Michael Engard
@engard.me
Writer and web developer. Rochester, NY. Of late: WordPress, TTRPGs, the open web. You may never read my book but at least I’m writing it.
Reposted by Michael Engard
I regularly see people wondering how it's possible that there are so many musicians and writers and film makers and artists from a tiny nation like Iceland.
And the answer is really simple: State funding for art education and artists. I literally get a salary from the government to write books.
And the answer is really simple: State funding for art education and artists. I literally get a salary from the government to write books.
I’m constantly astounded at the sheer level of artistic production coming out of Iceland. Novels, movies, music. Amazing.
February 18, 2026 at 2:23 PM
I regularly see people wondering how it's possible that there are so many musicians and writers and film makers and artists from a tiny nation like Iceland.
And the answer is really simple: State funding for art education and artists. I literally get a salary from the government to write books.
And the answer is really simple: State funding for art education and artists. I literally get a salary from the government to write books.
A thousand times, this.
So is programming. Which is why "vibe coding" is bunk. You have to think through exactly what you want the program to do, and only writing the code will force you to actually think it through properly.
Writing is thinking.
It's not some marginal boring task you can skip. It's the heart of it.
It's not some marginal boring task you can skip. It's the heart of it.
February 17, 2026 at 1:25 PM
A thousand times, this.
Reposted by Michael Engard
So is programming. Which is why "vibe coding" is bunk. You have to think through exactly what you want the program to do, and only writing the code will force you to actually think it through properly.
Writing is thinking.
It's not some marginal boring task you can skip. It's the heart of it.
It's not some marginal boring task you can skip. It's the heart of it.
It’s easy to think writing is mainly the transcription of ideas you already have—that is, until you try to write something worthwhile, and you find what you thought were saying transform into something far more interesting in the process. This skips that last step, and that is *not* an improvement.
February 17, 2026 at 12:37 PM
So is programming. Which is why "vibe coding" is bunk. You have to think through exactly what you want the program to do, and only writing the code will force you to actually think it through properly.
Reposted by Michael Engard
mom they’re roasting the US economy on mastodon again
February 16, 2026 at 7:37 AM
mom they’re roasting the US economy on mastodon again
We said never again.
On Thanksgiving, the immigrant children held at the Dilley detention center gathered in the gym for what they thought was a holiday feast.
The kids salivated over a spread of turkey, sandwiches, pastries and pies, a family told me.
But the food wasn’t for detainees — it was for the staff.
The kids salivated over a spread of turkey, sandwiches, pastries and pies, a family told me.
But the food wasn’t for detainees — it was for the staff.
February 13, 2026 at 10:01 PM
We said never again.
Reposted by Michael Engard
nobody posted the clip anywhere so i went and dug the whole episode up
February 13, 2026 at 5:22 AM
nobody posted the clip anywhere so i went and dug the whole episode up
Reposted by Michael Engard
Before you share your "cool" button code for AI to spread it further, maybe learn HTML basics to ensure the elements you crammed inside (which you don't need anyway, could easily ditch them & get the same result with a single pseudo) are permitted inside button
developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/W...
developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/W...
February 13, 2026 at 9:07 AM
Before you share your "cool" button code for AI to spread it further, maybe learn HTML basics to ensure the elements you crammed inside (which you don't need anyway, could easily ditch them & get the same result with a single pseudo) are permitted inside button
developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/W...
developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/W...
Reposted by Michael Engard
I fixed the typo in this a while back, if you want it.
February 11, 2026 at 7:32 PM
I fixed the typo in this a while back, if you want it.
Reposted by Michael Engard
A reminder of one of the loveliest pairs of siblings in the dictionary: ‘muscle’ and ‘mouse’. To the Roman imagination, the flexed biceps of a (typically naked) athlete resembled a rodent scuttling under the skin. ‘Musculus’, in Latin, means ‘little mouse’.
