Dan Ports

@dan@discuss.systems
3.7K Followers
527 Following
10.4K Posts

Distributed systems, operating systems, networking research.

Principal Researcher, Microsoft Research; affiliate faculty, University of Washington.

But realistically: mainly cat photos, food and wine, and bad jokes.

I also administer https://discuss.systems/

webhttps://drkp.net/
Dan Ports4h ago
trickykat6h ago
the impact of a dad joke can be measured on a sighsmograph
Dan Ports7h ago
Hacker News 508h ago

American science to soon face its largest brain drain in history

Link: https://bigthink.com/starts-with-a-bang/american-science-brain-drain/
Discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44449614

American science to soon face its largest brain drain in history

Over the first half of 2025, the USA has cut science as never before. This disaster for American science is a gift to the rest of the world.

Big Think
Dan Ports7h ago
Peter Gleick8h ago

The New York Times today if it was December 7, 1941.

"The US base at Pearl Harbor hosting navy ships reports several stopped floating Sunday morning."

Dan Ports8h ago
Irene Zhang10h ago
Me
Dan Ports8h ago
Ricki Bowie Knives Tarr12h ago
Vibe Coding
Dan Ports12h ago
jwz13h ago

You MUST listen to RFC 2119.

Eric Bailey: It turns out you can just pay people to do things. I found a voice actor and hired them with the task of "Reading this very dry technical document in the most over-the-top sarcastic, passive-aggressive,...
https://jwz.org/b/ykqi

Dan Ports12h ago
Popehatโ€™s Interests First14h ago
I think most people severely underestimated how much fascism and kleptocracy would triumph through the surrender and default of forces that should have opposed it.
Dan Ports1d ago

oh. oh no. way too real.

https://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/chatgpt-now-has-phd-level-intelligence-and-the-poor-personal-choices-to-prove-it

Dan Ports1d ago
๐ฟ๐’ถ๐“ƒ๐’ถ "not yet begun to fight"1d ago

If you are using undocumented immigrants' tax records to find and kidnap them, then it was never about them paying taxes.

If you are showing up at their place of employment, then it was never about them not working.

If you are showing up at courthouses, then it was never about getting them to "do it the right way".

If you are kidnapping women and children, then it was never about criminals.

If you're refusing to give them due process, then it was never about the Constitution.

If you are building concentration camps in Florida to keep them here in cages, then it was never about the border.

If you're spending billions to do this, then it was never about the economy.

And if you're doing all this in the name of a 34 time convicted felon, then it was never about following the law.

Dan Ports1d ago
cultured nyc ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ฆ1d ago
Gravitas is the quality of being weighed down with #gravy. The mass of the #gravy contributes to its #gravity. Salmon that is cured with #gravy and sugar is known as #gravlax. This process was invented by Dr. Wave E. Greyvee, of the Poutine Institute of Curdistan.
ร—
Show threadVissFeb 12

sooooo
these toothbrushes publish rssi.

.. and im graphing it now

Show threadVissFeb 12
it.. publishes via btle that the user went into the settings menu?
Show threadVissFeb 12

so heres the oral-b site for these things:

https://oralb.com/en-us/products/electric-toothbrushes/oral-b-io-series-9-rechargeable-electric-toothbrush-black-onyx/

Oral-B iO Series 9 Rechargeable Electric Toothbrush, Black Onyx

The Oral-B's iO Series 9 utilizes powerful, but gentle micro-vibrating bristles. Experience the WOW of a professional clean feel at home.

Oral-B
Show threadVissFeb 13

hackcon day 2:

a third toothbrush has arrived.

I have added it to the tracking card, watching its rssi

Show threadVissFeb 13
and then there were four
Show threadVissFeb 13

... and now there are five.

and ive had to switch to apex charts, because the built in HA ones dont handle 5 items on one chart well in the legend

Show threadBillFeb 13
@Viss Are attendees practicing good dental hygiene? We expect a full report.
Show threadFritz AdalisFeb 13
@Sempf @Viss
Can it tell who has [picard voice] the gum disease GINGIVITIS?
Show threadApicultor ๐ŸFeb 13

