August 2025

This happened many hours ago, but we haven’t had the best cell service. But still, adventures!!

We are having the best time in Canada! We’re in NB at Hopewell Rocks after doing the Cabot Trail and PEI.

Also, while I'm extolling things... wine in a can. So much more convenient that wine in a big bottle. I'm the only wine drinker in the house so I always hesitate opening a bottle - because I'm a lightweight and will NEVER drink an entire bottle on my own.

Wine in a can? Yes, please.

I initially hated not getting text messages on my laptop (switched from a MacBook Pro work bought me to a Framework 13 running Ubuntu I bought me), but, I love it now. I have all notifications turned off and find I switch tasks far less frequently now.

This makes me think of this morning. We went whale watching, and while waiting to board, a small human in a glorious pink taffeta skirt, pink hoodie and wild hair expertly taught another small human the proper way to find rocks in the parking lot and then throw them as far as you can into the water from the dock.

Everyone was enthralled with their celebrations at their most excellent splooshes. https://sunny.garden/@georgepenney/115114508916602558

Hooking my iPad up to hotel TVs feels like a cheat code. I love it.

No officer, this is a Molotov mocktail.

The two best things about being funemployed are:
- my blissfully empty calendar
- sometimes either my wife or I not remembering which day of the week is.

The best thing to get before a trip? A sinus infection. I’m going to be the happiest traveler. So happy.

The PS+ batch this week is great, Sword of the Seas and Coral Island are both really fun in totally different ways. I’m hooked on Coral Island. It’s Animal Crossing with people! And magic! And pollution!

For four hours on a plane, I need to have at least 70 books and 30 hours of shows and movies, or I have a panic attack.

I’ve stopped trying to figure it out and just get prepared now.

Anyone self-host Ghost? How does it compare to self-hosting WordPress? Is it... delightful?

Starting Sword of the Sea this morning and HOLY CRAP IT’S GORGEOUS. It’s fun, and the constant movement feels reaaaaally good.

Just finished the audiobook of @annaleen’s Automatic Noodle. The voice acting was great, and it’s a lovely story about building community. Two (human) thumbs up!

I had a fun weight loss milestone last week - I bought new pants! Every pair of pants I owned are now WAY too big for me. The new pants are 8 inches smaller in the waist than my previous pants.

Feels good... even better than having pants that aren't constantly threatening to abandon me.

First they came for the oh shit the fuckers are here for me already that was fast

Baby Binx
Happy #Caturday

In the wake of the “GitHub CEO stepped down, no longer independent” news, I’m reminded that not enough people know about @Codeberg — free Git hosting run by a non-profit organization.

No tracking, no ads, no corporate buyout risk. Just open-source, community-driven software hosting.

Give it a try → https://codeberg.org

#opensource #freesoftware #git #devcommunity #indieweb #decentralization

Tailscale is so handy. I don't think about it most of the time, but when I find something I need it for, it's right there and just does the thing.

With Trump's tariffs hitting imports hard, software engineers should learn languages like C, C#, Rust, and Ruby which don't use `import` statements.

This week, I hope to submit a Python Enhancement Proposal to change the `import` keyword to `use` to avoid tariffs.

`from humor import bad_joke`

Trying to start a new routine - doing at least one exercism.org thing a day, or at least 4/week (it'll be difficult / weird with travel, but we'll see).

I need to get back to beginners mind, which means learning some new stuff! Starting with a refresher on Python and then Elixir.

Does anyone have strong opinions on Beeper? It feels like a good way to keep track of seldom-used messaging apps without needing them set up on every device over and over.