February 11, 2026 at 10:14 AM
A reminder of one of the loveliest pairs of siblings in the dictionary: ‘muscle’ and ‘mouse’. To the Roman imagination, the flexed biceps of a (typically naked) athlete resembled a rodent scuttling under the skin. ‘Musculus’, in Latin, means ‘little mouse’.
Reposted by Michael Engard
If you wait for a better world to make art, you'll wait a long time.
February 10, 2026 at 1:12 PM
If you wait for a better world to make art, you'll wait a long time.
Reposted by Michael Engard
idk i think in a time when it feels like nothing matters & all is futile it might actually be time to double down and write your stories & make your paintings & sing your songs & do your art. create the things that make us human and share them.
February 10, 2026 at 6:37 AM
idk i think in a time when it feels like nothing matters & all is futile it might actually be time to double down and write your stories & make your paintings & sing your songs & do your art. create the things that make us human and share them.
Reposted by Michael Engard
this is incredibly frustrating. By framing this as a policy demand Dems are aiding a disinformation campaign that is intended to confuse the public about what is constitutionally required.
This is literally what CURRENT LAW requires. It’s in the Constitution! www.politico.com/news/2026/02...
February 10, 2026 at 2:11 PM
this is incredibly frustrating. By framing this as a policy demand Dems are aiding a disinformation campaign that is intended to confuse the public about what is constitutionally required.
Reposted by Michael Engard
Discord served its purpose almost flawlessly by 2021 and then constantly made itself worse over the ensuing years
The constant drive to change products that serve their purpose perfectly well really does exemplify the problems with an "endless growth" mindset
The constant drive to change products that serve their purpose perfectly well really does exemplify the problems with an "endless growth" mindset
February 9, 2026 at 10:28 PM
Discord served its purpose almost flawlessly by 2021 and then constantly made itself worse over the ensuing years
The constant drive to change products that serve their purpose perfectly well really does exemplify the problems with an "endless growth" mindset
The constant drive to change products that serve their purpose perfectly well really does exemplify the problems with an "endless growth" mindset
Reposted by Michael Engard
I'm convinced AI is our generation's radium - a discovery with genuinely useful applications in specific, controlled circumstances that we stupidly put in everything from kid's toys to toothpaste until we realised the harm far too late where future generations will ask if we were out of our minds.
February 8, 2026 at 10:23 PM
I'm convinced AI is our generation's radium - a discovery with genuinely useful applications in specific, controlled circumstances that we stupidly put in everything from kid's toys to toothpaste until we realised the harm far too late where future generations will ask if we were out of our minds.
Reposted by Michael Engard
america could be such a cool fucking place if we’d just let it be
February 9, 2026 at 1:32 AM
america could be such a cool fucking place if we’d just let it be
Reposted by Michael Engard
Just saw a post with George Clinton citing the Beatles as his favorite band, which reminded me of this quote he once gave me
February 6, 2026 at 3:12 AM
Just saw a post with George Clinton citing the Beatles as his favorite band, which reminded me of this quote he once gave me
Reposted by Michael Engard
A desperate plea sent to me by a Minneapolis resident who's been on the front lines since the beginning of the ICE occupation:
February 8, 2026 at 5:06 AM
A desperate plea sent to me by a Minneapolis resident who's been on the front lines since the beginning of the ICE occupation:
Reposted by Michael Engard
GM: Charisma check.
Mamdani: [rolls natural 20]
GM: that’s a d6 how did you
Mamdani: [direct to camera] Did you know you can check out board games at your local public library? 😊
Mamdani: [rolls natural 20]
GM: that’s a d6 how did you
Mamdani: [direct to camera] Did you know you can check out board games at your local public library? 😊
February 7, 2026 at 5:01 AM
GM: Charisma check.
