Quixoticgeek
@quixoticgeek.v.st.ap.brid.gy
Geek, Dyke, Brewer, Rider of Bikes, Maker of Things, Quixotic, Generally Curious, Mostly Harmless, she/her
🌉 bridged from ⁂ https://social.v.st/@quixoticgeek, follow @ap.brid.gy to interact
🌉 bridged from ⁂ https://social.v.st/@quixoticgeek, follow @ap.brid.gy to interact
Reposted by Quixoticgeek
Honestly I think there is a lot to this, when I see some of the guides to using LLMs for folk without coding skills I think I could more easily just teach them to code. The mystification of coding is also a huge part of the appeal of this stuff for lots of people.
February 1, 2026 at 12:33 PM
Honestly I think there is a lot to this, when I see some of the guides to using LLMs for folk without coding skills I think I could more easily just teach them to code. The mystification of coding is also a huge part of the appeal of this stuff for lots of people.
Sensible things to put in orbit: communication satellites, science satellites, crewed space stations.
Really fucking stupid things to put in orbit: giant mirrors, "datacentres", giant solar powered plants, pretty much anything else.
Really fucking stupid things to put in orbit: giant mirrors, "datacentres", giant solar powered plants, pretty much anything else.
February 1, 2026 at 12:03 PM
Sensible things to put in orbit: communication satellites, science satellites, crewed space stations.
Really fucking stupid things to put in orbit: giant mirrors, "datacentres", giant solar powered plants, pretty much anything else.
Really fucking stupid things to put in orbit: giant mirrors, "datacentres", giant solar powered plants, pretty much anything else.
Reposted by Quixoticgeek
@quixoticgeek There's also the Kessler Syndrome cascading debris risk that the boffins at ESA and EUMETSAT were worrying about 15 years ago (yes, I worked at the latter in Darmstadt).
Once we get there it's goodbye LEO for thé foreseeable future.
Once we get there it's goodbye LEO for thé foreseeable future.
February 1, 2026 at 11:55 AM
@quixoticgeek There's also the Kessler Syndrome cascading debris risk that the boffins at ESA and EUMETSAT were worrying about 15 years ago (yes, I worked at the latter in Darmstadt).
Once we get there it's goodbye LEO for thé foreseeable future.
Once we get there it's goodbye LEO for thé foreseeable future.
Reposted by Quixoticgeek
Seems a lot of people are now awake from a late night and are arriving at FOSDEM. How do I know? The LTE network is just now breaking down under the load 🤣
February 1, 2026 at 11:47 AM
Seems a lot of people are now awake from a late night and are arriving at FOSDEM. How do I know? The LTE network is just now breaking down under the load 🤣
There are currently about 12600 satellites in orbit. As a result on average every day 3 fall out of space, dumping metals and other nasties into the upper atmosphere.
If we continue that rate of satellite loss, 1 in 4200, and extrapolate it to 1,000,000. That would be ~238 satellites PER DAY […]
If we continue that rate of satellite loss, 1 in 4200, and extrapolate it to 1,000,000. That would be ~238 satellites PER DAY […]
Original post on social.v.st
social.v.st
February 1, 2026 at 11:30 AM
There are currently about 12600 satellites in orbit. As a result on average every day 3 fall out of space, dumping metals and other nasties into the upper atmosphere.
If we continue that rate of satellite loss, 1 in 4200, and extrapolate it to 1,000,000. That would be ~238 satellites PER DAY […]
If we continue that rate of satellite loss, 1 in 4200, and extrapolate it to 1,000,000. That would be ~238 satellites PER DAY […]
Reposted by Quixoticgeek
#fosdem tell the EU why #opensource matters. Before Tuesday fill in the input opportunity for the:
European Open Digital Ecosystems
https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/better-regulation/have-your-say/initiatives/16213-European-Open-Digital-Ecosystems_en
European Open Digital Ecosystems
https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/better-regulation/have-your-say/initiatives/16213-European-Open-Digital-Ecosystems_en
January 31, 2026 at 11:16 AM
#fosdem tell the EU why #opensource matters. Before Tuesday fill in the input opportunity for the:
European Open Digital Ecosystems
https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/better-regulation/have-your-say/initiatives/16213-European-Open-Digital-Ecosystems_en
European Open Digital Ecosystems
https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/better-regulation/have-your-say/initiatives/16213-European-Open-Digital-Ecosystems_en
Reposted by Quixoticgeek
@quixoticgeek@social.v.st Best approach would be to write the name of the colour on the door I think. Otherwise you're into resistor colour code territory.
