Valerie Aurora

Systems consultant, writer, cat appreciator

I post about computers, nuclear stuff, science fiction, and science fact. I have ADHD so I'm into things that are Novel, Interesting, Challenging, and Urgent.

Public Key

npub18envvfqj3m5k0jz6tf6ws2z0kksz3qk3t2rkcfqjtu59wqj7mjfsd95v4e

NIP-05 Address

vaurora@wandering-shop.mostr.pub

Profile Code

nprofile1qqsruekxysfga6t8epd95a8g9p8mtgpgstg44pmvysf972zhqf0deycpz4mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujumt0wd68ytnsw43qzrmhwden5te0dehhxarj9ehx7aclz9wsf

Publishing to

relay.mostr.pub

nostr.now

relay.primal.net

Author Public Key

npub18envvfqj3m5k0jz6tf6ws2z0kksz3qk3t2rkcfqjtu59wqj7mjfsd95v4e

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Last Notes

2025-01-24 20:54:54 UTC

Me: I can't implement that with signals because it is impossible to implement without bugs, so instead I will use this library
5 minutes later: this library is implemented with signals

2025-01-16 11:11:57 UTC

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@nprofile…e8ax I just want someone ELSE watching the alerts and applying the updates :)

2025-01-16 11:02:23 UTC

So I am moving off ProtonMail to Fastmail and I still need a Google Docs replacement, and I see so many people self hosting their NextCloud... are you not putting any sensitive docs on that or are you confident you won't get hacked or what? My experience of self-hosting is that someone is actively trying to hack you all the time and I hate dealing with that stress

2025-01-08 15:04:59 UTC

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@nprofile…d6h6 this sounds familiar - the newsletter pace preventing you from thinking about bigger questions while also not helping with business. One pattern in my life is avoiding bigger questions by inventing work for myself that doesn't help me (and often doesn't help others). Stopping that was really hard and admire you for the newsletter pause

2025-01-05 13:15:03 UTC

Arrrgh does anyone have a recommendation for a hugo theme that is very very simple (no sass or npm etc), text-centric, responsive, and accessible? I am trying to move off Wordpress for this site:
https://frameshiftconsulting.com/

2024-12-30 10:33:39 UTC

Anyone want to do a Wikipedia edit trade? I just want everything in my bio that is not supported by third party trusted sources to be removed (as the rules describe but doesn't actually appear to happen in reality). Rules are that we can't be friends or have other significant relationship. As an editor, I have a decade+ old account with hundreds of edits so my edits will probably stick

2024-12-27 09:25:17 UTC

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@nprofile…h94j "In fall of 2023, for example, without consulting or informing the editors, Elsevier initiated the use of Al during production, creating article proofs devoid of capitalization of all proper nouns (e.g., formally recognized epochs, site names, countries, cities, genera, etc.) as well italics for genera and species." 💀

2024-12-20 12:02:01 UTC

I'm replacing my broken plastic freezer drawers and looking for ways to reinforce them BEFORE they break again, but all the internet will tell me is how to fix them AFTER they have broken. Tips?

2024-12-20 09:13:20 UTC

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@nprofile…4az6 beterschap! Hoe stiller, hoe eerder (beter)

2024-12-18 09:55:26 UTC

At current trends, by 2030 you will get 50,000 emails per package delivered, including one for every time the GPS location of the delivery vehicle updates

2024-12-11 16:07:22 UTC

One way to reduce climate change is to use less energy. Common ideas for doing this are improving energy efficiency, limiting growth, and degrowth.
But efforts to increase efficiency or limit growth by themselves result in using MORE energy at the global scale. This thread explains why and argues for decarbonization of energy instead. (Hint: Jevons Paradox is just the beginning.)
Thanks to the #RIPE #Green #Tech #Hackathon organized by @nprofile…vagz for making me write this analysis.

