An astoundingly large percentage of my personal technical policies are guided by the idea that I want to minimize my losses after the next sudden yet inevitable betrayal.

Every physics textbook ever written comes with exercises at the end of each chapter, and every physics professor who has ever stood in front of a lecture hall has said the same thing: you cannot learn physics by watching someone else do it. You have to pick up the pencil. You have to attempt the problem. You have to get it wrong, sit with the wrongness, and figure out where your reasoning broke. Reading the solution manual and nodding along feels like understanding. It is not understanding. Every student who has tried to coast through a problem set by reading the solutions and then bombed the exam knows this in their bones. We have centuries of accumulated pedagogical wisdom telling us that the attempt, including the failed attempt, is where the learning lives. And yet, somehow, when it comes to AI agents, we've collectively decided that maybe this time it's different.

-- excerpted from https://ergosphere.blog/posts/the-machines-are-fine/

The unusual browser feature I use most is Reader Mode.

SO MANY STUPIDLY DESIGNED WEBSITES!

Reader Mode: "Here is the main text in a sensible typeface at a reasonable size with high contrast and appropriate margins."

There should not be a need for Reader Mode. RM's utility is a solid indictment against web designers.

Look at your site-intended-to-convey-textual-information with Reader Mode. If it breaks, fix that. If the page is suddenly much easier to read... you have work to do.

Typeface.
Size.
Contrast.
Margins.

#accessibility #web #browser

In the #software world, every building is custom-made without an electrical code, plumbing code, or building code with required third-party inspections. It might be the work of seconds to change the carpet color, but take weeks to add curtains to the windows. Some clients, some users and some of the developers have never used a toilet before, much less designed one, and it is common for the drain to end in the ceiling of the basement.

That is why we should stop using the term "engineer" for software development.

The company I've worked for (for 21 years or so...) has three openings in the client services department. Two junior-ish positions, and one senior. That's going to nearly double the size of the group. I #work with them several times a week; they are all clever, competent, and kind.

This is not a "answer the phone and read the FAQ" operation. Training will take a while, even if you already understand the US financial system reasonably well. They would prefer people having experience with enterprise SaaS support, but anything even vaguely related will probably work. Much more important, IMHO, are being deeply organized, good at listening and communicating, and having a lot of common sense. Quality over quantity.

If I know you, I'll consider recommending you. If you aren't someone I know, you can ask me questions about the company though not the positions.

You'll need to be based in the US and, preferably, near #Boston.

https://www.smartleaf.com/careers