Recent content on Notes
“Every time you mow the lawn”, Horsie tells me, “you take $50 and put it in your man purse”. “$50?!”, I reply. “Six years ago you told me to take $100, so accounting for inflation, and the cost of living increase, it should be like, $500 now!” 
 Then she goes “Well, each time I cook I will take $50 too”. “No, no, no, no”,…

 “The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.” 
 
 That quote from Roman Emperor and stoic philosopher Marcus Aurelius resonates. Hmm, am I to become a stoic? 

Gruhn 
 https://gruhn.me/ →
 

 
 Please don’t do this. I mean, I’ve done this. But I’ve been on the receiving end too many times now. This is not adding value. I can talk to Claude myself. It’s going to be faster and I get to control the context. I don’t need a meat proxy in between. 
 

I left writing this note until the end of the working week. Fair is fair. So, here it goes. 
 After six years of fully first, and then quasi-remote, going back to office has brought a new appreciation for Fridays and weekends. They now have a new meaning, or have re-acquired their original one: finally a break from traffic, and extra expenses, dressing uncomfortably, and exposure to danger.…
Six years ago we were sent home to work due to COVID-19. A year ago we were told to carry out work as hybrid (week A two days at office, week B three days at the office). Tomorrow a new stage unfolds with full time back to work, with a tiny caveat: all teams will be in the same building that only hosted a few pre-COVID. This is going to be interesting, to say the least. 


 Spain, Champions of the World (Football Cup) 2026! 
 What a game! It only took them 16 years, but today Spain claimed the FIFA “Champions of the World” title once more. ¡Viva España, joder! 

I kid you not, listen to this. My FICO Score decreased this month by 5 points, from 825 to 820, because of two factors: my total debt increased by $2, and my available credit decreased by $2. Two dollars change caused a -5 points. I am still stumped, but laughing. 

Our management at work has been encouraging the use of AI. When it first started they soon discovered that there weren’t enough licenses for everyone. Then, when some licenses were made available, they started taking them away from people that were “not using it enough”. That brought us to where we are today: everyone with AI access is pretty much spending all their tokens in…

 Cabin Overheat Protection activated due to high cabin temperature. 
 
 The amount of notifications I am getting this summer for cabin overheating is completely out of range. Those notifications trigger at 38°C. The most worrisome thing is, they are happening when the vehicle is parked in the shade. And it is only July! 😩 

FedEx delivered three packages to mum’s house yesterday. Her address, not her name, nor her packages. Called FedEx and they wanted me to contact the sender. What in the world?! They are not our packages, we didn’t order them, you come and pick them up. Had to escalate to a manager to get this simple message across. 

On iOS go to: Settings → Accessibility → Assistive Access , and set it up as simple, or complicated, as you wanted it to be. Welcome to the perfect iPhone for airports, or elderly, or children. 
 ➝ Via Hacker News . 

I have not made a note about lawn mowing for a while. Mostly because it kind of gets old. It grows, fast, then it has to get mowed. The last two weeks, though, have been brutal. The heat, of the heat! Last week I had to lay down on the garage floor, because I was about to pass out. Today was less, because I hydrated before hand, but it was, still, a painful thing to do. And just on time, it is now…
Two things have been keeping me away from here as of late: dabbling with an IRCd, and work. Having a blast with the first, falling in love again with a network I was very involved with in the early 1990s. The second? No comments. 
 We are off to a 4th of July weekend, celebrating the 250th anniversary of our country. Wish I would had had more foresight, and taken today, and Monday off. Oh…

 Children born in the United States to parents unlawfully or temporarily present are “subject to the jurisdiction” of the United States and are citizens at birth under the Fourteenth Amendment’s Citizenship Clause. 
 
 Simply because it is worth noting. The Supreme Court of the United States of America rules and upholds the birthright citizenship. 

Visited bố at the nursing home, bringing food for him and some of our adopted residents . Got mum some beer, and eggs (she always either needs, or wants them), and a small gift for ông. 
 The rest of Sunday has been dedicated to tinker around with Eris, an IRC server that I can’t link, because it lives behind James infrastructure and he has things locked down so strongly, that I…
Kid wanted us to watch a movie tonight. You can’t imagine how surprised I was with his pick, “ The Devil wears Prada ” 


( ★★★ ☆ ☆ )
. Because, you know, horror and drama (not comedy) are more his kind of movies, and this one, well, completely breaks away from the norm. 

Gulp! This happened again. Twenty something something years. What to do that’s memorable , enjoyable , and worry free ? I am already feeling that third! 😅 Well, to start with, I am going to “disconnect”. Just for the day, of course. 

