jaxtracks

A lot of these takes saying we're doomed to a Wall-E future seriously underestimate the human spirit I think. The tykes I volunteer teaching code to still want to write the challenging parts themselves, because they like doing hard things and expressing themselves. It doesn't matter that the robots have supposedly taken over that job.

Same as how the tykes I coach wrestling for do it because it's hard and it gives them a way to grow and express themselves. They know they're never going to see a cent from that pursuit.

If an AI singularity starts trying to feed our kids digital heroin I like to think the majority of us will be more inspired than to tell them to quit trying, tie off, and let humanity go gentle into that good night.

Well, inflation can always solve affordability if prices stagnate. This is what made the 90s a great time to buy, right? We're pretty far behind the ball though, I think it'd be like 20 years for us to get back to that level of affordability at current nominal interest rates.

This niche is pretty well served by some of the portable gaming PC companies that have added business netbooks to their lines. GDP has the mini 8" transformer which isn't bad. The 4 just came out with ridiculous specs for such a small machine, but with poor battery to match. The 3 can be had cheaper with less powerful CPUs and better battery. I'm using a onexpro netbook 5, a really high quality 10" that compiles large rust code bases fast enough for me to be happy and also doesn't suck at all to type on, battery is fine at 5 hours with really fast charging.

I've just started running windows 11 on a transformer tablet I couldn't get Linux to fully support. I was dreading it and expected to find it so annoying that I would sell the device since all I hear is messaging like this, but I've actually been really pleasantly surprised.

I ran a powershell script I found to de-bloat it and remove ai features and telemetry, then installed chocolatey and WSL and had all my usual apps and my Nix managed dev env going inside and hour. I don't see what all these AI features are that people are complaining about, and I don't see ads or anything.

Yeah, I prefer Linux and am always weary of Microsofts tactics in open source, but what specifically makes Windows so incredibly awful?

Interesting study! Far too early in the adoption lifecycle for any conclusions I think, especially given that the data is from Denmark which tends to be have a far less hype-driven business culture than the US going by my bit of experience working in both. Anecdotally, I've seen a couple of AI hiring freezes in the states (some from LLM integrations I've built) that I'm fairly sure will be reversed when management gets a more realistic sense of capabilities, and my general sense is that the Danes I've worked with would be far less likely to overestimate the value of these tools.

> I don't think those who are helping OP feel imposed upon, but that doesn't mean that they aren't imposed upon.

So I think what you're saying here that even if the request is not unwelcome, it may still be unfair? That's for the person offering their help to decide for themselves. I would be absolutely bewildered if someone on the internet decided I was being exploited because I stopped to help a rich guy change his tire.

> But I think it still feels a little too much like cosplaying, metaphorically comparing camping in a tent to being similar to being homeless.

I'm a pretty offline dude so I don't grasp the full context behind 'cosplaying' here, but if you're suggesting that anyone sleeping in a tent thinks they are going through the same struggle as a homeless person then that's a huge leap my friend. You can simultaneously appreciate your fortunate placement in the socioeconomic hierarchy, and participate in pursuits that will at least give you a bit of sympathy for how bad it can suck to sleep in the cold.

> What do I advocate for? I would advocate for people who have the means to think about how they are impacting other people and trying not to artificially introducing situations where they need help from the less fortunate, and the situation where OP asked local first responders for help finding a place to stay was a great example of a problematic interaction.

How is this problematic exactly? I've worked with lots of small town fire depts doing S&R and disaster relief and they are typically pretty broadly serving public servants, accustomed to fielding, and declining all sorts of odd requests. I don't think there's any risk at all asking a fire chief about places to stay is exploitation.

I totally understand why, at a shallow level, someone with money benefiting from the aid of someone without grosses you out, but my concern with your view here is that you're asking folks with means to tiptoe around society, being careful not to exploit to the point that interacting with their communities in very normal and fair ways is 'problematic'. The well off can do a lot of good in their communities, but this doesn't tend to happen if they feel isolated outside the circle of giving that other folks enjoy. Crested Butte Colorado is a great example of this, where lots of new moneyed people have moved into town, but are too timid to integrate. Instead of contributing, they add more rarely used bedrooms onto their mcmansions, and vote against affordable housing.

Rich kids flock to burning man in part because they are stoked give and receive in a communal model. I think if they realized real life is more like that then they think, they'd probably be more helpful to those around them.

Oh yeah that's a sweeping generalization of course. My point was that the heavy reliance on paid services that usually comes with a white-collar lifestyle reduces participation in community-based mutual aid and deepens cultural divides. I figure this probably gets worse with higher income since the more services you can afford, the less you may feel you need community.