January 31, 2026 at 9:30 PM
@quixoticgeek@social.v.st Best approach would be to write the name of the colour on the door I think. Otherwise you're into resistor colour code territory.
Accessibility fedi, may I nerd snipe you a little. At the makerspace we have 9 doors. I'd like to repaint each door a unique colour, so we can have simple stuff like "lock on blue door broken" and remove ambiguity. Except, as xkcd has proven, colours are hard.
Is there a set of 9 (maybe 10 to […]
Is there a set of 9 (maybe 10 to […]
Original post on social.v.st
social.v.st
January 31, 2026 at 9:04 PM
Accessibility fedi, may I nerd snipe you a little. At the makerspace we have 9 doors. I'd like to repaint each door a unique colour, so we can have simple stuff like "lock on blue door broken" and remove ambiguity. Except, as xkcd has proven, colours are hard.
Is there a set of 9 (maybe 10 to […]
Is there a set of 9 (maybe 10 to […]
No one company should be allowed to put 10000 satellites in orbit, let alone a million. While space is big. The damage the satellites do to the atmosphere on re-entry is a catastrophe waiting to happen. It's only the small number of satellites to date that has kept the damage to a minimum. If […]
Original post on social.v.st
social.v.st
January 31, 2026 at 8:33 PM
No one company should be allowed to put 10000 satellites in orbit, let alone a million. While space is big. The damage the satellites do to the atmosphere on re-entry is a catastrophe waiting to happen. It's only the small number of satellites to date that has kept the damage to a minimum. If […]
Reposted by Quixoticgeek
What the actual fuck. It's not April Fools Day, right? This is real?! Fuck you, SpaceX. Maybe this will help regulators realize how fucking shortsighted companies' plans in orbit are?
Surely the FCC won't rubber-stamp-approve this one??... ONE MILLION STARLINKS FUUUUCCCKKKKKK […]
Surely the FCC won't rubber-stamp-approve this one??... ONE MILLION STARLINKS FUUUUCCCKKKKKK […]
Original post on mastodon.social
mastodon.social
January 31, 2026 at 5:12 PM
What the actual fuck. It's not April Fools Day, right? This is real?! Fuck you, SpaceX. Maybe this will help regulators realize how fucking shortsighted companies' plans in orbit are?
Surely the FCC won't rubber-stamp-approve this one??... ONE MILLION STARLINKS FUUUUCCCKKKKKK […]
Surely the FCC won't rubber-stamp-approve this one??... ONE MILLION STARLINKS FUUUUCCCKKKKKK […]
Reposted by Quixoticgeek
Blogging is dead! Everyone cries as they write posts on Facebook that are 500 to 1000 words long, but sure, blogging is dead I guess! How is irony lost on everybody over there?
January 31, 2026 at 7:51 PM
Blogging is dead! Everyone cries as they write posts on Facebook that are 500 to 1000 words long, but sure, blogging is dead I guess! How is irony lost on everybody over there?
Reposted by Quixoticgeek
Maybe instead of defund the police or defund ICE we should make the slogan Defund the Pedophiles. #politics #EpsteinFiles
January 31, 2026 at 6:11 PM
Maybe instead of defund the police or defund ICE we should make the slogan Defund the Pedophiles. #politics #EpsteinFiles
Reposted by Quixoticgeek
Disproving @ianbetteridge's law: https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/01/do-you-have-ideas-about-how-to-improve-americas-space-program/
arstechnica.com
January 29, 2026 at 5:18 PM
Disproving @ianbetteridge's law: https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/01/do-you-have-ideas-about-how-to-improve-americas-space-program/
Reposted by Quixoticgeek
I am not an expert but this is a good sign for "AI". Right?
January 31, 2026 at 3:09 PM
I am not an expert but this is a good sign for "AI". Right?
Reposted by Quixoticgeek
We are excited to share that we are beginning work on a new onboarding experiment for #mastodon: Default Server Recommendations.
Our intent for this experiment is to recommend the closest server geographically that is in the correct language during the sign-up flow. We will be running this […]
Our intent for this experiment is to recommend the closest server geographically that is in the correct language during the sign-up flow. We will be running this […]
Original post on mastodon.social
mastodon.social
January 31, 2026 at 12:52 PM
We are excited to share that we are beginning work on a new onboarding experiment for #mastodon: Default Server Recommendations.
Our intent for this experiment is to recommend the closest server geographically that is in the correct language during the sign-up flow. We will be running this […]
Our intent for this experiment is to recommend the closest server geographically that is in the correct language during the sign-up flow. We will be running this […]
Today I'm working on the basis that it can't be stuck if it's dust...
Makerspace bought a new door for cheap. Part of the catch is the cylinder installed doesn't have a key, so needs to be removed, destructively ...
