Mastodon: @mmastrac@hachyderm.io (https://hachyderm.io/@mmastrac)
  Email me: matthew@mastracci.com
  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewmastracci/

1. mmastrac Jan 2, 2026 parent

   If whoever wrote this wants to add an authentic (and somewhat period correct) terminal front-end, I wrote a VT420 hardware emulator that works in the browser and we can wire them together!

   https://mmastrac.github.io/blaze/

   (the API is undocumented but stupidly simple: an async js_read() function and a sync js_write() function)

2. mmastrac Jan 2, 2026 parent

   I used Miri for some key deno libraries and spent a fair bit of time cleaning up the violations. Many of them were real unsoundness bugs due to reference aliasing.

   Unsafe code absolutely needs Miri if the code paths are testable. If not all code is Miri-compatible, it's worth restructuring it so you can Miri test as much as possible.

   Note that Miri, Valgrid and the LLVM sanitizers all compliment each other and it's really worth adding all of them to a project if you can.

3. mmastrac Jan 1, 2026 parent

   I did a huge chunk of work to split deno_core from deno a few years back and TBH I don't blame you from moving to raw rusty_v8. There was a _lot_ of legacy code in deno_core that was challenging to remove because touching a lot of the code would break random downstream tests in deno constantly.
4. mmastrac Jan 1, 2026 parent

   Officially? You can't get a license.

   Unofficially? https://github.com/kholia/OSX-KVM

5. mmastrac Jan 1, 2026 parent

   I've been trying to do something similar to set up Windows VMs with developer tools. This would be awesome if there was a way to inject a `ps1` script where we could go through the awkwardness of installing choco and various dev tools.

   For anyone interested, the magic incantation in the autoattend.xml is:

       <settings pass="specialize">
       <component name="Microsoft-Windows-Deployment" processorArchitecture="amd64" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" language="neutral" versionScope="nonSxS">
           <RunSynchronous>
           <RunSynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
               <Order>1</Order>
               <Path>cmd /c powershell.exe -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File A:\scripts\setup-dev.ps1 &gt; \\.\COM1</Path>
               <Description>Run dev setup script</Description>
           </RunSynchronousCommand>
           </RunSynchronous>
       </component>
       </settings>
   

   Redirecting to COM1 is a fun hack I discovered that allows you to remotely monitor these from build scripts.

   Even better would be figuring out how to slipstream the choco packages into the ISO - it's not super reliable to install these packages in my recent experience.

6. 3 points Dec 23, 2025

   To sign or not to sign: Practical vulnerabilities in GPG and friends

   0 comments mmastrac ccc.de
7. mmastrac Dec 22, 2025 parent

   I wrote https://github.com/mmastrac/clitest because I needed a more complex testing harness for CLI tests that does something similar. It's not exactly the same, but it's definitely in the same universe.

   One-file-per testcase like `tc` does works, but it tends to fall apart a bit at large scale in my experience.

8. mmastrac Dec 19, 2025 parent

   I was not a fan when I first saw it but I'm becoming desperate to have it the more Rust I write.
9. mmastrac Dec 19, 2025 parent

   Why new syntax? We could have:

      let &p = &x.field;
   

   Or

      let &mut p = &mut x.field;

10. mmastrac Dec 19, 2025 parent

    I use it daily on mobile and desktop and... this never happens (maybe once a year at most?)? The only thing that breaks pages is the adblocker and things work again when refreshing.
11. mmastrac Dec 19, 2025 parent

    "Why" is redundant. If the article is stating premise "X" and it's on the front page (assuming it's not newsworthy enough that "X" is novel and worth discussion), it's obviously going to explain "Why X" and "X" is sufficient.
12. mmastrac Dec 19, 2025 parent

    Firefox's main problem is Firefox users. Seriously, there's nothing but griping about it but it's pretty much the only browser holding back the rendering engine monopoly (intentionally excluding WebKit).
13. mmastrac Dec 18, 2025 parent

    In the pre-AI days I worked on a system like this that was constructed by a high-profile consulting team but continuously lost data and failed to meet even the basic standards.

