David Brownman
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David Brownman
@xavd.id
1.2K followers 250 following 200 posts
Software developer, tinkerer, enthusiast. Currently slinging bits at Stripe.

For my media reviews, see: @david.reviews.

Blog & more: https://xavd.id
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David Brownman @xavd.id · Jan 26
Well folks, it's here! My massive Favorite Media of 2024 roundup is live! I've got #videogames, #movies, #tv, and #books, plus links to everything that was eligible from last calendar year.

As always, it's a big one, but I think it turned out well. Enjoy!

xavd.id/blog/post/fa...
My Favorite Media of 2024
David's 9th annual roundup of his favorite things he played, watched, and read this year.
xavd.id
xavd.id
This feels good and normal
A piece of stock news that says "AWS Outsge Disrupts Major Global Sites for Over 12 Hours" followed by the AMZN stock +1.83%
October 21, 2025 at 4:03 AM
xavd.id
Happy official #Pithon day to us all!

It's got template strings, new interpreter options, some better error messages, and more! Big congrats to @hugovk.dev and all the #Python contributors that made this possible!

mastodon.social/@xavdid/1111...
David Brownman (@[email protected])
I thought of a funny(?) joke that won't be relevant until the fall 2025 #Python release. I'm gonna post it now because I bet we'll see a lot of this joke then and i want to make sure I get it in first...
mastodon.social
October 8, 2025 at 1:30 AM
xavd.id
They talked about my recent TypeScript blog post in this episode. It's a cool listen!
September 30, 2025 at 9:42 PM
xavd.id
Real life @xkcd.com 1105 sighting!

xkcd.com/1105/
License plate reading "B8BB8BB"
September 28, 2025 at 11:10 PM
xavd.id
Wrote a little #blog post over the weekend about my favorite #TypeScript pattern: #Python kwargs! It's a great little pattern.

xavd.id/blog/post/py...
Python-style kwargs in TypeScript
A pain-free way to write expressive, readable typed option bags in TypeScript.
xavd.id
September 22, 2025 at 4:56 PM
xavd.id
#Python f-strings have a super powerful templating language built in! But I always forget the exact syntax. Well, no longer! h/t @the-compiler.org

fstring.help/cheat/
Python f-string cheat sheet
Get quick help with Python's f-string syntax
fstring.help
August 30, 2025 at 6:49 PM
Reposted by David Brownman
david.reviews
If you look closely, you might recognize the byline on that article... 👀
August 20, 2025 at 5:23 PM
xavd.id
I wrote a bit about my experience doing a bunch of Rust last year! As expected, there were good parts and less good ones. Neat language though.

xavd.id/blog/post/my...
My Year of Rust
david.reviews: Rust! It's neat, but not without its warts.
xavd.id
August 13, 2025 at 6:59 PM
xavd.id
Feels like it's a good day to mention that it's pretty easy to archive your Reddit data for safekeeping
GitHub - xavdid/reddit-user-to-sqlite: Pull Reddit user data into a SQLite database
Pull Reddit user data into a SQLite database. Contribute to xavdid/reddit-user-to-sqlite development by creating an account on GitHub.
github.com
August 12, 2025 at 2:14 AM
xavd.id
A new #AdventOfCode solution? In #python? It's more likely than you think.

Here's 2024 day 16! I'll finish these yet.

advent-of-code.xavd.id/writeups/202...
Advent of Code 2024 Day 16: Reindeer Maze
A step-by-step Python walkthrough for solving Advent of Code 2024 Day 16.
advent-of-code.xavd.id
August 4, 2025 at 4:52 PM
xavd.id
PSA: It's both Bandcamp Friday AND there's a new 8-Bit Big Band album out!!

album.link/i/1813061416

It's available on streaming, but some stuff is fun to own. Plus you can support them financially!
Orchestrator Emulator by The 8-Bit Big Band
Listen now on your favorite streaming service. Powered by Songlink/Odesli, an on-demand, customizable smart link service to help you share songs, albums, podcasts and more.
album.link
August 2, 2025 at 1:03 AM
xavd.id
I'm a software guy by trade, so it's always exciting to fix a household item by taking it apart.

Pictured is my venerated #Kobo, who reset itself and refused to connect to WiFi or a computer after being left unattended for a year. Popped it open, got the SD card in my computer, and restored it!
The inside of an e-reader, showing a circuit board and battery.
July 17, 2025 at 3:53 PM
xavd.id
Latest review is up! It's from one of my favorite studios, so no real surprise- it was a slam dunk!
david.reviews david.reviews @david.reviews · Jul 14
🎮🕹️ There's a new (almost) #Zachtronics game out! It's "Kaizen: A Factory Story", the latest from @coincidence.games.

It's the puzzle gameplay you know and love tied up in a great 1980s Japan setting. I had a blast with it!

