Mastodawn

Dan Ports

@dan@discuss.systems

3.7K Followers

527 Following

10.3K 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/

web	https://drkp.net/

Dan Ports 1d ago

Really love how this week's email from my CSA starts off with a Pride message about resistance and then immediately pivots into talking about the joys of garlic scapes.

Dan Ports 2d ago

Recently had the fountain in our garden repaired; the inspector has now proclaimed it back in service

#cats #catsofmastodon

Dan Ports 2d ago

One of my favorite things about Sichuan food is that this (delicious!) dish goes by the innocuous name of "water-boiled fish".

(my homemade version!)

Dan Ports 2d ago

When adopting a new 100GbE switch, it’s important to follow gradual introduction procedures to keep your existing cats from becoming stressed and developing RDMA aggression.

#cats #catsofmastodon #networking #homelab

Dan Ports 4d ago

It’s still kinda crazy to me that I can just *put my car on a boat* and this is a normal means of transportation in the PNW.

Dan Ports 5d ago

such ridiculous cats

#cats #catsofmastodon

Dan Ports 5d ago

found on the internet today: thnickels.

https://thick-coins.net/

Dan Ports 5d ago

Max tries to explain to Miso that he’s not supposed to go outside without a leash.

(We’re pretty sure Max thinks the leash is to prevent *us* from getting lost outside.)

#cats #catsofmastodon

Dan Ports 6d ago

Some excellent nature on the Olympic Peninsula this week. So many mosses and lichens!

Dan Ports Jun 22

I imagine this is what my mom's career as a nephrologist is like.

×

Dan Ports 2d ago

One of my favorite things about Sichuan food is that this (delicious!) dish goes by the innocuous name of "water-boiled fish".

(my homemade version!)

Dan Ports 2d ago

(Yes, I cook the spicy Chinese foods in this household because @irene's family does not eat them. They are from the Midwest of China.)

Adrianna Tan 2d ago

@dan @irene ‘saliva chicken’

Dan Ports 2d ago

@skinnylatte @irene oh! I have a whole theory about abstraction levels in Chinese food names! Let me see if I can remember it...

Level 0: the name of the dish describes how to prepare it (e.g., 回鍋肉, twice cooked pork; 樟茶鸭, camphor-smoked duck)

Level 1: the name of the dish specifies the flavors but leaves the exact implementation unspecified (e.g., 孜然羊肉, cumin lamb)

Level 2: the name of the dish specifies an abstract notion of the flavor only (e.g., 怪味鸡, strange-flavor chicken)

Level 3: the name of the dish conveys only a shared understanding of the subjective experience of eating the dish (e.g., 口水鸡, mouth-watering chicken)

Level n: the name of the dish describes something that could possibly be considered food but, thankfully, is unrelated to the one actually served (e.g., 夫妻肺片, husband and wife's lung slices)

Level ∞: the name of the dish is fully abstract and bears no relation to the dish or any other food (e.g., 佛跳墙, Buddha jumping over the wall; 蚂蚁上树, ants climbing a tree)

Adrianna Tan 2d ago

@dan @irene ‘inspired by 80s / 90s movies’ (‘sorrowful rice’) and ‘inspired by boobs’ (‘Amy Yip XXXXL baos’)

Adrianna Tan 2d ago

@dan @irene sorrowful rice in particular is legendary (very loud Cantonese video from movie)

https://youtu.be/n9JqT-O5eqY

Sorrowful Rice 黯然銷魂飯

YouTube

ieee 754 carrot facts 2d ago

@skinnylatte @dan @irene omg god of cookery so good

ieee 754 carrot facts 2d ago

@skinnylatte @dan @irene also, stereotypically, this is just normal volume cantonese

The part where the judge rolls around on top of the char siu. That's me. That's what I want

ieee 754 carrot facts 2d ago

@skinnylatte @dan @irene I gave the English eulogy at my goong goong's funeral and had to tell everyone to shut up because it was so loud in there

ieee 754 carrot facts 2d ago

@skinnylatte @dan @irene I wasn't even angry it was just the way it is

Adrianna Tan 2d ago

@secretasianman @dan @irene most times my convos with @sabcatsilver are like, ‘are those neighbors ok? Why are they fighting?’ And I’m like ‘they’re talking about what to have for lunch’

atsuzaki 2d ago

@secretasianman @skinnylatte @dan @irene its always fascinating watching fam that would switch from mandarin to hokkien bc it's a rapid flipflop between "distinguished gentlemen in an intellectual conversation" to "there's a bar fight going on in here"

Irene Zhang 2d ago

@secretasianman @skinnylatte @dan omg, I also call my maternal grandfather gong gong but apparently in the north it means father in law and this led many people to be confused about @dan’s heritage

Irene Zhang 2d ago

@secretasianman @skinnylatte @dan (because my moms side of the family is from southern China)

ieee 754 carrot facts 2d ago

@irene @skinnylatte @dan LMAO

NilaJones 2d ago

@dan @skinnylatte @irene

I am thinking now about level infinity in other languages!