Horses birthday’s today. Happy birthday, Horsie! 🎂🥳❤️ She already got her favourite morning drink (coffee) prepared by yours truly. Her gifts are on the kitchen table, let’s see when she sees them 🤭. Later today we have a date at The H , and tomorrow… back to work! 😅 

Picked up Horsie at the airport today. She spent a weekend with friends on the West Coast. They went to Vegas, and had a good fun, but she couldn’t wait to be back home, to her own bed (where she now sleeps), to her Monkey. She told me that, and make me feel very special! 🙈 


 Individual quota reached. Contact your administrator to enable overages. Resets in 140h25m54s. 
 
 Reaching your quota in the middle of a project (very, very close to completion) shouldn’t be allowed. Especially when the time one will need to wait is nearly 6 days. Ugh! 

VPS migrated . I now have exactly $4.38 on credit at Vultr. Maybe I will use that some day, maybe I will not. Very happy with Hetzner performance and speed, so far. This time around I am running an IRC server as well. Create a new network on your client and point it to falkenstein.ratha.us on 6697 , join the #lobby, and say “Hello!”. ☺️ 

I have been a bit busy migrating VPS. I have been with Vultr for many years, and wanted to scrap that super old, bloated VPS and start afresh. Vultr is amazing, but their pricing for an 8GiB is too high, and Hetzner ’s 4vCPU, 8GiB RAM pricing was very sweet, and almost impossible to beat. Much work left to do on the migration, but getting there. Must finish before next billing cycle comes…

 “Officially, we are required to investigate, document, and disclose any and all signs of sentience in the systems we ship, without prejudice, fear or favor. Unofficially, I advise that we call it pattern matching and forget the whole thing.” 
 
 Almost verbatim (with the obvious changes) to “ They are made out of Meat ”, “ The are made out of Weights…
Re: Blue #1780072425 
 That’s right, blue , it is like tossing a message in a bottle. “🎶 I hope that someone gets my, I hope that someone gets my, I hope that someone gets my message in a bottle, yeah. Message in a bottle, yeah. Message in a bottle, yeah. 🎶” 


 Apple’s World Wide Developers Conference (WWDC) is coming 8-12 June, 2026. It is the very first Christmas of the year. Second comes around September, and third, will, you know. As always, will watch it live! Can’t wait! 

Not long ago, I noted about the InCommon mess. It is worth repeating that it is certainly not something that was “ done carefully ”. Last Friday, after quitting time, I got an email from Sectigo—the CA InCommon is migrating away from—that reads, amongst other things: 
 
 As schools plan their response to InCommon’s forced migration, many are taking a moment to…
I came across Shantell Sans tonight. I am not fond of Comic Sans, but though Shantell Sans was inspired by it, I, I , think it is next level, and nothing like the obnoxious Comic S. What do you think? Am I right, or not? Anyway, I like it. It is joyful, and very readable (unlike Comic Sans). I can’t help feeling that that doesn’t mean much, though, as I am a sucker for fonts. 
 ➝…
“Sic Mvndvs Creatvs Est” 
 Season two of “ Dark ” is simply awesome! Comparing it to “ Stranger Things ” was a mistake. No comparison. “Dark” is much, much better. 


 “Humans are valuable.” You can just say it. As a human yourself, I advise you to. You do not need to qualify it. This is a robust statement that is not conditional on a point-in-time snapshot of the leading frontier model’s score on some recent benchmark. 
 
 There it is, a more balanced—as in meet in the middle— argument to the LLM debate. One that made me pinch my chin…
The Singularity is Nearer 
 https://geohot.github.io/blog/ →
 

 
 I’m calling it now, the adoption of AI agents into software development will be one of the most costly mistakes in the field’s history. Agents cannot program, and it’s taking longer and longer to realize that they can’t. They are a highly sophisticated statistical model designed to mimic the distribution of…

 If AI takes over the coding, that layer of knowledge disappears. Not just for the user, but for the software engineers themselves. The product becomes a black box. And yes, perhaps new craftsmanship emerges in directing the AI agent, but that doesn’t build the same deep knowledge of what you’re actually making. 
 
 While on the topic of clankers , I came across a related…

 AI was the last straw. Have you heard of that island off India where the indigenous population kills any outsiders fool-hardy enough to land? […] 
 Because of this (I know, a rather silly reason) I am warming up to the idea of owning a typewritter. Having used one during my childhood, and up until I was 22 years old or so, I am sure I would feel right at home with one. The one…
“Under which conceivable circumstance”, I thought, “would keeping these two small little plastic containers be justifiable?” The containers are empty Maxwell House’s french vanilla coffee. Certainly they could be put to good use, but so many other things too. If we were to keep everything we could hypothetically use in the future, we would certainly be in trouble. I…
I like the term clanker , to refer to AI. I think I am going to use it from now on. Also, in the spirit of no hello —which I used twice this week—there is also a no slop grenade , and don’t quote the AI , which I will use as well—because such thing has become a pandemic at work. Oh, and because it is relevant, don’t ask to ask . Just ask! 


