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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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Sep 13, 2023, 7:52 PM -04:00
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Aug 30, 2023, 11:29 AM -04:00 Wow, the Brontë family was kind of cursed, eh?
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Aug 28, 2023, 10:33 PM -04:00 A Library of the World
I recently saw Umberto Eco: A Library of the World, a documentary about Umberto Eco's extensive book collection. At first blush this doesn't sound like the sort of topic that would make for an interesting documentary but with something like 50000 books spread over two libraries, a significant number of them dating from the medieval era, there's actually a surprising amount of stuff to unpack here. If you like books, you'll like the film. I thought it was great.
In my case, I found myself thinking less about the books themselves and more about the subtext surrounding them. Eco was unsurprisingly disdainful of e-books and valued the physical durability of paper. It's an opinion with which it's easy to sympathize given how e-books are often saddled today with restrictive DRM and competing formats. Ink on paper doesn't have a "format" problem and often lasts centuries. Do you think you'll be able to read your Kindle 100 years from now?
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Jul 10, 2023, 6:35 PM -04:00 Try as I might, I simply cannot seem to get the hang of that "food flip" chefs on TV do when they're frying something.
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Jun 28, 2023, 10:44 AM -04:00 I've been blogging sporadically for a long time, and I've written several things that I've kind of liked, so it's hard for me to pick just one.
I guess my favourite would be this one, about an abandoned factory in my neighbourhood: https://desmondrivet.com/2013/07/31/canada-malting.html
Runners up would be: My trip to Poland: https://desmondrivet.com/2016/06/29/poland.html Catholic Atheism: https://desmondrivet.com/2016/04/02/on-escaping-your-past.html
MastodonAna Rodrigues (moved!) (@ohhelloana@mastodon.social)
What is your favourite blog post that you’ve written? -
Jun 27, 2023, 11:09 AM -04:00 Good article. I find myself becoming more sympathetic to this point of view the older I get. https://www.currentaffairs.org/2023/06/the-perils-of-innovator-mindset
Current Affairs
The Perils of ‘Innovator’ Mindset ❧ Current Affairs
<p>Five people are dead because Stockton Rush believed in a toxic ideology that sees ‘regulation’ as the enemy of ‘innovation.’ </p> -
Jun 18, 2023, 6:37 PM -04:00 Bookmark of https://youtu.be/Kok5RLFYtSo
YouTube
Torta piu amata in Italia 🤩 La farai ogni settimana 🍋🍋🍋
Ingredienti : crema :500 ml. latte2 uova4 cucchiai amido di mais6 cucchiai zucchero80 gr. mascarpone o philadelphia1 limone 🍋1 uovo120 gr. zuccheroscorza di... -
May 30, 2023, 8:30 PM -04:00 I Enjoy Writing Software
I enjoy writing software more than I enjoy using software. I'm not berating myself over this, nor am I proud of it. It's just how I am.
What this means in practice is that I will often write a whole bunch of code before I even start trying to debug it. Writing code tickles what I imagine is the creative part of my brain, and it feels good. Running and debugging code tickles the "chore" part of my brain and it doesn't feel as good.
(Yes, programming is creative. It's an act of creation. I'm emphasizing this point because there is a tendency in non-technical circles to view programming as something sterile or clinical, like accounting. I would imagine, however, that there are very few accountants who do accounting in their spare time, whereas you can easily find tons of programmers who do coding in their spare time, myself included).
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May 27, 2023, 9:20 AM -04:00 Thoughts on writing my first game. If I Can Do It, Maybe You Can, Too Many Gold Machine readers do not follow the contemporary interactive fiction scene closely. Likewise, many contemporary IF players do not read a lot of game criticism about the Infocom catalog. Still, there is a lot of overlap and cross-pollination that goes on. That being so, I think some–not all, and that’s ok–readers will be interested in my recent experiences writing a text adventure game called Repeat the End... -
May 9, 2023, 9:43 AM -04:00 Interesting door in Saint-Henri, Montreal
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Apr 30, 2023, 6:22 PM -04:00 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... -
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...
