smores's recent activity
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Comment on Not-so-humble brag: What are you proud of that you don't normally get to talk about? in ~talk
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Comment on Not-so-humble brag: What are you proud of that you don't normally get to talk about? in ~talk
smores Link ParentTotally, sorry, I wasn't in any way trying to correct or push back on your desire to go back to working startups! Was just sort of continuing my own train of thought there. What kind of work do...Totally, sorry, I wasn't in any way trying to correct or push back on your desire to go back to working startups! Was just sort of continuing my own train of thought there.
What kind of work do you do/experience do you have?
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Comment on Not-so-humble brag: What are you proud of that you don't normally get to talk about? in ~talk
smores Link ParentI'm not personally the biggest fan of startups — they have pros and cons, just like everywhere else, but I think my attitude/demeanor doesn't align well with the startup world. But I've been...I'm not personally the biggest fan of startups — they have pros and cons, just like everywhere else, but I think my attitude/demeanor doesn't align well with the startup world. But I've been really pleased with how detached from "the stakes" of my clients' products and companies I've been able to be since I started consulting, which has been the biggest improvement for me. I'm coming up on two years of contract work, and it still feels good!
Plus, we have a few clients who've expressed interest in sponsoring us to further develop our open source libraries, which would really be the best case scenario. Our primary OSS project is basically the only project I've ever worked on where I've actually had the freedom to commit to high quality code and high quality tests, and the result is just a really nice piece of software that I'm immensely proud of.
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Comment on Avengers: Doomsday | Thor teaser in ~movies
smores Link ParentI feel like I'm the only one unperturbed by these haha. "Calling upon the old guard" is like a classic franchise trope, even more common in comic books than other media. Also, I love Chris Evans'...I feel like I'm the only one unperturbed by these haha. "Calling upon the old guard" is like a classic franchise trope, even more common in comic books than other media. Also, I love Chris Evans' Cap, and am genuinely very excited to see him coming back!
It's possible that this movie will be a dumpster fire, obviously, but these teasers have so far just felt like drumming up excitement for a big movie by being like "that's right, your favorites will be there, too!" They don't need to do this for the Thunderbolts or FF4, because there were teasers for Doomsday already in those movies' credits scenes.
I dunno, maybe I'm just a dummy but this marketing is working for me haha
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Comment on Not-so-humble brag: What are you proud of that you don't normally get to talk about? in ~talk
smores Link ParentI pay for: My local paper Propublica The Atlantic (also has its issues but basically all reasonably large newsmedia orgs do) I get Propublica's weekly newsletter and I quite like that, usually I...I pay for:
- My local paper
- Propublica
- The Atlantic (also has its issues but basically all reasonably large newsmedia orgs do)
I get Propublica's weekly newsletter and I quite like that, usually I read the whole thing! Mostly I've become less of a news person since leaving the Times, which is sort of good and bad. I feel like the important stuff usually makes its way to Tildes, so that helps.
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Comment on Not-so-humble brag: What are you proud of that you don't normally get to talk about? in ~talk
smores Link ParentTruly and honestly. My wife's last day will be this Friday, and we're both so relieved that to finally be truly out. Bad company, bad place to work (it wasn't when I started but it very much is...Fuck the Times
Truly and honestly. My wife's last day will be this Friday, and we're both so relieved that to finally be truly out. Bad company, bad place to work (it wasn't when I started but it very much is now), bad newspaper. Looking forward to thinking about it, like, 80% less than I do now (which is already about 80% less than I did three years ago).
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Comment on Books: Your personal year in review for 2025 in ~books
smores LinkOk so I'm really late to the party and I should also definitely be sleeping, but I really wanted to contribute to this, so I'm going to try to do so! I read a lot of books that I really loved this...Ok so I'm really late to the party and I should also definitely be sleeping, but I really wanted to contribute to this, so I'm going to try to do so!
