Matthew Martin
@mistersql.bsky.social
DevOps Contractor for a large DC area GovTech organization.
@mistersql on twitter.
@mistersql@mastodon.social on mastodon
I live in Herndon, VA
https://github.com/matthewdeanmartin
@mistersql on twitter.
@mistersql@mastodon.social on mastodon
I live in Herndon, VA
https://github.com/matthewdeanmartin
Pinned
Matthew Martin
@mistersql.bsky.social
· Nov 30
I haven't decided what to do with this account. I got an account already for techie stuff on mastodon(1)
Bsky seems to be smart people who aren't *necessarily* techies, so maybe I'll just do my fav topics in a jumble
- philosophy
- astronomy, sci-fi
- economics
...
(1) mastodon.social/@mistersql
Bsky seems to be smart people who aren't *necessarily* techies, so maybe I'll just do my fav topics in a jumble
- philosophy
- astronomy, sci-fi
- economics
...
(1) mastodon.social/@mistersql
Inside of you are 3 wolves howling at the moon. They're not supposed to be there, they go on the T-shirt, that's how you look cool.
January 4, 2026 at 3:23 AM
Inside of you are 3 wolves howling at the moon. They're not supposed to be there, they go on the T-shirt, that's how you look cool.
Reposted by Matthew Martin
In Eating Behind Bars, author Leslie Soble details how food is used to further punish incarcerated people in the US
Mystery meat and maggot-infested produce: the disturbing reality of US prison food
www.theguardian.com
January 3, 2026 at 9:17 PM
In Eating Behind Bars, author Leslie Soble details how food is used to further punish incarcerated people in the US
Went to a book club today, in part because I figure I need to do professional networking, but man, what does that even look like anymore. No business cards were exchanged and I think most people left unlikely to see each other except at the next book club.
January 4, 2026 at 12:33 AM
Went to a book club today, in part because I figure I need to do professional networking, but man, what does that even look like anymore. No business cards were exchanged and I think most people left unlikely to see each other except at the next book club.
Only populist arguments matter nowadays, the one I can get behind is, we shouldn't be adopting stray countries like stray dogs. Let Venezuela, North Korea and every other failed state take care of themselves. De facto taking over Afghanistan ultimately was a waste of money.
January 3, 2026 at 7:24 PM
Only populist arguments matter nowadays, the one I can get behind is, we shouldn't be adopting stray countries like stray dogs. Let Venezuela, North Korea and every other failed state take care of themselves. De facto taking over Afghanistan ultimately was a waste of money.
Reposted by Matthew Martin
Dunno if I'm unusual in this way but one of the ironies of the Trump era is I feel ever more inclined to be in a broad coalition, since my standard has been reduced to "believes in anything other than lawless power, derived from fear, and centralized in a single person."
January 2, 2026 at 6:08 PM
Dunno if I'm unusual in this way but one of the ironies of the Trump era is I feel ever more inclined to be in a broad coalition, since my standard has been reduced to "believes in anything other than lawless power, derived from fear, and centralized in a single person."
It's like the burning of the libraries at Alexandria.
Just less dramatic and the Administration is doing it on purpose.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/31/c...
Just less dramatic and the Administration is doing it on purpose.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/31/c...
NASA’s Largest Library Is Closing Amid Staff and Lab Cuts
www.nytimes.com
January 1, 2026 at 9:44 PM
It's like the burning of the libraries at Alexandria.
Just less dramatic and the Administration is doing it on purpose.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/31/c...
Just less dramatic and the Administration is doing it on purpose.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/31/c...
I did 6 mostly completely side projects this December.
- resume/portfolio site
- ebook reader style site for my daughters short stories
- a mastodon reader
- a hangul worksheet generator
- PoC for airflow & dagster
- local book club site
- resume/portfolio site
- ebook reader style site for my daughters short stories
- a mastodon reader
- a hangul worksheet generator
- PoC for airflow & dagster
- local book club site
December 29, 2025 at 11:37 PM
I did 6 mostly completely side projects this December.
- resume/portfolio site
- ebook reader style site for my daughters short stories
- a mastodon reader
- a hangul worksheet generator
- PoC for airflow & dagster
- local book club site
- resume/portfolio site
- ebook reader style site for my daughters short stories
- a mastodon reader
- a hangul worksheet generator
- PoC for airflow & dagster
- local book club site
Reposted by Matthew Martin
The vast majority of the more than 2,000 measles cases diagnosed in the U.S. this year occurred in patients who were not vaccinated or whose vaccination status was unknown, the CDC says.
2025 Saw Most Measles Cases Since 1992 — Amid Latest Measles Exposure At Newark Airport
The vast majority of the more than 2,000 measles cases diagnosed in the U.S. this year occurred in patients who were not vaccinated or whose vaccination status was unknown, the CDC says.
www.forbes.com
December 29, 2025 at 9:40 PM
The vast majority of the more than 2,000 measles cases diagnosed in the U.S. this year occurred in patients who were not vaccinated or whose vaccination status was unknown, the CDC says.
