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Dan Lew

@danlew42.bsky.social
311 followers 53 following 173 posts
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Dan Lew @danlew42.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Tarantino went uncredited for his writing on Fortune's Weave, but there are signs.
Image of Fortune's Weave, where you're given the option to "examine her feet."Quentin Tarantino looking interested
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Dan Lew @danlew42.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
When someone says "you are perfect the way you are."
Optimal packing of 17 squares, a monstrosity of squares in three different angles.
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Dan Lew @danlew42.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Preparing for the movie by reading the book first.
Me holding the book "Digger", a graphic novel which has nothing to do with "Digger", the movie.
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Dan Lew @danlew42.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Interview with a vampire, callback with a vampire, skill assessment with a vampire, values screen with a vampire, executive meet with a vampire, salary negotiation with a vampire, onboarding with a vampire, sprint planning with a vampire, postmortem with a vampire.
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Dan Lew @danlew42.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Fortune's Weave in a nutshell.
The quote "amab? afab? no im ahab. where the FUCK is that whale", being attributed to Dietrich from Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave.
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Dan Lew @danlew42.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Whenever I activate cheat codes in a game, I have fun being mighty/invincible/rich - for a bit. Then it gets boring FAST. It turns out the fun is in the challenge, however minor. I imagine this is part of why the ultra-wealthy seem to go nuts. We need some travails to keep ourselves grounded.
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Dan Lew @danlew42.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Many of these "play smart" rules are so ridiculous that my kid and I made a game out of trying to break of many of them as possible. We accomplished 7 out of 12 possible.
A playground sign with twelve “play smart” rules:

- Do not play on broken or damaged equipment. Report it.
- Do not play without adequate safety surfacing below and around equipment.
- No helmets, necklaces or drawstrings while on equipment.
- Be careful of hot play surfaces and always wear shoes while playing.
- Do not play tag or run on playground equipment, and do not jump off of equipment.
- Watch your head! Do not run under bridges, decks, stairs, or other equipment.
- Be careful when equipment is wet. Do not play on snowy or icy equipment.
- Do not climb on roofs, railings, or posts, or on top of crawl tubes or tube slides.
- Slide sitting down, feet first, and one at a time. Do not climb up slide chutes or tubes.
- Adults - do not slide with a child on your lap. It can injure your child's legs.
- Before letting go of overhead bars, hang down still, bend your knees a little and drop straight down on to both feet.
- Swing sitting down and do not jump out while swinging. Do not twist chains.A normal kids' playground, with the same sign visible.
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Dan Lew @danlew42.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
My wife is pulling out books we each saved to pass down to our kid. In the process, we discovered that we had identical childhoods.
Duplicate copies of five books: "The Phantom Tollbooth", "Wayside School is Falling Down", "Wayside School Gets a Little Stranger", "Sideways Arithmetic from Wayside School", and "Aliens Ate My Homework."
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Dan Lew @danlew42.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
There's an unfortunate number of scammers out there doing art "commissions" that are just feeding your picture through an AI filter. I'm glad I commissioned my avatar art before the age of AI. I didn't have to question whether someone actually made my art or not.
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Dan Lew @danlew42.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Regarding Samsung bricking their smart fridges... I once told a contractor that I explicitly did NOT want a smart appliance. His response was “you must be a software developer, they’re usually the ones who don’t want them.”
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Dan Lew @danlew42.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Algorithmic interviews aren't unrealistic just because most people don't write algorithms at work. They also present a well-packaged, predefined problem; the sort that doesn't exist IRL. It's like the frictionless sphere in physics; useful for pedagogical purposes, but not practical.
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Dan Lew @danlew42.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Occasionally I write algorithms at work, just like in the job interviews! What’s interesting is that, in reality, these take *much* longer than an hour to solve. That's due to time spent refining requirements, locking down edge cases, and extensive testing.