I read a lot of books that I really loved this year, including a bunch from the tildes book club. Some standouts were:
- The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store
- Everything is Tuberculosis
- Circe
These feel like standouts to me both because I really loved them, and because all three were a bit outside my standard reading fare. I also re-read several books this year, which is not something I do often. I re-read Cat's Cradle, which I hadn't read since college, and I'm very glad I did. I feel like I got much more out of it this time!
I also re-read You Just Need to Lose Weight and Parenting Beyond Power as part of a little parenting book club with myself, my wife, and my mom. My mom has been watching our daughter three times a week, which is amazing, and we wanted to try to get on a similar page in terms of language and philosophy for how we were thinking about parenting. It worked very well for my wife and I — my mom is still working her way into some new ways of thinking, but she's been amazing nonetheless.
I tried out some new series that I didn't follow up on, and I'm not exactly sure why they didn't hit for me. Jade City, A Song of Legends Lost, and Children of Time were all good books with compelling premises (and A Song of Legends Lost is my favorite genre, "Sci-Fi that initially appears to be Fantasy"). I finished all three, but haven't picked up the next in any of the series. I think I will probably pick up the next Children of Time book at some point (probably after I finish The Rose Field). I think that the characters maybe just fell a little flat for me in these, but maybe I just need to give them more time to grow on me.
I think this might have been my most diverse year of reading (still not all that diverse, all things considered). I'm excited to look through the rest of the comments on this topic and put together a list for next year!
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Comment on Not-so-humble brag: What are you proud of that you don't normally get to talk about? in ~talk
smores Link ParentBeing really good at your job (and recognized for it) is, like, much more fulfilling than I expected it to be. I left my job at the New York Times about three years ago (!! how has it been three...Being really good at your job (and recognized for it) is, like, much more fulfilling than I expected it to be.
I left my job at the New York Times about three years ago (!! how has it been three years already???) and a year after that started a cooperatively managed, collectively owned consulting/contracting agency with a few colleagues (I am also proud of this, fuck employers!). The difference between how our clients treat us (as experts whose opinions are important and should be deeply considered, if not immediately acted on) compared to how our previous employer(s) treated us (as nuisances crying about the sky falling, it sometimes felt) is unbelievable. My mental health is markedly improved, even though I'm doing the kind of work (trying to improve horribly indebted codebases) that often felt like it was killing my soul at the Times. I'm the expert, now, so when I say "this is the wrong way to do this, it should be like this instead," clients say "Oh! Can you fix it? We'll pay you!" It's kind of unreal.
Also I'm really, truly, so very glad to hear that you are surviving and bouncing and fucking the haters (... you know what I mean).
And I am wholly unsurprised to hear that you are really good at your job, and I'm very glad to hear that your colleagues respect and appreciate you for it!
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Comment on What's your favorite RSS reader? in ~comp
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Comment on What's your favorite RSS reader? in ~comp
smores (edited )Link Parent@RadDevon's recommendation of Capy Reader for Android is great, I've been using it since it was recommended! For Windows, you could probably use the web app? You can also install it as a...@RadDevon's recommendation of Capy Reader for Android is great, I've been using it since it was recommended! For Windows, you could probably use the web app? You can also install it as a progressive web app if you want it to alpear like a standalone app. The web app is pretty nice! And you can customize the style
I should say, actually, there's a Google Reader API (this is what Capy uses), so any reader that supports the Google Reader API should work!
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Comment on Anyone else using the Zed editor? in ~comp
smores Link ParentZed's default markdown-oxide LS seems to have some pathological edge cases. It has more than once pinned all of CPU cores at 100%! I tried to open an issue about it but was redirected to the...Zed's default
markdown-oxideLS seems to have some pathological edge cases. It has more than once pinned all of CPU cores at 100%! I tried to open an issue about it but was redirected to the markdown-oxide repo, and I didn't know how to reproduce the issue. -
Comment on Anyone else using the Zed editor? in ~comp
smores Link ParentFrom what I can tell, no one realized they reverted a fix. Someone was in adjacent code, making tangentionally related changes, and decided to include a "realignment" with web standards for their...From what I can tell, no one realized they reverted a fix. Someone was in adjacent code, making tangentionally related changes, and decided to include a "realignment" with web standards for their click events. No one checked why it was the way it was (I guess), and the bug doesn't seem to happen on whatever machines most Zed devs use, so I guess no one noticed?
