Rob Fahrni

Dave Winer

But here’s some good news. There’s no guarantee that Facebook will be successful on terms that matter to them. Unless a half billion people use their service, it’s probably not worth continuing, for a company the size of Facebook. Podcasting has withstood countless attacks like this, and has always been left standing as unsullied as ever.

Dave has been around the block a few times and has watched open technologies he’s created come under attack by BigCo’s. Some have held up better than others but his biggest and best creations; RSS and Podcasting have stood the test of time.

I’m no fan of Facebook/Meta. I believe it to be a terribly unethical company lead by a sociopath and want nothing to do with them. I’ve even made it know to their recruiters to remove me from any lists my name may show up on as a potential employee.

I have no idea what their end game is with ActivityPub and Mastodon’s API but I hope the open web is more than resilient enough to withstand it. I have to imagine Facebook will be monetizing their network using ads because Facebook is an ad network. How does Mastodon as a service and open source software handle that? Are there rules in place built into the software to identify ads so client applications can filter them out? Will any Mastodon client be able to connect to Facebook’s Project 92? I’m certain more questions will come to mind as we approach the announcement of it opening to the public.

Until then I’m cautiously optimistic Mastodon will stand up to a BigCo entering the network and I hope Eugene and his team manage to keep things open and honest for the rest of us.

If Facebook become jerks in the Fediverse I’ll cut them off in a heartbeat.

PC Magazine

As The Verge reports(Opens in a new window), a Meta executive demonstrated a preview version of the Twitter alternative, which is known internally as “Project 92,” at a company-wide meeting this week. When it arrives, the final name is expected to be Threads, a name we first heard about in 2021 as a way for Facebook users to post connected messages.

There is much consternation on Mastodon around Project 92. It’s rumored to support the Mastodon API and folks are not happy about it. Why? I have no idea.

Facebook has kind of skirted around the edge of blogging for a long time and I’m surprised they never turned Pages into a blogging platform. All they need is the ability to add titles, support for bold and italic, images, and links. That should cover 99% of post needs.

Add API support for getting, creating, updating, and deleting those posts and you could have a really great blogging solution.

I was looking into the idea of integrating Pocket support into Stream and was happy to see they have a very simple API, then I read the details for getpocket.com/v3/get and my enthusiasm for it disappeared.

They only support returning a small portion of the article text. That’s a real bummer.

I get it. If they let us fully integrate the entire content why would anyone need the Pocket app or website to read their saved articles? They couldn’t monetize their hard work. Hey, at least they did this up front and didn’t drop a bomb on their development partners after realizing they’d given away the keys to the kingdom.

In the end it’s fine. I’d been planning to do my own read later support right inside Stream itself using CloudKit. Warts and all CloudKit will enable a me to have shared content across iOS and Mac computers. 👍🏼

The latest bad press for Space Karen and his mismanagement of Twitter.

To think Reddit CEO Steve Huffman thinks Musk has done a great job running Twitter with less is shocking.

I’m not sure how anyone labels this guy a genius. He’s a huckster, racist, masochist, and anti-Semite among other things.

If you still believe in him dig deep and ask why you believe that. The answer should scare you or at least make you think about your values as a human being.

Enjoy the links.

Daring Fireball

There are some moments in this video interview that are just cringe-inducing. Even just the awkward pauses. (Faber, to my mind, did a hell of a job — Musk is obviously a very difficult person to interview.) I’m starting to get real Bobby Fischer vibes from Musk — a genius, yes, but descending into conspirational hateful madness. But Fischer became a recluse; Musk is one of the most prominent people in the world.

Vox

In the past five days, Musk has doubled down on a conspiracy theory about the Allen, Texas, shooter; tweeted that billionaire philanthropist George Soros (who has long been the target of antisemitic conspiracy theories online) wants to “erode the very fabric of civilization” and “hates humanity;” and promoted a quickly debunked rumor that falsely claimed Washington Post journalist Taylor Lorenz was related to the founder of the Internet Archive.

