LaurieWired
@lauriewired.bsky.social
researcher @google; serial complexity unpacker
ex @ msft & aerospace
ex @ msft & aerospace
Everyone knows the PS3 Cell processor.
I bet you didn't know Toshiba had a strange, cut-down Cell as a PCI-E card…for video processing.
Essentially an early form of AI upscaling, the card also implemented face detection!
Emulation nerds also got *very* excited:
I bet you didn't know Toshiba had a strange, cut-down Cell as a PCI-E card…for video processing.
Essentially an early form of AI upscaling, the card also implemented face detection!
Emulation nerds also got *very* excited:
January 6, 2026 at 12:49 AM
Everyone knows the PS3 Cell processor.
I bet you didn't know Toshiba had a strange, cut-down Cell as a PCI-E card…for video processing.
Essentially an early form of AI upscaling, the card also implemented face detection!
Emulation nerds also got *very* excited:
I bet you didn't know Toshiba had a strange, cut-down Cell as a PCI-E card…for video processing.
Essentially an early form of AI upscaling, the card also implemented face detection!
Emulation nerds also got *very* excited:
There’s a lot of weird ways to store a bit.
Delay Line Memory might be the strangest.
Essentially, sound waves looped through a medium, creating a sequential “memory” inside the material itself.
Alan Turing suggested using…Gin
Delay Line Memory might be the strangest.
Essentially, sound waves looped through a medium, creating a sequential “memory” inside the material itself.
Alan Turing suggested using…Gin
December 30, 2025 at 8:08 PM
There’s a lot of weird ways to store a bit.
Delay Line Memory might be the strangest.
Essentially, sound waves looped through a medium, creating a sequential “memory” inside the material itself.
Alan Turing suggested using…Gin
Delay Line Memory might be the strangest.
Essentially, sound waves looped through a medium, creating a sequential “memory” inside the material itself.
Alan Turing suggested using…Gin
The “opposite” of a GPU is kinda weird.
Graphcore has a strange chip (IPU) that loves tiny batches...but is also massively parallel.
It used to cost ~$100k. Now you can get one on Ebay for $150 bucks.
The catch is it's almost impossible to use.
Graphcore has a strange chip (IPU) that loves tiny batches...but is also massively parallel.
It used to cost ~$100k. Now you can get one on Ebay for $150 bucks.
The catch is it's almost impossible to use.
December 29, 2025 at 8:59 PM
The “opposite” of a GPU is kinda weird.
Graphcore has a strange chip (IPU) that loves tiny batches...but is also massively parallel.
It used to cost ~$100k. Now you can get one on Ebay for $150 bucks.
The catch is it's almost impossible to use.
Graphcore has a strange chip (IPU) that loves tiny batches...but is also massively parallel.
It used to cost ~$100k. Now you can get one on Ebay for $150 bucks.
The catch is it's almost impossible to use.
Merry Christmas everyone!
December 25, 2025 at 7:12 PM
Merry Christmas everyone!
Why do programmers get confused around the holidays?
OCT 31 = DEC 25
OCT 31 = DEC 25
December 25, 2025 at 5:36 AM
Why do programmers get confused around the holidays?
OCT 31 = DEC 25
OCT 31 = DEC 25
little C++ puzzle I made...what prints?
December 24, 2025 at 7:39 PM
little C++ puzzle I made...what prints?
Gaussian splats are quite the rage lately (for good reason).
Yet the technique is actually quite old!
35 years ago, Lee Westover created the worlds first splat with the “UNC Head” dataset.
A high-res CT scan...much too detailed for computers at the time.
Yet the technique is actually quite old!
35 years ago, Lee Westover created the worlds first splat with the “UNC Head” dataset.
A high-res CT scan...much too detailed for computers at the time.
December 23, 2025 at 8:27 PM
Gaussian splats are quite the rage lately (for good reason).
Yet the technique is actually quite old!
35 years ago, Lee Westover created the worlds first splat with the “UNC Head” dataset.
A high-res CT scan...much too detailed for computers at the time.
Yet the technique is actually quite old!
35 years ago, Lee Westover created the worlds first splat with the “UNC Head” dataset.
A high-res CT scan...much too detailed for computers at the time.
i’d watch the heck of an arXiv wrapped
December 23, 2025 at 6:18 AM
i’d watch the heck of an arXiv wrapped
one of the trickiest C++ bugs I’ve experienced involved the *physical* location of data in memory.
writing some tricky string decryption code, it worked...sometimes
recompilation slightly shifted the layout of the stack, which by pure luck contained a “safe” number
writing some tricky string decryption code, it worked...sometimes
recompilation slightly shifted the layout of the stack, which by pure luck contained a “safe” number
December 22, 2025 at 8:02 PM
one of the trickiest C++ bugs I’ve experienced involved the *physical* location of data in memory.
writing some tricky string decryption code, it worked...sometimes
recompilation slightly shifted the layout of the stack, which by pure luck contained a “safe” number
writing some tricky string decryption code, it worked...sometimes
recompilation slightly shifted the layout of the stack, which by pure luck contained a “safe” number
This...is Programming Like a Fighter Pilot.
