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Noel O'Brien

@noelob.bsky.social
26 followers 70 following 40 posts

Software, Music, Woodworking

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Reposted by Noel O'Brien
Andree Toonk @atoonk.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Last weekend I posted about doing 148M packets/sec from Go with DPDK The thing I was really working toward is now out: packetio. One Go API for DPDK, AF_XDP, mlx5 Direct Verbs, and AF_PACKET. Swap the backend, while keeping the packet processing code🤓 github.com/atoonk/packe...
github.com
GitHub - atoonk/packetio
Contribute to atoonk/packetio development by creating an account on GitHub.
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Brad Fitzpatrick @bradfitz.com · 26/08/2026
I can finally talk about this, 3 years later... github.com/tailscale/ta... It's a library + CLI tool that's like netcat, but over Tailscale's data plane without any control plane (no accounts, no dependence on Tailscale the company, all open source) WireGuard + NAT traversal without IP addresses.
github.com
GitHub - tailscale/tailcat: like netcat, but over Tailscale's data plane, without Tailscale's control plane
like netcat, but over Tailscale's data plane, without Tailscale's control plane - tailscale/tailcat
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Jay Stapleton @jaystapleton.ca · 05/08/2026
I like that the Tailscale team let's me be a bit silly sometimes youtu.be/GasFS-qO2Os
youtu.be
Smarter Tailscale Subnet Routing
YouTube video by Tailscale
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Tailscale @tailscale.com · 05/06/2026
🎉
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Mike Muth @mikemuth.bsky.social · 18/04/2026
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Brad Fitzpatrick @bradfitz.com · 09/04/2026
Tailscale has recently "found" two SQLite corruption bugs, now both fixed upstream in sqlite.org/releaselog/3... The first: sqlite.org/wal.html#wal... The second: sqlite.org/staleexpridx... Fun times holding SQLite in unique ways! SQLite folk have been a joy to work with & worth every penny.
sqlite.org
SQLite Release 3.53.0 On 2026-04-09
A complete list of SQLite releases in a single page and a chronology are both also available. A detailed history of every check-in is available at SQLite version control site.
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abadidea @0xabad1dea.infosec.exchange.ap.brid.gy · 02/04/2026
IT'S HAPPENING GITHUB, THE FIRST ENTERPRISE CLOUD SOLUTION TO REACH ZERO NINES RELIABILITY mrshu.github.io/github-statuses #github
uptime graph reading: 95 incidents in last 90 days - 89.91% uptimeclassic meme image: "it's happening" with Ron Paul laser show
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Mar Hicks @histoftech.bsky.social · 01/04/2026
if you think your job sucks, remember the turnspit dog
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Jay Stapleton @jaystapleton.ca · 19/03/2026
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZrAo... My first video on the Tailscale YouTube channel is live! The beginning of a series on advanced subnet routing.
youtube.com
Let Non-Tailscale Devices Access Your Tailnet with this Subnet Router Trick
YouTube video by Tailscale
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apenwarr @apenwarr.ca · 27/01/2026
Coding agents crossed a line this year: they’re useful enough that people are going to use them at work, whether the tooling is ready or not. So... here's some tooling! tailscale.com/blog/apertur...
tailscale.com
Aperture by Tailscale, an AI usage and access tool, now in alpha
Aperture is an AI gateway that doesn't get in the way of developers, and works with most AI tools.
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Pavel @spavel.bsky.social · 18/01/2026
If you're looking for a sign to switch careers: this is the sign.
Wikipedia sections of an article.

1: early life and career as a pirate.
2: archbishop of York.
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Cassidy @cassidoo.co · 17/01/2026
"Once men turned their thinking over to machines in the hope that this would set them free. But that only permitted other men with machines to enslave them." ― Frank Herbert, Dune cassidoo.co/post/good-br...
cassidoo.co
Do not give up your brain
It's tempting to just let tools think for you, but you still need to be able to think for yourself and stay sharp.
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Dermot O'Halloran @practicalreason.net · 12/01/2026
Quality @alexkrokus.bsky.social
A four panel comic by @alexkrokus titled “waking up”

Panel 1: a blue person in distress from waking up. They are lying down bound by rope next to a similarly bound but smiling red person. The blue person thinks “zzz-w-what?! where am i?”

Panel 2: The scene is pulled out to see a recreation of the common trolley problem meme. The track at the top has a pile of little bags of cash with dollar symbols on them. A man in a suit, top hat and monocle stands next to a pile of similar bags next to the switch. The bottom track has alternating red and blue bound people. The blue person from panel one is first. The red person next to them says: “you’re in the trolley problem!”

