Alex Zurek
@zureka.substack.com
Software Engineer - Teaching computers how to make the mistakes I would normally make by hand.
I occasionally write blog posts over at https://zureka.substack.com/
I occasionally write blog posts over at https://zureka.substack.com/
Reposted by Alex Zurek
I really like this point and have seen evidence of it: when humans get confused or overwhelmed by complexity, it’s a signal to search for alternate solutions.
AI just plows on, often in the wrong direction, without feeling this pushback.
It doesn’t feel the pain
obie.medium.com/ruby-was-rea...
AI just plows on, often in the wrong direction, without feeling this pushback.
It doesn’t feel the pain
obie.medium.com/ruby-was-rea...
November 27, 2025 at 11:02 PM
I really like this point and have seen evidence of it: when humans get confused or overwhelmed by complexity, it’s a signal to search for alternate solutions.
AI just plows on, often in the wrong direction, without feeling this pushback.
It doesn’t feel the pain
obie.medium.com/ruby-was-rea...
AI just plows on, often in the wrong direction, without feeling this pushback.
It doesn’t feel the pain
obie.medium.com/ruby-was-rea...
This is a brilliant way for the students to realize this on their own rather than someone telling them.
November 24, 2025 at 3:43 AM
This is a brilliant way for the students to realize this on their own rather than someone telling them.
Reposted by Alex Zurek
Dithering - Part 1
Understanding how dithering works, visually.
visualrambling.space
November 8, 2025 at 7:41 AM
Reposted by Alex Zurek
AI/LLMs are by design anti-labor technology. the aggressive pushing of LLM adoption by all levels of management is exemplary of this: you are not asked to use this tech because it will enable better work and ideas, but because it is cheaper to your boss than your coworker's salary
Amazon confirms 14,000 layoffs after CEO says AI likely to lead to job losses.
Is artificial intelligence to blame for Amazon job cuts?
Amazon confirms 14,000 layoffs after CEO says AI likely to lead to job losses.
bit.ly
October 28, 2025 at 1:14 PM
AI/LLMs are by design anti-labor technology. the aggressive pushing of LLM adoption by all levels of management is exemplary of this: you are not asked to use this tech because it will enable better work and ideas, but because it is cheaper to your boss than your coworker's salary
Reposted by Alex Zurek
I just saw someone use the abbreviation “AI;DR” and I’ll be laughing for a while.
October 6, 2025 at 10:00 PM
I just saw someone use the abbreviation “AI;DR” and I’ll be laughing for a while.
As someone who got into software engineering because I enjoyed writing code, I have also experienced a form of identity crisis with the expectation that I should utilize more AI, thereby reducing the amount of code I need to write myself.
weakty.com/posts/efforts/
weakty.com/posts/efforts/
Our efforts, in part, define us
weakty.com
October 1, 2025 at 1:06 PM
As someone who got into software engineering because I enjoyed writing code, I have also experienced a form of identity crisis with the expectation that I should utilize more AI, thereby reducing the amount of code I need to write myself.
weakty.com/posts/efforts/
weakty.com/posts/efforts/
This is an excellent collection of essays, some of which I've read before. I highly recommend reading through some of them and integrating these concepts into your development process. refactoringenglish.com/blog/softwar...
The Software Essays that Shaped Me
I started reading software blogs before I got my first programming job 20 years ago. At this point, I've read thousands of blog posts and essays, but a small handful stuck in my mind and changed the w...
refactoringenglish.com
October 1, 2025 at 12:11 AM
This is an excellent collection of essays, some of which I've read before. I highly recommend reading through some of them and integrating these concepts into your development process. refactoringenglish.com/blog/softwar...
Made “autumn naan pizzas” tonight (with a few substitutions) following this recipe. It was delicious and will definitely have to make it again at some point.
dishingouthealth.com/autumn-naan-...
dishingouthealth.com/autumn-naan-...
September 17, 2025 at 1:06 AM
Made “autumn naan pizzas” tonight (with a few substitutions) following this recipe. It was delicious and will definitely have to make it again at some point.
dishingouthealth.com/autumn-naan-...
dishingouthealth.com/autumn-naan-...
Reposted by Alex Zurek
enshittification | noun | when a digital platform is made worse for users, in order to increase profits
September 3, 2025 at 8:22 PM
enshittification | noun | when a digital platform is made worse for users, in order to increase profits
Took advantage of the long weekend to complete a project we’ve wanted to tackle for awhile now. We finally added drawers to our kitchen pantry! So much easier to find things now.
