Engineer Brains
@hhackenbecker.bsky.social
Master tinkerer, retired.
Loves: old Macs, cats, humour, SF&F, Star Trek
Loathes: politics, sport, Facebook, Google, anything POSIX
This might be he/it/oi-you.
Loves: old Macs, cats, humour, SF&F, Star Trek
Loathes: politics, sport, Facebook, Google, anything POSIX
This might be he/it/oi-you.
"It's an old meme but it still checks out, sir."
November 11, 2025 at 2:44 AM
"It's an old meme but it still checks out, sir."
Reposted by Engineer Brains
Max Mathews: The First Computer Musician archive.nytimes.com/opinionator....
November 10, 2025 at 2:32 AM
Max Mathews: The First Computer Musician archive.nytimes.com/opinionator....
Today's decisive truthiness:
November 10, 2025 at 12:29 AM
Today's decisive truthiness:
"Miss, this computer smells funny!"
Front & back of "Maths Tutor: GCSE Maths Tutorials, Higher Level - DVD-ROM for PC/Mac"
Front & back of "Maths Tutor: GCSE Maths Tutorials, Higher Level - DVD-ROM for PC/Mac"
November 9, 2025 at 5:48 AM
"Miss, this computer smells funny!"
Front & back of "Maths Tutor: GCSE Maths Tutorials, Higher Level - DVD-ROM for PC/Mac"
Front & back of "Maths Tutor: GCSE Maths Tutorials, Higher Level - DVD-ROM for PC/Mac"
Let's play a game whilst we eat, okay?
November 9, 2025 at 5:40 AM
Let's play a game whilst we eat, okay?
Big business is quite happy with this outlook.
November 9, 2025 at 4:34 AM
Big business is quite happy with this outlook.
Reposted by Engineer Brains
November 6, 2025 at 2:43 PM
Not going to happen, unless AusGov legislates to take back the entire electricity generation industry. Compared to China's solar power output, Australia's feels like a 9-volt battery.
electrek.co/2025/11/04/a...
electrek.co/2025/11/04/a...
Australia has so much solar that it's offering everyone free electricity
Australia's extensive solar power penetration makes so much energy that the government wants to offer free electricity at peak hours.
electrek.co
November 7, 2025 at 12:43 AM
Not going to happen, unless AusGov legislates to take back the entire electricity generation industry. Compared to China's solar power output, Australia's feels like a 9-volt battery.
electrek.co/2025/11/04/a...
electrek.co/2025/11/04/a...
Reposted by Engineer Brains
November 7, 2025 at 12:36 AM
Seems the space-junk which hit Tiangong's return capsule was some China themselves created a few years ago when they tested an orbital weapons system by blowing up one of their own old satellites. www.livescience.com/space/space-...
Three Chinese astronauts stranded in space after debris hits their return capsule
Three Chinese taikonauts — Wang Jie, Chen Zhongrui and Chen Dong — will be extending their stay aboard China's Tiangong space station after their return capsule was struck by a presumed piece of orbit...
www.livescience.com
November 7, 2025 at 12:37 AM
Seems the space-junk which hit Tiangong's return capsule was some China themselves created a few years ago when they tested an orbital weapons system by blowing up one of their own old satellites. www.livescience.com/space/space-...
Reposted by Engineer Brains
When you combine AI with robotics, magic happens.
November 4, 2025 at 4:50 PM
When you combine AI with robotics, magic happens.
A determined developer undertook a challenge to create the smallest-possible, bootable installation of Windows 7 & has got it down to 69.0 MiB on-disk. It can't actually *run* anything, but it does boot to the desktop (yet still complains it isn't Genuine): www.tech2geek.net/windows-7-sl...
Windows 7 Slimmed Down to Just 69 MB: The Most Minimal (and Useless) Version Ever Made - Tech2Geek
Some people slim down Windows to free up space or remove bloatware.And then there are others who take it way further. A developer known as...
www.tech2geek.net
November 4, 2025 at 11:02 AM
A determined developer undertook a challenge to create the smallest-possible, bootable installation of Windows 7 & has got it down to 69.0 MiB on-disk. It can't actually *run* anything, but it does boot to the desktop (yet still complains it isn't Genuine): www.tech2geek.net/windows-7-sl...
Stop brothering me, Quark.
November 4, 2025 at 8:56 AM
Stop brothering me, Quark.
LinkedIn users, you have ONE DAY LEFT to OPT OUT of their AI training. Otherwise EVERYTHING you have posted (inc. personal info) will go into its hungry maw.
www.techradar.com/pro/linkedin...
www.techradar.com/pro/linkedin...
LinkedIn will use your data to train its AI models unless you opt out
You're already opted it, so you have to take action on LinkedIn now
www.techradar.com
November 1, 2025 at 11:45 PM
LinkedIn users, you have ONE DAY LEFT to OPT OUT of their AI training. Otherwise EVERYTHING you have posted (inc. personal info) will go into its hungry maw.
www.techradar.com/pro/linkedin...
www.techradar.com/pro/linkedin...