The Atlantic

Twitter has long been described, even by its most ardent users, as a hellsite. But under Elon Musk, Twitter has evolved into a platform that is indistinguishable from the wastelands of alternative social-media sites such as Truth Social and Parler. It is now a right-wing social network.

France 24

Researchers have documented an explosion of hate and misinformation on Twitter since the Tesla billionaire took over in October 2022 – and now experts say communicating about climate science on the social network on which many of them rely is getting harder.

Platformer

Their high-profile event on Twitter Spaces, where DeSantis had just announced his run for president, had been plagued by technical glitches. The first audio livestream cut out before DeSantis could get his news out.

Daily Kos

Billionaire conspiracy promoter Elon Musk spent $44 billion on Twitter to implement his special brand of “free speech,” essentially bringing back all the Nazis, conspiracy theorists, and all-around deplorables that were once moderated out of the platform, relegated to darker corners of the internet.

The Daily Beast

Twitter is failing to remove 99 percent of hate speech posted by Twitter Blue users, new research has found, and instead may be boosting paid accounts that spew racism and homophobia.

Ben & Jerry’s

We’ve watched with great concern the developments at Twitter following Elon Musk’s purchase of the social media platform. Hate speech is up dramatically while content moderation has become all but non-existent. In addition to the changes on the platform that have led to an increase in hate speech, Musk himself has doubled down on dangerous anti-democratic lies and white nationalist hate speech. The platform has become a threatening and even dangerous space for people from so many backgrounds, including people who are Black, Brown, trans, gay, women, people with disabilities, Jewish, Muslim and the list goes on. This is unconscionable in addition to being plain bad business.

Erin Reed

As Pride Month began, Elon Musk stated his intention to lobby for the criminalization of gender-affirming healthcare for transgender minors - a move that is unequivocally harmful and contradicts all major medical organizations in the United States and standards of care.

Ars Technica

Twitter’s US advertising revenue plunged 59 percent year-over-year during a recent five-week period, The New York Times reported today. The firm’s US ad “revenue for the five weeks from April 1 to the first week of May was $88 million, down 59 percent from a year earlier, according to an internal presentation obtained by The New York Times.”

The Business Journals

Judge orders sheriff to evict Twitter from Boulder office

Good morning from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina! ☕️

This is our final morning here. It’s been a super fun week having our daughter, son-in-law, and grandkids with us, but eventually you have to rejoin the routine. 🏖️

The New York Times

Donald J. Trump, twice impeached as president and now twice indicted since leaving the White House, surrendered to federal authorities in Miami on Tuesday and was arraigned on charges that he had put national security secrets at risk and obstructed investigators.

So it begins. Will this be the thing that takes TFG down? One can only hope the most corrupt President in the history of the United States is finally held to account.

I’m not holding my breath. I suspect he’ll get off with a slap on the wrist, run for President again, and if he wins go on his whirlwind tour of revenge and dismantling of our democracy. 😡

iamthatis • Reddit

Today’s a much sadder post than that initial one eight years ago. June 30th will be Apollo’s last day.

Wow. Reddit is really being a bunch of caca heads. I understand the need to charge for their API use, I really do. They’re not currently profitable and want to go public, which is really strange to wrap my brain around.

As for Apollo and all the other tools and clients written to make usage of the platform better, I’m sorry you’re getting a really bad deal and hope you land on your feet. ❤️

Platformer

Today, let’s talk about the Reddit protests that temporarily took down the site today — and how, after years of working successfully to devolve power to its user base, the company wound up regretting it.

I guess all the subreddit moderators making their subreddits private really hit the site hard at the same time. 🤣

The New Republic

Starbucks has banned Pride decorations in its stores halfway through Pride Month, the company’s workers union revealed Tuesday, in a stunning cave to far-right anti-LGBTQ fury.

Pathetic. Why are you caving to a small group of extremely vocal, hateful, people?

