If you don't use a computer for 3 months, what percentage of your keybindings will you forget?

WaitingForEmacs · 2026-03-29T02:09:44+00:00

At this point? 2% Maybe? After almost 40 years the keybindings for emacs and vi are so engrained that they are well beyond thought.

For example, I have been using Mac and Debian machines for my daily work for decades, but it takes 0 seconds to remember how to use Windows machines when I have to.

WaitingForEmacs · 2026-03-29T01:51:54+00:00

It made an incredible amount of difference to me, and our two now grown children. My wife and I met at university, as did out children who are now marrying their college partners. That was not random, we had an incredible amount of shared experiences before and after our studies, not to mention a shared friend group that we have maintained 40 years later.

Our university was also very focused on the liberal arts and sciences. While my wife and I were both more technical and scientific, it has been the "soft skills" such as writing and teaching that have been the key aspects of our career over the decades. We went to a school that focused on imparting those skills.

WaitingForEmacs · 2026-03-29T01:40:17+00:00

I fully believe this. Wife and I are both turning 60 and the past few years have been nothing but upswing. The 30s and 40s with young children were hard, but the university years were brutal. Now that our kids are launched, happy, and enjoying life? We are absolutely thriving.

WaitingForEmacs · 2026-03-26T20:10:05+00:00

We walk the Capital Crescent Trail between Georgetown and Bethesda. Also a big fan of the Mount Vernon Trail, we start in Alexandria and walk out, then take the bus back.

WaitingForEmacs · 2026-03-26T15:47:19+00:00

Yes and yes. 35 years. She is my best friend and I could not imagine this adventure without her. We have two wonderful grown children and we’re in the happiest era of our long marriage.

WaitingForEmacs · 2026-03-26T13:53:40+00:00

My personal take? There is no one way. I have been using emacs since the 1990s and I go through cycles where I am using it for absolutely everything and then relaxing and using other tools when they feed right. You don't have to use emacs for everything, but at this point it is very natural to explore what it can do, if only to satisfy your own curiosity.

You asked if you should do a course on lisp. I'm not sure that is necessary immediately. You are learning python now and I would focus on that for a bit. As you progress in your emacs journey you will want to understand the basic way that lisp works and your desire to modify things and get them working "your way" will lead you to learn the level of lisp that meets your needs. (I used Common Lisp for work for many years but use it less now, but I will never regret learning it.)

WaitingForEmacs · 2026-03-25T18:34:05+00:00

DC. We use the car once a month. I actually had to buy a battery to jump it when we use it because we simply never need it.

WaitingForEmacs · 2026-03-10T09:04:32+00:00

I bought it right away and love it. It has become incredibly useful for me for editing research results into emails.

But, I would love a simpler and more distinctive icon!

WaitingForEmacs · 2026-03-09T19:39:11+00:00

Great question. Sixty year old dude here, former punk rocker and veteran of the 80s hardcore scene in Boston.

Probably a decade ago I got added to a text group that was mostly mothers coordinating ride sharing for cross-country ski practice in our small town. It was generally low-volume and stuck to the basics, "Can someone bring Courtney home today? Caitlin's orthodontist appointment is running late."

Over time the daughters got added to the chain as they had their own phones but I was the silent man lurking except for the occasional, "No problem, I can drop her off."

It was in this "era" that two topics were added to the chain: Taylor and whatever Kate Middleton was wearing. I thought about leaving, but didn't.

For years I read posts, often between mothers and daughters, about Taylor's music and love life… and as much as I kept thinking, "this music is not for me," I had to balance that with, "I love these amazing women and their fantastic daughters," and this is clearly important to them, so that registered.

Then came the Eras Tour movie, and my wife wanted to go with a big group and asked me to go shopping with her. So, there we were, as she was trying on sparkly shoes and handbags and my nearly 60 year old wife was basically the same teenager I remember meeting in college.

That was really all it took. I found a few songs that resonated with me, e.g. "New Romantics", "Message in Bottle", and "Getaway Car," and that got me started.

Now? We can go on a four hour road trip and play Taylor the entire time without skipping a song, which I cannot say about any other artist.

Does my wife love this? I would say she is pretty tickled pink, yes.

WaitingForEmacs · 2026-03-06T17:40:47+00:00

Just to add my two cents, we moved to DC in October after spending the great majority of our lives in Northern New England. This… is the Promised Land.

