Author | Lightnews

matt wilkie

@maphewyk.bsky.social

24 followers 57 following 54 posts

long time techie, perpetual newbie dev, career geo-spatial, attending curiosity

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matt wilkie @maphewyk.bsky.social · Mar 21

wtf is #1p4floss?

One percent 💰 for Free & Libre Open Source Software

Normalize regularly giving to support the uncountable "dude in Nebraska holding up the internet" #XKCD2347 that make our computing life rich.

Because software needs to be more expensive blog.glyph.im/2024/03/soft...

#floss

Software Needs To Be More Expensive

Software, like coffee, is too artificially cheap, and we need to make it more expensive. I have one suggestion for how to do that.

blog.glyph.im

matt wilkie @maphewyk.bsky.social · 1d

@legacyupdate.net thank you ❤️for legacyupdate.net/download-cen... !! Major MS .com domains have been inaccessible for most of the day and I've been blocked by not having Office 2016 access database engine client available. You've saved my sanity this afternoon.

Microsoft Access Database Engine 2016 Redistributable - Microsoft Download Center Archive - Legacy Update

legacyupdate.net

Reposted by matt wilkie

Vikram Seraph 🪽 @vikramsaraph.com · 2d

I donated $25 to the Python Software Foundation.

Did I do that to post about it social media? Yes. Did I also do it because I think that the Python programming language is awesome, and PSF and PyCon are awesome, and they need more funding? Also yes.

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matt wilkie @maphewyk.bsky.social · 2d

hey #python: what do you add to your AGENTS.md so that #llm handle #uv properly? And differentiate between Claude, Codex, Amp, ...?
(mostly between betwen Codex and Claude. Claude likes SHOUTING while Codex hates it.)
cc: @simonwillison.net

AGENTS.md

AGENTS.md is a simple, open format for guiding coding agents. Think of it as a README for agents.

AGENTS.md

matt wilkie @maphewyk.bsky.social · 2d

Fund or claim bounties to reassert digital ownership over _your_ devices _you_ bought and paid for
youtu.be/TW-mdprDL3k?...
bounties.fulu.org
#fulu , defeat #enshittification

After 17 years of repair, I’m doing something bigger

YouTube video by Louis Rossmann

youtu.be

matt wilkie @maphewyk.bsky.social · 9d

Great explanation of the AWS outage: youtu.be/KFvhpt8FN18?...
Tldr: it was DNS. It's always DNS 🤣

Why the Web was Down - Explained by a Retired Microsoft Engineer

YouTube video by Dave's Garage

youtu.be

Reposted by matt wilkie

Steve Klabnik @steveklabnik.com · 11d

okay, after using it today, github.com/steveyegge/b... is very cool.

it's built for AI usage but even for projects without AI stuff, I'm gonna consider using it. I love issue tracking, but doing it via a super snappy CLI is much nicer than web-based, i think.

GitHub - steveyegge/beads: Beads - A memory upgrade for your coding agent

Beads - A memory upgrade for your coding agent. Contribute to steveyegge/beads development by creating an account on GitHub.

github.com

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Reposted by matt wilkie

Jesse Vincent @s.ly · 11d

I built a new lightweight Chrome MCP/Skill/Claude Plugin and wrote a bit about the Zen of MCP API Design: blog.fsck.com/2025/10/19/m...

When it comes to MCPs, everything we know about API design is wrong

I used to write more

blog.fsck.com

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matt wilkie @maphewyk.bsky.social · 13d

#framework , they just keep coming up with reasons for me to love them 💖
github.com/FrameworkCom...

GitHub - FrameworkComputer/Framework-Desktop: Documentation for the Mainboard and printable mechanical parts in the Framework Desktop

Documentation for the Mainboard and printable mechanical parts in the Framework Desktop - FrameworkComputer/Framework-Desktop

github.com

Reposted by matt wilkie

Hold Me Closer, Giant Dancers @giantdancers.bsky.social · Aug 25

I really hate the term "sideloading". I preferred the original term, which was "installing software on a computer that you own"

Ars Technica @arstechnica.com · Aug 25

Google will block sideloading of unverified Android apps starting next year

Google says it’s no different than checking IDs at the airport.

arstechnica.com

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Reposted by matt wilkie

midnightsun49.bsky.social @midnightsun49.bsky.social · 17d

We need help
We need people
We don't have a big enough population to handle this, and our state congressional is out of session until Jan

We are not a wealthy state, and they keep it that way on purpose, but there will be changes, mark my word

We need all the sizes of clothes and winter gear

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Reposted by matt wilkie

midnightsun49.bsky.social @midnightsun49.bsky.social · 17d

Alaskans know

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matt wilkie @maphewyk.bsky.social · 17d

how many of you knew that Alaska was hit with a typhoon? 😳
#Alaska #TyphoonHalong
I didn't, until a cranky old bear made some noise mastodon.social/@crankyoldbe...
1 killed, 51 rescued, 49 communities impacted, 1400 survivors in community shelters. From the "remnants" of Typhoon Halong.

