17th Workaversary

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Today marks my 17th work anniversary. I haven’t done a retrospective of the numbers involved in a few years, so it felt like time for an update.

It’s still only been three companies: Thomson Reuters, Refinitiv, and now LSEG. Back in my 2022 update, I mentioned I was moving into a new role. Three years later, I’m still in that role. So here’s how the breakdown looks on this workaversary:

8 offices 2 continents 12 managers (4 of them just in the past 3 years) 7 different groups across those 17 years (though the lines blur a bit, since lately I’ve been helping out in a group outside my own)

The most important part isn’t the numbers, though. Even if it can feel a little discouraging to watch people you’ve known and liked move on, I still find the work exciting, the problems worth solving, and the culture a place I want to show up to every day.

The Story of My First Movie

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It’s pretty likely that the first movie I ever saw wasn’t actually the one I’m talking about today. What I’m going to talk about is the first movie I remember seeing. I don’t even recall being in the theater for the entire thing, but I know I was there because I have one vivid memory from it. Based on the release date and my approximate age at the time, I must have been pretty young. Looking back, the fact that this movie is the first one I remember says a lot about me.

If you know me, you might have guessed that the first movie I remember seeing in a theater was Star Wars: A New Hope. It came out in May 1977, which would have made me a little over three years old. I’m not sure how long it was in theaters, so I can’t say exactly when I was taken to see it, but for the sake of argument, let’s assume I was about three. Was that a movie a three-year-old should see? The short answer: probably not. And, in full disclosure, before writing that sentence, I looked up when I first took my own daughters to see a Star Wars movie in theaters—it was Solo, the Han Solo film. They were five, so I think it’s safe to say that three was probably a bit young. (I’m not a hypocrite on this!)

I don’t recall if my mom was there. She isn’t in my memory, nor is my sister. That’s why I think my dad might have taken me by himself. All I really remember is getting up—or maybe sitting down—during that scene where Darth Vader is choking the general who, frankly, was being a bit cross with him.

That’s it. That’s all I remember just that one vivid moment. But I have a pretty good feeling that it set the stage for my love of the genre. With me wanting to write more recently this was one of those topics I wanted to write about. It also should come first before me talking about other stuff about me slightly older anyway.

Goodbye Primary, Hello Blazer’s

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Today was A’s first day of Year Seven. For her, it’s the start of high school, and she’s been excited about it for weeks. For M and me, it’s also a milestone: our youngest is now in high school.

For Americans, the translation is that “high school” here is closer to what would be middle school in the States. But regardless of labels, the feeling is the same. When T started last year, or whenever she reached some other milestone, my quiet consolation was always that A was still little. She hadn’t crossed that threshold yet, so I could still tell myself I had one more kid who wasn’t quite there.

Now that A has made the leap, that excuse is gone. My little baby is officially in high school. It’s a strange mix of pride, nostalgia, and the creeping realization that time really does move too fast.

Hopefully she had a good first day. She certainly looked adorable in the uniform, which feels like its own rite of passage.

Today’s musing is just me trying to catch up emotionally to where she already is: ready, eager, and growing up faster than I’d like.

My Google Pixel 8 Experience And Allergic Reaction to Fingerprinting, The Digital Kind At Least

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This blog has been around for 22 years, so there are definitely themes I circle back to. One of them is my strange, recurring relationship with Android phones. Even though I’m primarily an Apple user, I’ve probably owned more Android devices than most self-identified Android fans. The pattern is always the same: I buy one as a secondary device, I use it for a while, then it sits unused, and eventually I sell it. Time passes, I forget why I swore them off, and I start the cycle again. I even wrote a note to Future Scott to warn me away from doing it again.

In principle, I avoid Google services wherever I can. I don’t use Chrome, I don’t use Gmail, and I shut down Google accounts once I’m done with them. And yet, every so often, I’ll find myself picking up a Pixel or some other Android device, which of course requires opening yet another Google account. I tell myself it’s just a dabble, nothing serious.