Makerspace bought a new door for cheap. Part of the catch is the cylinder installed doesn't have a key, so needs to be removed, destructively ...
January 31, 2026 at 12:52 PM
Today I'm working on the basis that it can't be stuck if it's dust...
Makerspace bought a new door for cheap. Part of the catch is the cylinder installed doesn't have a key, so needs to be removed, destructively ...
Makerspace bought a new door for cheap. Part of the catch is the cylinder installed doesn't have a key, so needs to be removed, destructively ...
Reposted by Quixoticgeek
Some people might know "bash russian roulette":
[ $[ $RANDOM % 6] = 0 ] && rm -rf / || echo "Click"
which generated a random number between 0 and 5 and if it's a zero it deletes all your files.
Running an "agent" like Moltbot is basically that with more climate impact.
[ $[ $RANDOM % 6] = 0 ] && rm -rf / || echo "Click"
which generated a random number between 0 and 5 and if it's a zero it deletes all your files.
Running an "agent" like Moltbot is basically that with more climate impact.
January 31, 2026 at 12:41 PM
Some people might know "bash russian roulette":
[ $[ $RANDOM % 6] = 0 ] && rm -rf / || echo "Click"
which generated a random number between 0 and 5 and if it's a zero it deletes all your files.
Running an "agent" like Moltbot is basically that with more climate impact.
[ $[ $RANDOM % 6] = 0 ] && rm -rf / || echo "Click"
which generated a random number between 0 and 5 and if it's a zero it deletes all your files.
Running an "agent" like Moltbot is basically that with more climate impact.
Reposted by Quixoticgeek
Reposted by Quixoticgeek
Deep in the woods lies an abandoned VW Beetle Car Graveyard.
Hundreds of Volkswagen Beetles and Bus Campervans are organised into rows and clusters, seemingly based on age and model.
This fleet of rusting rainbow-coloured vehicles appears to represent every […]
[Original post on mstdn.social]
Hundreds of Volkswagen Beetles and Bus Campervans are organised into rows and clusters, seemingly based on age and model.
This fleet of rusting rainbow-coloured vehicles appears to represent every […]
[Original post on mstdn.social]
January 31, 2026 at 9:45 AM
Deep in the woods lies an abandoned VW Beetle Car Graveyard.
Hundreds of Volkswagen Beetles and Bus Campervans are organised into rows and clusters, seemingly based on age and model.
This fleet of rusting rainbow-coloured vehicles appears to represent every […]
[Original post on mstdn.social]
Hundreds of Volkswagen Beetles and Bus Campervans are organised into rows and clusters, seemingly based on age and model.
This fleet of rusting rainbow-coloured vehicles appears to represent every […]
[Original post on mstdn.social]
Wow. The arseholes are out in force today. Fucking hell.
January 31, 2026 at 10:50 AM
Wow. The arseholes are out in force today. Fucking hell.
Reposted by Quixoticgeek
Remember, this is for one week in the coldest three months of the year. The implied cost of £138 for a 31 day month compares with favourably (slightly less in fact) with the average gas bill over the same three months last year. However, I expect the gap to widen as we move into spring as the […]
Original post on mastodon.green
mastodon.green
January 31, 2026 at 10:33 AM
Remember, this is for one week in the coldest three months of the year. The implied cost of £138 for a 31 day month compares with favourably (slightly less in fact) with the average gas bill over the same three months last year. However, I expect the gap to widen as we move into spring as the […]
Reposted by Quixoticgeek
And each edition of the newsletter is going to have a #bullshitmeter in it
Here are all the previous Bullshit Meter posts:
https://jonworth.eu/tag/bullshit-meter/
Send me your WORST rail stories, over-promises, hype and I will assess whether it is 🐂💩 or not!
Here are all the previous Bullshit Meter posts:
https://jonworth.eu/tag/bullshit-meter/
Send me your WORST rail stories, over-promises, hype and I will assess whether it is 🐂💩 or not!
January 30, 2026 at 6:50 PM
And each edition of the newsletter is going to have a #bullshitmeter in it
Here are all the previous Bullshit Meter posts:
https://jonworth.eu/tag/bullshit-meter/
Send me your WORST rail stories, over-promises, hype and I will assess whether it is 🐂💩 or not!
Here are all the previous Bullshit Meter posts:
https://jonworth.eu/tag/bullshit-meter/
Send me your WORST rail stories, over-promises, hype and I will assess whether it is 🐂💩 or not!
Fossil fuels are the ultimate single use product.
January 31, 2026 at 10:02 AM
Fossil fuels are the ultimate single use product.