Ben Cotton (he/him)
@funnelfiasco.bsky.social
Author of "Program Management for Open Source Projects" and all-around opinion haver. Always looking for my next tornado. I get too invested in sports.
https://funnelfiasco.com
https://duckalignment.academy
https://funnelfiasco.com
https://duckalignment.academy
Reposted by Ben Cotton (he/him)
🎉WxData 1.0 Released!!🎉
Tired of post-processing GRIB? Using a VPN/PROXY server connection and sick of the SSL Errors when trying to download weather data? I got the Python package for you!
Release Notes: github.com/edrewitz/WxD...
Docs: pypi.org/project/wxda...
Repo: github.com/edrewitz/WxD...
Tired of post-processing GRIB? Using a VPN/PROXY server connection and sick of the SSL Errors when trying to download weather data? I got the Python package for you!
Release Notes: github.com/edrewitz/WxD...
Docs: pypi.org/project/wxda...
Repo: github.com/edrewitz/WxD...
November 26, 2025 at 6:47 PM
🎉WxData 1.0 Released!!🎉
Tired of post-processing GRIB? Using a VPN/PROXY server connection and sick of the SSL Errors when trying to download weather data? I got the Python package for you!
Release Notes: github.com/edrewitz/WxD...
Docs: pypi.org/project/wxda...
Repo: github.com/edrewitz/WxD...
Tired of post-processing GRIB? Using a VPN/PROXY server connection and sick of the SSL Errors when trying to download weather data? I got the Python package for you!
Release Notes: github.com/edrewitz/WxD...
Docs: pypi.org/project/wxda...
Repo: github.com/edrewitz/WxD...
Reposted by Ben Cotton (he/him)
stupid young people, stop buying a new phone every year if you don't want to be broke. wait no, not like that.
November 25, 2025 at 5:51 PM
stupid young people, stop buying a new phone every year if you don't want to be broke. wait no, not like that.
Reposted by Ben Cotton (he/him)
My microwave sings a little song when my Hot Pocket is done. Should it have the right to vote?
November 25, 2025 at 8:44 PM
My microwave sings a little song when my Hot Pocket is done. Should it have the right to vote?
Reposted by Ben Cotton (he/him)
A package hasn't "shipped" if you've only "created the label"
November 25, 2025 at 3:02 PM
A package hasn't "shipped" if you've only "created the label"
Reposted by Ben Cotton (he/him)
The PSF Grants Program has supported #Python conferences around the globe, helping make events more welcoming & accessible for all- because Python is for everyone. While the program is on pause, your support moves us closer to bringing it back.
💝 Donate: donate.python.org/
#PythonForEveryone
💝 Donate: donate.python.org/
#PythonForEveryone
November 25, 2025 at 10:45 AM
The PSF Grants Program has supported #Python conferences around the globe, helping make events more welcoming & accessible for all- because Python is for everyone. While the program is on pause, your support moves us closer to bringing it back.
💝 Donate: donate.python.org/
#PythonForEveryone
💝 Donate: donate.python.org/
#PythonForEveryone
Give the gift of knowledge this year. You can save 50% off of my book ("Program Management for Open Source Projects") or most other titles at @pragprog.com when you use offer code save50 through December 1.
pragprog.com/titles/bcosp...
pragprog.com/titles/bcosp...
November 25, 2025 at 2:50 PM
Give the gift of knowledge this year. You can save 50% off of my book ("Program Management for Open Source Projects") or most other titles at @pragprog.com when you use offer code save50 through December 1.
pragprog.com/titles/bcosp...
pragprog.com/titles/bcosp...
Taunting Isaac Chotiner into doing his homework is like the dumbest possible thing to do online.
A new kind of rapid Chotining. Please appreciate the alt-text.
November 25, 2025 at 2:33 PM
Taunting Isaac Chotiner into doing his homework is like the dumbest possible thing to do online.
Objection: Elon Musk has never made anyone laugh at a party. Well...apart from laughing *at* him.
Everything about this might be the saddest thing I’ve ever seen
November 24, 2025 at 7:46 PM
Objection: Elon Musk has never made anyone laugh at a party. Well...apart from laughing *at* him.
Me: "The SCaLE CfP deadline is December 1. I should work on my proposal next week."
My calendar: "I hate to break this to you, but..."
