If you’re looking to network within software development communities, a user group is a good starting point. For example, I am a .NET software engineer, and the Portland Area .NET User Group was instrumental in building out my PacNW professional network. Plus their meetups are generally a fun time.

Look for API meetups in your area, it doesn’t matter what kind of APIs. Even if you have no interest in API development, API meetups are usually run by Developer Relations (DevRel) engineers. It is the job of DevRels to help software engineers become better and to connect people to resources. Source: used to be a DevRel.

And even if you live in a small or low-density region, there is probably some kind of computer users, web development, and IT group. Again, even if you’re not exactly interested in those aspects, these people tend to know senior or principal software engineers who can either connect you to resources or directly take you on for mentoring.

All that said, I frequently say “we are not meant to engineer alone,” however self-motivation is a prerequisite to programming and software engineering. Go to the library and immerse yourself in some books on software development; off the top of my head: “Modern C++ Programming with Test-Driven Development,” Refactoring, Design Patterns, “The Pragmatic Programmer,” “Code Complete,” “The Missing Readme,” “Object Oriented Analysis and Design with Applications.” A lot of these are going to go over your head at first, but just take a look at them.

Some people will take issue that I suggest learning C++ first, but I’ve been at this a while (34 years). I liken it to learning to drive a manual transmission car with no synchromesh. The difference between a software engineer who understands memory pointers and one who learned only managed languages is always immediately apparent.

Good luck out there.

• BilSabab - prolific retro content poster
• Kolonaki (sp?) - so often lands just the right comment
• haha_oh_wow@sh.itjust.works - mod and prolific poster on the micromobility comm

Short, quippy, and categorically wrong. You’re underscoring my points about how we’re getting divided and subsequently conquered. But keep on being divisive and see how that works for you. I’ll be over here trying to unite my fellow leftists.

Want to demolish a regime? It’s gonna take a lot more than a vote. But waiting for a perfect candidate is a sure way to lose. The worldwide fash uprising didn’t happen within a single voting cycle; this was a concerted, multi-front effort on the part of Conservatives and oligarchs (see: “Evil Geniuses,” by Kurt Andersen). In the United States, that movement probably started in earnest with the Powell Memorandum, but can trace its roots much further to psy-ops like the Red Scare and covert ops like COINTELPRO. Coincidentally, note the dates of when COINTELPRO was revealed and when the Powell Memorandum (“an excess of democracy”) was written/disclosed.

Get out from behind the keyboard (yep, I’m calling myself out on that one, too), get out and about in your community, talk to people, organize, unionize, seek out common ground with people, build a bigger table instead of bigger fences. We didn’t get into this shit overnight; we’re not getting out of it without decades of work and probably bloodshed. The faster we want the change, the more of our own individual blood we need to be willing to invest, while being careful to avoid the exact mistakes that always happen when people demolish regimes. And count on more COINTELPRO-like opposition at every turn. The oligarchy have lots of motivation and money to invest in keeping us divided.

Right? Shit like this almost feels like… a psy-op to keep the left divided against itself. And then we ape-brains conveniently spread such content to soothe our egos via complex purity tests.

Seriously folks, I get we all want to hold the absolute moral high ground, but we’re all losing the war because of letting psy-ops divide us. “Oh, I wouldn’t fall for any of that.” Bull. Fucking. Shit.

Pay attention to when Be wary of messaging that pits you against people with whom you actually have more in common than in opposition. When we wait for perfectly aligned allies, we die alone. And when we propagate and perpetuate divisive content, we’re just doing the fash’s job for them.

There’s so much I love about Aurora. Every time I boot up my video editing laptop or rendering desktop, it’s like… slipping into a hot tub on a cold winter night.

Funny you say that… my previous job was on Win 11 and a sovereign cloud version of Copilot, the latter of which we were “strongly encouraged” to use for everything. That went nowhere fast.

Burley Travoy FTW! There’s only one trailer I ever loved more (Carry Freedom City), which I stupidly sold when downsizing.

Kudos on being proactive. Empathy by way of anecdote: I just had my first colonoscopy 2 months ago. The prep is, in fact, crazy shit. Until it’s just tea coming out… :D Fingers crossed for nothing burger for you, followed by tasty re-feed. For anyone else with a colonoscopy in their near future: get a bidet toilet seat or a French showerhead. Your tender anus will thank you.

Since your background is in healthcare, I probably don’t need to say this, but I’m not going to let that stop me! The fear and worry are counterproductive. Stated another way: don’t borrow trouble.

Like I should be bullying myself.

Well, I could do that for you, but then I’d get banned. :D

I can find outlets in writing this brief diarrhy entries

I see what you did there.

I wish I’d appreciated the years better.

It’s never too late to start. Once you’re able to be away from the toilet for more than 10 minutes. Good luck, let us know how it goes.

In the United States, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS, federal taxation authority, for the non-US audience) is actively disinterested in timebanks as long as they are only exchanging labor on an equal time basis. Unfortunately, the IRS considers exchange of goods to be taxable and therefore wants its cut. So timebanks in the US are pretty strict about goods exchange. There are other means for physical goods that skirt US tax law, such as Freecycle.

It could potentially look like a timebank (https://www.timebanks.org/). Timebanks are a means of exchanging labor wherein everyone’s time is valued equally. By performing services for someone anywhere in a timebank network, e.g. hOurworld.org, you receive that time which you can then use to receive services from someone else.

You’re not gonna believe this… there’s totally a system to enable exactly that, called timebanks. It’s a means of exchanging labor wherein everyone’s time is valued equally. https://www.timebanks.org/timebank-map-and-directory

Disclosure: I’m a founding board member and the treasurer for my regional timebank. I’m all in on the timebank kool-aid.

When the soap, ballot, and jury boxes repeatedly fail to protect the populace, the 4th box becomes inevitable. I’m not saying it’s right, but this is the general arc of these things.

I know ricotta doesn’t go on stromboli.

That’s just food abuse. And I’d still mow down a bunch.

Designer’s Republic was the graphic design firm. Their work is so distinctive and, for me, the apex of 90s graphic design.

Roland AE-30 (wind synth). It’s great to get back to playing “saxophone,” as well as use it in my MIDI setup to control other synths. Added bonus: it’s small enough to pack just about anywhere, and I can practice anywhere, anytime with headphones. Even just running scales is chill, meditative time, especially during stressful workdays.

I interpret “guilty pleasures” as things that are not-so-great, but I enjoy them anyway. No shame implied in my head. Some crappy, simplistic EDM track, but is still a total earworm… sign me up! Nothing like that for you?

Velveeta, specifically a Velveeta cream sauce on thick al dente pasta.

The suspension is in the steerer.

It’s not hydraulically damped, on top of being super proprietary. For me, proprietary is a hard nope at any price.

Congratulations on your boat’s parole!