Weeknotes 2025W23

In media this week, I finished reading The Black Orb by Ewhan Kim. What a strange and delightful book. Overall, it was pretty good that had themes of misinformation, mob mentality, and despair. I so badly wanted to know more about the orbs themselves but maybe the point is to not know. If the orbs represent despair, can we ever truly understand it—where it comes from, why it exists, and what to do when it surrounds you from all sides?

I’ve had Disco Elysium on my list of games to play for a while now and it finally came on sale so I picked it up. Incredible game that is quickly becoming one of my favorites. It’s a role-playing game that lets you make decisions and the story evolves from there. On my first run, I died of a heart attack in minutes but the second run is going much better. The art is incredible, the skill system is great, and the voice acting is mesmerizing.

This week’s coding creation and learning exercise was a project that tracks actions completed by the Oregon Legislature as they happen. Go check it out and share it with the Oregonians in your life. In short, it pulls public data from the legislature and displays it in a timeline for a more informed state. It’s got an infinite scroll and a nice clean interface. Write-up coming next week when there’s actual activity happening.

This weekend, AM and I went to the Bend pride festival and had lots of fun. There was live music, great weather, and a beautiful venue. I bought some new pins and AM got some art.

عيد مبارك عليكم!

Links

• Humble Accountability by Ben McLane. Treat those you lead with compassion and empathy to build trust. The benefits both inside and outside the organization are huge.
• Changing Directions by Jacob Kaplan-Moss. I, too, have always wanted my career to make the world a better place.
• Can accessibility be whimsical? by Sara Joy. Much like how your home doesn’t have Braille labels or a ramp instead of stairs, it’s ok to not have a 100% WCAG-compliant website. Little by little, add accessibility where it matters.
• Self-hosting your own media considered harmful (updated) by Jeff Geerling. Apparently, YouTube doesn’t like it when you make videos about streaming your own media.
• Why Corporate America Should Hire Returned Peace Corps Volunteers by Wayan Vota. Hey, that’s me! I do highly believe all of these reasons but the hard part is convincing employers that I do, in fact, have those skills.
• Self-Host & Tech Independence: The Joy of Building Your Own by Simon Späti. Own more of your digital life, little by little.