iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Austin Huang ❤️ @ap.austinhuang.me · 01/10/2026

My website now has a "#collections" page: austinhuang.me/collections, featuring a small fraction of various cards (especially the ORCA cards I got recently) I collected in the past. Check it out!

austinhuang.me

Held good for all our.

Mexico and went on: And remember.

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Austin Huang ❤️ @ap.austinhuang.me · 25/09/2026

Air Canada's A320 (C-FKPT) taxiing to the runway of Boeing Field, passing behind one of Museum of Flight's Super Constellation (CF-TGE), painted in the livery of Air Canada's predecessor, Trans-Canada Air Lines. #airplane #planespotting #photography #Seattle

The Air Canada A320 (its right side fully shown) taxiing behind the Super Constellation (with the right side of the front shown) anchored in the parking lot behind Museum of Flight.

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Austin Huang ❤️ @ap.austinhuang.me · 07/09/2026

I finally decided to get my #HomeAssistant working just for that one smart camera I have (that has a reverse-engineered API)... Took me a while to get up all the automations just for that one thing... But alas it should work better than their official app. What other smart stuff (that hopefully […]

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Austin Huang ❤️ @ap.austinhuang.me · 31/08/2026

The Issaquah Valley #Trolley, a single-kilometre heritage streetcar line that has just one stop. I suppose it makes good photo shots. #Photography #Seattle

The Issaquah Valley Trolley (ex-Lisbon car 519) approaches towards the camera as it travels through a single track with trees on both sides.

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Austin Huang ❤️ @ap.austinhuang.me · 30/08/2026

The brutalist fountain at Freeway Park in Downtown #Seattle. #SilentSunday #photography

An inward corner in the fountain, with water flowing down from levels of concrete. Some leaves can be seen.

An outward corner in the fountain (partially obscured by another concrete slab in the foreground).

View of one part of the fountain, with staircases descending into it. Two people are watching.

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Austin Huang ❤️ @ap.austinhuang.me · 29/08/2026

A few NUMTOTs threw a small funeral for bus routes 550 and 271 in #Bellevue. There were like 10 people, some shared their personal memories with the buses and looking forward to better transit, so it is more of a celebration of life. And we had flowers, which […] [Original post on mstdn.party]

The 550 bus waits for the green light at Bellevue Transit Center temporary stop B. Behind it is Community Transit route 908, itself introduced a few months ago to replace another fellow Seattle commuter route, the 424.

Flowers being handed out by one of the attendees, with a label depicting two cartoonish buses with line numbers 550 and 271 and the caption "Thank you for attending the 2026 Bellevue Bus Funeral to celebrate a life well lived~".

A flower is left on the front dash (behind the plastic board) on bus #6967, running eastbound on the 271.

A couple, in full funeral attire for the event, crosses the street in front of the 550 bus in Chinatown.

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Austin Huang ❤️ @ap.austinhuang.me · 25/08/2026

Over the past weekend I joined a group and sailed on a raceboat on Lake Washington. First time on the water by a vessel that's not a ferry, cruise, or whatnot, so I was a bit clueless (and scaredy, I guess?)... The camera is a bit burdensome on the lake (since […] [Original post on mstdn.party]

Base of the sail as the boat navigates through Lake Washington.

Flying on one of the ropes is a pride flag (of the 1978 original design, with pink on top), as the boat passes under the Aurora Bridge seen in the background.

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Austin Huang ❤️ @ap.austinhuang.me · 23/08/2026

Tried to play bass on Rock Band 3 on Xbox 360. What even is the proper way to hit the color buttons...

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Austin Huang ❤️ @ap.austinhuang.me · 18/08/2026

Watched Spiderman in theatre with coworkers. It has been like 7 years? since I've last been to a movie theatre and TIL the ads are now 30 minutes long. Anyways, as a comic culture outsider: cheesy teenage romance aside it was pretty interesting to watch. Takeaway: love and empathy triumphs over […]

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Reposted by Austin Huang ❤️

four* @4caddit.wetdry.world.ap.brid.gy · 17/07/2026

Happy iCal Day 📅

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Austin Huang ❤️ @ap.austinhuang.me · 14/07/2026

Strolling through #Fremont, supposedly the Center of the Universe... #Seattle #StreetPhotography

The Fremont Rocket. Picture taken from its base, looking up.

Planet Orbs, consists of three balls hanging by arches. According to the Fremont Chamber: "[t]hese planets dangle like a handmade solar system in the peripherals of The Statue of Lenin."

Statue of Lenin. The left hand is painted red, presumably by graffiti.

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Austin Huang ❤️ @ap.austinhuang.me · 13/07/2026

#Buses of Capitol Hill... (I came from LFS territory but I do find Xcelsiors having a pretty exterior too. Not the Gilligs though...) #Seattle #StreetPhotography #PublicTransportation

King County Metro bus #8000 (an XDE60) running on route 8 westbound from Capitol Hill light rail station.

King County Metro trolleybus #4408 (an XT40) running on route 49 northbound from Capitol Hill light rail station.

