Hugh Emberson
@hughe.bsky.social
Former tech founder. Father of two boys.
Sometimes, at the end of a session, I ask the model “what have you learnt?” Then I ask it to add its learnings to the AGENTS md file.
Sometimes it’s remarkably insightful.
Sometimes it’s remarkably insightful.
December 30, 2025 at 1:51 AM
Sometimes, at the end of a session, I ask the model “what have you learnt?” Then I ask it to add its learnings to the AGENTS md file.
Sometimes it’s remarkably insightful.
Sometimes it’s remarkably insightful.
In my experience LLM’s can be prompted to refactor code, but it is not something that comes “naturally” to them most of the time.
December 14, 2025 at 5:06 PM
In my experience LLM’s can be prompted to refactor code, but it is not something that comes “naturally” to them most of the time.
So, *I think* a Orb Stack machine sort of like a docker container with persistent storage, rather than a classic VM (like VMWare). But I'm not sure. If you know different, I'd love to know.
December 9, 2025 at 4:41 AM
So, *I think* a Orb Stack machine sort of like a docker container with persistent storage, rather than a classic VM (like VMWare). But I'm not sure. If you know different, I'd love to know.
This doesn't mean that they are all running the same *instance* of the kernel. But if you watch the memory consumption, running a new machine doesn't meanigfully increase the amount of RAM OrbStack Helper uses. I think OrbStack Helper is the process that runs the VM.
December 9, 2025 at 4:41 AM
This doesn't mean that they are all running the same *instance* of the kernel. But if you watch the memory consumption, running a new machine doesn't meanigfully increase the amount of RAM OrbStack Helper uses. I think OrbStack Helper is the process that runs the VM.
Fedora 43:
Linux fedora 6.17.8-orbstack-00308-g8f9c941121b1 #1 SMP PREEMPT Thu Nov 20 09:34:02 UTC 2025 aarch64 GNU/Linux
A container:
Linux eea4a882eb0d 6.17.8-orbstack-00308-g8f9c941121b1 #1 SMP PREEMPT Thu Nov 20 09:34:02 UTC 2025 aarch64 Linux
Linux fedora 6.17.8-orbstack-00308-g8f9c941121b1 #1 SMP PREEMPT Thu Nov 20 09:34:02 UTC 2025 aarch64 GNU/Linux
A container:
Linux eea4a882eb0d 6.17.8-orbstack-00308-g8f9c941121b1 #1 SMP PREEMPT Thu Nov 20 09:34:02 UTC 2025 aarch64 Linux
December 9, 2025 at 4:41 AM
Fedora 43:
Linux fedora 6.17.8-orbstack-00308-g8f9c941121b1 #1 SMP PREEMPT Thu Nov 20 09:34:02 UTC 2025 aarch64 GNU/Linux
A container:
Linux eea4a882eb0d 6.17.8-orbstack-00308-g8f9c941121b1 #1 SMP PREEMPT Thu Nov 20 09:34:02 UTC 2025 aarch64 Linux
Linux fedora 6.17.8-orbstack-00308-g8f9c941121b1 #1 SMP PREEMPT Thu Nov 20 09:34:02 UTC 2025 aarch64 GNU/Linux
A container:
Linux eea4a882eb0d 6.17.8-orbstack-00308-g8f9c941121b1 #1 SMP PREEMPT Thu Nov 20 09:34:02 UTC 2025 aarch64 Linux
I poked around inside "Machines" a bit more, and they all seem to use the same version of the kernel.
This is a Ubuntu 25.06 machine:
$ uname -a
Linux ubuntu 6.17.8-orbstack-00308-g8f9c941121b1 #1 SMP PREEMPT Thu Nov 20 09:34:02 UTC 2025 aarch64 GNU/Linux
This is a Ubuntu 25.06 machine:
$ uname -a
Linux ubuntu 6.17.8-orbstack-00308-g8f9c941121b1 #1 SMP PREEMPT Thu Nov 20 09:34:02 UTC 2025 aarch64 GNU/Linux
December 9, 2025 at 4:41 AM
I poked around inside "Machines" a bit more, and they all seem to use the same version of the kernel.
This is a Ubuntu 25.06 machine:
$ uname -a
Linux ubuntu 6.17.8-orbstack-00308-g8f9c941121b1 #1 SMP PREEMPT Thu Nov 20 09:34:02 UTC 2025 aarch64 GNU/Linux
This is a Ubuntu 25.06 machine:
$ uname -a
Linux ubuntu 6.17.8-orbstack-00308-g8f9c941121b1 #1 SMP PREEMPT Thu Nov 20 09:34:02 UTC 2025 aarch64 GNU/Linux
I regret reading that. Brain hurts.
December 9, 2025 at 1:50 AM
I regret reading that. Brain hurts.
It also has something called "Machines", which are like a cross between a Docker container and a virtual machine. I haven't them out yet, but they looks really interesting.
They seem to be like a VM but they all run on the same kernel. But unlike a Docker container, they have persistent state.
They seem to be like a VM but they all run on the same kernel. But unlike a Docker container, they have persistent state.
November 4, 2025 at 9:18 PM
It also has something called "Machines", which are like a cross between a Docker container and a virtual machine. I haven't them out yet, but they looks really interesting.
They seem to be like a VM but they all run on the same kernel. But unlike a Docker container, they have persistent state.
They seem to be like a VM but they all run on the same kernel. But unlike a Docker container, they have persistent state.