2024-12-01 22:06:10 UTC

My awesome former coworker @nprofile…jna9 channeled the scream from the soul of every techie with a conscience right now. So hard to pick just one quote so I will go with a short one:
"The modern world is unbelievably stupid, and if you don’t pay attention to the stupidity when something bad happens someone shows up in your notifications all like, well what did you expect. I expect you to fuck off!!"
https://phirephoenix.com/blog/2024-11-05/modernity

2024-11-29 09:55:26 UTC

I love watching these three-body simulations. They are beautiful and also they end in the catastrophic collision of two stars a very large percentage of the time, which gives me chills
https://mathstodon.xyz/@threebodybot/113514010594393871

2024-11-24 19:13:24 UTC

'I cannot tell you when the current mania will end and this bubble will burst. If I could, you’d be reading this in my $100,000 per month subscribers-only trading strategy newsletter and not a public blog. What I can tell you is that computers cannot think, and that the problems of the current instantation of the nebulously defined field of “AI” will not all be solved within “5 to 20 years”.'
https://blog.glyph.im/2024/05/grand-unified-ai-hype.html

2024-11-24 15:49:27 UTC

I know I am biased, but I really am impressed by the art my 6-year-old honorary nibling creates. Look at the highlights and shadows on this cubist pumpkin! I was drawing rainbows with markers at this age
https://stockroom.wandering.shop/media_attachments/files/113/538/700/766/430/362/original/95b17611d8db010c.jpeg

2024-11-23 22:06:02 UTC

I accidentally went to a Dutch language movie with no subtitles today and I understood an astonishing amount. I can read most news articles in Dutch too. That's 2.5 years of Duolingo, < 50 hours of group classes, 1.5 years living in Amsterdam, and one Dutch friend who texts with me in Dutch to arrange watching her dog

2024-11-18 11:49:15 UTC

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@nprofile…eyyt 😂 I read the quoted summary of _The Unaccountability Machine_ in the footnotes, thought, "that's a really good summary, I will read the whole thing," clicked through, and found my post 🤦‍♀️
https://wandering.shop/@vaurora/112626226847945336

2024-11-18 11:21:53 UTC

Who should I be talking to about Dutch network infrastructure resiliency?
Taking #CrisisEngineering to heart and assuming we can't achieve digital sovereignty before a crisis happens, I want to put together an informal and creative group to share tools and tips that would help recover Dutch network infrastructure faster after a man-made disaster (e.g., we suddenly can't access AWS). I talked to a few folks at the RIPE meeting and they didn't know of any current effort. Advice appreciated!

2024-11-12 15:44:27 UTC

Come work with me! I'm writing code for ngnfs, a new distributed file system led by Zach Brown at Versity. Zach has some really cool new ideas around block-level concurrency that could make ngnfs super fast. And it's open source! Based in the US, all remote, flexible. More info:
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/ric-wheeler-9398806_scalable-mass-storage-versity-activity-7257072894751522816-XGKQ

2024-11-11 13:19:52 UTC

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@npub18et…m5kt thanks, I saw that but wasn't sure how reliable it was, so thanks for confirming! Do you have any specific recommendations?

2024-11-11 12:44:03 UTC

Okay, time to actually migrate off Google Workspace. If you are personally using an EU-hosted email/calendar/docs service, what are you using? I am not going to self-host email FYI

2024-11-10 10:15:00 UTC

Captain Awkward has advice for your holiday plans with families who voted to take away your rights that is helpful for people not just in the US:
#1447: “My stepmom just voted my rights away and I’m mad at my dad about it.” https://captainawkward.com/2024/11/08/1447-my-stepmom-just-voted-my-rights-away-and-im-mad-at-my-dad-about-it/

2024-11-09 15:21:20 UTC

I've been going to Astronomy on Tap in Leiden and really enjoying it! The last two talks were about practical modeling of N-body problems and simulations of 3-body problems, both accessible to the average person. The next one is Monday November 25th:
https://rijksmuseumboerhaave.nl/te-zien-te-doen/boebo-astronomy/

2024-09-06 07:09:19 UTC

Want to know the relationships between bats, insecticide use, infant mortality, and wind turbines?
h/t @npub1pxh…qpll
https://www.vox.com/down-to-earth/370002/bats-link-babies-death-study-white-nose-syndrome

2024-09-03 12:40:35 UTC

Do you live near Amsterdam and have an old laptop or computer you no longer want? I'm looking to rebuild my home lab after moving across the Atlantic with three suitcases.
If you have old but working laptops, SBCs, small desktops, Android phones, and similar small form-factor computers, DM me and see if we can work out buy/trade/donation. Battery life not a factor

2024-08-30 09:21:36 UTC

I feel personally attacked
(from How Complex Systems Fail https://how.complexsystems.fail/ )
https://stockroom.wandering.shop/media_attachments/files/113/050/229/727/711/748/original/cd54f19aca0887eb.jpeg

2024-08-18 10:17:23 UTC

Sick, just learned that there's a handheld consumer Geiger counter sensitive enough to do radioisotope spectrometry for €200 - €600????
https://www.radiacode.com/eur

2024-07-25 17:36:14 UTC

The store is out of COVID tests. Conduct yourselves accordingly

2024-07-24 11:50:10 UTC

Advice please: for Reasons, I need to fax (I know) a form to a US fax number. What is a non-scam free e-Fax thing I can use? Thank you!

