@TomLarrow@vis.social
@TomLarrow@vis.social avatar

TomLarrow

@TomLarrow@vis.social

Just a random person doing random things. Sometimes those things involve #DevOps #3DPrinting, #CreativeCoding, #VideoEditing, or #3DModeling. Sometimes they don't.

I never know what I'm doing, and occasionally I'm OK with that. I'll post about my struggles with #MentalHealth, #ImpostorSyndrome and #Burnout to try and reduce the stigma around them

Parent of a #T1D child, #Game on #Linux an enjoy following people who know cool things about #History #Science #Tech #Aviation and other things

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Patricia, to random
@Patricia@vivaldi.net avatar

Ok, I’m sorry, I’m going to ruffle feathers here but… I’m trying to read some newer development process books and… oh my… even super popular ones are so immensely long winded and unconvincing in their dogmatic argumentation: this is bad, this is good, because I said so that’s why.

Recent examples that I’m struggling to finish: “Team Topologies” and “Data Mesh” - I mean they might be great but I’m getting strong “this should’ve been a blogpost” feels.

TomLarrow,
@TomLarrow@vis.social avatar

@Patricia companies don't give people time to think in the neverending quest to do more with less

So people turn to "thought leaders" to think for them

Like the emperor's new clothes, nobody ever asks "are these thoughts good?" They just follow the thought leaders like lemmings

Really appreciate your critical evaluation of these concepts

kristinHenry, to random
@kristinHenry@vis.social avatar

What is the more general discussion, like outside of Mastodon, about Microsoft Recall travesty?

I recognize that who and what I read is heavily influenced by data-safety-ethics-rights and so on.

Are average computer users aware of the dangers?

As a recovering Cancer patient, having Microsoft track my interactions with my doctors....ummm..NO!!!!!!

It's going to be hard enough to get my insurance to actually cover my care without that.

TomLarrow,
@TomLarrow@vis.social avatar

@kristinHenry part of today's stand-up meeting was people on my team asking me which Linux distro I use on my home desktop/laptop because people know I don't use Windows

I asked what caused the question and it was Recall which caused those that heard the news to get others who hadn't to understand the implications of it.

TomLarrow,
@TomLarrow@vis.social avatar

@kristinHenry I just want to be a person who uses a computer. Not a source of data to be exploited

It all just feels like power grabs by all these companies as they compete to see who can grab the most data they can in the shortest time frame

TomLarrow, to random
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Coworker tried to show their new kittens in the meeting this morning

Kittens ran across the keyboard and locked the computer

TomLarrow, to random
@TomLarrow@vis.social avatar

Ate at a new local restaurant last night right before changing my son's Dexcom. Did our best guesses nutritional info, and did a finger stick an hour into the change: 120. Was worried about him going low but he kept saying he felt fine.

Numbers come in on the Dexcom an hour later and he's over 400. Overcorrected trying to bring him down and a couple hours later it was time for juice. Sat up and watched that fearing it would cause him to go high again, which it did

Got maybe 2 hrs sleep

TomLarrow, to random
@TomLarrow@vis.social avatar

Dear app developer:

If you ask me for permission on something and give me the choices of "yes" and "ask me again later" it's an immediate uninstall

I mean if you don't understand basic programming concepts like how Booleans work, I don't want your code anywhere near my systems

TomLarrow, to random
@TomLarrow@vis.social avatar

I used to be nostalgic for the time when you could watch history related documentaries on The History Channel

Now I'm nostalgic for when you could watch history related documentaries on YouTube that were created by humans. Not just AI generated summaries of Wikipedia articles in a synthesized voice with random b-roll stolen from other videos that may or may not have any relation to the topic

TomLarrow, to random
@TomLarrow@vis.social avatar

It car rides I've been introducing the kids to the greatest musicians of the 20th century

Boots Randolph, Tiny Tim, Napoleon XIV, Boris Pickett, Rick Dees, Sheb Wooley, Buckner & Garcia etc.

Today's lesson was the musical mastery of The Trashmen

Except, we were headed to my order son's piano recital. In between each song that was played, I could hear my younger son mumbling to himself "Bird Bird Bird, Bird is the word"

Parenting success!

kiesa, to random

I have traveled to my office headquarters, socialized with coworkers, and safely arrived back home. I do not have capacity for anything else today.

