October 2026

The boy made snowmobile squares for a potluck he’s going to later and I get to have some. I knew he was worth keeping.

We’re reading Burn Down Master’s House for a book club at work and I just finished the first chapter. It’s the perfect fictional companion to The Half Has Never Been Told.

Can’t wait to read the rest!

I love Maria Bamford and the new documentary about her by Judd Apatow on Netflix is great. 👍🏻

RE: https://mastodon.social/@Punzie/117491822597556381

I have Friday brain so I can’t think of any at the moment. This is going to haunt me.

It’s so cool to see someone pick up the Ficly mantle and run with it. Check out https://minnowpress.com/ and maybe write a little story, or add to someone else’s!

I watched this talk this afternoon and decided I had to share it in Slack at work. Men o’ Mastodon, you maybe should share it at work too. Whatever you do, you should definitely watch it if you haven’t.

https://media.ccc.de/v/emf2026-240-1-men-in-tech-yesallmen#t=0

> go and have a conversation with other men before there's a story that needs more conversation

every men should watch this talk

#YesAllMen

https://media.ccc.de/v/emf2026-240-1-men-in-tech-yesallmen

why do people call LLM training on public website data “AI Copyright Infringement” when “six finger discount” is right there

We’re having an argument about stacks vs large PRs at work and someone made the mistake of saying “I like big PRs,” which prompted me to write this ABSOLUTE MASTERPIECE:

I like big PRs and I cannot lie
You other coders can't deny
That when 30k changes walk in with no description
And a failed build in your face, you get sniped

I am far too easy to find.

Kevin's Crucial Track October 21, 2026: "Rings Of Saturn" by Soccer Mommy

One, Soccer Mommy is an A+ band name. Two, they're great. #CrucialTracks

View entry:
https://www.crucialtracks.org/profile/kpl/20261021

RE: https://mastodon.rfc1925.org/@ondrej/117478906426761987

I used to be the guy who crapped on other people’s program language of choice. I don’t do it anymore (change IS possible!). If a language lets you solve the problem you’re trying to solve, and you like it, USE IT. There may be other languages better suited for the problem, and that’s fine - it doesn’t mean you have to use them.

Some programming languages work better for us than others. I hated Java, and fell in love with Ruby. I solve problems way, way faster in Ruby and have more fun doing it, so I use it. That doesn’t mean Java is bad, it’s just not for me.

Let people live. Don’t yuck their yum. Do your own thing and program like no one’s watching, because most of the time, they aren’t.

#OldProgrammerThoughts

PHP patches are out.

https://www.php.net/

Yeah, we're rebooting the internet today.

I never thought there’d be a bad week for integers, but here we are.

PHP is actually short for Party Hard Project btw

Here is a big ❤️ to all admins now fixing the internet.

Most people won't notice, but we know you are there!

🫶

#php

How did I make everyone at work shake their heads today? We were trying to come up with a non-violent term for “mob programming,” and my proposal was “cuddle puddle programming.”

No one went for it.

Like this one, which I think is my favorite Cornershop song of all: https://youtu.be/kYoirz0vyWQ?si=hloTwmFFdpDezOtA

Everyone of a certain age has probably heard the Fatboy Slim remix of this song - it’s faster, has a wicked beat and is a lot of fun. I love it, but I also love the original. I love this whole album, and most of Cornershop’s other albums. Great band that deserves a second look if you’ve only heard this song: https://youtu.be/lM7H0ooV_o8?si=gLusNHkJnPZEm34-

Gods, grant me the platform to complain about the things I cannot change, the procrastination to ignore the things I can, and the determination to correct everyone who is wrong on the internet.

RE: https://mas.to/@skeletor/117468475890196059

Did I expect to see Skeletor quoting Rabbi Tarfon, who said this around 73 CE, today? I did not. Do I appreciate it? You bet your (and my) gentile ass I do!

Current Status: #sleepy

Come in Monday morning, review a couple PRs, check the logs from the weekend, find something that annoys you, drink some coffee, fix it, ship it, go on with your day.

Now, THAT’S a good way to start the week.

Kevin's Crucial Track October 19, 2026: "Lifetime" by The Rural Alberta Advantage

Good luck, Alberta! (Also, this song is awesome). #CrucialTracks

View entry:
https://www.crucialtracks.org/profile/kpl/20261019

And I know I shouldn’t be embarrassed because it’s for fun and learning. I’m not.

But it is funny watching every character you type double echo across the screen because bugs.

Writing a command line app (type something on the command line, hit enter, program starts, returns something, quits) is very different from writing a terminal app (start program, type something, program returns something, program is still running; you know, Zork).

I've written plenty of the former, none of the latter since writing text adventures in BASIC as a kid.

This is hilariously bad. I'm glad this is for fun, or I'd be embarrassed.

RE: https://mastodon.social/@gairdeachas/117463061048228661

I’m not in Washington state, but if you are, do the right thing.

