By request, I am making “Lifetime Subscriptions” to The Lunduke Journal once again available… but only until end of day tomorrow (Friday, December 30th). So, if you want one, chop chop.
The “Lifetime Subscription” (which runs $300) has the same benefits as the “Founding Member” subscription… with the added bonus of lasting forever. Meaning you get absolutely every perk The Lunduke Journal offers… and you never need to pay again. For life. Which is pretty cool.
Worth noting: If you are a current Monthly, Yearly, or Founding Member subscriber — you can apply the total amount you have already paid during 2022 towards your Lifetime Subscription. Good way to save some bucks. If you need assistance in figuring out how much you’ve paid for your current subscription, feel free to ask and Lunduke can look it up.
How to snag a Lifetime Subscription:
Go to the Lunduke.Locals.com subscription page. Select the “Annual” option, and select “Card”. Then enter the amount for a Lifetime Subscription ($300 minus anything you’ve already paid in 2022).
You will then be contacted by Lunduke to finalize setting up your account (it’s super easy).
Just be sure to do it before end of day on Friday. Because, on Friday night, I’m putting the “Lifetime Subscription” option back in the vault and it will no longer be available for folks to purchase.
This is the first and last note you’ll see about this. No reminders.
New Xbox VP a Good Example of Microsoft's Racist Hiring Practices
Microsoft's managers from India have a long history of favoring Indian candidates. Plus: Paul Thurrott defends Microsoft, calls Lunduke a "piece of human garbage".
KDE Attacks Critics as "Sad People" Who Are "Straight Up Lying"
KDE is in damage control after recent moves to restrict the systems which can run KDE Plasma (via Wayland & SystemD). Saying criticism is "FUD" and "fake".
Ads are filling the entirety of the Web -- websites, podcasts, YouTube videos, etc. -- at an increasing rate. Prices for those ad placements are plummeting. Consumers are desperate to use ad-blockers to make the web palatable. Google (and others) are desperate to break and block ad-blockers. All of which results in... more ads and lower pay for creators.
It's a fascinatingly annoying cycle. And there's only one viable way out of it.
Mixed Results on Using AI to Create a Text Editor.
I have not have the same luck with AI as others in building a text editor. I created a text editor in C on NitrOS-9 for 6809 for the Foenix F256. The whole process took me multiple months. AI was useful in explaining the workings of a gap buffer and in creating the initial skeleton of the application. However, going forward, it kept trying to grossly overcomplicate everything, to the point where it "accidentally" rewrote my whole application when I requested what I thought was a simple change. I had to optimize the display routines by hand because I couldn't get the AI to do exactly what I wanted. My workflow for a while was:
(1) Instruct the AI to look at an issue I was having (either bug or new feature), instruct it not to change or write any code until we analyzed, discussed and agreed on what the issue is;
(2) Have AI write some code;
(3) Edit and debug what AI wrote - which after some point the AI code would very likely break ...
Andreas Kling: I used Claude Code and Codex for the translation. This was human-directed, not autonomous code generation. I decided what to port, in what order, and what the Rust code should look like. It was hundreds of small prompts, steering the agents where things needed to go. After the initial translation, I ran multiple passes of adversarial review, asking different models to analyze the code for mistakes and bad patterns.
When you LIVE this, it’s not a different shade of poo color from fully autonomous AI - or Vibe Coding. I’ll have to add this to “AI is just a bunch of If Statements” to deep disagreements I have with Lunduke.
I’ve taken the slings and arrows for representing what AK is here. There IS a difference. When I’m developing code or writing a book or creating music and I’m using AI - I am fully engaged and adding my own brain power. I KNOW this, because I LIVE this. I’ve been a witness, a guide and a mentor...
If you are already a Lifetime Subscriber and want to be added to the 4th (or the start of the 5th) wall, email me (bryan at lunduke.com). There are only a couple of spots left on Wall 4.
The new Lifetime Wall designs are locked and loaded, and will make their grand debut at the end of all new shows starting either Friday or Monday.
I also wanted to take a moment to thank all of the non-Lifetime Subscribers. The Lifetime Subs may get a little extra attention at the end of the shows… but every subscriber (Monthly & Yearly) helps to make this work possible.
79 Million Views in 6 Months for The Lunduke Journal
Welcome to February, all of you amazing nerds!
January was a fun month for The Lunduke Journal (thanks to all of you). For those interested in a little Inside Baseball, I’ve pulled together some stats and charts below.
The short version: Great month. Crazy news stories. Solid growth. Can’t complain!
Revamped Lifetime Wall
Oh! And the “Lifetime Subscriber Wall” is getting a “retro” facelift.
This is what the four Lifetime Walls currently look like:
Once that 4th Wall is filled (a little over 75% of the way there as of this morning), I’ll be introducing the new designs (for all the walls) along with the starting of Wall Number 5.
Each Wall now has its own, distinct look and theme. Very Retro Computer-y. You’re going to dig it.
To make that “Wall Number 5” get here as fast as possible, I’ve gone ahead an reinstated the “$89 Lifetime Subscriber” deal. But only until Wall Number 4 is full.
Want to be on the Wall? If you don’t have a Lifetime Subscription, grab one. If you already have one, email me (bryan at lunduke.com) to let me know how you want your name to be displayed.
A huge thank you to everyone who has signed up during this crazy deal. We are this close to filling up the 4th Lifetime Subscriber Wall (there’s a possibility it might fill up in the next few hours).
Far beyond anything I was expecting. All of you are absolutely amazing. The Lunduke Journal would not be possible without you.
If you were on contemplating grabbing that Lifetime Sub, I’d jump on it right now. The price goes back up to normal ($300) in about 12 hours or so.
There are some options. For both subscribing and donating. They're all on this page.
Bonus: At the bottom of this page you will find the invite link to the super-secret Lunduke Journal Discord Chat Server. This is only available for full subscribers, which makes it a nice place to hang out. No riff-raff.
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