I'm a philomath (many interests; call it polymath-wanna-be) professional computer programmer in Silicon Valley, specializing in operating systems […] 🌉 bridged from ⁂ https://mathstodon.xyz/@dougmerritt, follow @ap.brid.gy to interacthttps://bsky.app/profile/dougmerritt.mathstodon.xyz.ap.brid.gyhttps://bsky.app/profile/dougmerritt.mathstodon.xyz.ap.brid.gy/post/3mzlkag5tot72[Tech humor] Tech enthusiasts: My entire house is smart. Tech professionals: The only technology in my house is a printer, and I keep a gun next to it so that I can shoot it if it makes a noise I don't recognize. Security professionals: Absolutely not; all you're doing is giving the printer a […] https://mathstodon.xyz/@dougmerritt/11756535613324284905 Nov 2026 18:56 +0000at://did:plc:dlnydbbghwyuamyui65q6mef/app.bsky.feed.post/3mzlkag5tot72https://bsky.app/profile/dougmerritt.mathstodon.xyz.ap.brid.gy/post/3mzlgwhhnnxf2wtf wtf wtf are you wtkidding me? Any password at all is accepted as long as it's over 256 characters!?!?!? [With some extra conditions:] > openssh on musl linux (alpine, openwrt, buildroot, yocto, and a lot of the docker images you've pulled) has had a little problem since 2016 […] https://mathstodon.xyz/@dougmerritt/11756512204258716805 Nov 2026 17:56 +0000at://did:plc:dlnydbbghwyuamyui65q6mef/app.bsky.feed.post/3mzlgwhhnnxf2https://bsky.app/profile/dougmerritt.mathstodon.xyz.ap.brid.gy/post/3mzldluqkaso2@aartaka I just noticed GNU Mes, the (attempts-to-be-tiny) Scheme written in C used to bootstrap GNU software; apparently it's about 5 KLOC. Did you ever have reason to look at it, and if you did, is there anything interesting/noteworthy about it, in general but in particular on the subject of […] https://mathstodon.xyz/@dougmerritt/11756488777033231005 Nov 2026 16:57 +0000at://did:plc:dlnydbbghwyuamyui65q6mef/app.bsky.feed.post/3mzldluqkaso2https://bsky.app/profile/dougmerritt.mathstodon.xyz.ap.brid.gy/post/3mzfctx4ybh72@screwlisp For your amusement: > 13. BSD Unix, Part 3 - The Beginning of BSD Unix https://fosscomics.com/posts/13.%20BSD%20Unix%20Part%203%20-%20The%20Beginning%20of%20BSD%20Unix/ That doesn't look like Bill Joy in the least, but that's the way the cookie crumbles.03 Nov 2026 07:27 +0000at://did:plc:dlnydbbghwyuamyui65q6mef/app.bsky.feed.post/3mzfctx4ybh72https://bsky.app/profile/dougmerritt.mathstodon.xyz.ap.brid.gy/post/3mzdqf33eqc52@virtuosew I thought this was kind of interesting; it's a 3D gallery with cursor keys for moving around, mouse swivels view (slightly clumsy). Motto: "Explanation Kills Art" [ debatable, but that's probably the point ] > I created a Virtual museum for my wife's artworks […] https://mathstodon.xyz/@dougmerritt/11754777386946455902 Nov 2026 16:24 +0000at://did:plc:dlnydbbghwyuamyui65q6mef/app.bsky.feed.post/3mzdqf33eqc52https://bsky.app/profile/dougmerritt.mathstodon.xyz.ap.brid.gy/post/3mzdnyxcc2zj2Finally we'll be able to run Doom on "everyone"! Once all humans have been replaced by AI. This is also probably the only way to get "everyone" to learn C. https://mastodon.online/@tomshardware/11754716174771750202 Nov 2026 15:42 +0000at://did:plc:dlnydbbghwyuamyui65q6mef/app.bsky.feed.post/3mzdnyxcc2zj2https://bsky.app/profile/dougmerritt.mathstodon.xyz.ap.brid.gy/post/3mzdmoizlkeu2This sounds like it might be ideal (or at least far