Diverse hobby groups are also a great way of attacking these divides, but may lack the aspect of vulnerability that comes from experiences like the author's.

I agree that availing yourself of other people's charity for the sake of gaining a novel experience is gross if they have no way to decline or you're misrepresenting your circumstances. I think you've got a poorly adjusted take on the level of imposition happening in the situations described here though.

When I thumb a ride with a boat over my shoulder, nobody has to stop, and I'm sure nobody feels too bad for the dummy who might have to walk all afternoon because he decided to huck a river without a shuttle plan. When the author crashes at a fire-house, my hunch is the chief isn't worried that if he declines then the guy who's been camping for most of his trip anyway is going to freeze to death. Maybe he's just stoked to do someone a solid and chitchat with a traveler on a slow night. These are not 'CEO at a foodbank' type situations.

If I go on a mission to yoink a boater out of a gnarly river, I never hear anyone on my S&R crew worrying over whether the subject could have afforded a guided trip instead. We're just happy to help, and hope they learn from the experience. I think people legitimately enjoy helping eachother out more than you assume here, and are probably less concerned with economic status of the recipient than you.

> Ironically this effort to relate to other real live humans with normal incomes is only possible by indulging in the ultimate luxury, which is taking major time off of work rather than being stuck working a shit job.

So what do you advocate for here? Growing the increasing cultural isolation between economic classes because those lucky enough to afford time off work should be so concerned with potentially imposing that they shamefully avoid putting themselves in situations where they could benefit from the help of someone less well off?

Wealth inequality is a huge problem, and I'm excusing the level of salt in your comment because I agree with your general theme that exploitation of that dynamic is bad. But it feels like you're attacking a harmless treatment because you're upset the disease exists in the first place.

One theme that pops out to me here is the reliance on other people being a positive experience for the author. In the software field, we tend to live pretty high up the economic value chain, which can abstract us a bit from participation in the more grassroots co-operative aspect of society. This can be alienating and warp worldview.

When I'm hitchhiking to support packrafting trips or get back to where I launched my paraglider, I have no say in who I'm going to be chatting with and feeling gratitude towards. Initially that feeling of being reliant on whoever comes my way was difficult to adjust to after the false sense of individualism that a high paying job in a bubble of similar people brings.

The benefit though is enormous. Now I stop to help anyone who's broken down on the side of the road despite the flash judgements their car or bumper stickers might bring. I'm much more aware of the value and interconnectedness of our society, and feel inspired to actively seek to contribute instead of remaining aloof. Most importantly, I realize that there's a whole lot of people out there looking to help people out at any turn, and that gives me a lot of faith.

I've been doing something similar for the past couple years for several different modes of working:

1) In my campervan with Starlink internet so I don't need to set up additional screens

2) Cafes and co-working spaces when I don't mind looking like a huge dork

3) Out at trailheads/crags when I don't mind looking like an even huger dork

Some notes:

- Pocketable PC or laptop works, but Samsung phone with DEX is really the move since you don't need to tether or anything, just plug in, use Termux to SSH to your dev box (my beefy home rig over Tailscale usually) and go.

- Power demands aren't insane, phone battery is good for a few hours. Wireless charger or power splitter necessary for more.

- One-handed chording keyboard (I'm up to about 50wpm on a Twiddler) makes working in a terminal pretty straightforward. You can use the phone's screen as a mouse with this setup.

- The new XReal glasses with built-in chip are great. Pros drop soon, should be better. With Vitures or other glasses where the display is fixed, terminal work is still do-able if you're proficient with tmux or similar.

- Downside of the new integrated chip glasses is outdoor usability. They got hot in direct sun, and leak more light.

- You do look really weird using these in public since you're wearing dark glasses indoors looking around. I don't let it deter me from getting my work done but yeah, just be warned.

I've done week-long bikepacking trips taking only my phone, twiddler, XReals, and small solar panel. As long as I can hit cell for a couple hours a day I can still keep things moving with my consulting clients. I usually do this just sitting up against a tree wherever I got good signal.

Starlink mini seems like it would add more freedom to this (I like remote singletrack) but it's too heavy and power-hungry for leg or bike based trips still. We're about to try a rafting trip with a couple other outdoor-oriented digital nomads and a Starlink this season though!

I think this idea applies beyond VIM and to text-based highly configurable tooling in general.

I'm a vim/tmux guy, and have been enamored with the new workflows possible with LLMs.

