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WriterOfMinds (she) @writerofminds.sigmoid.social.ap.brid.gy · 29/09/2026

This month's AI topic is nested narratives - more common than you might think, not just a literary device! writerofminds.blogspot.com/2026/09/… #AI #ArtificialIntelligence #SymbolicAI #NLP #chatbots

A set of Matryoshka dolls from Hungary. There are six dolls; they have cream-colored bodies with red flowers painted on them, deep red head-scarves, and carrot-colored hair. The largest doll wears an open-mouthed smile; the next two down are pursing their lips and blushing.

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WriterOfMinds (she) @writerofminds.sigmoid.social.ap.brid.gy · 19/09/2026

LEG. Still needs the hydraulics and springs installed. Two powered joints and passive ankle. #robotics

An arthropod sort of leg (3d-printed plastic joined with thin wire) attached to a flat body piece and resting in a neutral position on a coffee table. There's only one leg, so the body is supported on a tissue box and weighted down with a drinking cup that has a picture of the Endurance moon lander on it. The leg angles up to a "knee" joint and then back down to a flat round foot.

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WriterOfMinds (she) @writerofminds.sigmoid.social.ap.brid.gy · 19/09/2026

Fun with yard work: a branch half-broke off my tree and was dangling in front of my/the neighbor's mailboxes. Today I fulfilled my public responsibility to remove it. Too wimpy to pull it loose, I resorted to the "use your own body weight" trick - I jumped and hung from it. Success! ... except I […]

sigmoid.social

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WriterOfMinds (she) @writerofminds.sigmoid.social.ap.brid.gy · 14/09/2026

I don't like the amount of play (out-of-plane rotation) in the homemade bearing, but it'll be fine until it's not. It does feel like it'll still be able to turn under weight, which is what it needs to do. #robotics #3dPrinting

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WriterOfMinds (she) @writerofminds.sigmoid.social.ap.brid.gy · 13/09/2026

Random rant: it annoys me when nerdy activities/organizations feel the need to apologize for themselves by touting benefits outside their central mission. E.g. FIRST claiming to be "more than robots" or SETI using the "more than just aliens" tagline. It is FINE for FIRST to be about robots and […]

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WriterOfMinds (she) @writerofminds.sigmoid.social.ap.brid.gy · 02/09/2026

First print of spider body came out pretty well. There's a hint of warping at the base of the leg joint that sticks out, but not enough to ruin it. #3dPrinting #robotics

A 3d printer in the act of printing a large flat white object with very low infill percentage.

The finished object, a flat panel with some raised elements and holes.

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WriterOfMinds (she) @writerofminds.sigmoid.social.ap.brid.gy · 29/08/2026

@bookshelfie.bsky.social And what are the books going to inspire and enable those children to do? Maybe get a nice STEM career and join the space race? It's what happened to me. The billionaire-run space companies *already* participate in supporting education because they know it's creating […]

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WriterOfMinds (she) @writerofminds.sigmoid.social.ap.brid.gy · 16/08/2026

It is my honor to announce that I'm officially published in Analog - "Roots' Remembrance" is OUT in the September/October issue! For more about this story and how to read it: writerofminds.blogspot.com/2026/08/…

Photo of a "red cage fungus," which looks much like its name, on a backdrop of leaf litter.

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Sam Levine @srlevine.neuromatch.social.ap.brid.gy · 13/08/2026

Does anyone in my reach on here have/use a "solder paste mixer"? There seems to be some relatively inexpensive options as planetary mixers go and I'd some information about "this one is good/this one is bad/it makes a loud racket/it heats up a lot". I'm not actually going to be using it for […]

neuromatch.social

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WriterOfMinds (she) @writerofminds.sigmoid.social.ap.brid.gy · 09/08/2026

Looking a bit more fleshed-out ... Now, can I pull off the build? #robotics #3dPrinting #hydraulics

A 3D model of a robot platform. There's a pump in the middle, two fluid tanks, and a little "house" to hold battery packs. Stubs of eight legs surround the edges, sticking up from the platform.

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WriterOfMinds (she) @writerofminds.sigmoid.social.ap.brid.gy · 26/07/2026

I've been helping Acuitas remember internal states he's "experienced" and talk about them in conversations. writerofminds.blogspot.com/2026/07/… #AI #ArtificialIntelligence #chatbots #SymbolicAI

A question mark formed by a "word cloud" of phrases and symbols. Some of the most prominent words are "I am," "here," "being," and "now." Prominent symbols include the Earth, a spiral, and various depictions of weather.

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WriterOfMinds (she) @writerofminds.sigmoid.social.ap.brid.gy · 14/07/2026

Plans and progress toward a walker robot that will use all that hydraulics work I've been doing! writerofminds.blogspot.com/2026/07/… #robotics #3DPrinting #hydraulics

A 3D model of a little spinning "joint" attached to the base of a "leg," only one section of which is visible. There's a valve stem sticking out of part of the joint.