A single unhandled exception destroyed a $500 million rocket in seconds.
The F-35 wasn't going to make the same mistake.
By carefully slicing C++, engineers created one of the strictest coding standards ever written.
A single unhandled exception destroyed a $500 million rocket in seconds.
The F-35 wasn't going to make the same mistake.
By carefully slicing C++, engineers created one of the strictest coding standards ever written.
December 3, 2025 at 7:34 PM
This...is Programming Like a Fighter Pilot.
A single unhandled exception destroyed a $500 million rocket in seconds.
The F-35 wasn't going to make the same mistake.
By carefully slicing C++, engineers created one of the strictest coding standards ever written.
A single unhandled exception destroyed a $500 million rocket in seconds.
The F-35 wasn't going to make the same mistake.
By carefully slicing C++, engineers created one of the strictest coding standards ever written.
Everyone’s heard of IPv4 and IPv6.
I bet you don’t know about IPv5.
Designed in the late 70s, it was an experimental protocol by MIT’s Lincoln Labs for real-time streaming.
Basically, Zoom before Zoom existed...but for defense:
I bet you don’t know about IPv5.
Designed in the late 70s, it was an experimental protocol by MIT’s Lincoln Labs for real-time streaming.
Basically, Zoom before Zoom existed...but for defense:
November 19, 2025 at 9:33 PM
Everyone’s heard of IPv4 and IPv6.
I bet you don’t know about IPv5.
Designed in the late 70s, it was an experimental protocol by MIT’s Lincoln Labs for real-time streaming.
Basically, Zoom before Zoom existed...but for defense:
I bet you don’t know about IPv5.
Designed in the late 70s, it was an experimental protocol by MIT’s Lincoln Labs for real-time streaming.
Basically, Zoom before Zoom existed...but for defense:
There are entire classes of logos that look professional, familiar, and entirely unoriginal.
Finance Firm? Have a growth line.
Tech? Something spherical.
Law Office? Your acronym better be in boxes.
Finance Firm? Have a growth line.
Tech? Something spherical.
Law Office? Your acronym better be in boxes.
November 17, 2025 at 10:32 PM
There are entire classes of logos that look professional, familiar, and entirely unoriginal.
Finance Firm? Have a growth line.
Tech? Something spherical.
Law Office? Your acronym better be in boxes.
Finance Firm? Have a growth line.
Tech? Something spherical.
Law Office? Your acronym better be in boxes.
The world’s first microprocessor is *NOT* from Intel.
But you won’t find it in many textbooks.
It was a secret only declassified in 1998; for good reason.
The Garrett AiResearch F14 Air Data Computer was 8x faster than the Intel 4004, and a year earlier!
But you won’t find it in many textbooks.
It was a secret only declassified in 1998; for good reason.
The Garrett AiResearch F14 Air Data Computer was 8x faster than the Intel 4004, and a year earlier!
November 13, 2025 at 8:11 PM
The world’s first microprocessor is *NOT* from Intel.
But you won’t find it in many textbooks.
It was a secret only declassified in 1998; for good reason.
The Garrett AiResearch F14 Air Data Computer was 8x faster than the Intel 4004, and a year earlier!
But you won’t find it in many textbooks.
It was a secret only declassified in 1998; for good reason.
The Garrett AiResearch F14 Air Data Computer was 8x faster than the Intel 4004, and a year earlier!
Take a look at your keyboard.
See the backslash key?
It’s the *only* punctuation character (not a glyph!) created in the computer age.
Just about every typographic symbol on your keyboard is centuries old.
See the backslash key?
It’s the *only* punctuation character (not a glyph!) created in the computer age.
Just about every typographic symbol on your keyboard is centuries old.
November 11, 2025 at 9:29 PM
Take a look at your keyboard.
See the backslash key?
It’s the *only* punctuation character (not a glyph!) created in the computer age.
Just about every typographic symbol on your keyboard is centuries old.
See the backslash key?
It’s the *only* punctuation character (not a glyph!) created in the computer age.
Just about every typographic symbol on your keyboard is centuries old.
Shader systems are ridiculously powerful if you’re clever enough.
Most people use them to create visual effects. You know what’s cooler?