I don’t have anything additional to say on the matter. It’s just too pathetic. 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️

Time

Now, the Australian government is trying to tackle the problem by placing a ban on swastikas and other Nazi symbols. “There is no place in Australia for symbols that glorify the horrors of the Holocaust,” Australian Attorney General Mark Dreyfus said on June 8.

Good for Australia. The United States could learn a thing or two from our Aussie friends. We should do the same here and while we’re at it ban the Confederate flag. They’re symbols of hate and oppression and have no place in a civilized nation — not that we’re being too civilized these days. 🇺🇸

Mac Rumors

In macOS Sonoma, currently in beta, you can create individual web apps for any website that you frequent in Safari, and have them sit beside other apps in your Dock.

I’m fairly certain this is Safari playing catch-up to the likes of Chrome but it’s nice to see it happening.

Next thing you know Apple will be embracing React Native! 🤣

9to5Google

In an unexpected announcement today, Google Domains is “winding down following a transition period,” with Squaresquare taking over the business and assets.

This is kind of wild and seemingly out of the blue. Now the mass exodus begins. I’ve heard great things about Porkbun and Hover. I’m still using Namecheap.

Six Colors

One of the lessons to be taken from the Apple silicon era is that the chips are what they are. An M2 performs more or less the same whether it’s in a Mac mini or MacBook Air or iPad Pro. So when I say that Apple’s new 15-inch MacBook Air is more or less identical to the 13-inch M2 MacBook Air, I really mean it—at least in terms of how it works.

I’m still using my 2019 company issued x86 MacBook Pro with the janky keyboard. When I get back from this lovely vacation I’m finally going to setup my brand spanking new M2 MacBook Pro.

I’d imagine — given I haven’t use an Mx based Mac yet — the new MacBook Air would be an excellent computer for me. It has a better price point and would feel blazing fast compared to my 2019 model. What I’m saying is, it’s a great option for anyone. Especially if you’re after a lightweight computer. 🍎

Ars Technica

Body mass index has for decades been used as a shorthand for assessing body fat and weight-related health risks. But for about just as long, critics have noted the simple calculation is laden with problems; BMI doesn’t actually measure fat mass, account for its distribution, or how those differ by age, gender, ethnicity, race, and how those differences affect health risks.

Finally! I’ve shared my feelings on the BMI in the past, unfortunately I can’t find that blog post to link to here. It’s nice to see someone finally push back on it. 💪🏼

CNN

South Carolina resident Sophia Celentano commutes to her New Jersey summer internship by plane, weekly, revealing on her TikTok account that it’s actually cheaper than renting near her advertising gig’s New Jersey office.

If I wasn’t so frightened of heights and flying I could see the benefit of doing something like this. There was a point when I’d spend one week a month in Seattle and I always enjoyed that time. I’d get a direct flight on Alaska Air from Fresno to Seattle on Monday morning and return home Friday evening. It was always a long week but it was also rewarding to stay in close touch with my Visio friends.

Hi Bill! 👋🏼😃

A shot from Ripley’s Aquarium in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

Me, Kim, and Addi! 🏖️

I’m not really into trucker hats but I really love this one. It’s from the 15 year celebration swag with Agrian team got while I was there. I love the colors — gray and black — and the logo is really sweet.

All those sweat rings give it that lived in look.

The food will be simple but it’s the view we’re here for. That and the walk on the beach afterward.

Good morning from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina! ☕️

Kim and I rented a place for a week to share with our kids, grandkids, and our dogs! We arrived around 7PM Friday evening, got setup, had some pizza, and pretty much passed out.

We haven’t had time to do any real recon of the are but I did manage to find a decent pizza joint and a Food Lion so we could pick up odds and ends to stock the fridge for the week.

From Friday to Tuesday it’s all about our kids and grandkids. Tuesday forward it’ll just be Kim and I and our oldest grandchild until next Saturday.