Did I think I needed a Brass Against cover of Faith No More's “Epic”? No, I hadn't thought of the song in decades. But... it's INCREDIBLE. Enjoy! https://youtu.be/l3KVqAtpihE?si=TpzEo6TgdFqqZMTx

The Canadian road trip playlist is coming along... woke up too early, so trying to wake up with some Les Dales Hawerchuk! https://youtu.be/_mKYHVn9Ua8?si=7i0mFYX6bl9uNO2y

I’ve got whale bird installed for fediverse things (it’s no @ivory but it’ll work), and NewsFlash for RSS things (surprisingly NetNewsWire-like).

Linux desktop things have come a long way.

I can ssh into my laptop, do git things, and am about to try my first Civ 6 game on this thing.

I will forever be fiddling. #LinuxLife #linuxgaming

A few days with the @frameworkcomputer 13 and... I think I'm in love. Ubuntu 25 has none of the issues I saw with other distros, and feels blaaaaazing fast. Steam works great, got mise and linuxbrew set up.

How excited am I about our Canada trip? PLAYLIST!!! https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5Plo5bv5zsOc8dgE4xDePo?si=ca7bb4b7e2a14512

It's a shiny new blog post called: The Cost of Lies

https://lawver.net/2025/08/the-cost-of-lies/

#entertainment #politics #chernobyl #lies

“What is the cost of lies? It's not that we'll mistake them for the truth. The real danger is that if we hear enough lies, then we no longer recognize the truth at all. What can we do then? What else is left but to abandon even the hope of truth and content ourselves instead with stories? In these stories, it doesn't matter who the heroes are. All we want to know is: ‘Who is to blame?’” -- Valery Legazov from the opening scene of Chernobyl

funniest thing i've seen on github dot com in a while

https://github.com/MrMEEE/bumblebee-Old-and-abbandoned/issues/123

This cold isn’t screwing around and neither am I! Chest congestion and bronchial spasms?! I counter with Sudafed and prednisone!! I may never sleep again, but dammit, I’ll be able to breathe!! #AnimeMainCharacterSpeech

Edit: thank you very much everyone who voted and shared their thoughts. I deeply appreciate you

I have a question for femme presenting folks. Boosts appreciated 🙏

When a strange man in public interacts with you, and he is wearing a wedding ring, does the ring affect your assessment of whether he is dangerous?

Please feel free to elaborate in replies

Thank you :)

Don’t think I ever did a proper #introduction so… HI! I’m Kevin. I’m a web developer who lives in Savannah, Georgia. I’m an obnoxious leftie, dad, amateur baker, the creator of the International Day of Awesomeness, cofounder of @techsav, and try to be as kind as I can be as often as possible. I love the fediverse, and am starting on my own little fediverse project - details coming soon!

Had my @frameworkcomputer 13 since Monday and I think I’m in love. Settled on Ubuntu 25, and everything just works so far. The keyboard, display and trackpad feel almost MacBook Pro quality (I think the keyboard might even be better).

I guess I should do some actual work on it tho.

I have a lovely summer cold, so I’m taking @amyvdh ‘s recommendation and watching Chernobyl as my comfort viewing. Already on episode four (couldn’t sleep last night).

I’m not really feeling comforted… but it’s so well done, I’ll happily finish it.

I’m going to keep up the theme and finally finish the Station Eleven miniseries after this.

One of the best things about owning a store is stupid bullshit like this

I was initially afraid that Kagi wouldn’t be great for finding technical answers… but it’s great, especially when you limit results by the last year or month - makes sure you get up to date info.

So yeah, it’s worth paying for.

The unpaid testimonial brought to you by me installing three Linux distros in two days and trying to fix annoyances.

Choo choo
https://techhub.social/@craigcook/114976443341325246

Fiddling with linux, especially one I've never used before, is way more fun that trying to do something actually productive with it. This could turn out to be a problem.

Blessings to each and every person who reacts first in group chats so I know what kind of emoji is appropriate in certain situations.

Blessings to the people who talk to the waiter when you're too anxious to ask for a different drink because this one is flat out gross.

Blessings to the humans who work for Chicago Public Schools and for your generosity in sharing your knowledge.

