Chris K Wensel
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chris.wensel.net
Chris K Wensel
@chris.wensel.net
Co-Organizer of https://lu.ma/sf-distsys

Developer of https://github.com/ClusterlessHQ, https://cascading.wensel.net, and other data related projects.
Pinned
Thought I'd share a project i'm tinkering on

github.com/ClusterlessHQ/subpo...

it's a cli for finding emerging patterns. think of it as a way to diff one or more subsets of data in a dataset.

Or, what patterns (or itemsets) are showing more frequently in an outlier set than are in an inlier set.
github.com
Reposted by Chris K Wensel
I think a lot about accuracy-motivated reasoning and understanding how team social norms can move away from groupthink and toward valuing divergent perspectives and evidence-evaluation cycles

e.g., the scientific norms work of @jayvanbavel.bsky.social

www.researchgate.net/publication/...
(PDF) Breaking Groupthink: Why Scientific Identity and Norms Mitigate Ideological Epistemology
PDF | On Jan 2, 2020, Jay J. Van Bavel and others published Breaking Groupthink: Why Scientific Identity and Norms Mitigate Ideological Epistemology | Find, read and cite all the research you need on ...
www.researchgate.net
December 27, 2025 at 5:02 PM
Reposted by Chris K Wensel
another robot highlight for 2025: man wearing humanoid mocap suit kicks himself in the balls
December 27, 2025 at 5:27 PM
Reposted by Chris K Wensel
In conclusion, this should win Best Picture:
another robot highlight for 2025: man wearing humanoid mocap suit kicks himself in the balls
December 27, 2025 at 5:37 PM
Reposted by Chris K Wensel
Obsessed w/ possibilities for modern co op org across many domains.”In Switzerland’s member-based cooperative housing, new residents buy shares to the building. The co-op uses the money to maintain the building, keep rents below market rate and, often, provide communal amenities like child care.”
A ‘Third Way’ Between Buying or Renting? Swiss Co-ops Say They’ve Found It.
www.nytimes.com
December 26, 2025 at 9:32 PM
Reposted by Chris K Wensel
The exec that said "we thought it was farther along then it was" is absolutely the greatest issue right now. Not only is it not capable of doing any of these things on a broad scale, it will do them significantly worse than any employee. Going all in on something to boost stock value that fails.
December 25, 2025 at 11:32 PM
We got a hdmi dongle version of Galaga for Xmas. Itching to use my no-fire cheat. I read about it in the early 80s and I was the wizard at the arcade in the Galleria for a summer.

The mag is linked at the bottom of this article.

jasoneckert.github.io/myblog/the-g...
Jason Eckert's Website and Blog
My personal website and blog
jasoneckert.github.io
December 25, 2025 at 9:51 PM
Reposted by Chris K Wensel
10 (Not So) Hidden Dangers of Age Verification

It’s nearly the end of 2025, and half of the US and the UK now require you to upload your ID or scan your face to watch “sexual content.” A handful of states and Australia now have various requirements to verify your age before you can create a social…
10 (Not So) Hidden Dangers of Age Verification
It’s nearly the end of 2025, and half of the US and the UK now require you to upload your ID or scan your face to watch “sexual content.” A handful of states and Australia now have various requirements to verify your age before you can create a social media account. Age-verification laws may sound straightforward to some: protect young people online by making everyone prove their age.
www.techdirt.com
December 25, 2025 at 3:39 AM
Reposted by Chris K Wensel
California Geotour is an index of field trip information for people interested in visiting California's world-famous geologic features. This site contains geologic information, photographs, maps & directions for interesting geologic locations across the state. www.conservation.ca.gov/cgs/californ...
December 23, 2025 at 4:30 PM
Reposted by Chris K Wensel
In one sentence:

We argue that brain function IS anatomically localized, but that organization doesn’t look much like Brodmann brain areas.
December 23, 2025 at 1:02 PM
Reposted by Chris K Wensel
Soon entering the public domain: One of my favorite sci-fi authors, Olaf Stapledon! His "First and Last Men" enter the public domain on Jan 1, 2026.

web.law.duke.edu/cspd/publicd...
Public Domain Day 2026 | Duke University School of Law
January 1, 2026 is Public Domain Day: Works from 1930 are open to all, as are sound recordings from 1925! By Jennifer Jenkins and James Boyle[1] CC BY 4.0 Please note that this site is only about US l...
web.law.duke.edu
December 19, 2025 at 4:46 PM
Reposted by Chris K Wensel
People used to complain that the DBOS UI wasn't available locally. Good news: it is now, and it's free for open-source local dev.