People on the web seem to think the only code that gets written is the best code written by the brightest minds who have the most experience.
Ordinary human code is buggy, sloppy, not very clever and mostly written by mediocre minds, on too short of a time span and is incomplete.
Ordinary human code is buggy, sloppy, not very clever and mostly written by mediocre minds, on too short of a time span and is incomplete.
December 29, 2025 at 10:31 PM
People on the web seem to think the only code that gets written is the best code written by the brightest minds who have the most experience.
Ordinary human code is buggy, sloppy, not very clever and mostly written by mediocre minds, on too short of a time span and is incomplete.
Ordinary human code is buggy, sloppy, not very clever and mostly written by mediocre minds, on too short of a time span and is incomplete.
Reposted by Matthew Martin
“YES: Residents of Takoma Park, Maryland, noticed ICE cars lurking every day in a parking lot. So they showed up early to occupy the space, with coffee, music, conversation, knitting... not leaving ICE a single parking space. ICE stopped coming.” I. S. Democratic Socialists
December 27, 2025 at 11:54 PM
“YES: Residents of Takoma Park, Maryland, noticed ICE cars lurking every day in a parking lot. So they showed up early to occupy the space, with coffee, music, conversation, knitting... not leaving ICE a single parking space. ICE stopped coming.” I. S. Democratic Socialists
Good summary about the systematic degeneracy (and specific degeneracy of people in the administration)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAJf...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAJf...
The Epstein Files are Worse Than You Think!
YouTube video by Patrick Boyle
www.youtube.com
December 28, 2025 at 4:00 AM
Good summary about the systematic degeneracy (and specific degeneracy of people in the administration)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAJf...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAJf...
Reposted by Matthew Martin
ICE detain father shopping on Christmas Eve—then steal his family's groceries.
Then 3 agents divvy up his paid for food—taking what they want for themselves.
"Can I just get the wife's number to call and let her know?" woman asks.
"No, guess he should've complied," agent says.
Yakima, Washington
Then 3 agents divvy up his paid for food—taking what they want for themselves.
"Can I just get the wife's number to call and let her know?" woman asks.
"No, guess he should've complied," agent says.
Yakima, Washington
December 25, 2025 at 7:03 PM
ICE detain father shopping on Christmas Eve—then steal his family's groceries.
Then 3 agents divvy up his paid for food—taking what they want for themselves.
"Can I just get the wife's number to call and let her know?" woman asks.
"No, guess he should've complied," agent says.
Yakima, Washington
Then 3 agents divvy up his paid for food—taking what they want for themselves.
"Can I just get the wife's number to call and let her know?" woman asks.
"No, guess he should've complied," agent says.
Yakima, Washington
Reposted by Matthew Martin
This is perfect. The DOJ's embarrassing snafu with disappearing redactions was the fault of Elon Musk. Musk cancelled government subscriptions to Adobe programs that would have made the redactions permanent. What a pack of fools.
December 26, 2025 at 9:02 PM
This is perfect. The DOJ's embarrassing snafu with disappearing redactions was the fault of Elon Musk. Musk cancelled government subscriptions to Adobe programs that would have made the redactions permanent. What a pack of fools.
So I ask codex to write a spec and not write code until I can review the spec. It churns for 15 minutes, writes a spec and implements it, ill advisedly runs a long slow tox test. Didn't tell me nothing! I don't like the direction it went. Yes, it is kind of close, but needs to be redone now.
December 27, 2025 at 10:45 PM
So I ask codex to write a spec and not write code until I can review the spec. It churns for 15 minutes, writes a spec and implements it, ill advisedly runs a long slow tox test. Didn't tell me nothing! I don't like the direction it went. Yes, it is kind of close, but needs to be redone now.
Reposted by Matthew Martin
One of my favorite presents ever—my dad found and framed this pic of my mother @sunminkimes.bsky.social at a Seattle courthouse after she passed her US citizenship test in 1981. Like so many of the people who come here to start a new life, she is the best of us—the bravest, strongest person I know.
December 26, 2025 at 9:24 PM
One of my favorite presents ever—my dad found and framed this pic of my mother @sunminkimes.bsky.social at a Seattle courthouse after she passed her US citizenship test in 1981. Like so many of the people who come here to start a new life, she is the best of us—the bravest, strongest person I know.
This youtube video could have been a blog post.
I've been using Gemini to summarize youtube video and it is really good at that. So why aren't I reading blog posts? Because the discoverability for blog posts is awful.
The youtube algorithm, if you steer it, still finds good blog posts.
I've been using Gemini to summarize youtube video and it is really good at that. So why aren't I reading blog posts? Because the discoverability for blog posts is awful.
The youtube algorithm, if you steer it, still finds good blog posts.
December 25, 2025 at 10:14 PM
This youtube video could have been a blog post.
I've been using Gemini to summarize youtube video and it is really good at that. So why aren't I reading blog posts? Because the discoverability for blog posts is awful.
The youtube algorithm, if you steer it, still finds good blog posts.
