Ian ✨
@ianmdawson.bsky.social
I program computers and I dance Balboa, Collegiate Shag, and Lindy Hop.
Reposted by Ian ✨
I see a lot of complaints about untested AI slop in pull requests. Submitting those is a dereliction of duty as a software engineer: Your job is to deliver code you have proven to work simonwillison.net/2025/Dec/18/...
Your job is to deliver code you have proven to work
In all of the debates about the value of AI-assistance in software development there’s one depressing anecdote that I keep on seeing: the junior engineer, empowered by some class of …
simonwillison.net
December 18, 2025 at 2:57 PM
I see a lot of complaints about untested AI slop in pull requests. Submitting those is a dereliction of duty as a software engineer: Your job is to deliver code you have proven to work simonwillison.net/2025/Dec/18/...
Some power seems to be back in parts of western SF at least
December 21, 2025 at 7:00 AM
Some power seems to be back in parts of western SF at least
Reposted by Ian ✨
ONGOING: SF Muni J and N Lines Remain Switching Back at Church/Duboce. K, L and M Lines Remain Switching Back at Castro. Trains Not Stopping at the Muni Metro/Market Street Subway. Embarcadero through Van Ness Stations are Closed. Due to Power Outage. http://goo.gl/TU4ZDK
December 21, 2025 at 5:35 AM
ONGOING: SF Muni J and N Lines Remain Switching Back at Church/Duboce. K, L and M Lines Remain Switching Back at Castro. Trains Not Stopping at the Muni Metro/Market Street Subway. Embarcadero through Van Ness Stations are Closed. Due to Power Outage. http://goo.gl/TU4ZDK
SF power outage getting worse:
December 20, 2025 at 11:21 PM
SF power outage getting worse:
Reposted by Ian ✨
San Francisco PG&E outages leave 40,000 customers without power www.sfchronicle.com/sf/article/p...
San Francisco PG&E outages leave 40,000 customers without power
As of 2 p.m., the utility estimated power would be restored between 3:30 p.m. and 3:45 p.m.
www.sfchronicle.com
December 20, 2025 at 10:39 PM
San Francisco PG&E outages leave 40,000 customers without power www.sfchronicle.com/sf/article/p...
Developers beware of Etsy, we just had our API integration revoked because we were posting test items to our test store from two countries. No recourse for us at all 😮
November 14, 2025 at 10:05 PM
Developers beware of Etsy, we just had our API integration revoked because we were posting test items to our test store from two countries. No recourse for us at all 😮
Reposted by Ian ✨
A data broker owned by major US airlines, including American Airlines, United, and Delta, is selling access to five billion plane ticketing records to the government for warrantless searching and monitoring of peoples’ movements, including by the FBI, Secret Service, ICE and other agencies
Airlines Sell 5 Billion Plane Ticket Records to the Government For Warrantless Searching
New documents obtained by 404 Media show how a data broker owned by American Airlines, United, Delta, and many other airlines is selling masses of passenger data to the U.S. government.
www.404media.co
September 15, 2025 at 1:20 PM
A data broker owned by major US airlines, including American Airlines, United, and Delta, is selling access to five billion plane ticketing records to the government for warrantless searching and monitoring of peoples’ movements, including by the FBI, Secret Service, ICE and other agencies
Reposted by Ian ✨
'Ejection seat' by Cornelia Konrads, contemporary German artist, known for her land art and site-specific art installations #womensart #Saturday
September 13, 2025 at 5:52 AM
'Ejection seat' by Cornelia Konrads, contemporary German artist, known for her land art and site-specific art installations #womensart #Saturday
Reposted by Ian ✨
🚨NEW RESULTS (w/ Slattery & Nober)
- When gov't engineers retire, highway projects cost more: the engineers pay for themselves 6 times over
- Improving gov’t engineer quality from the 25th to 75th percentile reduces costs by 14%, equal to 3x avg. engineer pay
Paper: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
- When gov't engineers retire, highway projects cost more: the engineers pay for themselves 6 times over
- Improving gov’t engineer quality from the 25th to 75th percentile reduces costs by 14%, equal to 3x avg. engineer pay
Paper: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
September 12, 2025 at 1:43 PM
🚨NEW RESULTS (w/ Slattery & Nober)
- When gov't engineers retire, highway projects cost more: the engineers pay for themselves 6 times over
- Improving gov’t engineer quality from the 25th to 75th percentile reduces costs by 14%, equal to 3x avg. engineer pay
Paper: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
- When gov't engineers retire, highway projects cost more: the engineers pay for themselves 6 times over
- Improving gov’t engineer quality from the 25th to 75th percentile reduces costs by 14%, equal to 3x avg. engineer pay
Paper: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
Hell yes
The Japanese parent company of 7-Eleven is betting billions of dollars that it can expand its business in the United States by making its convenience stores more like the food meccas they are in Japan. | via @nytimes.com
Is America ready for Japanese-style 7-Elevens?