I was hoping to get some extra bunk time but that ain’t gonna happen with a puppy who thinks 5:30AM is play time. 🤣

We’re going to have a great time at the beach and whatever else we can drum up.

Enjoy the links.

Daring Fireball

But even just a small taste of VisionOS made me feel confident that it is going to be the next major platform for Apple and Apple developers, alongside MacOS and iOS/iPadOS.

I wasn’t too excited about any new AR/VR headset Apple was set to release, then I saw it in the keynote.

At first I was disappointed because they were showing someone in an office using it to replace their monitor(s) and that’s kind of boring.

The we see someone celebrating a child’s birthday wearing the headset. Really? What a complete douchebag. No, seriously, that’s a really bad move.

But, when I saw them demonstrate watching movies with it, I was excited! That is what I’d use it for!

Am I spending $3,500 anytime soon on one? Hell no! It’s still to early for me, especially at that price. It’s hard to justify it.

Steven Beschloss

Donald Trump himself broke the news this evening that he’s been indicted—making him the first former president to ever be charged with a federal crime.

King ding dong himself is finally being indicted for his retention of government documents. It’s not about him accidentally having a few mixed in with his other papers, it’s about boxes of them, not returning them on request, and lying that he did return them.

The right like to say “What about Biden and Pence?” Indeed, what about them. They self reported having documents and turned them over right away.

TFG is a real garbage human wrapped in a suit. My hope is, at a minimum, he’s banned from running for any federal office ever again.

Colin Paice

Easy question – hard answer, how to I convert a hex string to hex byte string in C?

Go along for the ride. I haven’t taken the time to think through how to solve this and I only have nits to pick with Colin’s solution.

Virginia Mercury

Richmond’s post-graduation mass shooting reflects America’s gun violence epidemic

This is so sickening. The shooting is absolutely horrific but to do it at a graduation? It’s heartbreaking how callous our nation has become.😔

Swift.org

This document is the reference guide describing how to mix Swift and C++

Since this was done as an official way to use C++ from Swift there was all kinds of thought out into safety. That’s fine, but if you have a great hunk of C++ that has been thoroughly tested and you feel good about it you probably don’t need the training wheels provided by this support.

Just wrap your C++ in a thin layer of Objective-C++ and call it from your Swift code without penalty. 🤷🏻‍♂️

Robert Reich

Goodbye, CNN’s Chris Licht. But what’s the lesson?

I know he screwed the pooch with that TFG interview thing but man, that was pretty quick.

512 Pixels

The number of 2019 Mac Pros sold cannot be huge, but the new one’s numbers are going to be even smaller. As a Mac Pro fan that worries me. Yes, there are users who are reliant on PCI solutions and I’m sure those folks will upgrade to this new machine at some point.

Who is this computer for? That’s the question on most folks minds. When I heard it wasn’t nearly as expandable as the 2019 version it made me wonder why they bothered? Beyond the awesome SOC it doesn’t have more to offer than its 2019 counterpart.

Then again, I’ve never been the target of this computer. I’m still using a 2019 MacBook Pro and I’m fine with it. Heck, I have a brand new M2 based MacBook Pro sitting in a box waiting for me to set it up. 🤣

Audibon.org

But as Adams scanned the bustling crowd of King Penguins, elephant seals, and Antarctic fur seals, he spotted something bizarre in the distance.

Go check out the post. This bird is gorgeous and I want it.

Jalopnik

Could The NASCAR Garage 56 Camaro Beat Every GTE Car At Le Mans?

I’d love to watch this all the way through but that’s not gonna happen. I hope NASCAR has partnered with someone to do a full documentary on it. The process from concept to reality to running the race. I hope it makes it the full 24 hours. That alone would be a huge victory.

Good morning! ☕️

It’s been an interesting week with our new pup, Cocoa. Potty training a puppy is quite a chore and there are lots of accidents while doing it. We’ve figured out her pattern and have been taking her out every few hours. She’s doing really well! 🐶

San Joaquin Valley Sun

A frantic, three-month cash dash by Jake Soberal, the chief executive officer of Bitwise Industries, to convince local investors to provide hard money loans may have ultimately led to the sprawling tech hub and real estate venture’s undoing.

