iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Ted @desfontain.es · 28/09/2026

Raaaah non ma belle pâte de fruits 😵

Une belle pâte de fruits rectangulaire avec une empreinte de patte de chat sur le côté et une partie griffée

Ted @desfontain.es · 25/09/2026

RE: hachyderm.io/@tedted/11732611961325… Congratulations to the two people who guessed "something else". The right answer is MinInt64, or -9223372036854775808, because why wouldn't you cast the largest possible floating-point value into the smallest possible integer one?

hachyderm.io

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Ted @desfontain.es · 10/09/2026

Super fun position from a blitz game tonight. I played Bxh3, my opponent resigned. Two puzzles in one: 1. Instead of resigning, how can White gain an advantage after Bxh3? 2. What should I have played instead?

A chess board with the position after 16. h3 in this game: https://lichess.org/dgxJJrXU/black

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Ted @desfontain.es · 09/09/2026

Shoyu just came on my lap while I was working, looked up at me with his adorable eyes, then sneezed directly in my face and left.

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Ted @desfontain.es · 07/09/2026

I made a poor decision and decided to wade into AI discourse: here's a ✨ new blog post ✨ about how LLMs impact the kind of privacy work I do. I tried to make it nuanced and somewhat novel in what it discusses. Let me know what you think? ➡️ desfontain.es/blog/llms-for-privacy…

desfontain.es

Observations on LLMs for privacy work - Ted is writing things

Some miscellaneous thoughts on what LLMs are changing in my field.

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Ted @desfontain.es · 03/09/2026

Despair! Lost innocence! Paradise, gone forever! The kittens have learned to jump on the kitchen counter.

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Ted @desfontain.es · 02/09/2026

Scientific review PSA: If you put in your AI disclosure that you used AI for "editing", but your paper abstract reads like it was entirely LLM-generated, I'm going to assume that either you're lying, or you don't know what editing means. Both are bad news for your paper's chances.

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Ted @desfontain.es · 01/09/2026

Pretty proud of this: I helped Transluce publish MHUsage, a differentially private synthetic dataset of binary vectors describing conversations between LLMs and users experiencing a mental health crisis. The goal is to help future research use more realistic simulations. (Links below.)

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Ted @desfontain.es · 30/08/2026

I think Miso likes me

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Ted @desfontain.es · 27/08/2026

Bonsoir, je vous prie d'admirer ma tarte aux prunes.

Une tarte aux prunes joliment symétrique, avec trois cercles concentriques de quartiers de prunes côté peau en bas, sur un lit de confiture, et une pâte brisée visiblement artisanale.

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Ted @desfontain.es · 24/08/2026

damn google, that's a very sad image to put front and center when someone searches for a country 😐

a screenshot of google search results when looking up "turkmenistan". the first image shown is a row of old, boring residential buildings, under a grey cloudy sky, behind a row of leafless trees

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Ted @desfontain.es · 23/08/2026

hands down the funniest interview I've read in a long while www.cbc.ca/radio/asithappens/b-c-sw…

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Ted @desfontain.es · 19/08/2026

RE: mastodon.social/@macmade/1171217366… This post made me realize that the red dots I saw around the sun when looking at it with binoculars during totality were solar flares 🤩

mastodon.social

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Ted @desfontain.es · 18/08/2026

An Apache-licensed project I'm working on has copyright notices on all its source files, referencing the company that originally developed the project. This company is now defunct. Is there any reason not to remove the copyright notices?

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Ted @desfontain.es · 17/08/2026

RE: hachyderm.io/@tedted/11711159075199… The follow-up article to this is also worth a read. Come for the pretty birds, stay for the math and the philosophy of ranking moultano.wordpress.com/2026/08/14/f…

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Ted @desfontain.es · 13/08/2026

The long drive to Spain was so worth it 💛 Pictures really don't do this justice, but here are some anyway. (Second picture from Javier Belver/EFE.)

A picture of the sunset which is also a partial solar eclipse, seen from the old Roman stone bridge of Zaragoza, with a beautiful view on the Lady of the Pillar basilica and the Ebro river

A view of the total solar eclipse seen between pillars of the Lady of the Pillar basilica on Zaragoza, Spain. Photo by Javier Belver/EFE

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Ted @desfontain.es · 05/08/2026

How am I supposed to get any work done in these conditions

A kitten happily lying in a paper box. All four paws are up, he fits very snuggly, his eyes are closed, his expression is pure bliss

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Ted @desfontain.es · 28/07/2026

guess who zoomed through a paper bag, ripped the handle, and got stuck with it around his neck for a solid half-hour afterwards #catsofmastodon

A black and white kitten with the ripped handle of a brown paper bag stuck around his neck. He looks a little confused about what's going on.

