Chris Ellis @intrbiz@bergamot.social

In case you missed it, I put on my safety googles, hazmat suit and a novelty Xmas condom to test-drive the brand-new Microsoft-stewarded Web Install API. TL;DR, Credit where credit’s due: Well done, Edge team!

https://brucelawson.co.uk/2025/a-first-look-at-the-web-install-api/

RE: https://toot.cafe/@nolan/115622706069488954

Those of you who are not web devs (good choice) may not quite appreciate what this means.
You know how websites are loads slower now, and don't work without JavaScript? Well, one of the big (dubious) arguments made in favour of this transition was that you download a bunch more code first, but then it'll make everything faster once you're there. It's front loading.
What @slightlyoff has shown is that this is not relevant, because people don't stay on the sites long enough to get the benefit.

tbh it's right to change this ridiculous situation in the UK where there's a 2 year (!!!) delay before you can claim unfair dismissal.

It allows employers to absolutely abuse you if they want or get rid of you for no good reason.

I think day 1 right to that is correct, UK employment law is SO skewed to the employers.

But surprise surprise there's objections... if you want to hire people and not give them rights, how about fuck you?

I don't agree with much of what the govt does but that was a good idea.

And also get rid of the ability for employers to give bad references and destroy careers with barely any consequences, or being able to sue for spurious 'breach of contract' claims.

Sadly most people in the UK believe this isn't possible and have zero idea how much power a malicious employer has over them.

None of this has happened to me thankfully but people have ZERO idea how much risk they run.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx2d7j350q1o

<screams>

Forced password rotation for most accounts has been dead since NIST 800-53:2019, stop torturing your users.

ooh, I like this:
https://www.hacklore.org/letter

🎁 Secret Santa mode on: we want a shiny @fosdempgday schedule under the Christmas tree, and to make it truly awesome we need awesome speakers and attendees ☃️✨

📣 #FOSDEM #PGDay 2026 is on January 30th, 2026 in Brussels 🖤💛❤️
CFP opens very soon and will be short 😱 So if you have a PostgreSQL story, deep dive, case study, or delightfully niche idea, start polishing now 🤯

Brace yourself, CFP is coming ⚔️
🔗 https://2026.fosdempgday.org/

#PostgreSQL #OpenSource #Database #Brussels #TechEvents

Trump has now set a deadline for Thursday next week, where he demands Ukraine signs an agreement to meet Putin’s demands:

— No NATO membership
— A reduction of its military to just 600,000 troops
— Accepting the loss of Donetsk, Luhansk, Crimea, and most of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia
— Forcing Ukrainian elections within 100 days

While Russia will
— Reenter the G8
— Have all sanctions lifted

This is not a peace agreement. This is capitulation.

RE: https://hachyderm.io/@evacide/115589063882241351

Look, see, there’s research, UK government. Nobody wants age verification, except you because the first response you have to anything that seems bad is to find some way of criminalising people who do it, and big tech companies who laugh all the way to the bank while selling you tech solutions to social problems and shutting down their customer helpline.

New Blog Post: Announcing the inaugural PostgreSQL Edinburgh meetup

https://vyruss.org/blog/inaugural-postgresql-edinburgh-meetup.html

@PostgresEDI #postgresql #edinburgh #community #meetups #developer #rag #ai #pgvector #techmeetups

@cstross

Since the 1990s every tech wave has been a pump and dump bubble laying the groundwork for the next pump and dump bubble. The staggering inefficiency of such a Ponzi economy, channelling capital into mega-billionaires pockets instead of productive growth is why China is rolling out 400 kph mag lev trains while we are shoveling brain dead software into toasters.

Reminder that EVERYTHING Anthropic or OpenAI announce in public is propaganda designed to boost their market cap when they hit the IPO they're aiming for.

It's marketing, folks. There is no intelligence behind the artifice, it's just spicy autocomplete and hucksters in $5000 suits trying to pick your boss's pocket.
https://mastodon.social/@arstechnica/115548040527129225

75 years ago today, European nations signed this Convention, so the Holocaust could not be repeated. Beware those who want this to end.

@mike

It's more like a "get nine women to make a baby in one month" project. The Manhattan Project was working within sound scientific principles, whereas the AI bubble is throwing money at a glorified autocomplete in the hope that at a certain scale the spark of life will magically appear.

@lproven

@lproven I've read a lot of compelling arguments about how these LLMs will not achieve AGI. However the goal is AGI and the world is currently throwing about twenty percent of GDP at that goal. It's basically a modern day Manhattan project. With that said I would not bet against achieving AGI at some time in the near future.

How AGI became the most consequential conspiracy theory of our time (MIT Technology Review)

https://www.technologyreview.com/2025/10/30/1127057/agi-conspiracy-theory-artifcial-general-intelligence/

The idea that machines will be as smart as—or smarter than—humans has hijacked an entire industry. But look closely & you’ll see it’s a myth that persists for many of the same reasons conspiracies do.

After three years and more than 3,100 miles (5,000 kilometers) of sailing in a Viking replica vessel, archaeologist Greer Jarrett from Lund University in Sweden has authored a trailblazing report on Viking seafaring. His work, published in the Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory, suggests that the Viking trade routes were more extensive, decentralized, and offshore than previously believed.

© Archaeology News

#archaeohistories

For the first time since I started attending FOSDEM in 2010, there will be no PostgreSQL Devroom in 2026. ​Feels unbelievable for one of the defining open source projects of the last decade.

At least there's #FOSDEMPGDay.

#PostgreSQL #Postgres #FOSDEM #Devroom #Community #OpenSource #FOSDEM2026

Just a few sleepless nights from Chris Ellis… and the Slonik timer is ready to make its debut at the PGConf.EU lightning talk session at 16:15! 🐘⏱️✨
Isn’t it the coolest thing in Postgres since the Slonik mascot suit?

#PGConfEU #PostgreSQL #LightningTalks #CommunityMagic #Database #Riga

A small gesture of big appreciation ❤️
Each PGConf.EU speaker and organiser will receive a handmade Latvian wooden tray, crafted by Koka Lietu Darbnīca, a local workshop run by artisans Roberts Leitāns and Evija Rukmane. https://kokalietudarbnica.lv/lv/

Crafted from sustainably sourced Latvian wood, each tray carries the warmth, texture, and craftsmanship that reflect the spirit of this year’s host country. 🇱🇻

#PostgreSQL #PGConfEU #Community #Postgres #OpenSource #Craftsmanship