TomLarrow,
@TomLarrow@vis.social avatar

@kiesa oh wow I feel this. Traveled to the company HQ a couple days last week, and I still feel like I haven't had enough alone time yet to fully recover

TomLarrow, to random
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Watching IT fads from 20 years ago come back in style feels like people getting excited about bell bottoms and leisure suits again

TomLarrow, to random
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It's funny how humbling life can be sometimes. You think you've mastered something, change one tiny thing and suddenly you feel like a beginner again

TomLarrow, to random
@TomLarrow@vis.social avatar

A month ago I saw a book in the bookstore I thought my son would like. He said he didn't want it

That's ok I said, I'll buy it for myself

He kept insisting he didn't want it and that I shouldn't waste my $2 on it

I left it in the back seat of my car

Every time he rides he tells me he doesn't want it

Today: "Dad, is it ok if I read a bit of your book just to see what it is about?"

We've been sitting in the grocery store parking lot for 15 min as he hasn't realized I've stopped driving

TomLarrow,
@TomLarrow@vis.social avatar

@artcollisions How to Train your Dragon. Just before that he had wanted to and watched all the movies, so I knew he would like it

TomLarrow, to random
@TomLarrow@vis.social avatar

I kind of wish I could buy a dumb smartwatch

Let me change watch faces so that I can have the novelty and style of looking different at different times

Let it connect to NTP so I know it is always correct

AND THAT'S IT

I don't want notifications, I don't want it to track anything, and I sure as heck don't want it recording all my data and sending it off

But because companies wouldn't have that data to monetize, a device like that will never be made

TomLarrow, to random
@TomLarrow@vis.social avatar

I'm old enough to remember the bit of excitement when an application I used had an update. What new features did it add? What new things will I be able to do with the app? Is it going to run faster/ better?

Now every time an app has an update I greet it with dread. I wonder what new metrics they are collecting from me and selling. Which features I use are about to be locked behind a new paywall. What new crashes will this bring?

TomLarrow,
@TomLarrow@vis.social avatar

I guess that is why all the phone OS's now default to auto updating apps. To make it less obvious when your experience is deteriorating

TomLarrow,
@TomLarrow@vis.social avatar

@aks yeah for the most part Open Source is the exception, until someone tries to add the new feature of a backdoor in SSH.

TomLarrow, to random
@TomLarrow@vis.social avatar

I just can't keep up with the constant outrage de jour anymore.

I know this means I will use a product and or service from a company or person that has done or said something bad. I'm not happy about it, but I've come to accept it.

I need to find peace and happiness in my life, and constantly looking at the negative things in the world to get mad at isn't helping me find it.

TomLarrow,
@TomLarrow@vis.social avatar

I know it is a very privileged position to be able to take, since many of the things don't affect me directly.

I've always prided myself on my empathy, and felt like if I didn't get upset over some injustice happening in the world it made me cold and uncaring, and that's not the person that I wanted to be.

But there's just too much. Too damn much

I need to find things that bring me joy as opposed to all the things that bring me sadness, anger, and frustration

jon, to random
@jon@henshaw.social avatar

That heat map is pretty consistent with the eclipse path.

TomLarrow,
@TomLarrow@vis.social avatar

@jon I have a regularly scheduled yearly eye appointment for tomorrow morning. Wondering if I should cancel t make room for those whose eyes hurt

TomLarrow, to random
@TomLarrow@vis.social avatar

Totality

It was so cool to hear the birds get quiet, the crickets to start chirping, all the traffic on the road stop, and then the internet go out as 70,000 people tried to live stream or send photos from a city of 17,000

TomLarrow,
@TomLarrow@vis.social avatar

Was so lucky to be able to view this from my parents' house, less than a half mile from the center of the path of totality

TomLarrow,
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@rich yeah letting a lot of craziness die down before I head home. That's been the advantage of being able to stay with family

TomLarrow, to random
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Epic lens flare on the back of my son's head

TomLarrow, to random
@TomLarrow@vis.social avatar

Ordered an Italian made product from a store in Finland because with shipping and import it was cheaper there than from the manufacturer's Italian or American stores, and a heck of a lot cheaper than Amazon.

Global economics are weird

TomLarrow,
@TomLarrow@vis.social avatar

Watching my package go from Helsinki to Copenhagen, to Cologne to Boston makes me wish I could slap a shipping label on myself and travel the world for $15

I probably watched Tommy Tricker and the Stamp Traveler too many times as a kid

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