Recent Blog Posts

I Failed

Back at the beginning of this year, I set a goal.  I wanted to write a thousand words per week for the year, much as I did back in 2013.  That was a fun project back then.  I thought it’d be a good challenge and give me a chance to […]

Write: Cirque!

I loved the circus growing up.  This was before we were really cognizant of the abuse of the animals.  This was probably the Shriner’s Circus and Barnum and Bailey’s Traveling Circus, but it usually meant some lions and some tigers, some horses, a few elephants and some other odds and […]

So, This is 58

I turned 58 this year and as is the case sometimes, it seems like an opportunity for reflection.  So, reflect I will. I was born in June of the year of our Lord 1965, which sounds like it’s quite a while ago, even for me!  A few things about the […]

Fortune

Once upon a time, in the Before Times (call it the 1990s), software engineers would add to an otherwise boring login by displaying additional things like time, date or weather. Another was to display a random fortune. Some are movie quotes, some are literary quotes and some are just fortunes. Some are profane and some are a little profound. This bit of code accesses an online API to generate a fortune and display it.

Credit to HelloACM, which provides and hosts the API for this and many other cool things.

Staff Spotlight

This is our Staff Spotlight where we focus on some of the folks who help make us who we are!

Mary Baldwin

Communications Ambassador

Quote: "Honesty is the best policy." - Benjamin Franklin.
Home Town: Utica, NY.

Vernon Briggs

Grammar Fascist

Quote: "When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you." - Laozi.
Home Town: Roanoke, VA.

Darren Spencer

Creativity Analyst

Quote: "We are stuck with technology when what we really want is just stuff that works." - Douglas Adams.
Home Town: Albany, GA.

Alexis Bowman

Director of Fun

Quote: "What do we live for, if it is not to make life less difficult for each other?" - George Eliot.
Home Town: Biloxi, MS.

Credit to HelloACM for the random identity generator, Generated.photos for the AI generated headshots and Pixabay for the random backgrounds and api.quoteable.io for the quotes api.

Random Colors of the Day

Find some inspiration to brighten your colorspace! The three options below are based on trying to assign names to colors as they are represented on a computer screen, typically via a hex value like this: "#546789". Each pair represents the strength of the Red, Green and Blue value. Back in the day, the X11 Consortium declared that colors would be stored in a file called "rgb.txt" and many had names associated with them. Additionally, I found a list of colors and names based on Resene colors. The third one is what happens if you pick a random value and call it a random name. Very useful and highly scientific.

Cadetblue4

#53868B

From the classic X11 file rgb.txt

bourbon

#BA6F1E

From the set of Resene colors.

Reship

#506bb1

A unique color and name, created just for you!

About

This is a place where I keep my stuff on the web. The contents and appearance change with time, but tend to reflect my interests. Those interests include: writing, technology, computers, software (both as a user and a developer), 3D printing, crafting, role playing games, computer games, music, art and woodworking to name a few. I do a variety of things that change often and sometimes without warning and typically reflect things I'm curious about.

Darrin Mossor

Human In Training

“Quotation, n: The act of repeating erroneously the words of another."

"Ambrose Bierce, The Unabridged Devil's Dictionary"