Techpad — Tech News, Tutorials & Personal Notes

Two Layoff Memos, One Morning

Amazon and Salesforce both announced major layoffs on the same January morning, and a personal take on watching it unfold from the outside while a friend waits to hear if she's affected.

January 4, 2023·3 min read

TechpadinTech News

Watching Tesla Close Out Its Ugliest Year

Tesla closed out its worst year ever on the last trading day of 2022, down about two-thirds — and a chunk of that drop traces straight back to Elon's Twitter mess, not the cars.

December 30, 2022·4 min read

TechpadinPersonal

48fps, Bad 3D Glasses, and Three Hours of Blue People

A trip to see Avatar: The Way of Water turns into a rant about high frame rate projection, RealD glasses that never fit right, and a storm that might wreck holiday flights.

December 23, 2022·4 min read

TechpadinPersonal

Snowed In With the Winter Sale Open in Another Tab

A cold snap, a broken radiator, and the Steam Winter Sale going head to head for my attention while I try to ignore the bigger Twitter news for once.

December 22, 2022·3 min read

TechpadinTech News

So Twitter Just Suspended a Bunch of Journalists

Twitter suspended several journalists tonight over a same-day "doxxing" policy tied to yesterday's @ElonJet ban, and the tweets in question don't hold up to five seconds of scrutiny.

December 15, 2022·4 min read

TechpadinTech News

The Fusion Headlines Are Skipping the Number That Matters

The DOE announced fusion ignition at NIF today, but the "net energy gain" headlines skip the part where the lasers themselves burn way more power than the reaction produced.

December 13, 2022·4 min read

TechpadinTech News

Fifty Fantasy Versions of Myself, Courtesy of Lensa

I finally tried Lensa's Magic Avatars this week and came away with fifty fantasy-novel versions of myself, some real questions about where the training data came from, and a warning about the subscription toggle.

December 7, 2022·4 min read

TechpadinTech News

Orion Buzzed the Moon Today and Almost Nobody I Know Noticed

While everyone's group chat was full of chatbot screenshots this week, NASA's Orion capsule quietly buzzed the Moon at under 80 miles and almost nobody noticed.

December 5, 2022·3 min read

TechpadinPersonal

What I Kept From Black Friday (and What Went Back)

A rundown of what I actually bought (and put back) over Black Friday weekend, plus some dish-washing time spent watching Orion swing past the Moon.

November 27, 2022·3 min read

TechpadinTutorials

Picking a Mastodon Instance Is the Part Nobody Warns You About

I spent Black Friday weekend setting up Mastodon instead of shopping, and the hardest part wasn't the app, it was just picking a server.

November 26, 2022·3 min read

TechpadinTech News

Watching Artemis I Finally Leave the Pad at 1:47 A.M.

I stayed up until 1:47 in the morning to watch Artemis I finally leave the pad after three scrubbed attempts and a run-in with a hurricane, and it was worth losing the sleep.

November 19, 2022·4 min read

TechpadinPersonal

1:47 A.M. and the Rocket Finally Went

Staying up until 1:47 a.m. to watch Artemis I finally leave the pad, and some thoughts on why a successful Moon rocket launch barely made a dent in a feed full of Twitter and FTX chaos.

November 18, 2022·3 min read