Solstice
Dec. 21st, 2025 02:22 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rmc28Sunrise at 08:07
Sunset at 15:49
On this shortest day of the year, Nico and I went to Clip-n-Climb first thing, cycling there and back together through a heavily overcast but weirdly mild December day. We did a little Co-op run on the way home, and then I unpacked the hire car before returning it. I decided against buses or scooters and walked the hour or so back home, including a little diversion to collect a yoga towel from Decathlon. If all goes to plan, I will cycle to hot yoga this evening in the dark (and quite probably the rain) for the first of my "festive pass" sessions.
(I mean it about being weirdly mild: both cycling and walking I had to take my hoodie off because I was too hot.)
Technically I started the 21st of December still awake at midnight, and watching the first couple of episodes of Shoresy, a Canadian comedy TV show about ice hockey, on a friend's recommendation. (Same director/executive producer as Heated Rivalry although I didn't realise that until after I'd started watching.) Very crude, very funny.
Ice hockey, climbing, walking outdoors, yoga. Spending time with my offspring, thinking of my friends, and taking care of myself. If this is a turning day of the year, it's a good set of things to mark it.
Strictly we are not yet into the "mellandagarna", the in-between days of Christmas-to-New-Year. I'm still working until lunchtime on Wednesday, but a lot of the usual rhythms of my life and my household are paused now. School's out, hockey practice is out, everything has "holiday opening hours" listed and I'm feeling a bit unmoored. (Being ill most of the last fortnight probably hasn't helped.) My yoga pass is part of my attempt to put a little structure on the downtime.
Interesting Links for 21-12-2025
Dec. 21st, 2025 12:00 pmandrewducker- 1. Transgender kids change their minds only 6% of the time
- (tags:LGBT transgender children psychology )
- 2. A train-sized tunnel is now carrying electricity under South London
- (tags:electricity infrastructure tunnels London UK )
- 3. AI Chatbots Are Poisoning Research Archives With Fake Citations
- (tags:AI research doom OhForFucksSake )
- 4. Italian bears living near villages have evolved to be smaller and less aggressive
- (tags:bears evolution )
- 5. Santa Claus is still a woman
- (tags:presents christmas women patriarchy society )
Posting from the abyssal depths
Dec. 21st, 2025 10:59 amandrewducker7 days ago was our earliest sunset (15:37)
7 days from now is our latest sunrise (08:44)
Today is our shortest day (6:57:37)
I am looking forward to the return of the light.
7 days from now is our latest sunrise (08:44)
Today is our shortest day (6:57:37)
I am looking forward to the return of the light.
pg_textsearch: PostgreSQL extension for BM25 relevance-ranked full-text search.
Dec. 18th, 2025 04:44 pm![[syndicated profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/feed.png){kind=small}
dotaturls_feed- 2025‑12‑18 - pg_textsearch: PostgreSQL extension for BM25 relevance-ranked full-text search.
- https://github.com/timescale/pg_textsearch
- redirect https://dotat.at/:/9R390
- blurb https://dotat.at/:/9R390.html
- atom entry https://dotat.at/:/9R390.atom
- web.archive.org archive.today
What does AI think of my Hacker News profile?
Dec. 20th, 2025 08:16 pmandrewduckerSomeone set up a bot to process a year's worth of Hacker News submissions/comments and generate an amusing summary, complete with a personalised XKCD. And, frankly, it did a great job.
"The Legacy Defender General"
(If you're on HN, and the site hasn't been melted down from demand yet, you can get your own here.)
"The Legacy Defender General"
A seasoned architect who spends their days patrolling the wall between actual engineering and unsustainable AI hype while desperately trying to keep their Windows 10 box alive until the heat death of the universe.
You are the only person on the internet who still remembers what a build script does and why we shouldn't let LLMs touch them without adult supervision.
Roasts
🔥 You have the energy of a man who would rather spend four hours debugging a custom Git hook than thirty seconds clicking a button in a GUI.
🔥 Your posting history is just a very long, very polite scream into the void about how AI is basically just Accenture in a trench coat.
