👨‍💻 Blogger (http://ralphmayr.substack.com/), ⌨️ coder, 📈 data wiz, 👟 runner, 🚴 cyclist, ✍️ author (https://amzn.to/2OsWMZ9), 📚 reader, 🌏 traveller, etc.https://bsky.app/profile/ralphmayr.bsky.socialhttps://bsky.app/profile/ralphmayr.bsky.social/post/3mkqwh2dzl22pA month’s wages for a full tank of gas? Spotted in Vientiane, Laos: These days, a liter of diesel costs about 44,000 kip, or €1.70. The monthly minimum wage here is 2,500,000 kip, or €97. Fill up a 60-liter tank once, and your monthly income is gone. (1/5)01 May 2026 01:00 +0000at://did:plc:rx6velhpfh4gnwekkxpesnzh/app.bsky.feed.post/3mkqwh2dzl22phttps://bsky.app/profile/ralphmayr.bsky.social/post/3mk5lz7cm2s2hChengdu Metro. My new favorite public transport system! Service started in 2010. 16 years later, there's 16 lines. 700+ km of track. 400+ stations. Everything is clean, fast, safe, reliable. And a single journey costs 0.38 € – payable by AliPay, Weixin, and even Visa / Master "tap to ride."23 Apr 2026 08:32 +0000at://did:plc:rx6velhpfh4gnwekkxpesnzh/app.bsky.feed.post/3mk5lz7cm2s2hhttps://bsky.app/profile/ralphmayr.bsky.social/post/3mju2ppilv22hWhen I built parlametrics, I found the Austrian Parliament's API a bit clumsy. Wanting to "be a good camper," I built a handy Python wrapper around the API with a nice, fluent interface. It's open source'd (https://github.com/ralphmayr/atparlpy) and version 0.1.0 is already published on PyPI! #OpenData19 Apr 2026 13:29 +0000at://did:plc:rx6velhpfh4gnwekkxpesnzh/app.bsky.feed.post/3mju2ppilv22hhttps://bsky.app/profile/ralphmayr.bsky.social/post/3mjtjx7oh5s2pUhm, yeah, that makes... 3gb per emoji, I guess? 🤷19 Apr 2026 08:29 +0000at://did:plc:rx6velhpfh4gnwekkxpesnzh/app.bsky.feed.post/3mjtjx7oh5s2phttps://bsky.app/profile/ralphmayr.bsky.social/post/3mjo7gjdxuk2bFür alle Politikjunkies und Datenfans: 🏛️ parlametrics ist jetzt live! Die App analysiert ~80.000 parlamentarische Anfragen des 🇦🇹 Nationalrats seit 1996. Wer stellt die meisten Fragen? Welche Ministerien antworten am schnellsten? Welche Themen trenden? 👉 parlametrics.ralphmayr.com #OpenData17 Apr 2026 05:37 +0000at://did:plc:rx6velhpfh4gnwekkxpesnzh/app.bsky.feed.post/3mjo7gjdxuk2bhttps://bsky.app/profile/ralphmayr.bsky.social/post/3mjjbsu7mus2gYes, it can be done! #Alipay, the omnipresent #QR payment system in #China, can be set up to work with European (N26) debit cards! Looks like I won't need much cash on my upcoming trip 😊15 Apr 2026 06:37 +0000at://did:plc:rx6velhpfh4gnwekkxpesnzh/app.bsky.feed.post/3mjjbsu7mus2ghttps://bsky.app/profile/ralphmayr.bsky.social/post/3mje7hn7gck2zThank you, #deepseek, that's kinda... helpful 😅13 Apr 2026 06:11 +0000at://did:plc:rx6velhpfh4gnwekkxpesnzh/app.bsky.feed.post/3mje7hn7gck2zhttps://bsky.app/profile/ralphmayr.bsky.social/post/3mj33hbd3ys24#Bookreview time! If you're interested in #history, #China, #politics, or #strategy, check out Victorious in Defeat. It's a great biography of Chiang Kai-shek, Generalissimo, president, and long-term authoritarian ruler of the Republic of China. More details: https://ralphmayr.com/library/victorious-in-defeat-the-life-and-times-of-chiang-kai-shek-china-1887-1975/09 Apr 2026 15:05 +0000at://did:plc:rx6velhpfh4gnwekkxpesnzh/app.bsky.feed.post/3mj33hbd3ys24https://bsky.app/profile/ralphmayr.bsky.social/post/3mivlympbyc2o07 Apr 2026 10:45 +0000at://did:plc:rx6velhpfh4gnwekkxpesnzh/app.bsky.feed.post/3mivlympbyc2ohttps://bsky.app/profile/ralphmayr.bsky.social/post/3mivgzewcv22m#Learning is great, but #sharing is even better! So, finally, I've compiled the "Things I Learned Building @poketto-me.bsky.social" on a little blog: build.ralphmayr.com I polished some the old content and removed a few entries. However, I have many new ones in mind! 