Ben Zanin

Robertson screwdriver owner, believer in the value of personal-scale computing and skeptic of the value of computing scales any larger than that

(previously https://twitter.com/gnomon ; account de-funked)

Small hacks: https://git.sr.ht/~gnomon/

Public Key

npub12c2un6cf5j7e75mzxv5cjnyyuc8sek2asyd0h0v8j83fxzke60lqcdtlg9

NIP-05 Address

gnomon@mastodon-social.mostr.pub

Profile Code

nprofile1qqs9v9wfavy6f0vl2d3rx2vffjzwvrcvm9wczxhmhkrerc5nptva8lspz3mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuerpd46hxtnfduqs6amnwvaz7tmwdaejumr0dskm5pc5

Publishing to

relay.damus.io

nos.lol

Author Public Key

npub12c2un6cf5j7e75mzxv5cjnyyuc8sek2asyd0h0v8j83fxzke60lqcdtlg9

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Last Notes

2026-05-21 11:25:38 UTC

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@nprofile…ynd9 ANGINE DE POITRINE

2026-04-30 00:09:15 UTC

Bringing back one of the classics:
https://web.archive.org/web/20191112013426/https://twitter.com/meakoopa/status/1194062297284648960
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/116/490/742/820/757/447/original/976031d8b0e38e99.jpeg

2026-04-14 01:10:16 UTC

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@nprofile…u8z9 the really simple ones don't, but high-power LiIon batteries need thermal protection to shut down the driver before LEDs burn out or batteries enter thermal runaway! And LiIon batteries also experience chemical degradation when drawn upon past a certain voltage floor so good flashlight drivers offer low-voltage shutoff protection too. And if you already have a microcontroller doing that monitoring, well, you might as well implement variable brightness...
https://github.com/ToyKeeper/anduril/blob/trunk/docs/anduril-manual.md

2026-04-14 00:28:55 UTC

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@nprofile…u8z9 oh jeez it's not a short list
- open source LED flashlight firmware
- folding bicycles
- mechanical keyboard designs
- music metadata tagging strategies and trade-offs
- pneumatic, mechanical, and other non-electric espresso makers
- mechanical side-release buckles
- scripting under POSIX sh, Bourne, and ksh93
- battery chemistry types

2026-04-12 04:31:57 UTC

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Of course you can aim higher. It doesn't feel like the glory days of early computerization where a week in the server closet can change the world, but there are still a million ways we can make things work better in the large and in the small.
But you can do a lot of good by doing the basics really well. People will thank you for it, sincerely, because it's more than many folks contribute. You can set a good example, you can hold out a helping hand; you can prove it's not a zero-sum game.

2026-04-12 04:28:16 UTC

If all you do in your tech career is:
1. When something is slow, you look carefully at the output of a profiler or a query plan & make measured suggestions about what to improve;
2. When something breaks badly, you gently but insistently ask what & why until you truly know, then the next time similar work is needed you bring up how to avoid doing what broke last time; and
3. When someone lacks info, you make them feel good for learning instead of bad for not knowing;
You will do good work.

2026-03-28 04:53:32 UTC

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@nprofile…d2v0 @nprofile…k2kz @nprofile…6r9q A3: I thought I could be clever with a Zello account, a handlebar Bluetooth push-to-talk button (Pryme BT-PTT-ZU), bone conduction headphones to maintain peripheral awareness (Shokz), and a motorcycle throat mic (iAsus GP3-R) to take wind noise out of the picture.
It works perfectly.
Absolutely no other human on earth can be convinced to rig up / wear this setup so it is useless.
#BikeNite

2026-03-25 13:51:15 UTC

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@nprofile…u8z9 ooooof
Looks a lot like one of those "business / IT / management" illustrations where three interlocking gears make it impossible for anything to rotate

2026-03-24 12:17:31 UTC

I have a feeling, not yet filtered into reasonable thoughts & distilled into a proper argument, that the next phase of free software should focus on..:
1. software written by people (as opposed to businesses or their LLM pseudopods),
2. for people (as opposed to "customers" or other businesses),
3. using participatory processes (as opposed to projects like Android that accept no contributions, or have closed bug trackers or mailing lists),
4. emphasizing users learning & changing core code.

2026-02-26 03:31:43 UTC

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@nprofile…gu7x @nprofile…3qha in all seriousness I feel like this is unfair to shadow IT.
Most shadow IT exists due to (perceived) necessity and a (perceived) inability to tap into necessary services through existing org structures. It's usually built with good intentions to solve real problems by people whose job does not include knowing better.
Agentic AI-based services are almost all being built by people whose job *does* include knowing better. They should.

2026-02-04 02:25:04 UTC

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@nprofile…u76z wait! Heck! Was I day early??

2026-01-09 20:18:20 UTC

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@nprofile…ds0l don't dolphins have horizontal tails, not vertical?

2025-12-03 03:39:02 UTC

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@nprofile…jnxp the vagen biking bable

2025-11-27 19:13:50 UTC

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@nprofile…dcm7 mould management will become your entire personality

2025-10-26 01:27:44 UTC

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@nprofile…4unj *looks up from adjusting clamping forces with a tenths dial indicator holding a gourd in place on the bed of a CNC mill* yeah a paring knife works too

2025-10-13 17:43:11 UTC

@nprofile…q5wq hey, how are you and SWMBO feeling?

