Xander ✺
@spectralcodex.com
Front-end developer (React/TypeScript/Astro), biogeography grad, history and map enthusiast, leftoid/anti-fascist, Wikipedia supporter. Non-American resident of Taichung, Taiwan 🐙
🕸 https://spectralcodex.com
🕸 https://spectralcodex.com
Perusing the State of the World on The WELL is one of those Old Internet customs I still follow when I happen to remember it. Just noticed Bruce is not typing 02026 with a leading zero as a typo, but presumably as a Long Now-ish futurist sort of affectation? people.well.com/conf/inkwell...
The WELL: State of the World 2026 with Bruce Sterling and Jon Lebkowsky
The WELL: State of the World 2026 with Bruce Sterling and Jon Lebkowsky
people.well.com
January 17, 2026 at 8:46 AM
Perusing the State of the World on The WELL is one of those Old Internet customs I still follow when I happen to remember it. Just noticed Bruce is not typing 02026 with a leading zero as a typo, but presumably as a Long Now-ish futurist sort of affectation? people.well.com/conf/inkwell...
Reposted by Xander ✺
In a new #BSSA paper, scientists discuss Taiwan’s response to earthquakes and how it has evolved from 1999 to 2024. ⚒️
pubs.geoscienceworld.org/ssa/bssa/art...
pubs.geoscienceworld.org/ssa/bssa/art...
January 17, 2026 at 3:00 AM
In a new #BSSA paper, scientists discuss Taiwan’s response to earthquakes and how it has evolved from 1999 to 2024. ⚒️
pubs.geoscienceworld.org/ssa/bssa/art...
pubs.geoscienceworld.org/ssa/bssa/art...
Reposted by Xander ✺
The handbook you hope never to use: What Taiwan’s civil defense manual reveals about democratic resilience
Jozef Huljak unpacks 🇹🇼’s national civil defense 📙 & contrasts it with 🇪🇺 preparedness handbooks, showing how threat perception shapes preparedness & public messaging. ceias.eu/the-handbook...
Jozef Huljak unpacks 🇹🇼’s national civil defense 📙 & contrasts it with 🇪🇺 preparedness handbooks, showing how threat perception shapes preparedness & public messaging. ceias.eu/the-handbook...
The handbook you hope never to use: What Taiwan's civil defense manual reveals about democratic resilience - CEIAS
On the opening pages of Taiwan’s national civil defense manual, citizens are confronted with a stark question: “In the event of aggression, are you aware that adversaries will flood the internet with ...
ceias.eu
January 13, 2026 at 10:37 AM
The handbook you hope never to use: What Taiwan’s civil defense manual reveals about democratic resilience
Jozef Huljak unpacks 🇹🇼’s national civil defense 📙 & contrasts it with 🇪🇺 preparedness handbooks, showing how threat perception shapes preparedness & public messaging. ceias.eu/the-handbook...
Jozef Huljak unpacks 🇹🇼’s national civil defense 📙 & contrasts it with 🇪🇺 preparedness handbooks, showing how threat perception shapes preparedness & public messaging. ceias.eu/the-handbook...
Reposted by Xander ✺
If you can substitute "hungry ghost trapped in a jar" for "AI" in a sentence it's probably a valid use case for LLMs. Take "I have a bunch of hungry ghosts in jars, they mainly write SQL queries for me". Sure. Reasonable use case.
"My girlfriend is a hungry ghost I trapped in a jar"? No. Deranged.
"My girlfriend is a hungry ghost I trapped in a jar"? No. Deranged.
August 13, 2025 at 12:56 AM
If you can substitute "hungry ghost trapped in a jar" for "AI" in a sentence it's probably a valid use case for LLMs. Take "I have a bunch of hungry ghosts in jars, they mainly write SQL queries for me". Sure. Reasonable use case.
"My girlfriend is a hungry ghost I trapped in a jar"? No. Deranged.
"My girlfriend is a hungry ghost I trapped in a jar"? No. Deranged.
Built around 1962 in central Taichung, Nanye Dance Hall (南夜大舞廳) first opened as Coffee Honolulu and was later renamed Honolulu Club. It was designed by local multidisciplinary artist Wang Shui-ho (王水河) and features an unusually expressive façade. spectralcodex.com/taichung-nan...
Taichung Nanye Dance Hall (台中南夜大舞廳) - Spectral Codex
Established in the early post-war era as Coffee Honolulu (南夜咖啡), it was converted into a bar, nightclub, restaurant, and concert hall in the early 1960s. It was abandoned for much of the 2000s and 201...
spectralcodex.com
January 9, 2026 at 3:43 PM
Built around 1962 in central Taichung, Nanye Dance Hall (南夜大舞廳) first opened as Coffee Honolulu and was later renamed Honolulu Club. It was designed by local multidisciplinary artist Wang Shui-ho (王水河) and features an unusually expressive façade. spectralcodex.com/taichung-nan...