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Dan Lew @danlew42.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Thinking about how horrifingly moist everything would be if water didn't naturally evaporate all the time.
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Dan Lew @danlew42.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
I appreciate your choice of screensaver.
Windows "pipes" screensaver.
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Dan Lew @danlew42.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
My kid makes big demands then throws a tantrum when he doesn't get exactly what he wants. If he'd asked nicely or negotiated, he might've gotten some of his request. I'm beginning to equate that behavior with discourse online. Righteous fury is addictive but it often won't get you what you want.
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Dan Lew @danlew42.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
That's precisely the reason I became an election judge in 2020. While I have occasionally seen other young EJs in my time, the vast majority are still retirees or close to it (at least at the sites I've worked at in Edina).
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Dan Lew @danlew42.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Thoughts on automated testing: blog.danlew.net/2026/09/15/m...
blog.danlew.net
My life before & after automated testing
It’s hard for me to overstate how much my coding has improved since embracing automated testing. And yet, I used to think of it as a waste of time! This post is for my former self, demonstrating why I...
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Dan Lew @danlew42.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
More thoughts on nitpicking in code reviews: blog.danlew.net/2026/09/01/n...
blog.danlew.net
Nitpicking in code reviews wastes time
I once wrote about how I've stopped nit-picking in code reviews, which improved the signal-to-noise ratio and helped everyone get along better. I’m back with a third reason to ditch the practice: nit...
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Dan Lew @danlew42.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
Both Star Wars and Star Trek are, in many ways, more fantasy than sci-fi. Star Wars has the magical force, while Star Trek has all of humanity living in harmony together.
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Dan Lew @danlew42.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
The AI ate my uptime.
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Dan Lew @danlew42.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
I tried to go see that new racing movie (F1) but instead I got a popup about how to watch a movie.
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Dan Lew @danlew42.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
A random thought about software development careers in the face of AI. blog.danlew.net/2026/08/17/t...
blog.danlew.net
There's more to software development than coding
Like many software developers, I’ve been considering the future of my profession in the face of AI. AI can write code. Our job is to write code. It seems natural that we’d be replaced by AI, no? But...
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Dan Lew @danlew42.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
Informational modals on app startup ("here's what's new!") never work. People open apps in order to *use the app* - not read updates. The pop-up (no matter how short or helpful) will always be in the way of what people actually wanted to do.
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Dan Lew @danlew42.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
Odd thing that's been happening for a while: whenever I ask Android Auto for directions, it says I'm 6+ hours away from my destination (even if it's only a few minutes away). www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIId...
youtube.com
Google Maps directions bug
YouTube video by Dan Lew
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Dan Lew @danlew42.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
There are three hard problems in software development: cache invalidation, naming things, and getting coworkers to consistently show up to do code reviews.
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Dan Lew @danlew42.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
I have found it impossible to set up passkeys on my Firefox account w/ 1Password on desktops. Tearing out my hair trying to route Firefox → OS → 1Password and back. Every other day gives me more justifications for the talk I wrote about how passkeys aren't quite ready for your user.
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Dan Lew @danlew42.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
A surprisingly big influence on me at my college internship: seeing a developer who was an absolute whiz on the command line. Nonstop typing, the relentless execution of numerous commands without fail. Afterwards, I wanted nothing more than to learn how to do that.
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Dan Lew @danlew42.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
It is always okay to blame Reagan
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Dan Lew @danlew42.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
Some imperial devil setup our weight system such that: - Scales measure in pounds (e.g. 5.4 lbs) - There are 16 ounces in a pound. - Website inputs are split into pounds AND ounces, so you have to convert (e.g. 5lbs 6oz). Why do I gotta do this math?!? Computers are good at it!
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Dan Lew @danlew42.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
Missing items of the magi
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Dan Lew @danlew42.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
"I'm Anne Hath-away; leave your name and number after the beep and I'll get back to you soon."
