A pointed commentary from the Duke University Library system: “Why We’re Dropping Basecamp”.
Swapping my modded Keychron Q3 keyboard for my Matias Mini Tactile Pro for a while. I really wish Matias would update their physical designs, or better yet, make versions of their switches compatible with de facto standards—this is still just an unparalleled feel. (If ridiculously loud.)
While I’m comfortable reading recipes off an iPad for cooking, my mom manifestly is not, so I tried out Mela’s recipe printing last night. Unsurprisingly, it’s just as pretty as its on-screen display—and much nicer than most “print views” from recipe sites.
After a bit over a year back, there are a lot of things I’ve discovered (or rediscovered) to like about Florida. If only it wasn’t for the—how might one put it?—the DeSantis of it all.
Okay, I am now a full convert to the way of dry brining.
The last few years of Silicon Valley in general and OpenAI over the last 24 hours in particular leads me to propose that “unicorn” in the VC sense should henceforth be replaced with “platinum-plated clown car”
Science fiction great Michael Bishop has died. I haven’t read anything by him in years; from what I can tell, he mostly stopped writing in the 1990s. But he was a huge inspiration, one of the most literary—in the best sense—sf writers I can recall. (And a good poet, too.)
Watched the trailer for Zack Snyder’s “Rebel Moon”, and its tagline “There are no heroes, only rebels” crystallized my problem with it: he (and Netflix) want this to be a new Star Wars, but Star Wars is literally the Hero’s Journey. Myths need heroes. Bitter antiheroes won’t cut it.
Well, with my upcoming downtime, it’s time to dust off the Hacking with macOS Swift course that I almost completed back in July, and see if the project I had in mind has any chance of actually going anywhere…
I’m not sure how many companies need short-term contract technical writers, but I may put effort into finding out next year. I feel like I’m sort of done with full-time work, even remotely, unless it’s a truly exceptional opportunity. (Never say never.)
I would say I am bidding a fond farewell to Linode, but the truth is I bid a fond farewell to them nearly a year ago, and I am bidding a Bye, Felicia to Akamai.
An unexpected thing from earlier today: the financial advisor asked if I was going to look for new work or just retire early, in a way that suggested he thought “retire early” was, you know, actually plausible. I plan to keep working, but that seems very encouraging, somehow.
Between the time I booked my first call with a financial advisor at Betterment and the time the call happened (this morning), I was informed my job would be ending on December 8th due to the company ending remote work. So the call was—not quite what I originally planned.
Somehow I have found myself at a drag show held at a community center at an RV park in rural-ish Florida, and I feel like I have stepped into an episode of “Somebody Somewhere”
I’m doing a little bit of cursory spot-checking, and my general feeling that restaurant food was often cheaper back in Silicon Valley than it is in Tampa and Orlando may actually be correct.
Debating between “try and line up another job in tech writing before current job ends” and “take a break and work on other things”. I think I really want the latter, but there’s always the worry that if one does take a break, getting back on the hamster wheel will be that much tougher.
Currently reading: Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree 📚
My timing with finally switching to Betterment “Premium,” so I can talk to a financial advisor, earlier this month seems rather ironic now. Topic of the first call: so what financial strategies do you recommend for unemployment?
I have been informed that the C-level execs at my company refuse to give me an exception to keep working remotely, so within two months I must start coming into the office. Given that I now live ~2400 miles from said office, this is a challenge.
Cleaned up my passwords in iCloud Keychain finally; I’ve been using 1Password for years, but let Safari save passwords inconsistently. I’m considering moving back to iCloud only, but remain unsure how wise that is.
I’ve been using Arc for months, but I’m taking macOS Sonoma as an excuse to go back to Safari for a while. I suspect I’ll find I still prefer Arc’s spaces to Safari’s tab groups, but…
Hooray! It’s time for “what fresh hell awaits me transferring a phone number between two phones” day! (It has never gone smoothly, and it is not going smoothly now, either.)
I am literally years overdue for a haircut, but I have long hair and don’t want a barber who just does Generic Man Cut. My test may be “give me the hair of Trent Crimm”; if they don’t respond “The Independent”, they’re not the right stylist
I’m letting my iPhone 12 Pro live out its last week caseless, trying out the leather sleeve I bought as an experiment. My two thoughts after less than a day: first, these phones look really good without cases. Second, I hope titanium is less of a fingerprint magnet.
So far I have not ordered a case for the new phone, but have ordered a sleeve. I’ll see how long I really hold out on that…