Running Linux.
Inside an emulated RISC-V CPU. Inside a pixel shader. Inside of VRChat...
Most people use them to create visual effects. You know what’s cooler?
Running Linux.
Inside an emulated RISC-V CPU. Inside a pixel shader. Inside of VRChat...
November 10, 2025 at 9:44 PM
Shader systems are ridiculously powerful if you’re clever enough.
Most people use them to create visual effects. You know what’s cooler?
Running Linux.
Inside an emulated RISC-V CPU. Inside a pixel shader. Inside of VRChat...
Most people use them to create visual effects. You know what’s cooler?
Running Linux.
Inside an emulated RISC-V CPU. Inside a pixel shader. Inside of VRChat...
HP Labs once built a broken supercomputer…on purpose.
Teramac had over 220,000 Hardware Defects.
The question was; can you make a reliable computer out of *known* bad parts?
It was a phenomenal software problem to route around the faults:
Teramac had over 220,000 Hardware Defects.
The question was; can you make a reliable computer out of *known* bad parts?
It was a phenomenal software problem to route around the faults:
November 5, 2025 at 6:28 PM
HP Labs once built a broken supercomputer…on purpose.
Teramac had over 220,000 Hardware Defects.
The question was; can you make a reliable computer out of *known* bad parts?
It was a phenomenal software problem to route around the faults:
Teramac had over 220,000 Hardware Defects.
The question was; can you make a reliable computer out of *known* bad parts?
It was a phenomenal software problem to route around the faults:
You’ve heard of the Unix 2038 Problem.
I bet you haven’t heard of the GPS 2038 problem.
Every GPS navigation device in existence experiences an integer overflow every 19.6 years.
Last time, it wiped out iPhones, NOAA weather buoys, and a number of flights in China:
I bet you haven’t heard of the GPS 2038 problem.
Every GPS navigation device in existence experiences an integer overflow every 19.6 years.
Last time, it wiped out iPhones, NOAA weather buoys, and a number of flights in China:
November 4, 2025 at 7:50 PM
You’ve heard of the Unix 2038 Problem.
I bet you haven’t heard of the GPS 2038 problem.
Every GPS navigation device in existence experiences an integer overflow every 19.6 years.
Last time, it wiped out iPhones, NOAA weather buoys, and a number of flights in China:
I bet you haven’t heard of the GPS 2038 problem.
Every GPS navigation device in existence experiences an integer overflow every 19.6 years.
Last time, it wiped out iPhones, NOAA weather buoys, and a number of flights in China:
The reason we know Radiation causes bit-flips in DRAM is pretty hilarious.
In the late 70s, Intel Ram was occasionally producing soft, uncorrectable errors.
Turns out, the ceramic packaging on the chip itself had a little bit of Uranium.
You know, as one does.
In the late 70s, Intel Ram was occasionally producing soft, uncorrectable errors.
Turns out, the ceramic packaging on the chip itself had a little bit of Uranium.
You know, as one does.
November 3, 2025 at 7:41 PM
The reason we know Radiation causes bit-flips in DRAM is pretty hilarious.
In the late 70s, Intel Ram was occasionally producing soft, uncorrectable errors.
Turns out, the ceramic packaging on the chip itself had a little bit of Uranium.
You know, as one does.
In the late 70s, Intel Ram was occasionally producing soft, uncorrectable errors.
Turns out, the ceramic packaging on the chip itself had a little bit of Uranium.
You know, as one does.
A Spooky Unix story for Halloween.
A new programmer accidentally ran “rm -rf *” as root, on one of the main computers at the University of Manchester.
He stopped halfway, but /bin, /etc, /dev, and /lib were gone.
What followed was one of the most insane live recoveries in computer history:
A new programmer accidentally ran “rm -rf *” as root, on one of the main computers at the University of Manchester.
He stopped halfway, but /bin, /etc, /dev, and /lib were gone.
What followed was one of the most insane live recoveries in computer history:
November 1, 2025 at 6:14 PM
A Spooky Unix story for Halloween.
A new programmer accidentally ran “rm -rf *” as root, on one of the main computers at the University of Manchester.
He stopped halfway, but /bin, /etc, /dev, and /lib were gone.
What followed was one of the most insane live recoveries in computer history:
A new programmer accidentally ran “rm -rf *” as root, on one of the main computers at the University of Manchester.
He stopped halfway, but /bin, /etc, /dev, and /lib were gone.
What followed was one of the most insane live recoveries in computer history:
The biggest predictor of coding ability is Language Aptitude. Not Math.
A study posted in Nature found that numeracy accounts for just 2% of skill variance.
