Syntax - Tasty Web Development Treats

Scott and Wes tackle your questions on the rise of the design engineer, why AI still lacks “taste” (and why it’s about more than just looks), and how to actually write tests in the age of AI-assisted coding. Plus: is AI a bubble about to burst, keeping coding agents efficient in massive codebases, introducing kids to AI, a Linux life update, and more!

Show Notes

00:00 Welcome to Syntax!

01:18 The Rise of the Design Engineer Role

08:39 Why AI Has No Taste: It’s Not Just How It Looks

14:28 Brought to you by Sentry.io

14:52 Testing in the AI Era: Are We Using AI to Write Tests?

20:09 Is AI a Bubble? Will It Burst?

The AI Bubble is Bursting on YouTube

24:35 Negative Public Sentiment Towards AI and Data Centers

30:16 Update on Scott Using Omarchy and Linux

Is The Omarchy Hype Real?

38:14 Introducing AI to Kids: A Parent’s Perspective with Dr. Courtney

49:34 Getting Hired Without AI Experience: How to Catch Up

52:53 Keeping Coding Agents Efficient: Token Usage, Speed, and Accuracy

Modem.dev Article

Fallow Docs

57:10 Sick Picks + Shameless Plugs

Sick Picks

Scott: Kitchen Sink Brush

Wes: Magnet Fishing

Shameless Plugs

Scott: Phases Podcast, Phases Podcast on YouTube

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A rogue OpenAI agent allegedly hacks Hugging Face, the React Compiler lands in Rust, and a fresh Rust full-stack framework ships. Scott, Wes, and CJ also dig into Anthropic’s $1.5B copyright settlement, Claude Opus 5, and the campaign to kill the cookie banner.

Show Notes

00:00 Welcome to Syntax!

01:03 React Compiler Ported to Rust

06:39 Vercel releases TS to Native Compiler

19:26 Standard Agent Zen Garden

29:14 In-House LLM at Netflix

34:14 Brought to you by Sentry.io

35:15 Anthropic to pay $1.5B over book piracy

38:06 Open Weights and American AI Leadership

40:27 Kimi K3 Weights Released

44:26 Claude 5 Context Engineering

45:40 Writing Code For Agents to Read

48:02 Gemini 3.6 Flash / 3.5 Flash Cyber

50:44 Qwen Image 3.0 Released

54:46 Cactus Hybrid - Fine Tune Small Models

56:06 topcoat - Rust Full Stack Framework

01:01:00 SvelteKit 3 Migration Notes

01:05:16 Canvas UI

01:07:26 Jelly UI

01:09:24 Kill the Cookie Banner

01:12:31 Hugging Face Hacked by OpenAI

01:21:27 AI Alliance for AI Safety and Security

01:24:51 htmx 4: the game for gameboy

01:29:00 Stolen Buttons

01:29:33 Fonts in Use

01:32:39 3d Splats

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Dan Abramov joins Scott and Wes to explain AT Protocol, the open standard quietly rebuilding the social web. They get into how it actually works, why it’s way bigger than just Bluesky, and why Dan calls it one of the most interesting ideas on the internet right now.

Show Notes

00:00 Intro

00:45 Welcome to Syntax!

01:46 Introduction of Dan Abramov

02:55 Understanding AT Protocol and Its Importance

06:41 The Relationship Between AT Protocol and Bluesky

08:22 Identity and Hosting in AT Protocol

11:29 Brought to you by Sentry

11:54 Use Cases for AT Protocol

13:08 How Content is Managed in AT Protocol

19:12 Public Data and Future Extensions of AT Protocol

pds.ls

20:33 Schema Flexibility in AT Protocol

Standard.site

25:28 Exploring AT Protocol Patterns

UFOs

28:27 Media and Data Integration Challenges

Stream.place

31:15 User Experience and Accessibility in AT Protocols

32:13 AI Intersections with AT Protocol

36:54 Comparing Protocols: Bluesky vs. Mastodon

41:43 Decentralization and Crypto Connections

44:59 Addressing Abuse and Spam in Protocols

48:24 Community Trust and Content Quality

51:20 Innovations and Future of AT Protocol

55:55 Sick Picks + Shameless Plugs

Sick Picks

Scott:

Wes:

Dan: Solo Monk

Shameless Plugs

Scott:

Wes:

Dan: Next.js 16.3: Instant Navigations

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A huge week for open models: Inkling (the first big US open-weight model since Gemma 4), Qwen 3.8, and Kimi 3 all dropped. Plus Vue 3.6 RC + Vapor Mode, the slow death of Stack Overflow, a decoy font that blinds AI, and the usual grab bag of fun links.

Show Notes

00:00 Intro

00:44 Welcome to Syntax

03:01 Vue.js 3.6 RC Released

Vue.js 3.6-RC.1

09:50 Brought to you by Sentry

10:35 Rift - new worktree alternative

Rift

Explaining Rift tweet

17:46 Every new browser feature

MDN Plus Browser features updates

CSS ’text-fit’ property

23:09 Kimi K3 Released

Kimi K3 release tweet

Kimi K3 blog post

Openrouter effective pricing

29:33 What are Open Weight Models

32:46 Kimi K3 Architecture

Kimi K3’s built up

Cutting off access to Kimi

33:59 Qwen 3.8 Released

Qwen 3.8 launch announcement

36:42 Inkling from Thinking Machines

Thinking Machines release Inkling

Inkling release post from Mira Murati

Thinking Machines news blog post

40:45 Mole Cleanup App

Mole

43:21 Moshi Terminal App

Moshi app

46:05 RIP Stack Overflow

Query for new questions on Stack Overflow

Stack Overflow for Agents

StackExchange

54:10 Scott’s Foot Pedal

54:59 Scott’s Feet

56:13 Decoy Font

59:16 Jurassic Park Computers

01:03:59 Ride the Tokyo Trains LIVE

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Running your dev process off your main machine doesn’t have to mean the cloud. Scott and Wes break down how to host projects on a box you can reach from any device, close your laptop mid-build, and keep long-running processes alive. They cover Scott’s stack (Mosh, Caddy, Tailscale, Zed, and terminal AI agents like Claude Code), the annoyances of mobile TUIs, and whether it beats staying local.

Show Notes

00:00 Intro

00:36 Welcome to Syntax!

01:56 Benefits of Remote Development

07:50 Process for Remote Development

09:34 Tech Stack for Remote Development

Mosh instead of SSH

Caddy for domains and routing

Tailscale for local network

Zed editor

Herdr for terminal sessions

Opencode or ClaudeCode for AI via the term

Termius for iOS AI

15:09 Tools and Alternatives for Remote Development

21:16 Exploring Workspaces and Terminal Management

30:31 Mobile Terminal Applications and Their Features

32:30 Navigating the Terminal Landscape: Tools and Alter

35:22 Headless Browsers and Authentication Challenges

38:35 Work Trees and Their Use Cases

44:21 Cloud Hosting and Local Development Solutions

45:28 Sick Picks & Shameless Plugs.

Sick Picks

Scott: Elgato Stream Deck Pedal

Wes: Packing Cubes

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