Remote

@robpike.io

@robpike@cosocial.ca

mastodon 4.6.4

Long career as a dilettante at Bell Labs Research and Google, mostly building weird stuff no one uses, but occasionally getting it right, such as with UTF-8 and Go.

Also: tootfinder

14871 Followers

42 Following

31 Posts

Joined June 23, 2026

GitHub:

github.com/robpike

Web:

herpolhode.com/rob

BlueSky:

@robpike.io

@robpike.io @robpike@cosocial.ca

· 2d ago

Boosted by @trending@homestead.social

RE: https://mastodon.social/@arstechnica/117389906323212713 I would delete it all if Apple provided an official way to do it, which they should. I have a secret safe way to make Apple Intelligence never work (don't want to say what publicly, to avoid them noticing and fixing it) but I would like Apple and every other company to acknowledge that a large fraction of us don't want any of this.

Quoting

@arstechnica@mastodon.social

Command-line tool quickly removes Apple Intelligence from macOS 27 The tool can free up over 12GB of storage. https://arstechnica.com/apple/2026/10/command-line-tool-quickly-removes-apple-intelligence-from-macos-27/?utm_brand=arstechnica&utm_social-type=owned&utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social

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Ars Technica: "Command-line tool quickly removes Apple Intellige…" - Mastodon

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@robpike.io @robpike@cosocial.ca

· 1w ago

Boosted by @trending@homestead.social

Writing some code today, a massive refactor to enable some long-needed functionality, and just when I thought I was going to hit the wall and need a major detour to align huge disparate parts, it turned out an old abstraction fitted perfectly and the hardest problem was already solved. Pure joy. Euphoria. And then I thought, if I had an LLM agent do this, there would be no joy. None for me, because I wouldn't have found it, and none for it, because LLMs are just automata. I won today.

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@robpike.io @robpike@cosocial.ca

· 3w ago

RE: @dabeaz@mastodon.social

In the early 1970s, most folks could do some mental arithmetic. They had to. The arrival of pocket calculators quickly reduced most people's ability to do "math" in their heads.

Ditto with Google Maps: people can't navigate without it. A recent study of Polish radiologists using LLMs to assist showed a measurable drop in the doctor's own ability to diagnose without them

LLMs will have that effect on programmers' ability to code.

More broadly: for people to be able to think for themselves.

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@robpike.io @robpike@cosocial.ca

· 3w ago

People constantly say they "can't do math" in their heads, when what they really mean is "arithmetic". But "arithmetic" is harder to say than "math". So let's start calling arithmetic "rith", which is easy to say (and also sounds a bit like "rizz", which is fun). Also, I _can_ do rith in my head, but I know that's nerdy and maybe you can't.

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@robpike.io @robpike@cosocial.ca

· 2mo ago

We don't know for sure yet whether the AI business model will lead to consciousness, but we know for a fact that it creates insanity.

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@robpike.io @robpike@cosocial.ca

· 3mo ago

Long ago, I was an angry young man who railed against all the injustices of the world, but time has passed, I have matured and learned so much more about things, and now I am an angrier old man. (Importing from my old account my pinned post, which seems even more apt (apter?) now than when first expressed.)

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@robpike.io @robpike@cosocial.ca

· 1mo ago

RE: https://mastodon.social/@sundogplanets/117066509290131562 In 1986 I went to Australia with my big folding telescope to see Halley's Comet, which I'd been dreaming about since I was a kid. It turned out less exciting than other comets I had seen. But one night, camping in the middle of the continent, the sky was so dark there was no visible artificial light. The entire horizon was dark. The nearest building was 150km away. A weak, scratchy radio signal was playing Bach. I just lay back and marveled. The Sky! The Milky Way overhead! The LMC and SMC!

Quoting

Prof. Sam Lawler

@sundogplanets@mastodon.social

RE: https://social.treehouse.systems/@ariadne/117063592703392163 Most city dwellers don't know how much of the night sky has already been stolen by billionaires, because poorly planned, wasteful city lights have already drowned out the stars for them.

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@robpike.io @robpike@cosocial.ca

· 2mo ago

Computers don't even work in my dreams. Last night, trying to use Google maps to find a way to the airport, every time I scrolled it jumped to Europe. Nightmare stuff taken right from real life. Calendar and messages also screwing up. Away, foul beast!

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@robpike.io @robpike@cosocial.ca

· 3mo ago

The gap between hype and reality for AI is vast. https://karlbode.com/the-ai-hype-reckoning-is-upon-us/

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@robpike.io @robpike@cosocial.ca

· 1w ago

Boosted by @jwz@mastodon.social

Replying to

@sundogplanets@mastodon.social Welcome to the club. https://bsky.app/profile/robpike.io/post/3matwg6w3ic2s

rob pike (@robpike.io)

Fuck you people. Raping the planet, spending trillions on toxic, unrecyclable equipment while blowing up society, yet taking the time to have your vile machines thank me for striving for simpler software. Just fuck you. Fuck you all. I can't remember the last time I was this angry.

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@robpike.io @robpike@cosocial.ca

· 2mo ago

Replying to

It's hard to shake the tube successfully, so I connected a function generator to a vibration plate and taped the tube to the plate. Then turned up the voltage until I got some motion, switched to a pulse signal to maximize shaking (sin is very smooth), then turned up the frequency until I got a good resonance (high Q). Success: after a few minutes the tube delivered perfect toluene-loaded red rubber that did the perfect job. For @reneefrench@mastodon.art with love.

