Posts on Ulveon's Thoughts

A eulogy for the most misunderstood Windows version

Thu, 04 Jun 2026 14:00:00 +0100

Windows Vista was released in 2007. Today, nearly twenty years later, people keep believing it was a “bad” operating system. I have always disagreed with this. Yes, Windows Vista had many flaws and issues, but it was still a well-designed and dependable operating system, and represented a much needed rethink of what a desktop operating system should do.

Why did AI destroy my production database?

Tue, 05 May 2026 14:00:00 +0100

I already posted my thoughts on AI and why I don’t think it’s going away any time soon. Unfortunately, it seems some people who don’t like LLMs are using AI-induced outages and deletions as an opportunity to reaffirm their biases, and, in doing so, may be missing part of the picture.

AI space datacenters are literally impossible

Mon, 15 Dec 2025 23:00:00 +0100

There’s talk of space datacenters ~~lately~~ again, which is an immensely stupid idea. It is stupid because it is a physics and thermodynamics problem, not an engineering challenge. In this post, I will prove why space datacenters will never happen. Not now, not in ten years, not in a hundred years. While we have gotten far in space exploration technology, further than anyone decades ago thought, and while we have had great success in some aspects, such as the International Space Station, people are not computers (shocking, I know), and computers represent an entirely different set of constraints and problems.

Adventures with vibe-coding: TLD racketeering

Fri, 12 Dec 2025 20:00:00 +0100

While vibe-coding a small tool to hunt for interesting domain names, I stumbled into something I didn’t expect, and, honestly, something a bit worrying.

The secure open source fallacy

Wed, 03 Dec 2025 08:00:00 +0100

Most open source advocates, and many security professionals, often say things like “open source software is secure because you can just read the code”.

This argument assumes that the ability to read source code directly translates into the ability to understand, verify, and trust it, because you can see the files this software opens or the network sockets it listens on. You can see the kind of network data it sends, and the cryptography it uses.

I think I'm starting to understand AI "art"

Fri, 28 Nov 2025 15:00:00 +0100

I think I am starting to understand the deal with AI “art”. Or at a minimum, I am beginning to understand why AI “art” feels so “AI”, so devoid of soul, lifeless.

Deletion is never guaranteed: How your computer lies to you

Sat, 01 Nov 2025 19:00:00 +0100

You cannot prove the absence of data; you can only prove the presence of data. You also cannot prove if a particular piece of data was copied, or whether a specific digital object is an original or a copy.

Fighting Twitter's age verification with a special guest

Sun, 10 Aug 2025 18:00:00 +0100

I am ideologically firmly opposed to age verification systems, especially those that claim to protect children by violating the privacy of adults. I refuse to support such mechanisms because this is a disproportionate response that creates more harm than it prevents.

AI is not a fad: It's here to stay

Sun, 10 Aug 2025 01:00:00 +0100

Nobody cares about your beautiful, elegant, handcrafted code. Software engineers are engineers first and foremost, and producing code was never the main goal for software engineers. Engineers solve problems with code, such as increasing revenue or decreasing spending. Engineers exist to apply scientific innovations to businesses, in order to increase profit. There’s really nothing else to it.

Vanguard (Part 1): Telegram raid protection

Sat, 09 Aug 2025 00:00:00 +0000

I’ve been developing Vanguard over the past few months. Initially it was little more than a hack, which was developed quickly and without much consideration regarding the cleanliness of the code. I needed a way to have public Telegram links without the risk of raids, or getting botted.

The Andon cord: Mechanisms and good intentions

Fri, 20 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Good intentions are usually assumed. Generally, everyone understands that most people act on good intentions, and out of good faith. Many social behaviours are “unwritten contracts” rather than established in law because it’s understood that most people will abide by these contracts. But when good intentions aren’t sufficient, mechanisms are necessary.

Effective security beyond encryption

Sun, 25 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000

To highly technical audiences, it is unsurprising that Telegram is not cryptographically secure and that Signal is much better.

Numerous security experts have pointed out that Telegram’s reputation as a secure messenger is primarily a result of its marketing rather than its technical architecture.

Software toggles are evil

Tue, 13 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000

“Do not sell my personal information”, “Reject all cookies”, “Do not show me personalised ads”, “Do not use my Maps activity for improvements”, “Do not store my voice recordings”, “Permanently delete my account”

Meritocracy: The lie that built modern Western society

Thu, 27 Feb 2025 22:06:00 +0100

Most of the modern West is built around the idea of meritocracy. Because of how influential Christianism has been in Europe, and later America, this can be traced back to Abrahamic traditions. Many societies nowadays revolve around “hardened individuals”, “self-made men”, and individual financial success. Admittedly, this behaviour motivates people to give their best, as you condition them to believe their efforts have a measurable impact on their future life, by which more effort translates into a better, more comfortable life. And for sure, there’s a component of effort and hard work in everyone’s future.

