Tim Burks

@timburks.me

708 Followers 768 Following

Shoegaze coder and KEXP superfan. Skating, making (@agent.io), expanding my world with music, and happy to be with my many intelligent and thoughtful friends who are now on Bluesky. He/him and 📡 timburks.99

A crowd is gathered to watch France v Spain at State Street Market in Los Altos
Session description: A lightweight gRPC-compatible implementation for sidecars gRPC is more than just a protocol: it's an opinionated set of tools and recommended ways to build servers and clients of networked APIs. But what if you have different opinions? Not all of us work in Google-scale contexts with monorepos containing thousands of services, strict controls over those implementations, and a fleet of engineers to keep them all up-to-date. Sidecar is a Go library that supports gRPC wire protocols in the most minimal way possible: using the Go standard library and virtually no external dependencies. Originally created to communicate with sidecar proxies over Linux abstract sockets, Sidecar builds on Go generics, concurrency primitives, and native HTTP2 support to make gRPC clear, simple, and maintainable. Sidecar grew out of IO, a new Envoy controller that was created to bring the powers of service meshes to individual developers. We'll talk about how IO and Sidecar work together to create a new class of secure and maintainable applications.
52 Girls by the B-52s is playing in the KEXP app
My britmonkey test results. 6% chud! Nobody's perfect?
A sign in the window of a pizza shop saying "Pizza with the Police"
A local post: Guys… I am honestly done with e-bikes. I just had 2 e-bikes flip the cars off on middle of street and it’s really starting to bother me. Please get more police in for this type of behavior. I don’t want any more of this behavior and these guys have really been a struggle to handle them. Please look out and stay safe ❤️ My reply: I walk a lot in Los Altos and wish we were this worked up about speeding and reckless drivers. When I do drive, I'm frequently tailgated by impatient people who want to exceed the speed limit or race past pedestrians. I wonder if we are really worried about the safety of those kids doing wheelies or if we just want them out of our way.
Don't Touch That Dial by Django Django now playing on KEXP
The KEXP app showing that it's playing Conditions of Love (Boys Shorts Remix) right after an Air Break and a remix of Mangetout
A headline saying that a California man who fell asleep drunk is in an in n out drive through serving prison time... I think
The last two kids have requested songs by Prince and Blue Öyster Cult
It's take your kids to the DJ booth day today and they're playing requests from the kids in the booth.
To stop the Google app from automatically creating shortened tracking links when you share web pages, disable the "Shorten links" toggle in your app settings. To hide suggested contacts or apps in your Android Share menu, you can pin frequently used apps or use specialized apps like Sharedr.1. Stop Google from Shortening LinksIf you share an article from the Google Discover feed or app and want to keep the original URL, follow these steps:Open the Google app on your Android device.Tap your Profile Picture in the upper-right corner.Select Settings.Scroll to the bottom and tap Other settings.Toggle off Shorten links to web pages.
MUSIC: VINYL OR DIGITAL? For many years music enthusiasts wanted the most perfect experi-ence they could from music systems. That perfect experience would be akin to the live performance. Now we have AI to create this per fect experience, it is interesting that there has been a rise in the pur-chase of vinyl records and purchase of hi-fi systems. This discussion of whether creativity is unique to human beings goes to the very heart of our discussions about not only what Al can do but also what it should do. If AI becomes able to do all the things we humans can do, then how do we define a role for ourselves? One way in which humans have been using Al creatively has been in the creation of deepfakes. These are usually made to the detriment of someone or society. So, sadly, we are already using the immense power of AI in a very unfortunate way!
A yard sign in my neighborhood says "SLOW DOWN: children at play"
Jaman Adam? by Alau
This morning's show has me restless for another road trip. If you haven't heard it, look up "I've been everywhere" in all its versions.
New Music Tuesday. May 19, 2026 6 New Albums You Should Hear This Week: aja monet aja monet - the color of rain (drink sum wtr) The sophomore studio album from Grammy®‑nominated poet, writer, performer, and activist aja monet is truly something to behold. Every word is movement. Is inspiration. Is hope. Is righteous indignation. Propelled by a bewitching fusion of jazz, soul, hip-hop, and R&B with meditative arrangements, ‘the color of rain’ takes an unflinching look at society, as her powerful, magnetic poetry speaks rhythmic, unbridled truth. What a triumph. —Chris Sanley
Three Marloes latest album
Bikini Kill's first studio album, the cover shows a young teen girl in a grassy yard by a suburban house
This Google search results page is covered with dots
KEXP BBQ 2026 2–9pm, August 22nd, 2026 KEXP & NW Courtyard The KEXP BBQ Returns - Saturday August 22nd! Join us for another summer day of live music, DJs, food, community, and celebration at the KEXP BBQ. Taking over the KEXP Gathering Space, Upper and Lower NW Courtyards, and the Dupen Fountain, this all-ages event brings together artists, listeners, local food vendors, and music lovers from across Seattle and beyond for a full afternoon and evening of performances, discovery, and summertime hangs. Tickets are on sale now! Capacity is limited and this event will likely sell out.
A screenshot of my KEXP BBQ ticket. See you in Seattle August 22!
A street filled with people walking their pets