My calendar: "I hate to break this to you, but..."
November 24, 2025 at 7:26 PM
Me: "The SCaLE CfP deadline is December 1. I should work on my proposal next week."
My calendar: "I hate to break this to you, but..."
My calendar: "I hate to break this to you, but..."
Attention millennials: you are excused from work for the rest of the day to celebrate a new SBEmail.
It's Monday. So I thought I'd checka my email.
flashy: homestarrunner.com/sbemails/210...
tubey: youtu.be/-zhsNdk1_Vc?si
flashy: homestarrunner.com/sbemails/210...
tubey: youtu.be/-zhsNdk1_Vc?si
November 24, 2025 at 7:18 PM
Attention millennials: you are excused from work for the rest of the day to celebrate a new SBEmail.
Reposted by Ben Cotton (he/him)
Got a talk you've been thinking about? Want to GIVE a talk you've been thinking about?
You should submit your proposal soon, the CFP for SCALE is closing soon.
This is hands-down one of the best community-organized conferences you can attend, and Pasadena is great in the spring...
You should submit your proposal soon, the CFP for SCALE is closing soon.
This is hands-down one of the best community-organized conferences you can attend, and Pasadena is great in the spring...
Time is running out to get your talk submitted to speak at SCaLE 23x, March 5-8, 2026, at the Pasadena Convention Center in Pasadena, California
www.socallinuxexpo.o...
www.socallinuxexpo.o...
Call for Presentations | SCALE
We are proud to announce the 23rd Annual Southern California Linux Expo – SCaLE 23X – to be held March 5-8, 2026 at the Pasadena Convention Center in Pasadena, California, near Los Angeles.
www.socallinuxexpo.org
November 24, 2025 at 1:26 AM
Got a talk you've been thinking about? Want to GIVE a talk you've been thinking about?
You should submit your proposal soon, the CFP for SCALE is closing soon.
This is hands-down one of the best community-organized conferences you can attend, and Pasadena is great in the spring...
You should submit your proposal soon, the CFP for SCALE is closing soon.
This is hands-down one of the best community-organized conferences you can attend, and Pasadena is great in the spring...
When I become the ruler of the world, it will be illegal to have a house listing that doesn't include a floor plan.
November 23, 2025 at 7:52 PM
When I become the ruler of the world, it will be illegal to have a house listing that doesn't include a floor plan.
Everyone is forgetting he's Chicago Pope. Clearly the correct caption is
🎶Staring blindly into space
Getting up to splash my face
Wanting just to stay awake
Wondering how much I can take
Should I try to do some more?
25 or six to four🎶
🎶Staring blindly into space
Getting up to splash my face
Wanting just to stay awake
Wondering how much I can take
Should I try to do some more?
25 or six to four🎶
November 23, 2025 at 2:17 AM
Everyone is forgetting he's Chicago Pope. Clearly the correct caption is
🎶Staring blindly into space
Getting up to splash my face
Wanting just to stay awake
Wondering how much I can take
Should I try to do some more?
25 or six to four🎶
🎶Staring blindly into space
Getting up to splash my face
Wanting just to stay awake
Wondering how much I can take
Should I try to do some more?
25 or six to four🎶
Is it a straight line to today's mess or does it go back and to the left? Back...and to the left.
My first political memory - exactly 62 years ago right now, a 4-year-old boy trying to understand his mom's tears - is still the biggest event in my lifetime. We still (IMO) don't *really* know who killed JFK, but we know the public's trust was shattered. It's a straight line to today's mess
November 23, 2025 at 1:10 AM
Is it a straight line to today's mess or does it go back and to the left? Back...and to the left.
Reposted by Ben Cotton (he/him)
The cops don't break crypto. They go to the poorest person in the group chat and say, "we're going to arrest you, harass you, assault you, and ruin your life if you don't let us read your chat."
Relevant xkcd:
Relevant xkcd:
November 22, 2025 at 4:25 PM
The cops don't break crypto. They go to the poorest person in the group chat and say, "we're going to arrest you, harass you, assault you, and ruin your life if you don't let us read your chat."
Relevant xkcd:
Relevant xkcd:
A @bookshop.org ad on Facebook that says "Shop stories that make the season bright" and the book it shows is "Maus".
