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mtothevizzah

@[email protected]

A human who makes games and preserves the outdoors.
Fellow at Activision, President at Falmouth Land Trust.
Maine.

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@mtothevizzah@mastodon.gamedev.place avatar mtothevizzah , to random

This piece where Heather Cox Richardson just dead-pan reads the President for a couple of minutes is pretty terrifying. I suppose years from now we'll read memoirs from folks who claim they were trying to keep things from going off the rails, but you would think at this point it is understood that's not a working strategy.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/letters-from-an-american/id1730358737?i=1000753480884

@yiningkarlli@mastodon.gamedev.place avatar yiningkarlli , to random

A lot of the discourse from Very Computer people I've seen about the MacBook Neo is basically not far from this. The Very Computer folks don't realize that if you have ever looked at the tech specs page for a laptop, you probably are not the target market here.

Meanwhile for me, I have to exercise discipline not to impulse order a Neo. I am Very Computer, but there are a ton of things in my life that a small light inexpensive colorful MacBook would be great for. I used an 11 inch Air for years.

mtothevizzah ,
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@superfunc @yiningkarlli We made PlayStation 2 games with 32 MB of RAM! But to @yiningkarlli 's point, small and light beats heavy and powerful for me almost every time. "We shoot pictures with our phones because we have them with us" etc.

mtothevizzah ,
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@jkaniarz @superfunc @yiningkarlli
> multiple […] Facebook accounts
Thoughts and prayers.

I did just learn that the trackpad is mechanical which may be a dealbreaker for my delicate sensibilities. Every time I have to use a non MacBook the touch interface fills me with sadness, but not sure how much of that is hardware vs software.

@pervognsen@mastodon.social avatar pervognsen , (edited ) to random

Parsing, finally streaming.

/// Item = Open Lines Close | Atom pub fn parse_item<S: TokenStream, F: ItemFolder<S::Token>>(s: &mut S, f: &mut F, line: &mut F::LineFolder) -> F::Item { if s.is_opening() { let group = f.group_open(line, s.next()); let lines = parse_lines(s, f, group); f.group_close(line, lines, s.next()) } else { f.atom(line, s.next()) } } /// Line = Item* pub fn parse_line<S: TokenStream, F: ItemFolder<S::Token>>(s: &mut S, f: &mut F, lines: &mut F::LinesFolder) -> F::Line { let mut line = f.line_start(lines); while !s.is_separating() { let item = parse_item(s, f, &mut line); f.line_item(&mut line, item); } f.line_end(line) } /// Lines = (Line Sep)* Line pub fn parse_lines<S: TokenStream, F: ItemFolder<S::Token>>(s: &mut S, f: &mut F, group: F::GroupOpen) -> F::GroupLines { let mut lines = f.lines_start(group); loop { let line = parse_line(s, f, &mut lines); if s.is_closing() { return f.lines_end(lines, line); } else { let line = f.lines_line(lines, line); lines = f.lines_sep(line, s.next()); } } }
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mtothevizzah ,
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@pervognsen @christer "mutually assured retirement"

mtothevizzah ,
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@christer @pervognsen don’t forget the prostate checkups, fellas.

@zvrt@mastodon.social avatar zvrt , to random German

Goldcrest (Regulus regulus, 🇩🇪 Wintergoldhähnchen, 🇵🇱mysikrólik). The smallest bird in Europe.

This goldcrest is facing the viewer as it sits on a branch. Its distinctive black-and-yellow crest is clearly visible.
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mtothevizzah ,
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@zvrt "The smallest bird in Europe." I dunno, this bird looks pretty angry at you for saying such a thing.

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@mtothevizzah@mastodon.gamedev.place avatar mtothevizzah , to random

Shots fired in this Johns Hopkins Long COVID survey:

> Moderate exercise (not exhausting)?
>
> Examples: fast walking, baseball, tennis,

@mtothevizzah@mastodon.gamedev.place avatar mtothevizzah , to random

Salt spray from the road after this mornings 13.5mi run.

Roads are a mess in Maine.
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@SeanCasten@mastodon.social avatar SeanCasten , to random

Johnson can’t maintain his House majority unless he keeps “one person accused of domestic abuse… and another guy accused of massive sexual harassment… If that’s not a statement about the 119th Congress under Mike Johnson’s leadership, I don’t know what is.” https://www.ms.now/news/republicans-razor-thin-majority-untouchable-tony-gonzales

mtothevizzah ,
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@bodhipaksa @SeanCasten something something family values.

@mtothevizzah@mastodon.gamedev.place avatar mtothevizzah , to random

Missed some eggs, these new hens are going at it this winter.

Everyone loves an olive egger.
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@mtothevizzah@mastodon.gamedev.place avatar mtothevizzah , to random

From the dance/costume/politics commentariat.