September 2, 2025 at 2:31 AM
Took advantage of the long weekend to complete a project we’ve wanted to tackle for awhile now. We finally added drawers to our kitchen pantry! So much easier to find things now.
Reposted by Alex Zurek
The only thing that will make me scream LETS GO BRANDON
Re: “AI artist”
Re: “AI artist”
August 27, 2025 at 8:16 PM
The only thing that will make me scream LETS GO BRANDON
Re: “AI artist”
Re: “AI artist”
That awkward moment when you find a shortened variable name for "cumulative weight" in the codebase... and it has been there for years.
August 26, 2025 at 6:14 PM
That awkward moment when you find a shortened variable name for "cumulative weight" in the codebase... and it has been there for years.
Reposted by Alex Zurek
The world is going to shit and I still have to do my part to increase shareholder value tomorrow
August 11, 2025 at 1:47 AM
The world is going to shit and I still have to do my part to increase shareholder value tomorrow
Reposted by Alex Zurek
I got into tech because it’s fun to take things apart, see how they work, and put them back together — or rearrange the parts into something brand new. it definitely feels like the new ethos is “bro why bother to learn? caring about that stuff is cringe, just go FAST bro” and that bums me out
the main thing that makes me uneasy about llms is the cultural backdrop of global war on knowledge. the war on knowledge isn’t new but now it’s cheered on from tech too. tools for thought pivoted to slot machines because that’s what people want. “how things work” is buried under opaque indirections
August 10, 2025 at 2:37 PM
I got into tech because it’s fun to take things apart, see how they work, and put them back together — or rearrange the parts into something brand new. it definitely feels like the new ethos is “bro why bother to learn? caring about that stuff is cringe, just go FAST bro” and that bums me out
Reposted by Alex Zurek
Truly extraordinary Google AI results. Amazing.
July 30, 2025 at 3:07 AM
Truly extraordinary Google AI results. Amazing.
Reposted by Alex Zurek
stop 👏 anthropomorphizing 👏 the 👏 chatbot 👏
July 20, 2025 at 10:18 PM
stop 👏 anthropomorphizing 👏 the 👏 chatbot 👏
Reposted by Alex Zurek
We all need to be more like Scott.
I just wanted to say, I’m probably more proud of this Ted talk than just about anything I’ve ever done so I’m gonna be absolutely useless for the next couple of weeks as I promote the shit out of this because I want you to watch it because it matters in the moment we are in youtu.be/dVG8W-0p6vg
Tech Promised Everything. Did it deliver? | Scott Hanselman | TEDxPortland
YouTube video by TEDx Talks
youtu.be
July 18, 2025 at 5:02 PM
We all need to be more like Scott.
I’ve entirely skipped the JS framework wars for the past few years since my current role is about writing third-party scripts that get loaded onto other sites. Makes me wonder how easy it will be to eventually jump back into app dev.
July 12, 2025 at 6:59 PM
I’ve entirely skipped the JS framework wars for the past few years since my current role is about writing third-party scripts that get loaded onto other sites. Makes me wonder how easy it will be to eventually jump back into app dev.
Reposted by Alex Zurek
You can’t shrink government to the size where you can drown it in a bathtub and then be surprised when it can’t rescue people from a flood.
July 10, 2025 at 10:55 AM
You can’t shrink government to the size where you can drown it in a bathtub and then be surprised when it can’t rescue people from a flood.
I appreciate that the speaker list on the @cascadiajs.com 2025 site is in a random order every time. It removes any perceived artificial ranking of importance so that all of the speakers have a chance to be listed at the top.
cascadiajs.com/2025
cascadiajs.com/2025
CascadiaJS 2025 | Sept 18 - 19 | Seattle, WA
CascadiaJS 2025 is coming up Sept 18 - 19 in Seattle, WA!
cascadiajs.com
July 11, 2025 at 3:21 PM
I appreciate that the speaker list on the @cascadiajs.com 2025 site is in a random order every time. It removes any perceived artificial ranking of importance so that all of the speakers have a chance to be listed at the top.
cascadiajs.com/2025
cascadiajs.com/2025
One feature I wish Bluesky had was improved open graph tags so that image previews would show when I share a post in another app.
July 8, 2025 at 11:53 AM
One feature I wish Bluesky had was improved open graph tags so that image previews would show when I share a post in another app.
Reposted by Alex Zurek
