你好

[Spencer Baggins @bigaiguy]

A French engineer who lives quietly in Paris has spent 30 years writing software that the entire internet now runs on without knowing his name.

He wrote the code that streams every YouTube video, every Netflix show, every TikTok clip. He wrote the code that runs the virtual servers underneath AWS, Google Cloud, and Microsoft Azure. He calculated more digits of pi than anyone in history. He has no Twitter. He has no marketing. He just keeps shipping.

His name is Fabrice Bellard.

Here is the story, because almost nobody outside the systems programming world knows what one man has built.

Fabrice was born in 1972 in Grenoble, France. He studied at École Polytechnique, the top French engineering school. He never went to Silicon Valley. He never built a startup empire. He just wrote code.

In 2000 he started a project called FFmpeg, an open-source multimedia framework for encoding, decoding, and streaming video. He was 28. The project did one thing nobody else had done well. It handled every video and audio format that existed, in one library, on every operating system. He led it himself for years.

Today FFmpeg is the invisible engine of the internet. YouTube uses it. Netflix uses it. VLC uses it. Chrome and Firefox use parts of it. Every Android phone, every iPhone, every smart TV, every video editing tool you have ever touched runs FFmpeg somewhere underneath. If you have watched a video on a screen in the last 20 years, Fabrice's code processed it.

He was not done.

In 2003 he started QEMU, a machine emulator and virtualizer. He wrote it solo until version 0.7.1 in 2005. QEMU lets you run any operating system on any other operating system. It became the foundation of modern virtualization. KVM, the Linux kernel hypervisor, runs on top of QEMU. Every major cloud provider, AWS, Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure, IBM Cloud, runs virtual machines on infrastructure built around it. The Quick Emulator is the most cited piece of cloud infrastructure code on Earth.

He kept going.

In 2001 he won the International Obfuscated C Code Contest with a small C compiler that grew into TCC, the Tiny C Compiler. TCC can compile and boot a Linux kernel from source in under 15 seconds. In 2004 he calculated the most digits of pi ever computed at the time, using a personal desktop computer and an algorithm he derived himself called Bellard's formula. In 2011 he wrote a complete PC emulator in pure JavaScript that runs Linux in your browser, a project called JSLinux that engineers still cannot believe is real.

In 2019 he released QuickJS, a small but complete JavaScript engine that fits where V8 cannot. In 2021 he released NNCP, a neural network based lossless data compressor that immediately took the lead on the Large Text Compression Benchmark.

Then he turned his attention to large language models. He built TextSynth Server, a web server with a REST API for running LLMs locally. He released ts_zip and ts_sms, compression utilities that use language models to compress text and short messages at ratios traditional algorithms cannot reach. He released TSAC, a very low bitrate audio compression system. In December 2025 he released Micro QuickJS, a new JavaScript engine for microcontrollers, separate from QuickJS, designed for environments with almost no memory.

Fabrice co-founded a telecom company called Amarisoft in 2012, where he serves as CTO. Amarisoft builds 4G and 5G base station software used by carriers and labs around the world. He has been running it for over a decade while continuing to ship personal projects from his own home page at bellard dot org

He has no Twitter. He has no Instagram. He gives almost no interviews. His personal website is a flat list of projects with no styling, no fonts, no marketing copy. Just titles and links.

A quiet French engineer who never moved to Silicon Valley wrote the code that quietly runs the internet.

He is still shipping.

[75 Secondes 🗞️ @75secondes]

Pour la première fois depuis la fin des années 1800, nous assistons à un tournant historique sombre : la Génération Z est officiellement la première génération à être moins intelligente que ses prédécesseurs (les Millennials).

Ce n'est pas une simple opinion, c'est le témoignage choc du neuroscientifique Dr. Jared Cooney Horvath devant le Sénat américain en janvier 2026.

1️⃣ Le déclin est global : Scores de QI, mémoire, capacité de lecture, mathématiques et résolution de problèmes... tous les indicateurs sont en baisse dans plus de 80 pays.

