Posts by smari@mastodon.social
(DIR) Post #APjLLmFYCeOUnemDA0 by smari@mastodon.social
2022-11-18T10:46:49Z
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I'm having one of those days where I'm trying to be social at a conference and talk with lots of people about things that matter but in the back of my brain I'm mostly thinking about weird physics stuff.
(DIR) Post #AQOhlWxXntDaIrE4O0 by smari@mastodon.social
2022-12-08T10:09:29Z
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Reminder: "serverless architecture" doesn't mean there isn't a server, it just means that you have zero control over it. You may think it's convenient, but it's actually an abdication of power over your system/app/product to somebody who you're also paying too much money to.
(DIR) Post #ASHZMy7p7mZZWdeMkK by smari@mastodon.social
2023-02-02T21:45:10Z
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I'm looking forward to reading this book. As a person with Icelandic, Irish, and (reluctantly) British citizenship, I was extremely privileged to have front row seats to the unfolding of Brexit, as the head of the Icelandic parliamentary delegation to EFTA and the EEA, and as (for a year) President of the EEA JPC, as the EFTA states were trying to negotiate with the UK as they were floundering in Europe. The contrast between EU and UK was astoundingly stark. (1/n)https://yorkshirebylines.co.uk/news/brexit/inside-the-deal-how-the-eu-got-brexit-done/
(DIR) Post #ASHZMydjDA5r7aZqTY by smari@mastodon.social
2023-02-02T21:46:58Z
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In particular, whenever we met with Barnier, he was well organized, knew the issues, and completely understood the details and the broad stokes of the game. All meetings in Westminster, by contrast, were completely chaotic and unfocused, with high level politicians frequently unaware of the most basic facts. Suella Braverman in particular was a stunningly uninformed person who didn't understand what EEA or EFTA was, or why we were there at all.
(DIR) Post #ASHZMzDt2j16vjUips by smari@mastodon.social
2023-02-02T21:51:34Z
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Brexit remains a completely unmitigated disaster, one which exposes, in my mind, the effects of the Thatcherite legacy of eroding public capacity for self governance, with sprinkles of manipulation from everybody who could benefit from Farage and Johnson succeeding in their ludicrous objective, from Russia to China to the City of London. The cleptokrats and oligarchs of the world are still rejoicing at having neutered a famously powerful country.
(DIR) Post #ASHaawlN5Mo5JENSIi by smari@mastodon.social
2023-01-30T20:46:56Z
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My political leanings haven't changed much in the last decade. I'm still the same mutualist anarchist I always was. And like then, I don't believe strong adherence to ideology is useful or practical. It should be a guidance system, not an absolute ruleset. What's changed is my willingness to engage in political debate. I did exactly 1000 speeches in my 5 years in the Icelandic parliament, and they mostly changed nothing. Change may happen through debate, but I'm more interested in action.
(DIR) Post #ASsffSXyfwlnn8UZPs by smari@mastodon.social
2023-02-20T19:36:02Z
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It is frustrating that almost all discussion of software component abstraction is always predicated on object orientation. Object orientation is a flawed idea that makes software over-plumbed, slow, and rigid. But component abstraction are still very valuable, without treating indirect control authority as a primary goal.
(DIR) Post #AU1VhJq5GOP5VM76SO by smari@mastodon.social
2023-03-26T10:56:59Z
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If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend Timothy Snyder's briefing to the UN on "Russophobia". https://youtu.be/uBz9EeLeQ8w
(DIR) Post #Aai33NvJnHmI9WPhmS by smari@mastodon.social
2023-10-11T16:10:55Z
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Containerization is useful for a lot of things, but mostly they're a way of compensating for most programs being drunk elephants in a china shop.
(DIR) Post #Aai33PtcSZbiGpdNPU by smari@mastodon.social
2023-10-11T21:00:10Z
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I really appreciate that this post has gotten this many boosts without anybody semi-intentionally misunderstanding me to be talking about cargo containers.