From the get-go, you can do things like:

`llm "Why is this build error happening? $(cargo build 2>&1)"`

It can write itself scripts and configs to trivially accomplish integrations:

`llm "Give me a new wrapper script for launching vim that uses the name of the current tmux window for its socket. Add an executable python script to ~/lib/llm/context/vim that uses the socket with the name of the current tmux window to dump all open buffers with headers indicating file name. Add another script to ~/lib/llm/context/tmux that dumps tmux pane scrollbacks with headers indicating pane numbers."`

Now you have a really useful coding assistant with minimal work:

`llm --context=vim,tmux 'tell me why I'm getting this compilation error'`

I had it build itself a tool to apply diffs to my files, so I can do:

`llm --continue --tool-cfg=editing 'Go ahead and fix that compilation error'`

I can have it build itself new tools.

`llm --tool-cfg=editing --context=toolbuilding 'Add a new toolset in ~/lib/llm_tools for running queries on the OpenSearch database running on localhost. One tool should dump the schema. Another should allow searching. Call the toolset config opensearch.yml. Write the backing script in python. Assume no auth necessary.'`

Now I'm able to use it:

`llm --tool-cfg=opensearch 'Are there any new records added to the incidents listings since yesterday?'`

llms aren't very good at solving novel problems in large-scale code-bases, so I'm not worried about them coming for my job, but they have made the annoying part of setting up my environment much easier! You still need to know how everything works so you can debug when it misses, but the quality of my dev tooling is now top-shelf and well customized to my projects with minimal investment.

I'm confused, are you saying the TikTok ban is detrimental to US-based big tech? Seems like a forced sale is beneficial to them.

I was also under the impression we're also entering a regulatory climate where amount of regulation isn't so much decreasing (TikTok ban for example is heavy handed), but that big tech has much more involvement in forming that regulation, which is useful for moat-building.

I'm not too knowledgeable on these, it's just the general gist I've been picking up so far this year, looking for correction if I got the wrong idea.

I've spent 400+ hours working with a Nreal glasses, Android running Termux in Samsung Dex, and a Twiddler single handed chorded keyboard which is similar to the bubby.

The future is already here if you work in a terminal. This entire set-up fits in a 1 liter dry bag, but gives me about 70% of my desktop productivity as measured by completion time on 10 leetcode medium exercises, alternating first implementation between devices. For tasks requiring less pondering, this probably drops. For tasks requiring a lot of thinking and little rote terminal work, I suspect my productivity is higher due to improved creativity when I'm outdoors. LLms are ever improving this situation, with raw typing speed becoming less important.

The learning curve is significant though. I probably invested 40 hours to reach the 40 wpm and competency with special symbols necessary for real coding work before I was at all productive.

I'm also an exceptional case for a viability study on this mode of working though. I am a very hyperactive person that thrives outside. This means that I do better work when I'm able to work from a trailhead, ripping quick laps on my mountain bike to think through hard problems. I used to do this by parking my campervan with a full desk and starlink at the trailhead. Now I find I can throw my Twiddler and glasses in my MTB pack and ride straight from my house, stopping wherever ideas flow to write and code. I'm able to provide very deep insights on areas of vast complexity for my consulting clients by working this way, where I would lack the focus to retain context and continuity of thought indoors.

Anyway, I've topped out at about 50wpm with the Twiddler, curious to see if folks are able to exceed that with the bubby and may consider a switch!

We ban e-bikes on many trails in Colorado, and I'm really glad we do:

1) MTB trails are high-maintenance. People riding more miles on heavier bikes means more wear and tear.

2) Their higher speed messes with the flow of traffic. In Colorado, I don't have to step off the trail much to let folks pass from behind. When I ride in other places that allow ebikes, it's pretty obnoxious to be letting them by.

3) They allow inexperienced folks deeper in the back-country. I had to go on a rescue with my S&R crew to assist a dehydrated e-bike rider with a dead battery 25 miles back to the trailhead. It was a very long day. People who go that far out are usually in far better shape and better prepared than the average rider.

4) They let less skilled riders on more difficult trails. This means brake bumps before the berms, trail widening, and ride-arounds appearing next to intimidating features.

No attack on you personally, I've ridden them extensively to train for downhill races and completely understand they can make the sport a lot more fun without having to grind the fitness aspect. However, myself and most other folks I come across in MTB, rescue, and trail building communities see some major systemic issues with their increased adoption.

I'm providing this perspective here because I think it's very relevant to the discussion on exoskeletons' potential impact on outdoor recreation. More hikers putting in more miles when they could get the same level of exercise staying on more beginner-friendly trails causes problems.

I do love the aspect of letting folks who would otherwise be unable to participate in these pursuits enjoy them, but I think Colorado's policy of limiting electrical assist to high-traffic beginner trails for bikes would be well adapted to hiking if these become a thing.