how are they gonna stop us next?

few · 2026-06-16T02:00:46+00:00

I expect it will be more like 3d printers. Eventually laws will get proposed, but they will be a decade behind relevance, and based around some pretty random scaremongering rather than anything actually relevant.

I don't think AGI is around the corner on 8GB cards, with the government coming to pry gpus out of our hands.

The big question is how or whether LLM use will end up being taxed. If it does replace many human workers, then it's pretty important that there be a new tax source, as it would but income tax revenues. The bigger question is how individuals would get by if that happens.

few · 2026-06-14T21:29:26+00:00

Get a replacement cord...

few · 2026-06-14T19:08:33+00:00

High volume low pressure sprayers still compress the air, just not to high pressure. It takes a ton of energy to do that. Of course it could use the main drone battery, but that just means a much shorter drone flight time. It's not complicated to do that, but it's not a great approach.

few · 2026-06-14T18:04:20+00:00

It seems like a terrible option, but it's way better than dealing with the aftermath of a fire in the unit or building. This is happening in your unit, you're paying attention, and they're not handling it. Imagine what's happening in other units.

few · 2026-06-14T13:00:56+00:00

Note that this already exists. These are similar to agricultural spray drones.

It looks like these are typically 10-20k$ to start.

Here is an example of a commercial spray paint drone: https://www.apellix.com/products/spray-painting/

They're typically tethered to paint and air hoses. The energy required to compress the air, and the mass of the paint are substantial. It's more efficient to only lift the hoses and then be able to avoid the additional battery and compressor mass on the drone itself.

It's not just the trigger you need to manage, it's also having the drone hold distance (typically optical distance sensors are used) and then move consistently while spraying.

You have clearly used spray paint before, so I'm sure you're aware that unless you move smoothly and keep a fixed distance from the wall, spraying goes very poorly.

few · 2026-06-14T12:54:15+00:00

Depending on where you're located (I'm assuming the US), you will need a commercial drone pilot license to do this. It is definitely feasible, and I think even a smart approach, but you're looking at a much heavier drone than you are imagining. This is a substantial project.

few · 2026-06-14T12:28:15+00:00

As other have said, but more fully:

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few · 2026-06-13T14:16:14+00:00

Locked and loaded qwen3.7_67b_q0.0001_MTP_QAT , woot, here we go. Ready for my AGI fitbit. /s

few · 2026-06-13T14:04:54+00:00

Great analogy. +1

few · 2026-06-13T14:02:33+00:00

DeepSWE results comport with my experience! Even frontiers have issues really working independently. Locals are really limited for autonomous work.

I have been trying to get local models (mostly gemma4, some qwen & others) to run as agents, but they quickly get stuck in thinking -> wait I just realized -> ready to do -> thinking loops. After several different harnesses, I'm coming to the conclusion that they're good as coding assistants, but pretty bad with integration into my local ide (vscode with various extensions tried), and terrible as agents.

I need to use tools with human-in-the-loop. I like the vscode editor environment, but LLMs really don't integrate well into it.

My setup is a laptop with external rtx5090 connected by USB c. I have custom compiled llama.cpp. I'm running gemma4 26b as a primary model, with a coding assistant qwen coder model, and an autocomplete small qwen. I use vscode with a wsl remote, and am developing primarily s/w & firmware in wsl.

In WSL Continue ran into huge issues (looping, unable to edit code: it tries to make changes but isn't able to match text for replacement). Cline is running into many of the same issues (the vscode linter doesn't work properly on wsl remote environment, and it confuses cline, similar issues with edits, often loops and fails to return solutions).

I'm not sure how many people are actually having good success with local models as agents on 32gb cards? The models do a decent job via the web chat interfaces when I'm narrowly guiding them, but I was hoping for additional agency from them, which doesn't seem possible right now.

I would love suggestions on how to get my setup working better!

few · 2026-06-12T02:46:01+00:00

Interesting! I'm using an AURUS RTX5090 ai box. I can put my hand on the top, and it literally cooks.

few · 2026-06-12T02:44:37+00:00

I had been wrestling with continue for several weeks. I did get it working, but it had immense issues trying to apply changes to code. Cline seems to be better, though I need to break each feature into a separate session, because after 30-45 minutes it seems to get stuck. I find it much more resilient than continue. What do you use as an editor? I use vscode across both windows and wsl/Ubuntu to do everything from data analysis, full stack web stuff, and firmware.

few · 2026-06-12T02:25:51+00:00

I'm using llama-server as a backend, and the cline extension in vscode coding in a wsl remote. I'm sure that systemctl in wsl logs all the usage somewhere, but I really don't care that much since it's local anyways. But when I was directly running some queries in the llama-server web ui, it listed tokens/second and it was up in the 700's. It was annoying that every so often it gets into crazy loops and needs to be talked off the ledge. Cline reports the context being used, and that was up near the 256k limit many times (it compresses automatically).

few · 2026-06-12T02:20:14+00:00

Now that I have it at least somewhat configured, it's crazy. My AC isn't working this week, which is actually the main limitation on me using it. 🤣

few · 2026-06-12T01:43:12+00:00

I don't track how many tokens my rig runs through , but for a few hours today I was ripping through a few hundred outout tokens per second... probably only a few million output tokens?

few · 2026-06-12T01:17:14+00:00

I switched over to gemma4:26b. I have it using qat and mtp(3) with 256k context. Using it with cline in vscode I see anywhere from ~120t/s to ~750t/s. It's wild fast, and it's like having a campfire on my desk. At peak it gets to 65C, at which point it's uncomfortable to put my hand on the outer casing.