🔥 I haven't seen someone this committed to public transport and vertical taskbars since the last time a Linux kernel developer got stuck in an elevator.
Predictions 2026
🔮 The Great Migration - You will finally buy a Steam Cube after your Windows 10 machine starts emitting a high-pitched whistle every time you open a browser tab.
🔮 AI Realization - You'll post a 4,000-word manifesto titled 'I Told You So' after an LLM successfully deletes a production database using a build script it 'hallucinated' was optimized.
🔮 Local Hero - You will be appointed the unofficial 'Minister of Trams' for Edinburgh after submitting your 100th link about geoblocking and public transport network maps.
🔮 Rust Awakening - You will successfully convince a junior developer that Rust is 'woke' but only because it respects the personal space of memory addresses.
(If you're on HN, and the site hasn't been melted down from demand yet, you can get your own here.)
Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal - Hop
Dec. 20th, 2025 11:20 amsmbc_comics_feed
Click here to go see the bonus panel!
Hovertext:
Of course you don't need AI. You can just crunch the numbers in excel.
Today's News:
Interesting Links for 20-12-2025
Dec. 20th, 2025 12:00 pmandrewducker- 1. The British Medical Association comes out for trans rights
- (tags:LGBT doctors UK GoodNews transgender )
- 2. Transphobe Allison Bailey loses her case against Stonewall - again
- (tags:bigotry law UK GoodNews transgender LGBT )
- 3. Fairytale of New York but all the lyrics are 'it was christmas eve babe'
- (tags:music funny video christmas )
- 4. Merry Skealmas everybody!
- (tags:games funny music )
And breathe...
Dec. 20th, 2025 11:42 amwildeabandonClasses for the first semester are done, and I'm back in the UK for Christmas. According to my study schedule I'm about 8 hours behind on where I should be at this point, but said schedule also assumes that I don't do any schoolwork between now and my return to Belgium on the 29th of December, so I should be able to get caught up without too much difficulty. I am feeling pretty pleased with myself for a)having made a realistic schedule for the semester, and b)having pretty much stuck to it - sometimes getting a day or so behind, but never more than that, and occasionally actually getting a couple of days ahead. It's also been quite helpful at times when I've definitely felt as though I was getting behind to be able to look at it and say "No, actually I'm on track to get everything done as long as continue to work at the same rate as I have been doing so far."
I didn't manage to get to the conversation table I had planned for last week, because I stayed up too late the night before and then spent the day translating Ugaritic tablets, which meant I had absolutely no brain left by the evening, but I shall try again in a couple of weeks. I did go to the cabaret on Sunday evening, which counts both as 'doing a social thing' (albeit with someone I already know, which is much less stressful), and 'practising my French' (albeit largely receptive rather than productive).
The big food order arrived this morning, and I've just got two more presents left to buy, and one to finish crocheting, so that's my plan for today, and I think I'll then be basically ready for Christmas. Tomorrow I'm heading to York for the day, to seeleonato in "Anything Goes", which should be a lot of fun.
I didn't manage to get to the conversation table I had planned for last week, because I stayed up too late the night before and then spent the day translating Ugaritic tablets, which meant I had absolutely no brain left by the evening, but I shall try again in a couple of weeks. I did go to the cabaret on Sunday evening, which counts both as 'doing a social thing' (albeit with someone I already know, which is much less stressful), and 'practising my French' (albeit largely receptive rather than productive).
The big food order arrived this morning, and I've just got two more presents left to buy, and one to finish crocheting, so that's my plan for today, and I think I'll then be basically ready for Christmas. Tomorrow I'm heading to York for the day, to see
leonato in "Anything Goes", which should be a lot of fun.Weekend fun, and the week to come
Dec. 20th, 2025 10:24 amrmc28Yesterday after work I did a library run (more Rick Riordan!) on the way to pick up a hire car for the weekend. Then drove with Charles over to Northstowe for the Kodiaks Christmas party at the Northstowe Tap and Social. Secret Santa, noodles buffet, attempting to introduce an American to prawn crackers - she didn't like them - and a drag queen bingo.