2025-07-16 23:50:08 UTC

Dear Toronto driver with the rainbow "this Tesla does not support fascism" sticker on the back: while it's fine that you have the good sense to be embarrassed about your vehicle, apparently you didn't pay attention to Musk's behavior before your purchase, which was more or less identical to it afterward.
I'm not quite sure which part of _paying the price of that vehicle to the company that made it_ qualifies as not supporting the people who profit from that company.
You can do better and more.

2025-07-16 11:56:07 UTC

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@nprofile…cee8 hey, on that topic, have you considered creating an @admin@fosstodon.org account for posts from yourself in that role, to give your personal account a bit of space separate from those duties? I've seen admins on other instances adopt that model and it seems to work well for them. (It's usually called out which admin is using that account with a short signature in each post, plus a note in the account bio linking to the personal user accounts of the admin users plus the server policy page about it.)

2025-06-18 01:50:43 UTC

Why do I like computing as a field of study and as an industry?
Why still, when the tech industry works so hard to find new reasons to be reviled - invading privacy; bending public sentiment against democratic institutions by monetizing disinformation campaigns; leveraging enormous financial instruments against laws, regulations, & social norms that have protected employees & preserved dignity; driving up profit for investors at the expense of environmental externalities borne by the powerless?

2025-06-17 01:27:33 UTC

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@nprofile…0n93 my lettuce has never been sunburned

2025-06-16 20:10:00 UTC

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@nprofile…cee8 I see that people are recommending screw extractors and pliers; I'll go one step further and specifically recommend a parallel-jaw plier wrench, the Knipex 86 03 150 pliers wrench, https://www.knipex.com/products/pipe-wrenches-and-water-pump-pliers/pliers-wrenches-pliers-and-a-wrench-in-a-single-tool/pliers-wrenches-pliers-and-wrench-single-tool/8603150

2025-05-31 00:22:46 UTC

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@nprofile…8kev I think that might be normal only for some kinds of hydraulic disc brakes? I have Hope hydro brakes on my Brompton and the bite point is definitely adjustable, and for my preference it's pretty short. (And I have a pleasantly even spectrum of force between the pads just touching the rotors and full lock-up, the modulation of braking force is smooth and superb.)

2025-05-30 12:09:50 UTC

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(Which isn't to say that Pride Toronto is a perfectly run organization, nor that it has had a spotless track record of financial management in the past, nor that corporate sponsorship of Pride in the abstract is an uncontroversial topic. Those are all things worth keeping in mind. In this specific case though I still think it's worth casting a bit of blame on two large companies making these particular sponsorship decisions, in this way, at this particular time, in this political climate.)

2025-05-30 12:06:19 UTC

Google and Home Depot both pulled verbally committed but non-contracted financial support for Toronto Pride 2025 on short notice¹ ².
😐👎
Of course corporate sponsors get to make and reevaluate sponsorship decisions at their discretion, and shouldn't be penalized for doing so; but I feel that it's quite reasonable to take a dim view of their poor timing in this case.
¹: https://www.thestar.com/business/pride-toronto-loses-two-more-corporate-sponsors-just-weeks-before-festival-launch/article_ecb8d784-cd2f-4c7a-aaa2-fc7e12a2b208.html , paywall bypass at ²
²: https://archive.is/1Q3AC

2025-05-29 12:10:04 UTC

If you use curl, the yearly curl user survey is up now and @nprofile…kxk4 wants to hear what you think about it!
https://daniel.haxx.se/blog/2025/05/19/the-curl-user-survey-2025-is-up/
It takes a few minutes but it's worth spending that time, on the one hand because the responses really are taken to heart to set and adjust the project priorities, and on the other hand because people have put a lot of work into that project and it's worth telling them you've benefited from that work!

2025-05-29 01:17:19 UTC

"data", singular: it's fine, TNG did it too so you're in good company
"data", plural: technically correct, the best kind of correct, also probably intolerably pedantic and strictly wears tube socks
"datum", singular: yeah OK this person is going to be insufferable in several predictable and at least a dozen wildly surprising ways
"datums", plural: this is going to get weird, probably a blackle post

2025-05-23 01:00:35 UTC

I have not re-watched Empire in like ten years and this is the best way I could have done it. A live performance of the score would have been more than excellent enough, but that the Toronto Symphony Orchestra is doing it in perfect synchronization with the dialog and sound effects is just tremendous.
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/114/554/430/010/000/105/original/056e39299873ace7.jpg

2025-05-20 00:22:11 UTC

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@nprofile…d2rl mind linking to that wish list?
For, uh, research

2025-05-16 01:46:05 UTC

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@nprofile…q5wq oh it WAS deliberate

2025-05-03 00:12:22 UTC

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@nprofile…6m2n I don't love being a pedant so I hope this doesn't come across as nitpicking, but I think in the second text box there's a typo: "proram" instead of "program"?