Panel 3: Shows a closer view of the person at the lever. From off panel the blue person says “I thought I would be the one operating the lever…” 

Panel 4: The red person, still smiling, says to the sweating panicked blue person “no, that’s someone else”.
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Mobius Stripper @mobiusstripper.bsky.social · 23/12/2025
Last Christmas I gave you my heart The very next day Kali ma shakti de
The evil priest from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (no longer the worst Indiana Jones movie!) holding the still-beating heart of the sacrifice.
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Noel O'Brien @noelob.bsky.social · 19/12/2025
I made a thing: a #tailscale extension for #osquery. Now you can use SQL to query different aspects of your Tailnet 🚀 github.com/noelob/tails...
github.com
GitHub - noelob/tailscale-osquery: A Tailscale extension for osquery
A Tailscale extension for osquery. Contribute to noelob/tailscale-osquery development by creating an account on GitHub.
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Balderdash @balderdash.bsky.social · 11/12/2025
Driving a steamroller over somebody is the most sincere form of flattery.
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Kevlin Henney @kevlin.bsky.social · 03/11/2025
New on the blog: Think for Yourself "You're about to commit a chunk of LLM-generated code into your product's codebase. Before you do, however, pause to consider and act on these questions." kevlinhenney.medium.com/think-for-yo...
kevlinhenney.medium.com
Think for Yourself
Understand and improve on LLM-generated code
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Julia Evans @b0rk.jvns.ca · 14/10/2025
TERM wizardzines.com/comics/term/ (from The Secret Rules of the Terminal, out now! wizardzines.com/zines/terminal)

different terminal emulators use different escape codes

terminal emulator 1: if you print out ESC[2J I’ll clear the screen!

terminal emulator 2: for me it’s ESC[HESC[J!
your system has a database called “terminfo” with escape codes in it

how if plays out when you press Ctrl+L to clear the screen:

program, with a little heart over it, thinking:
ah, she wants fo clear the screen! I’ll look up how to do that in the terminfo database…

(on my machine, the database is in /usr/share/terminfo)

program: ESC[HESC[J

terminal emulator, thinking: ok, clearing the screen!
how programs know what terminal you’re using: TERM

your terminal emulator sets the TERM environment variable when it starts

fun fact: terminal emulators often say they’re “xterm-256color” even if they’re not
this can break when SSHing into an old system with a new terminal emulator

(in a VERY annoying way)

happy little stick fiture: I am using ghostty

program, with a little heart over it: NOPE never heard of it
some ways to fix TERM

    install the terminfo file for your terminal emulator on the system
    use a different terminal emulator
    just set TERM=xterm-256color, it’ll often sort of work
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Noel O'Brien @noelob.bsky.social · 02/10/2025
Who washes the washmen? 🤔
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Brian P Hogan @bphogan.com · 01/10/2025
Yesterday I published Issue 45 of my monthly newsletter, and it's about why Markdown might not be the best way to implement content. Read it and subscribe to be the first to read next month's issue. newsletter.bphogan.com/archive/issu…
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Julia Evans @b0rk.jvns.ca · 24/09/2025
stty wizardzines.com/comics/stty/ (from The Secret Rules of the Terminal, out now! wizardzines.com/zines/termin...)
your TTY driver has configuration

you can see how it’s configured by running:

stty -a

for example it print out the current window size!
Ctrl+S

by default, pressing Ctrl+S wi(( freeze your terminal (and Ctrl+Q wi(( unfreeze) I have never wanted this in my life, you can turn it off with stty -ixon (fish turns it off by default)

###fun fact: changing Ctrl+C technically you can use stty to set a different keyboard shortcut for Ctrl+C, (ike “u”

stty intr u

this is extremely chaotic and I can’t imagine a reason that I would ever do this though
programs have to configure the TTY driver to get friendly features

developer: I want arrow keys to work in my program!

other person: better tell the TTY driver to turn off canonical mode! (more on the next page)
the TTY driver’s settings are called “termios settings”

for the gnarly details:

man termios

but if you’re writing a terminal program libraries like readline or ncurses will handle setting up the TTY driver
panel 6

smiling stick figure with short curly hair: I’ve only needed to use stty once in the last 20 years and I mostly don’t understand its output but I think it’s a fun view into terminal internals!
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Gwen C. Katz @gwenckatz.bsky.social · 17/09/2025
The three types of game dev job listings
RESPECTABLE AA STUDIO is hiring 25 different LEAD EXECUTIVE SENIOR C-SUITE DEVELOPERS for EXCITING NEW GAME THAT’S BEEN GETTING LOTS OF BUZZ

