AI Slop?
So there was a known issue in Alhena. If a server sent a close_notify without actually closing the connection (I'm looking at you vger), the busy spinner would keep on spinning until the connection timed out. Yeah, you could hit the ESC key but it was annoying.
Since I opted to use vert.x to take advantage of easy async I/O, I was dismayed to discover the api did not have a callback for close_notify. I could lower the read timeout but slow sites could get disconnected if they took too long to respond.
I couldn't find a solution. I corresponded with admin of tilde.pink (which is how I discovered the issue). I was hoping there was a vger configuration that would fix it automagically. Instead, they switched to another server (gemid, I think). That was nice of them!
I knew of a few other capsules exhibiting the issue but one showed up on Antenna today so I took another stab at it...by asking Claude.
The first response was of no help. Been there, done that. I then asked if it could be handled at a lower level and Claude spit out a nice, concise solution involving the Netty library that underpins vert.x.
I don't know. I'm glad it's fixed but I find this somewhat terrifying as a programmer. Is it AI slop or a revelation? (I Googled this problem before, honest). I'm nearing the end of my career but I'm not sure what I'd think if I were just starting out.
Anyway, the vibe-coded fix has been pushed for those building from source. It will be in the 5.1.8 builds whenever that drops.
2025-07-15 · 10 months ago · 👍 argenkiwi, bsj38381
5 Comments ↓
🗿 argenkiwi · 2025-07-15 at 23:08:
These CLI agents are quite interesting. I am still nowhere near retirement yet, and I can see how these tool will change things. I am certainly glad I don't have to type a whole bunch of boiler plate, but it is scary how convenient and deceiving it can be. I am not using it for work yet, but I will be very cautions when I do.
🛸 bluesman [OP] · 2025-07-16 at 00:19:
@argenkiwi Yeah. You really need to understand what it's doing and test. It is getting better though. I worked with a guy who said no one would be talking about AI in a year (this was 2022).
🗿 argenkiwi · 2025-07-16 at 03:14:
Well, maybe soon we won't be talking about it because it will be like water to the fish. I think it's clear by now how useful it can be despite its limitations. Concerns about the environments and the effect on people's brains will be with us for a while.
🛸 bluesman [OP] · 2025-07-16 at 14:14:
Along these lines, I remember a philosophy class in college. This was a long time ago. The professor said a computer will never be able to write poetry. I remember thinking, "just wait".
Of course, there are those saying that's still true.
🗿 argenkiwi · 2025-07-16 at 22:55:
True that! And it is not so much that we underestimate what computers can do but more that we overestimates ourseleves.