Fun Size Bytes
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Walter: Am I wrong?
The Dude: No, you’re not wrong.
Walter: Am I wrong?
The Dude: You’re not wrong, Walter. You’re just an asshole.
Walter: Okay then.
(re)
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I’m just sick and tired of not being the user anyone builds for.
Someone I respect a lot called me out for being an unreasonable SOB* in this morning’s rant about the Tumblr app. (* my word, not his)
He’s right. I am.
The Developers who work on the iOS app at Tumblr don’t have control over when things get fixed. This isn’t a one or two person dev team who can sit down over coffee and see what needs to be worked on next.
My anger was never really directed at them. I know how this works. I was angry that Tumblr, Inc. doesn’t care about me as a user, any more than Twitter does, or any more than the ones before that.
I have a long and arduous history of being an “edge case” — the user that Developers love and hate, because I use their software and push all the edges and try things that they haven’t even thought of, etc. But it also means that my “issues” eventually will crossover from “regular user” to “power user” and the sad fact of software development is that you make money by selling to more and more regular users.
“Power users” often become a burden as software grows beyond the niche of its initial userbase.
This has been a pattern I’ve faced for 10+ years, and the answer is always the same: “yes, we know about that issue, but we have limited resources and we’re focused on adding other features and fixing other bugs.”
Again and again.
It wears on you.
But when it spills over into a ragefest, it doesn’t benefit anyone. No one who reads this will think “wow, yeah we should have fixed that. We’re dumbasses!” They read it and think “here’s another asshole user who just doesn’t get it.”
Well, yes and no. I do get it. I just don’t like it.
But that’s still not a good reason to be an asshole about it.
So, that’s all I have to say about that. Except to say thanks to him for telling me privately and giving me a chance to think about it instead of attacking me publicly for being an asshole. Not that he’d have been wrong, just that it wouldn’t have accomplished anything.
Sort of like my post this morning.
Anyway. Onward.
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Budget talk makes my brain stupid
Evidence:
The Wife made brownies. We were all enjoying them after Ethan came home from school.
Me: “I left my office at 12:15 intending to go to lunch after answering ‘a few questions’ about the budget. I went back to my office at 2:45. I never made it to lunch. We spent the entire time talking about the budget.”
Her: “So, wait, is this all you’ve had to eat?”
Me: “Today?”
Fortunately she was kind enough not to say, “No, ever. I was asking if this was all you’ve had to eat ever. YES OF COURSE I MEANT TODAY.”
- 2 hours ago
- 25 notes
- #(Also until she mentioned it it hadn't occurred to me that this was all I had eaten all day.)
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I don’t even know how to talk about the way that I just spent my last 3 hours
Here are some highlights:
Budget talk. We’re running a deficit this year.
More budget talk. We’ll probably be looking at a bigger deficit next year.
A question as to whether or not I’m going to “need” all of my professional expenses allowance for the coming fiscal year.
An estimate that if things stay the same, we’ll run out of money in about 30 years. If they get worse, maybe 18. Because by “deficit” they mean “not using the $300k we have in the bank.”
Two people looking through the cabinets and commenting on how many reams of paper we have. And staples. And rubber bands.
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Flickr Pro used to be $25/year to be ad-free plus extra space, etc.
Now Flickr offers extra space to everyone, but if you want to get rid of the ads, it will cost you $50/year instead of $25.
Just in case you wondered what the “New Yahoo” is up to in other areas.
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“Really? … REALLY?”
- actual transcript of me reading these release notes.
I know I’m no iOS developer. And I’ve never made a company that I then sold to another company that hasn’t done anything relevant in years.
But I swear to $DEITY if someone brought me this changelog I would have thrown something heavy at them.
Meanwhile, guys, you’ve still fucked up Markdown posting for ~7 months, and there’s no confirmation that a post sent through the app was received by Tumblr.com.
But at least we have a fucking fancy post type chooser and app attribution.
I mean, what’s a months-old regression and potential data-loss compared to a shiny new post chooser?
Serious Question, Tumblr: are you even planning to fix the Colossal Markdown Fuckup, or are you content to just leave it this way? Because you broke it back in November, and it hasn’t gotten any better since.
But, hey, we got a fancy new post type chooser! Thank $DEITY because it was almost impossible to use the old one. I mean, remember all the complaints about the old one? “HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO CHOOSE WHAT KIND OF POST THIS IS? SOMEONE PLEASE HELP ME!”
But hey, congrats on the Yahoo deal. I am filled with hope that has-been+wannabe = destined for greatness.
Update: I posted some more rational thoughts about this here.
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Current Status.
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Vulcan Council President: You have surpassed the expectations of your instructors. Your final record is flawless, with one exception: I see that you have applied to Starfleet as well.
Spock: It was logical to cultivate multiple options.
Vulcan Council President: Logical, but unnecessary. You are hereby accepted to the Vulcan Science Academy. It is truly remarkable, Spock, that you have achieved so much despite your disadvantage. All rise.
Spock: If you would clarify, Minister: to what disadvantage are you referring?
Vulcan Council President: Your human mother
Spock: Council… Ministers, I must decline.
Vulcan Council President: No Vulcan has ever declined admission to this academy!
Spock: Then as I am half-human, your record remains untarnished.
Sarek: Spock, you have made a commitment to honor the Vulcan way.
Vulcan Council President: Why did you come before this council today? Was it to satisfy your emotional need to rebel?
Spock: The only emotion I wish to convey is gratitude. Thank you, Ministers, for your consideration. Live long and prosper.“It’s unnerving how he can insult you without even saying the words, but you know you’ve been insulted.” — The Boy, on Spock in this scene.
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Advice for Strays
Our latest pick is a fragile but faultless tale about love, loss, family and a very unusual friendship
It’s odd when my novel pops up unexpectedly like this. Lovely too.
I love this book as much as any I can ever remember reading. It’s really quite something, and I’d say that even if the author was a complete stranger.
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Militant Fundamentalism converts no one to your way of thinking. It is basically mental masturbation for people who already agree with you.
That’s true whether you are a Christian or an Atheist.
Insulting all people of faith as anti-science/anti-thought morons might make you feel better, but you’re only demonstrating the same prejudice and ignorance you claim to hate.
Yeah, I know there are plenty of hateful fuckwads out there who call themselves Christians. But if you heard someone talking about “all Muslims” based on 9/11 you’d consider them an ignorant bigot. So how about applying that same standard to Christians* and realize that the extremist zealots you see on TV are not accurate representations of most Christians either?
(*or any other religious group.)
Just a thought.
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“Two 10 pound cantaloupes in a 5 pound bag”
Would be a good title for an autobiography of that bridesmaid’s dress.
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Wedding Crashers 2
You probably can’t see it in this picture but he just aged about 10 years and I don’t like it at all.
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They’re talking politics at the table
Discussing which Republican candidates would be best to “undo the damage Obama caused.”
So I’m typing into my phone instead of laughing or screaming or crying.
Dear Entree: please hurry up and get here.
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This will be one of the essential tenets of my new religion.
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Perspective.
Wedding reception? Ugh
Wedding reception with an open bar? Of course, I’d love to come.
