Graham Downs

South African Christian, husband, Software Developer, and author of the urban fantasy novella, Memoirs of a Guardian Angel.

Last Notes

2026-02-24 06:40:57 UTC

Maybe the days of the old COBOL greybeards earning more money than the rest of us devs can dream of is nearing an end? :/
https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2026-02-24-ibm-posts-steepest-daily-drop-since-200000-after-anthropic-says-ai-can-modernize/?utm_source=MastodonAfrica
#VibeCoding #AI

2025-08-19 07:51:08 UTC

This article opens with what we all know, but what many in other countries can't understand: "Most South Africans already run their businesses on #WhatsApp". And it's true, you simply cannot conduct any from of trade -- either as a business or a consumer -- without it. But it's about to become even more entrenched: https://gadget.co.za/whatsappcommerce14t/?utm_source=MastodonAfrica
And of course, Meta will think this is a wonderful idea, and either buy them for an obscene amount of money, or build their own native service and put these guys out of business. #SouthAfrica

2025-08-18 05:38:02 UTC

Wordle 1 521 4/6*
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#wordle #wordle1521

2025-06-15 09:06:22 UTC

If you use #linux, you probably use sudo all the time. If you're using @nprofile…lfze, you might not be using it for very much longer, because it looks like they might replace it soon: https://thenewstack.io/ubuntu-25-10-replaces-sudo-with-a-rust-based-equivalent/?utm_source=Mastodon #ubuntu
(h/t @nprofile…3awy)

2025-04-05 09:58:49 UTC

Don't you just love it when authors do that? :-D #books #memes #humour @nprofile…9vtz
https://cdn.mastodon.africa/media_attachments/files/114/284/764/884/695/464/original/f022555023d87495.png

2025-03-20 07:52:01 UTC

Did you hear about the $Ramaphosa YouTube hack and #cryptocurrency scam? I must've missed it: https://gadget.co.za/parliamenthacker75w/?utm_source=MastodonAfrica
But yeah. Scary stuff. And so sad that we have to adopt this "Zero Trust" mindset. Human beings are designed to trust each other (but of course, that's part of the problem). :'( #SouthAfrica #infosec

2025-03-20 06:58:31 UTC

Today, "I am old enough to want to feel younger", as per the Salusa 45 advert from my childhood.
I can't find the ad (if anyone can, please drop a link), but I'm old enough to remember it fondly, and I remember thinking that 45 seemed impossibly old and I couldn't imagine ever reaching that milestone. :D
Happy birthday to me!
#nostalgia #SouthAfrica #1980s

2025-03-13 07:40:13 UTC

Sounds about right... ;) #SoftwareDevelopment #humour #videos
https://cdn.mastodon.africa/media_attachments/files/114/153/976/914/330/666/original/2164a5574e7d9e3c.mp4

2025-02-12 11:42:49 UTC

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@nprofile…msc9 Good point about TOTM.
Re the random encounters, most of my encounters were planned, but there was one time when the party were attacked by a couple of wolves, because they rolled poorly on some checks and got a bit careless with setting up camp.
The battle map was folded up into quarters on the table because I had pre-drawn something for the next big encounter (it was a complicated cave system so couldn't really draw it on the fly), but the way it was folded, the map was on the inside so the players couldn't see it.
Anyway, for that random encounter, we just used the quarter that was facing up. I don't even think I drew anything on it. We just imagined it was a clearing, placed the players' tokens on it, placed the wolves, and go. The actual fight took maybe 5 minutes of real time. :)

2025-02-12 10:30:31 UTC

Seriously, everyone. #Reading to your kids is a good idea! :-) #parenting @nprofile…9vtz
https://cdn.mastodon.africa/media_attachments/files/113/990/440/256/339/195/original/4fe3b4a2f66ddd75.png

2025-02-12 10:28:13 UTC

Seriously, everyone. #Reading to your kids is a good idea! :-) #parenting @bookstodon
https://cdn.mastodon.africa/media_attachments/files/113/990/440/256/339/195/original/4fe3b4a2f66ddd75.png

2025-02-12 09:24:22 UTC

Interesting: "A computer can never be held accountable" - https://simonwillison.net/2025/Feb/3/a-computer-can-never-be-held-accountable/?utm_source=Mastodon #AI

2025-02-10 10:37:06 UTC

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@nprofile…c97w Yip. It's a catch-22. You need to be where your audience is, but your audience is going to find you where you are.
We need organisations willing to take a leap of faith and join open platforms, and then promote their presence on those platforms to their current audience. And I don't know how viable that is for most.

2024-07-30 06:55:18 UTC

Wordle 1,137 4/6*
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#wordle #wordle1137 #puzzles #games

2024-05-24 10:56:03 UTC

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@npub1wuw…pjs5 Cool game! I finished it all in 18 minutes:
Jumblie #234
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9 guesses in 18m 8s
https://jumblie.com