index.md (11204B)
1 --- 2 title: "Dispatch #42 (August 2026)" 3 date: 2026-08-04T01:26:36-04:00 4 draft: false 5 tags: 6 - dispatch 7 references: 8 - title: "Tool Box in a Milk Crate and Bonus — Everyday Commentary" 9 url: https://www.everydaycommentary.com/www.everydaycommentary.com/2026/6/3/tool-box-in-a-milk-crate-and-bonus 10 date: 2026-08-01T05:51:54Z 11 file: www-everydaycommentary-com-ebfsob.txt 12 - title: "Weeknotes: June 27 – July 3, 2026 – Tracy Durnell's Mind Garden" 13 url: https://tracydurnell.com/2026/07/03/weeknotes-june-27-july-3-2026/ 14 date: 2026-08-01T06:01:03Z 15 file: tracydurnell-com-0ckguh.txt 16 - title: "Home is where my stuff is | Ruslan Osipov" 17 url: https://rosipov.com/blog/home-is-where-my-stuff-is/ 18 date: 2026-01-06T05:32:49Z 19 file: rosipov-com-qbdcgh.txt 20 - title: "WebAssembly" 21 url: https://webassembly.org/ 22 date: 2026-08-04T04:43:38Z 23 file: webassembly-org-7kas9l.txt 24 - title: "OpenAI’s accidental cyberattack against Hugging Face is science fiction that happened" 25 url: https://simonwillison.net/2026/Jul/22/openai-cyberattack/#atom-everything 26 date: 2026-08-04T05:23:00Z 27 file: simonwillison-net-zmoxib.txt 28 - title: "AI Mania Is Eviscerating Global Decision-Making — Ludicity" 29 url: https://ludic.mataroa.blog/blog/ai-mania-is-eviscerating-global-decision-making/ 30 date: 2026-08-04T05:23:05Z 31 file: ludic-mataroa-blog-ss5swh.txt 32 - title: "Daring Fireball: 'AI Mania Is Eviscerating Global Decision-Making'" 33 url: https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/25/ai-mania-nikhil-suresh 34 date: 2026-08-04T05:23:06Z 35 file: daringfireball-net-qsrkrz.txt 36 - title: "llm-wiki · GitHub" 37 url: https://gist.github.com/karpathy/442a6bf555914893e9891c11519de94f 38 date: 2026-08-04T05:23:12Z 39 file: gist-github-com-4bt2rw.txt 40 - title: "Review: Xteink X3 is the little e-reader the world’s not quite ready for – Six Colors" 41 url: https://sixcolors.com/post/2026/07/review-xteink-x3-is-the-little-e-reader-the-worlds-not-quite-ready-for/ 42 date: 2026-08-04T05:23:20Z 43 file: sixcolors-com-vzmwje.txt 44 - title: "Manton Reece" 45 url: https://www.manton.org/2026/07/22/dan-moren-reviews-the-xteink.html 46 date: 2026-08-04T05:23:22Z 47 file: www-manton-org-f8ohhe.txt 48 - title: "I own my books | Michael Harley" 49 url: https://michaelharley.net/posts/2026/07/16/i-own-my-books/ 50 date: 2026-08-04T05:23:29Z 51 file: michaelharley-net-wa2rlv.txt 52 --- 53 54 August 2026 marks two big personal anniversaries: 25 years in Durham and 10 years in this house. Who would've thought? Certainly not Duke freshman Dave. Couldn't be happier to be right here right now, though I might have made some different decisions had I known I'd be raising two small children in these increasingly cramped quarters. But that's not how things work, is it? 55 56 <!--more--> 57 58 In July, we went down to Lake Norman for the Fourth. The highlight was hooking an inflatable raft up to one of the kayaks and towing the kids and their cousin Sully around. Otherwise, laid pretty low: museums, pools, farmers' markets, Eno River, just classic summertime shit. Work was a bit stressful (tricky client situation) but I think we're mostly through the woods there. My folks came down at the end of the month to celebrate my mom's birthday. 59 60 {{<dither IMG_0482.jpeg "782x600">}}A lazy lake flotilla.{{</dither>}} 61 {{<dither IMG_0509.jpeg "782x600">}}Two kids making faces on the stairs.{{</dither>}} 62 63 {{<dither IMG_0533.jpeg "782x600">}}Matching faces at the playground.{{</dither>}} 64 {{<dither IMG_0641.jpeg "782x600">}}Family lounge time over coffee, juice, and snacks.