Paula Kamen’s article on the new book by me and Andy Pierce:

One afternoon only! This Saturday at 3:30 @yippiefest.bsky.social in Chicago. A pilot for possible “Women Act Out” comedy fest on #invisible illness.

good. Fuck BetterHelp and all these techbro therapy start-ups who think they can do an Uber to mental health care providers, then pull the rug by replacing their gig worker therapists with LLMs trained on all the calls they record

In honor of my birthday (well, it COULD be, the dates are right 😜), @manning.com is having a 1/2 off sale from 12:10 AM ET on July 31 and ends at Midnight US Pacific Time (3:00 AM ET) on August 4. Also $10 liveProjects/ liveVideos and $199.99 Subscriptions. mng.bz/ZlYR

I think I'm playing on a truck right behind this Kat car in the Skokie parade.

Looks pretty similar to the Dachau tour I took the kid on a few years back.

With the Ray Tracer project done, I decided to post my "best effort" Rust solution as a kind of "ask me anything" project.. I've coded the project about six times. None of the code was written with AI or a coding assistant and can be explained further (by me). github.com/dabeaz-cours...

Getting ready to spend the weekend writing a Ray Tracer in Rust. If this sounds like fun, you should skip work for two days next week and join me. dabeaz.com/raytrace.html.

I've been having a lot of fun getting better at Rust this summer. Seriously, you should join me for one of my short courses before they're gone (dabeaz.com/summer.html). Next week's Ray Tracer course is a great way to get your feet wet with some Rust basics. dabeaz.com/raytrace.html.

My PyCon US 2025 talk was about the use and abuse of OCR, including license plate scanners. It may have come off as conspiracy theory thinking, but it's feasible w/ current technology. www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHUv... And now our modern-day secret police Gestapo is using it: san.com/cc/ice-illeg...

The Quick Python Book, 4th edition, is now available in liveAudio format! If you prefer audiobooks, Manning Publications Co. now offers my book in autio format. Even better, you can use the code laceder40 to get a 40% discount on the liveAudio version at mng.bz/ZlYR #Python

Managed to spot 11 more unreported ALPRs in less than about 3 miles of driving in the south suburbs. A new record for a single trip. deflock.me Family thinks I'm a bit crazy... but, they knew that already.

Oh sure, you'd rather "work" than spend two days writing a Ray Tracer in Rust this week? Meh. Call in sick if you must. dabeaz.com/raytrace.html

Spotted on this morning's bike ride.

I'll be signing copies of my book at #PyConUS in 1/2 and hour at the JetBrains booth. Stop by!

The more I dig into generative AI from the prospective of a retired person, the less I want to be involved, or make use of the tools. I want to focus on using my own model of the world to contribute to society for as long as possible.

Just wait until the parents start finding out about all the college recommendation letters and admissions.

I'll be at the JetBrains booth during PyCon 2025 signing copies of my book. Come by and say hi—I'd love to meet you! I'll also be at the Python authors' open space on Saturday afternoon with other Python authors. JetBrains/PyCharm booth, Friday May 16, 4:00-4:30PM @manningbooks.bsky.social

I think you ought to join me for my two-day elevator project next week. Learn a bit of Rust. Be challenged. Take the stairs afterwards. dabeaz.com/rusty_elevat....

I am unapologetically telling you right now that Chicago is going to be insufferable about this, there is still a fading cardboard John Paul II in a Michigan Ave storefront looking out at Grant Park because he spoke there *once.*

Introducing Lifty the elevator. github.com/dabeaz/lifty Now, could you actually write code to properly control it? Who am I to say?

Happy Birthday BASIC! 🎂 1 May 1964

Big news! The 3rd edition of Automate the Boring Stuff with Python is now out! nostarch.com/automate-bor...

I've reopened registration in my upcoming SICP course (dabeaz.com/sicp.html). I don't know if SICP will help you get and/or keep a job at this point, but at the very least it will be a week-long escape to a strange world of programming that involves thinking.