Reposted by Xander ✺
This chart shows the total number of Stack Overflow questions asked each month. As you can see, AI summaries in Google and AI coding tools have nearly killed the site. It is only a matter of time before the site shuts down completely. The golden age of independent web is over.
![This result shows s the total number of Stack Overflow questions asked each month. THE SQL query is https://data.stackexchange.com/stackoverflow/query/1926661#graph:
```
SELECT
DATEFROMPARTS(YEAR(CreationDate), MONTH(CreationDate), 1) AS [Month],
COUNT(*) AS [Questions]
FROM Posts
WHERE
PostTypeId = 1
GROUP BY
DATEFROMPARTS(YEAR(CreationDate), MONTH(CreationDate), 1)
ORDER BY
[Month] ASC
```](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:c2swjkkci7dljjizpgye45kv/bafkreifmonjn4eplva4uyfudo5bwc3u7axoxkuu6f3i44264xp64p3yysa@jpeg)
January 4, 2026 at 7:46 AM
This chart shows the total number of Stack Overflow questions asked each month. As you can see, AI summaries in Google and AI coding tools have nearly killed the site. It is only a matter of time before the site shuts down completely. The golden age of independent web is over.
Reposted by Xander ✺
░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ 0.75%
January 3, 2026 at 6:00 PM
░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ 0.75%
Reposted by Xander ✺
you’re right! it feels mostly awful to Go Online™, these days. the internet in a sad state, for reason after reason after reason. but there is a way to fix it; to trade the voidful howling for a quiet & joyful song.
here’s how to win the war for the soul of the internet, and build the Web We Want.
here’s how to win the war for the soul of the internet, and build the Web We Want.
A Website To End All Websites | Henry From Online
How to win the war for the soul of the internet, and build the Web We Want.
henry.codes
January 1, 2026 at 7:27 PM
you’re right! it feels mostly awful to Go Online™, these days. the internet in a sad state, for reason after reason after reason. but there is a way to fix it; to trade the voidful howling for a quiet & joyful song.
here’s how to win the war for the soul of the internet, and build the Web We Want.
here’s how to win the war for the soul of the internet, and build the Web We Want.
Reposted by Xander ✺
In Chinese #mythology, Lady Taizhen Wang, born Zhi, daughter of the Queen Mother of the West, moves through the world with an ease few immortals match.
She rides a white dragon across mountains and seas, unbound and fearless. Her zither playing is said to summon flocks of birds 1/2
#art #painting
She rides a white dragon across mountains and seas, unbound and fearless. Her zither playing is said to summon flocks of birds 1/2
#art #painting
December 31, 2025 at 1:45 PM
In Chinese #mythology, Lady Taizhen Wang, born Zhi, daughter of the Queen Mother of the West, moves through the world with an ease few immortals match.
She rides a white dragon across mountains and seas, unbound and fearless. Her zither playing is said to summon flocks of birds 1/2
#art #painting
She rides a white dragon across mountains and seas, unbound and fearless. Her zither playing is said to summon flocks of birds 1/2
#art #painting
Received the presidential alert a good 15 seconds before the waves hit here in Taichung. Maybe the biggest I've experienced since the 403 quake in 2024!
December 27, 2025 at 3:19 PM
Received the presidential alert a good 15 seconds before the waves hit here in Taichung. Maybe the biggest I've experienced since the 403 quake in 2024!
Reposted by Xander ✺
Din Tai Fung in Times Square is closed today, which seems like a MBA case study in an international company lacking local cultural competence
December 25, 2025 at 8:55 PM
Din Tai Fung in Times Square is closed today, which seems like a MBA case study in an international company lacking local cultural competence
Reposted by Xander ✺
On Christmas Eve 1968, in Lunar orbit, the Apollo 8 crew took this photo: “Earthrise."
I'll never forget how inspiring the Apollo missions were to my brother and me as kids. They showed us what our country and humanity can accomplish when we work together toward a common goal.
I'll never forget how inspiring the Apollo missions were to my brother and me as kids. They showed us what our country and humanity can accomplish when we work together toward a common goal.
December 24, 2025 at 10:22 PM
On Christmas Eve 1968, in Lunar orbit, the Apollo 8 crew took this photo: “Earthrise."
I'll never forget how inspiring the Apollo missions were to my brother and me as kids. They showed us what our country and humanity can accomplish when we work together toward a common goal.
I'll never forget how inspiring the Apollo missions were to my brother and me as kids. They showed us what our country and humanity can accomplish when we work together toward a common goal.
YouBike users rotate seats 180 degrees to communicate to other users that a bike is dysfunctional. It's essentially a workaround for the docks not having a "fix me" button. www.mirrormedia.mg/story/202512...
