jmac / is on Nostr

I live in New York. I get paid to write about databases. I don’t get paid to write about other stuff, but I do it anyway.

Tech writer at Google; Co-founder of IFTF, an interactive-fiction nonprofit; Liker of coffee, cats, open web technologies, et cetera. Co-admin of https://masto.nyc.

Last Notes

2024-08-14 00:21:42

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@npub1j7a…p393 This film looks amazing!!

2024-08-05 19:28:16

The older I get the more I love peanuts. Peanut butter is a lifelong favorite but lately I am happy with a jar of shelled and unsalted peanuts. Get me the supermarket brand, that's fine. They're good and good for you, and peanuts are among the most environmentally friendly nut crops too. I support more babies receiving peanut training. Absolutely.
https://mastodon.social/@kottke/112910960009604913

2024-07-17 04:26:11

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@npub1csg…pfvq This attitude is very important to me! I meant more that I didn't want my presence to make anyone else feel like they can't complain so as not to hurt my feelings or whatever. Reworded my post to clarify!

2024-07-17 04:22:25

It's a bummer to see people slag on Mastodon in other spaces that I'm in, buuuut I'm genuinely interested to see candid critiques of this platform and its culture from the technically apt. I always wanna know how we can do better.
My main concern is that I have to remember never to mention my Mastodon stuff in these spaces because I don't want anyone else to suddenly feel like they can't vent freely because oops here comes that Mastodon guy jmac, ugh sigh, nevermind

2024-07-04 16:27:31

Laverne from “Day of the Tebtacle” is one of the most memorable video game characters I’ve ever spent a long time with. I love heroically mediocre female protagonists in any fiction, and few did it more colorfully.
https://icosahedron.website/@oreolek/112728773784995018

2024-07-01 17:40:30

I'm visiting #Seattle for the first time from Tuesday through Friday! What's good, Fediverse?
A local friend is set to tour-guide Amy and I every afternoon, especially around the city’s hiking trails and other outdoor spaces. Between that and Atlas Obscura, I don't expect to be bored!
But if there's any amazing urban sights or experiences in Seattle that you love, I’d love to know about them too!

2024-03-16 16:48:31

How do we feel about https://newsmast.community?
It represents itself as a UK-based charitable nonprofit. Its main activity seems to be subscribing to a ton of Fediverse hashtags, then rapidly boosting posts made to them.
As such, my only relationship with its myriad accounts is disappointment: “Oh, a boost already! Oh, you again.” They tend to have fewer than 100 followers.
These interactions feel spammy, even if made in good faith, and I wonder if it needs moderation. WDYT? #MastoAdmin

2023-08-07 20:47:10

No matter what I #music listen to on Apple Music, the content of my "New Music" playlist is always 95% low-fi beats instrumentals. Sure, that's some of what I listen to at work, but not *that* much!
Hypothesis: the euro-electropop dance-clash that I enjoy the most hasn't been in fashion for decades, and new albums in that genre are rare. Meanwhile, ambient-music artists with names I'll never remember can poop out an album a week by just tweaking the inputs on their Python scripts.