On the Psychology of “Tech Money”
Reading Time: 11 minutes One time, a literal millionaire purchased a coffee for me while he was pitching me to come work for him as an engineer. I splurged and asked for a vanilla latte (about $6). a latte After we spoke about the position, I told him I didn’t think I was a fit and explained my reasons why, none of which were personal. It was an “I could probably do this job, but I’m not uniquely qualified to do it” type of situation. He texted me within the hour to ask for hi...
All Posts
The firehose of all my posts, including replies, likes and reposts. If this is too much,
you may be interested in just my lifestream which provides
a calmer, more curated experience.
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Apr 30, 2023, 6:22 PM -04:00 -
Apr 29, 2023, 3:47 PM -04:00 Jack the Cock is coming...
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Apr 26, 2023, 7:37 AM -04:00 
MastodonFred Rocha (@john_fisherman@mastodon.social)
@desmondrivet@indieweb.social you’re live! https://fredrocha.net/like-minded/ -
Apr 25, 2023, 3:53 PM -04:00 It's just a building with fire escapes but this strikes me as very New York
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Apr 24, 2023, 2:08 PM -04:00 I can't be the only one who thinks that the Brooklyn Tower looks like Sauron's home base from Lord of the Rings, right?
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Apr 21, 2023, 10:16 PM -04:00 Joralemon and Columbia
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Apr 21, 2023, 1:32 PM -04:00 The Oculus, near the World Trade Center
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Apr 21, 2023, 1:00 PM -04:00 Near the new World Trade Center, New York
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Apr 19, 2023, 10:18 AM -04:00 I didn't know what btconf was before today but my personal website is https://desmondrivet.com Please enjoy responsibly (that's sarcasm) :-)
MastodonFred Rocha (@john_fisherman@mastodon.social)
We finished #btconf last night talking about the discoverability of personal websites with @sophie@social.lol and @nickautomatic. It turns out it's hard to be read, even if you have captivating and original content. Reply to this post with your personal url and I'll link you on my website, https://fredrocha.net. Bonus points if you have an RSS feed link. Let's start a @btconf webring! #indieweb -
Apr 8, 2023, 2:31 PM -04:00 What other kinds of servers are on the Fediverse?
As well as Mastodon ⧉, there are lots of other server types on the Fediverse, for example: BookWyrm ⧉ – A social reading platform, an alternative to Amazon’s GoodReads Friendica ⧉ – A general social network with no character limits, sort of like Facebook used to be on its older interface Funkwhale ⧉ – Music and podcast storage and sharing Kbin ⧉ – Link aggregation and discussion, sort of like Reddit Mobilizon ⧉ – Event organisation, the Fedi’s alternative to Facebook Events ... -
Apr 4, 2023, 11:56 AM -04:00 I never really had that conversation with my family. In my case, it more about becoming an atheist than switching religions. I guess religion doesn't really come up.
Do you need to tell them anything all? Are you being pressured to go to mass, take communion, etc.?
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Apr 2, 2023, 12:35 PM -04:00 Noice
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Mar 27, 2023, 2:43 PM -04:00 Some days I think I'm a Sans Serif soul and other days I think my soul is full of Serifs. It's like Jekyll and Hyde, but which is Jekyll and which is Hyde?
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Mar 22, 2023, 9:18 PM -04:00 It's rare but, weirdly, this is not the first time a freestanding locomotive has just randomly appeared in the middle of my neighborhood.
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Mar 22, 2023, 4:02 PM -04:00 
Nov 29, 2022, 6:03 PM -05:00The fediverse and the indieweb
I love the indieweb and what it stands for:When you post something on the web, it should belong to you, not a corporation. Too many companies have gone out of business and lost all of their users’ data. By joining the IndieWeb, your content stays yours and in your control.This principle is absolutely true, but on a deeper level, I’m also uncomfortable with the level of wealth hoarding and rent seeking on the modern internet. There’s no need for us all to be pouring our conversations, identiti... -
Mar 14, 2023, 12:53 AM -04:00 
X (formerly Twitter)
The Cultural Tutor (@culturaltutor) on X
Victor Hugo is most famous for writing beloved novels like Les Misérables and The Hunchback of Notre Dame. But he was also one of the greatest painters of the 19th century. And Hugo's art, kept secret until after his death, is unlike anything you've seen before... -
Mar 9, 2023, 12:01 PM -05:00 Set Studio
Some simple ways to make content look good - Set Studio
Something non-designers understandably struggle with is how to make things look good. One of those things is long form content that’s well set and readable. Luckily, CSS makes this easy, you just have to know what to change. That’s exactly what we’re going to teach you in this article. -
Mar 4, 2023, 1:48 PM -05:00 the Guardian
The joy of mediocrity: we need hobbies, even if we’re bad at them, to free us from perfection | Kerri Duncan
When I focus on getting better at something, it creates room for failure. I want only carefree pleasure from my down time -
Mar 2, 2023, 10:28 PM -05:00 -
Mar 1, 2023, 11:15 PM -05:00 I have the same thoughts sometimes but I've come to the conclusion that readership doesn't matter that much. I have an online presence for myself and that's enough.
Mar 1, 2023, 9:01 AM -05:00I don't think anybody would miss my personal "homepage" site but myself. Having one of those pessimistic moments where I am thinking - is having an online "presence" even and at all worth it for me? What is it really contributing to the Internet? I have some visitors, which I see through good old AwStats, but am I making their day or providing them with an answer to a longing question? Probably not... -
Feb 28, 2023, 7:15 AM -05:00 Feb 26, 2023, 10:32 AM -05:00
Corn Meal Porridge
When I was a young lad, I spent a lot of time on Bequia with my grandmother, my grand-maman or just "Mama". I loved her food, and her breakfast was my favourite meal. Breakfast in Bequia was much different than breakfast in New Jersey. I don't remember eating oatmeal or pancakes. It was customary to have fish for breakfast, a sprat fried whole and served with fried cou-cou, fish broth, or salted cod with bakes or fried breadfruit. But one of my favourite things grand-maman made for breakfast ... -
Feb 25, 2023, 8:47 AM -05:00 I classified a lentil curry recipe on my website as "easy" and a friend of mind disagreed, pointing to the chopping it required and it never occurred to me that the necessity of chopping would disqualify a recipe from being easy, but here we are. And I guess that makes sense?
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Feb 23, 2023, 9:00 PM -05:00 Pistachios. The clams of the nut world.
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Feb 22, 2023, 2:12 PM -05:00
X (formerly Twitter)
Ken Shirriff (@kenshirriff) on X
How did Russian cosmonauts know where they were? The Globus INK (1967) showed the position of their Soyuz spacecraft on a rotating globe. It is an analog computer built from tiny gears. I reverse-engineered the wiring (which inconveniently had been cut) and we powered it up. 🧵 -
Feb 19, 2023, 5:11 PM -05:00 The Popular Vote as a Psychological Coping Mechanism
In 1931, a book was published in German under the title "100 Authors Against Einstein", attempting to refute the Theory of Relativity. By some accounts, when Einstein was confronted with this book, he is reported to have said something along the lines of:
Why a hundred? If I were wrong, one would have been enough."
I have no idea if this is for real. Still, though, it's pretty good, right?
To be clear, Einstein was talking about physics, not politics or philosophy, but even in the social sciences I find myself sympathetic to the spirit of this quote, fake or not, especially when faced with people who harp on an idea like the popular vote.