I hope everyone affected by this is able to find work soon. This furlough affected 900 people. That’s just horrible.

I’m hopeful Bitwise will be able to get this all figured out and continue operations soon, but it looks pretty grim. 😔

iamthatis • Reddit

I’ll cut to the chase: 50 million requests costs $12,000, a figure far more than I ever could have imagined.

I feel terrible for Christian. Apollo, his Reddit client, is arguably the best iOS client application on the market. It’s the client application I use and it’s beautifully designed and extremely stable.

Reddit just wants to destroy all third-party applications. Just come out and say that.

I’m so sorry you’re going through this Christian. ❤️

Yet another example of a service destroying the business of a tiny developer who made the “mistake” of using their free API.

Inside Climate News

Climate change is spurring interest in remaking local infrastructure to accommodate renewable energy, minimize power failures and expand consumer choice.

I really like this idea of a “Mom & Pop” sized local energy producer.

Of course progressive towns would choose solar and wind energy while red states would pump out energy using coal and fossil fuels.

Louie Mantia

I am proudly publishing this post from my new home in Tokyo, Japan.

Good for you Louie! There’s a part of me that wishes we’d traveled more often when we were younger.

I’m realizing waiting until retirement to get out into the world is a huge mistake. You bust your butt for a long time, retire, then can’t get around because your body hurts so much you don’t feel like getting out. Who called them the golden years? Probably some ad agency. 🤣

The Associated Press

The North Carolina base was originally named in 1918 for Gen. Braxton Bragg, a Confederate general from Warrenton, North Carolina, who was known for owning slaves and losing key Civil War battles that contributed to the Confederacy’s downfall.

The dude was a loser so let’s name a US Military Base after him. 🤣

Thank you Confederate Bragg for helping the United States defeat the Confederacy and abolish slavery.

The Confederacy needs to be completely smashed. It should remain in history books and be shamed every chance we get.

Ben & Jerry’s

Ben & Jerry’s business model is built around the idea that every decision we make, and every dollar we spend in the course of our day-to-day operations is an opportunity to advance our progressive values.

Let’s hear it for progressive values!

Go buy a pint of Chubby Hubby, Phish Food, Cherry Garcia, or your own personal favorite and support a wonderful progressive company.

Salon

The last time I saw my great-uncle, he uttered six words that I will never forget. Struggling to speak, as he was already 102 years old, his mouth slowly formed each syllable with excruciating effort: “Nazis… are… bastards… Shoot… to… kill!"

And there you have it, direct from someone who knows a thing or two about Nazis.

NASCAR

NASCAR has implemented an update to the Next Gen NASCAR Cup Series chassis that will go into effect beginning with this weekend’s action at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Part of what fascinates me about motor sports is the ever evolving technology. When Kyle Larson was hit broadside by Ryan Preece at Talladega it caused the roll cage to fail. Luckily it was on the passenger side of the car. NASCAR did an analysis of the situation and altered the design of the Next Gen frame to reinforce it.

I’ve often wondered why drivers aren’t positioned in the center of the car when I see an incident like that one. It’s probably been studied and found to be less safe for all I know. 🏁

CNN

Federal prosecutors have obtained an audio recording of a summer 2021 meeting in which former President Donald Trump acknowledges he held onto a classified Pentagon document about a potential attack on Iran, multiple sources told CNN, undercutting his argument that he declassified everything.

Oh, look, the Orange Menace is running his mouth again.

I’ve said it many times but I don’t care if he does time as long as he’s disqualified from running for any public office.

Jail time would be a nice bonus. 🚨

Heather Cox Richardson

Beginning in 1943, the War Department published a series of pamphlets for U.S. Army personnel in the European theater of World War II. Titled Army Talks, the series was designed “to help [the personnel] become better-informed men and women and therefore better soldiers.”

