Paul Ganssle @pganssle@qoto.org
Programmer working at Google in NYC. Maintainer of python-dateutil and setuptools, Python core developer and general FOSS contributor. Opinions are my own.
Joined Nov 2019
Pinned toot
From the archives of my blog but still very relevant: "pytz: The Fastest Footgun in the West", about why you probably shouldn't be using pytz:
https://blog.ganssle.io/articles/2018/03/pytz-fastest-footgun.html
Paul Ganssle
boosted
Paul Ganssle
boosted
KeePassXC, my password manager of choice, just released a big new version, including:
- New theme(s) and icons
- Database password health check
- Separate, opt-in HIBP online check for breached passwords.
- Complete refactor of hardware key integration (YubiKey and OnlyKey)
More about the new version: https://keepassxc.org/blog/2020-07-07-2.6.0-released/
Download latest version: https://keepassxc.org/download
They also published a new "Getting Started" guide for users: https://keepassxc.org/docs/KeePassXC_GettingStarted.html
Looking for a podcast to listen to while grilling (US), pining for past glory (UK), or going about your normal business (everyone else)?
This 4th of July, I'm on @TalkPython talking about #Python datetimes and time zones! Check it out:
https://talkpython.fm/episodes/show/271/unlock-the-mysteries-of-time-pythons-datetime-that-is
New to the suburbs: How long until I stop feeling like Batman entering the bat cave every time I open the garage on approach, park, then close the garage door behind me?
It's weird when I occasionally get an upvote on an old SO answer that reminds me that at some point in the distant past, I knew enough Java to usefully answer StackOverflow questions about it.
If New York Times black helicopters disappear me in the next week, you'll know why.
A bunch of people are positing that NYT wanted to take down Scott Alexander because of some culture war reasons, which is just what they want you to think! They were really more afraid that he would hit them where it hurts: https://web.archive.org/web/20200617172710/https://slatestarcodex.com/2020/06/04/problems-with-paywalls/
Wow, huge proposal for Python 3.10 (both in potential impact and length of the proposal 😅):
PEP 622: Structural Pattern Matching
Klaxon™ was once a brand name so popular that it became the word for the type of thing the company sold.
Now they don't even have their own Wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle_horn#Klaxon
Something something Ozymandias...
Paul Ganssle
boosted
Onion service v2 deprecation timeline https://kushaldas.in/posts/onion-service-v2-deprecation-timeline.html @torproject #privacy #security
I really like the idea that King Friday XIII from Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood is the culmination of a pun 13 generations in the making.
At a conservative 20 years per generation, that's 260 years, so that pun was conceived before the founding of the USA.
Paul Ganssle
boosted
RT @pganssle@twitter.com
I've been working on a new package to help libraries to cleanly drop pytz even if their users mightbe using pytz's interface.
One of the last things I need to do before I can publish it is add a migration guide. Anyone interesting in reviewing?
Paul Ganssle
boosted
Just discovered this, sounds freaking incredible.
https://github.com/ventoy/Ventoy
#Ventoy is an open source tool to create bootable USB drive for ISO files. With ventoy, you don't need to format the disk over and over, you just need to copy the iso file to the USB drive and boot it. You can copy many iso files at a time and ventoy will give you a boot menu to select them. Both Legacy BIOS and UEFI are supported in the same way. 200+ ISO files are tested.
Lady has a similar origin, it meant "loaf kneader": https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/lady#Etymology
It has been 0 days since I thought about the fact that the word "lord" originally meant "loaf guardian": https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/lord#Etymology
One of these days one of the networks producing children's television is going to finally respond to my numerous inquiries about their sub-standard world-building and then my new career writing show bibles for kids' shows will be off like a shot.
Are dogs the only non-human animals that can talk in Paw Patrol?
backports.zoneinfo only has 1300 downloads in the last week: https://pypistats.org/packages/backports-zoneinfo
Not bad, but we're going to really have to get the word out if we're going to finally replace pytz! Get out there and migrate today!
Protip: If your 2 year old just wants to do "1 hide [and seek]" before going to sleep, make sure you are the one doing the seeking, not the hiding.
Paul Ganssle
boosted
🇳🇱
This is the story I hear time and time again. We did a survey and 58% of the people who came to QOTO came here because we have a policy of tolerance when it comes to speech, not oppression (aka free speech).
We see over and over again with the instances that do not espouse tolerance of opinions that ultimately the users mass migrate away, (thankfully mostly to places like QOTO) and what is left is an echo chamber of only the most toxic elements. Then they stay in their bubble and only really start trouble when they tell another instance that their intolerance should carry over there as well.
People also need to understand free speech does not mean "you can say anything at all and always be immune".. what it means is tolerance of opinions, an ability to share ideas in open forum without fear that one small mistep means you are banished forever. We make it clear that explicit racism and sexism isnt tolerated, and we have stood by that.
And our policies have served us. Not only are we in the top 20 most federated servers we also serve as an example to many other servers with instances replicating our ToS policy regularly and by having a good relationship with the tolerant minority represented instances throughout the fediverse.
The only consequence of our actions is a small handful of oppressive instances (both towards minorities and the general public) dont want to hear what we have to say. Personally I say we are far better off not having their noise in our timeline anyway.
I can say this, I am immensely proud of the open dialog we have at QOTO. We have by far the most respectful community ont he fediverse when it comes to how we treat others, and a mutual respect in our discussions and dialog I have seen no where else on the internet. As the founder of this community I hope to do what I can to make sure it stays that way.
Programmer working at Google in NYC. Maintainer of python-dateutil and setuptools, Python core developer and general FOSS contributor. Opinions are my own.
Joined Nov 2019
