Blake @blake@qoto.org

@klyons I like this energy. Science needs the equivalent of sports fans.

@dumdumjobes At the end of the day, I think it's fair game to call yourself whatever you're being paid to do. If you're doing the job of a programmer or engineer or scientist, you're earning the title.

@dumdumjobes I've been programming since I got my Commodore 64 in 1983, and I've programmed as a **part** of my job for more than 20 years (many tens of thousands of lines of code in a dozen or so languages), and I still wouldn't call myself a programmer. I'm an engineer that writes programs. I enjoy programming. I might even say I'm a hobbyist programmer. But that isn't my primary job function, so I've never self-identified in that way. I know I would get annoyed if a hobbyist physics enthusiast starting calling themselves an engineer, so I return the favor and stay in my lane.

@energisch_ Good to know. Sounds like it’s not a huge deal to go over 500 characters then. That was one of the reasons I was attracted to qoto.org. Longer posts allow more nuance, more data, more info. Less sounds bytes and 10-part threads.

@trinsec Excellent, thanks for the insight!

So the character limit on qoto.org is apparently huge compared to the 500 character limit on many (most?) other instances. Can those instances see my posts that are over 500 characters?

Here is my obligatory #introduction.

I’ve worked in the fields of #science and #engineering for over two decades. My degrees are in mechanical engineering, but I’ve spent many years both professionally and recreationally crossing over into the computer science realm when it intersects with my interests and projects.

I’ve been a #Linux user since the mid-90s, and I’ve been paid to admin Linux and Unix number-crunching boxes, including Irix, HP-UX, AIX, and other fun OSes that either don’t exist anymore or you probably haven’t heard of.

I enjoy programming, especially #Python, #Golang, and #Julia, although I’ve used another dozen or so languages along the way, everything from FORTRAN to Perl and TCL to Haskell (and lots in between). I’m an electronic hobbyist, and you may find me tinkering with #RaspberryPi and #Arduino boards.

My technical interests also include #woodscience, #mathematics, #numbertheory/#numericalmethods, #statistics, #datascience, #sliderules, and #TeX.

I like making things, so my hobbies include #watercolor, #drawing, #woodworking and #blacksmithing. I also love #books and reading, with a proclivity towards #history, #art, #religion, #BiblicalCriticism, #scifi, #fantasy, and classical #literature.

I like to listen to and play #music. I play #guitar and dabble in lots of other instruments. My favorite styles of music are #folk, #celtic, and #Americana, but I enjoy a diverse mix of genres, so you might catch me listening to Cat Stevens and Tom Lehrer one day and Johnny Cash and Eminem the next.

I love #nature, mountains and oceans, #hiking, and #birding. I like to #travel to new places, see new things, and experience the local food and culture. Speaking of #food, I like to #cook.

I also like gaming, especially on my #Nintendo #Switch and #Steamdeck.