2024-07-11 07:15:47 UTC

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@npub1typ…c8hh if you write anything about this book I would love to see it!

2024-07-10 15:59:51 UTC

Awesome, a deeper explanation of "the purpose of a system is what it does" from the author of _The Unaccountability Machine_ using - wait for it - the British railway system. (Spoiler: he concludes it is a system to ration railway travel.)
https://backofmind.substack.com/p/the-purpose-of-a-system-is-you-cant

2024-07-07 10:03:59 UTC

Where can I rent an extra large bike in Amsterdam? I have a friend visiting who needs an XXL/61cm frame for a week and google search is of course totally useless

2024-07-04 12:59:17 UTC

I will never not be annoyed by staring at my computer screen trying to figure something out for 20 minutes, then getting up to get a drink and understanding it 60 seconds later

2024-06-22 07:04:38 UTC

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@npub1lks…a4mq happy to hear you are following the systems hacker growth path in one of the two approved directions (hacker -> homesteader or homesteader-> hacker)

2024-06-16 12:10:38 UTC

I read _The Unaccountability Machine_ by Dan Davies on the train yesterday and wow. Attempted summary: society is in crisis because our current systems of governance and feedback are unable to hear the signal that is the vast majority of people screaming, "My life is intolerable." This signal gets routed into any channel available: Brexit referendum, far-right parties, protests against masks or wind turbines or housing - anything to signal rebellion
https://profilebooks.com/work/the-unaccountability-machine/

2024-06-15 14:04:46 UTC

It's bad enough when I do a web search for some technical question and get an old post of mine, it is really bad when I do a web search and get old research papers of mine 🤔

2024-06-02 14:48:47 UTC

Oh haha maybe I should get some people to poke at my new business website *before* I send an important email to a new business contact?
https://bowshock.nl/
Note: I am going for the minimal systems programmer almost Dr. Dr. Professor look, do not advise me to get a fancy scrolling website with fonts and huge pictures, thank you

2024-05-25 20:08:12 UTC

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@npub143y…3g53 this sounds like the kind of thing a file system should be able to do but they absolutely do not 😭

2024-05-20 12:40:57 UTC

#WritersCoffeeClub Day 20: When did you first know you wanted to be a writer?
It's less that I want to be a writer and more that I get excited about writing specific things and then I write them. I am curious how many other writers have a similar mindset

2024-05-17 08:02:34 UTC

"What OpenAI have presented with GPT-4o is a fresh paint job on a car with a dangerously corroded chassis. A false confidence machine." - @npub1p86…6rgk
https://fasterandworse.com/known-purpose-and-trusted-potential/

2024-05-14 16:50:06 UTC

Remember that blog post "I got robbed of my first kernel contribution" where a maintainer slightly rewrote a patch and took credit for it? Well, I decided to do something about it.
I co-authored a guide with Maria Matějka and some other folks on documenting how your project gives credit and otherwise handles contributions. If your project's policy is to lightly rewrite contributions and take credit for them, say so! Subscriber link (free) to the LWN article:
https://lwn.net/SubscriberLink/971817/ae5fbbbc8cd1cf18/

2024-05-13 08:02:30 UTC

I'm all for fascists claiming that Signal is compromised because Katherine Maher is on the board. Yes, everyone who takes advice from creepy dudes, don't use Signal! Use some random app created by the FBI to surveil criminals, that's way better

2024-05-07 21:03:00 UTC

Test your detection of AI images (I'm about 70%)
https://detectfakes.kellogg.northwestern.edu

2024-05-06 07:47:51 UTC

I love having friends visit, in part because they remind me of how lovely Amsterdam is. This week: I can take a walk along the edge of the water at sunset and all I hear is birds chirping and an occasional gentle murmur as we pass people sitting on benches also watching the sunset. Cities aren't loud, cars are loud.