better than older ways) to let Windows users start using Linux, which Microsoft is doing its best to motivate in recent years. https://mastodon.social/@itsfoss/11754476039576575402 Nov 2026 15:18 +0000at://did:plc:dlnydbbghwyuamyui65q6mef/app.bsky.feed.post/3mzdmoizlkeu2https://bsky.app/profile/dougmerritt.mathstodon.xyz.ap.brid.gy/post/3mzdijzcuzq52> Beating the compiler at signed 32-bit division > 31 October 2026 · 10 min > Dividing integers is slow on our processors. A 32-bit division costs: [ table showing 7-12 cycles, depending ] https://lemire.me/blog/2026/10/31/beating-the-compiler-at-signed-32-bit-division/ And that's 32 bit, not […] https://mathstodon.xyz/@dougmerritt/11754722214186906602 Nov 2026 14:04 +0000at://did:plc:dlnydbbghwyuamyui65q6mef/app.bsky.feed.post/3mzdijzcuzq52https://bsky.app/profile/dougmerritt.mathstodon.xyz.ap.brid.gy/post/3mzb4wjb6ybk2@AmenZwa Another one for your files, as we discussed some months ago. https://mastodon.online/@tomshardware/11754185342966719901 Nov 2026 15:31 +0000at://did:plc:dlnydbbghwyuamyui65q6mef/app.bsky.feed.post/3mzb4wjb6ybk2https://bsky.app/profile/dougmerritt.mathstodon.xyz.ap.brid.gy/post/3mz6mldsygka2From the blog of @peterwoit Peter Woit, "Not Even Wrong": > I’ve now wasted too much of my life trying to debunk bogus claims of this kind Thanks for fighting the good fight! The rest of his paragraph: > with the wormhole nonsense just the latest and most egregious example. One learns over the […] https://mathstodon.xyz/@dougmerritt/11753624663831292331 Oct 2026 15:33 +0000at://did:plc:dlnydbbghwyuamyui65q6mef/app.bsky.feed.post/3mz6mldsygka2https://bsky.app/profile/dougmerritt.mathstodon.xyz.ap.brid.gy/post/3mz6mfzztgnr2A reminder; xkcd on string theory: https://xkcd.com/171/ @peterwoit : "Not Even Wrong: The Failure of String Theory and the Search for Unity in Physical Law", Peter Woit, 2006 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/046509275631 Oct 2026 15:30 +0000at://did:plc:dlnydbbghwyuamyui65q6mef/app.bsky.feed.post/3mz6mfzztgnr2https://bsky.app/profile/dougmerritt.mathstodon.xyz.ap.brid.gy/post/3mz4eczto5jd2Distributed SQLite > SQLite as a storage engine, with replication added on the outside, has been reinvented by at least eight teams with different needs and different protocols. Nobody has found a reason to stop doing it." But the upshot: "The money went to the platforms. rqlite, dqlite, and […] https://mathstodon.xyz/@dougmerritt/11753116274879410230 Oct 2026 18:00 +0000at://did:plc:dlnydbbghwyuamyui65q6mef/app.bsky.feed.post/3mz4eczto5jd2https://bsky.app/profile/dougmerritt.mathstodon.xyz.ap.brid.gy/post/3mz47m6t4hly2I don't know if he read it, but back before Steve Jobs returned to Apple, I sent him email encouraging him to merge NeXT OS with BeOS, and tried to make a succinct business + technical case for it. And it was eventually in the news that both Apple and Next were considering it. But it was also […] https://mathstodon.xyz/@dougmerritt/11753081993330005830 Oct 2026 16:33 +0000at://did:plc:dlnydbbghwyuamyui65q6mef/app.bsky.feed.post/3mz47m6t4hly2https://bsky.app/profile/dougmerritt.mathstodon.xyz.ap.brid.gy/post/3mz46ytspwb52Everybody (including me) has been quite pessimistic about current events vis‑à‑vis LLMs and mathematics, so this is refreshing as a contrast. Pretending