Shrutarshi Basu
@basus.me
Programmer, writer, lapsed academic computer scientist. Formerly Cornell CIS & Harvard SEAS.
Pinned
Shrutarshi Basu
@basus.me
· Nov 16
Hello new followers! I’m a former academic computer scientist, interested in programming languages, compilers and formal methods. I’m currently looking for research and engineering positions in those areas, so if you’re hiring, do let me know!
The more I look into containers and Nix (and related) the more I feel like Docker squandered a golden opportunity by making Dockerfiles be essentially shell scripts rather declarative specifications for reproducible builds.
June 5, 2025 at 2:11 PM
The more I look into containers and Nix (and related) the more I feel like Docker squandered a golden opportunity by making Dockerfiles be essentially shell scripts rather declarative specifications for reproducible builds.
Starting to do some sysadmin and server deployment work and really wishing there was a bastard love child of Docker, Nix and Alpine Linux. With a sane scripting language of course.
June 4, 2025 at 9:24 AM
Starting to do some sysadmin and server deployment work and really wishing there was a bastard love child of Docker, Nix and Alpine Linux. With a sane scripting language of course.
What's the best way to generate a good looking PDF and a decent looking webpage from the same source? Looks like Typst just added an initial version of their HTML output, but maybe Latex is still the most mature and capable?
May 15, 2025 at 3:40 PM
What's the best way to generate a good looking PDF and a decent looking webpage from the same source? Looks like Typst just added an initial version of their HTML output, but maybe Latex is still the most mature and capable?
I should suck it up and learn to program properly in TypeScript. There's a growing list of software that I'd like to use and extend that uses TypeScript (Obsidian, Lume, Fedify), not to mention its utility for web programming.
April 24, 2025 at 3:47 PM
I should suck it up and learn to program properly in TypeScript. There's a growing list of software that I'd like to use and extend that uses TypeScript (Obsidian, Lume, Fedify), not to mention its utility for web programming.
I'm a sucker for a good color scheme, and Flexoki by Stephan Ango is a keeper. It's similar to Solarized but brighter and with more contrast. And yes, I am tempted to adapt it as a color scheme for my site.
stephango.com/flexoki
stephango.com/flexoki
Flexoki
An inky color scheme for prose and code.
stephango.com
April 24, 2025 at 6:39 AM
I'm a sucker for a good color scheme, and Flexoki by Stephan Ango is a keeper. It's similar to Solarized but brighter and with more contrast. And yes, I am tempted to adapt it as a color scheme for my site.
stephango.com/flexoki
stephango.com/flexoki
Some thoughts on re-asserting ownership in age where everything is rented:
v4.basus.me/journal/2025...
v4.basus.me/journal/2025...
Re-asserting Ownership
Islands of ownership in a sea of rentals
v4.basus.me
March 24, 2025 at 3:43 PM
Some thoughts on re-asserting ownership in age where everything is rented:
v4.basus.me/journal/2025...
v4.basus.me/journal/2025...
I wrote about my Steam Spring Sale haul, which made me think about the positive effects of getting things for yourself.
v4.basus.me/journal/2025...
v4.basus.me/journal/2025...
Steam Spring Sale Haul
Picked up some games I don't need and might never play
v4.basus.me
March 19, 2025 at 3:25 PM
I wrote about my Steam Spring Sale haul, which made me think about the positive effects of getting things for yourself.
v4.basus.me/journal/2025...
v4.basus.me/journal/2025...
I found the Picotron, a retro-nostalgic computing experiment that is "a Fantasy Workstation: a self-contained creative environment built for imaginary hardware".
v4.basus.me/stream/2025/...
v4.basus.me/stream/2025/...
Picotron
v4.basus.me
March 18, 2025 at 6:05 AM
I found the Picotron, a retro-nostalgic computing experiment that is "a Fantasy Workstation: a self-contained creative environment built for imaginary hardware".
v4.basus.me/stream/2025/...
v4.basus.me/stream/2025/...
For today's Sunday Selection, I collected some things that have influenced my thinking on mastery over the last year.
v4.basus.me/journal/2025...
v4.basus.me/journal/2025...
Sunday Selection 2025-03-16
Some things that have influenced my thinking on mastery
v4.basus.me
March 16, 2025 at 4:07 PM
For today's Sunday Selection, I collected some things that have influenced my thinking on mastery over the last year.
v4.basus.me/journal/2025...
v4.basus.me/journal/2025...
This week I finally came around to the idea of using LLMs for programming, especially when it comes to building home-cooked software: v4.basus.me/journal/2024...
Home-cooked Software
An application of LLMs that I'm actually excited about
v4.basus.me
March 14, 2025 at 5:44 PM
This week I finally came around to the idea of using LLMs for programming, especially when it comes to building home-cooked software: v4.basus.me/journal/2024...
Added my first Bay Area restaurant to my to-go list on Google Maps today.
March 12, 2025 at 6:25 PM
Added my first Bay Area restaurant to my to-go list on Google Maps today.
Today's Sunday Selection contains a smattering of homegrown websites and the first non-fiction book I've read this year.
v4.basus.me/journal/2025...
v4.basus.me/journal/2025...
Sunday Selection 2025-03-09
A smattering of homegrown websites
v4.basus.me
March 9, 2025 at 5:23 PM
Today's Sunday Selection contains a smattering of homegrown websites and the first non-fiction book I've read this year.
v4.basus.me/journal/2025...
v4.basus.me/journal/2025...
