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It's my fault "throw 💩;" is no longer valid C++.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]
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
an easy way to understand this is that people make clothes cool and not the other way around. so our judgement of what looks "good" is often shaped by the cultural capital of various social groups. punks, skaters, hip hop heads, etc look stylish simply bc they are cool. thus money is not a barrier.
December 26, 2025 at 11:39 AM
an easy way to understand this is that people make clothes cool and not the other way around. so our judgement of what looks "good" is often shaped by the cultural capital of various social groups. punks, skaters, hip hop heads, etc look stylish simply bc they are cool. thus money is not a barrier.
Reposted by Steve Downey
12YO girl signed up to do “stand up comedy” at the talent show. 13YO boy decided to heckle her. Teacher started to tell the boy to leave her alone, but the 12YO comedian said “no, no, let him go, this is the closest he’s ever going to get to having a conversation with a girl.”
What's an insult you'll never forget?
December 26, 2025 at 4:43 PM
12YO girl signed up to do “stand up comedy” at the talent show. 13YO boy decided to heckle her. Teacher started to tell the boy to leave her alone, but the 12YO comedian said “no, no, let him go, this is the closest he’s ever going to get to having a conversation with a girl.”
The Yule log video loops at 2:25.6 , 10 samples.
December 25, 2025 at 10:45 PM
The Yule log video loops at 2:25.6 , 10 samples.
Reposted by Steve Downey
I'm a fan of Diamine and Iroshizuko but I didn't want you to miss the cephalopod connection! www.jetpens.com/Pilot-CON-70...
JetPens.com - Pilot CON-70 Fountain Pen Converter - Black
This CON-70 converter has a large capacity and features a unique push-button mechanism. Use it in the pens listed under Compatible Products. A detailed guide to using this converter can be found here.
www.jetpens.com
December 25, 2025 at 6:36 PM
I'm a fan of Diamine and Iroshizuko but I didn't want you to miss the cephalopod connection! www.jetpens.com/Pilot-CON-70...
Reposted by Steve Downey
Discworld QOTD, from Hogfather
December 25, 2025 at 6:01 PM
Discworld QOTD, from Hogfather
Reposted by Steve Downey
Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, and Blitzen.
But they were, all of them, deceived, for another Reindeer was made.
#christmas
But they were, all of them, deceived, for another Reindeer was made.
#christmas
December 25, 2025 at 2:00 PM
Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, and Blitzen.
But they were, all of them, deceived, for another Reindeer was made.
#christmas
But they were, all of them, deceived, for another Reindeer was made.
#christmas
Reposted by Steve Downey
From now on, in my head canon, humpback whales are formed when strong winds hit Icelandic mountains, they are born in the hump wind.
a mountain covered in snow and clouds with a blue sky
Alt: Winds hitting the side of a snow covered mountain
media.tenor.com
December 25, 2025 at 3:50 PM
From now on, in my head canon, humpback whales are formed when strong winds hit Icelandic mountains, they are born in the hump wind.
Reposted by Steve Downey
Do you remember the famous #Earthrise photo from #Apollo8? On Christmas Eve in 1968, William Anders turned his camera toward Earth and captured the legendary photo. It showed humans a new perspective, with the moon in the foreground and Earth floating in distant space. 🌎🚀🔭📸
buff.ly/s01u0Ww
📸 NASA.
buff.ly/s01u0Ww
📸 NASA.
December 24, 2025 at 3:30 PM
Do you remember the famous #Earthrise photo from #Apollo8? On Christmas Eve in 1968, William Anders turned his camera toward Earth and captured the legendary photo. It showed humans a new perspective, with the moon in the foreground and Earth floating in distant space. 🌎🚀🔭📸
buff.ly/s01u0Ww
📸 NASA.
buff.ly/s01u0Ww
📸 NASA.
Programming conferences go through so much coffee because there are so many self-medicating programmers.
December 24, 2025 at 7:11 PM
Programming conferences go through so much coffee because there are so many self-medicating programmers.
Sigh.
So much wall clock and CPU wasted.
`sudo apt get install ccache`
`-DCMAKE_CXX_COMPILER_LAUNCHER=ccache `
From:
Compilation finished at Wed Dec 24 09:53:56, duration 0:01:06
To:
Compilation finished at Wed Dec 24 09:57:01, duration 3.01 s
[second time, obvs]
So much wall clock and CPU wasted.