@FritzAdalis I HEARD HIS VOICE ๐Ÿฅน

@Sempf @Viss

Show threadsynthBirbaFeb 13
@Viss I'm following this story more than Italians are following Sanremo now
Show threadXavier ยซXยป Santolaria  Feb 13
@Viss When do I know whey they brush their teeth? Because truth to be told, this is the most important intel you want to get 
Show threadVissFeb 13
@0x58
Show threadXavier ยซXยป Santolaria  Feb 13
@Viss The early birds brush their teeth!
Show threadClickyMcTickerFeb 13
@0x58 @Viss either they brushed in three seconds or they had a different mode they were in prior. Iโ€™m hoping itโ€™s the latter.
Show threadVissFeb 13
@ClickyMcTicker @0x58 i think whats happening is that whenever they click through the menu, it squirts btle out, and i guess its so that if they have the mobile app open, the app can track what the user is doing? i dunno. its wild.
Show threadcaraneaFeb 13
@Viss
Actually bought an Oral-b IO toothbrush recently... Thankfully you can use it just fine without ever installing the app and connecting it to your phone, otherwise wouldn't have bought it. After all, it's a frigging electric toothbrush and has absolutely no reason to connect to anything other than power for charging. The silly trend of making everything "smart" and slapping "AI" on the packaging is seriously annoying.
Show threadVissFeb 13
@caranea im not sure this has anything to do with its app, necessarily, because its the toothbrush itself thats spraying btle everywhere
Show threadcaraneaFeb 13
@Viss
Hm. Will have a peek later. My understanding was that it at least shouldn't communicate a status if it was never activated in the first place.
Show threadVissFeb 13
@caranea i dont think there are three people at a security con brushing their teeth during presentations
Show threadcaraneaFeb 13
@Viss
That would be quite something... ๐Ÿ˜‚
Should have been clearer. Meant that in terms of tracking and communicating the past and current status if it was never connected to anything. Assumption is that the folx at the conference use it with the app when brushing their teeth, so the toothbrush is looking out for the connection. This last part would likely not be 24/7, but only when it is activated (tilt sensor, so being jostled in a backpack is enough for it to think you're picking it up to brush your teeth).
Show threadVissFeb 13
@caranea im guessing folks just have these things in their backpacks and theyre getting jostled and buttons are getting pressed
Show threadcaraneaFeb 14
@Viss
Tested it last evening. Indeed it tries to connect any time the brush turns on (just the display, no need for the motor etc.). The tilt sensor actually seems to become more sensitive with the Bluetooth function turned on, leading to even slight jostling activating the brush, no button press necessary. You can deactivate Bluetooth on the brush though, which saves battery and stops the silliness (obviously not an option if you install and use the app).
Show threadVissFeb 14

@caranea heh, so yeah, we were assuming correctly. toothbrushes in backpacks just kicking around squirting btle all over the place.

the crowd really liked it though, i added several slides about WTF TOOTHBRUSHES to the end of my deck

Show threadthejikzFeb 12
@Viss tried sending a ping to get it to buzz yet?! LOL
Show threadVissFeb 12
@thejikz not sure its possible, sadly
Show threadthejikzFeb 12
@Viss well, not with that attitude, why can't it play doom yet?! bzzbzz. XD
still, real cool but weird thing.
Show threadVissFeb 12
@thejikz thats a good question, it does have a display!
Show threadTim PantonFeb 12

@Viss Silly story time...
A _long_ time ago at a devcon I mentioned how stupid some IoT was and said that it would be fun to hack on but that they were too expensive for a joke...

Unfortunately the guy sitting next to me organised a whip round and $100 later I was kinda committed to hacking on a toothbrush.

In the end I tied it to voicemail so that it said "Mr Panton is brushing his teeth right now, but will be available to take your call in 97 seconds". There may be a video somewhere.

Show threadTim PantonFeb 12
@Viss If I remember right, @jcolp was the instigator of the whip-round .
Show threadJoshua C. Colp ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฆ ๐Ÿšด ๐Ÿƒ ๐Ÿšฃโ€โ™‚๏ธFeb 12
@steely_glint @Viss Kicker is, it was funded before it even got to me. :P
Show threadCatSalad๐Ÿˆ๐Ÿฅ— (D.Burch) Feb 12
@Viss *Toothbrush Noises* I'm in...
Show threadVissFeb 12
@catsalad *bzzzzzzzzzzzz*
Show threadzl2todFeb 12

@Viss

For bystanders: RSSI is Received Signal Strength Indication

Show threadXavier ยซXยป Santolaria  Feb 12
@Viss Someone will really have to explain to me the use case for that.... Can't wrap my head around anyone who'd want to have such connected toothbrush 
Show threadVissFeb 12
@0x58 there isnt one? is just thoughtless dipshittery
Show threadTrammell HudsonFeb 12
@Viss dashboard all the things! This is a workout on our rowing machine.
Show threadVissFeb 12
@th hah, beefcake grafana mode!