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WriterOfMinds (she) @writerofminds.sigmoid.social.ap.brid.gy · 28/06/2026

More cleanup and polishing in this month's Acuitas diary. I added the last features to the new Episodic Memory, and worked on (but couldn't quite finish) rule-following in the Game Engine […] [Original post on sigmoid.social]

A large classical building with a stylized American flag hanging between the columns of the front portico's colonnade. Broad stairs with several people on them lead up to the portico. In the foreground a city street with trees and five parked cars is visible.

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WriterOfMinds (she) @writerofminds.sigmoid.social.ap.brid.gy · 15/06/2026

Updates on the quadruped robot: writerofminds.blogspot.com/2026/06/… I am about ready for final assembly and a proper test of the new motors, though that will have to wait until <gestures vaguely>. #robot #robotics #3dPrinting

A 3D model of part of a robot, showing four gearboxes stacked together with a "shoulder joint" connected to one side and a "spine" joined into the center.

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WriterOfMinds (she) @writerofminds.sigmoid.social.ap.brid.gy · 28/05/2026

Lots of miscellaneous improvements this month - I went back to *actually finish* new Acuitas features I started earlier this year! writerofminds.blogspot.com/2026/05/… #AI #ArtificialIntelligence #NPL #SymbolicAI #chatbot

Standard logic gate symbols laid out as if they were circuit components, with traces running between them as if on a PCB, such that they form a stylized tree. Black-and-white art, ink on paper.

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WriterOfMinds (she) @writerofminds.sigmoid.social.ap.brid.gy · 24/05/2026

Weird to be in the middle of a long holiday weekend and almost not want it. I want to go back to work.

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WriterOfMinds (she) @writerofminds.sigmoid.social.ap.brid.gy · 16/05/2026

Haha (the circle is a motion detection target).

A camera feed of a messy living room. A tuxedo cat is sprawling in the middle of the scene, surrounded by various toys. A blue circle has been drawn around the end of the cat's tail.

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WriterOfMinds (she) @writerofminds.sigmoid.social.ap.brid.gy · 02/05/2026

Trying out my new I2C-equipped solenoid drivers and ADCs I got for the hydraulic robot. I am ready to control a bajillion valves ... #robotics #hydraulics

A bunch of electronics laid out on the floor of a medium-size cardboard box. There are a Raspberry Pi, there peripheral boards, three little solenoid valves, and two battery packs (one connected to the Pi and the other awkwardly alligator-clipped to some of the other boards).

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WriterOfMinds (she) @writerofminds.sigmoid.social.ap.brid.gy · 29/04/2026

Who's moving jobs to Blue Origin and is over the moon about it? It's me! I start May 18.

A dark-blue starfield with a bit of nebula catching the light in places, and a cutout of a white feather superimposed on it.

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WriterOfMinds (she) @writerofminds.sigmoid.social.ap.brid.gy · 28/04/2026

@Robotistry @pluralistic But I thought that was the whole point. Maybe some people read "Ender's Game" as a teenage power fantasy, but that doesn't strike me as the way it was intended to be read. It's a cautionary tale about an excessively militarized society and how it abuses children. The […]

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WriterOfMinds (she) @writerofminds.sigmoid.social.ap.brid.gy · 27/04/2026

A friend of mine is developing this slick little space trader sim MMO that you can play in your browser: everestdrive.io I think you can even invite friends to be on your ship and run some of the stations. This is an early access game; there's a Discord for bug reports. #VideoGames

everestdrive.io

Everest Drive

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WriterOfMinds (she) @writerofminds.sigmoid.social.ap.brid.gy · 26/04/2026

I worked on improving Acuitas' trial-and-error learning algorithms this month, so he can get better at playing "guess my rule" games: writerofminds.blogspot.com/2026/04/… #AI #ArtificialIntelligence #chatbots #NLP #SymbolicAI

Photo of a board game called Azul. An assortment of colorful square tiles are laid out on a five-by-five grid in the game tray. The rest of the tray has diagrams and empty squares that might be places to put additional tiles.

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WriterOfMinds (she) @writerofminds.sigmoid.social.ap.brid.gy · 24/04/2026

Looking good! The printed inlets look better since I 1) improved bed leveling, 2) randomized the Z seam, and 3) changed the model to thicken the flange and increase both the inner and outer diameter of the tube.

A black plastic water bladder swollen with water, attached by its inlet valve to a tube leading to a syringe.