Late last year I bought a Pixel 8. At first, I was happy enough with it. It was a solid device, smooth to use, and it scratched that itch of trying something different. But right after I bought it, Google announced they were changing how tracking would work on their phones and browsers. Instead of traditional identifiers you could reset or mask, they were moving to device fingerprinting. In plain terms, that means every Google phone and browser gets a permanent, unique tag. You can’t get rid of it, you can’t change it, and you certainly can’t hide from it.

For someone like me, who’s allergic to oversharing by default, the idea of being permanently tagged at the device level was a dealbreaker. It didn’t matter how polished the hardware was; I couldn’t stomach it. I did a bit of threat modeling on my own use case, read up on the details, and then stopped using the Pixel. A few months later I sold it. I should have sold it sooner, but it was only a secondary device and I didn’t feel much urgency. I defaulted back to an older iPhone I had lying around.

Not long after I sold the Pixel, Google partially backtracked on their fingerprinting plans. Sort of. The walk-back wasn’t enough to matter to me. By then I had already closed out my latest Google account, and I’m hoping that’s the end of the cycle. No more Groundhog Day moments of buying another Pixel, dabbling for a bit, and regretting it all over again.

For me, the line was crossed when the tag became something I couldn’t remove. Control matters. Once that was gone, so was my willingness to keep using the phone.

I Sort of, Not Really, Built My Own Search Engine

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Here’s what I mean: I talk a lot about privacy and the steps I take to keep my digital life locked down. For years, I’ve been a DuckDuckGo loyalist. I dropped Google search ages ago, and I don’t really miss it. But somewhere along the way, I stumbled across the idea of hosting your own meta-search engine, and of course, I had to try it.

So no, I didn’t invent an algorithm that crawls the internet. But I did spin up my own private search setup. I started experimenting with SearX, and eventually migrated to SearXNG, which is the more actively maintained fork. I run it locally on a Raspberry Pi 5, which already pulls duty hosting a handful of other media services and Docker containers. Through Tailscale, I can securely reach it from anywhere on my devices. In practice, this means I get a private, ad-free search experience that no one else can see into. It’s not flashy, but it’s mine, and that feels good.

Has it been life-changing? Not exactly. It’s cool, and I like knowing I have it, but more and more of my “searching” these days gets funneled through an LLM. That workflow is a whole separate rabbit hole I’ll save for another post.

For now, though, I can say this: if you’ve ever wondered what it feels like to run your own search engine, even a “sort of” one, it’s empowering, surprisingly doable, and it gives you just a little more control in a space that usually takes it away.

The Story of Screen Savers and Burn In History

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The other day my oldest daughter asked me about the screensaver on my computer. Mine is set to a retro alarm clock face. I like having the clock there, and I like the old-school look of it. She wanted to know why I picked it and what other options there were.

That kicked off a conversation about what screensavers actually were for. I explained that once upon a time you really needed them. The name wasn’t just decorative—it literally saved your screen. CRT monitors could burn in if the same image stayed on too long, and screensavers kept things moving. Back then, you could download or buy screensavers of just about anything: flying toasters, bouncing logos, underwater fish tanks. It was an entire genre of computing culture.

I tried to find her a YouTube video of CRT burn-in to make the point, but all I could dig up were examples from plasma or LCD screens. To her, CRTs are just ancient history. I explained that even early LCD and plasma panels had the same issue, and together we managed to find an example or two of that on YouTube.

Of course, I didn’t help myself when I mentioned that my old iMac had a burn-in issue around 17 years ago. That was all she needed. She laughed and said something along the lines of, “Well, you experienced that because you’re old.” That’s the price of trying to explain vintage tech to a modern kid you end up becoming the vintage part of the story.

Tapping Through France: A Cashless Holiday at Disney and Beyond

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We’ve just come back from a week in France. Two whirlwind days at Disneyland Paris followed by a slower stretch at a resort. The rides, the food, the lounging by the pool… all wonderful. But the thing that surprised me most wasn’t the fireworks over the castle we didn’t actually see because by then we were too tired and had already headed back to the hotel. What stood out was that I managed the entire trip without touching a single euro note or even pulling out a physical card.