2️⃣ Le coupable ? L'EdTech : Contrairement aux idées reçues, ce n'est pas le manque d'éducation qui pose problème, mais l'outil. L'intégration massive des ordinateurs et tablettes à l'école a "stagné" le développement cérébral.

3️⃣ Le cerveau n'est pas un moteur de recherche : Dr. Horvath explique que notre biologie est câblée pour l'interaction humaine et l'étude profonde. Le format "short" (vidéos rapides, résumés en bullet points sur écran) empêche la création de connexions neuronales solides.

4️⃣ L'illusion du savoir : L'étude souligne un paradoxe inquiétant : "Plus les gens pensent être intelligents, moins ils le sont réellement." La Gen Z consomme de l'information en surface (skimming) et confond l'accès immédiat à la donnée avec la maîtrise du sujet.

"Nous ne progressons pas, nous capitulons." 🏳️

L'expert qualifie la situation d'urgence sociétale et suggère de suivre le modèle scandinave : interdiction ou limitation stricte des écrans dans les écoles pour revenir aux manuels et à l'interaction directe.

[Gandalv @Microinteracti1]

This video should unsettle anyone who takes the United States seriously as a nation.

Because it exposes something dangerous: the trivialization of the world's most consequential office. It shows how carelessly the power, credibility, and accumulated moral authority of a superpower can be squandered for a few seconds of viral attention.

In any other major democracy, this behavior from a head of state would trigger a constitutional crisis. Paris would burn. Berlin would convene emergency sessions. In the Nordic countries, resignation would follow within hours. Across functioning democracies, the public, institutions, and political class would recognize this for what it is: an assault on the dignity of the state itself. Leaders are not free to perform as entertainers without consequence. National honor is not personal property, it's held in trust.

But the United States is not just another country with a provocateur in charge. It is the linchpin of global order. It maintains formal alliances and security guarantees with forty to fifty nations. It underwrites the financial architecture, trade systems, and diplomatic frameworks that billions of people depend on daily. When the American president speaks—or posts—it doesn't land as satire, meme, or personal whim. It reads as a signal about what the country is becoming.

American power has never relied solely on carrier strike groups or economic output. It has rested on something more fragile and more valuable: trust. The belief that beneath domestic turbulence lies institutional seriousness, predictability, and a baseline commitment to dignity. That belief is now disintegrating in real time.

Millions of American companies operate globally. They negotiate multibillion-dollar contracts in environments where reputation is currency. Boardrooms in Frankfurt, Singapore, and Dubai aren't debating whether a post was clever—they're asking whether the United States remains a reliable partner. Whether agreements signed today will be honored tomorrow. Whether American leadership has devolved from institutional to purely theatrical.

Consider tourism, which sustains millions of American jobs—airlines, hotels, restaurants, museums, entire regional economies. Soft power isn't an abstraction. It materializes in flight bookings, conference locations, study-abroad programs, and decades of accumulated goodwill. A quiet, decentralized boycott doesn't require government action—only a collective sense that a nation no longer respects itself.

Now picture this image being studied by foreign ministers, central bank governors, defense strategists, and sovereign wealth fund managers. Picture them asking a coldly rational question: How do we write binding thirty-year agreements with a country whose public face will be this, relentlessly, for years to come? How do we plan for the long term when the tone is impulsive, mocking, and unbound by the gravity of office?

This is where the real calculus begins. Trillions in foreign capital depend on confidence that America is stable, credible, and rule-governed. That confidence is now being traded for what, exactly? Applause from an online mob? A dopamine rush from manufactured outrage? Content designed to dominate the news cycle rather than serve the national interest?

Every serious nation eventually confronts this choice: burn long-term credibility for short-term spectacle, or safeguard the reputation previous generations bled to build. The United States spent eighty years constructing an image of reliability, restraint, and leadership under pressure. That image wasn't born from perfection—it came from a visible commitment to standards that transcended impulse.

