Tony Wallace
@tonywallace.com
Web developer, guitarist, woodworker
Reposted by Tony Wallace
Firing squad. I’m sorry there’s just nothing I can do for these ppl
November 26, 2025 at 10:17 PM
Firing squad. I’m sorry there’s just nothing I can do for these ppl
Reposted by Tony Wallace
ever since I learned about three-cueing I've developed infinitely more patience for replies on social media. mfers literally do not know how to read. people are walking around conjuring random meanings into words they don't know, and they don't know a lot of words. it's crazy
November 11, 2025 at 6:15 PM
ever since I learned about three-cueing I've developed infinitely more patience for replies on social media. mfers literally do not know how to read. people are walking around conjuring random meanings into words they don't know, and they don't know a lot of words. it's crazy
Reposted by Tony Wallace
Reposted by Tony Wallace
Idea guys should be more appropriately called one-idea guys, because that's all they got. Not knowing how to produce new ideas makes the one they do have feel like the most precious thing in the world.
Meanwhile the rest of us, haunted by hundreds of ideas, understand the worthlessness of just one.
Meanwhile the rest of us, haunted by hundreds of ideas, understand the worthlessness of just one.
October 21, 2025 at 8:41 PM
Idea guys should be more appropriately called one-idea guys, because that's all they got. Not knowing how to produce new ideas makes the one they do have feel like the most precious thing in the world.
Meanwhile the rest of us, haunted by hundreds of ideas, understand the worthlessness of just one.
Meanwhile the rest of us, haunted by hundreds of ideas, understand the worthlessness of just one.
Reposted by Tony Wallace
If we're having a debate, and at any point you say, "let's ask ChatGPT", then you lose by default.
October 21, 2025 at 8:17 PM
If we're having a debate, and at any point you say, "let's ask ChatGPT", then you lose by default.
Reposted by Tony Wallace
In the late stages of the bubble we’re starting to see multiple “people in tech don’t really believe in all of this, honest, we just act like it because we think we have to”, but the truth is that it doesn’t matter. What matters is that you’ve been acting like a true believer and you are what you do
October 19, 2025 at 10:33 AM
In the late stages of the bubble we’re starting to see multiple “people in tech don’t really believe in all of this, honest, we just act like it because we think we have to”, but the truth is that it doesn’t matter. What matters is that you’ve been acting like a true believer and you are what you do
Reposted by Tony Wallace
I don't understand why AI people keep insisting, "if we can't steal your work, our industry will die" as if this were a compelling argument.
It reveals the very rotten core of your soul if you don't understand how foolish this makes you look.
It reveals the very rotten core of your soul if you don't understand how foolish this makes you look.
October 8, 2025 at 1:44 PM
I don't understand why AI people keep insisting, "if we can't steal your work, our industry will die" as if this were a compelling argument.
It reveals the very rotten core of your soul if you don't understand how foolish this makes you look.
It reveals the very rotten core of your soul if you don't understand how foolish this makes you look.
Listened to this twice in a row this morning. It’s excellent.
September 6, 2025 at 1:36 AM
Listened to this twice in a row this morning. It’s excellent.
Reposted by Tony Wallace
Throughout the 1970s, Ken Carter was known as The Mad Canadian.
He travelled around Canada, jumping cars, buses and ponds.
Then he decided he wanted to jump the St. Lawrence River from Canada to the USA in a rocket-powered Lincoln Continental.
This is his story.
🧵 1/12
He travelled around Canada, jumping cars, buses and ponds.
Then he decided he wanted to jump the St. Lawrence River from Canada to the USA in a rocket-powered Lincoln Continental.
This is his story.
🧵 1/12
September 5, 2025 at 1:01 PM
Throughout the 1970s, Ken Carter was known as The Mad Canadian.
He travelled around Canada, jumping cars, buses and ponds.
Then he decided he wanted to jump the St. Lawrence River from Canada to the USA in a rocket-powered Lincoln Continental.
This is his story.
🧵 1/12
He travelled around Canada, jumping cars, buses and ponds.
Then he decided he wanted to jump the St. Lawrence River from Canada to the USA in a rocket-powered Lincoln Continental.
This is his story.
🧵 1/12
Reposted by Tony Wallace
I think I need to drive this home more: programming didn't used to be like this—even for complex, networked apps with a large amount of features and complex user interfaces.