If you’ve read my past posts, you know I’ve been on a bit of a mission to go wallet-less. In daily life at home, I rely almost entirely on my phone or, even better, my watch for tap-to-pay. The convenience is unmatched. That said, whenever I travel abroad, I usually hedge my bets. Extra cards tucked into the bag. Mental note of where the nearest ATM might be. Because international trips can be tricky: not every place is set up for seamless digital payments, and the last thing you want is to be stranded without cash.

But this time? Smooth sailing. Disney was as high-tech as you’d expect, and even the resort didn’t skip a beat. From meals to souvenirs to a quick coffee at the pool when we didn’t have our wallets or phones, a tap of the watch worked perfectly. No fumbling with euros, no need to break a bill just to grab a snack. I didn’t expect it to be this easy.

Back in the UK, it’s already rare that I run into a situation where cash is essential. Even the local ice cream van has a contactless reader these days. And while I know France isn’t representative of every country in Europe or the world, it was reassuring to see just how far tap-to-pay has spread.

The takeaway? For certain destinations at least, traveling cashless is no longer a gamble. It’s becoming the norm. That’s one less thing to worry about when packing, and a little more space in the pocket for, say, an extra croissant or two.

Is This Really An Empty Train or Another Universe?

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This morning I headed off to the office. The central line has had its fair share of issues for over a year – late, slow, and packed trains are the norm, even on weekends. So, when I arrived at the platform and a train with virtually empty cars pulled up, I hesitated. I couldn’t help but wonder which universe I had stumbled into. I know it’s not the best universe, given that the train was still dirty, but I managed to easily get a seat.

As a side note, I should disclose that there were about three people in the car I boarded, but I used Apple’s photo magic to remove them from the picture, so I’m not posting random strangers’ photos.

WiFi on a Washer And Dryer, What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

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When we did some work on the house, we bought new appliances, including a washing machine and dryer. I was surprised to find that both came with Wi-Fi. I mentioned this to one of the workers who was building the closet to house them, and he asked, “Why does it matter?” He didn’t see a problem—after all, who cares if someone knows you’re running the washing machine?

I told him that wasn’t the risk. Without diving too deep into a formal risk analysis, I rattled off a couple of scenarios to make my point. For example, someone could send remote commands to flood the house. Or, they could overspin the washer or dryer, potentially causing a fire. Those were just two risks that came to mind on the spot. I don’t think I convinced him, but I ended the conversation with, “We won’t be using that.”

And that’s the issue—most people don’t understand the risks that come with having Wi-Fi in home appliances. What’s worse, manufacturers aren’t taking security seriously. Just look at the headlines, and it’s clear: many of these systems are either not updatable or don’t get updates because it’s too costly for the manufacturer to maintain them. Combine that with in my opinion the lack of any real benefit to Wi-Fi in appliances, and the risks far outweigh the rewards.

I’ll admit, I set up the Wi-Fi on the washer and dryer for about two weeks just to see what it could do. The plan was always to disconnect it afterward, but I was curious. During that time, all I got were notifications when a wash or dry cycle finished. I could also view the settings on my phone, but I never actually used that feature. The notifications weren’t even helpful—the machines already make a loud, distinctive tone I can hear from anywhere in the house. Maybe if you live in a giant house, the notifications might be useful, but for us, they were unnecessary.

After my little experiment, I disabled the Wi-Fi and haven’t used it since.

When we were shopping for appliances, the salesperson tried to sell us a fancy Samsung refrigerator with a touchscreen and Wi-Fi. M and I both immediately said, “No. Just no.” I’d read somewhere that they want these “smart” refrigerators to get to a point where they can read RFID tags in food items and automatically reorder anything you’re low on. The younger version of me would’ve thought that was the coolest thing ever. Present-day me, though, thinks about all the privacy violations that would come with companies knowing everything about your eating habits. Plus, it reminds me of that scene with the “smart” fridge on Silicon Valley. I’m just glad M doesn’t like stuff like that either.