...) is a good summation of what I was kinda getting at in this dottxt.substack.com/p/hacks
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Lena "Tracer" Oxton, Cadet and Test Pilot Extraordinaire @andrewthewhip.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
State of the Devs (everything but code edition) survey is out for 2026! survey.devographics.com/en-US/survey...
survey.devographics.com
State of Devs 2026
Take the State of Devs survey
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Lena "Tracer" Oxton, Cadet and Test Pilot Extraordinaire @andrewthewhip.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
Horrifying pitchfork.com/story/brookl...
pitchfork.com
BrooklynVegan, Alt Press Hit With Mass Layoffs
Music publications Revolver and Goldmine have also been gutted by owners Veeps and Live Nation
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Lena "Tracer" Oxton, Cadet and Test Pilot Extraordinaire @andrewthewhip.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
I've been stewing for the last year about moving my theater and restaurant trackers out of Airtable because of their usage limitations and how hard they push the AI nonsense, so this is a great forcing function to actually do that migration! www.reuters.com/legal/transa...
reuters.com
Bending Spoons makes first post-IPO acquisition with $1.3 billion Airtable deal
Bending Spoons has agreed to buy Airtable in an all-cash deal ​valuing the U.S. software firm at $1.285 ‌billion, the companies said on Tuesday, marking the Italian technology company's first acquisit...
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Lena "Tracer" Oxton, Cadet and Test Pilot Extraordinaire @andrewthewhip.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
I like Henry VI.1 now dottxt.substack.com/p/henry-vi1-...
dottxt.substack.com
Henry VI.1 is Good and also actually Important
For God's sake let us sit upon the ground and tell sad tales of the death of kings (yes I know that's Richard II, deal with it 😠)
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Lena "Tracer" Oxton, Cadet and Test Pilot Extraordinaire @andrewthewhip.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
Heartbreaking to hear about Glen Hansard!! 🙁
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Lena "Tracer" Oxton, Cadet and Test Pilot Extraordinaire @andrewthewhip.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
I don’t know what to make about the fact my Letterboxd feed is very mid on Brand New Day and my bluesky feed quite liked it (Nothing, is the answer. I should make nothing of it!)
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Lena "Tracer" Oxton, Cadet and Test Pilot Extraordinaire @andrewthewhip.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
There is something reassuring about seeing Shopify go mask-off and the attendant backlash, in that I have my mental list of "never under any circumstances would I consider working there" companies. Obviously Facebook/Amazon/Palantir on it, Google/Microsoft keep flirting with the line.
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Lena "Tracer" Oxton, Cadet and Test Pilot Extraordinaire @andrewthewhip.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
One hopes if the AI revolution bears any fruit it's the ability for there to be more viable alternatives to Patreon www.patreon.com/jackconte/po...
patreon.com
A Painful Update about our Team | Jack Conte
Hi Creators, I’m making a painful announcement today at Patreon. We’re reducing the size of our team by 20%, or 93 teammates. It’s going to
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Lena "Tracer" Oxton, Cadet and Test Pilot Extraordinaire @andrewthewhip.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
Remember how Amazon likes to pretend that it's radically "customer-centric" www.reuters.com/business/med...
reuters.com
EXCLUSIVE: Amazon's Bezos pushes Prime Video redesign focused on AI
Amazon aims to improve its battered reputation in AI.
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Lena "Tracer" Oxton, Cadet and Test Pilot Extraordinaire @andrewthewhip.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
In a way not dissimilar to cult language, particularly doomsday cults, where every piece of contradictory evidence is recast as in fact evidence of further conspiracy
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Reposted by Lena "Tracer" Oxton, Cadet and Test Pilot Extraordinaire
Charlie Warzel @cwarzel.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
such a good, sad window. these side quest conspiracies are just desperate attempts to protect an alternate reality they've been fed algorithmically. the utter popularity of this film is evidence that they live in a bubble of insanity. so they recruit new "evidence" so as not to confront that truth
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Lena "Tracer" Oxton, Cadet and Test Pilot Extraordinaire @andrewthewhip.bsky.social · 18/07/2026
Saugatuck pros: charming, beachy, walkable, good food. Cons: the occasional old racists lady muttering up a scene in the local drug store. Can’t win ‘em all I guess!
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Lena "Tracer" Oxton, Cadet and Test Pilot Extraordinaire @andrewthewhip.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
This is quite good, and also makes me wonder how/if things shift yet again with the increased prevalence of ads as the primary monetization over subscriptions? toomuchtv.beehiiv.com/p/too-much-t...
toomuchtv.beehiiv.com
Too Much TV: Netflix Isn't A TV Network, It's The Costco Of The Streaming Industry
Also, Is Netflix's approach to PR and marketing hurting the launch of shows going into their second seasons?
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Reposted by Lena "Tracer" Oxton, Cadet and Test Pilot Extraordinaire
nilay patel @reckless.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
The conservative justices are so locked in on overturning Reconstruction they have no choice but to destroy the intellectual foundations of their own movement!
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Lena "Tracer" Oxton, Cadet and Test Pilot Extraordinaire @andrewthewhip.bsky.social · 29/06/2026
....Fascinating! www.theverge.com/tech/958849/...
theverge.com
Comcast is splitting in two
The separation of Comcast and NBCUniversal is expected to take a year, with new CEOs named for both entities.
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