A man is married to a lady with opinions.
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@mtothevizzah@mastodon.gamedev.place avatar mtothevizzah , to random

Daily bread looking good. Running the oven during the blizzard is always a good idea. This loaf is for a friend whose father passed away recently. .

Mmm, bread.
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mtothevizzah OP ,
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@jvalenzu today’s loaf, but not bad.

@mtothevizzah@mastodon.gamedev.place avatar mtothevizzah , to random

I was in the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts recently and saw these gorgeous Japanese bowls, tenmoku, and have started collecting a few of them. Very lovely piece in how it responds to the light.

A middle-aged man is developing middl-aged person hobbies.
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mtothevizzah OP ,
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@mtothevizzah@mastodon.gamedev.place avatar mtothevizzah , to random

I became somewhat obsessed with the pottery of Polia Pillin after seeing one of her pieces with birds and weird ethereal women on an episode of Antiques Roadshow of all things. Bought a few pieces which now adorn the coffee table. This feels very "middle-aged" but it does give me joy. Except when my mother-in-law puts knick-knacks in them.

Spooky women and birds on ceramics.
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@mtothevizzah@mastodon.gamedev.place avatar mtothevizzah , to random

I'm doing the same thing on the House side with Sean Smith of the HDCC and Amy Kuhn, my other state legislator, donating another $25k to the HDCC hoping to match. This has been an intellectually satisfying exercise in terms of understanding how to flex at the federal level without giving money to what seems like feckless national campaign groups. If you're interested in this, drop me a line. It's not hyperbole to say this election cycle is the most important in recent history.

@mtothevizzah@mastodon.gamedev.place avatar mtothevizzah , to random

Last year I made the decision to donate $25k to the Maine Senate Democratic Campaign Committee after having a really interesting discussion about how Maine's legislature elects constitutional officers. If you want to flex at the federal level, the Maine Attorney General sues them, so there you go. If you're concerned about election integrity, that's the Secretary of State's job. We raised another $25k+ in matching funds from that.

https://www.pressherald.com/2026/02/23/in-maine-legislative-races-recruiting-the-right-candidate-is-everything/?uuid=371e6eeb-5b03-4788-b04b-856a0fc0a60e&lid=224953

mtothevizzah OP ,
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That funding is used to hire folks on the ground earlier in contested areas, to help train candidates, and get them elected. The state is becoming the backstop for many issues independent of the constitutional officer pitch, so it's excellent return on capital either way. I really appreciated partnering with Will Parmacek from the SDCC and my local legislator, Theresa Pierce, on this. Much political fundraising feels like shoveling money into a furnace, this feels purposeful.

@mtothevizzah@mastodon.gamedev.place avatar mtothevizzah , to random

@occult I think we're adjusted down to only 3-4" here in southern ME, a little jealous. But my friends in Brookline are very unhappy with the forecast for you guys around the wind especially, living up on a terraced condo with SW facing.

@mtothevizzah@mastodon.gamedev.place avatar mtothevizzah , to random

This was a really interesting conversation with Annabella Gurewitch about theater and television and cancer. I've been impressed how Richter has developed as a chat show host, in guest selection and conversational style.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-three-questions-with-andy-richter/id1468533126?i=1000749527312

@mtothevizzah@mastodon.gamedev.place avatar mtothevizzah , to random

A little fat tire bike in the snow after 5" the other day here in ME. About to get another 7". I don't do this much because of time and spring marathon training, but it's fun, if hard. Since we've had so much snow this winter as soon as you get off a little packed trail you are dead in the water/snow. Upside is falling over into pretty nice snow banks... this is Hardy Rd Conservation Area in Falmouth.

A man looks sort of like a dork now that he looks at this picture again.
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@mtothevizzah@mastodon.gamedev.place avatar mtothevizzah , to random

For those wanting an update on rooster-gate.

A rooster is harder to kill than one might think.
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@mtothevizzah@mastodon.gamedev.place avatar mtothevizzah , to random

Every now and then you realize what a fun idea it was to have children. And chickens.

A person's wife is not happy with the rooster's behavior.
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@Yakkafo@mastodon.gamedev.place avatar Yakkafo , to random

Look! Look! This is my game, Beware of the Cartographer! And it now has a trailer. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7eanjDlZvA

mtothevizzah ,
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@Yakkafo How did you not start this off "Hear ye, hear ye!"? :) Looking forward to it! I've got my stack of Leventhal Map & Education Center postcard maps next to me... you should poke them and the Osher Map Library for some sort of co-marketing!

