kevmarsden

Discourse announced layoffs today. From the post:

"Our revenue has been steady but our goal now is to reach profitability at a streamlined cost structure. "

I build workouts in Garmin Connect (web version). It's not great, but it works.

I'm pretty sure WP Engine could patch Wordpress to use its own infrastructure, so this isn't a really as much of a security risk as people claim.

Patching core WordPress is straightforward, but there's also tens of the thousands of plugins and themes on WordPress.org. Until WP Engine can create a mirror of the plugin and theme repos, there will be security risks.

What a shame. This feels like a defining moment for WordPress. I'm not optimistic this is going to end well for anyone in the WP ecosystem.

Confirmed by WP Engine: https://wpenginestatus.com/incidents/640187

WP Engine hasn't acknowledged this yet, so I hope it's a bug or a mistake.

A link to yesterday's conversation after WP Engine sent their cease-and-desist letter to Automattic:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41631912

In response, here's the cease and desist Automattic sent to WP Engine:

https://automattic.com/2024/09/25/open-source-trademarks-wp-...

There are three reasons I want to pay of my mortgage, even though my interest rate is 2.99%:

1. Minimize financial risk. There are no risk-free investments. There is no guarantee I'll have a high income in the future. And there is no guarantee that the value of my home will remain higher than my mortgage. 2. Peace of mind 3. I don't want to deal with mortgage loan servicers. My loan seems to get sold every couple years and I have to log into sketchy, outdated websites with web addresses like phhloansphereservicingdigital.bkiconnect.com.

I'm surprised that memo leaked. Automattic is very open with employees and trusts them not to share internal information. While I worked there (2013-2018) I don't remember any news leaking.

Back then I was still excited about new OS X releases. I remember walking to Best Buy to purchase the physical copy on release day.

The location in my town serves food and beer/wine. At one point they had at least five B&N Kitchen locations, but it looks like they're down to two:

https://www.barnesandnoblekitchen.com/locations/

To me, it makes sense to get rid of the full kitchen but keep the coffee, beer, and wine.

I don't like most electronic music, but I really enjoy Caribou's music.

https://caribouband.bandcamp.com/

As an entry point, start with the song Melody Day:

https://caribouband.bandcamp.com/album/andorra

Tsh Oxenreider recently posted a nice piece on third places.

https://thecommon.place/p/thirdplacehomesteads

I'm definitely missing have a third place in my suburban life.

We've had the Brother HL-L2340D for a few years. It's been rock solid. It's so much better than the HP inkjet printers we had in the past.

Most job application flows are suboptimal, but job seekers need to stop maximizing the number of applications they submit and instead create a few really great applications.

I typically spend two or three hours writing a cover letter and customizing my resume for each job application.

I transferred all my domains to Porkbun. Their renewal prices are low and so far, I don't have any complaints.

I'm totally the opposite. That sound is grating to me. But I'm sensitive to other sounds too, so it's not just LEGO.

Ugh. I hate Google, but for years I've been recommending Google Domains. It's time to transfer my 19 domains elsewhere.

I lived in SoCal for 30+ year and now live in a Sacramento suburb. I previously had a pretty snobby view of Sacramento, but after living here for nine years I think it's the most underrated city in California. The restaurants aren't up to par with the bigger CA cities and it does get hot in the summer, but overall it's a great location.

One of the big benefits is that there are so many options for day trips. Visiting Lake Tahoe and the surrounding mountains is an easy day trip. Visiting SF or the beaches is doable in a day. Napa is close. For hikers, runners, and bikers there are tons of bikes paths and hiking trails all over the Sacramento region. And there are a lot of neat places in the nearby Sierra foothills.

To summarize: If you prioritize nightlife, music, and food, Sacramento might not be the best fit, but if you prioritize affordability (relatively speaking) and getting outside, it's hard to beat the Sacramento area.

A few comments pointed out McDonald's stock price or recent profit, but underneath the hood, their financials aren't great. Since 2010 their long-term debt has grown from about $10 billion to $35 billion. They currently spend about $1.2 billion/year on interest payments, but over time that will increase substantially as their low interest bonds mature.

Here's the recent history of their balance sheet:

https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/MCD/mcdonalds/bala...

Same here. We need a Homestead Act 2.0.

In the meantime, expanding my backyard garden is a decent alternative. I used to spend most of my free time browsing the internet or tooling around with code. Now I hardly touch my computer on weekends.

Disc golf. I started playing during COVID. It's the first new hobby I've picked up in over a decade.

If you have a course nearby, it's a really accessible sport because all you need is a couple of plastic discs. It's a great way to get outside and walk a couple of miles. Plus it has a lot of nerdy elements (disc flight numbers, release angles, form, plastic types, etc.). And for me, it's fun whether I'm playing by myself, with friends, or with my kids.

Active Trackers: https://activetrackers.com

A fitness web app I built during the first year of COVID to track pull-ups, push-ups, etc. A couple of my family members purchased a subscription, but otherwise it hasn't gotten any traction.

I have monthly goals for push-ups and pull-ups, so I still use it every day to track my progress.

It's built with Laravel, using Spark, Jetstream, and Tailwind. Before building the app, I had only dabbled with Laravel, so building it was a great learning experience.

U.S. Congressman Thomas Massie built a small walipini on his property:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NZPRQ7HJqE&list=PLldAQgVQ7E...

I don't really trust GoDaddy, but there's no evidence there that GoDaddy purchased the domain in question. It's just parked with them.

That sounds like a nightmare, but I wouldn't let that experience sour your opinion of Google Domains.

I actively avoid Google products, but Google Domains is an exception. They make limited upsell appeals, their pricing is straight forward, and if it's available, they include privacy protection with the annual cost.

And they are clear about the lack of privacy protection for .us domains. This text appears when checking out: "Privacy protection is not supported for .US domains."

WordPress also works well with nginx. That's what WordPress.com runs on.

Four novels stood out:

- Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner

The novel explores aging, careers, and relationships. As I plod further into middle age, I felt like it was written for me.

Amor Towles is a brilliant writer. I enjoyed all three of his novels:

- A Gentleman in Moscow - Rules of Civility - The Lincoln Highway

I haven't read Machines Like Me, but Atonement is one of my all-time favorite novels. To give you an idea of my general tastes, I'm drawn towards late 19th and early 20th century writers. McEwan's style reminds me of English writers in that period, such as Maugham and Greene.