Ryan Boswell 🏳️‍🌈 / is on Nostr

💻 Software engineer turned manager.
❤️‍🔥 Passionate about privacy, security, content systems, emojis, and the outdoors.

Last Notes

2025-04-20 02:41:18

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@nprofile…48vs I’m glad I ended up buying my Synology before they instituted that

2025-04-04 03:05:00

Why do companies always start their automated phone message with a 30-60 second unskippable prompt saying you can perform many account functions online?
Do you think I wouldn't have done that if I had a choice? I'm probably calling you because whatever I want to do can't be done online, and your snark is just serving to annoy me further.

2025-03-15 04:12:42

Was explaining the whole self-hosted/small web movement to someone at work today, and they replied “Oh, so you’re like one of those preppers with a bunker, but digital.”
And I will not be taking any further questions at this time.

2025-03-15 04:12:42

2025-02-15 15:38:41

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@nprofile…48vs
🎵 All I want for Christmas is insolvency …

2025-02-10 15:44:38

I feel like this is such an obvious conclusion, and is a key reason I never use AI to do my job (or anything else for that matter). But it’s nice that there’s official research to confirm it, bonus points that one of the biggest backers of AI in the world helped conduct it.
https://www.404media.co/microsoft-study-finds-ai-makes-human-cognition-atrophied-and-unprepared-3/
#ArtificialIntelligence #StopAI

2025-01-02 01:11:43

It’s January 1st, which for those in the USA might mean you have a new health insurance provider.
Make sure you read their privacy policy clearly, look specifically for mentions of whether or not they sell any personal information. While health information specifically should be off limits, they could still work around that by trying to “anonymize” or “de-identify” that info before selling it, or they might opt to sell information they collected from third parties that are not explicitly covered by HIPPA laws (that’s the health privacy law in the US).
Several states allow you to opt out of this sale of your data, but the insurer may allow you to opt-out regardless of state. It is worth looking and sending a quick email (or filling out a form if they’re cool like that) to opt-out and make sure that a tiny bit less of your personal info is bought and sold.
#Healthcare #Privacy #HealthInsurance

2025-01-01 16:35:00

Managed to get to the Golden Gate Bridge overlook for a New Years sunrise today. I had a nice streak of going before the pandemic, and hopefully I can make it a tradition again. #SFBA #SanFrancisco #GoldenGateBridge #HappyNewYear2025 #Sunrise #Photography
https://files.sfba.social/media_attachments/files/113/754/065/935/453/079/original/2b1328bda5bf8908.jpeg

2024-12-31 06:33:02

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@nprofile…48vs reading through some of your other replies, you have a point about cases like drivers speeding through reds of recklessly changing several lanes immediately after entering a highway. But I disagree that driverless vehicles should follow the norms.
Yes, they should be aware of norms to better predict what others might do and act defensively when necessary just like human drivers should. But they must also recognize those norms are technically illegal and should not be mimicked.
It’s easy enough as a pedestrian or other driver (without disabilities) to see that a driver isn’t even bothering to look your way as they barrel through a crosswalk or intersection. But it’s impossible to tell if a driverless vehicle “sees” you and whether it’s safe to proceed. So they must follow the law to the letter without fail, or they introduce far more risk and chaos to roadways than human drivers.

2024-12-18 06:06:02

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@nprofile…dhpg my current director and peer managers all assume 3-4 months before most new engineers hires are effective at the level we hire them, some of the best senior engineers I’ve seen can do it in 2, which puts them right in your range.

2024-11-03 21:55:07

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@npub1dnn…yyg8 what’s worse, a lot of the big donation platforms have started using a wider range of short domains for those text links this election, making it harder to identify if they’re legit.
ActBlue has at least 4 different names in text campaigns I’ve traced by looking up DNS records.

2024-10-24 01:11:35

And I was just starting to appreciate reporting from the LA Times more in the last few months.
The actual reporting team is still doing a decent job, but the owner has failed us all.
But it is important that word does get out that the editorial team did fully intend to endorse Harris, had they not been blocked.
#USPol #LATimes
https://www.cjr.org/business_of_news/los-angeles-times-editorials-editor-resigns-after-owner-blocks-presidential-endorsement.php

2024-10-24 01:11:35

2024-10-09 03:31:40

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@npub1dnn…yyg8 I think CEOs overestimate the value of their work. Takes one to know one I guess 🤷

2024-04-10 00:58:08

Now that it’s largely grown in, I kinda wish I had thought to do a one photo per day timelapse of our neighbors tree growing out its leaves for spring. It would have been pretty fun to see.
I’ll have to set a reminder to start one in the fall when its leaves turn and fall.
#Nature #TreesOfMastodon

2024-03-07 23:42:07

Hey #SFBA friends 👋
Does anyone know of any #coworking spaces in the Mission / Potrero area in San Francisco?
I’m in need of a space for something like 4-8 weeks (still figuring that out) with a dedicated private space (I’m a manager = lots of meetings/video calls). I may also have a coworker in need of a space as well.
I’d love to avoid WeWork if I can, but I honestly don’t know what else is out there that’s not a shared hotdesking / open-plan situation only.

2024-01-04 15:29:39

Few things smell of authoritarian overreach more than using a large armed force in the dark of night (literally, just after midnight) to forcibly remove people from a public space that historically has been used in the free speech and civil rights movements.
And now they’re barricading the area for several blocks (disrupting the lives of anyone who actually lives near the park) so they can surround it with shipping containers to keep activists out.
I’ll also remind you there is ongoing litigation that prevents the university from tear down the park and building on the land until it gets resolved.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/eastbay/article/peoples-park-uc-berkeley-housing-18587674.php