2025-04-08 03:37:53 UTC

My friend @nprofile…7c3n passed away last month.
I wish he was still here. He was a good man, joyful and kind. Made the world better by being in it, brought delight to people who shared their joy. Built way too many Reviung keyboards. Never met a cat he didn't love. He was cycling across a country on the other side of the world, then he was interrupted by a stage four cancer diagnosis, now he's gone.

2025-04-06 21:40:53 UTC

I blame @nprofile…q5wq for what is about to happen tonight. #monsterdon
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/114/293/174/864/737/218/original/d8f6a3dfceccb09a.jpg
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/114/293/185/634/005/211/original/8e11222f7fa85523.jpg

2025-03-27 12:38:33 UTC

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@nprofile…8kev oh hang on!
In a previous photo you showed your new G-line with the Eerder Metaal seatpost hugger block in place, but I don't see it in this photo! Is it that easy to take on and off?? I thought it required removing the entire saddle!

2025-03-26 02:29:32 UTC

LLMs are an interesting way to explore a large corpus of data, in theory, if the processing overhead wasn't simply unacceptable and if the accuracy was better.
However.
You know what actually does feel like magic? I have about 30G of SSD storage dedicated to mirroring a few mailing lists I care about, with another 120G for search indices. 25, 30 years of posts. Today at $JOB someone asked a question. In 5 minutes I had the bug number from 2012; in 6 I had the commit ID for the 2014 fix.
✨

2025-03-23 22:24:25 UTC

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@nprofile…d2rl I didn't see whatever prompted you to say this, but I'm glad you're talking with Tay. Please tell them I care about them and hope they're OK.

2025-03-05 18:43:40 UTC

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@nprofile…0n93 I got some vague handwaving about it in comp sci classes at Ottawa U and Carleton about a million years ago, but honestly the strongest guidance about avoiding global vars came from a careful examination of the performance costs of dynamic vs lexical scoping in RnRS Scheme. The takeaway was that globals were a convenience but are encumbered with a really quite surprisingly large perf cost. No mention of hygiene or "correctness", but that's the argument & lesson that stuck with me.

2025-02-14 02:53:56 UTC

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@nprofile…6m2n do you mind if I share my favourite $PATH deduplication trick?

2025-02-13 12:11:39 UTC

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@nprofile…zwgs beware, I'll I've

2024-12-24 19:02:25 UTC

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@nprofile…gpke hope you're feeling better soon. It's hard to hit those high notes with a snoot full of snot!

2024-12-23 22:18:26 UTC

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@nprofile…gpke fun fact: 7Digital is owned by SongTradr, the digital rights licensing company that bought BandCamp from Epic Games.
(I don't mean to imply that this is good or bad, it is literally just a fun fact.)

2024-09-07 01:04:06 UTC

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1. No
2. Yes
3. No
4. No
5. Yes
6. Yes
7. Yes
https://mastodon.social/@nixCraft/113088683254075749 / @npub1gfd…7gg6

2024-09-04 11:55:10 UTC

@npub1uw8…88kr happy anniversary!!

2024-08-17 17:03:21 UTC

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@npub1rml…xa6t something very similar to this is what caused me to grumpily adopt isync/mbsync after having otherwise happily used offlineimap for a while, yeah. Good tool, but that ecosystem...

2024-08-15 00:59:11 UTC

While mentally running a sentence or two ahead of my mouth to rifle through my meat-memory thesaurus my brain repeatedly tries to manufacture reasons to use the word "promulgate" but leaves me casting around like a fish out of water as it stalls during retrieval of the the word "deterministic".
Super useful. Definitely good work there. Thanks, brain!
Thain.

2024-07-27 16:40:38 UTC

All right, I need to drop about 20 pounds. Not because the weight is a health problem or a self-image thing; just because I want to make faster progress on being able to do more pullups, and it'll be easier on my elbow tendons if I can load them with a bit less weight at the beginning since they progress more slowly than muscle growth.
This process isn't delightful, but it's not complicated. Guess I'll get that started.

2024-07-20 16:40:56 UTC

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@npub1u07…utrd this alt text is terrific. Thank you so much. ❤️

2024-07-14 22:25:35 UTC

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@npub1p45…89jz you're damn right.

2024-07-03 17:36:12 UTC

There's a crow about twenty feet away from the deck I'm sitting on that appears to be amusing itself by taking a few steps away from a pile of dry leaves, then leaping into it (no wing flapping), rolling around a bit, then stepping away a little further to do it again.
(It seems to be totally fine because it has flown away and returned once or twice, it's just having fun.)

2024-05-29 03:10:29 UTC

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@npub1xzm…eykm I'm going to end up doing that too, amn't I? The gravitational field at this point is nearly inescapable

2024-05-29 02:03:00 UTC

I am NOT going to watch a four hour YouTube video about a star wars hotel

2024-05-12 11:23:13 UTC

Hmm, rhubarb compote and walnuts on oatmeal..?

2024-04-24 15:25:58 UTC

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@npub1uw8…88kr YAY BABY GOATS

2024-03-02 17:00:43 UTC

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