And apps didn't have thousands of dependencies like many even simple ones do now.
And apps didn't have thousands of dependencies like many even simple ones do now.
IMO the reason why people yearn for tools that generate code is that programming is broken—everything now is giant layer cakes of huge, complex and intransparent frameworks designed by and for large teams in giant tech companies.
i'm actually not averse to the idea of computers generating code. after all, that's what all scripting languages etc. do, and all visual programming tools do, and all plain-language programming languages do
i could see there being actually smart tools for this
but this is not where we're at
i could see there being actually smart tools for this
but this is not where we're at
September 5, 2025 at 12:11 AM
I think I need to drive this home more: programming didn't used to be like this—even for complex, networked apps with a large amount of features and complex user interfaces.
And apps didn't have thousands of dependencies like many even simple ones do now.
And apps didn't have thousands of dependencies like many even simple ones do now.
Reposted by Tony Wallace
Listen now to the first two tracks from _Thereupon_, the forthcoming album by Fieldwork (Steve Lehman, V.I., Tyshawn Sorey) !!!
music.apple.com/us/album/the...
music.apple.com/us/album/the...
Thereupon by Fieldwork on Apple Music
Album · 2025 · 9 Songs
music.apple.com
August 15, 2025 at 1:39 PM
Listen now to the first two tracks from _Thereupon_, the forthcoming album by Fieldwork (Steve Lehman, V.I., Tyshawn Sorey) !!!
music.apple.com/us/album/the...
music.apple.com/us/album/the...
Reposted by Tony Wallace
Reposted by Tony Wallace
If you're going to send me something written by an LLM then save us all time and resources and just send me your prompt instead. I'll value a text that says "Heartfelt condolence message with reference to a list of events" more, because this way I at least actually know what you were thinking
August 3, 2025 at 10:50 PM
If you're going to send me something written by an LLM then save us all time and resources and just send me your prompt instead. I'll value a text that says "Heartfelt condolence message with reference to a list of events" more, because this way I at least actually know what you were thinking
Reposted by Tony Wallace
You can choose not to use AI, but you can't choose not to have dumbfucks using AI ruin your entire day.
new type of annoying pattern is people filing nonsensical AI-generated issues and other people sending nonsensical PRs trying to fix those issues
August 3, 2025 at 1:57 AM
You can choose not to use AI, but you can't choose not to have dumbfucks using AI ruin your entire day.
Ability to use html and css more or less properly, and attitude towards it, is the one thing I will unabashedly judge web developers on. These are the fundamentals of the craft.
Management pressures people into using these frameworks but if you actually think you *need* them, you have work to do.
Management pressures people into using these frameworks but if you actually think you *need* them, you have work to do.
every time I see tailwind-esque classnames and divs in divs in divs I sigh in disappointment
![screenshot of html code with divs in divs in divs and each element has multiple abstract classnames such as 'w-[calc(var(--spacing-nav-width)-2*var(--spacing-xs))]'](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:vuhj36g3hic4l7ad4aoc3sbn/bafkreic7zmzcm2okffhifokkqq4l3fui6kjcmdjpzxmcdjxuek7t6sbpoi@jpeg)
July 22, 2025 at 4:30 PM
Ability to use html and css more or less properly, and attitude towards it, is the one thing I will unabashedly judge web developers on. These are the fundamentals of the craft.
Management pressures people into using these frameworks but if you actually think you *need* them, you have work to do.
Management pressures people into using these frameworks but if you actually think you *need* them, you have work to do.
Reposted by Tony Wallace
The real hierarchy of needs
February 8, 2025 at 6:06 PM
The real hierarchy of needs
Reposted by Tony Wallace
I have this weird theory that it's still probably a good idea to know what you're doing.
July 1, 2025 at 2:23 PM
I have this weird theory that it's still probably a good idea to know what you're doing.
Reposted by Tony Wallace
Reposted by Tony Wallace
The neck-snapping, instantaneous transition from "Brother Rapp" to "Ain't It Funky Now" on James Brown's Love Power Peace: Live In Paris 1971 is one of the hardest things you'll ever hear. Ken Vandermark writes about it here:
kenvandermark.com/prime-cuts-4...
kenvandermark.com/prime-cuts-4...