#notsureyouknew #soup of all things can be an important commodity 🌙 #heavens #earth

I’ve decided to give up trying to find the perfect e-reader and just use my phone and the little eink 4 I got recently. My phone is always with me and works fine for kindle and bookshop books. Not sure why I resisted for so long. I made it a third of the way through Washington’s Spies yesterday (so many tangents - I’m here for the spy shit, pal) between chores and TV stuff, and have added reading to my morning routine while making coffee.

I’m stubborn, but I get over it eventually.

“Balaclava” is a much cooler name than “ski mask”.

RE: https://mastodon.social/@simple_sabotage/117458398199158494

Tag yourself! I’m Creating Confusion!

The new White House press secretary.

#Ukraine️ #krasnov #politics #trumpisarussianspy #trumpisarussinasset #supportUkraine

Early voted at the library and, whew, glad that’s over! #VoteDammit

I wanted something that imitated the spirit of typewriters, not the literal look, but I wasn't sure such a thing was possible. To avoid looking silly it had to be designed as if for a computer, but somehow incorporate the logic of typewriters.

A great font for writing.

https://indestructibletype.com/Drafting/

I’m still mad Archive 81 didn’t get a second season.

Katie Zacharia lasted 1/2 a Scaramucci, 1/11 a Truss, and about as long as a fairly ripe tomato left unattended on the kitchen counter.

Elon Musk is what would have happened if Richie Rich was called Dickie.

Roses are red
And can go on for miles
Wikipedia has a

Kevin's Crucial Track October 16, 2026: "Wasteland" by Snocaps

It's not Waxahatchee, it's SNOCAPS! #CrucialTracks

View entry:
https://www.crucialtracks.org/profile/kpl/20261016

Matt Lucas is on this season of Taskmaster, which reminds me of his funniest moment on Bake Off when he asked “Poo and Praul” to leave the tent.

Got a completely affirmative checkup at the dentist this morning! Nothing to worry about, no complaints about me not flossing enough, no critiques about my brushing, just “everything looks great, keep it up!” I think that means I’m an adult now! #win

Product manager: “Is it an infinite canvas?”
Me: “I think so. But, I haven't tried to find the edge because I'm afraid of browser dragons.”

English is such a rough language that not even the French could fix it & they tried for hundreds of years.

if you watch the new Harry Potter show you tell WB to keep making more Potter stuff

and you show them that directly funding JKR’s transphobia, that she LITERALLY uses to strip trans women’s rights away, is not a dealbreaker

how could i ever feel safe around someone who buys her the boots she uses to step on my neck?

Kevin's Crucial Track October 14, 2026: "Rip Off" by Momma

Dreamy vocals, and fuzzy loud guitars? That's my musical happy place! #CrucialTracks

View entry:
https://www.crucialtracks.org/profile/kpl/20261014

RE: https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:bbp2b224lro3bfnzcqwwnkfo/post/3mxreygxbvk2k

If my district, GA-1, goes Democratic for the first time since the early 90’s, the party will never stop.

I got tired of wearing my heavy headphones and hate having earbuds IN my ears so I got some Shokz OpenFit 2’s and… they’re surprisingly good! Sound quality is really good, and battery life so far is solid. It looks like a single charge will last me the whole workday. The loops that hold them in place are comfy and they weigh almost nothing.

Kevin's Crucial Track October 13, 2026: "You and Your Dog (feat. Laurie Anderson)" by Shearwater

Just a little spoken word and pretty music for a Tuesday that feels like a Monday for me. #CrucialTracks

View entry:
https://www.crucialtracks.org/profile/kpl/20261013

They should have called the HomeView the Apple Watch Big & Tall.

There are three English-language bake-offs going at once! Australia, Canada AND UK! It’s non-stop cake puns!!

If you live in Savannah, a bunch of us are doing early voting tomorrow morning at Eisenhower at 7:30am right when they open, in blue shirts and then going to Bow tie BBQ for breakfast. Join us if you’re up for it!

What language do you speak best? (Hypothesis: There are many French & German speakers in the Fediverse.)

:fediverse: Boosts appreciated!

My immune system is really having a great time with the Covid and flu vaccines. So fun. The best time.

I'm looking for 10 early adopters for Enkihost, my Ruby hosting platform.

What you get: 3 months of free hosting, deploys in around 11 seconds, and a founder who will actually read and act on your feedback.

What I ask: try it with a real app (side projects welcome) and tell me honestly what's confusing, slow or missing.

If you've got a Rails or Ruby app looking for a home, reply here or send me a DM.

https://enkihost.com

#Ruby #RubyOnRails #Hosting #BuildInPublic #IndieHackers

old browser wars: netscape vs microsoft
new browser wars: browser vs you

The fun part of building my app was seeing how small an MCP server I could build into Rails, which was a fun learning experience. It was also fun to work on a completely greenfield Rails app and launch it on Railway.