This isn't a partisan issue. Europeans who value democratic norms recognize something ominously familiar here. Americans—Democrat and Republican alike—who believe in responsibility and restraint should see it too. Power attracts scrutiny. Leadership demands discipline. A superpower cannot behave like a reality TV contestant without paying a price.

The presidency is not a personal broadcast channel. It's a symbol carried on behalf of 330 million people and countless international partners who never voted but whose lives are shaped by American decisions anyway. Every post either reinforces or erodes the idea that America can be counted on when it matters most.

So the question is no longer whether this is offensive. The question is whether this is who America chooses to be: a nation that trades a century of hard-won reputation for viral moments. A country that replaces statecraft with content creation. A republic governed like a season of reality television.

History offers a harsh lesson here. Great powers don't fall because enemies mock them. They collapse when they begin mocking themselves—publicly, proudly, and without grasping the cost until it's far too late.

Stay connected,
Follow Gandalv @Microinteracti1

[ClutchPoints @ClutchPoints]

This angle of Steph Currys’ CRAZY three is INSANE 🤯

(via @EverythingRapp)

[Steph Curry FR 🇫🇷 @SCurry_FR]

Dxndjxjdjxjdjxjx HEIN ?? MAIS COMMENT C’EST POSSIBLE ? 😭😭😭
1 fois je veux bien mais 3 fois, TROIS FOIS DE SUITE 🤯

[Cédric @agric15]

La France et les français se portent bien mieux quand tous les élus LFI ferment leur gueule.
On en a chaque jour la preuve depuis le début des JO

[Positive Side of 𝕏 @positivesideofx]

@historyinmemes Jamaicans are built different

[Historic Vids @historyinmemes]

Bro jumped 8m like that😂

[Emmanuel Macron @EmmanuelMacron]

The brief? Make it iconic.

We the French:

[Mediavenir @Mediavenir]

🇫🇷 HISTORIQUE. C’EST LA PREMIÈRE FOIS DEPUIS 100 ANS QUE LA FRANCE FAIT UN TRIPLÉ AUX JO d’été. (L’Équipe) #Paris2024

[‏ً @dnctway]

- Léon Marchand qui remporte son 4e titre olympique 🥇

- Teddy Rinner qui prend sa 3e Médaille d’or 🥇

- 3 Français dans le podium du BMX Racing

- La FFF qui bat l’argentine en 1/4 de finale

VIVE LA FRANCE ET VIVE LA RÉPUBLIQUE 🇫🇷

#FRAARG

[TrashTalk @TrashTalk_fr]

😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

[Black, Blessed & Unbothered @MelanatedTalk]

They remind me of Richard Williams (Venus & Serena’s Dad). You have to teach and train them early! Babygirl is on her way! And I love the way they celebrate her. It’s taking her confidence to a whole new level.
#FutureGymnast
#GOLD
#OlympicGames
#BlackGirls

[TrashTalk @TrashTalk_fr]

Mesdames et messieurs.

Voici le run MONUMENTAL d’Anthony Jeanjean en BMX.

Une MAS-TER-CLASS ! 🇫🇷😱

[Marion Maréchal @MarionMarechal]

To all the Christians of the world who are watching the #Paris2024 ceremony and felt insulted by this drag queen parody of the Last Supper, know that it is not France that is speaking but a left-wing minority ready for any provocation. #notinmyname

À tous les chrétiens du monde qui regardent la #cérémoniedouverture et se sont sentis insultés par cette parodie drag queen de la Cène, sachez que ce n’est pas la France qui parle mais une minorité de gauche prête à toutes les provocations.

[Nayib Bukele @nayibbukele]

What is the West fighting for?

[Justin Hart @justin_hart]

Like I said. This is what legends are born of. Children in Uganda recreate the assassination attempt on President Trump.

[Paul Giacobbi @pgiacobbi]

Je ne vote pas RN. Mais voir place de la République à Paris des drapeaux palestiniens partout et aucun drapeau tricolore dans une manifestation supposée républicaine est au-delà des limites de mon entendement.