Meanwhile, the neural behaviors associated with language accounted for 70% of skill variance.
A study posted in Nature found that numeracy accounts for just 2% of skill variance.
Meanwhile, the neural behaviors associated with language accounted for 70% of skill variance.
October 31, 2025 at 6:21 PM
The biggest predictor of coding ability is Language Aptitude. Not Math.
A study posted in Nature found that numeracy accounts for just 2% of skill variance.
Meanwhile, the neural behaviors associated with language accounted for 70% of skill variance.
A study posted in Nature found that numeracy accounts for just 2% of skill variance.
Meanwhile, the neural behaviors associated with language accounted for 70% of skill variance.
Programming Isn't Math, It's Linguistics.
Compilers and Humans have the same problem. We're all terrible at understanding each other.
Join me for some formal language theory, a lot of C++, and some "recreational" insults.
Compilers and Humans have the same problem. We're all terrible at understanding each other.
Join me for some formal language theory, a lot of C++, and some "recreational" insults.
October 29, 2025 at 5:39 PM
Programming Isn't Math, It's Linguistics.
Compilers and Humans have the same problem. We're all terrible at understanding each other.
Join me for some formal language theory, a lot of C++, and some "recreational" insults.
Compilers and Humans have the same problem. We're all terrible at understanding each other.
Join me for some formal language theory, a lot of C++, and some "recreational" insults.
Thermal engineers literally peform miracles.
Today's chips would absolutely *fry* with older cooling.
If we were stuck with 2000s era heatsinks, every modern CPU + GPU would be basically unusable.
A 2001 Flagship GPU pushed ~30W. Now we have to deal with 500W+!
Today's chips would absolutely *fry* with older cooling.
If we were stuck with 2000s era heatsinks, every modern CPU + GPU would be basically unusable.
A 2001 Flagship GPU pushed ~30W. Now we have to deal with 500W+!
October 27, 2025 at 7:12 PM
Thermal engineers literally peform miracles.
Today's chips would absolutely *fry* with older cooling.
If we were stuck with 2000s era heatsinks, every modern CPU + GPU would be basically unusable.
A 2001 Flagship GPU pushed ~30W. Now we have to deal with 500W+!
Today's chips would absolutely *fry* with older cooling.
If we were stuck with 2000s era heatsinks, every modern CPU + GPU would be basically unusable.
A 2001 Flagship GPU pushed ~30W. Now we have to deal with 500W+!
All US Nuclear Reactor incidents are public and posted online by the NRC.
My Favorites:
“The reactor cavity is full of water. [Individual] ingested some amount of cavity water.”
(Michigan, 4 days ago)
“Unit 2 is being reduced from 100% in response to the influx of jellyfish.”
(Florida, 2011)
My Favorites:
“The reactor cavity is full of water. [Individual] ingested some amount of cavity water.”
(Michigan, 4 days ago)
“Unit 2 is being reduced from 100% in response to the influx of jellyfish.”
(Florida, 2011)
October 26, 2025 at 2:46 AM
All US Nuclear Reactor incidents are public and posted online by the NRC.
My Favorites:
“The reactor cavity is full of water. [Individual] ingested some amount of cavity water.”
(Michigan, 4 days ago)
“Unit 2 is being reduced from 100% in response to the influx of jellyfish.”
(Florida, 2011)
My Favorites:
“The reactor cavity is full of water. [Individual] ingested some amount of cavity water.”
(Michigan, 4 days ago)
“Unit 2 is being reduced from 100% in response to the influx of jellyfish.”
(Florida, 2011)
Dynamic programming was invented to confuse the Secretary of Defense.
Seriously.
Wilson (the SecDef) “would get violent if people used the term research in his presence”.
RAND mathematicians thus needed a cover story to hide their work:
Seriously.
Wilson (the SecDef) “would get violent if people used the term research in his presence”.
RAND mathematicians thus needed a cover story to hide their work:
October 23, 2025 at 7:03 PM
Dynamic programming was invented to confuse the Secretary of Defense.
Seriously.
Wilson (the SecDef) “would get violent if people used the term research in his presence”.
RAND mathematicians thus needed a cover story to hide their work:
Seriously.
Wilson (the SecDef) “would get violent if people used the term research in his presence”.
RAND mathematicians thus needed a cover story to hide their work:
imagine if modern datacenters looked this beautiful
glass walls, street level, IBM in the 1960s was unmatched
glass walls, street level, IBM in the 1960s was unmatched
October 23, 2025 at 5:41 AM
imagine if modern datacenters looked this beautiful
glass walls, street level, IBM in the 1960s was unmatched
glass walls, street level, IBM in the 1960s was unmatched