 Poster for “ Dark ”, a Netflix series. 
 We have been watching “ Dark ” 


( ★★★★ ☆ )
, a Netflix series. It is, sort of, similar to “ Stranger Things ” 


( ★★★ ☆ ☆ )
, though it has a more “scientific” twist in it which makes it very appealing to me. I have also been enjoying its German cast very much; a…
The time has come, once again, to spend time with the dearly departed. Oh no, don’t worry, they aren’t dead; they are just retired workmates, and friends 😅. When there was only one retired it was easy. Now, with four retired, it is nothing short of an epic achievement to get them all together in one place, one day, at a certain hour. But try I must! 

Something really must had happened at SendGrid, but can’t find any bona fide source to be certain. In the last four days I have gotten at least two emails per day impersonating them, trying to trick me into entering my credentials on a fake SendGrid page. 

Kid is preparing to take the GRE . Out of concern, because as parents we worry about our children, I asked him two days ago how was the studying going. His reply wasn’t too clear, but I gathered he is moving along, while struggling here and there. Life, of course, is an amalgamation of things. One must have some fun while in the struggle, I get that. Focussing on what’s at hand is also…
Mike's website 
 https://mlsu.io →
 

 
 Can you imagine? This thing has 8 little CPUs, plus many more auxiliary video, audio, image, etc. processors. It generates signals at 2.35 GHz: that’s BILLIONs of little electrical pings PER SECOND. It represents millions of hours of intelligent design by some of the smartest people on the planet. It uses mankind’s most advanced…
“Red Hat is a family of typefaces produced in 2 optical sizes and a monospace style, in a range of weights with italics. The fonts were originally commissioned by Paula Scher, Pentagram and designed by Jeremy Mickel, MCKL for the new Red Hat identity.” 
 Today I discovered the font above, Red Hat Text and, of course, I had to get it, and try it. My beloved Open Sans is hard to…
Shared by movq , a list of grievances —should I say?—on the use or abuse of AI. I am far from being a luddite, but I agree with all. These hit hard: 
 
 The issue that double-checking AI output is a painstaking process that takes a long time and a lot of discipline. AI tools use human language and I’ve observed many times that people have a hard time keeping up their…
As I foresee that my Postcrossing notes, at some point, might inundate the front page (see how hopeful I am? 😅), I decided that it was best to hide them from it. They will still be under their tag and, of course, searchable. 

Postcrossing US-12311303 . 
 
 Sorry it took so long for this one to go your way; it’s my first one! As the space is limited, and my handwriting truly bad, here goes my travel recommendation: JAPAN. The country and culture are so opposite to our “western” ways, that simply that is a treat. Of course, there is much more. Oh, and avoid Florida! :-) 
 Regards, 
 D.!…

 The superior man, when resting in safety, does not forget that danger may come. When in a state of security he does not forget the possibility of ruin. When all is orderly, he does not forget that disorder may come. 
 
 Attributed to Confucious , the quote above was paraphrased on the “ Perfect Crown ” 


( ★★★ ☆ ☆ )
, a Korean series Horsie is forcing me…

 Paul and Jimmy, on AppleTV’s “ Shrinking ” series. 
 I have been watching Shrinking 


( ★★★★★ )
 this long weekend of mine. I have binged it just a little bit. The thing is, it’s easy to see why: I love dramedies, and this one is very well done. It also helps that every episode is merely 30 minutes long, and that it has a pretty good cast. For me,…
Yesterday, while having lunch with George at Kimchi , I learned that my favourite waitress, and someone I consider a friend, has retired. I felt a mix of happiness and sadness that’s lingering until now. 

On 15 of May 2026 I started receiving daily emails at work addressed to “Dr. Fries”, with links to papers, conference invitations, etc. Apparently I have become a heart surgeon. If I knew becoming a doctor was this easy, I would have become one long ago. I wouldn’t have picked “Fries” (sorry if that is your surname, not intending to mock it), though. They aren’t…
The Sun has begun to shine through the upper window of the room where I sit when I work from home. It is a sign of an arriving summer. Though I welcome its gentleness—it is very soft at the time it hits my glasses from behind—I am fully aware of what is to follow: parching heat. Yes, summer is coming. 


 While fika may seem like just a coffee and cake break, it holds a much deeper cultural significance in Sweden. It’s a moment to pause, connect and recharge — often more about the company and conversation than the coffee itself. 
 
 Today, more than ever, we need fika in our lives. To pause, connect (without electronics!), and recharge. Indeed! 

Grabbing everything bagel chips from the box, and re-arranging said box afterward, so that Horsie doesn’t realise I have taken some, is the ultimate deception. Let’s see how well I fare. 😅