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@robpike.io @robpike@cosocial.ca

· 2mo ago

RE: https://mastodon.social/@arstechnica/117010755608045166 Also this: I recently had an hours-long Internet outage and my PS5 game (Ghost of Tsushima) failed to start, even though it had been running fine a few hours earlier. Worse, the console hung and eventually crashed, then later when rebooting yelled at me for not shutting it down safely. Networking is not reliable, so don't depend on it being so! Or at least fail gracefully. Fail. 0/10. Do better.

mastodon.social

Ars Technica: "The disc is not the game: Physical releases incre…" - Mastodon

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@robpike.io @robpike@cosocial.ca

· 1w ago

Replying to

@timbray@cosocial.ca While they are definitely remarkable, they have many problems that keep me from using them as much as I might. ("The best camera is the one you have" aside.) We have seen many manglings of images done by our iPhones and Androids in the last few generations, mostly I think due to AI deciding it knows better than we do what the picture is of (turning a pencil sketch into flesh, for instance) or having inexplicable geometric errors (pincushioning on one axis only). I prefer a real camera.

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@robpike.io @robpike@cosocial.ca

· 2mo ago

YouTube Studio is succumbing to fashion trends. Bermuda shorts are next.

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@robpike.io @robpike@cosocial.ca

· 2mo ago

I'm worried. Is something wrong? It's almost 10AM and I have zero requests today to update software versions or firmware.

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@robpike.io @robpike@cosocial.ca

· 2mo ago

RE: https://mastodon.social/@sundogplanets/116930245213443949 This is exactly how I feel.

Quoting

Prof. Sam Lawler

@sundogplanets@mastodon.social

I used to be excited about rocket launches. Fuck you, SpaceX, for taking that away from me by destroying the sky, the atmosphere, and dropping shit on me because of your terrible safety and nonexistent environmental practices. https://flipboard.com/@spacecom/spacex-6lea8r50z/-/a-uqOOTanZQHe-8X_AdQQaMw%3Aa%3A1693190246-%2F0

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mastodon.social

Prof. Sam Lawler: "I used to be excited about rocket launches. Fuck…" - Mastodon

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@robpike.io @robpike@cosocial.ca

· 2mo ago

Nolan's "The Odyssey" is totally wrong. The real Polyphemus didn't look like that. The nerve of that man, I tell you!

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@robpike.io @robpike@cosocial.ca

· 2mo ago

Good thing climate change isn't causing any trouble or this could be an issue. Words fail, again. https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/08/climate/amazon-data-center-texas-pollution.html?unlocked_article_code=1.31A.BKnE.5DhN0aBPzpDP&smid=url-share

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@robpike.io @robpike@cosocial.ca

· 2mo ago

Replying to

@timbray@cosocial.ca What in particular brought this on? Not that I find his position agreeable in general.

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@robpike.io @robpike@cosocial.ca

· 1mo ago

Replying to

@kevin@fedi.kbg.sh I'd be interested but would prefer not Signal. Too many chat apps already.

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@robpike.io @robpike@cosocial.ca

· 2mo ago

Remember this?

Man Very Early Made Jars Stand Up Nearly

but it feels incomplete.

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@robpike.io @robpike@cosocial.ca

· 2mo ago

Replying to

@timbray@cosocial.ca "pitched into kernel panic" => chef's kiss.

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@robpike.io @robpike@cosocial.ca

· 2mo ago

Replying to

@uncoolmouse@retro.pizza I tried to do it but it's exhausting and repetitive and I eventually gave up. It may be AI slop itself, but just as likely is what comes out of a government committee of people who don't understand the subject.

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@robpike.io @robpike@cosocial.ca

· 2mo ago

Replying to

@timbray@cosocial.ca I know, but it bothers me nonetheless, for obvious reasons. Consider the school photographer doing a class shoot.

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@robpike.io @robpike@cosocial.ca

· 2mo ago

Does anyone know a source of fine pitch metric bolts in Australia? I'm looking for M5 fine, which have 0.5mm thread pitch. The standard, widely available is called coarse and has 0.8mm thread pitch. They are as rare as lorikeet teeth around here, as far as I can tell, and I don't want to order from overseas. Thanks. P.S. The threaded hole already exists. This is not a choice I made.

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@robpike.io @robpike@cosocial.ca

· 3mo ago

Hey, guys, when you ask me for my cookie choice and I say "reject", you're still allowed to remember that I said "reject" and not ask me again every damn visit.

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@robpike.io @robpike@cosocial.ca

· 2mo ago

Replying to

@Brad_Rosenheim@climatejustice.social "high rate of speed" always makes me giggle, although I align completely with your anger.

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@robpike.io @robpike@cosocial.ca

· 2mo ago

Replying to

@timbray@cosocial.ca He appears to be standing on Mr Turtle's head.

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@robpike.io @robpike@cosocial.ca

· 2mo ago

Replying to

@timbray@cosocial.ca Pet peeve: Please don't shoot, just photograph.

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@robpike.io @robpike@cosocial.ca

· 2mo ago

Replying to

@mattblaze@federate.social They seem unaware of the contradiction: Unleashing hell but also it wasn't so bad. (Yes it was, but also no he didn't.)

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