Thorsten Ball
@thorstenball.com
Author of interpreterbook.com and compilerbook.com. Working at Sourcegraph. Previously Zed. Programming where the rubber hits the road. Writing Register Spill at: registerspill.thorstenball.com
Arriving with the sound of two thousand angry tambourines, here it is:
New issue of Joy & Curiosity!
registerspill.thorstenball.com/p/joy-and-cu...
New issue of Joy & Curiosity!
registerspill.thorstenball.com/p/joy-and-cu...
July 12, 2025 at 5:30 PM
Arriving with the sound of two thousand angry tambourines, here it is:
New issue of Joy & Curiosity!
registerspill.thorstenball.com/p/joy-and-cu...
New issue of Joy & Curiosity!
registerspill.thorstenball.com/p/joy-and-cu...
Oh my god, Marty, would you look at that!
What is it, Barbara? Are you okay?
Marty, it's... it's... two made-up names and...
a new issue of Joy & Curiosity!
registerspill.thorstenball.com/p/joy-and-cu...
What is it, Barbara? Are you okay?
Marty, it's... it's... two made-up names and...
a new issue of Joy & Curiosity!
registerspill.thorstenball.com/p/joy-and-cu...
July 6, 2025 at 7:35 AM
Oh my god, Marty, would you look at that!
What is it, Barbara? Are you okay?
Marty, it's... it's... two made-up names and...
a new issue of Joy & Curiosity!
registerspill.thorstenball.com/p/joy-and-cu...
What is it, Barbara? Are you okay?
Marty, it's... it's... two made-up names and...
a new issue of Joy & Curiosity!
registerspill.thorstenball.com/p/joy-and-cu...
Look, look, look! It's back!
The two week break is over.
A new Joy & Curiosity.
Read it here (if you're not subscribed — wow): registerspill.thorstenball.com/p/joy-and-cu...
The two week break is over.
A new Joy & Curiosity.
Read it here (if you're not subscribed — wow): registerspill.thorstenball.com/p/joy-and-cu...
June 28, 2025 at 8:55 AM
Look, look, look! It's back!
The two week break is over.
A new Joy & Curiosity.
Read it here (if you're not subscribed — wow): registerspill.thorstenball.com/p/joy-and-cu...
The two week break is over.
A new Joy & Curiosity.
Read it here (if you're not subscribed — wow): registerspill.thorstenball.com/p/joy-and-cu...
I think it comes from gaming
June 13, 2025 at 11:31 AM
I think it comes from gaming
Amp now supports subagents.
They're very powerful and I wonder whether they will change a lot of things.
So I wrote about them: ampcode.com/agents-for-t...
They're very powerful and I wonder whether they will change a lot of things.
So I wrote about them: ampcode.com/agents-for-t...
![Screenshot of the blog post that starts with this text:
"Amp now has subagents. Here’s what they look like in action:
<screenshot of app showing subagents>
But chances are that the first sentence and even that screenshot didn’t cause your facial expression to change.
After all: who even knows what a subagent is? So let’s start there.
What’s a subagent? If you’ve read How to Build an Agent you know that we define an agent as “an LLM with access to tools, giving it the ability to modify something outside the context window.”
Subagents are tools, too. They are agents that can be started by the main agent, the one you’re interacting with when you use Amp.
[...]"](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:mqqgy3lhxf37sp5nx2zc23mn/bafkreideiejxotc4g4cebcha2l257zyj3ahpnrdueaggblc32j7kiek5qm@jpeg)
June 10, 2025 at 3:39 PM
Amp now supports subagents.
They're very powerful and I wonder whether they will change a lot of things.
So I wrote about them: ampcode.com/agents-for-t...
They're very powerful and I wonder whether they will change a lot of things.
So I wrote about them: ampcode.com/agents-for-t...
Drums being drummed on, rattles, cymbals—
A group of people shouting hey, hey, hey—
Something's falling out of the sky, thrown out of a plane, what is it?