Imam Bayildi, spotted dick...

And level n in English: toad in the hole

NilaJones 2d ago

@dan @skinnylatte @irene

Level n-1, The name of the dish describe something tangentially related to the ingredients:

Pigs in a blanket

@NilaJones @dan @skinnylatte @irene Level 3 in Spanish: "Atascaburras" ("Female donkey clogger").

@dan For marketing purpose because the original name would have sounded too unpleasant, e.g., chicken feet vs 鳳爪 (phoenix claw), or pork knuckle vs 元蹄 (cantonese, ???), or roasted chicken butt vs 七里香 (taiwan, fragrant for 7 miles???)

Kathmandu 2d ago

@dan @skinnylatte @irene

So would drunkard's chicken be level 3?

ShawnT 🐀2d ago

@dan @skinnylatte @irene No lie, a place here in AustinTX called Thai Kitchen has a dish call "Waterfall". It's their spiciest dish. Clearly Level 3. Level ∞ is their dish "Tiger Cry". What does Tiger Cry mean? Nobody knows.

Matthew Vernon 2d ago

@dan @skinnylatte @irene I heard it said that 蚂蚁上树 is so named because the mince clinging to the noodles is somewhat like ants climbing a tree...

@dan @skinnylatte @irene There was a fun little Sixht Tone article on how to translate chinese dish names: https://www.sixthtone.com/news/1017243

What’s the Right Way to Translate Chinese Dish Names?

Finding the right way to render a dish like “husband and wife slices” into English isn’t easy.

#SixthTone

@dan @skinnylatte @irene
Chinese: ants on a tree
English: ants on a log

Prabhakar Ragde 1d ago

@dan @skinnylatte @irene Nice taxonomy! Though ma yi shang shu can resemble ants climbing a tree, once you lift some noodles to your mouth.

Barbara Tropp had an interesting theory about yu xiang, typically translated as "fish fragrant". She thought they were references to the great rivers of Sichuan and Hunan, but the characters (not sounds) got changed. Sounds plausible to me.

Andomonir 🎲1d ago

@dan @skinnylatte @irene I had husband in Shanghai. Very nice.

I guess that statement could be misconstrued

/dev/urandom 1d ago

@dan @skinnylatte @irene i like that the chinese word for "mouth-watering" also seems to use the characters for mouth and water

ieee 754 carrot facts 2d ago

@dan @irene hey my people get scoffed at for having "boring" food

crzwdjk ✅ 2d ago

@dan @irene Dare I ask, where is the Midwest of China?

@dan just looking at this makes my mouth burn

@dan omfg

atsuzaki 2d ago

@dan my brother is currently obsessed with this genre of sichuan fish soup. his favorite is suan cai yu, which is more or less this plus pickled mustard greens

ieee 754 carrot facts 2d ago

@atsuzaki @dan there's a place just off campus that serves up spicy fish hot pot which is responsible for most of my blood triglycerides

Irene Zhang 2d ago

@atsuzaki @dan yes I find it so interesting that there are restaurants that only serve suan cai yu but not the other kinds.

atsuzaki 2d ago

@irene @dan its good but i honestly dont get the hype

Irene Zhang 2d ago

@atsuzaki @dan the one that I liked had this hot chili garlic oil poured on at the last minute that was 😘

Dan Ports 2d ago

@atsuzaki @irene our... {friend; former student; current co-worker; neighbor} Adriana is from Romania, and has absolutely no tolerance for spice or other flavor (when the Chinese restaurant asked for a 1-5 spice level, she said 0, and it was too spicy), but she absolutely loves suan cai yu for the sauerkraut

atsuzaki 2d ago

@dan @irene i remember one of the first meals-with-the-gang i've had here, we were at a chinese restaurant and me and my friend who's an indian were discussing about how nothing is spicy, not even when you eat the (dried) peppers straight. our other friend, who's white, was like how are you even eating that????

Dan Ports 2d ago

@atsuzaki @irene this is me, and Irene's family, except the other way around

Karl Statz 2d ago

@dan two bites of that and I could shit through a screened door. That is just a menacing amount of red chilis

soweli Asalin 2d ago

@dan oh hell yeah glistening chili peppers

Chris Kolbu 2d ago

@dan one of my all-time favourite dishes.

@dan dare I ask for wine paring?

Irene Zhang 2d ago

@rksio @dan we had champagne! Because the champagne glasses that I ordered for @dan’s birthday arrived

@irene @dan ya, have to test out new glasses , make sure they work! 🥂

🌱@ambiguous_yelp:ahimsa.chat 2d ago

@dan Please don't hurt fish all essential nutrients can be found in plants there is no need to hurt innocent creatures #vegan https://nationearth.com

nationearth.com

nationearth.com

AI6YR Ben 2d ago

@dan 🔥 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

Marcos Dione 2d ago

@dan It's 10Am and now I'm huuuuungry. Well done ;)