Requirements:
-At least two PhDs in game development
-Shipped at least 25 AAA titles as a lead developer
-400 years of experience with Unreal Engine
-Expert in C#, Python, C++, Ruby, Swift, Rust, HTML, CSS, PHP, Perl, SQL, MATLAB, R, QBASIC, COBOL, FORTRAN, Assembly, punch cards, and operating Babbage’s difference engine
-No, we are not fishing for one specific person who coincidentally just left their job at another studio. Why would you think that?
THAT FAMOUS GAME STUDIO is hiring a developer for THAT BELOVED GAME FRANCHISE THAT WAS FORMATIVE TO YOU BECOMING A DEV!

Benefits:
-$150,000/year plus insurance, dental, a retirement plan, and a puppy
-Hang with those famous game devs you saw at that GDC talk 
-We have a ball pit!

Requirements:
-A positive attitude 😊 
-Passionate about our game!
-Willing to learn
-Some basic game dev experience a plus but not required
-Onsite only on Pitcairn Island
A 14-YEAR-OLD WHO DOWNLOADED UNITY YESTERDAY is hiring a developer for I DECIDED TO TURN MY DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS CAMPAIGN INTO A GAME

-so im making this game and i have this rly rly good idea but i never made a game b4 so i need u to do all the engine stuff and the programming and fix the mechanics and do the sound and lighting and shaders and backgrounds, i drew my characters on the back of homework but can u turn them into pixel art for me, i cant pay u but we can do rev share and when this game is a big hit youll make millions of dollars
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Julia Evans @b0rk.jvns.ca · 26/08/2025
job control wizardzines.com/comics/job-c... (from The Secret Rules of the Terminal, which is out now!)
your shell lets you run many programs (“jobs”) in the same terminal tab

programs can either be:

    foreground
    background
    stopped (which is more like “paused”)

& runs a program in the background

for example I like to convert 100 files in parallel like this:

for i in `seq 1 100`
do
   convert $i.png $i.jpg &
done

jobs lists backgrounded & stopped jobs

$ jobs
[1] Running python blah.py &
[2] Stopped vim

use the numbers to bring them to the foreground or background (like fg %2), kill them (kill %2), or disown them
when you close a terminal tab all jobs are killed with a SIGHUP signal

you can stop this with disown or by starting the program with nohup: disown %1 (job number goes here) nohup my_program &
a trick to kill programs if Ctrl+C doesn’t work

    press Ctrl+Z to stop the program
    run kill %1 to kill it (or kill -9 %1 if you’re feeling extra murderous)

a little flowchart

Three boxes, labelled “running in foreground”, “stopped”, and “running in background”