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WriterOfMinds (she) @writerofminds.sigmoid.social.ap.brid.gy · 23/04/2026

I tried SO hard to buy HDPE filament, but it seems not to be available anywhere for a non-ridiculous price. I almost ordered some from Portugal, until the seller told me they had to use an exorbitant shipping method due to the tariffs. Thanks loads, You-Know-Who. HDPE and PP are both […]

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WriterOfMinds (she) @writerofminds.sigmoid.social.ap.brid.gy · 23/04/2026

Success #2: I do seem to be able to heat-fuse 3D-printed polypropylene with my polyethylene film. Despite being technically different materials, these are a lot more willing to be friends than PLA and PE. #robotics #hydraulics

Closeup of someone's fingers flexing two flat pieces of plastic (a little square of film and the underside of a valve stem) in a way that shows they're stuck together.

A sheet of plastic film with a valve stem sticking up from a little hole cut in the center. The top surface of the film around the stem bears the scars of melting.

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Robotistry @robotistry.fediscience.org.ap.brid.gy · 22/04/2026

My Verification of Autonomous Systems book is finally out! In addition to contributed chapters on theoretical and practical aspects of verifying autonomy*, the editors contributed an introduction on stakeholder perspectives and a chapter on the specific challenges autonomy introduces to […]

fediscience.org

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WriterOfMinds (she) @writerofminds.sigmoid.social.ap.brid.gy · 21/04/2026

First try sealing polyethylene film to a polyethylene tube, and it worked out! Besides matching materials, I needed pressure - the heat gun alone won't do it. Had to use the soldering iron behind aluminum foil. #robotics #hydraulics

The bottom of a translucent tube flared into a puddle of plastic and stuck to the underside of a piece of black plastic film.

The tube poking up through the top side of the black plastic film. The film is visibly distorted and tattered by melting.

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WriterOfMinds (she) @writerofminds.sigmoid.social.ap.brid.gy · 18/04/2026

It's too bad I'm missing RMRRF this year, but unrelated business (that I can't disclose yet) has been sucking up too much of my time and energy. I'm not up for a day-trip to Loveland this time around. Whoever's tabling or attending, have fun!

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WriterOfMinds (she) @writerofminds.sigmoid.social.ap.brid.gy · 12/04/2026

The result is touching awkward loyalty, a lot of teenage banter that mostly stays fun rather than mean, and quiet frustration and indecision on the narrator's part, until the climax when their relationship blows up spectacularly. That end was something of a sour note; the epic plot arc resolves […]

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WriterOfMinds (she) @writerofminds.sigmoid.social.ap.brid.gy · 12/04/2026

The fact a big spoiler comes so early illustrates how unexpected and good this book is. The narrator has an interesting dynamic with the other main char, given the odd mix of adoration and jealousy he feels. She's been his only friend from a young age, he's falling in love with her, but she's […]

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WriterOfMinds (she) @writerofminds.sigmoid.social.ap.brid.gy · 12/04/2026

The setting incorporates public-domain Lovecraft, but only references it lightly while building out its own ideas. Notably, the Horrors portrayed here are 1) straight-up evil, not just amoral and 2) not above being punched to death with conventional weapons. The "super-genius" character seemed […]

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WriterOfMinds (she) @writerofminds.sigmoid.social.ap.brid.gy · 12/04/2026

Read: "Beneath the Rising" (Premee Mohamed). This was fantastic. It's the first good modern treatment of cosmic horror that I've read, and definitely my favorite of the books by new-to-me authors that I picked up to try recently. The pacing is excellent; the […] [Original post on sigmoid.social]

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WriterOfMinds (she) @writerofminds.sigmoid.social.ap.brid.gy · 10/04/2026

Shout-out to this ancient (I think it's 50+ years old) soil test kit I inherited from my dad's junk collection. All the reagents still worked. I'm a little low on nitrogen and probably more alkaline than a lot of plants prefer, but the garden is in good shape otherwise.

A metal toolbox with a bunch of reagent bottles, funnels, test tubes, and other bits loaded into it. The paper on the inside of the lid says "The sure way to a BETTER GARDEN: Sudbury Soil Test. Tender, delicious VEGETABLES ... and more of them." Similar advertising copy is partly hidden behind an instruction booklet titled "How to increase crop yield and improve quality by soil testing."

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WriterOfMinds (she) @writerofminds.sigmoid.social.ap.brid.gy · 10/04/2026

The year's indoor potato starts, before I put them out. I also planted some straight outdoors, so this year the two groups can race. #gardening #plants

A bunch of potatoes in those little plastic pots that new plants come in, sitting on a rug in front of a sliding glass door. There is also a sleeping tricolor tabby cat stretched out on another rug just behind them.

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WriterOfMinds (she) @writerofminds.sigmoid.social.ap.brid.gy · 02/04/2026

Atronach's (second) eye, without wiring. Building up the first one gradually left me without an appreciation of how much tedious effort goes into assembling one of these. Not sure if I can really do anything about that in future iterations or not. #robotics #3dprinting

A 3d-printed "eyeball" with a camera in the center, inside a shroud in which it can rotate. The shroud is mounted inside a larger case that holds the motors and several circuit boards.

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