HN user

edward

47,352 karma

Hello, I'm Edward.

I'm running the Geospatial devroom at FOSDEM.

I build web apps, web scrapers, databases, and search engines. I reverse engineer legacy systems and data formats.

Over the years, I've had the privilege to collaborate with internet luminaries like Aaron Swartz, Brewster Kahle, Ted Nelson, Jason Scott, and John Gilmore.

My contributions span a diverse array of projects, including Wikipedia, Open Library, Wikimedia Commons, Debian, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, the Linux kernel, and BusyBox.

I'm on mastodon: https://hachyderm.io/@edward

Posts5,496
Comments237
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simonwillison.net 1d ago

Reverse-engineering is cheap now

edward
37pts38
societyforhopefultechnologists.org 3d ago

Society for Hopeful Technologists

edward
3pts0
www.cnbc.com 7d ago

PayPal stock soars as Stripe, Advent make $53B takeover offer

edward
3pts0
taoofmac.com 8d ago

The Chuwi MiniBook X N150

edward
11pts0
www.emfcamp.org 10d ago

Electromagnetic Field: July 16th – 19th 2026

edward
3pts0
retout.co.uk 11d ago

Blocking Distracting News Links

edward
2pts0
driveamble.com 12d ago

Amble One

edward
3pts1
revman.substack.com 12d ago

EasyJet is essential British travel infrastructure

edward
2pts0
aigarius.com 13d ago

How to make a good group photo

edward
3pts1
www.bbc.co.uk 14d ago

Car tracking features for 'convenience not security' warns Kia

edward
3pts0
werd.io 15d ago

CNN and CNBC promote gambling to make a cheap buck

edward
3pts0
82mhz.net 15d ago

I Bought a Sony Walkman

edward
3pts0
github.com 15d ago

HTTP 1.x proxy that makes old web browsers usable again in the Web 2.0 world

edward
2pts0
shkspr.mobi 16d ago

I'm just so bored of AI

edward
23pts15
blog.frankel.ch 17d ago

Two nasty surprises in Home Assistant's config

edward
42pts10
phosh.mobi 17d ago

Phosh 0.56.0

edward
140pts62
www.nytimes.com 18d ago

A Peculiarly Dutch Summer Rite: Children Let Loose in the Night Woods (2019)

edward
5pts0
codon.org.uk 19d ago

Securing Agentic Identity

edward
3pts0
joeyh.name 20d ago

No LLM Code in Dependencies

edward
120pts113
old.reddit.com 20d ago

Samsung to Charge Users $5 per Month for API Access – Ha Integration Affected

edward
1pts0
www.omgubuntu.co.uk 21d ago

Pine64 launch $50 smart speaker for Home Assistant tinkerers

edward
139pts63
joeyh.name 22d ago

Big loads offgrid with a small battery (sidelined)

edward
2pts0
www.bbc.co.uk 22d ago

WhatsApp to let people chat with usernames

edward
7pts1
observer.co.uk 23d ago

UK Government defends plan to switch off terrestrial TV

edward
9pts0
anarc.at 23d ago

Qalculate Hacks

edward
3pts0
www.headforpoints.com 23d ago

Why some Project Sunrise flights will go over the North Pole

edward
1pts0
www.economist.com 27d ago

America's data-centre backlash puts the AI boom at risk

edward
6pts1
www.economist.com 27d ago

Long Wave radio era set to end with switch-off

edward
182pts165
www.economist.com 27d ago

AI models' values are different from most people's

edward
2pts0
www.economist.com 27d ago

The AI backlash is only getting started

edward
6pts1

It's worth noting that Ted Nelson's visionary Xanadu project had actually addressed this issue decades ago. In the original design of Project Xanadu, rule 9 states "Every document can contain a royalty mechanism at any desired degree of granularity to ensure payment on any portion accessed, including virtual copies ('transclusions') of all or part of the document." This suggests a foresighted approach to content monetisation which the modern web, in many ways an unfinished hypertext prototype, still lacks. Nelson's idea was to embed financial transactions directly into the fabric of document interchange, an integration not yet realised in today's digital content landscape.

See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Xanadu#Original_17_rul...

I really like the idea of the Terminal Graphics Protocol and the aims of the project, but I feel it's important to address the choice of the Lenna photo. This image, although historically significant in the field of image processing, is increasingly viewed as an outdated and inappropriate choice due to its origins and the implicit message it conveys.

The Lenna photo, originally taken from a Playboy magazine, perpetuates a narrow and objectified view of women. Its continued use in tech demos and educational materials not only overlooks the rich diversity of alternative images available for such purposes but also subtly endorses a culture that many in the tech community are striving to move away from.

In an era where inclusivity and sensitivity are rightfully gaining prominence, it's crucial that we reassess and update our educational and demonstrative tools to reflect these values. Opting for more neutral and universally appropriate images would not only avoid potential discomfort among a diverse audience but also demonstrate a commitment to fostering a more inclusive and respectful tech culture.

I love paperless-ngx but I wish it had a rotate button. Some of my document scans are upside down.