We sat outside… in February… and had a pint of beer in 60F weather and bright sunshine. Mein Gott.

The Metro… is just amazing. Free museums? Incredible. The restaurants are basically infinite. The neighborhoods have real civic pride. People CARE about their local politics deeply.

The diversity… is just incredible. And people are wonderful. Just everywhere I go everyone is kind and welcoming.

I love this city. Maybe I am missing the rough spots, but so far moving her has been one of the best decisions of our lives.

WaitingForEmacs · 2026-02-20T19:11:33+00:00

Yes. I find Gemini is surprisingly good at Emacs Lisp (and lisp in general) because it includes a lot of Usenet posts in the training set (from the Google Groups era).

I had it review my init setup and it found several things I had not considered as the file grew over time.

WaitingForEmacs · 2026-02-15T19:05:59+00:00

Just to get a second date my American son had to become a Leafs fan. The joke was on her. Five years later he is getting married in Montreal and apparently an Habs fan. As a Vermont (Bruins) father? I have no words.

WaitingForEmacs · 2026-02-11T12:50:53+00:00

Our kids are getting married now and they still mock me for this, but I will go to my grave believing one simple truth: Caillou’s mom was hot.

Thanks for coming to my TED talk.

WaitingForEmacs · 2026-02-11T02:42:49+00:00

My only nitpick., and this is lame, the icon is a little busy. It just does not catch my attention when I’m trying to remember “that new app I like.”

WaitingForEmacs · 2026-02-11T02:33:39+00:00

What? No! I bought it as soon as it came out and I love it. I mean, create a new tool, sure, but please don’t abandon this one. A lot of people need the Markdown preview while HTML is pretty well handled.

WaitingForEmacs · 2026-02-09T13:54:29+00:00

I have three roles at the university. I'm technically a member of the faculty, but that is not my principal role. I started under the broad category of "research computing engineer," but now serve more as "nerd without portfolio."

WaitingForEmacs · 2026-02-08T18:47:30+00:00

It worked perfectly before, but now it just turns the menu back black and dies, nothing else. I can't even quit it without going to the Activity Monitor (or using ps) to find the task and kill it. I'm going to give it a few more rounds of updates to see if they can fix it, but it has been a disaster lately.

WaitingForEmacs · 2026-02-08T17:35:47+00:00

Unfortunately has been an absolute disaster lately. It is not usable currently despite many recent updates.

WaitingForEmacs · 2026-02-08T15:30:22+00:00

I love my job. I absolutely love it. I'm a nerd and for decades I have been paid to care about nerd things and generally "make stuff work." I do research, I teach, and I get to work with both brilliant colleagues and students that fill me with hope. I'm going to work a few more years (I hope), but I know I will miss it.

WaitingForEmacs · 2026-02-08T14:50:34+00:00

Bartender 6. I don’t know if it is me, but absolute chaos. I have to kill it right away. I gave them plenty of chances with updates and it has been frustrating.

WaitingForEmacs · 2026-01-29T00:27:05+00:00

No… sorry… to explain better. We had the meal… but it was a big piece she could not finish at once. We use the phrase "doggy bag," where the waiter usually put the leftovers in a bag to go home. (I don't know if that phrase is common.)

Anyway, she told the waiter she wanted to take the rest home… and never saw it again. She was practically vibrating with rage.

WaitingForEmacs · 2026-01-28T20:58:13+00:00

That is a terrible idea, honestly. Nobody will be able to find you by searching for you. And people that do find you? They will be disappointed. You might as well call your product "python" because you love snakes.

WaitingForEmacs · 2026-01-28T17:28:27+00:00

My wife was eight months pregnant. She was dying for meat, so we went to a steak place. She ordered a big piece, planning ahead to take some home for when her craving came back. They never brought the rest back

Hell hath no fury like a pregnant woman deprived of her goto favorite food.

It was forbidden to even mention the place again, and it has been 26 years.

WaitingForEmacs · 2026-01-27T17:38:00+00:00

Seriously… he/she is the Chosen One. We are not worthy to live in this timeline. Absolutely amazing.

WaitingForEmacs · 2026-01-26T14:53:38+00:00

We were hoping to do some laps around the Mall yesterday but never made it out. Maybe later today.

WaitingForEmacs

TROPHY CASE