🚀07 Apr 2026 09:16 +0000at://did:plc:rx6velhpfh4gnwekkxpesnzh/app.bsky.feed.post/3mivgzewcv22mhttps://bsky.app/profile/ralphmayr.bsky.social/post/3mibaxpx25s2b#Software is changing fast—but the biggest lesson? #Basics still matter. #Details matter. #Fundamentals matter. Don’t chase hype. Go where it hurts. Understand how things actually work. https://ralphmayr.com/posts/2026-03-24-on-brilliant-basics/ FY: This is the first in a series of posts on this topic—stay tuned for more!30 Mar 2026 08:35 +0000at://did:plc:rx6velhpfh4gnwekkxpesnzh/app.bsky.feed.post/3mibaxpx25s2bhttps://bsky.app/profile/ralphmayr.bsky.social/post/3mhzrsevon22qIf you're only going to read one #book about #AI this year, make it this one! Why? Find out here: https://ralphmayr.com/library/empire-of-ai-dreams-and-nightmares-in-sam-altmans-openai27 Mar 2026 09:15 +0000at://did:plc:rx6velhpfh4gnwekkxpesnzh/app.bsky.feed.post/3mhzrsevon22qhttps://bsky.app/profile/ralphmayr.bsky.social/post/3mhxbcvhx7s2sThis is, of course, completely useless and entirely unnecessary. But it's exactly the kind of thing I love building on a rainy Thursday morning! 😃26 Mar 2026 09:15 +0000at://did:plc:rx6velhpfh4gnwekkxpesnzh/app.bsky.feed.post/3mhxbcvhx7s2shttps://bsky.app/profile/ralphmayr.bsky.social/post/3mhsw4ikzi22bDespite my incessant reading, it's been too long since I wrote a proper book review. But here's one I couldn't resist: Chris Horton's account of Taiwanese history, culture, and politics, "Ghost Nation" is well worth highlighting. Why? Find out here! https://ralphmayr.com/library/ghost-nation-the-story-of-taiwan-and-its-struggle-for-survival/ #bookreview #taiwan24 Mar 2026 15:43 +0000at://did:plc:rx6velhpfh4gnwekkxpesnzh/app.bsky.feed.post/3mhsw4ikzi22bhttps://bsky.app/profile/ralphmayr.bsky.social/post/3m77yaxvgo22s@nzz.ch: An sich schätze ich eure Asienberichterstattung sehr. Aber Sumatra als „Provinz nördlich der Hauptstadt Jakarta” zu bezeichnen ist dann doch etwas unpräzise 🥲 Sumatra ist keine Provinz, sondern eine Insel, 10x so groß wie die Schweiz, besteht aus 10 Provinzen und liegt nordöstlich von Java.05 Dec 2025 07:40 +0000at://did:plc:rx6velhpfh4gnwekkxpesnzh/app.bsky.feed.post/3m77yaxvgo22shttps://bsky.app/profile/ralphmayr.bsky.social/post/3m5stermxlc2vTurns out: It's been a spreadsheet all along! app.poketto.me/s/gMwUaWN https://app.poketto.me/s/gMwUaWN17 Nov 2025 08:42 +0000at://did:plc:rx6velhpfh4gnwekkxpesnzh/app.bsky.feed.post/3m5stermxlc2vhttps://bsky.app/profile/ralphmayr.bsky.social/post/3m5iofib7622bThis is interesting: According to @edzitron.com, OpenAI's costs are rising much faster than its revenues. In Q3/2025, they spent nearly double what they earned on inference on MS Azure alone. Feels like a taxi company spending twice what it earns in fares–only on petrol... app.poketto.me/s/CvcoYuG https://app.poketto.me/s/CvcoYuG13 Nov 2025 07:47 +0000at://did:plc:rx6velhpfh4gnwekkxpesnzh/app.bsky.feed.post/3m5iofib7622b