YouBike座墊為何被180度反轉？官方揭「通關密語」 一堆人竟騎走了 - 鏡週刊 Mirror Media
由於各縣市陸續建置YouBike租賃站，開始有愈來愈多人騎乘代步，但你可能不一定知道，為什麼有些單車的座墊是180度反轉？YouBike小編近日在社群發文解答，原來這代表車輛可能有問題待維修。貼文引發熱議，不少網友表示，「我都轉回來騎走欸」、「借完發現『落鏈』結果一路嚕回家」；也有網友氣著說，「有人會故意這樣，為了讓自...
www.mirrormedia.mg
December 25, 2025 at 2:07 PM
YouBike users rotate seats 180 degrees to communicate to other users that a bike is dysfunctional. It's essentially a workaround for the docks not having a "fix me" button. www.mirrormedia.mg/story/202512...
Reposted by Xander ✺
Yesterday, I took my parents on another of my favourite Taipei day trips (well, near enough, we did it in reverse but all the ingredients were the same).
We started off by taking a train to Shuangxi where we mooched around the old houses, got coffee, green bean cakes and triple peanut shaved ice.
We started off by taking a train to Shuangxi where we mooched around the old houses, got coffee, green bean cakes and triple peanut shaved ice.
December 25, 2025 at 12:01 AM
Yesterday, I took my parents on another of my favourite Taipei day trips (well, near enough, we did it in reverse but all the ingredients were the same).
We started off by taking a train to Shuangxi where we mooched around the old houses, got coffee, green bean cakes and triple peanut shaved ice.
We started off by taking a train to Shuangxi where we mooched around the old houses, got coffee, green bean cakes and triple peanut shaved ice.
Delulu for Labubu: are all these blind box toy shops popping up in my neighborhood just gentrified claw machine parlors and/or money laundering operations?
December 23, 2025 at 2:13 PM
Delulu for Labubu: are all these blind box toy shops popping up in my neighborhood just gentrified claw machine parlors and/or money laundering operations?
Reposted by Xander ✺
One of the cooler churches I’ve checked out in Taiwan. A church shaped like a ship!
Jhangyuan Presbyterian Church in Changbin Township, Taitung
Jhangyuan Presbyterian Church in Changbin Township, Taitung
December 23, 2025 at 1:51 PM
One of the cooler churches I’ve checked out in Taiwan. A church shaped like a ship!
Jhangyuan Presbyterian Church in Changbin Township, Taitung
Jhangyuan Presbyterian Church in Changbin Township, Taitung
Reposted by Xander ✺
Reposted by Xander ✺
This is such a crux of the problem. The AI Denialist echo chamber has built a purity complex around not using the technology
and so is blindsided by the fact that this is one of the fastest growing consumer products in history
I mean the growth of this stuff is truly wild
and so is blindsided by the fact that this is one of the fastest growing consumer products in history
I mean the growth of this stuff is truly wild
Everybody’s talking about this shit in the abstract like some kind of lab experiment! It’s people using an app on their phones. You won’t win them over with ruminations on the nature of accuracy. How are you going to give them better explanations of medical diagnoses from their doctor?
December 19, 2025 at 1:59 AM
This is such a crux of the problem. The AI Denialist echo chamber has built a purity complex around not using the technology
and so is blindsided by the fact that this is one of the fastest growing consumer products in history
I mean the growth of this stuff is truly wild
and so is blindsided by the fact that this is one of the fastest growing consumer products in history
I mean the growth of this stuff is truly wild
Reposted by Xander ✺
The Sage of Nangang speaks! Is Taiwan now having a constitutional crisis?
This: 'On a side note, one of the strangest things about this whole episode is how blasé society seems to be about it.'
frozengarlic.wordpress.com/2025/12/17/c...
This: 'On a side note, one of the strangest things about this whole episode is how blasé society seems to be about it.'
frozengarlic.wordpress.com/2025/12/17/c...
Constitutional crisis
For all the hand-wringing about the controversial recall efforts in early 2025, there was never any question about their legality. The procedures for our recalls were clearly laid out in the electi…
frozengarlic.wordpress.com
December 17, 2025 at 11:28 PM
The Sage of Nangang speaks! Is Taiwan now having a constitutional crisis?
This: 'On a side note, one of the strangest things about this whole episode is how blasé society seems to be about it.'
frozengarlic.wordpress.com/2025/12/17/c...
This: 'On a side note, one of the strangest things about this whole episode is how blasé society seems to be about it.'
frozengarlic.wordpress.com/2025/12/17/c...
Reposted by Xander ✺
So the plan is Don Jr. and Eric Trump corner the market to become the biggest drug cartel in the Western hemisphere.
CIA controls production, the US military kills the competition with Hellfire missiles, CBP controls drug routes into and out of the US, and ICE raids the local distributors?