Prime Cuts #4: “Love Power Peace” (Polydor, 1992), James Brown - Ken Vandermark
This series of essays, that explore the ideas of sequencing and montage between two pieces of recorded music or two film scenes, continues with another one of my favorite albums: [...]
kenvandermark.com
May 6, 2025 at 9:01 PM
The neck-snapping, instantaneous transition from "Brother Rapp" to "Ain't It Funky Now" on James Brown's Love Power Peace: Live In Paris 1971 is one of the hardest things you'll ever hear. Ken Vandermark writes about it here:
kenvandermark.com/prime-cuts-4...
kenvandermark.com/prime-cuts-4...
Reposted by Tony Wallace
I don't 'refuse to use' AI, I just don't use AI; in the same way that I don't shoplift, or plagiarise other people's books - it requires no effort of will, it's just not something I would think of doing
Bizarrely framed article about the people (all women) who ‘refuse to use AI’. And a #philosophy professor who says “The moment to opt out of #AI has already passed”. Oh well. That’s that then. 🤷♂️ #AIEthics www.bbc.com/news/article...
The people refusing to use AI
Worried about the environment and the loss of skills, some people are resisting the rise of AI.
www.bbc.com
May 6, 2025 at 6:15 AM
I don't 'refuse to use' AI, I just don't use AI; in the same way that I don't shoplift, or plagiarise other people's books - it requires no effort of will, it's just not something I would think of doing
Reposted by Tony Wallace
Reposted by Tony Wallace
I counter your "Every software developer should have side projects" with "Every employer should give developers time in the working week to learn proactively and try new stuff". Otherwise we end up with a monoculture.
And... well... we don't need to imagine what that might look like.
And... well... we don't need to imagine what that might look like.
April 21, 2025 at 10:13 PM
I counter your "Every software developer should have side projects" with "Every employer should give developers time in the working week to learn proactively and try new stuff". Otherwise we end up with a monoculture.
And... well... we don't need to imagine what that might look like.
And... well... we don't need to imagine what that might look like.
Reposted by Tony Wallace
This is why professional ethics matter. This is blatantly unethical, and if the allegations are true, the engineers responsible should have refused.
But computing does not have a sufficiently strong culture of ethical duty and professional responsibility.
But computing does not have a sufficiently strong culture of ethical duty and professional responsibility.
Some software engineering team is doing the math on odometer acceleration and sending out updates to trigger it on faulty cars
People are getting raises and promotions for kicking defective Teslas off warranty
People are getting raises and promotions for kicking defective Teslas off warranty
April 16, 2025 at 11:40 AM
This is why professional ethics matter. This is blatantly unethical, and if the allegations are true, the engineers responsible should have refused.
But computing does not have a sufficiently strong culture of ethical duty and professional responsibility.
But computing does not have a sufficiently strong culture of ethical duty and professional responsibility.
Reposted by Tony Wallace
Why even have a brain, any ideas, any ability to express them, any kind of communication with other people, any desire to solve problems or invent anything, any reason to learn, any use for your eyes or your heart, or any reason to teach or create
April 15, 2025 at 12:12 AM
Why even have a brain, any ideas, any ability to express them, any kind of communication with other people, any desire to solve problems or invent anything, any reason to learn, any use for your eyes or your heart, or any reason to teach or create
Reposted by Tony Wallace
Sometimes the best course of action is to let people learn from own experience.
I don't want to be a naysayer about vibe coding.
So yes, go ahead and cancel the Calendly subscription for $400/mo for your team and use your vibe coded solution
Let's talk in a year on learnings
I don't want to be a naysayer about vibe coding.
So yes, go ahead and cancel the Calendly subscription for $400/mo for your team and use your vibe coded solution
Let's talk in a year on learnings
April 14, 2025 at 11:37 AM
Sometimes the best course of action is to let people learn from own experience.
I don't want to be a naysayer about vibe coding.
So yes, go ahead and cancel the Calendly subscription for $400/mo for your team and use your vibe coded solution
Let's talk in a year on learnings
I don't want to be a naysayer about vibe coding.
So yes, go ahead and cancel the Calendly subscription for $400/mo for your team and use your vibe coded solution
Let's talk in a year on learnings