2024-04-30 06:48:04 UTC

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Ha, exactly the problem with the AI art in the above post:
“The human in the loop isn’t just being asked to spot mistakes — they’re being actively deceived. The AI isn’t merely wrong, it’s constructing a subtle ‘what’s wrong with this picture’-style puzzle.”
https://pluralistic.net/2024/04/23/maximal-plausibility/

2024-04-27 17:36:15 UTC

Academic journals can price gouge because universities are relieved to be able to outsource performance reviews of PhD students and faculty to them
(From https://profilebooks.com/work/the-unaccountability-machine/ )
https://stockroom.wandering.shop/media_attachments/files/112/344/377/835/924/644/original/ee49d8bb16ec82ad.jpeg

2024-04-27 16:07:21 UTC

A friend recommended a newsletter for executives in tech and today's issue had a link to a blog post advising tech leaders on how to get better at asking questions. It had this... illustration...
I am confident the author had no idea how much this graphic torpedoed my trust in them. I am realizing that people who use AI art often don't understand how art works
https://stockroom.wandering.shop/media_attachments/files/112/344/019/056/161/543/original/19512cc80c883da2.jpg

2024-04-21 09:54:46 UTC

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@npub1hxf…g8qu my favorite bit from finite automata is the Busy Beaver Number
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Busy_beaver

2023-11-22 21:58:54 UTC

Still completely fascinated by the Azolla Event, in which ferns growing in a freshwater layer on the arctic ocean drew down atmospheric carbon from 3500 ppm to 650 ppm in only 800,000 years https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azolla_event

2023-09-02 13:03:20 UTC

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@npub1psd…9sr7 @npub1yfp…996n yes please!

2023-08-27 13:44:18 UTC

I don’t remember who first told me this, but an excellent life hack for taking pain or cold medications is to take a photo of each pill you take. When you can’t remember if you took your meds, look in your photo roll and the time of the photo tells you when you took it. Way easier than taking notes, especially in the middle of the night

2023-08-18 10:43:38 UTC

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And then for people for whom taxis or private cars are still the best option, guess what! The roads aren’t clogged with a bunch of people going very slowly, being angry with each other, and transporting giant useless hunks of metal everywhere. Unload your wheelchair or mobility scooter near one of the many curb cuts without a huge line of cars honking behind you. Bike-friendly infrastructure is disability-friendly infrastructure; most apparent conflict comes from car-first infrastructure.

2023-08-18 10:40:00 UTC

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Bike-friendly infrastructure goes hand in hand with public transit, which can and should be wheelchair accessible, much more than taxis or private cars. And then e-bikes add a whole class of people who can’t comfortably ride a regular bike but aren’t ready to use a mobility scooter to the group of people who can zip around the city independently. I’ve seen so many disability accommodations on bikes here, even bikes driven by arm power as well as recumbent and tricycle bikes.

2023-08-18 10:35:41 UTC

It’s weird to me when people frame calls for bike-friendly infrastructure as in conflict with disability accommodation. Make a city good for biking requires lots of smooth curbless bike paths that are perfect for mobility scooters, much better than trying to use your scooter on the road or the sidewalk. I see people zipping around on their mobility scooters everywhere in Amsterdam. They also have these tiny little cars for people with disabilities that are allowed to use all bike infrastructure

2023-08-17 16:41:50 UTC

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@npub1psd…9sr7 I’ll just say that reading Accelerando (the novel) puts me into a fugue for a week afterward in which I question the existence of identity and I love it. I don’t know if getting that feeling requires writing any of the things you are bored with or not, but every time I read about Max becoming a flock of pigeons… 😍🤩🤯

2023-08-08 16:20:34 UTC

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@npub1ykv…s2j0 reminded me that genders.wtf exists and now I am laughing uncontrollably https://genders.wtf/

2023-07-15 12:17:33 UTC

We got our DAFT visas approved!!! In 5 years we can apply for permanent residence in the Netherlands 🥰 If you’re looking to learn more about immigrating as a self-employed person (or the spouse of such a person), our law firm did an amazing job and has consultations available: https://www.franssenadvocaten.nl/english/immigration-law/entrepreneurs/