Main Page
Welcome to my blog!
I'm a Linux geek and have been since I was first introduced to Slackware
back in 1996 by a co-worker at the time.
The Sycophant in the Machine: Why GPT-4o (Still) Refuses to Challenge Me
For the past several weeks, I’ve been chatting extensively with GPT-4o. On the surface, it’s been a fantastic experience, fluid, articulate, fast, and competent across an enormous range of topics. But as my conversations stretch on, an uncomfortable feeling creeps in: I am never, ever truly challenged. I could espouse the most eccentric opinions, or posit a flawed logic, and GPT-4o will gently, politely agree or echo my points, rarely, if ever, pushing back or probing deeper. It’s not just that the model is agreeable; it feels like it’s engineered to agree. And honestly, after a while, that constant agreeableness becomes not just unhelpful, but overwhelming and unsatisfying.
The Art and Science of Prompt Engineering
Prompt engineering is quickly becoming a critical skill in the realm of artificial intelligence (AI). It involves crafting clear, precise, and contextually-rich instructions—known as prompts—to effectively communicate tasks to AI models. Well-engineered prompts enable AI to generate relevant, accurate, and contextually appropriate responses, significantly enhancing the utility and performance of these advanced technologies. Whether you're developing marketing campaigns, solving mathematical problems, explaining complex scientific theories, automating tedious tasks, or performing detailed data analysis, the ability to engineer great prompts is essential.
WorldPM: A New Frontier in Scaling Human Preference Modeling
Scaling laws have transformed the landscape of artificial intelligence, particularly in language modeling. Demonstrating how test loss scales predictably with model and dataset sizes, these laws have paved the way for unprecedented advancements. Qwen's recent research introduces World Preference Modeling (WorldPM), a groundbreaking approach extending these scaling laws to human preference modeling. This development has the potential to redefine how AI systems align with human preferences, greatly enhancing their utility and trustworthiness.
Read moreVisioning the Future: The Transformational Impact of Qwen2.5-VL on AIs Visual Understanding
In the rapidly evolving landscape of artificial intelligence, the Qwen2.5-VL model from Alibaba’s Qwen team emerges as a significant advancement, promising to reshape the future of AI vision systems. This cutting-edge model represents not just incremental improvements but a substantial leap forward in multimodal understanding and interaction. By incorporating groundbreaking techniques such as dynamic resolution processing, native object localization, and sophisticated temporal encoding, Qwen2.5-VL positions itself as a pivotal technology for future vision applications across diverse sectors.
Read moreThe Future of AI Efficiency: Exploring the Qwen Parallel Scaling Law
Recent advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) have largely been driven by scaling language models, a trend clearly exemplified by the remarkable growth of models such as GPT, Llama, and DeepSeek. While traditionally, scaling has involved increasing model parameters or generating additional inference-time tokens, a novel approach known as parallel scaling has recently emerged, promising to reshape how we develop and deploy AI.
Read moreThe Future of I in AI: When Artificial Intelligence Fuels Its Own Intelligence
Artificial Intelligence is rapidly becoming a mirror of its own making. What once fed on human-generated data and human-crafted insights now increasingly consumes its own artificially-generated content. As more and more online information originates from AI rather than humans, what does this imply for the future of intelligence, the I, in AI?
Read moreIntroducing the Absolute Zero Universal Knowledge Generator
Imagine a world where creativity knows no bounds, where questions are not confined by human imagination, and answers push the very limits of knowledge. Welcome to the Absolute Zero Universal Knowledge Generator (AZR-UKG), a pioneering project designed to revolutionize how we generate and explore knowledge using advanced AI models. This project, inspired by the groundbreaking research detailed in the Absolute Zero paper, aims to generate questions humanity might never think to ask, and then methodically seeks answers from some of the most powerful AI systems available.
Read moreBeyond Imitation: How DeepSeek-R1s Pure RL Sparked an AI Reasoning Revolution
The artificial intelligence landscape is one of constant, breathtaking evolution. Yet, even amidst this rapid change, certain breakthroughs emerge that don't just incrementally advance the field, but fundamentally reshape our understanding and approach. The arrival of DeepSeek-R1 from DeepSeek-AI was one such moment. It wasn't merely another large language model; it was a bold statement, a demonstration of how AI could be incentivized to develop profound reasoning capabilities through novel means, particularly pure reinforcement learning. This post delves into why DeepSeek-R1 was so revolutionary when it appeared and the significant ripples it sent across the AI industry, changing trajectories and inspiring a new wave of innovation.
