Steve Downey
@sdowney
Professional C++ nerd. I worked to make optional<T&> happen. Working to make Text less bad in C++. Whole person, not a brand. Posts about politics, software, books... Software engineer at Bloomberg LP Views are my own he/him @sdowney@mastodon.social
Fun new fountain pen ink. Octopus Fluids Neon Orange. Theory of use is my commentary on notes I'm taking, to distinguish from the notes themselves, or from red correction/copy edit. Or just because I want a super bright florescent orange.
Film you've watched more than six times with a gif. Hard mode: no Star Trek, Star Wars, LOTR, Marvel, Disney, or Ghibli.
Before the railroads, clocks were set to local solar time, where noon is when the sun is at its highest. How you feel about standard vs dst is a measure of how far off you are from true solar time.
Fine penmanship is still beyond me. But these are from the last tech conference (C++Now) I was at: Wooden lap desk not pictured. YuSari paper, various fountain pens, various inks.
I'd hand wave Chaos Theory here, but it's a new century. But all interesting dynamical systems do it. Even ones that seem really boring at first.
We have arrived at the "If I can't have good attention, I will get bad attention" phase of the morning.
Help! I urgently need three reasons why I do not need this fountain pen. Lamy Al-Star Disco HP Colab is one strong one. I'm never buying HP anything, but I can see how the horribleness of JKR slips under corporate radar. "You don't need a new pen" is too weak to be one.
Idealistic and patriotic Dexter Riley, recruited by the US Military into the Special Forces, becomes disillusioned after being burned by Military Intelligence and "Captain Berrigan", and adopts the nom de guerre Snake Plissken and goes underground.
Both were done in collaboration with the reddit fountain pen community. The latest is Lady Grey. Prior ones: Writer’s Blood, Celadon Cat, Sailors Warning (renamed Red Sky and Sailor was very nice about it, really!), Aurora Borealis, and Earl Grey. nickstewart.ink/2025/07/14/d...
Fountain pen adjacent news. 700 to 800 year old pocket notebook recovered from a latrine in Germany. People dropped things in the toilet, then, too. Waxed pages with a wooden cover. Cross-writing was not a 19thC invention, which makes it harder to read today. www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/f...
My cat, Bunny, left some notes on code I was working on last night. She had also toggled to light mode for some reason. I switched back before taking pix.
Nonsensical context for BIRD and AI. The current huge rise is barely visible on the long term history.
My understanding of the doctrine of Ex Cathedra. Used Twice. The Pope, to be clear, is not Bugs in this metaphor.
My very butch very Orange cat Loki has realized something is UP, and he is not in favor of UP, and wants me to stop the UPing. Only Loki UP.
Tool I picked up on a whim to help with cardboard box break down. It works far better than I expected at all, cuts through paper, cardboard, plastic wrappers, and NOT skin, with no real effort. Decided to post when I used it to separate Costco chicken breast packs. Slice Micro Safety Cutter