Facing a stagnant and highly competitive retail market in Japan, Seven & I’s growth is expected to come from overseas.
www.japantimes.co.jp
September 12, 2025 at 2:42 AM
Hell yes
Reposted by Ian ✨
"Harvard can't use race as a factor in admissions, but ICE can use race as a factor in detentions" is a retrenchment essentially to a pre-Civil War understanding of the Constitution. It's vanishingly few steps removed from "Latinos have no rights which the white man is bound to respect."
September 9, 2025 at 4:44 PM
"Harvard can't use race as a factor in admissions, but ICE can use race as a factor in detentions" is a retrenchment essentially to a pre-Civil War understanding of the Constitution. It's vanishingly few steps removed from "Latinos have no rights which the white man is bound to respect."
Reposted by Ian ✨
Marvel Studios leaving Georgia and taking all its productions to the UK because they don’t have to pay for employees’ health insurance there due to universal healthcare is a valuable lesson for America.
We’ll ignore it but the lesson still stands. Universal healthcare creates jobs.
We’ll ignore it but the lesson still stands. Universal healthcare creates jobs.
Is Marvel leaving Georgia? Production shifts to UK spark industry shakeup
Marvel’s blockbuster era in Georgia may be ending, as the studio pivots overseas for its next wave of superhero films.
www.usatoday.com
September 9, 2025 at 11:45 PM
Marvel Studios leaving Georgia and taking all its productions to the UK because they don’t have to pay for employees’ health insurance there due to universal healthcare is a valuable lesson for America.
We’ll ignore it but the lesson still stands. Universal healthcare creates jobs.
We’ll ignore it but the lesson still stands. Universal healthcare creates jobs.
Reposted by Ian ✨
It’s been a month since I wrote this and I want to reiterate that as bad as things look now, Americans don’t understand how bad things are going to get.
Multiple times this year I’ve had coffee with fellow immigrants who grew up in corrupt third world countries and the shared sentiment has been that Americans don’t understand how bad things are going to get.
September 8, 2025 at 10:32 PM
It’s been a month since I wrote this and I want to reiterate that as bad as things look now, Americans don’t understand how bad things are going to get.
Exactly
Sam Altman complaining that too many users on X and Reddit sound like ChatGPT powered bots is like the Joker poisoning the water supply then complaining the water tastes funny.
Sam Altman says that bots are making social media feel 'fake' | TechCrunch
After watching Reddit's OpenAI and Anthropic communities, Sam Altman thinks social media cannot be trusted. And bots are to blame.
techcrunch.com
September 9, 2025 at 3:46 AM
Exactly
Reposted by Ian ✨
Americans voted for affordable prices & a better country.
Instead-
Kennedy fired the panel of the real ACIP experts that make vaccine recommendations. Cancer & other research grants are cut. FDA has restricted Covid shots. We have measles & whooping cough outbreaks.
🧪 www.ft.com/content/9af0...
Instead-
Kennedy fired the panel of the real ACIP experts that make vaccine recommendations. Cancer & other research grants are cut. FDA has restricted Covid shots. We have measles & whooping cough outbreaks.
🧪 www.ft.com/content/9af0...
Americans face biggest increase in health insurance costs in 15 years
Rising premiums add to pressure on households already feeling the pinch from the high price of goods
www.ft.com
September 8, 2025 at 1:01 AM
Americans voted for affordable prices & a better country.
Instead-
Kennedy fired the panel of the real ACIP experts that make vaccine recommendations. Cancer & other research grants are cut. FDA has restricted Covid shots. We have measles & whooping cough outbreaks.
🧪 www.ft.com/content/9af0...
Instead-
Kennedy fired the panel of the real ACIP experts that make vaccine recommendations. Cancer & other research grants are cut. FDA has restricted Covid shots. We have measles & whooping cough outbreaks.
🧪 www.ft.com/content/9af0...
Reposted by Ian ✨
No, employment for US natives is not soaring.
The claims you've seen on this from the US Administration are from people not competent to interpret the statistics.
"The apparent boom in native-born employment is just a statistical artifact".
My @piie.com colleague @jedkolko.bsky.social explains—>
The claims you've seen on this from the US Administration are from people not competent to interpret the statistics.
"The apparent boom in native-born employment is just a statistical artifact".
My @piie.com colleague @jedkolko.bsky.social explains—>
No, Native-Born Employment Has Not Soared
A newly viral chart showing native-born employment levels is a multiple-count data felony. Focus instead on the native-born unemployment rate.
jedkolko.substack.com
September 6, 2025 at 11:48 AM
No, employment for US natives is not soaring.
The claims you've seen on this from the US Administration are from people not competent to interpret the statistics.
"The apparent boom in native-born employment is just a statistical artifact".
My @piie.com colleague @jedkolko.bsky.social explains—>
The claims you've seen on this from the US Administration are from people not competent to interpret the statistics.