(DIR) Post #AauPieyEpPPhImVOdc by smari@mastodon.social
2023-10-18T20:28:32Z
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Discovered geometric algebra yesterday by accident and have now been enormously nerdsniped. Such an amazing structure. I really wish I'd learned about this decades ago. Makes so many things waaaay easier.Here's a great intro video: https://youtu.be/60z_hpEAtD8
(DIR) Post #Ad96YmPxhuoAJbW6EK by smari@mastodon.social
2023-12-24T20:27:20Z
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There's a strong correlation between cities being rich and cities having good public transportation. Some might infer that being rich means they can afford to spend money on public transportation. But I contend it's the other way around: if public transport works, fewer people need to sink $6k-50k of their personal wealth into cars, and then feed them fuel, insurance and maintenance. All that money goes into local restaurants, arts, sports and culture instead. THAT is how you make a city rich.
(DIR) Post #ArTe40z6gc80HemeQq by smari@mastodon.social
2025-02-25T10:45:55Z
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Europe got caught with its pants down and is scrambling to figure out what a future without the US as a reliable ally looks like, let alone a security guarantor. Conversations I've had over the last week lead me to believe that regardless of what else happens, Trump has permanently harmed the US-Europe relationship. But there are nuances that need to be understood that get lost in the debate: (thread)
(DIR) Post #ArTe46pkwIDIQOSGgq by smari@mastodon.social
2025-02-25T10:46:34Z
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- Europe hasn't been freeloading on NATO. The ONLY country that has asked for help under article 5 is the US, and European countries (including Non-NATO countries like Ukraine!) spent billions and sent soldiers, aid agencies and experts to help. - When the US demands x% of GDP in defense spending from NATO allies, the subtext is they want the money to be spent on buying bling from the US, like F35 jets.
(DIR) Post #ArTe4BE0c3zS2lph32 by smari@mastodon.social
2025-02-25T10:46:42Z
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- Europe's defensive capabilities have shrunk in the last decades, in part because they've been reshaping their military force structure to be better at expeditionary actions, such as helping the US in Afghanistan and Iraq. - The fact that Trump is ignoring and belittling these pivots and sacrifices by European countries will make European countries a lot more hesitant to help out the US in the future.
(DIR) Post #ArTe4GS1BPAQFfQS4u by smari@mastodon.social
2025-02-25T10:46:53Z
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This all feeds into the most important point: The US has for decades maintained a massive soft-power base, by seeming legitimate, broadly democratic, broadly in favor of human rights, and explicitly supportive of their allies. Even when these things have failed (via torture, extrajudicial murder, etc) they've been broadly trusted. What Trump has done in recent weeks has been a soft power bonfire, destroying 80 years of trust that the US had built with global allies.
(DIR) Post #ArTe4L3O4PR4WiwLse by smari@mastodon.social
2025-02-25T10:47:01Z
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What this means in practice: Less ability to get help. Less ability to buy important things. Less ability to sell military equipment to other countries. Less ability to do trade in general. Less ability to set up bases all over the place. Less ability to impose will, for better and unfortunately for worse. The US just abdicated from 80 years of global soft power hegemony. That sound you're hearing is the cheers from Russia, China, Iran, and every other country that opposes democracy or liberty.
(DIR) Post #ArTe4QAf2nE0OjNjPc by smari@mastodon.social
2025-02-25T10:49:52Z
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I don't think the US can entirely recover from this. Damage is done. But if Americans recognize that this is one of many, many ways in which Trump and his goons are actively harming the United States, and respond appropriately, it's possible that some of the damage can be repaired over time.As for Europe: we've got work to do, reducing our dependence on the US, building more strategic resilience, and taking our future into our hands.End thread.
(DIR) Post #ArTeFWJIYgvockiLOS by smari@mastodon.social
2025-02-25T12:41:41Z
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@publius yeah. I've talked with US naval aviators who say it's the best they've got but they wished they had something better. It's all tradeoffs all the way down. What's worse? For European buyers of it, it may now be an incredibly expensive paperweight, because there's no guarantee the US will let them use it.
(DIR) Post #ArWgEAt3VUg9H2nzUG by smari@mastodon.social
2025-02-26T19:59:12Z
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Alright, let's be clear here. Contrary to what Trump just said: - 🇪🇺 The European Union was NOT founded to "screw with" the United States. It was founded to strengthen European countries through cooperation. - 🚙 The EU does NOT reject American cars in general, just ones that fail to meet EU safety requirements. - 🐔 The EU does NOT reject American agricultural products in general, just ones that fail to meet EU safety requirements.... if you're seeing a theme, good.The EU is not about the US.