They take trick-or-treating very seriously in the Ukraine.
November 1, 2025 at 12:26 AM
They take trick-or-treating very seriously in the Ukraine.
"Izz dat a twibble in your pocket or are you chust enchoying zee show?"
October 31, 2025 at 7:22 AM
"Izz dat a twibble in your pocket or are you chust enchoying zee show?"
Tired of people interrupting you while you're trying to explain something or just trying to do your job with "But ChatGPT said..." Things to say to get them out of your hair: stopcitingai.com
Stop Citing AI
A response to ‘But ChatGPT said…’
stopcitingai.com
October 31, 2025 at 4:19 AM
Tired of people interrupting you while you're trying to explain something or just trying to do your job with "But ChatGPT said..." Things to say to get them out of your hair: stopcitingai.com
Hey, don't touch that! It's my box of emotional support cables!
October 30, 2025 at 2:08 PM
Hey, don't touch that! It's my box of emotional support cables!
Reposted by Engineer Brains
Source: 9to5google.com/2025/10/29/y...
*End users* can opt out, and will be able to check in the player whether they are watching a real or upscaled video. But I am very curious, if you could put an exact cost on this decision in terms of kWh/atmospheric CO2, what the total would come to.
*End users* can opt out, and will be able to check in the player whether they are watching a real or upscaled video. But I am very curious, if you could put an exact cost on this decision in terms of kWh/atmospheric CO2, what the total would come to.
October 29, 2025 at 10:47 PM
Source: 9to5google.com/2025/10/29/y...
*End users* can opt out, and will be able to check in the player whether they are watching a real or upscaled video. But I am very curious, if you could put an exact cost on this decision in terms of kWh/atmospheric CO2, what the total would come to.
*End users* can opt out, and will be able to check in the player whether they are watching a real or upscaled video. But I am very curious, if you could put an exact cost on this decision in terms of kWh/atmospheric CO2, what the total would come to.
Reposted by Engineer Brains
Saying "I don't know" Is a Sign of Seniority For Me newsletter.eng-leadership.com/p/saying-i-d...
Saying "I don't know" Is a Sign of Seniority For Me
Best engineers are honest and curious -> They openly admit when they don't know something, and they are curious to find out what the right answer is!
newsletter.eng-leadership.com
October 29, 2025 at 11:05 PM
Saying "I don't know" Is a Sign of Seniority For Me newsletter.eng-leadership.com/p/saying-i-d...
Reposted by Engineer Brains
Newsletter: This is The Case Against Generative AI, a comprehensive analysis of a financial collapse built on myths I’ll dispel, the markets’ unhealthy obsession with NVIDIA's growth, and the fact that there is not enough money in the world to fund OpenAI.
www.wheresyoured.at/the-case-aga...
www.wheresyoured.at/the-case-aga...
The Case Against Generative AI
Soundtrack: Queens of the Stone Age - First It Giveth
Before we go any further: This is, for the third time this year, the longest newsletter I've ever written, weighing in somewhere around 18,500 wo...
www.wheresyoured.at
September 29, 2025 at 5:37 PM
Newsletter: This is The Case Against Generative AI, a comprehensive analysis of a financial collapse built on myths I’ll dispel, the markets’ unhealthy obsession with NVIDIA's growth, and the fact that there is not enough money in the world to fund OpenAI.
www.wheresyoured.at/the-case-aga...
www.wheresyoured.at/the-case-aga...
Buying a wankpanzer is a sure sign of erectile dysfunction. Buying a custom plate for your Dodge RAM that reads "BONER-1" just makes it much, much worse.
October 30, 2025 at 12:35 AM
Buying a wankpanzer is a sure sign of erectile dysfunction. Buying a custom plate for your Dodge RAM that reads "BONER-1" just makes it much, much worse.
Select all squares containing muffins, then click Verify to continue.
October 29, 2025 at 11:50 PM
Select all squares containing muffins, then click Verify to continue.
Pro tip for AirPod Pro 3 owners: Don't use them for noise-cancelling on airline flights, it appears that as the jet flies higher the air pressure drops causing the tips to change shape, breaking the 'fit' and creating a feedback whistle. basicappleguy.com/basicapplebl...
The AirPods Pro 3 Flight Problem — Basic Apple Guy
Testing Apple’s latest noise-cancelling earbuds at 39,000 feet reveals a potential flaw most users won’t notice, until they fly.
basicappleguy.com
October 29, 2025 at 12:02 PM
Pro tip for AirPod Pro 3 owners: Don't use them for noise-cancelling on airline flights, it appears that as the jet flies higher the air pressure drops causing the tips to change shape, breaking the 'fit' and creating a feedback whistle. basicappleguy.com/basicapplebl...
Pftop laughing, you're nexpth.
October 29, 2025 at 11:08 AM
Pftop laughing, you're nexpth.