that it's just this simple, it could be, as Hilbert said about Cantor, "No one shall expel us from the paradise that (LLMs) have created for us." [contains quote post or other embedded content]30 Oct 2026 16:25 +0000at://did:plc:dlnydbbghwyuamyui65q6mef/app.bsky.feed.post/3mz46ytspwb52https://bsky.app/profile/dougmerritt.mathstodon.xyz.ap.brid.gy/post/3mz454zcmlqf2> UK's intelligence agency GCHQ investigation revealed that thousands of drives have been lost, with officials having no idea where they could be. China, obviously. Like all electronics, China giveth and China taketh away. https://mastodon.online/@tomshardware/11753017482257234630 Oct 2026 15:51 +0000at://did:plc:dlnydbbghwyuamyui65q6mef/app.bsky.feed.post/3mz454zcmlqf2https://bsky.app/profile/dougmerritt.mathstodon.xyz.ap.brid.gy/post/3mz44el5jcxy2Official Claude Code Extension Compromise: Security Advisory October 30, 2026 TL;DR Phorion has detected a backdoor in the official Claude Code for VS Code extension bundle on the Cursor Marketplace #SSH_Backdoor #Cursor_Marketplace #VS_Code #macOS #Linux #Windows #Threat_Report30 Oct 2026 15:38 +0000at://did:plc:dlnydbbghwyuamyui65q6mef/app.bsky.feed.post/3mz44el5jcxy2https://bsky.app/profile/dougmerritt.mathstodon.xyz.ap.brid.gy/post/3mz43zcbdeap2@ed1conf Your spirit has been summoned this Halloween! Editor wars, woooooo, pretty scary.... [contains quote post or other embedded content]30 Oct 2026 15:31 +0000at://did:plc:dlnydbbghwyuamyui65q6mef/app.bsky.feed.post/3mz43zcbdeap2https://bsky.app/profile/dougmerritt.mathstodon.xyz.ap.brid.gy/post/3mz2bc3n7muk2Star Trek actor Patrick Stewart died, at 86, tragically, of Alzheimer's disease and Lewy body dementia, https://abcnews.com/GMA/Culture/star-trek-star-patrick-stewart-dies-86/story?id=13768440929 Oct 2026 22:00 +0000at://did:plc:dlnydbbghwyuamyui65q6mef/app.bsky.feed.post/3mz2bc3n7muk2https://bsky.app/profile/dougmerritt.mathstodon.xyz.ap.brid.gy/post/3myzu5bii2nl2Taking a historical method for calculating pi, just pi, and rewriting it as a method for calculating tau/2 is idiotic. At best. https://mathstodon.xyz/users/paysmaths/statuses/11752385307258698129 Oct 2026 18:05 +0000at://did:plc:dlnydbbghwyuamyui65q6mef/app.bsky.feed.post/3myzu5bii2nl2https://bsky.app/profile/dougmerritt.mathstodon.xyz.ap.brid.gy/post/3myzth6dnhcw2Satire of airbnb with great Halloween theme. I love that review with "Also, terrible wi-fi". [contains quote post or other embedded content]29 Oct 2026 17:52 +0000at://did:plc:dlnydbbghwyuamyui65q6mef/app.bsky.feed.post/3myzth6dnhcw2https://bsky.app/profile/dougmerritt.mathstodon.xyz.ap.brid.gy/post/3myzqw42kikb2Very apropos news for Halloween! "deep-time evolution of spiders" https://mstdn.science/users/CurrentBiology/statuses/11752495752755969329 Oct 2026 17:07 +0000at://did:plc:dlnydbbghwyuamyui65q6mef/app.bsky.feed.post/3myzqw42kikb2https://bsky.app/profile/dougmerritt.mathstodon.xyz.ap.brid.gy/post/3myxj3gngofx2@aartaka FYI > We are excited to announce the release of Hoot 0.10.0! Hoot is a Scheme to WebAssembly compiler backend for Guile, as well as a general purpose WebAssembly toolchain. In other words, Scheme in the browser! https://spritely.institute/news/hoot-0-10-0-released.html28 Oct 2026 19:42 +0000at://did:plc:dlnydbbghwyuamyui65q6mef/app.bsky.feed.post/3myxj3gngofx2