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Austin Huang ❤️ @ap.austinhuang.me · 06/07/2026

Gas Works Park. (This was not during Fourth of July, but rather during the r/seattle summer meetup back in mid-June.) #Seattle #photography

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Austin Huang ❤️ @ap.austinhuang.me · 05/07/2026

Exactly two weeks ago I hiked Naches Peak Loop at the Mount Rainier National Park with a few online friends. (We then actually had nachos.) This was said to be a mild trail but the ice on the way made it a lot more challenging. Yes, there's still ice in mid June! #SilentSunday #photography #hiking

A motorcycle on the side of the road. The driver is lying on the grass a few feet away, on an downward incline.

A small pond at about the midway point of the Naches Peak Loop.

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Austin Huang ❤️ @ap.austinhuang.me · 03/07/2026

U District light rail station, with its station art Fragment Brooklyn. #Seattle #PublicTransport #photography

1 line train enters into the station under the various urban building fixtures (windows with digital screens depicting daily life, fire escapes, balconies, etc.) which is part of the station art.

The same train leaves the station under a similar set of fixtures.

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Austin Huang ❤️ @ap.austinhuang.me · 02/07/2026

Got myself a (rental) #bike, specifically a Momentum Voya E+, which is an e-bike, although not very much so (the maximum range, which might even be inflated, seems to be based on eco mode which doesn't give a lot of assist). And yes, I've been biking to work (as […] [Original post on mstdn.party]

My e-bike on the practice bus bike rack (that is the same bike rack as used on buses attached statically there) at Kirkland Transit Center.

My e-bike on the SR 520 trail, at the eastern end of the floating bridge, looking towards the skyscrapers of Downtown Seattle.

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Austin Huang ❤️ @ap.austinhuang.me · 20/06/2026

Now that I've worked 2 months at Google (reminder: first job), and without breaking the rules, some thoughts: * What you work on can be blocked by others, so context-switching is important. * Context-switching is hard. * There are so many tools and they constantly change (especially with AI). * […]

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Austin Huang ❤️ @ap.austinhuang.me · 18/06/2026

You know what natural language search could be useful for? Finding memes based on description. Like, I want a specific rendering of a meme that I've seen before (so to, y'know, respond to relatable messages...), but Google's AI mode insists on drawing one itself...

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Austin Huang ❤️ @ap.austinhuang.me · 08/06/2026

Back on Memorial Day I met up with another Googler from the Bay Area and, y'know, ended up doing touristy things in #Seattle. And yes, that means going to the #SpaceNeedle...

Looking towards Harbor Island from Space Needle. The silhouette of the observatory of the Space Needle is reflected on the glass.

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Reposted by Austin Huang ❤️

Tamzin @tamz.in · 06/06/2026

You ever screw up so bad at a crime that your name becomes grammar?

Screenshot of a Wiktionary entry:

Pronoun
you guys

(colloquial, in the plural) You.
Hey you guys!

Screenshot of a Wiktionary entry:

Etymology 1
Coined by semantic widening from the name of Guy Fawkes (1570–1606), an English Catholic executed for his role in the Gunpowder Plot, which also came to refer to effigies of his image burned annually on Guy Fawkes Night. The name Guy is from Old French Gui, from a Frankish form of Proto-West Germanic *Widō (compare Old Dutch Wido), a short form of names beginning with the element *widu (“wood”), from Proto-Germanic *widuz. Cognate with Italian Guido. Doublet of guido.

Noun
guy (plural guys)

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Austin Huang ❤️ @ap.austinhuang.me · 07/06/2026

Happy #SixSeven (This post should be scheduled at 2026-06-07T06:07:06.767Z)

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Austin Huang ❤️ @ap.austinhuang.me · 05/06/2026

Bus passenger to driver: "we got a runner." ominously, in reference to someone running for the bus...

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Austin Huang ❤️ @ap.austinhuang.me · 27/05/2026

It says "everyone belongs at the #library" but the Traditional Chinese text says "everyone belongs *to* the library" which is quite funny in a "all your base are belong to us" way... (The Simplified Chinese text says "everyone can use the library" which is a bit […] [Original post on mstdn.party]

A poster outlining key details of https://spl.org/CommunityAgreement in multiple languages, on a bookshelf.

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Austin Huang ❤️ @ap.austinhuang.me · 14/05/2026

So I suppose a new #introduction is in order. Hello! New #software engineer at #Google (first job!) in the #Seattle area. Canadian; moved from Montréal. Once infamous for making Barinsta, then promoted open source and federated platforms, now back to coding a lot. Public transport fan and avid […]

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Austin Huang ❤️ @ap.austinhuang.me · 12/05/2026

And yes, I visited udub (ironically with someone not actually from UW). The roads within the campus are quite wide though (car-brained?). The reading room is nice as an attraction (someone was taking wedding photos inside though). #Seattle

The statue of a husky in front of the Husky Stadium.

Looking at the Drumheller Fountain, with Mount Rainier in the distant background (topped by clouds).