CIA controls production, the US military kills the competition with Hellfire missiles, CBP controls drug routes into and out of the US, and ICE raids the local distributors?
December 18, 2025 at 2:18 AM
So the plan is Don Jr. and Eric Trump corner the market to become the biggest drug cartel in the Western hemisphere.
CIA controls production, the US military kills the competition with Hellfire missiles, CBP controls drug routes into and out of the US, and ICE raids the local distributors?
CIA controls production, the US military kills the competition with Hellfire missiles, CBP controls drug routes into and out of the US, and ICE raids the local distributors?
Reposted by Xander ✺
This year I make a conscious decision to write more. Writing is how I deal with the world around me. Much of what I wrote is not for sharing, some is though and does not fit my blog. So I created a new place for it. dark.ronacher.eu/2025/12/13/w...
War
I’m grappling with the deterioration of international relations and lust for war.
dark.ronacher.eu
December 14, 2025 at 2:42 PM
This year I make a conscious decision to write more. Writing is how I deal with the world around me. Much of what I wrote is not for sharing, some is though and does not fit my blog. So I created a new place for it. dark.ronacher.eu/2025/12/13/w...
Reposted by Xander ✺
Taiwan’s population fell by nearly 97,000 YoY as of the end of November. November saw just 7,946 births—another record low. With only 98,785 births in the first 11 months, Taiwan will fall far short of the 134,856 births recorded in 2024 (a Dragon Year).
www.cna.com.tw/news/aipl/20...
www.cna.com.tw/news/aipl/20...
11月新生兒7946人再創新低 老年人口占19.99%逼近超高齡社會 | 政治 | 中央社 CNA
內政部統計，截至今年11月底台灣人口數為2330萬6085人，已連續23個月負成長；此外，11月出生數7946人，是繼今年4月、5月出生數接連創下史上新低後，再度探底。另外，65歲以上人口數已突破465萬人，占總人口比率19.99%，逼近超高齡社會所訂老年人口數20%大關。
www.cna.com.tw
December 10, 2025 at 10:42 AM
Taiwan’s population fell by nearly 97,000 YoY as of the end of November. November saw just 7,946 births—another record low. With only 98,785 births in the first 11 months, Taiwan will fall far short of the 134,856 births recorded in 2024 (a Dragon Year).
www.cna.com.tw/news/aipl/20...
www.cna.com.tw/news/aipl/20...
Reposted by Xander ✺
"AI is the asbestos in the walls of our technological society, stuffed there with wild abandon by a finance sector and tech monopolists run amok. We will be excavating it for a generation or more."
This piece on AI by Cory Doctorow is spectactular.
pluralistic.net/2025/12/05/p...
This piece on AI by Cory Doctorow is spectactular.
pluralistic.net/2025/12/05/p...
December 9, 2025 at 2:58 PM
"AI is the asbestos in the walls of our technological society, stuffed there with wild abandon by a finance sector and tech monopolists run amok. We will be excavating it for a generation or more."
This piece on AI by Cory Doctorow is spectactular.
pluralistic.net/2025/12/05/p...
This piece on AI by Cory Doctorow is spectactular.
pluralistic.net/2025/12/05/p...
Reposted by Xander ✺
Here is the latest tsunami information for the M7.6 earthquake that just struck offshore northern Japan. The warnings are for waves up to 3 m, but the highest waves measured so far are <0.5 m. It is still possible for larger waves to arrive.
1/2
www.jma.go.jp/bosai/map.ht...
⚒️ 🧪
1/2
www.jma.go.jp/bosai/map.ht...
⚒️ 🧪
December 8, 2025 at 3:40 PM
Here is the latest tsunami information for the M7.6 earthquake that just struck offshore northern Japan. The warnings are for waves up to 3 m, but the highest waves measured so far are <0.5 m. It is still possible for larger waves to arrive.
1/2
www.jma.go.jp/bosai/map.ht...
⚒️ 🧪
1/2
www.jma.go.jp/bosai/map.ht...
⚒️ 🧪
Reposted by Xander ✺
Yep. Many of these people would be happy to naturalize. But apparently Taiwan, with a TFR of .9, whose population is falling off a demographic cliff, would rather commit suicide than establish a path to dual citizenship for outsiders.
Migrant workers marched to the Legislative Yuan in Taipei this afternoon, calling for an end to the 12-year time limit to how long they can live in Taiwan. They dressed up as expired meat and bombs with 12-year fuses, arguing that the time limit treats their bodies and labor as disposable.
December 7, 2025 at 10:17 PM
Yep. Many of these people would be happy to naturalize. But apparently Taiwan, with a TFR of .9, whose population is falling off a demographic cliff, would rather commit suicide than establish a path to dual citizenship for outsiders.