The group of people is pointing towards it.
"Hey, it's a new Register Spill!"
registerspill.thorstenball.com/p/joy-and-cu...
A group of people shouting hey, hey, hey—
Something's falling out of the sky, thrown out of a plane, what is it?
The group of people is pointing towards it.
"Hey, it's a new Register Spill!"
registerspill.thorstenball.com/p/joy-and-cu...
June 8, 2025 at 5:50 AM
Drums being drummed on, rattles, cymbals—
A group of people shouting hey, hey, hey—
Something's falling out of the sky, thrown out of a plane, what is it?
The group of people is pointing towards it.
"Hey, it's a new Register Spill!"
registerspill.thorstenball.com/p/joy-and-cu...
A group of people shouting hey, hey, hey—
Something's falling out of the sky, thrown out of a plane, what is it?
The group of people is pointing towards it.
"Hey, it's a new Register Spill!"
registerspill.thorstenball.com/p/joy-and-cu...
Municipal office in my town let me know that my new personal ID is ready.
The Reply-To here translates to:
"Please use email from attachment"
Welcome to small-town Germany
The Reply-To here translates to:
"Please use email from attachment"
Welcome to small-town Germany
June 3, 2025 at 12:00 PM
Municipal office in my town let me know that my new personal ID is ready.
The Reply-To here translates to:
"Please use email from attachment"
Welcome to small-town Germany
The Reply-To here translates to:
"Please use email from attachment"
Welcome to small-town Germany
Wait, what is tha—
Someone slipped something under the door. It's...
Look, it's a new Register Spill!
(Special Saturday Morning Delivery with Special Jujutsu Intro)
registerspill.thorstenball.com/p/joy-and-cu...
Someone slipped something under the door. It's...
Look, it's a new Register Spill!
(Special Saturday Morning Delivery with Special Jujutsu Intro)
registerspill.thorstenball.com/p/joy-and-cu...
May 31, 2025 at 5:00 AM
Wait, what is tha—
Someone slipped something under the door. It's...
Look, it's a new Register Spill!
(Special Saturday Morning Delivery with Special Jujutsu Intro)
registerspill.thorstenball.com/p/joy-and-cu...
Someone slipped something under the door. It's...
Look, it's a new Register Spill!
(Special Saturday Morning Delivery with Special Jujutsu Intro)
registerspill.thorstenball.com/p/joy-and-cu...
Here we go, week of jj.
May 26, 2025 at 4:35 AM
Here we go, week of jj.
Someone on LinkedIn took my post on How to Build an Agent, shortened it, removed all the code, simplified, and posted it there, on LinkedIn.
If you were to tell me that it's all AI generated — the post itself, the comments, the job titles of the commentators — I'd believe you.
If you were to tell me that it's all AI generated — the post itself, the comments, the job titles of the commentators — I'd believe you.
May 25, 2025 at 6:43 AM
Someone on LinkedIn took my post on How to Build an Agent, shortened it, removed all the code, simplified, and posted it there, on LinkedIn.
If you were to tell me that it's all AI generated — the post itself, the comments, the job titles of the commentators — I'd believe you.
If you were to tell me that it's all AI generated — the post itself, the comments, the job titles of the commentators — I'd believe you.
The pleasant hum of a harddrive, the soothing whirring of a dust-covered fan.
Suddenly: the sound of the floppy drive ejecting something.
A whirr, a click — a snap!
That's... that's not a floppy disk?
No! It's a new Register Spill!
Read it here: registerspill.thorstenball.com/p/joy-and-cu...
Suddenly: the sound of the floppy drive ejecting something.
A whirr, a click — a snap!
That's... that's not a floppy disk?
No! It's a new Register Spill!
Read it here: registerspill.thorstenball.com/p/joy-and-cu...
May 24, 2025 at 1:08 PM
The pleasant hum of a harddrive, the soothing whirring of a dust-covered fan.
