∞

MHTA Tech Talent 2020

Learned a lot this morning at the MHTA Tech Talent 2020 event! A wealth of data from Grant Riewe, Erin Olson, Sri Koneru, and Tim Welsh.

Conference room full of attendees seated at round tables facing a presenter on stage beside two projection screens showing a Minnesota Tech Workforce Survey Two speakers stand on a stage at a tech talent conference, one at a podium with a microphone, the other smiling beside them. Woman in a black dress speaking at a podium labeled Minnesota High Tech Association Tech Talent with a slide about recruiting IT talent on screen behind her Bearded man in a green sweater speaking at a glass podium on a stage at a Tech Talent conference event

The Success Stories from Minnesota Workplaces at todays MHTA Tech Talent 2020 event were very informative. It was great to hear what is working for everyone. This event is only in it’s 2nd year but is already a mainstay for the community.

Large conference room with hundreds of attendees seated at round tables facing two speakers standing at a podium and microphone Four speakers on a stage at a Minnesota High Tech Association Tech Talent event, two holding microphones, with a podium and two leather chairs behind them. Woman in yellow blouse speaks at a podium on stage at the Minnesota High Tech Association Tech Talent conference

It was a privilege to be able to share some perspective and success stories at the MHTA Tech Talent 2020 event about what we are doing at SPS Commerce to attract, retain, and develop technology talent!

Man in a dark suit speaking into a handheld microphone on a stage, with a projected slide titled SPS Commerce Solutions and Programs behind him, and an audience seated in the foreground.
∞

Maybe taking your blood pressure a couple hours after “breakfast for dinner” with bacon isn’t a great idea. 😬🥓

∞

Configuring my Raspbery Pi 3B+ with Pi-Hole! 🤓

Pi-Hole up and running! Easy to setup. 👍

Pi-hole dashboard showing 485 total queries across 9 clients, 21 queries blocked at 4.3%, with 125,230 domains on blocklist
∞

I find the Feb 22nd 2020 cover of The Economist so perfect. I love the imagery of these cybernetic bulls. And probably even more, I like the choice of having them run directly at the viewer — as if you are about to get run over by them.

The Economist cover Feb 22 2020 showing five robotic bulls stampeding toward the viewer branded with Google Apple Microsoft Amazon and Facebook logos.
∞

Wow — Pythonista 3 finally got an upgrade to some of the newest iOS features! And release notes make it clear further Shortcuts support is on the way! 👏

∞

Mimi Uploader may fundamentally change how I use micro.blog. It makes it much more compelling for longer blog posts.

∞

Ticket to Ride Japan

Our family enjoys playing Ticket to Ride and we have some of the expansion packs. When I saw the new Japan expansion pack I knew that was something we would like. We’ve now played both the Japan and Italy (the flip side) versions.

Japan

Ticket to Ride Japan board game mid-game showing colorful train pieces placed across a map of Japan with city names including Hiroshima, Osaka, and Kochi visible.

The Japan expansion pack is interesting because it introduces a new cooperative element to the game in the form of the bullet train. All players work together to build the bullet train, and in fact you are rewarded and penalized for how much or little you work on it. It’s like a game in a game. The bullet train can then be used by all players. It changes the game a lot and is a really fun way to play. I think this version of the game will reward players that draw a large number of tickets.

Italy

Ticket to Ride Italy board game in progress, colorful train pieces filling routes across a map of Italy and Sicily.

Italy is more traditional. There is no communal play like the bullet train. It introduces Fairies to the game to build water routes. It also has a bonus concept of connecting a large number of regions. It is fun, and if you enjoy Italy it’s fun to play with all of those cities. Gameplay is pretty standard.

∞

Playing some Skittles this morning.

Skittles by Carrom wooden tabletop game with small bowling pin pieces and a spinning top on a blue scored playing surface.
∞

Grilling cheeseburgers like it’s summer! 🔥🍔❄️

Big Green Egg kamado grill open with cheeseburgers cooking, set up on a cabinet in a snowy backyard with a playground behind it.
∞

Just ordered a Raspberry Pi 3B+ so that I can finally setup a Pi-Hole server at home!