Thorsten Ball @thorstenball.com · 21/01/2026When Gemini 3 came out I said it's the greatest model of all time. I loved it. But it didn't work for others. This week I'm seriously trying GPT-5.2 and already said it might be better than G3. Today, GPT-5.2 let me down and I wonder... am I... the boy who cried GOAT? 8310
Thorsten Ball @thorstenball.com · 21/01/2026lol, but Gastown is now involved with crypto stuff :) 130
Thorsten Ball @thorstenball.com · 21/01/2026I have to admit that my stance on social media is "pinch the top of my nose, don't think too much about it, and keep posting the content I want to see, block and mute everything else" and so far my experience on Twitter has still been good. And I'm very lazy and don't like posting on multiple 020
Thorsten Ball @thorstenball.com · 21/01/2026Oh man, don't get me started on the crypto scam stuff.. 190
Thorsten Ball @thorstenball.com · 21/01/2026Is it safe to mention AI here now or will people call me a dumbass? No snark, genuine question. Main thing on my mind right now is how programming is changing and I love to talk about it. But I don't have the energy to fight over it. 35820
Thorsten Ball @thorstenball.com · 21/01/2026Man, I have to admit that whenever I think about this question I have to pinch the top of my nose. 110
Thorsten Ball @thorstenball.com · 19/07/2025Oh yeah. Wait for that 1 Mile chapter. Or battery park. 000
Thorsten Ball @thorstenball.com · 12/07/2025Arriving with the sound of two thousand angry tambourines, here it is: New issue of Joy & Curiosity! registerspill.thorstenball.com/p/joy-and-cu... 1140
Thorsten Ball @thorstenball.com · 06/07/2025Oh my god, Marty, would you look at that! What is it, Barbara? Are you okay? Marty, it's... it's... two made-up names and... a new issue of Joy & Curiosity! registerspill.thorstenball.com/p/joy-and-cu... 080
Thorsten Ball @thorstenball.com · 28/06/2025Look, look, look! It's back! The two week break is over. A new Joy & Curiosity. Read it here (if you're not subscribed — wow): registerspill.thorstenball.com/p/joy-and-cu... 2120
Thorsten Ball @thorstenball.com · 25/06/2025I wrote about it in the last or second to last newsletter :) 010
Thorsten Ball @thorstenball.com · 21/06/2025Extending the summer break: no newsletter this weekend. 090
Thorsten Ball @thorstenball.com · 13/06/2025CARO: Robert Moses, who replaced corruption in New York City, was worse than corruption for the democratic processes. In the postwar era many forces were coming together to destroy those processes in New York. But he was the most import— THORSTEN, CARO'S FRIEND: fuck him up bob 040
Thorsten Ball @thorstenball.com · 10/06/2025I don't think agents commit that much, but write a lot of code. 80%? 100
Thorsten Ball @thorstenball.com · 10/06/2025Amp now supports subagents. They're very powerful and I wonder whether they will change a lot of things. So I wrote about them: ampcode.com/agents-for-t... 381
Thorsten Ball @thorstenball.com · 08/06/2025Since you like Go: I've found that implementing an agent yourself and playing around with that is the best learning experience ampcode.com/how-to-build...ampcode.comHow to Build an AgentBuilding a fully functional, code-editing agent in less than 400 lines. 171
Thorsten Ball @thorstenball.com · 08/06/2025Drums being drummed on, rattles, cymbals— A group of people shouting hey, hey, hey— Something's falling out of the sky, thrown out of a plane, what is it? The group of people is pointing towards it. "Hey, it's a new Register Spill!" registerspill.thorstenball.com/p/joy-and-cu... 080
Thorsten Ball @thorstenball.com · 03/06/2025Haha, es wurden mir PIN/PUK gegeben damit man auch Online was freischalten kann, aber gleich dazu gesagt: "das müssen sie nicht! sie können den brief erstmal irgendwohin legen" 010
Thorsten Ball @thorstenball.com · 03/06/2025Municipal office in my town let me know that my new personal ID is ready. The Reply-To here translates to: "Please use email from attachment" Welcome to small-town Germany 140
Thorsten Ball @thorstenball.com · 01/06/2025Yesterday I told my wife "you have to watch this" and showed her the Dyson keynote with the PencilVac and the FluffyCones and said stuff like "look! double lasers!" and "haha, no, wait, the best is yet to come" Today I'm wondering whether she looks at me the same. 0130
Thorsten Ball @thorstenball.com · 31/05/2025Wait, what is tha— Someone slipped something under the door. It's... Look, it's a new Register Spill! (Special Saturday Morning Delivery with Special Jujutsu Intro) registerspill.thorstenball.com/p/joy-and-cu... 1172
Thorsten Ball @thorstenball.com · 26/05/2025Small personal update: Heard the idiom “all hat, no cattle” for the first time today and, starting now, I’m going to try to use it as much as possible. 1241
Thorsten Ball @thorstenball.com · 26/05/2025@felixge.de and Mitchell Hashimoto both are convinced by it. I trust their opinions, so I'm taking a look. bsky.app/profile/feli... 030
Thorsten Ball @thorstenball.com · 25/05/2025Someone on LinkedIn took my post on How to Build an Agent, shortened it, removed all the code, simplified, and posted it there, on LinkedIn. If you were to tell me that it's all AI generated — the post itself, the comments, the job titles of the commentators — I'd believe you. 1130
Thorsten Ball @thorstenball.com · 24/05/2025The pleasant hum of a harddrive, the soothing whirring of a dust-covered fan. Suddenly: the sound of the floppy drive ejecting something. A whirr, a click — a snap! That's... that's not a floppy disk? No! It's a new Register Spill! Read it here: registerspill.thorstenball.com/p/joy-and-cu... 2251
Thorsten Ball @thorstenball.com · 24/05/2025they chose to represent abstractions, and yet it's still useful. 110
Thorsten Ball @thorstenball.com · 24/05/2025(I don't think "I don't believe the hype and yet I measure everything up against what the hype said" is useful/practical in general.) I verify the diagrams and I also don't think it's an issue if it's not 100% correct. If a coworker makes a diagram by hand I often also don't agree with how (...) 120