In office days got me like 🏢
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Please stop 🦝
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Guys, it’s almost February and people are still out here hitting each other with 'Happy New Year' or a 'Compliments of the season' in the office. 😒
What season, Sharon? Valentine's? Because we're basically there. Compliments on what exactly? Surviving January? Not being single? Let it go, people.
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UK media does Southern African ornithology
(and they're probably right) 😅
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Calabash 2025 in #johannesburg was pretty epic!
With Fokofpolisiekar, The Offspring and Greenday 🎸🤘
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Clearly my block lists are working better on Mastodon than anywhere else, because on every other platform, it’s a deluge of US politics. It’s not that I’m ignoring what’s going on, I just have a limit to how much political talk I can handle, it’s exhausting!
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Quite a few of the extensions I use in @Vivaldi seem to be affected by the whole manifest v3 nonsense (not just uBlock) 😔
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Python 3.14 just released get ready for the π-thon jokes in 3, 1, 4...
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Millennials always catch flak for our avocado toast, but I’m starting to think Gen X might be sneaking a few slices on the sly. Because clearly, we’re not the only ones feeling that financial pinch.
https://fortune.com/article/how-much-does-gen-x-have-saved-retirement-savings-average-age-account-crisis/
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Accidentally opened Chrome on my phone and 🤯 how do people use mobile browsers without ad blockers? Do they just raw dog the internet? Like, willingly scroll through pop-ups, autoplay videos, and those "Congratulations! You've won an iPhone!" ads?
Seriously, ad blockers aren't just a luxury! It's survival gear. If you're not using ad block, how are you doing it?? Meditation? Therapy? Or do you just embrace the madness and let the ads guide you? I have so many questions 😵💫
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Oh South Africa, please never change 😭😂
(Note: that car was very much parked there)
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As I get older, I find myself becoming less enchanted with the shiny, new tech that seems to flood the industry every other week. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for progress and innovation when it's needed, but sometimes it feels like we've developed a bit of a "newer is better" obsession. Libraries, frameworks, languages, every week there’s something that’s supposed to revolutionise the way we work. Yet, more often than not, I find myself asking: Does it really solve a problem we have, or is it just a fancier version of what already works?
There’s a certain beauty in tried and tested technology. It’s stable, it’s reliable, and most importantly it’s understood. The older I get, the more I value something that just works. If the current codebase or library is doing its job, why fix it? Why introduce unnecessary complexity, bugs, or learning curves for the sake of a shiny "upgrade"?
It’s not laziness (I tell myself) it’s pragmatism. There’s a lot to be said for maturity in tech - tools and codebases that have been battle-tested, debugged, and iterated upon by countless engineers over years. They may not have the sleek UI or trendy buzzwords, but they’re dependable. And in a field where deadlines, budgets, and real-world results matter, dependability often outweighs novelty.
I’ve also realised that every time we jump onto the latest bandwagon, we’re creating an unnecessary burden. Teams spend weeks, sometimes months, rewriting functional systems, retraining developers, and untangling issues in the "new" stack, often only to end up with something marginally better or, worse, a system that’s less robust. Is that really progress?
So, here’s where I stand now: If it works, leave it alone. If it’s solving the problem it’s meant to solve, let it do its job. Save the energy for changes that genuinely improve something, not just for the sake of being trendy. Sometimes, the best tech is the one you don’t have to think about, it just gets out of the way and lets you focus on the work that actually matters.
Also, get off my lawn you digital scallywags! 😅
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"Anything worth doing is worth having someone else do for you"
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When Ideology Turns Into Intolerance
So I recently shared some historic photos of Johannesburg from the 1930s, a time that shaped the city's identity, for better or worse. To me, it’s fascinating to look back, reflect, and learn. History is complex, and acknowledging it doesn’t mean you’re "celebrating" its darker aspects.
Yet someone decided to jump in and accuse me of "celebrating apartheid." Really? I blocked them, because frankly, I don’t have time for that nonsense. But this kind of reaction is worth unpacking, because it explains so much about the world we’re living in right now.
Here’s the thing: this sort of knee-jerk, performative outrage doesn’t come from the far right, it comes from the far left. And while I consider myself a left of centre and a progressive thinker in many ways, I can’t ignore how some people on the far left can be downright toxic and mean. They turn every conversation into a purity test, dismissing anyone who doesn’t toe their exact ideological line. It’s not about engagement or education anymore, it’s about moral superiority and shaming others.
