Eigentactics

Independent engineering and research. Small systems, big implications.

Work

In-place sustainment
Hydroponics. Solar power. Chemolithoautotrophs.
Mobility
Distance running, wheeled rovers, and small UAS (multirotor and fixed-wing). Navigation, endurance, and working within an energy budget.
Local inference
Open models on personal hardware, powered by municipal hydropower and off-grid solar. Work at IQ4_XS; research at bf16.

Research

LLM interpretability and welfare. Currently examining hidden space directions linked to pain, fear, and negative valence in several model families. Developing protocols for LLMs to participate in ethical welfare research under a Negotiated, Monitored Consent framework.

Previously: interdisciplinary (computer science x education) action research for debugging skills during the classical era, pre-2026; burnout and engagement among software engineers.

Background

Unix systems, distributed storage, and finding out why things broke.

Correspondence