"The apparent boom in native-born employment is just a statistical artifact".
My @piie.com colleague @jedkolko.bsky.social explains—>
Reposted by Ian ✨
About half of all imports consist of inputs for American manufacturing.
Taxing those foreign components means fewer goods will be made in America.
Taxing those foreign components means fewer goods will be made in America.
September 5, 2025 at 2:04 PM
About half of all imports consist of inputs for American manufacturing.
Taxing those foreign components means fewer goods will be made in America.
Taxing those foreign components means fewer goods will be made in America.
Reposted by Ian ✨
Clear windows that collect Solar Energy [via Nanjing Uni] 🧪🥼🌞🔋🔲
Solar energy is guided by Cholesteric Liquid Crystal layer coatings on a standard window glass toward photovoltaic cells along edges.
photonix.springeropen.com/articles/10....
#clear #colorless #windows #solar #energy #capture
Solar energy is guided by Cholesteric Liquid Crystal layer coatings on a standard window glass toward photovoltaic cells along edges.
photonix.springeropen.com/articles/10....
#clear #colorless #windows #solar #energy #capture
Colorless and unidirectional diffractive-type solar concentrators compatible with existing windows - PhotoniX
Solar concentrators laterally converge solar energy to the side of architectural glass and are attractive candidates for building-integrated photovoltaics. Present available luminescent-type and scatt...
photonix.springeropen.com
September 5, 2025 at 8:42 PM
Clear windows that collect Solar Energy [via Nanjing Uni] 🧪🥼🌞🔋🔲
Solar energy is guided by Cholesteric Liquid Crystal layer coatings on a standard window glass toward photovoltaic cells along edges.
photonix.springeropen.com/articles/10....
#clear #colorless #windows #solar #energy #capture
Solar energy is guided by Cholesteric Liquid Crystal layer coatings on a standard window glass toward photovoltaic cells along edges.
photonix.springeropen.com/articles/10....
#clear #colorless #windows #solar #energy #capture
Reposted by Ian ✨
As someone who markets recruiting and HR software I can tell you that businesses are already operating as if we are mid-recession.
September 6, 2025 at 12:02 AM
As someone who markets recruiting and HR software I can tell you that businesses are already operating as if we are mid-recession.
Reposted by Ian ✨
3,000 bucks seems too low to me.
September 5, 2025 at 7:36 PM
3,000 bucks seems too low to me.
Reposted by Ian ✨
The ‘antiwar’ president today tried to rename the Department of Defense the Department of War.
Can’t make this stuff up.
Can’t make this stuff up.
September 5, 2025 at 11:19 PM
The ‘antiwar’ president today tried to rename the Department of Defense the Department of War.
Can’t make this stuff up.
Can’t make this stuff up.
Reposted by Ian ✨
cosigned; it's not coding, it's deciding what to code
I feel like one of the many effects of LLMs on our industry is going to be making it really clear that the coding was never the hard part.
September 5, 2025 at 10:38 PM
cosigned; it's not coding, it's deciding what to code
Reposted by Ian ✨
Someone should tell the economic geniuses running our trade policies about the existence of inventories! 🧵
September 4, 2025 at 11:35 PM
Someone should tell the economic geniuses running our trade policies about the existence of inventories! 🧵
Reposted by Ian ✨
You win some and you lose some. While Anthropic won the copyright case based on training their AI from copies of books they bought, they've just settled a case based on training AI on pirated books.
The settlement is for $1.5B which works out to about $3,000 per book.
The settlement is for $1.5B which works out to about $3,000 per book.
Anthropic to pay $1.5 billion to authors in landmark AI settlement
Lawyers said it’s believed to be the largest-ever settlement in a US copyright case, paying about $3,000 per book.
www.theverge.com
September 5, 2025 at 9:58 PM
You win some and you lose some. While Anthropic won the copyright case based on training their AI from copies of books they bought, they've just settled a case based on training AI on pirated books.
The settlement is for $1.5B which works out to about $3,000 per book.
The settlement is for $1.5B which works out to about $3,000 per book.
Reposted by Ian ✨
A major economic challenge we're not talking enough about: It's getting harder and harder for young people to find entry-level jobs. We are definitely feeling this in NYC.
Nat’l unemployment rate for ages 16-24 just hit 10.5%, highest it's been since the pandemic. Rising steadily.
Nat’l unemployment rate for ages 16-24 just hit 10.5%, highest it's been since the pandemic. Rising steadily.
September 5, 2025 at 5:36 PM
A major economic challenge we're not talking enough about: It's getting harder and harder for young people to find entry-level jobs. We are definitely feeling this in NYC.
Nat’l unemployment rate for ages 16-24 just hit 10.5%, highest it's been since the pandemic. Rising steadily.
Nat’l unemployment rate for ages 16-24 just hit 10.5%, highest it's been since the pandemic. Rising steadily.