{{</dither>}} 65 66 Here's a new track, called "Asdreno Dreams" (title by my coworker's young son, who makes fictitious track listings for fun): 67 68 <audio controls src="/journal/dispatch-42-august-2026/Asdreno Dreams.mp3"></audio> 69 70 Apologies to Claire for having to listen to this on loop for two months while I figured out those bass and lead lines. Thanks for letting me be me. 71 72 ### Decluttering 73 74 I finished Adam Savage's [_Every Tool's a Hammer_][1], most of which is a love letter to tools and workshops. That plus [a post I read on a knife blog I follow][2] have me itching to overhaul my basement space. The problem is that there is so much crap down here. Just an _unbelievable_ amount of crap. 75 76 [1]: https://www.simonandschuster.net/books/Every-Tools-a-Hammer/Adam-Savage/9781982113483 77 [2]: https://www.everydaycommentary.com/www.everydaycommentary.com/2026/6/3/tool-box-in-a-milk-crate-and-bonus 78 79 I started a new book, [_Decluttering at the Speed of Life_][3] ([via][4]), which isn't exactly groundbreaking stuff, but has given me permission to approach a cluttered space with a trash bag and a donation box and start getting stuff out. When I feel guilty about throwing something away, I just have to tell myself: David, it's already trash. That pile of paint cans that was here when you moved in, and you haven't looked at since? _Already trash._ That it's in your house instead of the dump does not change its trash nature. Get it out. 80 81 [3]: https://bookshop.org/p/books/decluttering-at-the-speed-of-life-winning-your-never-ending-battle-with-stuff-dana-k-white/cde38b41d0c6ab3a?ean=9780718083588&bkshp-astro=t 82 [4]: https://tracydurnell.com/2026/07/03/weeknotes-june-27-july-3-2026/ 83 84 I still think about [this post I read some months ago][5]: 85 86 > "This is why decluttering is so hard. It’s not really about tidiness. It’s about deciding which past selves get to stay." 87 88 [5]: https://rosipov.com/blog/home-is-where-my-stuff-is/ 89 90 Sure I haven't ridden my fancy road bike since the kids were born, but it's so tempting to think that could still be a part of my life if I just prioritized things a bit differently (e.g. became a 5AM guy instead of a 2AM guy). But, let's face our current (and wonderful!) reality, sell the bike, and if I decide I want to get back into long rides in 2040, buy something new and goddamn incredible. 91 92 ### Eteink XTC Converter 93 94 [Last month][6] I mentioned my [Xteink X3][7] pocket e-reader and how it uses a custom e-book format ("XTC"). I wasn't happy with the results generated by my Calibre plugin when I converted the decluttering book. I found [this web tool][8] which creates much nicer files (margins, typography, etc.), but I didn't really want a random, unattributed website as part of my reading workflow. 95 96 [6]: /journal/dispatch-41-july-2026/#xteink-x3-pocket-ereader 97 [7]: https://www.xteink.com/products/xteink-x3 98 [8]: https://xtctool.com/ 99 100 I pointed Codex at the URL and asked if it could perhaps find the source online. It could not, but it did reveal that the entire conversion process takes place in the browser using [WebAssembly][9]. I had it download and analyze the source and then build a command-line version. Then I used [Bun][10] to compile a standalone executable and set it up to read my preferred settings from a config file. Now I can just `xtcconv /path/to/book.epub`. 101 102 [9]: https://webassembly.org/ 103 [10]: https://bun.sh/ 104 105 I can't in good conscience open source this project, since it's just stolen code and vibes. But if you're interested, slap these three paragraphs into your coding agent and I bet you'll get good results. What a time to be a nerd. 106 107 ### This Month 108 109 * Adventure: Long weekend in Napa with some of Claire's college friends then our annual trip to Rehoboth Beach 110 * Project: decluttering, maybe start thinking about a better setup for my woodworking tools + 3D printer 111 * Skill: I've run the same half-marathon in mid-October for the last four years; gotta decide if I'm going to go for five, and if so, get serious