Three versions of David Bowie's I'm afraid of Americans in the KEXP mobile app
The KEXP app showing Paranoid Android playing this morning.
The qobuz album listing for Dim Sum and Then Some by Chinese American Bear
Gratitude, Something's Got to Give, and Bodhisattva Vow... Three in a row!
May 3rd: Chinese American Bear Chinese American Bear is a beloved Seattle-based husband/wife duo composed of Anne Tong and Bryce Barsten who create colorful, quirky, bilingual pop. Their eagerly-awaited third album Dim Sum & Then Some comes out May 8th on Moshi Moshi Records.
A rental bike with an ad painted on the side for Google Gemini, subtitled "a new kind of hell from Google"
"This is a heavily interactive web application, and JavaScript is required. Simple HTML interfaces are possible, but that is not what this is."
Saithara Combo were a leading traditional Lanna music group in the Chiang Mai area, led by Chansom Saithara who was named a National Artist in 1996. -- saitharacombo.bandcamp.com/
ヒカシュー (Hikashu) are a Japanese rock band led by pseudo-Kabuki vocalist, Makigami Koichi, known for their highly experimental music. This is a cover of Das Model by Kraftwerk
08:37 PM Inner Reaches 慾望的暗角二 Gong Gong Gong Phantom Rhythm 2019 - Wharf Cat Records Gong Gong Gong is an experimental rock duo founded in Beijing in 2015. It consists of guitarist and vocalist Tom Ng, who sings in his native Cantonese, and bassist Joshua Frank. -- https://gonggonggong.bandcamp.com/ 08:33 PM Wolf Totem The HU The Gereg 2019 - Endurance Music Group The lion is in a bloody battle to the death The tiger overcomes the leopard in a match The elephant thrashes the leopard in a contest Man intensely struggles with a leopard to contend 08:28 PM Voodoo Child Luna Lee SXSW 2018 Showcasing Artists 2018 - Here's a Gayageum version of Jimi Hendrix's Voodoo Child. -- Luna Lee is a Korean solo artist and Grammy voting member who plays the gayageum, a traditional Korean string instrument, in a modern rock style. Lee is known for her innovative arrangements that combine the gayageum's timeless sound with analog guitar pedals, amplifiers, and backing tracks. Her genre-crossing performances span rock, pop, cinematic scores, and traditional music.
War Pigs - Breakfast Music (self-released) War Pigs are a Southern California band led by two Náhuat and Filipino kids – seemingly still in their pre-teen years – who make anti-fascist lo-fi punk rock music. With Iggy on guitar and vocals, Lolo on drums, and “dad” on bass, War Pigs blast off with an absolutely ripping debut album of DIY punk jams that thrills from the jump, features a ton of standout original songs, an amazing cover of “These Boots are Made for Walkin’” and a distinctive slow-burning psychedelic offering on “Staring at the Sun/Son.” Hat tip to KEXP DJ Kevin Sur for finding this refreshing under-the-radar gem that gives some much needed hope for the future. –AR
The KEXP app showing Kacey Musgrave's new single "Dry Spell"
Banned Books by War Pigs
Aja Monet's Hollyweird
Ernestine Anderson singing Never Make Your Move Too Soon in 1987
A bright rainbow touches down over a suburban yard fronted by a white picket fence.
Text from THE NEW YORKER: Yet most of the people we spoke to shared the judgment of Sutskever and Amodei: Altman has a relentless will to power that, even among industrialists who put their names on spaceships, sets him apart. "He's unconstrained by truth," the board member told us. "He has two traits that are almost never seen in the same person. The first is a strong desire to please people, to be liked in any given interaction. The second is almost a sociopathic lack of concern for the consequences that may come from deceiving someone."
The qobuz album listing for Di Hotel Malibu, showing many tracks are yet to be released
A New Yorker exposé, covered by Futurism, reveals a critical view of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. According to insiders, Altman lacks strong technical skills in programming or machine learning despite leading a major AI company. Some engineers say he often misunderstands basic AI concepts, contradicting his public image as a technical leader.
A screenshot of the KEXP mobile app featuring the Cure's Pictures of You
A qobuz screenshot of the Perak album by Thee Marloes. The song "Not Today" is playing.
Diana Ratsamee commenting "I cried watching this in studio session with Maya Ongaku" in the KEXP show notes
A git commit with comment "remove -i switch and local interactive mode"
A screenshot of the KEXP app showing that Go Kurosawa's Moon, Please is on the air
Here I'm fetching a handle and getting the results of com.atproto.repo.describeRepo
Yes, back at my table by the wall at Peet's
My standing desk, a high table across from the registers at Peet's Coffee on State Street in Los Altos. Drop by and say hi!
A scene from War Games, a film that I actually saw when it was released! A computer screen says "greetings professor falken. hello. a strange game. the only winning move is not the play"
My white Crosstrek parked in front of Climate Pledge Arena. The Space Needle stands in the background.
I'm sitting in one of two lines of cars at the US Port of Entry in Blaine, WA. It's hard to count from here but it looks like there are about 20 cars ahead of me in each lane.
“On Quantity of Information” by Walter Pitts Random remarks are traced by little boys In wet cement; synapses in the brain Die off; renewing uplift glyphs mountain And valley in peneplane; the mouth rounds noise To consonants in truisms: Thus expands law Cankering the anoetic anonymous. “If any love magic, he is most impious: Him I cut off, who turn his world to straw, Making him know Me.” So speaks the nomothete Concealed in crystals, contracting myosin, Imprisoning man by close-packing in his own kind. We, therefore, exalt entropy and heat, Fist-fight for room, trade place, momentum, spin, Successful enough if life is undesigned.