Mr. Trump, Ukraine is not for sale

Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:00 +0100

Mr. Trump, you ran your 2025 election campaign on claims that you would be able to end the war in Ukraine before you were elected [archived version]. Then you pushed it back to “within 24 hours”.

Why european safeguards strengthen democracy - A response to Vance

Sun, 16 Feb 2025 20:41:27 +0100

Dear JD Vance, your recent speech at the Munich Security Conference on 14th February 2025 concerns me, and you made several points I would like to address individually.

Your speech is full of lies, and has a profoundly unethical undertone. Frankly, I am already deeply disappointed with how Elon Musk has been behaving in the past few years, and this is my first impression of you. Not a positive one, for sure!

Fediverse and the consequences of decentralised moderation

Tue, 21 Jan 2025 22:01:13 +0100

Most furries who are vaguely involved in tech have heard of the “Fediverse” or, at minimum, Mastodon, the most popular Fediverse software stack implementation.

There is a lot to be said about Fediverse, and it is a fantastic initiative from a technological point of view. With Fediverse software, you can build communities around a topic of interest and optionally interact with other users in other instances. It lets you own your data (at least from a server operator perspective), which is clearly very different from Twitter. The communities around Fediverse instances are tight-knit, often focused on technology and topics related to minorities or marginalised communities, like LGBT or sex workers.

Retribution or Reintegration: Let's talk about prisons

Wed, 01 Jan 2025 21:39:57 +0100

Plenty has been written about European prisons focused on restorative justice and reintegration. Still, there’s insufficient discourse on the implications and interactions between these two very different approaches to justice and order, which is the topic of this post.

Operational Security: Staying safe online

Sat, 05 Oct 2024 23:39:19 +0100

The Internet is a dangerous place. Especially if you are LGBTQ, furry, have unconventional sexual tendencies (CNC, BDSM, FinDom, etc) or are a member of a religious or racial minority group.

The Internet was not designed with safety or security in mind. In its ARPANET beginnings, many systems didn’t even have passwords because only privileged users were supposed to access them. As such, privacy and security features are often little more than layers added on top of aging protocols, like HTTPS is just SSL applied on top of HTTP.

Fascism is coming

Thu, 29 Aug 2024 20:34:09 +0100

And it won’t be pretty. We have collectively learned nothing from Hitler’s rise to power. And it is just happening all over again, through the same institutions that we thought were set up to resist the next fascist takeover.

Nobody is going to shut down Telegram

Sun, 25 Aug 2024 15:10:16 +0100

At the time of writing, Pavel Durov, the founder of Telegram was arrested by French authorities [archived version].

As usual, a flurry of theories and panic ensued. I want to give my opinion on what’s going to happen next. At this time, I don’t believe Telegram is in any significant danger. Of course, things could change, but there’s absolutely no reason to panic right now.

The implicit social contract: the division of labour

Fri, 07 Jun 2024 20:34:09 +0100

I’ve observed an interesting phenomenon that I believe is the base for any economy, capitalist, communist, socialist, or else, and it might very well be an intrinsic part of who we are, collectively, as a species. The division of labour has existed since ancient times, way before Homo Sapiens were roaming Earth. The division of labour exists, to a certain extent in animal communities too. There are leaders, hunters, protectors, and other roles. Naturally, as living standards increase, technology advances, and materials improve, we tend to hyperspecialise.

Microsoft doesn't love Linux

Sun, 21 Apr 2024 19:34:09 +0100

Some time ago, Microsoft announced a surprising shift in stance [archived version] with their newfound affection for Linux. This marked a notable departure from the era of Steve Ballmer, whose approach was considerably more hostile [archived version] towards competing operating systems, including Android and Linux, and the GPL license.

You don't need to own your home, you just need a place to live in

Wed, 17 Apr 2024 20:00:00 +0100

The entire world is in a housing crisis at the moment. And at times, it might seem like this has been going on for almost two decades, ever since the financial crisis of 2008.

Free speech is not a noble goal to pursue

Wed, 10 Jan 2024 19:35:56 +0100

Freedom and free speech have always been topics of deep interest to me. Historically, I’ve been a firm advocate for free speech, aligning myself with Pirate Party principles.

Later on, during my political explorations, I briefly ventured into libertarianism and “free speech absolutism” which led me to consider many other possible arguments, such as the right to free information from a journalistic perspective. For example: “Why should the government get to decide what kind of news I am allowed to read?” Surely, governments would have a strong incentive to not allow dissenting information that could threaten their grip on power.

Federated social systems: On IRC, XMPP, and Matrix

Sat, 06 Jan 2024 20:34:09 +0100

One of the most important features of decentralised social networks based on open standards is that they are much easier to own and control, while also being highly intercompatible between software versions, clients, and maintainers.

Hello World

Sat, 06 Jan 2024 00:07:22 +0100

After many years of hesitation, I have decided to start my own blog.

In this blog, I will explore and elaborate on my thoughts. How my political and philosophical views have changed over time, and how I believe we can build a better world.