Björn Fahller 🇺🇦🇬🇱🇪🇺🇸🇪

Dark B/W picture of a hare jumping up a snow wall. There's a lot of motion blur. In the background are a few road side reflex poles.

Wheee

Would anyone argue that it'd be fair if a burglar got to keep a certain percentage of their ill-gotten gains?

If no, then why is it that Ukraine would have to compromise on anything? It's not like the burglar will be any less likely to do it again if he gets to keep 20%.

Terrific story about community.

You should've worn slippers, or at least flip-flops. The rest is OK (assuming it was intended to be a very short stay outside).

memory at 83% one application using 40GB

If your application uses 40GB of RAM to open a 300MB file, then you need to rethink your data structures a bit.

I once received a physical paper Nigeria scam mail delivered to my home. This was more than 20 years ago.

Today I received a more traditional email scam, where the message included my home address.

Uncomfortable.

Stupid enough to be plausible

I don't believe I've worn that much ever, but I remember walking to school at approx -40 for a bit more than week. Not a long walk, roughly 1km. I once didn't have my scarf high enough over my face, and the eyelids briefly froze when I blinked. Easy fix, though.

I find their job tips hilarious. The best ones so far are "great experience match" for "freelance Swahili translator" and "internship as a beauty shop decoration designer".

Assam are among my favourites. Have you tried Chinese Yunnan teas?

Conference presentations - YouTube

I made a YT playlist with all my talks from conferences, user group meetups, and a few interviews.

www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...

Maybe we should direct his interest to Novaya Zemlya?

He worked hard for a very long time to go from edgy to widely recognized for being absolutely vile.

Denmark's geopolitical superpower is how even the most powerful leaders turn into happy little kids when they get a cool Lego model

Colourless IR image of a lynx in snow looking straight at you. Its eyes are shining like lasers.

Look at those side burns!

I grew up in the hay days of mix-tapes, but I must admit I never understood them. IMO the best thematic tune mixes come from the artists themselves - albums. I love albums.

Good, but too late for me, I already cancelled my subscription. It'll take a hell of a lot more than that to make me subscribe again.

If you're in the UK and have Facebook, a woman is giving away her late father's PDP-8/L based in Bristol. Schematics included.

www.facebook.com/share/p/1A95...

Does this hold the menace that will end humanity, or the cure?

Wonder how long it takes for C++ devs to adopt std::optional over surrogates (-1, 0, npos, etc.) or pointers. 🤔

#cpp #cplusplus

YouTube video by NDC Conferences When to give up, and how? - Björn Fahller - NDC TechTown 2025

My talk "When to give up, and how?" from NDC{TechTown} is out on YouTube.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-h9...

There were numerous problems with the microphone, so the viewing experience is maybe not great.

I do indeed see coffee as medicinal, and pretty bitter medicine too. I usually* only have it to fight severe jet lag.

* Irish coffee is exempt. It's strangely magnificent if you can convince the bartender to tone down the sugar.

B/W photo of a lynx facing right. It's sniffing a pole. Huge paws, tufty ears and a short tail that it dark on the end.

Early morning visitor

Gah... taste=rate

I can offer tulip bulbs at a very affordable taste.

This is the saddest day of my professional life. Today is not only the final recording of the latest series of The Infinite Monkey Cage, it is my last ever Monkey Cage. I never thought that I would have to leave the show. I always imagined going on until | dropped dead under the studio lights due to a brain aneurysm caused by my final attempt to understand notions of quantum gravity or the shock of being told about fly maggot infestations in the sacks of macaque monkeys. I resigned in September, after sixteen years of dedication to the show, A show that I named and helped develop over all those years. Unfortunately, my opinions outside the BBC have been considered problematic for sometime, whether it has been voicing support for the trans community, criticism of Donald Trump, numerous other outlandish opinions, including once gently criticising Stephen Fry. These things were considered to conflict with being a freelance BBC science presenter

In a recent meeting where BBC Studio executives again voiced problems with me, I realised my choices. Obedience and being quieter to remain making Monkey Cage, or 'Resign and have the freedom to speak out against what I believe are injustices'. • I chose the latter. It broke my heart. I love this show and I love the audience, and it is because of the audience in particular, that this decision was so difficult to make. I kept thinking about all the extremist voices promoting hate and division. They are being given so many platforms, while voices that represent kindness, open mindedness, empathy seem to be scarcer and scarcer. I felt I couldn't pamper myself with the luxury of silence. One of my many privileges is that I am able to resign and I can speak out even if it is to the detriment of my career.

I have thought a lot about my heroes, Sinead O Connor, James Baldwin, Audre Lorde, and so many more. I think of Sinead's words, "the job of an artist is to be themselves at any cost". James Baldwin said prejudice was really just a word for cowardice. Audre Lorde, viewing her life, wrote that her only regrets were her silences. I think of my father as I resign, he brought me up to believe in fairness , justice and kindness. Though my heart is broken, it is also full of fire. I apologise to our incredible listeners for my departure, your love of the show means a great deal. I am so sorry to let you down. I hope that you can understand my reasoning. I have to accept that I am not what the current BBC expects of their freelance presenters.

Despite this I should add that I have always worked far more than my contracted hours to try and ensure the show was always the best it could be, as well as making myself accessible and responsive to the audience wherever and whenever I met them. Every night, we have recorded, I have been filled with determination to make the best show possible. This was not "just a job" I hope that with my departure I can be a better ally to the LGBTQ community, to the neurodivergent community, to activists fighting against those who aim to brutalise society, to those currently in prison on hunger strike, and to all those who fight for a more inclusive world. From many conversations, I know there are many Monkey Cage listeners who support these communities and activists too. The strawberry is dead. Long live the strawberry. B

Very sad that I felt I had no choice but to resign from The Infinite Monkey Cage - a victory for the transphobes and other bigots - I did it because so much of the media has chosen to believe the kind and empathetic people are a fiction - they are real and so often unrepresented.

Must --- resist --- temptation --- to call --- you ---- Paprika!

And the box of chargers that you're not sure of which device they're for.

Image of a lynx in woodland, facing slightly towards the camera, captured by an automatic camera in March 2025.

The Norwegian Institute for Nature Research set up a wildlife camera near our summer house in the Arctic a couple of years ago. We just realised that it has captured images of lynxes! These are my favourite animals, it makes me so happy to know they are walking around on our land up there.