about training 112 113 ### Reading & Listening 114 115 * Fiction: [_The Burning God_][11], R. F. Kuang -- I am ready for this series to be over; the characters aren't likeable and nothing good ever happens. I'm holding out hope for a strong ending. Then back to CARL. 116 * Non-fiction: [_Decluttering at the Speed of Life_][3], Dana K. White 117 * Music: 118 * [_A-Meow-Zing Music_][12], Gabby's Dollhouse -- Nev loves this show, and now Claire and I unironically love the songs ([tell me this doesn't slap][13]) 119 * [_Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots_][14], Flaming Lips -- I've always loved this album (_Fight Test_ is an all-time favorite), but it's only recently occurred to me that it's also a synth masterpiece 120 121 [11]: https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-burning-god-r-f-kuang/25ad1ff12a8a9b5a?ean=9780062662644&bkshp-astro=t 122 [12]: https://rsdmrkt.com/item/68dfc0d24ae7899c7d51fb6a 123 [13]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3Nofx0skJU 124 [14]: https://www.tonevendor.com/products/the-flaming-lips-yoshimi-battles-the-pink-robots-lp-album-re-rm?shop_consented_scopes=email%3Averified+openid+pay%3Asession_token+profile+shop%3Aaccount_uuid&shop_sign_in=true&variant=49126991560986 125 126 127 ### Links 128 129 * [OpenAI’s accidental cyberattack against Hugging Face is science fiction that happened][15] 130 131 > OpenAI’s accidental cyberattack against Hugging Face is science fiction that happened This story is wild. The short version: OpenAI were running a cybersecurity test against an unreleased model, with the model’s guardrail features turned off. Rather than solve the test, the model broke its way out of OpenAI’s sandbox, then found exploits to break in to Hugging Face, all so it could cheat on the test by stealing the answers. 132 133 * [AI Mania Is Eviscerating Global Decision-Making — Ludicity][16] ([via][17]) 134 135 > I strongly believe there are entire companies right now under heavy AI psychosis and it’s impossible to have rational conversations with them about it. I can’t name any specific people because they include personal friends I deeply respect, but I worry about how this plays out. 136 137 * [llm-wiki · GitHub][18] 138 139 > A pattern for building personal knowledge bases using LLMs. This is an idea file, it is designed to be copy pasted to your own LLM Agent (e.g. OpenAI Codex, Claude Code, OpenCode / Pi, or etc.). Its goal is to communicate the high level idea, but your agent will build out the specifics in collaboration with you. 140 141 * [Review: Xteink X3 is the little e-reader the world’s not quite ready for – Six Colors][19] ([via][20]) 142 143 > Not unlike in music, the problem is that in order for someone to actually to consume your music or books, they must possess the means to unlock it. 144 145 * [I own my books | Michael Harley][21] ([via][22]) 146 147 > So I backup my books to an open standard, ePUB, with the DRM stripped off. If eBooks.com folds tomorrow, or Kobo decides my account is a problem, or I want to read on hardware nobody has invented yet, my library still works. I don't care what their fine print says. I bought this book. It's my book. I'll read it where I like, TYVM. 148 149 [15]: https://simonwillison.net/2026/Jul/22/openai-cyberattack/#atom-everything 150 [16]: https://ludic.mataroa.blog/blog/ai-mania-is-eviscerating-global-decision-making/ 151 [17]: https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/25/ai-mania-nikhil-suresh 152 [18]: https://gist.github.com/karpathy/442a6bf555914893e9891c11519de94f 153 [19]: https://sixcolors.com/post/2026/07/review-xteink-x3-is-the-little-e-reader-the-worlds-not-quite-ready-for/ 154 [20]: https://www.manton.org/2026/07/22/dan-moren-reviews-the-xteink.html 155 [21]: https://michaelharley.net/posts/2026/07/16/i-own-my-books/ 156 [22]: https://bubbles.town/entry/44749901