Microblog

Senior devs: Tell us about that time you took down prod (source)

When we first launched HB I deployed a change that broke notification grouping, so it sent a flood of notifications to all of our users. 🤦

I learned to be very careful when making changes that affect grouping.

Runners: Once you’ve built up some endurance/fitness, can you maintain while running one day per week, assuming a gym/strength routine on the other days? Or must you run multiple days per week?

I convinced my kids to just sit and watch the grinch yule log with me for 30 minutes.

I met two kids (maybe 11 or 12) at the park this weekend. One was dressed in camouflage fatigues with an American flag patch on the arm; the other wore a tactical helmet with the flag of Ukraine emblazoned on the side, and carried a large flag of Ukraine over his shoulder. Both carried toy rifles.

I overheard one say to the other:

“If my mom finds out I brought the flag to the park, she’ll flip.”

I was there with my own kids, and wasn’t expecting a documentary scene—but I was struck by the earnestness of their play, and snapped a few photos of them.

I asked the one with the flag if I could take a photo, and he posed for me. Not including identifiable pictures here because their parents weren’t around to give permission.

Canon EOS Digital Rebel XT 8MP w/ 50mm 1.8 “nifty fifty”

For Shitty Camera Challenge

A child in full camouflage military-style clothing with an American flag patch sits on a modern playground climbing structure made of brown poles and red bars, with a rope hanging nearby. A flag of Ukraine displaying the national trident emblem against a bright blue sky.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

6yo as he diabolically stabs a water-filled ziplock bag with a sharpened pencil:

“He never packed my lunch”

The concept of original sin. Teach small children they are inherently broken, then weaponize inevitable misbehavior as a sign of their “sinfulness” so they habitually internalize shame, have no self-worth, and as adults become ideal relationship fodder for abusive narcissists. (source)

Many Christians don’t realize/acknowledge the doctrine of original sin isn’t universally accepted across all of Christianity.

Even if you believe, you don’t have to teach your kids this (and punish them for it).

Evangelicals:

What are the dumbest ways to traumatize our kids so they sound like total dorks in therapy?

Here’s what I want to know:

What amount of anti-trans and anti-minority hate are we willing to accept from our open source and business leaders?

Because if the answer is none, then we’re already complete hypocrites.

Just to be clear: the incoming Trump administration is going to war against their own Republican senate majority and the constitution’s advice and consent provision so they can make a man investigated for sex trafficking a minor into the most powerful law enforcement officer in the country.

Chris Hayes sums it up nicely. I’d also add that Gaetz was one of the foremost insurrectionists in congress.

RFK jr. Wants to dismantle health institutions, he doesn’t believe in science, he believes secret powers controll the government and health sectors, and has been dreaming of being able to dismantle the cdc and fda. (source)

It really makes me wonder, do most people know what RFK Jr. believes and has been saying for years? I think the answer is probably no—but they’re sure as hell about to find out.

Someone is playing a beautiful piano rendition of David Bowie’s Space Oddity at the new PDX airport terminal right now. Portland has really gone to hell.

Packing for RubyConf. These shirts came out so good. 100% produced on the US West Coast. Manufactured in LA, designed in Santa Cruz, printed in Portland.

A close-up of a suitcase packed with creme colored T-shirts with a brightly colored Honeybadger graphic on them. The T-shirts are rolled and packed into the zipper compartment of the suitcase that is partially unzipped. A Ziploc bag of dye cut stickers with the same design and a logo for Honeybadger.io on them is also visible.

How does somebody get started in visual journalism?

There are different paths, from going to journalism school to just grabbing a camera and attending events. I like that about journalism—you don’t need a degree to participate. Freedom of the press is a First Amendment right.

Each event is different, but you’d be surprised by the access you can gain by just showing up with a camera. There are also industry groups that can help independent people with journalistic ethics, press identification, and legal support. NPPA is a good one.

ASMP is another one that I’ve found helpful in the past, especially when figuring out things like licensing and business stuff.

Some private events require an extra credential that they’ll grant you after some form of vetting. If you have any kind of presence as an independent photographer/journalist, again you’ll be surprised by how far just asking gets you.

Look for a “media contact” or a contact for “press inquiries”—you can ask around to find out who that is, or ask the organizers. That’s how I was able to photograph President Biden’s campaign stop in Portland in 2022.

Anyway, I’ve only dabbled in photojournalism, but find it fascinating and the little I’ve done has been extremely rewarding personally. Hopefully some pros can weigh in if I missed something or if my understanding is wrong. :)

I should also mention that this is my limited experience as a 6’ 3” bearded white dude.

OK I forgot what a batshit movie Flubber is. Sports cheating, jealous AI, dancing slime—it has it all.

Making dinner and watching Flubber (the 1997 Robin Williams movie) with my kids. If you know the professor is going to miss the wedding, he’s missed it before, maybe send someone to pick the guy up instead of setting unreasonable expectations and reading into it when they’re unmet.

I had a realization earlier this week when someone I hadn’t talked to in years emailed me. We’d met on a design forum I ran as a teenager in the early aughts. Something he said made me realize just how long I’ve been building online communities:

the forum kinda kept me in tech probably made me who I am today, always appreciated the work you did way back in the day.

like, damn. I’m not sharing this to brag; I’d just honestly forgotten how important this has always been to me.

I think it’s part of why I’ve worked so hard to build the Ruby community first on Mastodon1, and now on Bluesky2. It was a really nice reminder. 🩵

  1. I think I gave away probably a hundred Honeybadger t-shirts to get people to move to ruby.social back in the day, and we were one of the first sponsors along with Mike Perham/Sidekiq)

  2. My Ruby and Rails starter pack is currently the 5th most-used starter pack on Bluesky

Just got my COVID + flu shot 💉

In hindsight, I probably should have gotten the Covid one in my non-dominant arm. Oh well.

I’ve been using index cards to track priorities again. Every time I come back I don’t know how I lived without them. 📝

“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but this has been a long week. It feels like seven thousand days.” —8yo

America’s doppelgänger just won the election. Welcome to the mirror world.

It’s so weird to experience reality warping to match the fringe shit I grew up with.

Feel free to tell me about Trump/Elon derangement syndrome when all our kids have measles.

Get ready to take notes as business and software leaders start to signal their assent. You could already feel the rightward shift in some communities; I guess this explains it. This will enable and empower the worst behavior. Pay attention and push back.