Ctrl+Z goes from “running in foreground” to “stopped” fg goes from “stopped” to “running in foreground” fg goes from “running in background” to “running in foreground” bg goes from “stopped” to “running in background”
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Thomas Spooks 🎃👻💀 @thomasfuchs.at · 25/07/2025
It’s interesting to watch the arms race of LLMs ingesting the whole Internet illegally and countermeasures like this HTML zip bomb ache.one/notes/html_z...
ache.one
A valid HTML zip bomb - ache
<h1 id="a-valid-html-zip-bomb"><a tabindex="0" class="anchor" href="/notes/html_zip_bomb">A valid HTML zip bomb</a></h1><p><img src="/notes/res/zip_bomb_file.svg" alt="Illustration d&#x27;une bombe zi...
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Scott Hanselman 🌮 @scott.hanselman.com · 17/07/2025
I just wanted to say, I’m probably more proud of this Ted talk than just about anything I’ve ever done so I’m gonna be absolutely useless for the next couple of weeks as I promote the shit out of this because I want you to watch it because it matters in the moment we are in youtu.be/dVG8W-0p6vg
youtu.be
Tech Promised Everything. Did it deliver? | Scott Hanselman | TEDxPortland
YouTube video by TEDx Talks
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Scott Hanselman 🌮 @scott.hanselman.com · 12/07/2025
We are back! #C64 www.commodore.net The first official Commodore 64 in over 30 years is here - a faithful recreation of the original motherboard on FPGA hardware. HDMI, WiFi, USB, but compatible with every existing cartridge and peripheral. Not an emulator - a recreation. Same price as my first $299
commodore.net
Home | Commodore
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nixCraft @cyberciti.biz · 08/07/2025
Overleaf is an open-source online real-time collaborative LaTeX editor. Use to create beautiful documentation for your school/college or professional work. You can host it locally. A very handy tool for developers and anyone looking easy to use collaborative LaTeX editor github.com/overleaf/ove...
github.com
GitHub - overleaf/overleaf: A web-based collaborative LaTeX editor
A web-based collaborative LaTeX editor. Contribute to overleaf/overleaf development by creating an account on GitHub.
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nixCraft @cyberciti.biz · 07/07/2025
Systemd manager TUI allows Linux developers and sysadmins to manage systemd services with ease. You can view logs, list services, view properties, and control their lifecycle (start, stop, restart, enable, and disabl) using this tool github.com/matheus-git/...
github.com
GitHub - matheus-git/systemd-manager-tui: A program for managing systemd services through a TUI (Terminal User Interfaces).
A program for managing systemd services through a TUI (Terminal User Interfaces). - matheus-git/systemd-manager-tui
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Cassidy @cassidoo.co · 24/06/2025
Here's a little overview of my app PocketCal, if you haven't tried it yet! pocketcal.com
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Katie Mack @astrokatie.com · 19/06/2025
Chatbots — LLMs — do not know facts and are not designed to be able to accurately answer factual questions. They are designed to find and mimic patterns of words, probabilistically. When they’re “right” it’s because correct things are often written down, so those patterns are frequent. That’s all.
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Simon Willison @simonwillison.net · 16/06/2025
If you use "AI agents" (LLMs calling tools in a loop) you need to be aware of the Lethal Trifecta Combine access to private data, exposure to untrusted content and the ability to externally communicate and an attacker can trick the system into stealing your data simonwillison.net/2025/Jun/16/...
simonwillison.net
The lethal trifecta for AI agents: private data, untrusted content, and external communication
If you are a user of LLM systems that use tools (you can call them “AI agents” if you like) it is critically important that you understand the risk of …
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Emily✨ @emilyoram.bsky.social · 11/06/2025
This is incredible
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Noel O'Brien @noelob.bsky.social · 03/06/2025
Ah, the rare Common Crane 🤭 www.rte.ie/news/ireland...
rte.ie
Rare cranes return to Offaly bog for seventh year
A pair of rare common cranes, which have previously nested at a bog in Co Offaly, have returned for a seventh consecutive year.
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Guillaume Laforge @glaforge.dev · 25/05/2025
It's good to reinvent the wheel sometimes! endler.dev/2025/reinven... Great post by Matthias Endler. It helps understanding how wheels work, how you can fix them when broken, how to make better wheels if really needed, or how to find creative use cases for wheels by thinking outside the box.
endler.dev
Reinvent the Wheel | Matthias Endler
One of the most harmful pieces of advice is to …
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Julia Evans @b0rk.jvns.ca · 23/05/2025
I think I have finally managed to articulate this very fundamental but slightly counterintuitive fact about how shell redirection works
when you redirect, the shell opens the file BEFORE the program starts

sudo echo blah > file.txt

first I'll open file.txt...

THEN I'll run sudo echo blah

this is why file.txt isn't opened as root!
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Julia Evans @b0rk.jvns.ca · 06/05/2025
more terminal fun: canonical mode wizardzines.com/comics/canon...
panel 1: the terminal driver:  an interface that hasn't changed since the 80s

person: “I pressed an arrow key and it just printed out ^[[D???”
terminal driver: “what's an arrow key?"

panel 2: when you're typing text, there are two situations

1. by default: the terminal driver (part of the OS) is responsible

"canonical mode"

2. the program is responsible

“raw mode”

panel 3: "canonical mode" is a terrible way to edit text

because the terminal driver hasn't changed much since the 80s, you can only do:

1. backspace
2. Ctrl+W (delete word)
3. Ctrl+U (delete line)  

panel 4: how canonical mode works

1. you type "helll" + backspace
2. the terminal emulator turns what you typed into bytes
3. the terminal driver passes on "hell" and interprets the backspace
4. the program gets "hello\n"

In canonical mode, terminal driver doesn't send anything to the program until you press Enter.

In raw mode, the terminal driver just sends “hell\xFFo\n” without changing it

panel 5: how to try out canonical mode

Run `cat` and type some stuff!

Interactive programs almost never use canonical mode because it's so limited. 