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Comment on Anyone else using the Zed editor? in ~comp
smores Link ParentNice! I used neovim for a while a few years ago, so I'm pretty comfortable with the modal editor aspect, but honestly it's cool that you can do so much in INS mode. I do really like the...Nice! I used neovim for a while a few years ago, so I'm pretty comfortable with the modal editor aspect, but honestly it's cool that you can do so much in INS mode. I do really like the configuration system, especially the LSP configuration system. I just added the LTeX plus LS for my blog repo so that I can get live spelling and grammar check while I type, and it was like two lines of config.
I personally have caps mapped to the Compose key, so I can more easily type em dashes and curly quotes (and, like, the trademark and copyright symbols occasionally). My escape key is in a pretty accessible location on my desktop keyboard, but I think I'm probably gonna map jk to escape for my laptop
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Comment on Anyone else using the Zed editor? in ~comp
smores Link ParentWe're not alone! Hahaha it actually seems like quite a lot of folks have this issue, on sufficiently varied hardware that it seems like maybe only Macbooks don't have this issue?We're not alone! Hahaha it actually seems like quite a lot of folks have this issue, on sufficiently varied hardware that it seems like maybe only Macbooks don't have this issue?
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Comment on Anyone else using the Zed editor? in ~comp
smores Link ParentIt's especially frustrating because VS Code, for example, which is literally a website running in Chrome, does not have this behavior. Like, sure, make your low-level UI layer follow web...It's especially frustrating because VS Code, for example, which is literally a website running in Chrome, does not have this behavior. Like, sure, make your low-level UI layer follow web standards. But if that default behavior doesn't actually work for text editors, you then have to build another layer that provides the correct behavior. I'm just frustrated that they would merge a "fix" that seemed to only be necessary for standards adherence without fixing (or even really being open to fixing) the actual user facing bug that it caused.
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Comment on Anyone else using the Zed editor? in ~comp
smores Link ParentThank you for affirming my misery haha. It truly got under my skin, exactly because it was non-deterministic. Even worse was that it was fixed for most of the year, so I had re-developed the...Thank you for affirming my misery haha. It truly got under my skin, exactly because it was non-deterministic. Even worse was that it was fixed for most of the year, so I had re-developed the muscle memory and constantly forgot that it was broken again! Also sometimes I would manage to make several edits to the type declaration file before realizing, sometimes even managing to close it and then having to find it again to undo the changes I made 😩
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Comment on Anyone else using the Zed editor? in ~comp
smores LinkWarning: this is mostly just me whinging, if you don't have the specific issue I had, this probably don't matter. The actual developers I interacted with at Zed have been very kind and thoughtful,...Warning: this is mostly just me whinging, if you don't have the specific issue I had, this probably don't matter. The actual developers I interacted with at Zed have been very kind and thoughtful, generally speaking.
I happily used Zed for a few months, but I've had a pretty frustrating experience with them that's led me to eventually switch to Helix (which I'm very happy with).
Way back at the beginning of the year, I (and several other users) reported an issue with Zed's handling of special keys on click events. Unlike every other text editor I've used, Zed only considers modifier keys that are held during the mouse up event when determining behavior for a click event.
On some laptops (like my Framework), the trackpad reports pretty delayed mouse up events. Maybe a fraction of a second after I actually lift my finger.
The result is that I (and several other users, this was reported in at least three separate issues) would click on a variable and then (after I lifted my finger from the trackpad!) quickly press, e.g., Ctrl+D to expand the selection to that term. Instead, Zed would interpret this as a Ctrl+click, and go to definition, at which point I would find myself making changes to, e.g., a random type declaration file in a node module.