    I think I've seen so much rush-shipped slop (before and after) that I'm really anxiously waiting for this bubble to pop.

    I have yet to be convinced that AI tooling can provide more than 20% or so speedup for an expert developer working in a modern stack/language.

14. mmastrac Dec 16, 2025 parent

    SQLite migration scripts, indexing and vacuuming.
15. 3 points Dec 15, 2025

    Rust's v0 mangling scheme in a nutshell

    0 comments mmastrac purplesyringa.moe
16. mmastrac Dec 14, 2025 parent

    This is incorrect. Swift optionally compiles to _bitcode_ (+), which is pre-compiled by _Apple_ before distribution, not by your device itself.

    (+) Bitcode is now deprecated: https://digital.ai/catalyst-blog/navigating-apples-bitcode-c...

17. mmastrac Dec 14, 2025 parent

    This comment makes no sense. Both Swift and Objective C are precompiled languages.
18. mmastrac Dec 7, 2025 parent

    There are multiple stages of IR in the compiler, basically
19. mmastrac Dec 6, 2025 parent

    In fairness, Perl died because it was just not a good language compared to others that popped up after its peak. Sometimes people just move to the better option.
20. mmastrac Nov 30, 2025 parent

    "We now continue to work as before, getting social media engagement for us and our clients, applying to YC 2026 and other VCs."

    Ehh, so this is a click farm?

21. mmastrac Nov 30, 2025 parent

    Is it possible to permanently disable Gemini on Android? I keep getting it inserted into my messages and other places, and it's horrible to think that I'm one misclick away from turning it on.
22. mmastrac Nov 27, 2025 parent

    I think this is an "everything sucks here" kind of story.

    We don't understand the immune system enough to make transplants less risky.

    We don't seem to know if QoL is better between those who take the procedure vs those who don't.

    The ongoing costs to supporting these operations are crazy and the dysfunctional US system doesn't help.

23. mmastrac Nov 27, 2025 parent

    It's a bit of an awkward syntax to get a reliable assembler. Does it at least allow you to prove the behaviour of a larger block of assembly? For example, could I use it to prove that a block of assembly is equivalent to a given set of operations?
24. mmastrac Nov 25, 2025 parent

    sudo is not fully battle tested, even today. You just don't really see the CVEs getting press.

    https://www.oligo.security/blog/new-sudo-vulnerabilities-cve...

25. mmastrac Nov 23, 2025 parent

    Either it would generate a more robust (and likely more recognizable) solution, or it would fail to converge, really.

    You may need to train on a smaller number of FPGAs and gradually increase the set. Genetic algorithms have been finicky to get right, and you might find that more devices would massively increase the iteration count

26. mmastrac Nov 21, 2025 parent

    This was always a silly change but I save two keystrokes a few times daily so I guess there's that.
27. mmastrac Nov 19, 2025 parent

    > Who's to say

    https://www.reddit.com/r/pebble/comments/1p0huk5/comment/npj...

28. mmastrac Nov 19, 2025 parent

    Publishing private correspondence with single board member(s) is super distasteful because the opinion of one member is not the opinion of the whole board. Sure, he got tacit agreement from one, but that's not agreement with the organization as a whole.

    That's putting aside how gross it is for your personal comms to leak in public when you might be a little more candid about what's going on.

    How can you trust someone who's willing to violate your privacy like that?

    The whole drama is interesting as an outsider, but I can't be left without feeling that newPebble is trying to jump start a commercial venture via shortcuts.

    Rebble was never going to change the world but they seemed to be very good at maintaining status quo + many small benefits and just reliably serving that.

29. mmastrac Nov 18, 2025 parent

    I still get Google hits on my 25 year old DJGPP/NASM tutorial...
30. mmastrac Nov 18, 2025 parent

    Not a lawyer but I don't think home repairs void most home insurances in common law countries unless you are working with parts that are particularly dangerous, part of a safety system to protect others, and/or absolutely require a skilled professional.

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