But if you run into it `rlwrap $COMMAND` can help
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Julia Evans @b0rk.jvns.ca · 29/04/2025
terminal escape codes wizardzines.com/comics/escap...
Panel 1: a program's input and outputs are streams of bytes

everything you type goes into standard input

all the output you see comes from either 
standard output or standard error

your terminal emulator can only communicate with programs by reading/writing bytes

panel 2: some inputs/outputs are text and some are special instructions

in: mouse position, ctrl+left arrow
out: make text green, make cursor invisible

panel 3: these special instructions are called "escape codes"

they're called "escape codes" because they all start with the ESC character

panel 4: example: how colours get set

program: “^[[31m”

Terminal emulator: “ok, I'll make text red from now on!!”

(there are also codes for bold, underline, background colour)

panel 5: programs can easily "break" your terminal by printing escape codes

program: “oops I made your cursor disappear”

It's easy to fix though, run reset to print a special escape code that resets everything

It's easy to fix though, run reset to print a special escape code that resets everything
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Tailscale @tailscale.com · 15/04/2025
🌐 Set up Tailscale? Great start — but app connectors are the secret sauce. Teleport packets, route domain-specific traffic, and pull off IP wizardry 🪄 Check it out 👉 tailscale.com/blog/app-con...
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Scarlet guyette @scarletguyette.bsky.social · 12/04/2025
Morning. Song,,🐦🐦
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His Skeletoncy, the Ghoul of Hell @timhodgson.bsky.social · 02/04/2025
It is 2002. I am 18 years old. We are in a once-in-a-generation economic crisis. It is 2008. I am 24 years old. We are in a once-in-a-generation economic crisis. It is 2020. I am 36 years old. We are in a once-in-a-generation economic crisis. It is 2025. I am 41 years old. We are in a—
image of watchmen's doctor manhattan, a superhero who is entirely blue and nude, sitting on a rock, small in frame, on what is depicted to be a very pink version of the surface of the planet mars. he looks pensive.
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Kent Beck @kentbeck.com · 21/03/2025
Lovely comment on my piece about hand-drawn illustrations: “Keep to a low tech approach to maintain a low barrier to idea flow and capture. Efforts to polish the presentation are better used to polish the idea.”
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Susie Dent @susiedentwords.bsky.social · 18/03/2025
Among the lost positives consigned to the dusty corners of the dictionary is ‘reck’, meaning ‘care’, ‘heed’, and ‘consideration’. Which means we can be reckful instead of reckless (and feckful, gormful, ruthful, ept, kempt, couth, consolate, and many more).
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cakejumper 🍰🦊 @cakejumper.ie · 17/03/2025
Má tá suim agat sa Ghaelainn, fíorchultúr traidisiúnta, agus/nó ealaíon den scoth, féachaigí anseo ar obair Ciaraíoch! If ye're interested in Irish, real traditional culture, and/or excellent art, check out Ciaraíoch's work!
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Dermot O'Halloran @practicalreason.net · 11/03/2025
"I think once you live that kind of moment, everything else can only be boring and tasteless" www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
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Mika McKinnon @mikamckinnon.bsky.social · 08/03/2025
Apparently this needs to be very, very clear: Canadians are polite, not stupid. Tesla reported 8,600 sales in 3 days, claiming $43 million in rebates. A single Toronto dealership listed 1,200 sales in a DAY. 🙄 www.ctvnews.ca/video/2025/0... The lies aren’t even plausible.
ctvnews.ca
CTV National News: A suspicious spike in Tesla sales in Canada
There was a suspicious spike in Tesla sales in Canada ahead of the deadline for a federal rebate program for EVs. Adrian Ghobrial investigates.
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Corey Quinn @quinnypig.com · 06/03/2025
Reminder: if you haven’t yet read “The Mythical Man Month,” buy two copies so you can read it faster.
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Dr. Kay Daly, she/her 📚💙 @kaydaly.bsky.social · 03/03/2025
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LaurieWired @lauriewired.bsky.social · 24/02/2025
In unicode, you can change a letter between upper and lowercase by XORing with 0x20.

 What does a lowercase emoji look like? 
Fire turns Dim
 Happy becomes Angry
 Car becomes “No pedestrians”
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ading.dev @ading.dev · 31/01/2025
I got Linux running in a PDF file using a RISC-V emulator. PDFs support Javascript, so Emscripten is used to compile the TinyEMU emulator to asm.js, which runs in the PDF. It boots in about 30 seconds and emulates a riscv32 buildroot system. linux.doompdf.dev/linux.pdf github.com/ading2210/li...
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