I have a bunch of other ideas now, and am probably going to start all my new projects in either Hanami or Phoenix+Ecto.

I’ve been slowly working on a journaling app this year - it’s been a fun side project and I was fairly close to launching it when I saw Prism in a newsletter yesterday. It’s everything I wanted to build for myself.

I’m not even disappointed. I’m relieved. It’s gorgeous and now I don’t have to build it.

https://prism.you/

Today is a good day to cuddle up on the couch and watch Below. Might watch a scary movie later.

Time to get jabbed! COVID/flu vaccine day. Hooray for vaccines!

I got to explain to a coworker how they can still love Harry Potter and never ever give JK Rowling another dollar - and they got it!

Talking through how every dollar Rowling gets goes towards attacking trans people really sealed it.

I’ll take it.

"Omarchy is a fascist project that normalizes fascist thinking for everyone entering that community (even unknowingly). The baseline has to be not to use that system. And as people who believe in human rights and dignity, in community and a tech world that can be better we need to oppose Omarchy. Need to make sure it gets no seat at any table. Support projects who actively refuse to collaborate. Support projects who care about human rights and flourishing. And do not do business with the companies who willingly support fascists."

https://tante.cc/2026/09/11/power-grab/

This looks absolutely bonkers and I can’t wait. A bunch of Letterkenny & Shoresy folks, what looks like a very large budget, and very little oversight: https://youtu.be/3JWEGVpNIiQ

Kevin's Crucial Track October 7, 2026: "You and Whose Army?" by Echo Collective

Covers are awesome. Covers of Radiohead? Sometimes ++awesome! #CrucialTracks

View entry:
https://www.crucialtracks.org/profile/kpl/20261007

love to see VLC in the news

My company does monthly customer webinars and we’re not doing them in November or December. Those weeks are marked in the list as “Canceled for the holiday”.

Now I want to DO a webinar called “Canceled for the Holiday” where I can tell you how to NEVER get invited to family gatherings EVER again.

Kevin's Crucial Track October 6, 2026: "Angelica" by Lamb

Yeah, it's Lamb. Succulent downbeat stuff. #CrucialTracks

View entry:
https://www.crucialtracks.org/profile/kpl/20261006

I know everyone has said it already, but Lanterns is my favorite comic book that’s not a comic book since the Watchman limited series, and like it, I hope Lanterns comes back for another season (even though Watchmen didn’t).

Which of these do you think would make the most corporate / funniest product name? (Please boost for the widest number of corporate opinions, thanks so much)

I definitely look sexy and not like I’m holding in a fart. #SelfieSunday #selfie

That shiraz was entirely too drinkable. Woo.

I created a first draft of the @whysfoxes website: https://whysfoxes.github.io/whysfoxes_web/

Feel free to give me feedback on that. 😊

PS: vast majority of entries is still to be published. Please bear with me. It's more work than most expect. A real scan for least distortion and best quality. Then I fix the orientation and colours because of poor paper quality.
Every page and every pen colour leads to a different contrast.

#whysfoxes #whysPoignantGuideToRuby #Ruby #RubyLang

the B in LGBTQIA+ does NOT stand for buses

RE: https://normal.style/@healyn/117383622060513075

Co-signed

Finally got around to finishing Strange New Worlds, I think partly because I didn’t want it to end. The last season was fun, and I’m really going to miss it.

I don’t see Paramount’s new owners allowing such a lovely show like it to be made again. I’ll be shocked if Trek comes back in any form like the last few series.

RE: https://sunny.garden/@georgepenney/117373976892658114

Sad cheese also smells the worst. Do your best to keep your cheese happy.

As you vote in this poll, are you currently on the toilet? Be honest, can-scrollers.
#poll

We got reorged at work, and my team is disbanding and we’re all joining new teams on Monday so I resurrected my favorite ceremony: the 21 meme salute. It’s easy! Someone, or everyone, posts 21 memes in Slack as a way to celebrate the ending, the more ridiculous the better.

Since it was new to everyone, I did all the heavy lifting. It’s fine. I have waaaaaay more than 21 to share.

When you first try to meditate, it'll feel like you're doing it wrong and are terrible at it. Eventually, you'll figure out that being terrible at meditation and feeling like you're doing it wrong is kind of the whole point of meditation. In truth, as long as you keep getting back to your practice, you are actually great at meditation, and you are doing very well at it.

Are you a senior person at your job? Do you do cool senior stuff? Take someone more junior along. They’ll learn a lot, and you’ll feel like a wizard. Everyone wins.

There’s nothing like preparing to teach a class of college CS students to get the creative procrastination juices flowing. I’ve come up with SO MANY other things to do this morning.

Fediverse, the social media system for 40+ year old people who built the world wide web and regret it.

RE: https://littleone.littlefedi.social/@littlefedi_official/01a0f644-8ed6-7a7d-ade6-46f4c0a74f41

littleFedi is out!

#littleFedi #Fediverse