Mamdani: [rolls natural 20]
GM: that’s a d6 how did you
Mamdani: [direct to camera] Did you know you can check out board games at your local public library? 😊
Mamdani: [rolls natural 20]
GM: that’s a d6 how did you
Mamdani: [direct to camera] Did you know you can check out board games at your local public library? 😊
Reposted by Michael Engard
We put on an all-Yiddish community production of fiddler on the roof in Philadelphia and cast member and local artist Sofie Rose Seymour created the most amazing show poster that ever was
February 6, 2026 at 5:10 AM
We put on an all-Yiddish community production of fiddler on the roof in Philadelphia and cast member and local artist Sofie Rose Seymour created the most amazing show poster that ever was
We often think of Shakespearean language as flowery and elusive, and that's sort of a bad rap anyway, but man—this one is so raw it could have been written yesterday.
Sir Ian McKellen performing a monologue from Shakespeare’s Sir Thomas More on the Stephen Colbert show. Never have I heard this monologue performed with such a keen sense of prescience. Nor have I ever been in this exact historical moment.TY Sir Ian, for reaching us once again.
#Pinks #ProudBlue
#Pinks #ProudBlue
February 5, 2026 at 1:15 PM
We often think of Shakespearean language as flowery and elusive, and that's sort of a bad rap anyway, but man—this one is so raw it could have been written yesterday.
Reposted by Michael Engard
Sir Ian McKellen performing a monologue from Shakespeare’s Sir Thomas More on the Stephen Colbert show. Never have I heard this monologue performed with such a keen sense of prescience. Nor have I ever been in this exact historical moment.TY Sir Ian, for reaching us once again.
#Pinks #ProudBlue
#Pinks #ProudBlue
February 5, 2026 at 11:50 AM
Sir Ian McKellen performing a monologue from Shakespeare’s Sir Thomas More on the Stephen Colbert show. Never have I heard this monologue performed with such a keen sense of prescience. Nor have I ever been in this exact historical moment.TY Sir Ian, for reaching us once again.
#Pinks #ProudBlue
#Pinks #ProudBlue
Reposted by Michael Engard
The free-roaming turkeys of Saint Paul, Minnesota:
- are enormous
- don’t know where they’re going
- have no plans or motivations
- don’t understand roads
- or anything at all, really
- are enormous
- don’t know where they’re going
- have no plans or motivations
- don’t understand roads
- or anything at all, really
February 4, 2026 at 2:43 PM
The free-roaming turkeys of Saint Paul, Minnesota:
- are enormous
- don’t know where they’re going
- have no plans or motivations
- don’t understand roads
- or anything at all, really
- are enormous
- don’t know where they’re going
- have no plans or motivations
- don’t understand roads
- or anything at all, really
Reposted by Michael Engard
This part of our response essay is where I'm at. Boiling down all of politics to electoralism has been absolutely terrible for resisting rising authoritarianism.
www.bostonreview.net/forum/how-no...
www.bostonreview.net/forum/how-no...
February 3, 2026 at 11:28 PM
This part of our response essay is where I'm at. Boiling down all of politics to electoralism has been absolutely terrible for resisting rising authoritarianism.
www.bostonreview.net/forum/how-no...
www.bostonreview.net/forum/how-no...
Reposted by Michael Engard
I also approach writing software as a learning exercise. It's rarely about learning syntax these days. I spend most of my time studying fundamental algorithms for solving common problems, and the evolution of industry standards.
February 1, 2026 at 3:10 AM
I also approach writing software as a learning exercise. It's rarely about learning syntax these days. I spend most of my time studying fundamental algorithms for solving common problems, and the evolution of industry standards.
Reposted by Michael Engard
Every piece of code I write feels like a decision I'm taking responsibility for. If my code doesn't work, or does something it shouldn't, it's on me. So I prefer to take my time and ensure the code is right to the best of my ability.
February 1, 2026 at 3:04 AM
Every piece of code I write feels like a decision I'm taking responsibility for. If my code doesn't work, or does something it shouldn't, it's on me. So I prefer to take my time and ensure the code is right to the best of my ability.