Screenshot of Alaska Public Media we page about halfway through article. In middle of page is small blue house, seemingly intact but completely upside down

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matt wilkie @maphewyk.bsky.social · 19d

📿🌏
youtu.be/NtZaP8VMv0c?...

NASA let me test my weird chain theory in space

YouTube video by Steve Mould

youtu.be

Reposted by matt wilkie

Lu wilson @todepond.com · 19d

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Reposted by matt wilkie

Jesse Vincent @s.ly · 20d

I just pushed the first major update for Superpowers for Claude Code. This update extracts skills into a standalone git repository that you can fork and manage locally to add, customize skills, and share skills.

Claude decided this was big enough to become 2.0 github.com/obra/superpo...

github.com

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matt wilkie @maphewyk.bsky.social · 20d

The two previous posts cribbed from the excellent #Linkfest newsletter by Clive Thompson, buttondown.com/clivethompso.... It comes out every two weeks. Exploring the links and their nutritious tributaries takes at least that long. I've never managed all of them, and That's Perfectly Okay

The Linkfest

The opposite of doomscrolling: Every two weeks (roughly) I send you a collection of the best Internet reading I've found -- links to culture, technology, art and science that fascinated me. Full, free...

buttondown.com

matt wilkie @maphewyk.bsky.social · 20d

Hey #gischat you might enjoy this very different take on #geolocation: alphabetmoon.org
Lunarcation?
Lunaritta? (montage of Latin lunar and littera for character)

Alphabet Moon

Explore the Moon! Type your name to see how it's written in the Moon's features, then dive into the fascinating science behind it.

alphabetmoon.org

matt wilkie @maphewyk.bsky.social · 20d

Extremely creative use of reel to reel tape machines youtu.be/vaG5tVnpkwc?...

Tape Bowing Ensemble - Open Reel Ensemble

YouTube video by Open Reel Ensemble

youtu.be

Reposted by matt wilkie

Simon Willison @simonwillison.net · 20d

TIL Claude's new code interpreter mode has a /mnt/skills/public/ folder full of prompt instructions and Python utilities for creating and manipulating pdf, docx, pptx, xlsx files - and you can ask Claude for a copy and learn a TON about working with those formats

simonwillison.net/2025/Oct/10/...

simonw/claude-skills

One of the tips I picked up from Jesse Vincent's Claude Code Superpowers post (previously) was this: Skills are what give your agents Superpowers. The first time they really popped …

simonwillison.net

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matt wilkie @maphewyk.bsky.social · 20d

Improve your parachute by cutting holes in it, and make it out of cheap materials
www.zmescience.com/research/inv...
#canada applying ancient #japanese arts in new ways

Scientists Reinvent Parachutes Using Japanese Paper-Cutting Art

Parachutes may soon get a revamp.

www.zmescience.com

Reposted by matt wilkie

aphex twink @peregrinator.site · 21d

there's a lizard here with an ant biting and holding onto it's tail

a small brown gecko with a yellow coloured any biting its tail

1 3

Reposted by matt wilkie

emily moonlight @threnody.bsky.social · 22d

just watched a dozen people ask microsoft copilot experts their most pressing questions and those questions were 90% “how do i turn it off?” and “when i turn it off, is it really off or is it spying on me?”

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matt wilkie @maphewyk.bsky.social · 21d

www.openculture.com/2025/10/the-...

The Aberdeen bestiary has been online for 8 years now, but new to me and still cool so... 😎
The internet as it's best self is still around if I remember to keep looking

The Aberdeen Bestiary, One of the Great Medieval Illuminated Manuscripts, Now Digitized in High Resolution & Made Available Online

For thousands of years, ordinary people all over the world not only worked side-by-side with domestic animals on a daily basis, they also observed the wild fauna around them to learn how to navigate a...

www.openculture.com

matt wilkie @maphewyk.bsky.social · 22d

Excellent long article in The Narwhal this month about porcupine caribou herd and the efforts to count them and track their health, and thus also ours.
thenarwhal.ca/counting-por...
#nwt #yukon #alaska #canada

The biologists racing to count Porcupine caribou | The Narwhal

Scientists in Yukon and Alaska are tracking the size of the Porcupine caribou herd. It’s urgent work: the animals face environmental and political threats

web.archive.org

matt wilkie @maphewyk.bsky.social · 24d

Auggie? (augemented engineer)