It really does feel like we are going more and more down the fascism rabbit hole here in The States. I wish the divide, growing larger and larger with each passing day, could be mended so we could move forward as a united nation.

Nah, she’s not cute. 🥺

Back in West Virginia. 🚙

Sacked out.

Had our coffee, got Ms. Cocoa loaded up, and started down the road. We’ve just crossed into Indiana. 🚙

We’re in Nashville, no not that one, the one in Illinois. We’ve picked up our new pup, Cocoa, and head back home tomorrow. Kolby is gonna hate us for a while but he’s a sweet boy and will teach her the ropes. 🐶🚙

Say hi Cocoa.

Ron? Close enough.

Hello Kentucky 🚙

Hello West Virginia 🚙

Good morning! ☕️

Kim and I are on the road this morning. We’re headed to Nashville, Illinois, to pick up a new pup! I hope to post some pictures as we go.

The Hollywood Reporter

Tina Turner, the trailblazing rock star who set world records for ticket sales — and whose dramatic triumph over domestic abuse and the music industry itself made her a feminist icon — has died. She was 83.

Tina Turner is part of the soundtrack of my high school years.

God speed.

Deadline

Ray Stevenson, a veteran actor whose dozens of film and TV credits include RRR, the Thor and Divergent films, Vikings and Star Wars animated series, died Sunday.

I’ve always liked Ray Stevenson. I enjoyed his version of The Punisher but I’d wager he’s best known as Volstagg in Thor.

The Iconfactory

We’re proud to announce that version 1.0.4 of Notchmeister is now available to download. And with it comes a revolutionary new feature called Fusion Dice.

Software should be fun. I’ll bet Notchmeister was fun to build and it’s probably going to be fun to use.

Jalopnik

I usually get the same answer whenever I bring it up: “No, you can’t make your own engine. The castings are too complicated. How will you actually pour your own block? Do you have foundry in your mom’s basement? It’s too expensive to machine one from scratch. You don’t know what you’re doing!”

I’ve had it in mind I should build a four cylinder motor from the ground up. Sure, why not? Maybe some day. 😃

Rolling Stone

President Joe Biden and the Republican Party at loggerheads in the ongoing debt ceiling negotiations as the GOP insists on steep spending cuts and work requirements for aid recipients. Although both Biden and Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy sounded hopeful there was a deal to be made just last week, talks appear to have broken down over the last couple days.

Here we go. Headed for a cliff.

Los Angeles Times

The slow-motion rebirth of Tulare Lake has inundated farm fields and threatened levees, homes and whole towns. On Monday, the state projected the lake would reach its peak in the next week or so, but the floodwaters will linger for perhaps two years.

This is a wild thought. Tulare Lake hanging around for a couple years? That’s a crazy thought. I wish I could see an aerial view of it.

The Washington Post

Two of Donald Trump’s employees moved boxes of papers the day before an early June visit by FBI agents and a prosecutor to the former president’s Florida home to retrieve classified documents in response to a subpoena — timing that investigators have come to view as suspicious and an indication of possible obstruction, according to people familiar with the matter.

Can we convict this dude and put him behind bars for a while?

Such a scumbag.

The Daily Progress

Charlottesville-based tech company WillowTree laid off roughly 12% of its workforce on Wednesday, bringing an end to years of rapid growth

Yesterday was a really tough day at work. For the first time in WillowTree’s history (at least I think it was a first?) we had layoffs. Don’t worry, I was fortunate enough to make it through but many of my friends and colleagues did not. Economic forces finally caught up to us. 😔

In total 120 trees lost their jobs. That’s about 12% of the company. If you’ve never gone through something like this it’s very surreal to hear from a friend who’s just lost their job. That immediate “NO!” Is followed by all the stages of grief. You may even get survivors guilt.

By afternoon it was over. Today those of us who remain will try to get some work done.