Check out my full review:

david.reviews/articles/kai...
"Kaizen: A Factory Story" is a excellent Zach-like from the devs who know the genre best
Familiar Zachtronics-style gameplay feels great in 1980s Japan.
david.reviews
July 14, 2025 at 5:26 PM
xavd.id
Happy #Vantage launch day to all who celebrate #boardgames
Vantage
Vantage is an open-world, cooperative adventure game for 1-6 players designed by Jamey Stegmaier. Vantage features an entire planet to explore, with players communicating while scattered across the…
stonemaiergames.com
July 9, 2025 at 7:46 PM
xavd.id
Fun fact:

As of today, we are now closer to 2050 than we are to 2000.
A screenshot showing that it's 8,950 days from Dec 31, 2000 to today, July 3, 2025 A screenshot showing that it's 8,948 days from today, July 3, 2025, to Jan 1, 2050
July 3, 2025 at 3:32 PM
xavd.id
🕹️🎮 At long last, @vicky.science and I have BLOOPED THAT RINSE (aka we finished BLUE PRINCE).

The game is massive and tricky and oh so tightly designed. Makes for great couch "co-op" where we're both working together to solve things!

david.reviews/games/blue-p...
david.reviews: Blue Prince
★★★★: Stunning in its vastness and meticulousnes. Dense, deep puzzles and a continuous stream of discoveries kept us engaged for nearly 100 hours. That's extremely rare for any game, much less a puzzl...
david.reviews
June 29, 2025 at 8:09 PM
xavd.id
I did a lot of writing over the weekend!

First up, I published a personal blog post all about my computer backup strategy (such that it is). Thinking through what you care about and how to back it up is a great exercise if you haven't done it before.

xavd.id/blog/post/my...
My Backup Strategy (and how to build your own)
I don't back up my laptop; here's what I do instead.
xavd.id
June 23, 2025 at 7:38 PM
xavd.id
PSA: New Dispatch album dropped last week!

www.dispatchmusic.com/music/yellow...
Dispatch - Music
Generated by create next app
www.dispatchmusic.com
June 16, 2025 at 8:48 PM
xavd.id
Great news! The team behind the Steam version of @roottrees.com have announced their second game: a remaster of the freeware deduction game TYPE HELP!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/3641000/The_Incident_at_Galley_House/
The Incident at Galley House on Steam
In 1936, something terrible happened at Galley House. Decades later, with a strange contraption that reveals echoes of the past, you must uncover the truth behind this grisly mystery.
store.steampowered.com
June 16, 2025 at 8:08 PM
Reposted by David Brownman
coincidence.games
The demo for Kaizen: A Factory Story is now live on Steam!

store.steampowered.com/app/2275490

This is the first demo that I have made for one of our games since... 2011? I've been operating under the assumption that Bulletstorm killed the PC game demo, but apparently that's not true anymore.
Kaizen: A Factory Story on Steam
Kaizen is an open-ended puzzle automation game from the original Zachtronics team, set in 1980s Japan. Design, build, and optimize production lines to create iconic products, like calculators, camcord...
store.steampowered.com
June 9, 2025 at 6:44 PM
xavd.id
The Caltrain app needs a disclaimer if there's a Giants home game when you're checking the timetables. I always forget to do it myself and am always surprised when I get on a totally packed 11:30am train
June 7, 2025 at 7:01 PM
xavd.id
Lyft first: driver is listening to an audiobook. Little odd, but NBD.

Come to realize it's not a full book, it's the first 5 minutes of _many_ audiobooks (presumably a continuous stream of free previews).

This... is much worse.
June 1, 2025 at 3:44 AM
Reposted by David Brownman
david.reviews
Our friends over at Thinky are hosting their first "Direct"! It'll feature tons of puzzle game announcements, trailers, demo releases, and more. Be sure to tune in!
thinkygames.com Thinky Games @thinkygames.com · May 20
🎉 We're excited to announce our very first Thinky Direct!

Yep, we'll be sharing brand new trailers and exclusive reveals for lots of exciting thinky games!

📺 Watch live on Thursday, May 29!
👉 thinkygames.com/direct/
May 20, 2025 at 4:28 PM
xavd.id
This is an interesting thread about culverts and flood damage!
waldo.net Waldo Jaquith @waldo.net · May 14
We’re waking up to serious localized flood damage around Charlottesville. A 12-year-old was swept away in floodwaters. Everything else is just property damage, and pales in comparison.
May 17, 2025 at 4:05 PM
xavd.id
Work post!

I'm running a survey of #Stripe users who handle events (webhooks) from Stripe.

We're working on the SDK+Webhook experience and we'd love to get some feedback!

forms.gle/sqoMbCoxe5wy...
Handling Stripe Events in the SDKs
Hi there! Thanks for taking a quick survey about Stripe event handling. We're specifically interested in your experiences with handling Stripe events (webhooks) in your code. The survey will take appr...
forms.gle
May 6, 2025 at 5:32 PM