I've been using Gemini to summarize youtube video and it is really good at that. So why aren't I reading blog posts? Because the discoverability for blog posts is awful.
The youtube algorithm, if you steer it, still finds good blog posts.
Reposted by Matthew Martin
* A Ukrainian developed and 3D-printed his own monitoring system in the style of Vault-Tec from Fallout
The device synchronizes with air raid maps, power outage schedules, and displays text messages from monitoring channels in real-time mode.*
The device synchronizes with air raid maps, power outage schedules, and displays text messages from monitoring channels in real-time mode.*
December 25, 2025 at 8:13 AM
* A Ukrainian developed and 3D-printed his own monitoring system in the style of Vault-Tec from Fallout
The device synchronizes with air raid maps, power outage schedules, and displays text messages from monitoring channels in real-time mode.*
The device synchronizes with air raid maps, power outage schedules, and displays text messages from monitoring channels in real-time mode.*
Reposted by Matthew Martin
Enjoying seeing people write little unofficial bots on isitchristmas.com during its interactive season. :)
December 24, 2025 at 9:43 PM
Enjoying seeing people write little unofficial bots on isitchristmas.com during its interactive season. :)
Already said it somewhere but...
AI labs are training their models so hard on broken environments that ALL of the frontier models assume it is normal for your source code files to disappear, that nothing specified in pyproject.toml was installed correctly and so on.
AI labs are training their models so hard on broken environments that ALL of the frontier models assume it is normal for your source code files to disappear, that nothing specified in pyproject.toml was installed correctly and so on.
December 24, 2025 at 9:23 PM
Already said it somewhere but...
AI labs are training their models so hard on broken environments that ALL of the frontier models assume it is normal for your source code files to disappear, that nothing specified in pyproject.toml was installed correctly and so on.
AI labs are training their models so hard on broken environments that ALL of the frontier models assume it is normal for your source code files to disappear, that nothing specified in pyproject.toml was installed correctly and so on.
Both Bluesky and Mastodon have such great account search I have to spend a few hours with the LLMs to write account(s to follow) finders.
December 24, 2025 at 9:05 PM
Both Bluesky and Mastodon have such great account search I have to spend a few hours with the LLMs to write account(s to follow) finders.
Reposted by Matthew Martin
“He asked to show his ID, which officers declined. Instead, they ran his biometrics. DHS is attempting to rewrite the rules on how the government collects & uses DNA, claiming legal authority to treat the entire human body — its structures, its sounds, even its molecular code — as government data.”
Trump's DNA Dragnet: The Law That Turns Us All Into Suspects
Donald Trump's administration is turning immigration screening into the backbone of a DNA surveillance system that reaches far beyond the border.
www.rollingstone.com
December 23, 2025 at 2:49 PM
“He asked to show his ID, which officers declined. Instead, they ran his biometrics. DHS is attempting to rewrite the rules on how the government collects & uses DNA, claiming legal authority to treat the entire human body — its structures, its sounds, even its molecular code — as government data.”
Reposted by Matthew Martin
The Internet Archive was built for this
December 22, 2025 at 11:40 PM
The Internet Archive was built for this
15 years ago: "my" app was written by the original developers. I'm the maintenance developer
5 years ago: "my" app was written by my team, I was the tech lead
0 years ago: "my" app was written by an LLM. I no long now how much credit I can claim.
5 years ago: "my" app was written by my team, I was the tech lead
0 years ago: "my" app was written by an LLM. I no long now how much credit I can claim.
December 21, 2025 at 11:44 PM
15 years ago: "my" app was written by the original developers. I'm the maintenance developer
5 years ago: "my" app was written by my team, I was the tech lead
0 years ago: "my" app was written by an LLM. I no long now how much credit I can claim.
5 years ago: "my" app was written by my team, I was the tech lead
0 years ago: "my" app was written by an LLM. I no long now how much credit I can claim.
This guy thinks we should be asking about models, so I've been asking the LLM "what's the model that generates this data, what's the model that generates a gamma distribution" ... very cool approach.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=-FMT...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=-FMT...
The Psychological Reasons Statistics Training Is So Bad
YouTube video by Simplistics (QuantPsych)
www.youtube.com
December 19, 2025 at 2:13 AM
This guy thinks we should be asking about models, so I've been asking the LLM "what's the model that generates this data, what's the model that generates a gamma distribution" ... very cool approach.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=-FMT...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=-FMT...
Reposted by Matthew Martin
I see a lot of complaints about untested AI slop in pull requests. Submitting those is a dereliction of duty as a software engineer: Your job is to deliver code you have proven to work simonwillison.net/2025/Dec/18/...
Your job is to deliver code you have proven to work
In all of the debates about the value of AI-assistance in software development there’s one depressing anecdote that I keep on seeing: the junior engineer, empowered by some class of …
simonwillison.net
December 18, 2025 at 2:57 PM
I see a lot of complaints about untested AI slop in pull requests. Submitting those is a dereliction of duty as a software engineer: Your job is to deliver code you have proven to work simonwillison.net/2025/Dec/18/...