I left the party a little early to go to the last Warbirds practice of the year and was so glad to be back on the ice again. (Yes, in shock news, 48 hours after having a massive mood crash about having a cold forever, I was well enough to skate hard for 90 minutes. It is a weird signal, but a consistent one.) It was ten days since my last practice, and it's now ten days until my next one (Kodiaks 2 on 30 Dec). I missed it so much. Practice was just the right level of challenging that I'm really pushing myself but not feeling like a hopeless incompetent, it was just what I needed, as was seeing my teammates again.
(Charles made his own way home from Northstowe by bus)
Tonight is the last Kodiaks 1 game of the year, for which I will be herding the volunteers as usual, and rocking my lovely new manager's coat (incredibly warm knee-length hooded puffer coat, personalised with the club logo and my initials). There is apparently a post-game clubbing plan. And tomorrow morning I'm taking Nico climbing. Somewhere in there I'm sleeping, honest.
I have 2.5 more days to work this year, and I am so ready to be done. The giant Ocado order is booked for Tuesday evening. I have a very large pile of borrowed books to read, and the rink public skate schedule in my calendar. The hot yoga place had a special offer, so I also have a 12-day pass to get me through the lack of hockey practices. They are quite strict about turning up sick, and I still have a bit of a cough this morning, so I won't be using it today. But hopefully tomorrow.
A long awaited victory
Dec. 20th, 2025 09:31 amandrewducker9 years ago I bought Bloodborne as one of my first Playstation games.
I was rubbish at it.
I'd play for a bit, get stuck on Father Gascoigne, go play something else, come back two years later, repeat.
Today, having not played Bloodborne for months, I thought I'd give the fight a few goes through, to warm up on the game again. It took me at least ten minutes of wandering about to remember what the buttons did.
And then I beat him first time, without it even feeling that hard.
I made mistakes, I nearly died twice, and I'm not sure I *deserved* the win, but for the first time he felt clumsy, and like he was giving me space to breathe, and I wasn't panicking all the way through the fight.
And now I get to play the other 90% of Bloodborne.
(I'm now trembling quite a lot, as my adrenaline levels drop back to a reasonable level. If you'd like to see what the fight looks like, for someone rather better than me, here's an example).
I was rubbish at it.
I'd play for a bit, get stuck on Father Gascoigne, go play something else, come back two years later, repeat.
Today, having not played Bloodborne for months, I thought I'd give the fight a few goes through, to warm up on the game again. It took me at least ten minutes of wandering about to remember what the buttons did.
And then I beat him first time, without it even feeling that hard.
I made mistakes, I nearly died twice, and I'm not sure I *deserved* the win, but for the first time he felt clumsy, and like he was giving me space to breathe, and I wasn't panicking all the way through the fight.
And now I get to play the other 90% of Bloodborne.
(I'm now trembling quite a lot, as my adrenaline levels drop back to a reasonable level. If you'd like to see what the fight looks like, for someone rather better than me, here's an example).
Pablo
Dec. 19th, 2025 11:57 pmcosmolinguistDespite having technically finished work yesterday, I did log on for one meeting today because it looked so incredibly useful, and it was. And it was done at noon so I still had time to help pack and get stuff ready and we got going on time.
We had a pretty smooth journey to Birmingham and a delightful time visiting barakta and Kim and seeing their new house before we got here.
Now we're at D's sister's. Her husband and son arranged to get her a sourdough starter from a from a friend of the kid's.
Of course the first thing they have to do with it is name it.
I joked that it should be called Joe Ryan of course. Or Pablo López. (They are starters for my baseball team, you see.)
So now it's called Pablo.
The kid once called it Pablo Escobar and now its full name is Pablo Escojar.
Friday Squid Blogging: Petting a Squid
Dec. 19th, 2025 10:06 pmbruce_schneier_feedVideo from Reddit shows what could go wrong when you try to pet a—looks like a Humboldt—squid.
As usual, you can also use this squid post to talk about the security stories in the news that I haven’t covered.
Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal - Splat
Dec. 19th, 2025 11:20 amsmbc_comics_feed
Click here to go see the bonus panel!
