Chris DeLuca

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Stale cigarette smoke is a deeply nostalgic smell for me, even though I never was a smoker. I don’t get to smell it much anymore, which is probably a good thing, since it’s still pretty gross.

Don’t Get Pantsed!, my comedic, yet surprisingly human, interactive fiction is back online. It’s short, you can play it in the browser, and I’m still proud of it. 🕹️

Did anyone else play Gorillas back in the day? Still holds up.

Here’s my contribution to the “what apps am I using?” posts.

NEDCamp is great, as always.

I wrote a blog post for Lullabot on Useful git configurations you may have missed.

From Sannie Lee, writing about the value of a liberal arts education in tech.

Whether it was a history or literature class, one common thread across all my courses was thinking critically. Looking at historical events or understanding the meaning in a novel, I learned not to take things at face value.

As a “technical” tech worker, I couldn’t agree more. I credit a lot of my “how to think” skills with my liberal arts education, and think it provides perhaps a not immediately obvious, yet altogether invaluable, benefit.

Read her full article

You know what’s cool? Map(). More invaluable technical insights all the time subscribe.

As the premier published resource on quirky calendars in macOS, it is my sad duty to inform the world that they have been removed. I’m not sure which update killed them, but they’re gone in Sonoma. Whenever it happened, the world got a little bit less fun.

iOS 17’s Check In safety feature seems really useful when needed. Concerned that either the time-based or location-based flavors will have too many false positives in subway rides tho.

My group the Cat’s Cradle Ensemble is performing a fully improvised off Broadway show at the Player’s Theater, Friday October 27th at 9:30pm. Tickets are selling fast!

Corck board with a note clipped to it. The note’s title is “Chris Highlights”. The note reads, “Hi. Listen, alright? I’m telling you a story about me, Chris DeLuca, the improvistor. I’ve locked the doors. They’re in my apartment, so it doesn’t affect you, but I still want you to think about it. My improvisational style has been described as silly, featuring big doofy character work, combined with quick footed logic to tie everything together. Who made that description? Who cares! More importantly, who smells? Me? Wrong. I’m in my apartment, so I know you can’t smell shit. You plinth weasel. My comedic voice is very gentle. Jesus.” An organge callout over the corkboard reads, “Come see chris at the players theatre 10/27 | 9:30pm”

Them: “Oh, you play in an Orchestra! That’s so cool”
Me: “Yeah, well, I play kazoo”
Them: “That’s still pretty cool”
Me: “THIRD CHAIR”

TIL if the data that a GraphQL query is looking for has multiple types, the entire object will be removed. This is communicated via a non-halting warning, letting the “Can’t find the object” error blow up. Spent too much time debugging the error before noticing the warning 🙄

From Luke Planet’s No One Actually Wants Simplicity

I think a good test of whether you truly love simplicity is whether you are able to remove things you have added, especially code you’ve written, even when it is still providing value, because you realise it is not providing enough value.

Reminder that while USB-C is a welcome universal plug, the rest of the situation is, and will remain, a mess.

Unity exec tells Ars he’s on a mission to earn back developer trust | Ars Technica

“There was a lot more [feedback than we expected] for sure… I think that feedback has made us better, even though it has sometimes been difficult.”

Execs always trot out the “we didn’t realize” line. Frankly, that says they are either disingenuous or impossibly stupid. Either way, not trustworthy.

Smoke stacks near industry city.

Two abandoned smoke stacks against a darkening sky, light still holding on in the corner. A sliver of a moon rests low between the smokestacks , right above industrial buildings. In the foreground is a truck.

TIL the term Jamais vu, which is essentially the opposite of déjà vu.

Jamais vu involves a sense of eeriness and the observer’s impression of experiencing something for the first time, despite rationally knowing that they have experienced it before.

Found it in this equally fascinating article on the strange scientific research awards.

I called into last weeks Best Show. I was nervous, not my best representation of myself, and I made the mistake of reading the chat, but still proud of myself. Its scary!

Reading State of CSS. Some takeaways.

  1. Respondants largely white, male, in US
  2. Highest incomes in US
  3. Most under age 45
  4. Largest usage increase: :has()
  5. Least used feature: font-palette
  6. Majority use Subgrid
  7. content-visibility use decreased
  8. Cascade Layers has low awareness
  9. Framework use trending down

I ate at One of the Last Chino-Latino Restaurants in NYC last night and it was absolutely incredible. Please go if you can. I’m still full and I want more.

Them: Hey! Good to see you.
Me: Clicks pause button. Still 🎵
Them: I was just thinking about you!
Me: Pulls out earbud, clicks pause button. Still 🎵
Them: How long has it been?
Me: Yanks out earbuds, slams pause button. Still 🎵.
Them: …
Me: Crying, stomps earbuds. Still 🎵.

I’ve been trying to collect my thoughts several days: I’m so very sad to hear of Bram Moolenaar’s passing. The author and largest maintainer of Vim for something like 30 years, his charitable work and dedication to his software was incredible. We lost a titan.

Finished reading: Neuromancer by William Gibson 📚

It’s in some ways a retro future, others impossibly far off, and still others very present.

It’s so slathered in invented lingo that I found it hard to follow at points, but I was content to let the overall effect wash over me.

I had the Pollo Asado at this amazing hole in the wall in Sunset Park Brooklyn. So good. I had it hours ago and I’m still tired.