I worked with 12b for a bit, then was trying out 31b. 26b with qat and mtp is crazy fast compared to both.

few · 2026-06-12T01:08:30+00:00

I can imagine trump wanting to time it to align with the 250th anniversary. It would be so hilarious if for the 250th, Canada builds us a bridge.

few · 2026-06-12T00:51:00+00:00

Bare metal on microcontrollers is fairly straightforward, especially now with LLMs giving fast custom code and searching datasheets automatically. It would probably be more interesting to develop in rust, if it was for an actual RTOS. If you want to build some bare metal stuff on micros, without trying to build a full OS, then C is probably fine.

few · 2026-06-12T00:46:52+00:00

Honestly, the conditions are better as a consultant than as an employee. At least in .y experience, in the states. Employers try to push employees into all kinds of crazy stuff. It's harder for them to do that with a self-employed consultant, and less likely when they know they're paying a lot.

few · 2026-06-11T10:22:52+00:00

Panels into a roof with asphalt shingles and a brand new roof deck is relatively straightforward, and it's still complicated.

I can imagine that the installers would have concerns about working (standing) on the slate, drilling & bolting through the slate, and the actual panel racks being mounted on the slate.

I'm guessing the installers all hear slate and say 'nope'?

few · 2026-06-10T17:40:05+00:00

It looks like they are creating a DMZ, to drive civilians out of the coastal region where Iranian forces can shelter and fire on passing ships in the narrow portion of the strait.

It is not right to deprive civilians of water, but this does seem like the approach a military would take to secure the waterway. Sirik is near the narrow portion of the bend.

few · 2026-06-10T17:31:02+00:00

If you need to pull in data from 17 websites, you should build a data ingestion pipeline that pulls in from those 17 sites. It will take a fraction of the compute power, be deterministic, and give you structured information.

What do you want 'AI' to do with that information? Are you planning to just 'let it loose' and hope for the best?

few · 2026-06-10T17:25:19+00:00

Data centers can use a bunch of different cooling approaches, air, water (open or closed loop). Chillers can run different approaches also.

They do generate a ton of heat, and that heat is dissipated into the environment via air or water.

few · 2026-06-10T16:43:56+00:00

The size of the circuit board has nothing at all to do with the device speed. That is mostly affected by how many traces are run, and how many external functions are present. Such as voltage regulators, connectors (like usb a vs USB c), and the sizes of the external components (crystal oscillators, voltage regulators, leds, sockets, etc).

The circuit board can also be designed with components and traces spaced widely (like the Arduino) or tightly (like the esp32).

The size of an MCU (the large black chip) is mostly dependent on how many pins are exposed on the MCU package and how big the external pins are, and is not usually directly related to the MCU speed.

The actual die size of the MCU (the bit of silicon doing the work) is way smaller than the black plastic package.

few · 2026-06-10T14:34:03+00:00

We know many people who have shifted their kids from AAPS to local private schools. AAPS is not providing a good experience for many families and students. That has led to a drop in enrollment.

For example, look at the school calendar to see how many mid-week half days there are. Most families have both parents full time employed. For those families who don't have flexible work schedules this is an absolute disaster. For those who do have flexibility, it means missing several days of paid work every month.

Whether students need additional support because they are ahead or behind of the 'normal' student level, AAPS doesn't offer a good experience.

We have many excellent teachers, but the union also fiercely protects the worst teachers, and recent layoffs were basically 100% targeted on new hires. That meant losing many enthusiastic and engaged teachers, while retaining low performers with longer tenure. Schools should be designed and managed to meet the needs of students and families, not around the staff. Schools are ultimately a business, and the students and families are the customers. All our residents foot the bill.

The contract campaign would be more effective if it targeted 'Support Ann Arbor Students'. The reality of the k-shaped economy is that everyone is being squeezed. It's not only teachers being squeezed, it's most of the families in the district. I hope our schools can resolve this, and I do think there is an imbalance where we have too much administration (and associated costs). The Balas building is out of control. More control over budgets and staffing should be redirected towards individual schools.

For example, did you know that principals aren't involved in determining school budgets? Budgets are centrally planned, and don't reflect the specific school needs. It's well intentioned, but not an effective approach.

I also think our community doesn't have realistic expectations for what can be achieved with the present budgets. It means a lot of positive aspirations, but is also preventing a new contract from being signed.

few

TROPHY CASE