My 2026 Open Social Web Predictions
I just finished reviewing my 2025 predictions (how do you think I did grading myself?) www.timothychambers.net/2024/12/2… Now it’s time to make some bets for 2026. I do this not to prove how great my prognostication muscles are, but to shine a spotlight on trends I think are vital, spur discussions, and give some attention to […]
We Abandoned Matrix: The Dark Truth About User Security and Safety (2024)
Anyone that agrees to our Code of Conduct is welcome to join our Simplex Hack Liberty Community Room and our Simplex server, a decentralized, metadata resistant alternative to Matrix! Incognito profiles welcome! The appeal of federation lies in its potential to empower individuals, groups, and communities by enabling the use of open-source software and facilitating […]
AMD entered the CPU market with reverse-engineered Intel 8080 clone 50 years ago
The chip which paved the way for AMD’s illustrious future, eventually creating some of the best CPUs we’ve ever tested, entered mass production 50 years ago. AMD’s Am9080 had something of a shady origin, as it was a reverse-engineered and cloned Intel 8080. However, due to the importance of second-sourcing among organizations that would end […]
Super Mario Bros. and Yoshi Games (Yields) Reduced Burnout Risk
Introduction Overview of Young Adults and Burnout Risk Young people today face a unique constellation of interconnected pressures that contribute significantly to anxiety, worry, and burnout [-]. Soaring costs for housing, education (leading to significant student loan debt), and basic necessities create significant financial pressure [,]. Achieving traditional markers of adulthood (home ownership and a […]
The EU’s Fine Against X Is Not About Speech or ‘Censorship’
In May of 2022, shortly after he announced his bid to buy Twitter (now X), billionaire Elon Musk, left, met with former European Commissioner Thierry Breton, right, in Austin, Texas. At the time, Musk said Europe’s Digital Services Act (DSA) was “exactly aligned” with his thinking. Source Don’t let anyone — not even the United […]
When Compilers Surprise You
When compilers surprise you Written by me, proof-read by an LLM. Details at end. Every now and then a compiler will surprise me with a really smart trick. When I first saw this optimisation I could hardly believe it. I was looking at loop optimisation, and wrote something like this simple function that sums all […]
Avoid Mini-Frameworks
DEC 24TH, 2025 I work in Google Ads infrastructure in the past four years. Over time, I’ve seen one pattern came along again and again, causing endless pain for developers, that is, creating mini-frameworks. What is mini-framework? First, I’d like to give readers a sense of what I mean by “mini-frameworks”. Imagine a company that […]
Permission Systems for Enterprise That Scale
Many startups eventually gravitate towards enterprise customers for bigger tickets and long-term contracts. As enterprise customers start using your product, they soon demand advanced permission systems to manage their different user roles and access levels. A naive implementation of permission checks works perfectly fine at first, but as they use your platform more and more, […]
Google 2025 recap: Research breakthroughs of the year
Tackling global challenges and opportunities at scale Our work throughout 2025 demonstrates how AI-enabled scientific progress is being directly applied to address the world’s most critical and pervasive challenges. By leveraging state-of-the-art foundational models and agentic reasoning, we are significantly increasing our understanding of the planet and its systems, while also delivering impactful solutions in […]
The e-scooter isn’t new – London was zooming around on Autopeds a century ago
The e-scooters that clutter up pavements may seem like a new thing, but a hundred years ago, there were already people zooming around London on powered scooters. Lady Florence Norman 1916 (street background expanded) These were the Autoped, an American import that was once popular enough to regularly appear in the newspapers before vanishing seemingly […]