Dan Jones's microblog

Husband, Father, PHP Developer. Lover of Star Trek and anime.

Looking for other things to do, such as writing, acting, voice acting, but not really finding the time for it. Maybe when my kids are a little older, I'll get back on stage.

I'm also starting to learn Go. I think it's time to expand my programming skillset a bit more.

Feel free to follow. I may follow back if we seem to have similar interests.

#BlackLivesMatter #TransRightsAreHumanRights #StayWoke

Other interests: #Parenting #StarTrek #Writing #Theater #anime #PHP #golang #Programming #WebDevelopment #genealogy #ScienceFiction

Links: links.danielrayjones.com

Mastodon account: fosstodon.org/@danjones000

Pronouns: he/him/his

XMPP: [email protected]

Dan Jones

@[email protected]

My company has just announced that there will be a round of layoffs soon. They just laid off a bunch of C-levels. They're giving us the opportunity to "opt in" to "workforce reduction" with a promise of three months severance.

It's been pretty tumultuous here, lately, to be honest, and I'm considering it.

But, I've got a wife and four kids to take care of, and I've never willingly left a job when I didn't have another one already lined up. And we've got good benefits (healthcare and dental) right now, so I really don't want to give that up.

Maybe if I had something lined up with similar pay and benefits, I could do it.

So, I'm looking for any recommendations. I'm a #PHP developer (of roughly twenty years), who has been doing a lot of #golang for the past year, and I've gotten very proficient at that as well.

I'm looking for a US-based company, and a Principal/Staff/Senior Developer role.

Anybody have any good leads? My website is at https://danielrayjones.com, and I can be emailed at [email protected].

#FediHire #FullStack #Programming #WebDevelopment #BoostsWelcome #PleaseBoost

Dan Jones danielrayjones.com

Dan Jones

@[email protected]

I got a computer for my kids for Christmas. I've been setting it up for them, and they really like playing retro games. So, in addition to RetroArch and a bunch of old console games, I also installed @[email protected] with a handful of adventure games that I've loved since I was a kid (Monkey Island, King's Quest, Maniac Mansion).

I'm looking for suggestions for other ScummVM compatible games that adventurous kids might like that may be less well known.

Any point and click adventure games you played as a kid that you could recommend?

#BoostsWelcome #BoostsAppreciated #AskFedi #AskMastadon #PassItOn #RetroGaming #ScummVM #MonkeyIsland

Dan Jones

@[email protected]

I need the Internet to settle an argument.

Is banana bread bread or cake?

#BoostsWelcome #PleaseBoost #AskFedi #AskFediverse #AskMastodon

Bread 64% (25 votes)
Cake 33% (13 votes)
Other (leave a comment) 2% (1 votes)

Dan Jones

@[email protected]

Spoilers for WIP time travel story

I've got an idea for a novella I'm going to start writing soon (I've been in a small slump, lately). It's a time travel story with an interesting twist, but I'm curious if others will buy it.

The idea is that our hero will meet two other versions of herself who time traveled at some future point in their lives. So, let's call them 1, 2, and 3, where 3 is our hero.

1, in her 30s, travels forward about 1000 years, but can't get back. She tries to send a message to her younger self, a couple years before she left, to prevent her from going. But this backfires and she ends up making it so that 2 just invents time travel sooner, and travels forward to about the same time.

So, now 2 and 3 are both in the future. 2 is a few years younger (late twenties) than 3. They try to work together to undo this, but end up developing very different ideas, and have a falling out.

They work separately for several years, 1 becoming more bitter, while 2 becomes more hopeful. Eventually 2 has an idea, but she needs something that only 1 has, and 1 won't listen to her.

So, 2 sends a message back once more to an even younger version of themselves, 3, our hero, who's in her early twenties, and working on her PhD (maybe at MIT). 3 comes forward, and 2, in disguise, convinces her to go get the thing (haven't worked out what that is, but I'll come up with some appropriate technobabble) from 1.

The story starts, though, with 3, and her work in grad school that eventually culminates in her coming to the future.

So, I've been thinking about this, and am trying to decide if this is even believable (insofar as time travel stories are at all believable). So, what do y'all think? Would a plot like this work?

#Writing #SciFi #TimeTravel #Paradox #AskFedi #BoostsWelcome

Yes, I'd find that believable 50% (2 votes)
It's about as believable as any other time travel story 50% (2 votes)
No, sorry, I don't buy that 0% (0 votes)
Other (comment below) 0% (0 votes)

Dan Jones

@[email protected]

Do you ever take a power nap during your work day?

Sometimes, I'll set a short alarm (about ten minutes), close my eyes, lean back in my chair, and take a really short nap. Does anybody else do this, or something like that, to refresh themselves during the day?

Comment with other suggestions on how to quickly refresh your brain in the middle of a work day.

#BoostsWelcome #WFH #WorkLife #OfficeWork

Yes 42% (3 votes)
No 57% (4 votes)
I will now! 0% (0 votes)
I do something else 0% (0 votes)