I moved my bookmarks from Pinboard to Raindrop and in the process realized that I have bookmarks going back all the way to 2016. Sadly, a lot of the oldest links are now dead. Memento mori, this too shall pass, all things are impermanent, etc. etc.
March 8, 2025 at 2:56 PM
I moved my bookmarks from Pinboard to Raindrop and in the process realized that I have bookmarks going back all the way to 2016. Sadly, a lot of the oldest links are now dead. Memento mori, this too shall pass, all things are impermanent, etc. etc.
I put together a little script to help me keep track of what work I've done during the day, and in the process got much more comfortable with shell scripting.
v4.basus.me/journal/2025...
v4.basus.me/journal/2025...
wyd
A quick script to summarize all the work I've done today
v4.basus.me
February 4, 2025 at 3:44 PM
I put together a little script to help me keep track of what work I've done during the day, and in the process got much more comfortable with shell scripting.
v4.basus.me/journal/2025...
v4.basus.me/journal/2025...
I’m totally gonna watch this, but like… why?!
'M3GAN 2.0' details
• Set 2 years after the first film
• M3GAN's AI tech has been stolen & used to create a military-grade weapon called Amelia
• Ivanna Sakhno (Ahsoka) plays Amelia, who goes rogue
• M3GAN is resurrected to save humanity — with upgrades making her faster, stronger, & more lethal
• Set 2 years after the first film
• M3GAN's AI tech has been stolen & used to create a military-grade weapon called Amelia
• Ivanna Sakhno (Ahsoka) plays Amelia, who goes rogue
• M3GAN is resurrected to save humanity — with upgrades making her faster, stronger, & more lethal
February 3, 2025 at 3:39 PM
I’m totally gonna watch this, but like… why?!
I really want to go deep into a programming language and ecosystem, but every project I can think of involves a different one.
February 2, 2025 at 1:31 PM
I really want to go deep into a programming language and ecosystem, but every project I can think of involves a different one.
Caught a stomach bug and now I have a craving for toast with Nutella.
February 1, 2025 at 3:49 PM
Caught a stomach bug and now I have a craving for toast with Nutella.
Every time I seriously think about building a static site generator, I realize that I really just want to write XML, but it’s a pain to write XML.
January 31, 2025 at 2:54 PM
Every time I seriously think about building a static site generator, I realize that I really just want to write XML, but it’s a pain to write XML.
Guess I should work on that static site generator after all.
. @anil.recoil.org doing what he does best -- stitching together bleeding edge technologies into impressive stunts :-)
anil.recoil.org/notes/bushel...
anil.recoil.org/notes/bushel...
January 31, 2025 at 9:57 AM
Guess I should work on that static site generator after all.
Reposted by Shrutarshi Basu
I am very happy for @herrdreyer.bsky.social and @natefoster.bsky.social who have become ACM Fellows! Well deserved!
Meet the 2024 #ACMFellows! ACM has named 55 outstanding members as ACM Fellows for their groundbreaking contributions to computing science and technology.
Please join us in applauding their accomplishment and contributions!
bit.ly/2E5styU
#Computing #Innovation
Please join us in applauding their accomplishment and contributions!
bit.ly/2E5styU
#Computing #Innovation
2024 ACM Fellows Celebrated for transformative contributions to computing science and technology.
ACM has named 55 of its members ACM for transformative contributions to computing science and technology. All the 2024 inductees are longstanding ACM Members whose accomplishments were selected by the...
bit.ly
January 24, 2025 at 5:15 PM
I am very happy for @herrdreyer.bsky.social and @natefoster.bsky.social who have become ACM Fellows! Well deserved!
TIL (thanks to @craigmod.com) that Braun makes a line of very nice digital alarm clocks. They're not cheap, but not extortionate either.
us.braun-clocks.com/collections/...
us.braun-clocks.com/collections/...
Digital Clocks
The official Braun Clocks and Watches website. We stock a wide range of Braun clocks, watches and accessories and ship our products worldwide.
us.braun-clocks.com
January 25, 2025 at 1:56 PM
TIL (thanks to @craigmod.com) that Braun makes a line of very nice digital alarm clocks. They're not cheap, but not extortionate either.
us.braun-clocks.com/collections/...
us.braun-clocks.com/collections/...
Reposted by Shrutarshi Basu
I am potentially interested in hiring a postdoc to work on declarative decompilation, I was going to hire someone else but it feel through when they got another offer they took for personal reasons, looking for someone who wants to publish in security, PL venues with me
January 22, 2025 at 6:20 PM
I am potentially interested in hiring a postdoc to work on declarative decompilation, I was going to hire someone else but it feel through when they got another offer they took for personal reasons, looking for someone who wants to publish in security, PL venues with me
Programming Rust in Emacs can be really pretty. Rust is still an ugly language though.
January 21, 2025 at 6:29 PM
Programming Rust in Emacs can be really pretty. Rust is still an ugly language though.
Reposted by Shrutarshi Basu
lmao no, TikTok users are not moving to Bluesky. They would literally rather learn Mandarin than learn how to read a feed of text posts. This is a millennial retirement home.
January 19, 2025 at 5:45 AM
lmao no, TikTok users are not moving to Bluesky. They would literally rather learn Mandarin than learn how to read a feed of text posts. This is a millennial retirement home.