Bubbles
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I am a distributed systems researcher. I mostly read and write about distributed systems and lightweight formal methods. But as my blog definition says, the blog is about "distributed systems broadly defined and other curiosities". The...
A lightweight and protective eyeglass case for the backcountry, with an Amazon alternative available, too. Read More ... Continue reading Gear tip – Zenni eyeware glass case at PMags.com.
I spent time in someone else’s design proposal this week. Nearly all of my comments were questions about boundaries: why the scope stops where it does, and which responsibilities belong in the new layer versus the one already behind it,...
I just watched Orson Welles’ 1952 short ghost movie Return to Glennascaul (silly but gorgeous) and was struck by the phrase “keep in” used of a fire: the narrator meets a couple of women at a crossroads, drives them to their isolated...
There’s some talk today about how agentic coders are balking at Anthropic’s pricing and adopting alternatives. I was reminded of a thought I had in the weeks following Fable’s release: the free lunch was over. When Moore’s Law was in...
There are a few things wrong with the UK so I hear, and dear old Andy Burnham is trying hard to fix some of them. Fair enough. As a partial solution he's created a No10 in the North to go with the ever present No10 in the South. A quick...
This week started with a weight scare. I went shopping for some shorts and realized I don’t even fit into most of them. I knew I’d gained weight over the last few years but it was mostly muscle. Recently though, I realized I gained a lot...
More bus rides. Noticed the stretch of road between Long Reef and Dee Why still being used as a caryard. Intercoms: "Please hold on when standing." "Stay seated, and do not use the stairs while moving". Safety messages, but the intercoms...
I was just finishing reading my charity shop copy of James Ellroy's LA Confidential and deciding it would have to go in the recycling bin (too much racist language) when I realised that the film version was on TV. I watched a tiny bit of...
I’ve been quiet for a couple of months. I enjoyed publishing weeknotes but something had to give a few weeks ago and this was one of the things that got paused. Still not sure if they will return, or I move to more frequent shorter...
Today has been a glorious late summer day, full of beautiful sunlight, warm but not overly hot temperatures, and harvesting...
I have such a hard time writing when I’m going through something. I get too paralyzed with whatever I’m stressing over and I end up wasting my whole day distracting myself with whatever means I have available. No spend was not successful...
The following is lifted directly from Zvi Mowshowitz with only light formatting changes because I think it’s Important, Valuable, and Good. It is also buried deep in a blog post that many people would have neither the time nor...
Show: Star Trek Strange New Worlds S4E5 — "Level-Five Transporter Accident" Aka The one when the crew turns into puppets (you read that correctly). This episode was an improvement over the one where they went to the party planet, and...
Something of a sequel to Part2 - Garway. In around 1170 - The English King, Henry II granted the Knights Templar the rights to a preceptory at Garway. A preceptory being a local administrative centre both for spiritual needs as well as...