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Dan Lew @danlew42.bsky.social · 20/07/2026
Well jeez, you already gave away the ending, why would I get it now.
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Dan Lew @danlew42.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
One must imagine Sisyphus happy. Unless you have aphantasia.
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Dan Lew @danlew42.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
Criterion Closet but for video games.
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Dan Lew @danlew42.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
When I was a kid we didn't have AI slop. Instead, we had Lisa Frank.
A Lisa Frank collage, an absolute fever dream of rainbows and animals.
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Dan Lew @danlew42.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
AI sloppers will never understand the sublime beauty of a quick & dirty photoshop
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Dan Lew @danlew42.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
I didn't need to read the rest of this thread to know where this was going. I did the same thing recently, and even with most of my home being dumb, the few smart devices I had were a nightmare to update. I had to have a tech come out to do the thermostat because the whole system had to be reset.
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Dan Lew @danlew42.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
I can tell the age of a web designer instantly based on how small of a font size they chose.
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Dan Lew @danlew42.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
RAM has gotten so expensive that I can only afford SO-SO DIMMS now.
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Dan Lew @danlew42.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
Just discovered the simultaneous invention of "giving a fuck"-based communication in tech! A former coworker of mine came up with a "level of give a fuck" scale: blog.danlew.net/2020/04/15/t... Independently, a coworker of @capwatkins.com invented it as well: capwatkins.com/blog/the-sli...
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Dan Lew @danlew42.bsky.social · 03/07/2026
Nothing is safe from enshittification: even zombo.com sucks now.
zombo.com
Zombo.com - No Limits - You Can Do Anything
Zombo.com where you can do anything. Zombocom has no limits. Zombo is unlimited.
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Dan Lew @danlew42.bsky.social · 02/07/2026
There are many reasons I don't want to be famous, but it would be really cool to make some kid's week just by giving them my signature.
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Dan Lew @danlew42.bsky.social · 02/07/2026
It's unfair that we have to play both Bosnia AND Herzogovina.
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Dan Lew @danlew42.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
The internet decays more than you'd think because you can't accidentally leave a website going. There is always some maintenance cost. It’s not like a long lost book or trinket, which can just sit in an attic for decades without anyone realizing it.
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Dan Lew @danlew42.bsky.social · 24/06/2026
Everyone wondering if AI has consciousness needs to read the Chinese room argument, by far the most frustratingly sticky philosophy paper I read in college about consciousness. plato.stanford.edu/entries/chin...
plato.stanford.edu
The Chinese Room Argument (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
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Dan Lew @danlew42.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
Here, I'm thinking specifically of games where the ideal is to press the exact same buttons at the right time, every time (like playing a song from sheet music). Games like E33 (or more appropriately, Crypt of the Necrodancer/Hi-Fi Rush) have much more choice in what you're doing.
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Dan Lew @danlew42.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
Some thoughts on a new gaming subgenre I'm calling "obfuscated rhythm games." blog.danlew.net/2026/06/23/o...
blog.danlew.net
Obfuscated Rhythm Games
I’ve been a rhythm game fiend since my introduction to Dance Dance Revolution in the early 2000s. I spent years obsessed with DDR, took a detour into Beatmania, then played Guitar Hero / Rock Band non...
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Dan Lew @danlew42.bsky.social · 17/06/2026
Yes, the context is that Jesse Wilson (along with many collaborators!) are giants in the OSS scene. Limiting their ability to do releases would be a huge blow. The joke is that these contributions were a reign of terror when in reality they are greatly beneficial to the community.
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Dan Lew @danlew42.bsky.social · 17/06/2026
Your reign of terror is finally coming to a close
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Dan Lew @danlew42.bsky.social · 13/06/2026
Went to an art museum today that was largely paintings on canvas. It occurred to me that, because AI art is constrained to the screen, it literally cannot have the depth of a real painting. It can imitate the texture of a painting (viewed digitally), but it won't hold up in real life.
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