Run a local DBOS UI right on your laptop and actually see your workflows while you build. Debugging hits different when it's visual.

docs.dbos.dev/production/s...
Self-Hosting Conductor | DBOS Docs
Self-hosted Conductor is released under a proprietary license.
docs.dbos.dev
December 19, 2025 at 5:23 PM
Reposted by Chris K Wensel
No one should be shopping at Home Depot.
“A Home Depot in Los Angeles installed three high-pitch noise-emitting machines outside to deter day laborers from seeking work there, causing them to suffer headaches and nausea, advocates alleged at a press conference on Wednesday.”
Noise machines installed by LA Home Depot ‘torture’ for day laborers, advocates say
Advocates call for removal of machines and demand that company speak out against ICE raids in parking lots
www.theguardian.com
December 21, 2025 at 10:17 PM
Oh please pg&e turn the power back off so we can sleep tonight.
With the power now on, so are all the various home alarms.
December 21, 2025 at 5:51 AM
Reposted by Chris K Wensel
At least you live in the future!
December 21, 2025 at 4:58 AM
Reposted by Chris K Wensel
“PG&E shattered profit records for the second year in a row. The utility announced Thursday it made $2.47 billion in profits in 2024.”

Meanwhile you’re aiming at the toilet wearing a headlamp.

abc7news.com/post/pge-rep...
PG&E reports profit of $2.47B for 2024, shattering records for second year in a row
Over that same time, California state regulators agreed to six separate rate increases for PG&E customers.
abc7news.com
December 21, 2025 at 2:48 AM
With the power now on, so are all the various home alarms.
December 21, 2025 at 4:46 AM
Reposted by Chris K Wensel
Waymo has halted service in San Francisco after numerous videos & images showed its autonomous cars snarling traffic during the blackout.

With traffic lights down, Waymos across the city stopped dead in their tracks at intersections.

missionlocal.org/2025/12/sf-w...
Waymo halts service during massive S.F. blackout after causing traffic jams
Waymo stopped its service across San Francisco on Saturday after numerous autonomous vehicles caused traffic jams in the city.
missionlocal.org
December 21, 2025 at 3:49 AM
Reposted by Chris K Wensel
The program is up for CIDR 2026. We have two exciting keynotes planned!

Analyzing Metastable Failures by Rebecca Isaacs

How to Give AI a Bad Carbon Footprint by David Patterson

www.cidrdb.org/cidr2026/pro...
CIDR 2026 – Program
The 16th Conference on Innovative Data Systems Research (CIDR 2026), Program
www.cidrdb.org
December 20, 2025 at 4:10 PM
I had bar clothes I only wore out in bars.
You'd go to the pub and your clothes would REEK the next day so much that your entire bedroom would sink. It was gross.
this is a good reminder of how things that are shitty but have been accepted as normal and inevitable can actually turn out to be abnormal and evitable with some science, time, education and political will
December 20, 2025 at 4:02 AM
Reposted by Chris K Wensel
Bromangelon is to Jello what Hydrox is to Oreo… it’s all in the name!
December 18, 2025 at 3:36 AM
Reposted by Chris K Wensel
It hasn't even been twelve hours, but all three of us have been overwhelmed with requests from media for comment and I'm mostly writing this now so they'll leave me alone.
this is such a painful loss. my heart is broken.
“The most important things are the hardest things to say. They are the things you get ashamed of, because words diminish them — words shrink things that seemed limitless when they were in your head to no more than living size when they’re brought out. But it’s more than that,...
wilwheaton.net
December 15, 2025 at 10:14 PM
Reposted by Chris K Wensel
Thanks Andy! We published the recording here www.youtube.com/watch?v=RnQK...

cc @alona.page @wpaven.bsky.social
DBOS: 2025 Year in Review with Mike Stonebraker and Andy Pavlo
YouTube video by DBOS-Inc
www.youtube.com
December 15, 2025 at 7:56 PM
Reposted by Chris K Wensel
Culinary Linguistics

"Language and food are universal to humankind..
Both represent crucial sites for socialization, identity construction, and the everyday fabrication and perception of the world as a meaningful, orderly place."
#OpenAccess

#FoodSky #Linguistics

library.oapen.org/handle/20.50...
May 7, 2024 at 12:12 PM