Suddenly: the sound of the floppy drive ejecting something.
A whirr, a click — a snap!
That's... that's not a floppy disk?
No! It's a new Register Spill!
Read it here: registerspill.thorstenball.com/p/joy-and-cu...
Suddenly: the sound of the floppy drive ejecting something.
A whirr, a click — a snap!
That's... that's not a floppy disk?
No! It's a new Register Spill!
Read it here: registerspill.thorstenball.com/p/joy-and-cu...
"where are you going to put the ads?"
"i don't think you understand what i'm going for"
"i don't think you understand what i'm going for"
May 19, 2025 at 3:01 PM
"where are you going to put the ads?"
"i don't think you understand what i'm going for"
"i don't think you understand what i'm going for"
Wrote down how Amp — the agentic coding tool we've been working on for the last months — has changed programming for me.
Read it here: ampcode.com/how-i-use-amp
Yes, I barely type code by hand anymore.
Read it here: ampcode.com/how-i-use-amp
Yes, I barely type code by hand anymore.
May 15, 2025 at 3:30 PM
Wrote down how Amp — the agentic coding tool we've been working on for the last months — has changed programming for me.
Read it here: ampcode.com/how-i-use-amp
Yes, I barely type code by hand anymore.
Read it here: ampcode.com/how-i-use-amp
Yes, I barely type code by hand anymore.
Gave a talk, got this hat.
(Not pictured: questions about this hat I will get from all the non-tech people that live around me.)
(Not pictured: questions about this hat I will get from all the non-tech people that live around me.)
May 12, 2025 at 1:21 PM
Gave a talk, got this hat.
(Not pictured: questions about this hat I will get from all the non-tech people that live around me.)
(Not pictured: questions about this hat I will get from all the non-tech people that live around me.)
Crash, boom, pang, meep meep — wait, what's that?
It's... pretzels filled with peanut butte—
No!
It's a new Joy & Curiosity after all.
registerspill.thorstenball.com/p/joy-and-cu...
It's... pretzels filled with peanut butte—
No!
It's a new Joy & Curiosity after all.
registerspill.thorstenball.com/p/joy-and-cu...
May 11, 2025 at 8:31 AM
Crash, boom, pang, meep meep — wait, what's that?
It's... pretzels filled with peanut butte—
No!
It's a new Joy & Curiosity after all.
registerspill.thorstenball.com/p/joy-and-cu...
It's... pretzels filled with peanut butte—
No!
It's a new Joy & Curiosity after all.
registerspill.thorstenball.com/p/joy-and-cu...
May 6, 2025 at 1:26 PM
Meep meep, watch out, wait, no, step aside— oops, sorry about that!
Well, here it is: a new Joy & Curiosity!
registerspill.thorstenball.com/p/joy-and-cu...
Well, here it is: a new Joy & Curiosity!
registerspill.thorstenball.com/p/joy-and-cu...
May 3, 2025 at 1:51 PM
Meep meep, watch out, wait, no, step aside— oops, sorry about that!
Well, here it is: a new Joy & Curiosity!
registerspill.thorstenball.com/p/joy-and-cu...
Well, here it is: a new Joy & Curiosity!
registerspill.thorstenball.com/p/joy-and-cu...
Another entry for the They're Just Like Us log:
Agent in Amp started removing now-obsolete properties, gets tired after 3 lines, decides to use ripgrep to do the rest of the replacements.
Agent in Amp started removing now-obsolete properties, gets tired after 3 lines, decides to use ripgrep to do the rest of the replacements.
April 28, 2025 at 8:12 AM
Another entry for the They're Just Like Us log:
Agent in Amp started removing now-obsolete properties, gets tired after 3 lines, decides to use ripgrep to do the rest of the replacements.
Agent in Amp started removing now-obsolete properties, gets tired after 3 lines, decides to use ripgrep to do the rest of the replacements.