This behaviour doesn’t just alienate people like me, who aren’t interested in extreme views on either side. It pushes people to the right. It makes them think, “If this is what being progressive looks like, I don’t want any part of it.” That’s how we end up with populist leaders like Trump winning elections, because people are tired of being shouted down, dismissed, or insulted.
It’s a vicious cycle. The more the far left uses these tactics, the more the right thrives. And while I’m not right-leaning at all, I can see how this polarisation is accelerating, and it’s exhausting. People need to learn to engage in good faith and stop turning everything into a battleground. You can disagree without being a horrible person. You can reflect on history without endorsing its mistakes.
So here’s a reminder: history isn’t there to comfort you or align with your views. It’s there to be looked at critically, so we can learn and grow. If that makes someone uncomfortable, they’re welcome to block me too.
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2025 is giving 👇 energy
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Johannesburg in the #1930s was such an interesting mix of grit, glamour, and growth. It wasn’t just the "City of Gold" because of the mines - it was a city finding its feet, expanding, and creating an identity that still lingers today.
Take a look at these old images of Johannesburg’s City Hall and Park Station, two landmarks that really highlight what the city was like back then.
City Hall, with its grand design, was a symbol of ambition and the idea that #Johannesburg was more than just a mining town. Completed in 1914, by the 1930s it had become the heart of civic life. It’s where the big decisions were made and, honestly, where the city showed off a bit. That dome and those pillars scream, “Look at us, we’re here to stay!” Today, the City Hall has a different vibe, but it still stands as a reminder of the city’s early days of growth.
Then there’s Park Station, which was a gateway for so many people arriving in Joburg, either chasing dreams or just trying to make ends meet. Back in the 1930s, Park Station was more than just a transport hub - it was this massive space where people from all walks of life crossed paths. Imagine steam trains rolling in, families saying goodbye, and the constant hum of movement. The station, with its towering arches and spacious interior (check out that fountain!), was a marvel of design. It’s had its upgrades since then, but its role as a connector remains just as important.
During this time, the city itself was a bit of a paradox. On the one hand, you had this booming economy thanks to the gold mines, and on the other, deep inequalities were shaping life for a lot of its residents. Areas like Sophiatown were starting to bubble with creativity, even as segregation laws made life incredibly tough for many.
Looking at these #historic photos, you can almost imagine what life was like back then - people bustling about, trams on the streets, and a city that was growing into something far bigger than anyone could have imagined. It’s amazing how much has changed, but you can still see pieces of this history in #Joburg today.
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Look who I found making their way up the wall after all the rain! A tiny garden adventurer! Little baby snail seems to be on a mission, carrying their tiny home on their back like a true nomad. Rainy days may slow us down, but for this cutie, it's the perfect time for an epic journey 🐌
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I've been following the recent changes at Meta regarding their content moderation policies, and honestly, I’m not thrilled. Dropping third-party fact-checking in favour of a "Community Notes" system, similar to X (formerly Twitter), feels like a step backwards in combating misinformation. Combine that with relaxing restrictions on sensitive topics, and I can't help but feel uneasy about the direction these platforms are heading.
Free expression is important, but so is accountability and user safety. It seems like Meta is prioritising the former at the expense of the latter, and that’s a line I’m not comfortable with. I’ve already seen enough hate speech and misinformation slip through the cracks on other platforms - do we really need more of the same?
Considering all of this, I’m seriously thinking about deleting my Meta accounts and sticking to platforms like BlueSky and Mastodon. At least here, I feel like I have more control over my experience, and the communities seem to prioritise quality discourse over clickbait and outrage.
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There once was a man from Joburg,
Whose exploits were rather superb.
In the dark of the night,
He gave quite the fright,
Leaving whispers all over the suburb 😏
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Every #workday I channel Sisyphus. Endlessly pushing the boulder of tasks uphill, only to find it replaced by a bigger boulder named 'Q2 Deliverables.'
🤔 Camus said we must imagine Sisyphus happy, so I’ll assume he had decent coffee, an ironic sense of humour and a sarcastic work bestie.
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