Pluralistic: CARDiac, syntax coloring, view source and vibe code (03 Jul 2026)

Today's links

CARDiac, syntax coloring, view source and vibe code: With great abstraction comes great power comes great responsibility comes great loss of fidelity.
Hey look at this: Delights to delectate.
Object permanence: Real elections v reality TV; Copyright troll loses license; Who gets fed housing subsidies? Trump x forced labor.
Upcoming appearances: London, Edinburgh, Sydney, Melbourne, Brighton, London, South Bend.
Recent appearances: Where I've been.
Latest books: You keep readin' em, I'll keep writin' 'em.
Upcoming books: Like I said, I'll keep writin' 'em.
Colophon: All the rest.

The difference between "today's task" and "accretive work": Sometimes, "I got it working" is fine, but sometimes it isn't.
Hey look at this: Delights to delectate.
Object permanence: Series of tubes; Paralyzed teen beaten bloody by TSA; "Ultra unreal" Chinese lit; London property prices v Brexit; Biden v surprise billing; "Feeding Ghosts."
Upcoming appearances: London, Edinburgh, Sydney, Melbourne, Brighton, London, South Bend.
Recent appearances: Where I've been.
Latest books: You keep readin' em, I'll keep writin' 'em.
Upcoming books: Like I said, I'll keep writin' 'em.
Colophon: All the rest.

Code is a liability (not an asset): AI psychosis, tech boss edition.
Hey look at this: Delights to delectate.
Object permanence: Coldplay CD DRM; Star Wars Wars; Digital manorialism vs neofeudalism; Transvaginal foetal sonic bombardment: woo-tunes for your hoo-hah.
Upcoming appearances: Where to find me.
Recent appearances: Where I've been.
Latest books: You keep readin' em, I'll keep writin' 'em.
Upcoming books: Like I said, I'll keep writin' 'em.
Colophon: All the rest.

"Science Comics Computers: How Digital Hardware Works": Steampunk dinosaurs scratch-build a pressurized air-based, Turing complete, universal von Neumann machine.
Hey look at this: Delights to delectate.
Object permanence: Google Print vs Great Ormond; Lincolnbot; "Zoo City"; Killed by your tapeworm's cancer; NZ Colossus; How to have cancer.
Upcoming appearances: Where to find me.
Recent appearances: Where I've been.
Latest books: You keep readin' em, I'll keep writin' 'em.
Upcoming books: Like I said, I'll keep writin' 'em.
Colophon: All the rest.

Bragging about replacing coders with AI is a sales-pitch: The reality is more complex.
Hey look at this: Delights to delectate.
Object permanence: David Byrne vs Spotify; India's porn ban; Qanon ARG; Contextual ads; Leveraged buyouts aren't mortgages.
Upcoming appearances: Where to find me.
Recent appearances: Where I've been.
Latest books: You keep readin' em, I'll keep writin' 'em.
Upcoming books: Like I said, I'll keep writin' 'em.
Colophon: All the rest.

AI software assistants make the hardest kinds of bugs to spot: Errors that are tuned to be statistically indistinguishable from correct code.
Hey look at this: Delights to delectate.
Object permanence: A universal remote for killing people; Win10 spies out of the box; MacOS firmware worm; Tor exit-node subpoena, 3D tube-station maps, Papercraft Addams Family house.
Upcoming appearances: Where to find me.
Recent appearances: Where I've been.
Latest books: You keep readin' em, I'll keep writin' 'em.
Upcoming books: Like I said, I'll keep writin' 'em.
Colophon: All the rest.

Ellen Ullman's "Close to the Machine": "Technophilia and Its Discontents."
Hey look at this: Delights to delectate.
Object permanence: Unethical ethicists; McKinsey covid profiteering; Homeschool-to-prison pipeline
Upcoming appearances: Where to find me.
Recent appearances: Where I've been.
Latest books: You keep readin' em, I'll keep writin' 'em.
Upcoming books: Like I said, I'll keep writin' 'em.
Colophon: All the rest.

Cloudburst: The timely surge of "local-first computing."
Hey look at this: Delights to delectate.
This day in history: 2003, 2013, 2018
Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming/recent appearances, current writing projects, current reading

Your computer is tormented by a wicked god: Bootkits are why we can't have nice things.
Peter Thiel's evil, but he's not an "evil genius": How to criticize self-mythologizing villains.
Hey look at this: Delights to delectate.
This day in history: 2007, 2012, 2017, 2021
Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming/recent appearances, current writing projects, current reading

James Bridle's "Ways of Being": Dispatches from the more than human world.
Fake Christian health insurance and other big cons: If you have to trick people into hearing your message, you are in a cult.
Hey look at this: Delights to delectate.
This day in history: 2002, 2012, 2017, 2021
Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming/recent appearances, current writing projects, current reading