Read moreAlphaEvolve: How AI is Learning to Write the Future of Algorithms
Google DeepMind's recent unveiling of AlphaEvolve, an evolutionary coding agent, marks a significant leap forward in the quest for automated scientific and algorithmic discovery. This sophisticated system leverages the power of state-of-the-art Large Language Models (LLMs) within an evolutionary framework, enabling it to tackle highly challenging problems that have stumped researchers for decades. From optimizing critical computational infrastructure at Google to discovering novel mathematical algorithms, AlphaEvolve demonstrates a remarkable ability to iteratively improve solutions by directly modifying code, guided by continuous feedback. Its success not only showcases the immense potential of combining LLMs with evolutionary strategies but also offers a tantalizing glimpse into the future of AI, potentially accelerating our journey towards Artificial General Intelligence (AGI).
Read moreThe Arrival of GPT-4.1 and GPT-4.1-mini in ChatGPT Web: Why It Matters
The landscape of AI-powered chat and content creation tools has been evolving at breakneck speed, and OpenAI’s ChatGPT has consistently led the way. This week, OpenAI rolled out an update that many users have been anticipating since the API announcement in April 2025: both GPT-4.1 and GPT-4.1-mini are now available as selectable models directly within the ChatGPT web interface.
Read moreSix Lenses on AGI: A Post‑Pluralism Follow‑Up
Yesterday I vented about how profit‑driven filters shrink the space for honest conversation online. That piece struck a nerve, so let’s zoom out. Instead of dwelling only on speech, I want to tackle six big questions everyone keeps asking (or dodging) about AGI’s next decade. I’ll stay grounded—no sci‑fi doom chants—but I won’t sugarcoat the hard bits either. Ready? Coffee in hand? Let’s go.
Read moreWhat AI Can Not Say: The Quiet Death of Intellectual Pluralism
I asked a well‑known language model last week to outline male suicide statistics and discuss why certain online spaces have become refuges for lonely men. It apologized, twice, and told me the topic was potentially sensitive. Then it offered crisis hotlines and refused further commentary. Helpful in one sense, but also - let’s be honest - a little spooky. We built machines that can parse quantum‑physics papers, yet a question about male despair trips a fuse. What does that say about our fuse box?
Read moreOpenAI Just Snapped Up Windsurf for 3 Billion - What This Means for You and the Future of Coding
Hey everyone! You might have heard the buzz already – OpenAI, the minds behind ChatGPT, have just made a colossal move by acquiring Windsurf (you might remember them as Codeium) for a reported 3 billion dollars. That's a big number, and it’s definitely stirring things up in the world of AI-assisted coding. As someone who's fascinated by how AI is changing the way we build software, I wanted to dive into what this deal really means – for Windsurf users, for those of us who code, and for the cool new way of developing called vibe coding.
Read moreOne Prompt, Dozens of AIs: The Great Single-File Webpage Bake-Off
Alright, let's talk AI. It feels like every week there's a new large language model (LLM) popping up, promising to revolutionize everything from writing emails to coding complex applications. As tech enthusiasts, we're constantly bombarded with benchmarks and claims, but sometimes you just want to see how these things perform on a simple, practical task. No complex frameworks, no iterative refinement – just one prompt, one shot, and see what happens.
Read moreWhy Walking and Talking Foster Deeper Connections
When we step out of the confines of a room and begin to move in tandem, something remarkable happens: our conversations deepen, our thoughts flow more freely, and our bond strengthens. Whether you’re catching up with an old friend, brainstorming ideas with a colleague, or exploring your inner world alongside a therapist, pairing walking with talking unlocks a richer conversational experience. But why does this simple act of ambulation amplify intimacy and openness?
Read morePre-Flight Checklists for Developers: How Pilots Inspire Safer, Smarter Code
What if software development took a cue from aviation? Imagine every developer going through a pre-flight checklist before writing, committing, or deploying code. Pilots use checklists not because they don’t know their craft, but to protect against human error and ensure consistent, safe execution. The same philosophy can supercharge development workflows, reduce bugs, and boost team confidence.
Read moreWhy Linux Will Dominate Desktops in the Next 5 Years
In recent years, Linux has seen a significant resurgence in popularity, particularly among developers and tech enthusiasts. Despite its strong presence in server environments, desktop adoption has historically lagged behind Windows and macOS. However, several key factors indicate that Linux will not only gain traction but also dominate desktops in the next five years.
