Ross Grady

I live in #DurhamNC & I spend a lot of time thinking about #synthdiy / #eurorack -- my dayjob is in tech because I'm a walking stereotype.

I'm leftist, anti-fascist, pro-LGBTQIA+++, pro-BIPOC, anti-TERF/SWERF, bored with "free speech" arguments, and I believe all cops are bastards.

Currently living on a single-user instance running #Akkoma.

website: https://rossgrady.org

Last Notes

2026-04-16 22:40:21 UTC

At no point in the past 30 years of my career in the technology industry has any boss ever said "gee Ross, the latest technological advances have made you 5x more productive, would you like to cut back to working 8 hours a week for the same pay?" and I have very much noticed the absence of that discussion.

2026-01-03 13:24:54 UTC

So this administration’s doctrine is that authoritarian bully-boys who rig elections and refuse to peacefully transition governments should be exfiltrated by force by the armies of other unrelated countries?
Just jotting that down for future reference.

2025-07-31 22:11:41 UTC

I feel like there is more to this story:
The FBI and two national cybersecurity firms have been brought on to mitigate the attack, but it hasn't been enough. Yesterday, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz activated state units of the National Guard to assist the city.
"Unfortunately, the scale and complexity of this incident exceeded both internal and commercial response capabilities," Walz said. "As a result, St. Paul has requested cyber protection support from the Minnesota National Guard to help address this incident and make sure that vital municipal services continue without interruption."
Like, OK, but what cybersecurity expertise does the Minnesota National Guard have that the FBI and two cybersecurity firms don’t have??
#note1gvw…7pls

2025-07-25 22:08:37 UTC

- reply

I have so many thoughts about this but I'm a cishet white dude in my mid-50s so I shouldn't really weigh in. Except god knows I loved S-K before they kicked Janet to the curb.
But my two albums of the summer are:
- https://wetleg.bandcamp.com/album/moisturizer
- https://feverray.bandcamp.com/album/the-year-of-the-radical-romantics

2025-07-21 16:40:06 UTC

I had missed this until I saw this article:
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/meta-x-linkedin-appeal-unprecedented-vat-claim-by-italy-2025-07-21/
Money quote: “Italian tax authorities argue that free user registrations with X, LinkedIn and Meta platforms should be seen as taxable transactions as they imply the exchange of a membership account in return for a user's personal data.”

2025-06-28 01:17:01 UTC

I was carrying too much random crap on my person before the letters C D and E were even introduced into the alphabet.
But for the longest time I have been down to just a pocketknife, a thinnest-possible tyvek wallet, and my phone. Oh and a flashlight on my keychain, and a miniature titanium adjustable wrench (LOL), also on my keychain. Still, a far cry from what you see on your average EDC YouTube channel. Like, I don’t walk around with an entire set of screwdriver bits in my pocket. [Not anymore.]
ANYWAY, on a recent vacation I was doing a bunch of paper UI design for a new synth project using pencil and graph paper, and I really enjoyed it.
Which is how I appear to be adding these adorable wee mechanical pencil and 2”x3” pad to my pocket cruft? Maybe?
LOOK AT HOW CUTE THEY ARE
https://dood.net/media/b551b809ae86ab520312d668020d84d6eec06613f1e414cdd9c449a18abba105.jpeg

2025-06-11 12:21:31 UTC

Sometimes you can pretend humans never existed
https://dood.net/media/d58e86649c6e49909e40616af1d0496620939df07be46ecb9c77fceeba3dc968.jpeg

2025-06-05 02:00:01 UTC

I guess this is a regional delicacy — I’ve never heard of it. We’re in my wife’s hometown in Eastern Kentucky and she’s like “oh sure potato candy, you’ve never had that?”
It’s essentially powdered sugar, cream cheese and dried potato flakes, mixed together into a thick paste, and then rolled up with peanut butter.
https://dood.net/media/56967976e2f7e2bf0fdec156942f71ad0bb4f3c69fdcc7a8b2cd0ac097bacfb1.jpeg
https://dood.net/media/6c5f22dc9ad1aa2b090245519d7fd92a86887a0474d40e5808f23b7623a7d479.jpeg

2025-05-10 22:51:55 UTC

The #Canes rally towel on my seat said that the Lenovo Center is the loudest house in the NHL, but apart from the ridiculously loud PA system, their fans seemed pretty muted during the first period.
(Apart from the Canes fans heckling their own defender, Brent Burns, sigh.)
I guess I’m saying this place is no Bell Centre, for sure.
#NHL

2025-03-18 18:23:35 UTC

Blocking people who show up in my mentions trying to argue with me about the GNU IMP being shitty is *so* easy and *so* satisfying.

2025-03-09 21:45:21 UTC

This fuckstick from GitLab could have just said *nothing* but instead he had to go full-on nazi marketing zombie with a quote that is simultaneously vile *and* lame:
At a Morgan Stanley conference this month, Brian Robins, finance chief for San Francisco-based software maker GitLab, said GitLab is aligned with the goals of DOGE, because the company’s software tools aim to help people do more with less.
“What the Department of Government Efficiency is trying to do is what GitLab does,” Robins said.
https://archive.is/okSlz

2025-03-06 17:53:15 UTC

Xyla’s new video is about losing her pilot’s license due to a mental health episode that was triggered by having her IUD replaced.
The FAA revoked her license long *after* she had fully recovered — it was an entirely bureaucratic process driven by a combination of obsolete ideas about mental health, and federal CYA regulations.
Her video is partly about the very real fact that all commercial pilots are VERY aware of how the FAA works, and thus NO commercial pilot would ever seek mental health care, despite having one of the most stressful jobs there are.
There is reform legislation being proposed, and she shares details at the end.
https://youtu.be/aj0H8oVS7qg

2025-03-02 12:48:51 UTC

Do not visit the USA for any reason right now.
https://www.kpbs.org/news/border-immigration/2025/02/28/german-tourist-held-indefinitely-in-san-diego-area-immigrant-detention-facility

2024-12-02 20:06:26 UTC

Just in case anyone was acting under the mistaken impression that I am a rational human being: my wife & I made plans yesterday to fly to Pittsburgh for a quick weekend visit . . . in late February.

2024-10-12 22:41:51 UTC

The Frogs & Toads of the Southeast book calls the Pine Barrens Treefrog "the most beautiful frog in North America," and I can't say I disagree.
We saw these lil critters at the Green Swamp Preserve in southeastern North Carolina, one of only a handful of places where they can be found.
https://dood.net/media/df6200c8784bbfe36c904b8343a355525a96e25cedf62eb030f2890559848539.JPG
https://dood.net/media/a4b16d0a984433a9bcbbd18e20187ca04f0b74627a4dab98349b33f7b9e6667b.JPG

2024-09-27 22:11:55 UTC

- reply

My friend Allie has done this a few times, so her Letterboxd watchlists might contain some gems: https://letterboxd.com/alliemullin/lists/
I myself got nothin -- most obscure thing we've watched recently was Oddity, which was pretty decent but I suspect also pretty high-profile/mainstream by your standards :)

2024-09-16 16:39:10 UTC

In the USA, the FCC is currently considering handing over some frequencies immediately adjacent to the frequencies used by #Meshtastic and other amateur radio, for use by a single-vendor navigation system. This potentially opens the door for crippling interference in the amateur radio frequencies remaining, as well as future complaints from the vendor about purported interference from amateur radio.
More info here: https://store.rokland.com/blogs/news/help-us-protect-meshtastic
And here: https://meshtastic.org/blog/meshtastic-opposition-to-nextnav-proposed-changes/