`sudo apt get install ccache`
`-DCMAKE_CXX_COMPILER_LAUNCHER=ccache `
From:
Compilation finished at Wed Dec 24 09:53:56, duration 0:01:06
To:
Compilation finished at Wed Dec 24 09:57:01, duration 3.01 s
[second time, obvs]
December 24, 2025 at 2:58 PM
Sigh.
So much wall clock and CPU wasted.
`sudo apt get install ccache`
`-DCMAKE_CXX_COMPILER_LAUNCHER=ccache `
From:
Compilation finished at Wed Dec 24 09:53:56, duration 0:01:06
To:
Compilation finished at Wed Dec 24 09:57:01, duration 3.01 s
[second time, obvs]
So much wall clock and CPU wasted.
`sudo apt get install ccache`
`-DCMAKE_CXX_COMPILER_LAUNCHER=ccache `
From:
Compilation finished at Wed Dec 24 09:53:56, duration 0:01:06
To:
Compilation finished at Wed Dec 24 09:57:01, duration 3.01 s
[second time, obvs]
Reposted by Steve Downey
Everything Harry Potter got should have gone to Discworld instead.
I don’t care that 41 is a lot more movies than 8.
I don’t care that 41 is a lot more movies than 8.
December 24, 2025 at 7:07 AM
Everything Harry Potter got should have gone to Discworld instead.
I don’t care that 41 is a lot more movies than 8.
I don’t care that 41 is a lot more movies than 8.
Reposted by Steve Downey
Because these days GenAI is so invasive it’s integrated secretly into spellcheck, search engines, how your own phone processes photos you take etc. We need a definition that says “No LLM-generated text allowed but your book isn’t disqualified because Microsoft enshittified while you were writing it”
December 24, 2025 at 2:25 PM
Because these days GenAI is so invasive it’s integrated secretly into spellcheck, search engines, how your own phone processes photos you take etc. We need a definition that says “No LLM-generated text allowed but your book isn’t disqualified because Microsoft enshittified while you were writing it”
Reposted by Steve Downey
Reposted by Steve Downey
No Advent of Code for me. Instead, I've used the break to write the type-erasure library I have always wanted.
C++ doesn't make it easy to have both dynamic polymorphism *and* value semantics, but this little utility does!
Interfaces can extend other interfaces, and it works in consteval, too. 🤩
C++ doesn't make it easy to have both dynamic polymorphism *and* value semantics, but this little utility does!
Interfaces can extend other interfaces, and it works in consteval, too. 🤩
December 24, 2025 at 1:25 AM
No Advent of Code for me. Instead, I've used the break to write the type-erasure library I have always wanted.
C++ doesn't make it easy to have both dynamic polymorphism *and* value semantics, but this little utility does!
Interfaces can extend other interfaces, and it works in consteval, too. 🤩
C++ doesn't make it easy to have both dynamic polymorphism *and* value semantics, but this little utility does!
Interfaces can extend other interfaces, and it works in consteval, too. 🤩
What if "24" was a documentary, what then?
Kavanaugh concurs, but complains that the majority goes too far in restricting Trump’s ability to federalize the National Guard in the future. I wonder if he tried to persuade Roberts and Barrett to sign onto his narrower approach, but failed. www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25p...
December 23, 2025 at 9:02 PM
What if "24" was a documentary, what then?
Updated Martin Duffy's CMake instrumentation example to the current API and added a shell script callback to copy out just the trace json data to a .trace directory.
github.com/steve-downey...
github.com/steve-downey...
GitHub - steve-downey/test-instrumentation
Contribute to steve-downey/test-instrumentation development by creating an account on GitHub.
github.com
December 23, 2025 at 8:12 PM
Updated Martin Duffy's CMake instrumentation example to the current API and added a shell script callback to copy out just the trace json data to a .trace directory.
github.com/steve-downey...
github.com/steve-downey...
The sky above the port was the color of a hazy shade of winter.
December 23, 2025 at 6:41 PM
The sky above the port was the color of a hazy shade of winter.