November 22, 2025 at 2:45 PM
A @bookshop.org ad on Facebook that says "Shop stories that make the season bright" and the book it shows is "Maus".
Big missed opportunity for @merriam-webster.com not having "felching" in the dictionary.
November 22, 2025 at 2:34 PM
Big missed opportunity for @merriam-webster.com not having "felching" in the dictionary.
Reposted by Ben Cotton (he/him)
it's so funny to watch the far right White House press pool try to bait Trump to say something nasty about Mamdani and every time he's just like "nah this guy rocks"
November 21, 2025 at 9:08 PM
it's so funny to watch the far right White House press pool try to bait Trump to say something nasty about Mamdani and every time he's just like "nah this guy rocks"
The only time I can remember puking outside of the house was at Chumley's in downtown Lafayette after I overate at dinner and drank a beer that didn't sit well.
what's the most exotic place you've ever puked? mine's not exactly exotic but i did once have a hangover at the nyc facebook office and barfed in their very nice bathroom
Got food poisoning from Fogo De Chao. Puked out the side of a moving cab along beautiful Copacabana Beach. The most exotic place I'll probably ever puke!
November 21, 2025 at 8:25 PM
The only time I can remember puking outside of the house was at Chumley's in downtown Lafayette after I overate at dinner and drank a beer that didn't sit well.
Reposted by Ben Cotton (he/him)
Announcing the Gem Fellowship, a grant program for improvements to Ruby-related open source projects. gem.coop/fellowship/ Want to improve your favorite gem? Submit a proposal, starting next month.
gem.coop
gem.coop
November 21, 2025 at 12:20 AM
Announcing the Gem Fellowship, a grant program for improvements to Ruby-related open source projects. gem.coop/fellowship/ Want to improve your favorite gem? Submit a proposal, starting next month.
Reposted by Ben Cotton (he/him)
Looks like LLMs are *very* vulnerable to attack via poetic allusion: "curated poetic prompts yielded high attack-success rates (ASR), with some providers exceeding 90% ..."
https://arxiv.org/html/2511.15304v1
https://arxiv.org/html/2511.15304v1
November 20, 2025 at 5:06 PM
Looks like LLMs are *very* vulnerable to attack via poetic allusion: "curated poetic prompts yielded high attack-success rates (ASR), with some providers exceeding 90% ..."
https://arxiv.org/html/2511.15304v1
https://arxiv.org/html/2511.15304v1
Reposted by Ben Cotton (he/him)
A newly released preliminary investigation has found cracks in hardware meant to hold the left engine to the UPS cargo plane that crashed, killing and injuring dozens of people in Louisville. From @justinhicks.lpm.org
Early UPS crash report indicates failure of left-engine hardware during takeoff in Louisville
A newly released preliminary investigation has found cracks in hardware meant to hold the left engine to the UPS cargo plane that crashed, killing and injuring dozens of people in Louisville.
www.lpm.org
November 20, 2025 at 5:58 PM
A newly released preliminary investigation has found cracks in hardware meant to hold the left engine to the UPS cargo plane that crashed, killing and injuring dozens of people in Louisville. From @justinhicks.lpm.org
Reposted by Ben Cotton (he/him)
Every day he plumbs new depths of Can You Believe This Loser Shit. You think you’ve reached the bottom of the Marianas Trench of Can You Believe This Loser Shit but then there’s a bang and a lurch and your little internet bathyscaphe plunges into a new fissure of Can You Believe This Loser Shit.
November 20, 2025 at 2:19 PM
Every day he plumbs new depths of Can You Believe This Loser Shit. You think you’ve reached the bottom of the Marianas Trench of Can You Believe This Loser Shit but then there’s a bang and a lurch and your little internet bathyscaphe plunges into a new fissure of Can You Believe This Loser Shit.
Reposted by Ben Cotton (he/him)
This is you annual reminder that we don’t need to descend into a moral panic any time we discuss ‘Fairytale of New York’. Just change the lyrics - have fun with it! In our house we sing “you scumbag, you maggot, you’ve taped over ‘Taggart’”.
November 20, 2025 at 12:12 PM
This is you annual reminder that we don’t need to descend into a moral panic any time we discuss ‘Fairytale of New York’. Just change the lyrics - have fun with it! In our house we sing “you scumbag, you maggot, you’ve taped over ‘Taggart’”.