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Ted @desfontain.es · 27/07/2026

Absolute joy — I'm collaborating on a whitepaper with a client and they use @typst 🌈

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Ted @desfontain.es · 23/07/2026

Au cas où ça puisse aider quelqu'un à gagner 30 secondes : rentrer deux noms de ville dans le champ unique de SNCF-Connect est correctement interprété (e.g. "Lyon Paris" est bien transformé en "trains de Lyon vers Paris").

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Ted @desfontain.es · 16/07/2026

Over the past year, I've had the honor to work with the European Commission to help them understand Google's (terrible) approach to sharing anonymised search data with competitors under the Digital Markets Act, and design an alternative solution that preserves more utility. [1/3]

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Ted @desfontain.es · 16/07/2026

Extremely agree with these points from Edwige Cyffers about large privacy budgets in DP

A picture of Edwige Cyffers presenting a slide. It reads: Danger of Banning Large epsilon

→ When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure Goodhart's Law
- Label DP. If the features enable non-trivial prediction, what are we doing?
- Public-private learning. Public data is often contaminated by the private data.
- Adoption risk. Overly rigid norms can push practitioners toward non-DP privacy wash

Practical questions

What is counted, over what horizon, for which task, and against which alternative? Privacy budget interpretation also benefits from contextual integrity

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Ted @desfontain.es · 13/07/2026

he's not sure what he's been busted for, but he's definitely been busted

a kitten on its back under a black couch, paws on the bottom part of the couch, looking straight at the camera like "oops you caught me"

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Ted @desfontain.es · 08/07/2026

Je découvre l'astuce de mettre plusieurs ingrédients ayant la même base dans un gâteau pour rendre les saveurs plus complexes et enthousiasmantes 👀 Exemple dans cette nouvelle recette : gâteau coco, coco, et coco 🥥 desfontain.es/recettes/gateau-coco.…

desfontain.es

Gâteau coco, coco et coco - Les bonnes recettes de Ted

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Ted @desfontain.es · 08/07/2026

we've started exploring the world with Shoyu #catsofmastodon

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Ted @desfontain.es · 08/07/2026

Today is the one-year anniversary of Hiding Nemo, my independent consultancy 🎉 I wrote a blog post about how it's been going so far (tl;dr: pretty good!) ️➡️ desfontain.es/blog/one-year-hiding-… ✨

desfontain.es

One year of Hiding Nemo - Ted is writing things

Taking stock after one year doing independent consulting on privacy-enhancing technology.

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Ted @desfontain.es · 05/07/2026

One skill I do not have yet: making cake icing that looks pretty. How do y'all do it?

A square light brown cake with white icing on top. It looks vaguely geometric, but not very good overall.

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Ted @desfontain.es · 05/07/2026

Information importante : la citronnelle fraîche ça change absolument tout. Hop une recette de poulet super simple, rapide, et absurdement délicieuse 🤤 desfontain.es/recettes/poulet-a-la-…

desfontain.es

Poulet à la citronnelle - Les bonnes recettes de Ted

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Ted @desfontain.es · 04/07/2026

After 2 weeks of unsuccessfully searching for my lost crochet bag, I've bitten the bullet and bought new yarn & needles, and restarted the project I had already poured dozens of hours into. Press F

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Ted @desfontain.es · 30/06/2026

Il fait chaud, voici donc une version moderne de tarte au citron, fraîche et acidulée et enthousiasmante 🍋 desfontain.es/recettes/tarte-au-cit…

desfontain.es

Tarte au citron (moderne) - Les bonnes recettes de Ted

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Ted @desfontain.es · 29/06/2026

i don't know if they're more cute when they're playing or when they're sleepy #cats

a white & tabby kitten lying on his back on a grey couch, surrounded by orange pillows. his mouth is fully open, in the middle of a biiig yawn

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Ted @desfontain.es · 22/06/2026

So, I just adopted these two little criminals. Say hello to Miso & Shoyu! And prepare yourselves for way too many kitten pictures in the coming months 👀

two 2-month kittens sitting on a bathroom mat. they both have a white belly, the left one has a brown back and patches of brown around the eyes while the right one has a black black and a patch of black around one eye

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Ted @desfontain.es · 13/06/2026

Huh. Hacker News #1. I think that's a first!