Remember when it was a really risky idea for Marvel Studios to hang everything on the B-list heroes like Captain America they hadn't been able to license?
honestly the only surprising thing here is how long it took marvel studios to become marvel comics
December 23, 2025 at 6:05 PM
Remember when it was a really risky idea for Marvel Studios to hang everything on the B-list heroes like Captain America they hadn't been able to license?
Reposted by Steve Downey
No one ever tells me these things, so I just discovered that the Kindle ebook of first Coop heist novel, THE EVERYTHING BOX, is on sale for a lousy $.99. You can't even buy a three-legged hamster for $.99, so get a bunch of my books instead. 🐹
www.amazon.com/Everything-B...
www.amazon.com/Everything-B...
December 23, 2025 at 3:05 PM
No one ever tells me these things, so I just discovered that the Kindle ebook of first Coop heist novel, THE EVERYTHING BOX, is on sale for a lousy $.99. You can't even buy a three-legged hamster for $.99, so get a bunch of my books instead. 🐹
www.amazon.com/Everything-B...
www.amazon.com/Everything-B...
Reposted by Steve Downey
A reminder that if you ever wanted to see where George Romero's DAWN OF THE DEAD was filmed you must go within the next year. As it stands now the mall is due to be bulldozed into oblivion by April 2027
unseenfilms.net/2025/09/if-y...
unseenfilms.net/2025/09/if-y...
If you want to see where George Romero's Dawn of the Dead was filmed plan your trip NOW
I am in Pittsburgh for the Drive In Monsterama in nearby Vandegrift PA and I stopped with my brother at the Monroeville Mall where George R...
unseenfilms.net
December 22, 2025 at 11:36 PM
A reminder that if you ever wanted to see where George Romero's DAWN OF THE DEAD was filmed you must go within the next year. As it stands now the mall is due to be bulldozed into oblivion by April 2027
unseenfilms.net/2025/09/if-y...
unseenfilms.net/2025/09/if-y...
Pre-order check: ✅ October 2024
Past me did their job for a change.
Past me did their job for a change.
December 22, 2025 at 6:12 PM
Pre-order check: ✅ October 2024
Past me did their job for a change.
Past me did their job for a change.
Reposted by Steve Downey
Look what just arrived!
December 22, 2025 at 11:56 AM
Look what just arrived!
Reposted by Steve Downey
Send this to the AI shills who think their apps are useful to me because they're an upgrade on Ctrl+F.
Buddy.
I need to go to another city or sometimes country to look at microfilms of manuscripts for which no detailed catalogue record even exists. I dream of ctrl+F here.
Buddy.
I need to go to another city or sometimes country to look at microfilms of manuscripts for which no detailed catalogue record even exists. I dream of ctrl+F here.
Also, discovered that four manuscripts I haven't been able to view because they're in a city I've not been to and can't currently get to have microfilm copies in the NLI where I WAS, looking at OTHER MICROFILMS and if I'd KNOWN I could have looked at those as well. So that's infuriating.
December 22, 2025 at 11:13 AM
Send this to the AI shills who think their apps are useful to me because they're an upgrade on Ctrl+F.
Buddy.
I need to go to another city or sometimes country to look at microfilms of manuscripts for which no detailed catalogue record even exists. I dream of ctrl+F here.
Buddy.
I need to go to another city or sometimes country to look at microfilms of manuscripts for which no detailed catalogue record even exists. I dream of ctrl+F here.
Reposted by Steve Downey
BRENNAN: What are you going to do to force DOJ to comply?
MASSIE: The quickest way and most expeditious way to get justice for these victims is to bring inherent contempt against Pam Bondi. That doesn't require going through the courts. We're drafting that right now.
MASSIE: The quickest way and most expeditious way to get justice for these victims is to bring inherent contempt against Pam Bondi. That doesn't require going through the courts. We're drafting that right now.
December 21, 2025 at 3:43 PM
BRENNAN: What are you going to do to force DOJ to comply?
MASSIE: The quickest way and most expeditious way to get justice for these victims is to bring inherent contempt against Pam Bondi. That doesn't require going through the courts. We're drafting that right now.
MASSIE: The quickest way and most expeditious way to get justice for these victims is to bring inherent contempt against Pam Bondi. That doesn't require going through the courts. We're drafting that right now.