Rubenerd

My Hacker News post from earlier today was written on Friday, but I held back posting it for fear of RSS spammage. Then Saturday rolled by and I had such a migraine I didn’t get around to posting it; go figure.

To make me feel better, Clara bought me a re-release of Rodriguez’s legendary Cold Fact LP, and a delightfully bright Sailor Moon shirt. Along with feeling lucky that I have a girlfriend who knows me so well, it reminded me of that Hacker News thread in another specific way; namely whether it’s appropriate to include aspects of our personality and hobbies on technical blogs.

My answer is: of course! I love reading what other interests people have besides the initial reason I came to their site. Everyone’s lived experiences and interests are deeply unique, and it’s fun when your Venn diagrams intersect more than you expected. You like Ansible and craft beer? You’re a developer with a ham radio licence? You’re in infosec and a photographer? These are all fantastic!

More than all the other bad blogopshere advice back in the day, I vehemently disagreed with the premise that that you should limit yourself to one topic. Sure, have an overarching theme or a primary area of expertise, but don’t feel afraid to dip your toes elsewhere from time to time. We all benefit when you do.