Troy Davis

skeptical optimist. everything is an experiment.

đź”— tacoapp.com, simpleoptout.com, reportphonespam.org, sawsafely.org, seattleix.net, yort.com. ex papertrail.com. 9600 8-N-1.

Troy Davis
troyd@mas.to

"From Nobel buzz to hiring halt: Trump funding cuts hobble UW protein design startup machine": https://www.geekwire.com/2025/from-nobel-buzz-to-hiring-halt-trump-funding-cuts-hobble-uw-protein-design-startup-machine/

#seattle

April 02, 2025
Troy Davis
troyd@mas.to

Rudy Boysen's granddaughter's farm is holding its annual online sale of boysenberry plants today: https://www.rudysoriginal.com/bare-root-boysenberry-plant/

3 for $25. they'll sell out in the next 24 hours.

these are the most vigorous boysenberries I've seen. if you love berries, can plant in full sun (6+ hours/day), and can tolerate the thorniest of thorny plants, these are for you.

#boysenberries #yoloberryfarm

March 08, 2025
Troy Davis
troyd@mas.to

my picks for canned, unsweetened sparkling water, in no particular order:

La Croix Passionfruit

Polar Ginger Lime Mule

Polar Tart Cherry Limeade

La Croix "Curate" MĂşre Pepino (Blackberry Cucumber)

March 03, 2025
Troy Davis
troyd@mas.to

"What happens on your device, stays on your device – until it doesn’t": https://obdev.at/blog/what-happens-on-your-device-stays-on-your-device-until-it-doesnt/

and… #macOS Sequoia adds a new option to disable.

credit: @noheger

January 08, 2025
Troy Davis
troyd@mas.to

good explanation from https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/18/opinion/luigi-mangione-writer-tim-urban.html (https://archive.ph/ZQ2AF):

"And what I want to say to these people is, you don’t get to pick only your favorite causes. Maybe you are hugely pro-choice — when you’re celebrating this, you are also theoretically celebrating the future murder of the Planned Parenthood C.E.O. You are celebrating the murder of the Pfizer C.E.O. by an anti-vaxxer. You’re celebrating the attempted assassination of your favorite senator."

December 26, 2024
Troy Davis
troyd@mas.to

Day in the Life of a Seattle Native: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVrU15y5JWw

#seattle

December 14, 2024
Troy Davis
troyd@mas.to

FastMail's spam filter provides a much better experience than Gmail's.

I sometimes have a side-by-side comparison for the same spam campaign. #Gmail doesn't let users send high-scoring/obvious spam to the trash. hundreds of messages per day can land in spam - too many to even skim.

#FastMail lets users adjust the threshold so obvious spam is deleted (https://www.fastmail.help/hc/en-us/articles/1500000278142-Improving-spam-protection#settings). only the few borderline emails land in spam.

particularly for less-savvy users who might click phishing scams, FM wins

December 13, 2024
Troy Davis
troyd@mas.to

welp, this happened:

• asked an LLM about a $2,500 product; got a fairly thorough answer, only without much nuance or firsthand experience.

• emailed my questions to the company's support.

• they replied with ~the same message that the LLM gave me, only with less detail because their LLM prompt was worse.

customer service already acts like LLMs have replaced customer service.

(Zendesk's 👍👎 feedback tool needs a "We've both pasted my email into an LLM, now what?" link)

#LLM #customerservice

December 09, 2024
Troy Davis
troyd@mas.to

Do I know anyone who knows anyone at Bandwidth.com? They're pretty grey-hat regarding SMS spam enforcement, and one might even say dark grey -- like knowingly ignoring/refusing to investigate cases where their direct customers are sending opt-out bulk SMS spam.

It's sad to watch what used to be a reasonably well-regarded carrier put revenue above ethics. Maybe someone in management would care enough to learn more.

#sip #telecom #raleighnc

November 21, 2024
Troy Davis
troyd@mas.to

when life - or an Airbnb - doesn't give you a pot to boil water, convert an "Instant Solo" Keurig clone into a pourover brewer.

a Melitta-style brewer will fit, just fold the filter back. and… it works.

#coffee #keurig

November 21, 2024
Troy Davis
troyd@mas.to

achievement unlocked: fished San Antonio River Walk. "Pearl Springs," part of the Museum Reach, just after sunrise on Saturday

November 20, 2024
Troy Davis
troyd@mas.to

went #bikefishing for the first time. although I didn't catch anything, I made friends with the birds. this one (crane?) showed up after a few minutes and kept me company.

the rod telescopes down to about 2' and fits in my backpack.

November 05, 2024
Troy Davis
troyd@mas.to

if you should end up in Montgomery, Alabama, go to Capitol Oyster Bar for a Sunday dinner concert: https://capitoloysterbar.com/entertainment-schedule/

tonight was Josh Garrett Band: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=noiVtOa8Xrg , https://www.joshgarrettmusic.com/home

#montgomeryal

November 04, 2024
Troy Davis
troyd@mas.to

earlier today: standing in a Bass Pro Shop in Chattanooga, learning to fish from Anthropic Claude

November 02, 2024