Xander Cesari

If LLMs had been invented 20 years ago we'd still be trying to get them to speak fluent XML instead of just inventing JSON, TOML, or YAML

I had a USB-micro cable in my life for years with only power lines and no data. After a particularly frustrating afternoon of debugging an embedded project I gave it to a mortal enemy

Okay I will concede that the number of physically compatible cables on the market that are only capable of a smattering of those features is a failure. Maybe more of a market failure than a technical one but troubling 🧐

Yet each and every one delightful in its own right. 4K video? USB-C's got it. High speed data transfer? Voltage AND amperage controlled power supply? Up to 240w?? What can't it do

If someone tells you that if you don't start using AI you'll lose your job, the truth is most likely that if you don't start using AI they'll lose their job.

Memtest86+ is the broken bolt extractor set of computers.

Has anyone started a social server for your city or community? Something running a combination of ActivityPub-based services to create a local alternative to big tech services? If you know of any instances like this send them my way!

I love how much the broader Rust community cares about safety-critical software! I feel seen

*needle drop moment, and today I realize that you can't edit Bluesky posts

Stumbled into @jasmine.bsky.social's Kernel vol 5 launch party for joinreboot.org last night and boy oh boy was it a needle trip moment. Just when I was losing hope in finding the thread of moral imperative in the Bay Area tech scene! On to Open Sauce conf this weekend.

Now that we're finally USB-Cifying the world we need to name and shame proprietary connector formats that are holding us back from societal bliss. I'd like to propose a useful pejorative: DSC or Domain Specific Cable.

Just saw some folks with Texas plates get out of their car in San Francisco and throw an empty beer can on the sidewalk. Probably gonna drive home and tell all their friends how dirty Californian cities are.

I had a blast at the Zed hackathon in Utrecht for RustWeek and I've been using Zed ever since! Host another one!

It's all a plot by Big Uninterruptible Power Supply to get us to buy more Uninterruptible Power Supplies

It's important to remember that our brains are not computers but in fact they are squishy meat with electricity in it driving around in a mecha suit made of bone. This mental image has been helpful in reminding me why I need exercise to think well.

Rust - a new programming language for safety, reliability, and security, Tue, Jul 15, 2025, 6:00 PM | Meetup **A New Lingua Franca: Why Automotive Software Needs Rust** **AGENDA** 6:00p Welcome reception 6:30p Presentation with Q&A 7:30p Networking 8:00p End **ABSTRACT** For dec

I'll be talking about Rust in Automotive at the SAE Silicon Valley meetup next week in Palo Alto, come say hi! I will go most anywhere and talk to most anyone about bringing Rust to the automotive industry.

www.meetup.com/sae-innovati...

Truly a podcasting company that also makes a computer

YouTube video by Self-Directed Research Traceability

In this episode of @sdr-podcast.com, we're gunna found out exactly how many of our listeners have ever worked in safety critical industries, and whomst among us have opinions about requirements/code/test traceability tools :D

www.youtube.com/watch?v=-f6R...

Wow love these worlds colliding! I'm excited to listen. And yes Manuel's project is terrific! He started it at Infineon but is now doing it for Ferrous, it's extremely promising for quite a few industries.

The hilarious irony is that the motivating factor to do this was a security vulnerability in plugin code that he had also never looked at

Pairing an SSG and a hosting service is so cheap and simple while offering a better experience for writer and reader. Platforms like Medium will whisper sweet nothings into your ear like "reach" but that algorithm is a Faustian bargain that always ends the same way; poorly.

I've had a Synology NAS running their Drive file sync client for years! So useful

Now that I have a server running a personal streaming service I'm badly regretting not keeping any of the hard drives with the 30gb of MP3s I accumulated between the years 2006-2016 or so when I gave up and adopted Spotify ☹️ The tragic loss of youth and innocence manifests in surprising ways

For a side project I've been working on getting an ESP32 S2 to talk to the external flash and PSRAM chips on the board. And my friend, progress has been slow so any updates here will be very welcome indeed!

Okay I now have a home server for self-hosting cloud replacement software. Now it may not currently be serving anything but surely that's not a prerequisite for something to be a server is it?

I've been interested in right-to-repair initiatives and federated networks for years now but recently I've added FUTO and the local-first (shoutout @localfirst.fm and @localfirstconf.com) to that general area of obsession. It seems like we might take technology back after all!

Omg what a graph this could make

50 kW units near places that people would like to be (restaurants, parks, walkable downtowns) would be excellent!

Maybe Zeeshan Ali Khan would be interested in this? Not sure if he's on Bluesky but he checks a few of those boxes!

UX gripe: I'm tired of pressing and holding buttons. Also double or triple pushing. There are contexts where this is necessary but a lot of them are just saving a few cents or a lack of design creativity. Give me switches, knobs, and proper hardware.