Michael Engard
@engard.me
Writer and web developer. Rochester, NY. Of late: WordPress, TTRPGs, the open web. You may never read my book but at least I’m writing it.
I often think of that scene in The Social Network where Andrew Garfield explains a basic algorithm (the Elo rating system) with a marker on a windowpane. It’s about 20 seconds long and it encapsulates what otherwise-smart people now regard as magic.
October 27, 2025 at 3:50 PM
I often think of that scene in The Social Network where Andrew Garfield explains a basic algorithm (the Elo rating system) with a marker on a windowpane. It’s about 20 seconds long and it encapsulates what otherwise-smart people now regard as magic.
A rare family photo, sending my wife to work in the morning the other day.
October 25, 2025 at 2:29 PM
A rare family photo, sending my wife to work in the morning the other day.
Reminiscent of my favorite Windows error message I ever saw in real life.
October 23, 2025 at 4:31 PM
Reminiscent of my favorite Windows error message I ever saw in real life.
Virtually all of the significant/well-known rooms are in either the original mansion or the west wing. The east wing really was essentially just miscellaneous office space and the visitors' lobby. (Cold comfort, obviously.)
At least the movie theater is still intact, for now!
At least the movie theater is still intact, for now!
October 23, 2025 at 3:14 AM
Virtually all of the significant/well-known rooms are in either the original mansion or the west wing. The east wing really was essentially just miscellaneous office space and the visitors' lobby. (Cold comfort, obviously.)
At least the movie theater is still intact, for now!
At least the movie theater is still intact, for now!
This bit from Neal Stephenson’s Cryptonomicon (1999) has stuck with me after a recent re-read.
![Screenshot of a quoted passage from a book:
“But the more I practiced with [guns] the more scared I got. Or maybe depressed. … Holding one of those things in your hands, cleaning the barrel and shoving the rounds into magazines, really brings you face-to-face with what a desperate, last-ditch measure they really are. I mean, if it gets to the point where we are shooting at people and vice versa, then we have completely screwed up. So in the end, they only strengthened my interest in making sure we could do without them.”](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:fwxnfnddpzc7r6f76a7pgoli/bafkreihzw4ezrvv62izzvgoobc4tqv4utlw64nthsfbesaasdnogvsy5fm@jpeg)
October 17, 2025 at 5:36 PM
This bit from Neal Stephenson’s Cryptonomicon (1999) has stuck with me after a recent re-read.
I remember this one vividly. That person is the patron saint of the confidently wrong.
October 11, 2025 at 9:34 PM
I remember this one vividly. That person is the patron saint of the confidently wrong.
Correction, you probably want “cover” rather than “contain”!
October 2, 2025 at 7:06 PM
Correction, you probably want “cover” rather than “contain”!
At a quick glance, looks like some of the images are slightly different sizes, which is messing up the stacking. You can addaA little CSS on the images to enforce the proportions you want:
img.demo {
aspect-ratio: 155 / 123;
object-fit: contain;
}
img.demo {
aspect-ratio: 155 / 123;
object-fit: contain;
}
October 2, 2025 at 7:02 PM
At a quick glance, looks like some of the images are slightly different sizes, which is messing up the stacking. You can addaA little CSS on the images to enforce the proportions you want:
img.demo {
aspect-ratio: 155 / 123;
object-fit: contain;
}
img.demo {
aspect-ratio: 155 / 123;
object-fit: contain;
}
This may be tangential to what you’re talking about but I think about this quote all the time now.
September 25, 2025 at 4:35 PM
This may be tangential to what you’re talking about but I think about this quote all the time now.
September 18, 2025 at 10:39 PM
I have a homebrew build script, and I use a custom checkbox property called “Index” to indicate which page to treat as the index page for its directory.
September 9, 2025 at 4:59 PM
I have a homebrew build script, and I use a custom checkbox property called “Index” to indicate which page to treat as the index page for its directory.
I’m surprised that we don’t see the original Colbert “Truthiness” monologue go around too often, because 20 years later it’s still the absolute Rosetta Stone of American politics.
September 5, 2025 at 1:20 PM
I’m surprised that we don’t see the original Colbert “Truthiness” monologue go around too often, because 20 years later it’s still the absolute Rosetta Stone of American politics.
At least on #2, there is evidence that they do physically open. They’re just not allowed to do so per Secret Service policy. I found this from an interview with Michelle Obama and Oprah, posted on the old Obama WH site. obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-of...
September 1, 2025 at 8:45 PM
At least on #2, there is evidence that they do physically open. They’re just not allowed to do so per Secret Service policy. I found this from an interview with Michelle Obama and Oprah, posted on the old Obama WH site. obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-of...
Oh, dude. This whole paragraph (both your excerpt and the part you cropped out) are making the exact opposite point to yours.
August 29, 2025 at 5:11 PM
Oh, dude. This whole paragraph (both your excerpt and the part you cropped out) are making the exact opposite point to yours.
You could say this has a gold-adjacent hue
August 18, 2025 at 6:45 PM
You could say this has a gold-adjacent hue
I subscribed to one of my city newspaper’s emails because I wanted to support local journalism, but I never read it because this stuff is all they publish.
August 17, 2025 at 5:48 PM
I subscribed to one of my city newspaper’s emails because I wanted to support local journalism, but I never read it because this stuff is all they publish.
QT this post with someone you wish was still alive
August 17, 2025 at 11:36 AM
QT this post with someone you wish was still alive
Afflict the comfortable, comfort the afflicted—or, whatever this is.
August 17, 2025 at 12:59 AM
Afflict the comfortable, comfort the afflicted—or, whatever this is.