P.S.

I will no longer be an Associate Engineering Director. As part of the reorganization I’ll go back to being a full time Staff Software Engineer. I’ll still get to build teams and work on technical solutions for clients, I just won’t be doing the more business side of things, which is fine with me.

I hope to put together a list of folks I know, who are all extremely good at what they do, so someone looking for extremely good folks can hire them.

I’m just happy to have a job. ❤️

Some more shots of Kim’s flowers. The peony is really beautiful. It’s white with a slight hint of pink. Lovely.

Good morning!

I couldn’t wait to get started this morning. I got my pot started and sat down to put this post together. When the coffee finished I poured my first cup. I almost let that cup get too cool to drink. The shame! I’ve since remedied the situation and have resolved to not let it happen with my second cup! ☕️

Enjoy the linkage!

Sprudge

Espresso is basically magic. The more I learn about what goes on inside the black box that is the portafilter, the more certain I am of it.

Yes, pulling a really great shot feels like magic. When Haileigh — our oldest daughter — was a barista at a very snobby coffee shop she’d spend the morning adjusting the grinder. That would result in a half to one pound of coffee being ground just to get it properly set up. Was the espresso great? It certainly was. 🪄

Mediaite

Now Disney is cancelling plans to build a massive nearly $1 billion office complex in Orlando, costing the state more than 2,000 six-figure jobs.

I would love to see Bob Iger move jobs out of Florida. The state has gone full fascist under DeSantis and isn’t a safe place for LGBTQ+, black and brown folks, women, and children. Their educational system is teaching them to become white supremacists and intolerant and even their institutions of higher education are under attack.

If you can, get out.

gonsoloblog

TLDR: Render Disney’s Moana scene in less than 10.000 lines of Swift code.

Man, I love the field I work in and the nerds who comprise it. I say that with the utmost respect.

Joyce Vance

Monday morning, American democracy became more brittle, at least in Florida, where Governor Ron DeSantis signed a bill that prohibits the state’s public colleges and universities from continuing their diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs.

Ah, yes, more of Florida’s fascist Governor making Florida a worse place to live. It makes me wonder if he’s setting it up to secede from our Union, kind of like Texas? It’s like the South is trying it’s damndest to rise again. We can’t let that happen.

Matt Corey

Ok, it didn’t exactly go down like that, and no, it wasn’t “take this job and shove it” either, but I actually did it. I left a great job that I enjoyed, and now I’m officially self employed. What hell am I thinking!?

Matt is going Indie and I’m more than a bit jealous! I wish I could pull it off. I’m pulling for you to be wildly successful Matt! 👍🏼

Defector

I’d like the record to show that I resisted getting AirPods for a long time. 

This is a really great piece by everybody’s favorite swole woman, Casey Johnston.

Her post is all about her quest to recover her lost — and subsequently stolen — AirPods. Go read the piece, it’s really good.

Steve Roy

Five years later I’m still as happy with this decision as I was then. I post to my site, and it gets cross-posted to social media. Today that means Mastodon. Eventually it may mean something else. But no matter what, steveroy.ca will always be the source of truth.

Making your weblog the hub of your social media presence is smart and the proper way to own your content. It’s why I started posting more short content without titles here. While I can’t auto post my content to Mastodon — I could but Micro.blog has some limitations — I do re-post most of my short posts there.

The Pink News

Actor and trans icon Elliot Page has opened up about how gender-affirming care changed his life in a moving Instagram post.

I’ve read stories like this time and again. As soon as a trans persons begins or completes their transition they become a much happier person. I’m happy for Elliot and wish him many long, happy, and fruitful years ahead.

Netflix Technology Blog

The Compute team at Netflix is charged with managing all AWS and containerized workloads at Netflix, including autoscaling, deployment of containers, issue remediation, etc. As part of this team, I work on fixing strange things that users report.

The modern day hero of computing is the DevOps engineer. They’re a mix of geeky computer tech and software developer all rolled into one extremely busy package.

