Steve Downey
sdowney.org
Steve Downey
@sdowney.org
It's my fault "throw 💩;" is no longer valid C++. In penance, I worked to make optional<T&> happen.

Parody of a real software engineer and grown up.

Software engineer at Bloomberg LP

Views are my own

he/him

@[email protected]
Reposted by Steve Downey
My talk about "nothing" (what does a computer do when it has nothing to do?) is now online! 👨🏻‍💻

I had a lot of fun with this one.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgl0...
January 2, 2026 at 10:59 PM
Loki is suggesting I not move for a little while.
January 2, 2026 at 11:55 PM
Reposted by Steve Downey
lol I just came across this post by Zoharn’s wife Rama Duwaji’s stylist and the boots were…. on loan

open.substack.com/pub/brainmat...
January 2, 2026 at 3:17 AM
Reposted by Steve Downey
Fun fact, Metropolis is set in 2026
January 1, 2026 at 7:34 PM
Reposted by Steve Downey
Software taketh away faster than hardware giveth: Why C++ programmers keep growing fast despite competition, safety, and AI
herbsutter.com/2025/12/30/s...
#cpp
#cplusplus
Software taketh away faster than hardware giveth: Why C++ programmers keep growing fast despite competition, safety, and AI
2025 was another great year for C++. It shows in the numbers Before we dive into the data below, let’s put the most important question up front: Why have C++ and Rust been the fastest-growing major…
herbsutter.com
January 1, 2026 at 11:53 AM
Happy New Year 2026!
January 1, 2026 at 5:03 AM
Reposted by Steve Downey
Just like every year, a friendly PSA:

“Feliz ano nuevo” means “happy new anus.”

“Feliz año nuevo” means “happy new year.”

Wishing folks either one is nice, but make sure you’re using the one you mean.
December 31, 2025 at 4:08 PM
<feedback squeal>
Hey!

We're the Ramones, this one's called "Rockaway Beach"

One, two, three, four....

album changed my life a few years later
48 years ago today
An iconic live album was created during 2 legendary concerts

"It's Alive" by the Ramones was recorded at the Rainbow Theater in London on December 31, 1977 and January 1, 1978

#punk #punkrock #ramones #itsalive #history #punkrockhistory #otd
December 31, 2025 at 5:37 PM
The white shoe in White Shoe Law Firm is the white buckskin, and it was the equivalent signal as the Patagonia Vest in 2015. "Casual" but in an expensive way that shows status and being above the dress code rules.
December 31, 2025 at 5:01 PM
Reposted by Steve Downey
I’ve spent this morning morbidly watching the MTV channels close down and the final songs played were:
MTV Music - Video Killed the Radio Star (Buggles)
Club MTV - Don’t Stop the Music (Rihanna)
MTV 90s - Goodbye (Spice Girls)
MTV 80s - Together in Electric Dreams (Oakey and Moroder)
December 31, 2025 at 10:34 AM
I didn't watch the first MTv broadcast. Basically no one did because it wasn't carried anywhere yet. Just Northern New Jersey.

But it did explode, it was important, in good and bad ways, and someone remembered to finish as they began.

youtu.be/W8r-tXRLazs?...
December 31, 2025 at 4:33 PM
Reposted by Steve Downey
December 30, 2025 at 5:48 PM
30 years ago today

IT'S A MAGICAL WORLD, HOBBES, OL' BUDDY...

-LET'S GO EXPLORING
31 December 1995. Still the perfect goodbye.
December 31, 2025 at 3:20 PM
Reposted by Steve Downey
Something that I've noticed in #yeg that's different from other cities in Canada I've lived in (MTL, Waterloo, Ottawa, Toronto) is how they clear snow on arterials.

They push the snow to the centre, creating a median out of snow. Slows cars down and more accessible curbs.
December 30, 2025 at 3:46 PM
No "Big Design Up Front" tends to work best if the person not designing this system has successfully designed a lot of others.
December 31, 2025 at 3:07 PM
Reposted by Steve Downey
Good morning
December 30, 2025 at 3:32 PM
MAGA media illiteracy.

Springsteen and Born in the USA.

Rage Against the Machine and Killing in the Name.

Norman Rockwell.
December 30, 2025 at 3:32 PM
Reposted by Steve Downey
"Norman Rockwell was antifa," his granddaughter says. (Fact check: literally true.)
www.thebulwark.com/p/norman-roc...
The MAGAfication of Norman Rockwell
Trump uses the artist’s work—like other cultural icons—to promote Gestapo tactics and nativist ideas.
www.thebulwark.com
December 29, 2025 at 3:54 AM
Reposted by Steve Downey
Renault 5 - Renard (1982, France)
October 18, 2025 at 4:12 PM
Reposted by Steve Downey
This is true and I was the only one on set excited about it (and playing the song on my phone to blank stares)
Just watched the new Knives Out and I think it's really important you know that the scene in the Seminary's Gym is filmed in the same place Rick Astley filmed the music video for Never Gonna Give You Up.

I saw the window tracery and immediately made my friends pause the film so I could tell them.
December 30, 2025 at 4:21 AM
Reposted by Steve Downey
New on the blog: You Will Never Know Enough — Make peace (and progress) with incomplete knowledge
kevlinhenney.medium.com/you-will-nev...
You Will Never Know Enough
Make peace (and progress) with incomplete knowledge
kevlinhenney.medium.com
December 29, 2025 at 4:03 PM
Reposted by Steve Downey
Flu antivirals don't kill the virus—they stop it from replicating. That's why the "take within 48 hours" guidance isn't arbitrary: every hour you wait means more virus for your body to deal with. Here's how to test at home and get treatment fast ⤵
www.patreon.com/posts/146890...
December 30, 2025 at 12:06 AM
Reposted by Steve Downey
Remembering Ian Fraser 'Lemmy' Kilmister 🖤

December 24, 1945 - December 28, 2015

Ramones and Lemmy - R.A.M.O.N.E.S- Live

#punk #punks #punkrock #lemmy #lemmykilmister #ramones #history #punkrockhistory #otd
December 28, 2025 at 5:00 AM
It's not what the article or studies say at all.
Early specialization doesn't last. There are huge filters to progress from youth to young adult to adult in specialized fields.
December 29, 2025 at 5:36 PM