Blessings to librarians who help with research when you're stuck.

Blessings to everyone reading this.

#Monday

Also, look how thoughtful the included screwdriver is! It’s big, easy to hold, has a magnetic tip, and a spudger at the end! Putting this thing together was a joy. Well done, Framework!

What’s the best time to put your new laptop together? When the power is out! Now I just have to wait for the power to come back on so I can install the OS on it.

Things I have added to my list of Canadian foods to try: maple butter, butter tarts, beaver tails (not made with actual beavers), poor man’s pudding, sugar pie and Nova Scotia oatcakes. Thanks for the suggestions!

I love these little expedition reports. https://sunny.garden/@georgepenney/114966701410309206

Hello, Canadians! We’re doing a trip to your country soon (Halifax -> Winnipeg) and other than maple candy, donair, all dressed chips, Montreal bagels and smoked meat sandwiches, and poutine, what should we be sure to eat while we’re there?

A letter in the Sunday Independent 🇮🇪 today; related to an article by transphobic author John Boyne who is a public admirer of Rowling (which tells you a lot)

Good on ya, Bernie 🫶

#Ireland #IE #Feminism

We’re finally watching season two of Silo and Steve Zahn is incredible in it! So damaged and scared, but nerdy and funny.

He’d fit in great here.

My kids (both 40+) will have to recognize me as the comedian I am be fore I die.

New rule: no ice cream before bed. Reflux isn’t worth the creamy deliciousness.

The incredible Jodi Chromey has a great 25th blogiversary post. Mine is also around that old - I should write more, which is one of the many smart things Jodi says!

https://iwilldare.com/2025/07/i-will-dares-silver-jubilee/

EDIT to fix typo. END EDIT

Apparently i lied. I'm here again. But it's work-related. So, i have a task for anyone who wants to take it on. Or anyones. This task is related to the fight for trans asylum from the US in Canada. I'm lining up powerful allies and orgs behind us. But we want data. Media reports, primarily. Written are best, but if it's video only, we'll find a way to include it.

I want to build an overwhelming picture of how bad it's getting for trans folk in the US. What would be specifically most useful are things which demonstrate the long-term likelihood of blue state compliance with Trump's anti-trans pogrom.

So for instance (though we have this one): Brown capitulating to Trump on trans students and eliminating any kind of equity consideration from admissions. Blue state, but they are complying. California has hospitals ending GAC programs. So does Illinois. Despite that they're run by Dems, they're complying.

We want to build a picture that shows that so-called "internal flight" would not in any way be a protection for trans people. That you can move from AR to CA and still be federally fucked with as a trans person.

The other piece that could be useful is any media report of states restricting trans movement in or through their state. Like TX' bathroom ban, for instance. Or their "trans=fraud" legislation.

You can just drop a list of links in replies. IF YOU CAN, please include something that says what state it's about? That will make it much easier to organise for our work.

Thank you all. Boosts welcome. Cross-platform boosts welcome. For cross-platform people, email at [email protected]. i know this risks trolls. I'm ok with that risk. We need your help.

I will also soon be posting a fundraiser for the project. We need to keep our asylum claimant fed and housed while her case is heard.

DMs are open if you want to keep your response private.

Really enjoying the new album from Wet Leg (who are completely new to me). Punky, feels a little Courtney Barnett-ish. It's fun! I feel like we could all use more fun.

https://open.spotify.com/album/3YVnHpyms4rLr3fXS0ROQy?si=PsF00xxfSSKhLJoq1oG6bw

🚨I am looking for work

As a:

- Staff engineer (#Ruby/#Rails)
- Engineering manager / director
- VP of eng

I'm based in Portland, Oregon
Available for local or remote
I can start right away

https://shanebecker.dev

Hiring? DM/email me
#FediHire

I’m sitting in the back seat of our van as my son drives us somewhere. I feel the sudden need for a juice box and goldfish crackers.