Rob Ballou
@robballou.com
Finn the cattle dog's human, mountain biker, backpacker, and software engineer.
Went for a bike ride to pay down some of the cookies I’m gonna eat this week
December 24, 2025 at 8:55 PM
Went for a bike ride to pay down some of the cookies I’m gonna eat this week
Finn (and I) hope you find good sticks (and times) this holiday season.
December 24, 2025 at 4:05 PM
Finn (and I) hope you find good sticks (and times) this holiday season.
Reposted by Rob Ballou
Evacuation orders issued after fire sparks in Fourmile Canyon, west of Boulder
Evacuation orders issued after fire sparks in Fourmile Canyon, west of Boulder
High fire danger persisted Monday due to unseasonably warm temperatures and extremely dry fuels
coloradosun.com
December 23, 2025 at 1:47 AM
Evacuation orders issued after fire sparks in Fourmile Canyon, west of Boulder
Reposted by Rob Ballou
NIST reassures the world that despite atomic clock power outage time is not broken. www.cbsnews.com/colorado/new...
Power outage in Boulder area affects atomic clock, "Time is not broken" NIST says
Due to the power outage, time (very) briefly stood still at the NIST Internet Time Service facility in Boulder.
www.cbsnews.com
December 21, 2025 at 5:16 AM
NIST reassures the world that despite atomic clock power outage time is not broken. www.cbsnews.com/colorado/new...
Reposted by Rob Ballou
“.. We are aware of at least 30 deaths at ICE detention centers this year, making 2025 the deadliest year for immigrants in ICE custody," Ramirez said in an online statement.
December 20, 2025 at 1:14 PM
“.. We are aware of at least 30 deaths at ICE detention centers this year, making 2025 the deadliest year for immigrants in ICE custody," Ramirez said in an online statement.
True Valheim experiences:
- Placing your hammer on an item stand, accidentally
- Throwing your spear and picking up something else on the hotbar in its place
- Forgetting to eat and getting one shot by a deathsquito
- Placing your hammer on an item stand, accidentally
- Throwing your spear and picking up something else on the hotbar in its place
- Forgetting to eat and getting one shot by a deathsquito
December 19, 2025 at 9:19 PM
True Valheim experiences:
- Placing your hammer on an item stand, accidentally
- Throwing your spear and picking up something else on the hotbar in its place
- Forgetting to eat and getting one shot by a deathsquito
- Placing your hammer on an item stand, accidentally
- Throwing your spear and picking up something else on the hotbar in its place
- Forgetting to eat and getting one shot by a deathsquito
I’m rewatching (and watching for the first time seasons I didn’t see) of Mr Robot and I kinda forgot the IRL timeline of when this show came out
December 19, 2025 at 4:23 AM
I’m rewatching (and watching for the first time seasons I didn’t see) of Mr Robot and I kinda forgot the IRL timeline of when this show came out
Reposted by Rob Ballou
The US TikTok sale has been signed. The company will be controlled by a joint venture including Oracle, Silver Lake, Andreessen Horowitz, Abu Dhabi-based MGX. Adding a UAE company really makes it clear that this was never about national security concerns.
www.axios.com/2025/12/18/t...
www.axios.com/2025/12/18/t...
Scoop: TikTok signs deal for sale of U.S. unit after yearslong saga
The deal would end a yearslong saga to force TikTok's Chinese parent ByteDance to sell the company's U.S. operation.
www.axios.com
December 18, 2025 at 11:35 PM
The US TikTok sale has been signed. The company will be controlled by a joint venture including Oracle, Silver Lake, Andreessen Horowitz, Abu Dhabi-based MGX. Adding a UAE company really makes it clear that this was never about national security concerns.
www.axios.com/2025/12/18/t...
www.axios.com/2025/12/18/t...
Reposted by Rob Ballou
IMPORTANT: NWS Boulder just issued a rare "Particularly Dangerous Situation" (PDS) Fire Weather Warning for Boulder, Hwy 93, and the Boulder + northern JeffCo foothills for tomorrow.
Winds: 85-110 mph. Bone dry.
This is a Fire Weather Warning with an exclamation point.
#COwx
Winds: 85-110 mph. Bone dry.
This is a Fire Weather Warning with an exclamation point.
#COwx
December 19, 2025 at 12:31 AM
IMPORTANT: NWS Boulder just issued a rare "Particularly Dangerous Situation" (PDS) Fire Weather Warning for Boulder, Hwy 93, and the Boulder + northern JeffCo foothills for tomorrow.
Winds: 85-110 mph. Bone dry.
This is a Fire Weather Warning with an exclamation point.
#COwx
Winds: 85-110 mph. Bone dry.
This is a Fire Weather Warning with an exclamation point.
#COwx
Reposted by Rob Ballou
December 17, 2025 at 8:12 PM
Yeah, no thanks.