And unlike Docker Desktop, it installs a DNS server on your Mac that is accessible from your Mac. So all of your containers have DNS names, hat are accessible from Terminal. You don't have to mess around with your /etc/hosts file and hope your ports don't clash.
November 4, 2025 at 9:18 PM
And unlike Docker Desktop, it installs a DNS server on your Mac that is accessible from your Mac. So all of your containers have DNS names, hat are accessible from Terminal. You don't have to mess around with your /etc/hosts file and hope your ports don't clash.
I thought "who cares fast my Docker containers are, they are fast enough." But, after installing OrbStack, I'm completely bowled over. Wow this thing is fast.
a couple of men standing next to each other on a runway with the words `` feel the need for speed '' above them .
Alt: Maverick and Goose on a runway high-fiving. With the words "I feel the need for speed" over them.
media.tenor.com
November 4, 2025 at 9:18 PM
I thought "who cares fast my Docker containers are, they are fast enough." But, after installing OrbStack, I'm completely bowled over. Wow this thing is fast.
Given that Safari and Firefox are already blocking third-party cookies, this seems like a losing battle. Chrome, the last of the big browsers to support third-party cookies, is currently about 65% of the market.
July 29, 2025 at 11:40 AM
Given that Safari and Firefox are already blocking third-party cookies, this seems like a losing battle. Chrome, the last of the big browsers to support third-party cookies, is currently about 65% of the market.
I expect I'll probably learn how to prompt it better and do things faster as well.
Overall, very impressed.
6/6
Overall, very impressed.
6/6
June 10, 2025 at 3:07 PM
I expect I'll probably learn how to prompt it better and do things faster as well.
Overall, very impressed.
6/6
Overall, very impressed.
6/6
My refactoring session with Claude Code cost about $3. At first I was horrified, but then I realized it had probably saved me half an hour of scut work. And the cost I put on my time is more than six dollars per hour.
I expect this will get much cheaper over time as these things are optimized.
5/n
I expect this will get much cheaper over time as these things are optimized.
5/n
June 10, 2025 at 3:07 PM
My refactoring session with Claude Code cost about $3. At first I was horrified, but then I realized it had probably saved me half an hour of scut work. And the cost I put on my time is more than six dollars per hour.
I expect this will get much cheaper over time as these things are optimized.
5/n
I expect this will get much cheaper over time as these things are optimized.
5/n
At one point it was trying to use grep to find where a method it had refactored was invoked so that it could tidy up the call site, but it kept failing and retrying. I stopped it and suggested it try compiling and find the broken call sites from the compiler error messages, which it did. 4/n
June 10, 2025 at 3:07 PM
At one point it was trying to use grep to find where a method it had refactored was invoked so that it could tidy up the call site, but it kept failing and retrying. I stopped it and suggested it try compiling and find the broken call sites from the compiler error messages, which it did. 4/n
I also like how it inspected the project, and discovered the make commands that I use to build the project, run tests etc. I was anticipating that I would have to teach it how to use my idiosyncratic build system which is an unholy combination of make, cmake and cargo. 3/n
June 10, 2025 at 3:07 PM
I also like how it inspected the project, and discovered the make commands that I use to build the project, run tests etc. I was anticipating that I would have to teach it how to use my idiosyncratic build system which is an unholy combination of make, cmake and cargo. 3/n
It spends a surprisingly large amount of time thinking, planning about how it's going to make a change, I kind of assumed it would be faster. Sometimes, I think I could do the job faster.
I like how it runs the unit tests and builds after make the changes to make sure nothing is broken. 2/n
I like how it runs the unit tests and builds after make the changes to make sure nothing is broken. 2/n
June 10, 2025 at 3:07 PM
It spends a surprisingly large amount of time thinking, planning about how it's going to make a change, I kind of assumed it would be faster. Sometimes, I think I could do the job faster.
I like how it runs the unit tests and builds after make the changes to make sure nothing is broken. 2/n
I like how it runs the unit tests and builds after make the changes to make sure nothing is broken. 2/n
Not an expert but I think that’s why things like openrouter.ai exist.
OpenRouter
The unified interface for LLMs. Find the best models & prices for your prompts
openrouter.ai
May 21, 2025 at 1:19 AM
Not an expert but I think that’s why things like openrouter.ai exist.
Just tried that on Google and Amazon. No luck. Amazon shows the same set of widgets as it does without the minus sign. Google shows a random set of somewhat related widgets, but not the ones I'm looking for.
May 2, 2025 at 12:51 AM
Just tried that on Google and Amazon. No luck. Amazon shows the same set of widgets as it does without the minus sign. Google shows a random set of somewhat related widgets, but not the ones I'm looking for.
Somewhat related. Normal search engines can’t handle searches with negative conditions in them, LLMs can. bsky.app/profile/hugh...
TIL something about normal search engines versus LLM search.
Me: I’m looking for a widget *without* feature X.
Google/Amazon: Here are 200 widgets with X.
LLM: Here are five widgets without X.
And 3 of them didn’t have X and 1 link was broken.
Normal search engines are not good at negatives.
Me: I’m looking for a widget *without* feature X.
Google/Amazon: Here are 200 widgets with X.
LLM: Here are five widgets without X.
And 3 of them didn’t have X and 1 link was broken.
Normal search engines are not good at negatives.
May 1, 2025 at 10:49 PM
Somewhat related. Normal search engines can’t handle searches with negative conditions in them, LLMs can. bsky.app/profile/hugh...