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Ted @desfontain.es · 11/06/2026

Par ailleurs si les flux RSS c'est pas votre truc mais que vous voulez facilement voir quelles recettes j'ai publié sur mon site depuis votre dernière visite, j'ai ajouté une page qui les liste par ordre chronologique : desfontain.es/recettes/archives.html ✨

desfontain.es

Les bonnes recettes de Ted (triées par date)

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Ted @desfontain.es · 11/06/2026

Un peu plus d'amour printanier sous la forme de haricots à la mode de Sichuan qui picotent et chatouillent tes papilles : desfontain.es/recettes/haricots-ver…

desfontain.es

Haricots verts grillés sichuanais - Les bonnes recettes de Ted

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Ted @desfontain.es · 11/06/2026

Une nouvelle recette printanière, facile et fort sympathique avant que l'été soit là pour de bon: desfontain.es/recettes/salade-patat…

desfontain.es

Salade de patates, asperges, et lentilles - Les bonnes recettes de Ted

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Ted @desfontain.es · 06/06/2026

Mapo tofu, fait hier soir, une vraie tuerie (un peu trop épicée pour certains convives, mais ça se corrige). Nécessite un wok et plusieurs ingrédients asiatiques un peu obscurs, mais le jeu en vaut carrément la chandelle 🤤 desfontain.es/recettes/mapo-tofu.ht…

desfontain.es

Mapo tofu - Les bonnes recettes de Ted

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Ted @desfontain.es · 03/06/2026

Je commence à me sentir à l'aise avec la cuisine au wok ✨ Deux recettes qui sont devenues des classiques chez moi : nouilles udon sautées aux champignons, et riz frit au kimchi 🤤 desfontain.es/recettes/nouilles-udo… […]

hachyderm.io

Original post on hachyderm.io

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Ted @desfontain.es · 02/06/2026

Well, tonight may have been a once-in-a-lifetime blitz chess session. 15 victories in a row! I think my previous record was 10 or 11 😮

A cropped screenshot of the Lichess UI (in french), indicating 15 successive victories on June 2nd, 2026

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Ted @desfontain.es · 27/05/2026

I commissionned a new logo for my consultancy ✨ Done by Taylor Joy from invisiblecity.online. I loved working with her and would recommend her in a heartbeat 🧡

A stylized coral in orange and bordeaux, along with the name "Hiding Nemo" in all caps, where "Hiding" is in bolder font.

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Ted @desfontain.es · 22/05/2026

current status (warning: loud)

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Ted @desfontain.es · 21/05/2026

Fourth #crochet project: a Sophie's scarf! I learned that spending hours doing single crochet on 4mm yarn is not my favorite thing 🙃 I also learned how to block a finished piece, and that was kind of scary but pretty magical ✨

A Sophie's scarf, crocheted using a variegated yarn that goes from a warm orange to a soft grey. It's folded in four, and shown on top of a darker grey couch.

A selfie of the author, wearing the Sophie's scarf and displaying a wide smile.

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Ted @desfontain.es · 18/05/2026

✨ New guest blog post ✨ by Bogdan Kulynych on how to report differential privacy guarantees for ML deployments, explaining the relationship between DP definitions and attacker success along the way: desfontain.es/blog/reporting-privac… 🌈

desfontain.es

Guest post: Goodbye (ε,δ), hello μ! Reporting privacy guarantees in machine learning - Ted is writing things

Why is Gaussian DP a much better compact representation of privacy guarantees than (ε,δ)-DP.

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Ted @desfontain.es · 16/05/2026

first amigurumi project: this little cat #crochet #amigurumi

a tiny little blue crochet plush toy in the form of a stylized cat head with a tail behind, with black eyes, nose, and stripes on the sides

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Ted @desfontain.es · 15/05/2026

my spring rolls didn't look like what I envisioned, but my vietnamese friend said they were just as good as the ones her mom makes, so I'm just going to ride that high for the next 2-3 weeks

a plate of fried spring rolls on salad leaves

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Ted @desfontain.es · 12/05/2026

L'été approche à grands pas, c'est donc le bon moment pour essayer de nouvelles recettes de sorbets 👀 Par exemple, avec du chocolat noir 🤤🍫 desfontain.es/recettes/sorbet-au-ch…

desfontain.es

Sorbet au chocolat noir - Les bonnes recettes de Ted

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Ted @desfontain.es · 09/05/2026

Les élections consulaires sont dans 3 semaines. J'ai reçu 24 mails indésirables de la part de candidates et partis politiques (dont 8 d'Ensemble!), et zéro communication officielle sur le sujet.

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