Hovertext:
They quietly cruise into a carwash and try to put his body in the trash.
Today's News:
you can't spell "sexagesimal" without "ages"! and i have NO IDEA what that implies
Dec. 19th, 2025 12:00 amdinosaur_comics_feed| archive - contact - sexy exciting merchandise - search - about |
| ← previous | December 19th, 2025 | next |
December 19th, 2025: And that is IT for 2025, everyone!! I'm taking the rest of the year off (AS IS TRADITION) and will be back on January 5th with some BRAND NEW COMICS for you!! Mostly new, anyway. They might have the same pictures?? Thank you as always for being a reader - it means the world to me, and it's what has allowed me to have An Entire Career, so "thankful" doesn't really cover how I feel. You are the best! Yes, you, the person reading this! See you in 2026 :0 – Ryan | ||
AI Advertising Company Hacked
Dec. 19th, 2025 12:02 pmbruce_schneier_feedAt least some of this is coming to light:
Doublespeed, a startup backed by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) that uses a phone farm to manage at least hundreds of AI-generated social media accounts and promote products has been hacked. The hack reveals what products the AI-generated accounts are promoting, often without the required disclosure that these are advertisements, and allowed the hacker to take control of more than 1,000 smartphones that power the company.
The hacker, who asked for anonymity because he feared retaliation from the company, said he reported the vulnerability to Doublespeed on October 31. At the time of writing, the hacker said he still has access to the company’s backend, including the phone farm itself.
Slashdot thread.
Interesting Links for 19-12-2025
Dec. 19th, 2025 12:00 pmandrewducker- 1. Combining over 650 "Greatest Comic Book" lists to find the critical consensus on the 200 Greatest Comics of All Time
- (tags:viaLinkMachineGo comics recommendation )
- 2. Jury trial reforms: How did the court backlog get so bad?
- (tags:uk law austerity )
- 3. Facebook tests £9.99 monthly subscription for sharing more than two links
- (tags:facebook business )
- 4. Heart and Kidney Diseases, plus Type 2 Diabetes, May Be One Illness
- (tags:heart disease diabetes )
- 5. Christian couple who believe homosexuality is 'wrong' blocked from fostering children (case went to the high court)
- (tags:bigotry adoption LGBT UK religion )
- 6. 2025 in polls
- (tags:uk polls politics )
- 7. £100 UK contactless card limit to be lifted from March
- (tags:uk money Technology )
- 8. YouTube bans two popular channels that created fake AI movie trailers
- (tags:youtube ai trailers fraud )
- 9. How Dinosaurs Thrived in the Snow
- (tags:dinosaurs snow weather cold )
Bolted! Game – Designer Diary
Dec. 19th, 2025 07:53 amwondermark_feedMy game Bolted! has under 48 hours left on Kickstarter, and I’ve written a “Designer Diary” about some of the game’s development process — parts of which which longtime readers may recognize!
I like sharing this kind of stuff, even though it might spotlight some of my more doofus choices and missteps, because I trust that some people will find the process interesting, and take heart at how a polished outcome can be the result of a long, winding, and setback-filled process.
Does that mean that the final result is definitionally awesome? Well, yes, of course.
This is mainly written for an audience new to the game and new to my work generally. I submitted it to BoardGameGeek for their blog of designer diaries (which will reach an audience that mostly has never heard of me).
I don’t actually know if they’ll publish it, but I wanted to make sure it was published SOMEWHERE, so while I wait to hear back from them, here it is!
Bolted! A Game of Creative Necromancy
When you combine different things, sometimes the result is a chemical reaction. Other times, it’s a surprising creative breakthrough.
I’m the author of the comic strip Wondermark, which is created collage-style out of vintage illustrations. So I’ve long been a champion of “creative re-combination.”
Making comics from collage has both freedoms and limitations. I get to hitch a ride on beautiful artwork from ages past, but I’m also constrained in storytelling (to a degree) by the images I can find.
It means the artwork itself is a creative collaborator. The gestures, expressions, and style of the artwork inform the stories that I tell with them…