@alfiekohn@sciences.social avatar alfiekohn , to random

Fixed it for you, NY Times

NYT headline "Other Democracies Don't Redraw Voting Maps Quite Like the U.S. Here's Why" -- edited to delete the word "other"
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mtothevizzah ,
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@alfiekohn You may find the work of the Data and Democracy Lab interesting background. I met Justin Solomon at MIT some years ago and enjoyed talking about it with him and am frustrated that we don't have data-driven approaches to district construction.

https://mggg.org/basics

@mtothevizzah@mastodon.gamedev.place avatar mtothevizzah , to random

The Basilica of Our Lady in Montreal is astoundingly beautiful in its construction and ornamentation.

The pulpit is sort of insane, though.
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mtothevizzah OP ,
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Although I have to say the LED votive candles don't do it for me. I suppose you need a living church. I'm impressed that this looks like a homegrown solution.

mtothevizzah OP ,
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Bonus points to the first person that makes a Hyperion/cruciform joke.

@mtothevizzah@mastodon.gamedev.place avatar mtothevizzah , (edited ) to random

Old windows in our hotel room in Montreal, cozy inside, around 1F outside, closer to -10F with the wind chilld.

No, really, it is. It would be totally cool if this was some old Fujifilm Neopan.
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@mtothevizzah@mastodon.gamedev.place avatar mtothevizzah , to random

The Museum of Fine Arts in Montreal has a really strong curatorial vision, very nice mixture of historical pieces with modern pieces that are echoes thematically or similar. That linking is really enjoyable when you're walking through, presented in situ vs something to read about in the program. Lots of fun pieces like this one.

HAAAAMMMMBURGER.
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mtothevizzah OP ,
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Some other fun pieces.

image/jpeg
image/jpeg

mtothevizzah OP ,
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Their staircase itself is sort of hypnotic, although they use half-height treads which are super annoying to walk on.

@mtothevizzah@mastodon.gamedev.place avatar mtothevizzah , to random

Seen in the Museum of Fine Arts in Montreal, subtle PlayStation vibe?

Just need a triangle and a cross and we're good.
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@mtothevizzah@mastodon.gamedev.place avatar mtothevizzah , to random

Some really interesting specular response from huge fabric hangings in Saint Joseph's Oratory in Montreal.

A person is confused if they're looking at metal or velvet.
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mtothevizzah OP ,
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It is a really weird structure as well. Classical appearance from the outside, brutalist on the inside, with elements of art deco and modernist sculpture. Really interesting, although we walked up there when it was like 3F out and lightly snowing/windy.

mtothevizzah OP ,
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That was also just one of the eight floors of the structure (!) as it is built into a multi-tiered facility along the side of Mount Royal. On another level is this very odd votive arrangement with a water feature (?!).

mtothevizzah OP ,
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I mean, if you put this in your environmental construction portfolio for a video game job I'd say it was a little hacky. Low poly, mishmash of styles, gobo up in the corner. Just doesn't make any sense, please try again.

mtothevizzah OP ,
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@castano But didn't they have that load-time tessellation for curves/arches?

@mtothevizzah@mastodon.gamedev.place avatar mtothevizzah , to random

Did a slightly silly thing and bought a very reasonably priced luxury electric vehicle (used, luckily those value falloffs are steep!). Reading the manual like a Good Boy(tm):

> With the door open, turn the emergency key clockwise to the first point of noticeable resistance and then turn it further to the stop using a certain amount of force.

"A Certain Amount of Force" is my new band name.

mtothevizzah OP ,
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@mtothevizzah@mastodon.gamedev.place avatar mtothevizzah , to random

Pamphlets at a farm veterinarian up in Monmouth. I suppose I have to agree but I confess I've never had to think about it (we have goats).

Have you considered colic insurance?
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mtothevizzah OP ,
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Also also.

mtothevizzah OP ,
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@ElizabethLee Ironically I think we are dealing with something similar with one of our dwarf Nigerian goats, but we always just refer to it as bloat and not colic. I wonder if that's animal/breed specific terminology. (I was up at the vet to pick up antiobiotics and syringes when I snapped these.) And, wow, the Wikipedia page for horse colic is... very long, yoiks.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horse_colic

mtothevizzah OP ,
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@gorlak They don't actually take care of cats, they're a livestock vet, so I'm not sure it's not a subtle troll. But as my wife likes to say, there is a weird u-shape for things like animal husbandry. Leftist small farm hippies on one side, super conservative rural farm folks on the other, and they're all hanging out talking about withers.

mtothevizzah OP ,
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@ElizabethLee They can, but very rare and usually indicative of something very bad.

@mtothevizzah@mastodon.gamedev.place avatar mtothevizzah , to random

So Apple created new versions of the existing productivity apps with the same name but different app IDs in the store? I suppose this is some sort of retribution for CODHQ, but they didn't even migrate recent documents list into the new apps, feels incredibly sloppy. And the threats of subscription models don't feel great either.

A technology company is making strange decisions.
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