So, no big deal, Zed is open source, so I fixed it. This took a while to get released, but I could also just run my own local build in the meantime, so that was fine!
Only then it got reverted. This drives me insane, like no one looked at the git blame to see why this was the way it was. The reasoning here (this layer of the system should match web standards) is totally fine to me, but the outcome (so let's reintroduce this bug) is pretty frustrating.
So I attempted to re-fix the bug, and that was rejected because it violated web standards. Again, this is fine, but... Like how do we fix this bug?
Anyway, I got sick of maintaining a fork/local build and switched the Helix. That bug was driving me nuts multiple times a day and it was really frustrating that no one at Zed was interested in helping me fix it (again).
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Comment on Donald Trump administration moves to cut off transgender care for US children in ~lgbt
smores Link ParentRight, totally understand. I think I'm reacting to the usage of "must" here: I just... No longer feel that it's responsible for news organizations to make assertions like this about this...Right, totally understand. I think I'm reacting to the usage of "must" here:
The federal government must go through a lengthy rulemaking proces
I just... No longer feel that it's responsible for news organizations to make assertions like this about this administration, at least without some qualifiers about the fact that they have a tendency to bypass required legal processes.
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Comment on Donald Trump administration moves to cut off transgender care for US children in ~lgbt
smores Link ParentI will be glad to be wrong about this, but this seems overly optimistic of AP. The administration could simply leverage it's ability to cut off Medicare and Medicaid funding tomorrow to force the...The proposals, set to be announced by Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his deputies, are not final or legally binding. The federal government must go through a lengthy rulemaking process, including periods of public comment and document rewrites, before the restrictions become permanent. They are also likely to face legal challenges.
I will be glad to be wrong about this, but this seems overly optimistic of AP. The administration could simply leverage it's ability to cut off Medicare and Medicaid funding tomorrow to force the issue, and there's nothing anyone can (or at least will) do about it.
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Comment on Experiences with foster system and support for removed relatives in ~life
smores (edited )Link ParentThis is ultimately what I wanted to emphasize as well. I have a close friend that spent years as a public defender, representing parents who had their children taken from them by CPS. In the US,...- Exemplary
This is ultimately what I wanted to emphasize as well. I have a close friend that spent years as a public defender, representing parents who had their children taken from them by CPS. In the US, at least, CPS has an unbelievably racial and anti-poor bias, and is keen on removal as a first step in many cases.
What I think she would emphasize is that removal is very often the single most traumatic event in the lives of both the children and parents. Parents are often required to follow very specific and restraining protocols after removal, which they often struggle with because they are contending with the emotional upheaval if having their children taken from them. Children, like @RoyalHenOil says, rarely have any tools for dealing with this trauma, and it can come through in unpredictable ways.
I guess my two takeaways from this (though I defer to @RoyalHenOil who unfortunately has firsthand experience) would be:
- Search for patience and grace in interactions with the parents. Even if their relationships with their children and/or you have been complicated in the past, they are now likely experiencing one of the most emotionally and psychologically challenging events of their life, and they will potentially act in ways that will be challenging to you.
- If the child doesn't have a therapist, try to find them one, ideally one with specific experience with forced family separation. @RoyalHenOil said "being seized from your family is a far more horrible experience than I could possibly describe to someone who's never gone through it" — it's not entirely on you to wrap your head around this and understand it. Find professional support!
Ultimately, I suspect that taking this child into your home as soon as possible is probably the thing that will have the least negative impact on them, but that's basically a guess. It just feels right to me. Non-familial group homes and foster care seem to lead to astonishingly poor outcomes across the board, and staying with family instead seems to mitigate a lot of the worst of those harms.
Thanks! Unfortunately not really — we don't really hire, because it's a collectively owned coop (so everyone is an equal owner and managing partner). We have very little incentive to grow, unless there's someone who we already know to be a very good fit, and we have a client that we really would like to work with but can't fit in. I am happy to chat any time, though, if you like! Shoot me a DM whenever!