No.

There isn't much time left to submit a talk to #PyOhio! pretalx.com/pyohio-2025/... The PyOhio #CFP is open through April 27th Anywhere on Earth! And if you're working on submitting a talk to PyOhio this week, why not submit it to a number of other conferences:

Idle thought: I wonder if any future "robotaxi" is also going to affix a "kick me" post-it to the back of every rider?

Last week, I worked through "Ray Tracing in One Weekend" (raytracing.github.io/books/RayTra...) in Rust. Made a neat picture. If you want to join me in a short course, I'll help you with the Rust stuff! I think it's a good starter project. dabeaz.com/raytrace.html

Seeing a big "camera gap" on the map near where I need to take the dog this morning. Might have to do a strategic "drive around" to see what I can find. dabeaz.com/flock.html.

Jens Ludwig, cofounder and director of the University of Chicago's Crime Lab, questions everything you thought you knew about shootings.

Abrego Garcia's wife: "I will not stop fighting until I see my husband alive. Kilmar, if you can hear me, stay strong. God hasn't forgotten about you. Our children are asking when you will come home ... they miss their dad so much."

Even accepting the premise that AI produces useful writing (which no one should), using AI in education is like using a forklift at the gym. The weights do not actually need to be moved from place to place. That is not the work. The work is what happens within you.

Got out on the bike for the first time in a while. Managed to bag two more ALPRs (dabeaz.com/flock.html) and waved at some guys setting up a giant inflatable rat. So, a pretty good morning overall.

Have fun with all of that.

Getting ready for last day of my "Crusty Interpreter" course. It's been a hard-fought week of Rust, but a lot of fun. Although, maybe it's type 2 fun. Hmmm. Anyways, there's more where this came from. www.dabeaz.com/summer.html.

Because things aren't hard enough already, I've decided to make life even harder on myself with my Summer of Rust (www.dabeaz.com/summer.html) project. Because, if I'm going to suffer, I might as well spend my time trying to get good at something hard. You should join me.

This week we talk to the one and only @dabeaz.com about why programming is fun. We talk about music, theater, async Python, Raft, open source, and conference talks as performance art. www.picturemecoding.com/2222783/epis...

!!! This is the first physical copy I've seen, I don't have mine yet. Hope people enjoy it!

Where vibes go to die - Crusty Interpreter, April 7-11 (dabeaz.com/crusty.html) - Rafting Trip, April 21-25 (dabeaz.com/raft.html) I realize there's a lot going on, but if you want to forget about all of that for week and challenge yourself, there's still some space available.

"Ever dance with the devil in the pale moonlight?" -- some thoughts on the dangerous, anti-democratic politics of ed-tech 2ndbreakfast.audreywatters.com/the-dangerou...

I'm excited to announce the 3rd edition of Automate the Boring Stuff with Python is coming out! You can get 25% off (and free ebook versions) with coupon code PREORDER. nostarch.com/automate-bor...

With Easter approaching, I wrote a short little thing about a fun game you can play with your car and the dog. Or, maybe just by yourself in the car. Or even out on a bike. Happy hunting! www.dabeaz.com/flock.html

i don’t mind if a human being pirates my book in order to read it. i do mind if mark zuckerberg pirates my book to make meta AI more profitable

“We are losing sight of the academic mission: to think, to enquire, to design and perform new research, to innovate, to teach and communicate our findings for the purpose of societal improvement” academic.oup.com/brain/articl...

Right now it feels impossible to get anything done, but we all have to. So I wrote about how I’m trying to break my doom spiral by doing one thing: dansinker.com/posts/202…

It's really too bad the "blood moon" isn't also getting visibly and rapidly larger and larger and larger....

Whew, just got done recording an interview with the Real Python Podcast about the 3rd edition of Automate the Boring Stuff with Python. The book comes out in April, but you can get 25% off with code PREORDER at nostarch.com/automate-bor...