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Austin Huang ❤️ @ap.austinhuang.me · 11/05/2026

Anyways, now that I've settled in #Seattle (pun not intended) I must try the #transit. And yeah, I've taken the Crosslake a few times now... It's hard to get a good picture on the bridge itself though, so here's the newer train (which I like more than the older […] [Original post on mstdn.party]

A light rail train (Link 2 line to Lynnwood) enters the platform (at Wilburton). Picture taken against its direction of travel.

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Austin Huang ❤️ @ap.austinhuang.me · 30/04/2026

Note to self: in #iCloud Drive, folders can be considered app data merely by name, even if one never downloaded that exact app anywhere... (I had a Cryptomator vault created on computer in my iCloud Drive but it was wrongly associated with "Cryptomater 1: Legacy" app which was paid, no longer […]

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Austin Huang ❤️ @ap.austinhuang.me · 19/04/2026

I am never getting out of #Seattle (and this #scp3008)... #ikea #scp

$An IKEA shopping list sheet with the words "why da fuq the exit sign takin us in cycles," as well as "=\" emoticon faced properly, written in pencil across the sheet. Printed at bottom is the hours information for the Renton, WA store.$

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Austin Huang ❤️ @ap.austinhuang.me · 18/04/2026

How did this #hotel arrive at the choice of a picture of braille & morse code alphabets as room & corridor decorations, respectively?

A picture of the braille alphabet, framed on a wall inside a guest room.

A picture of the morse code alphabet, framed on a wall at a corridor.

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Austin Huang ❤️ @ap.austinhuang.me · 13/04/2026

Have apartment leasing offices considered that the average renter would've studied all the public information on their websites, and directing inquiries to EliseAI, which knows nothing more than that same public information (plus some generic assumptions that we all know anyway), is not gonna […]

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Austin Huang ❤️ @ap.austinhuang.me · 28/03/2026

Since I'd be leaving #Montreal in a few weeks I thought I'd have some #poutine before going to somewhere without that authentic Quebecois #food. So, got the Poutine St-Henri (large), plus a milkshake, at Green Spot. In hindsight I might've eaten too much for a […] [Original post on mstdn.party]

A plate of poutine with green bell peppers, mushrooms, and grounded steak. Next to it is a glass of milkshake.

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Austin Huang ❤️ @ap.austinhuang.me · 23/03/2026

Out of curiosity, and since not so many people tried to use #kagi to #translate *from* #LinkedIn speak to English, I decided to test it on an actual LinkedIn post on my feed (happens to be one using "AI" to replace interns) […] [Original post on mstdn.party]

First run. Output:
===

We stopped hiring interns because we're just making our engineers do all the grunt work with Al tools now.

It's not that we're 10x faster; it's just that we're rushing out half-baked products in a week that used to take two months of actual thought.

We basically fired the product managers and designers from the creative process. Now the devs just argue with a chatbot until they get a draft, and the PMs just glance at it before we ship. We've basically replaced meaningful collaboration with a giant, automated feedback loop.

And yeah, it's cheaper than a human being. I'm saving a few bucks on an intern's salary by making my senior staff do everything themselves with a glorified autocomplete.

Second run a few days later. Output:
===

We stopped hiring interns because we don't need them anymore.

I gave my engineers AI tools and now I expect them to work ten times faster. We rushed out a recruiting app in a week that probably should have taken two months to actually polish.

We basically fired the middleman. Now the engineers have to write their own requirements by arguing with a chatbot, and the PMs just sit there and "refine" things. We've basically just collapsed the schedule until everyone is exhausted.

And it's cheap. I'm paying less for software subscriptions than I would for a human being's salary, and I'm getting way more out of them.

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Austin Huang ❤️ @ap.austinhuang.me · 22/03/2026

RE: mstdn.party/@austin/111603979705045… Hello #MstdnCa users! As a former user there I want to let you know that your admin did this to your data before (and tried to skirt anti-spam laws). We don't use your data for fundraising here (though we still encourage you to donate!). And if […]

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Austin Huang ❤️ @ap.austinhuang.me · 18/03/2026

Recently obsessed with an ATC simulator game... (Just tower & ground, no approach.) I'm kinda averse to tell a plane to go around so I really try to do simultaneous operations (like takeoff when the landed plane hasn't cleared the runway) on the single runway I have, which I'm sure is not OK in […]

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Reposted by Austin Huang ❤️

Micr0byte @micr0.wetdry.world.ap.brid.gy · 12/03/2026

holy fuck they are putting chromium everywhere

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Austin Huang ❤️ @ap.austinhuang.me · 27/02/2026

Why has a very large part of the very limited selection of palatable restaurants around McGill all enshittified while I was away from the city... Someone please give me suggestions on some good choices around that part of the town... #Montreal (Other than Japote the MVP of course)

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Austin Huang ❤️ @ap.austinhuang.me · 25/02/2026

You know you're in a jurisdiction with some sort of #privacy law when #cookie banners start popping up on sites that usually don't do so... (I realized that Law 25 is fully in force since 2024 but I could not recall the increased cookie banners when I was back in Montreal last year...)

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