If you’re a Unix/Linux geek I’d imagine you’ll enjoy the piece.

Jalopnik

New cars are getting too expensive, but the value from some of the old standards from Honda, Toyota and Hyundai is still there

Yep, cars are crazy expensive. Yep, good inexpensive cars are impossible to find. Yep, there are good used cars on the market.

Your mileage may vary. 🚙

Orhun Parmaksız

That day I decided to write my own pastebin service. And of course, I was going to write it in Rust.

Neat little piece about one persons quest to make their own thing. All in Rust of course. Because why not?

Steven Beschloss

The offering of “thoughts and prayers” after each murderous mass shooting has become a nauseating refrain. You know the drill: The speakers/tweeters utter this blood-stained phrase (or a close variant) like robots.

Thoughts and prayers is the GOP way to get evangelical Christian support. That’s all it is, a ploy for votes, an an easy one at that. Just drop a few simple words on social media and gain support for your Godliness. Disgusting, the whole lot. 🤬

I suspect Jesus would support an end to the violence.

PC Gamer

Activision Blizzard’s mandatory return-to-office policy is causing an unnecessary loss of talent, to the point where it could affect development of major titles like World of Warcraft and Diablo 4, according to some Blizzard developers.

Return to office has been a real hot button topic all over the country. Many jobs, like mine, don’t really require me to drive to the office.

Now, having said that, a lot of folks NEED and LOVE the interaction they have in person in an office. Our CEO is a prime example. He believes in person work is the best way to work. That’s all fine and good. Just remember others of us find it distracting, especially in open space offices.

I work in an all remote team at WillowTree but I think about going into the office once in a while for a little human interaction. 😁

One other note. I’d probably find it more tolerable since becoming an Engineering Director because I spend most of my day interacting with other folks. But developer Rob loves quiet and an open floor plan office was horrible for that. I can control my home workspace. At the office I’d have to find a place to hide to do meaningful work as a developer.

I like to tease my JavaScript friends when I get the chance. Most of them own up to the fact it’s a terrible language.😁

It’s the language of the web. No way around it at the moment. Some other thing will come along to replace it. I suppose WebAssembly could eventually be ubiquitous enough to allow us to code in other languages daily but it seems JavaScript is here to stay.

I put together some tips for folks at work back in early 2020 as COVID was starting to spread like wild fire here in the States.

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I thought I’d throw some work from home tips in a doc. I’ve been working from home off and on for the past 20+ years, give or take.

1. Keep your routine - get up at the same time, prepare for the day the same way you always do.
2. Get dressed for work - Dress how you’d dress for work. I need this one otherwise I’d lay about all day in my PJ’s. It’s so easy to get lazy, at least for me it is.
3. Create a dedicated workspace - This one can be tough, but if you’re able, do it. This allows for a bit of separation mentally between work and home life. If I don’t do this everything starts to blur together.
4. Take breaks - Since you’re home it’s easy to skip these. Take a few minutes, get up, stretch, and walk around. Go outside, take a walk. If you have a pet, take them for a walk. They’ll love you for it! Chill during lunch. I like to eat away from my workspace and on occasion I’ll watch a bit of TV.
5. Work outside - I love doing this on nice days. I’ll work outside for a bit. It kind of goes against having a dedicated space but it’s a nice change. I tend to do this in the morning while sipping coffee. It’s so beautiful here. I’m really looking forward to trying it.

Everyone has to find a rhythm that works for them. These are the things that work for me.

When I initially started working from home I would get up, get dressed, eat breakfast (not always), and drive my kids to school. When I got home I was at work. I’d walk into my office, close the door, and go to work. It may sound silly but I needed it to get me in the proper frame of mind. If it would help you, take a quick drive to emulate driving to work.

I plan on getting out a bit. Going to the store for the usual stuff; milk, coffee, etc. The daily necessities. I’ll batch them up but I need a bit of time away from the house to preserve my sanity.