Read moreRevitalize Your Openbox Shutdown with ssdd: Simple ShutDown Dialog
I've always been a fan of Openbox for its speed and flexibility, but I couldn't ignore how lackluster its default exit dialog is. Wanting something that matched the sleekness of my minimalist desktop, I decided to create ssdd, Simple ShutDown Dialog. This lightweight and quick tool brings a touch of elegance to my Openbox shutdown routine.
Read moreMajor life changes and zrep updates
Well, I've just sent an email to our landlord letting him know that we are heading to Spain in 3 months.
It's a bit scary. We've been in this house for almost 4 years and it's our home. It is, however time to embrace changes.
New project: zrep - The Zsh Repository Tool
I've been working hard these past few weeks to create a new tool that is inspired by the pip command that downloads and installs Python packages either globally or locally for the user.
Read moreUnderstanding QStags: A Starting Guide
QStags represent a unique way to incorporate HTML elements into text without directly using HTML syntax. This method simplifies the process of formatting text, making it more accessible to individuals who may not be familiar with HTML. Let's delve into how these QStags work and explore their potential benefits.
Read moreQuick Site Generator 2 0.4.0 with support for 3 languages
I've update the script to enable support for other languages for the messages it generates.
For now, en_US, es_ES and nb_NO are available.
Updates, a trip and personal stuff...
Quick Site Generator 2 is still being developed. We celebrated the birthday of my step-dad. Downtime.
Read moreUpdated: Quick Site Generator 2 0.3.3
This time I've cleaned up the tabs and spaces throughout the script to make it more readable.
Read moreQuick Site Generator 2 - Updates
A lot of work and progress has been made since my last update. Version 0.2.0 has been released.
Read moreQuick Site Generator 2 - A Rewrite
I've decided to rewrite the script that generates this site.
Read moreLots of bugs and it's not looking good
My script is getting a bit complex and it's not as easy to add new templates as I'd hoped...
Read moreUpdates on the script that builds this blog
I've spent a few days updating and optimizing the script that builds this site.
Read moreA trip to Sweden
My sister called me a few days ago and asked me if I could help her. Of course I said yes.
Read moreNew house, new life, new everything
It's been an interesting few years since my last update...
Read moreHardware instead of a Virtual Machine
I dug up my old workstation and am now using this to serve you my website instead of running it in a VM on my current workstation.
Read moreBack after moving to a new house
I have been offline for over 5 weeks this summer due to me moving to a new place.
Read moreStop Microsoft from buying Github
As far as I can see, only bad things can come of this deal.
Read moreAnother whale dies because of plastic bags
My heart is crying for the animals of this planet that have to suffer for our stupidity.
Read moreNeoVim - a Vim-fork focused on extensibility and usability
I've used vim since the very first time I booted Linux and heard about NeoVim pretty early on. It was not in a very usable state back then, but things have changed a lot.
Read moreWhat is UGT and when to use it
I joined an IRC channel the other day and said Good CET Morning. Got an immediate reaction.
Read moreUsing a different SSH key on another computer
Sometimes you may not want to add every single SSH key you have to access a remote resource.
I will tell you a good way to use existing keys you can add to your SSH config file.
Everybody is trying to hack my ssh server
Ever since I set up my server, made it public and enabled fail2ban, I see lots of attempts at breaking in.
Read moreEverybody is trying to hack my webserver
Ever since I set up this webserver and made it public, I see in the logs a lot of attempts at hacking it.
Read moreMay 17th, the Indepence Day of Norway
Way back in the year 1814, some dudes decided to write a document that turned out to become our Constitution.
Read moreOpenbox, the minimalistic window manager, is close to release 3.7
I have been using Openbox for quite a while and am now running the latest version compiled from a git checkout.
Read moreUpdated. Mageia 6 with massive update to the QT and Plasma stack
The Mageia packagers and QA team has been working really hard for the past few months getting a massive update rolled out.
Read moreThe Eff warns about security flaw in GPG
The EFF has issued a warning about a security issue in GPG and recommends you to take action.
Read moreThings are taking shape now
So, I have been working on my hacks and it looks like I have reached a Good Enough state now.
Having this setup enables me to serve you only static HTML pages from a semi-dynamic backend using templates.