Mozilla has a new CEO and he just announced that Firefox will evolve into a modern AI browser. This is a good example of how management doesn’t understand its own user base and why they go out of their way to install Firefox on Windows, Android, iOS and other devices blog.mozilla.org/en/mozilla/l...
December 16, 2025 at 9:56 PM
Yeah, no thanks.
Someday I will not see "AD&D" in a job post and think "Dungeons & Dragons". That day is not today.
December 15, 2025 at 8:43 PM
Someday I will not see "AD&D" in a job post and think "Dungeons & Dragons". That day is not today.
Every one seems to be surprised my a moderate response to bad things. The problem is, there are bad things that don’t warrant even a moderate response from those same people, just ones that don’t effect famous people.
December 15, 2025 at 7:57 PM
Every one seems to be surprised my a moderate response to bad things. The problem is, there are bad things that don’t warrant even a moderate response from those same people, just ones that don’t effect famous people.
The joy of having 15 bullet points of PR description for +177/-17… thanks to AI.
December 15, 2025 at 4:14 PM
The joy of having 15 bullet points of PR description for +177/-17… thanks to AI.
Today I went to the grocery store and an older man asked a worker where he could find something and the worker pointed it out. The man then said “ah now I see where my kids must have gotten the ADHD” 😆
December 13, 2025 at 6:18 PM
Today I went to the grocery store and an older man asked a worker where he could find something and the worker pointed it out. The man then said “ah now I see where my kids must have gotten the ADHD” 😆
Tab: this song is tuned a whole step down.
Me: oh, so there's going to be open notes or notes on the first fret?
Tab: ...
Me: oh, so there's going to be open notes or notes on the first fret?
Tab: ...
December 11, 2025 at 8:29 PM
Tab: this song is tuned a whole step down.
Me: oh, so there's going to be open notes or notes on the first fret?
Tab: ...
Me: oh, so there's going to be open notes or notes on the first fret?
Tab: ...
While I will be happy if some of the things going on end by "well, we proved that they are unpopular", I will be grossly disappointed if that is all that happens to end illegal things.
December 11, 2025 at 7:29 PM
While I will be happy if some of the things going on end by "well, we proved that they are unpopular", I will be grossly disappointed if that is all that happens to end illegal things.
And I also need all the caffeine today after being awake since 0330
Neighbor had a small contained fire in her crawl space. She was able to put it out but several fire departments came out. Anyway, check if you have a fire extinguisher, smoke alarms, and all that ready to go. Another neighbor was like “oh mine doesn’t work”, etc. don’t do that
December 11, 2025 at 4:21 PM
And I also need all the caffeine today after being awake since 0330
Neighbor had a small contained fire in her crawl space. She was able to put it out but several fire departments came out. Anyway, check if you have a fire extinguisher, smoke alarms, and all that ready to go. Another neighbor was like “oh mine doesn’t work”, etc. don’t do that
December 11, 2025 at 11:24 AM
Neighbor had a small contained fire in her crawl space. She was able to put it out but several fire departments came out. Anyway, check if you have a fire extinguisher, smoke alarms, and all that ready to go. Another neighbor was like “oh mine doesn’t work”, etc. don’t do that
I have a script which will go through local git branches on a repo, figure out which ones no longer exist on remote and then give me a command I can run to clean them up. I haven't run it in a while and today I had 58 branches to cleanup 🙃
December 10, 2025 at 4:55 PM
I have a script which will go through local git branches on a repo, figure out which ones no longer exist on remote and then give me a command I can run to clean them up. I haven't run it in a while and today I had 58 branches to cleanup 🙃
Every time someone asks if I am using AI for everything, I want to share this image with them.
jesus christ
December 10, 2025 at 4:05 PM
Every time someone asks if I am using AI for everything, I want to share this image with them.
I found my first real mod request for Valheim: an oven timer. This run is going to take forever if I keep burning food in the oven.
December 10, 2025 at 4:19 AM
I found my first real mod request for Valheim: an oven timer. This run is going to take forever if I keep burning food in the oven.
Democrats: oh this candidate doesn’t have a chance and I don’t like how they answered some question about Israel once even though they are a state senator. Anyway, my Spotify wrapped says…
December 10, 2025 at 1:03 AM
Democrats: oh this candidate doesn’t have a chance and I don’t like how they answered some question about Israel once even though they are a state senator. Anyway, my Spotify wrapped says…
Today I had one of those moments where I just am baffled by people’s infatuation with AI: testing a feature for work I had given a small prompt about a Viking video game. Its results seemed suitable given little info.
December 9, 2025 at 2:25 AM
Today I had one of those moments where I just am baffled by people’s infatuation with AI: testing a feature for work I had given a small prompt about a Viking video game. Its results seemed suitable given little info.