The Plight of the Martian Farmer
Limitless acres but no mule Programming note: The newsletter now has over 1,000 subscribers! Thank you! It has been a joy to write, and your subscriptions help buy me time to research future posts in my signature style, where I just download and read endless papers like a dinosaur. If you know someone else who […]
Solar rail could become common in Europe after successful trial in Switzerland
Europe’s infrastructure is embracing the renewables boom, with one company determined to transform the continent’s railway lines into mini solar farms. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Last year, Swiss start-up Sun-Ways unveiled the world’s first-ever solar railway after rolling out 100 metres of photovoltaic (PV) panels in between active tracks in Buttes, a village in the Val-de-Travers district. […]
Run Windows 2000 on a DEC Alpha with a new es40 fork
As you might know, I’m involved a bit in the OpenVMS community and the Alpha emulation side via AXPBox. AXPBox (github) is a fork of the es40 alpha emulator by Camiel Vanderhoeven (who is now Chief Architect at VSI, the company that makes OpenVMS, for x86 nowdays). There have been many forks of es40 in […]
Phosh 0.56.0
A new major release of Phosh is out. See below for a list of changes across individual components: phosh 0.56.0 Link to heading A graphical shell for mobile devices Summary of changes Link to heading New load meter plugin for the top bar (demo) Allow to hide applications from the app-grid when GNOME Software is […]
Cannabis Users Face Substantially Higher Risk of Heart Attack
Contact: Nicole Napoli, [email protected], WASHINGTON (Mar 18, 2025) – Marijuana is now legal in many places, but is it safe? Two new studies add to mounting evidence that people who use cannabis are more likely to suffer a heart attack than people who do not use the drug, even among younger and otherwise healthy adults. […]
Introduction to Compilers and Language Design
This is a free online textbook: you are welcome to access the chapter PDFs directly below. If you prefer to hold a real book, you can also purchase a hardcover or paperback below. The textbook and materials have been developed by Prof. Douglas Thain as part of the CSE 40243 compilers class at the University […]
Spain’s cadastre API is SOAP from 2003, so I built a JSON wrapper (+MCP)
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Pi square is nearly 10
Posted on June 28, 2026; last changed on June 30, 2026 In the US and countries with a similar date format, today is the (tau) day ((tau = 2 pi)). I still think that (tau r) and (frac{tau r^2}{2}) are better formulas than (2pi r) and (pi r^2), since they match the (mv) and (frac{mv^2}{2}) […]
Common 3D Benchy Problems, Causes and Fixes
The 3D Benchy is one of the most popular test prints in the 3D printing world. At first glance, it looks like a small boat, but it is actually a smart torture test designed to reveal common printer problems. A Benchy can help you check overhangs, bridging, holes, curved surfaces, first-layer quality, cooling, extrusion, dimensional […]
Claude Design System Prompt
Reverse-engineered system prompt of Claude Design from Anthropic. A system prompt and skill library that turns an LLM into an opinionated, accessibility-aware, AI-slop-resistant design collaborator. Open source, MIT licensed. Drop the prompt into any LLM that supports system prompts (Claude, GPT, Gemini, local models) and pair with the procedural skills as needed. What this is […]