David Gardiner - Friends

Farewell Facebook (and Meta)

2025-02-03T18:00:00.000+10:30

I've made the decision to delete my Facebook account, and indeed all of my Meta accounts (eg. Messenger, WhatsApp and Instagram).

I think I joined Facebook back in 2007, and yes Facebook has been a great way to keep in touch with family and friends, particularly those further away, so this is not something I've done lightly.

For a while I've had an uneasy feeling about Facebook and its parent company Meta having a decidedly seedier/unpleasant/questionable side. Recent political events in the USA and how Meta has positioned itself in relation to those were the last straw. This also follows my decision last year to delete my Twitter account for similar reasons.

I think there's a bit of a balancing act between being aware of current affairs and the political situation both locally and overseas, and trying to cope with what can seem like an endless stream of awful news. Those recent events in the USA really precipitated this, but they haven't had the monopoly on greedy, selfish, largely very rich people wanting to feather their own nests at the expense of the most vulnerable. There are many ways to express my disapproval or opposition to this. Deleting my account is a tiny, insignificant action on its own. But if it turns out to be part of something bigger, then maybe those people and companies might at least take note, if not change their behaviour.

I have now downloaded all my available data from Facebook (no idea if I'll ever refer to it, but better to get a copy before I go). Note that depending on what data you request, it can take up to 14 days for them to make it available. Weird that it can take that long - maybe there's a lowly work experience kid that is running around restoring data from dusty backup tapes for this!.

I am not leaving social media completely. I'm still on the following:

The Fediverse/Mastdodon

https://mastodon.online/@DavidRGardiner

This is probably my favourite, and I like the 'federated' way it works. So there's not just a single site/server, but you can choose one but still connect with folks on others. Think of it a bit like email - you can have your email hosted on Gmail but still correspond with someone who is using Hotmail.

Bluesky

https://bsky.app/profile/david.gardiner.net.au

The newer kid on the block. An alternative to the Fediverse, and probably because the UI looks so close to old Twitter, a lot of folks who are leaving Twitter are ending up here.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidrgardiner/

This is for work and professional content sharing and connections.

Be aware - I'm fussy about who I connect with on LinkedIn. If I haven't ever met you first or know who you are, I'm almost certainly going to decline your invitation.

Signal

A free and privacy focused instance messaging system. I am here, but tend to keep it private. I will suggest using this to the few people I have chatting with Messenger or WhatsApp.

Email

It's still a great way to keep in touch. Replace the first dot in my blog's address and you've figured out my email address! On the other hand, if you're a nasty spammer then ignore that suggestion.

Blogging

I've been blogging here for almost 20 years! I don't plan to stop, so if you want to keep up with what's got my attention (mostly technical, but sometimes less so) feel free to check back here regularly.

Real life

So catch up with me online using one of those methods, or go 'old school' and the next time you bump into me in real life, we'll have lots to talk about 😀

You're in control. Farewell 2020

2020-12-31T16:30:00.000+10:30

It's New Year's Eve 2020. This year (and what a year) is almost done. Tomorrow we start over with the start of 2021!

One thing I wanted to talk about as we finish up 2020 is 'taking control', specifically with social media.

It is easy to coast, to be just a passive consumer. I know I often find myself doing it. But I think that can be risky. One day you discover you're completely swamped, maybe even drowning with all this stuff. That's not good!

Social media is a tool. It can be great - keeping in touch with friends and conversing with people you might otherwise never have the opportunity to meet in real life. But it can also be misused and be a negative, destructive influence. Not to mention the agendas and commercial of the social media platforms themselves. Remember nothing is free. There's always a cost. Someone always ends up paying.

Be deliberate

Be intentional about what you're sharing and what you're consuming. I know it's easy to just post whatever comes to mind. Maybe before you hit Post, take 5 minutes, then come back and review it with fresh eyes. Do I really need to post this? Is this constructive, helpful, building people up? Great! No? Maybe there's a better way to express yourself. Are you (or your current/future employer) going to be comfortable re-reading this in a few months or years?

Be careful

Do you really want to share your location/GPS coordinates? Most platforms do a good job of stripping these from photo uploads, but I know with my own blog I need to do that manually.

Are friends ok with being tagged or shared in a photo?

Delete

Is a particular social platform causing you stress? Deleting your profile (or even just taking a break for a few days) might be helpful. If you do choose to delete, it might be worth downloading all your data first.

Remember, this is social media - not real life! Real friendship exists beyond any particular technology platform.

Block

Sometimes you follow or friend someone who turns out to be a bit of a 'froot loop'. There's no rule to say you have to keep following or stay connected. Delete the connection. If they're pestering you, block them.

Mute

Maybe they're not a complete froot loop, but going through an odd phase. Many social platforms allow you to mute someone. You can still stay connected, but you won't see their posts.

Filter

Some platforms allow you to define keywords that you want to exclude from your news feed. If there's words you find offensive or topics you don't care about, use this feature.

Take control. Make healthy choices. Stay safe. Happy New Year and all the best for 2021!🙂🎆🧨🎇

Structured JavaScript within ASP.NET MVC

2014-09-05T06:19:00.001+09:30

First off, run (don't walk) and go and register for next week's ADNUG talk.

Done that?

Great, I'll see next Wednesday evening!

What? You need more convincing? Ok..

I've worked with Ben Laan for a number of years now and I'd have to say he's probably one of THE best developers I know around the place. He seriously knows his stuff, and is just as comfortable optimising a SQL query on the back-end as he is tweaking CSS layout in the frond-end UI. So I was really pleased when he agreed to come and speak at next week's Adelaide .NET User Group (ADNUG).

To quote from the presentation summary:

Modern web development calls for more JavaScript than ever before. Loose, unorganised script files are no longer acceptable – or sometimes manageable. It is important to ensure those scripts are logically organised, structured, and testable, to ensure code quality.

This presentation will review techniques for organising code to meet these goals within an ASP.NET MVC context using RequireJs – a system for dependency management and Qunit – a unit test framework build by the JQuery team.

Ben's been living and breathing this stuff recently, so I know it's going to be a really good evening. Even if you don't do .NET I think you'll pick up a lot of tips on the writing better JavaScript.

So now I've convinced you, go and register and I'll see you at there 😀

ADNUG meets monthly on the second Wednesday of the month, at Marcellina Adelaide (273 Hindley St, Adelaide). Pizza from 6pm followed by presentation(s), finishing around 7.30pm

An inspiring afternoon

2014-09-02T22:18:00.001+09:30

This afternoon I attended a funeral. The church was packed with friends and family, I have to say it was one of the best celebrations of someone’s life that I’ve been privileged to attend.

Yes, there was sadness and grief, but overwhelmingly a sense of joy of a life well lived - a passionate husband, father, and faithful man of God.

In his late 50’s, John was not an old man when he passed away last week, but the impact his life and love for others will continue to be felt for years to come.

The famous Dr Tom Tilley

2009-02-24T21:53:00.001+10:30

I was lucky enough to be in a car on the way to Stockwell for a site visit today when both Fiona and Jane rang me to remind me that the one and only Tom Tilley was to be interviewed on ABC Radio 891 Mornings with Mat and Dave.

See photos and listen to the interview on the Mornings Blog and learn what other uses PVC pipe has besides plumbing.