Taylor Ryan

Etown '14, Software Engineer, maker, discgolfer, geek, girl dad x2! #EtownCollege #IndieHacker

[Nick Knudsen 🇺🇸 @NickKnudsenUS]

I have a confession and a plea to folks who are flirting with voting Jill Stein.

When I was a 20 year old college student in 2000, I voted for Ralph Nader instead of Al Gore. I loved the progressive message Nader offered, and Bush and Gore seemed kinda the same to someone who was paying peripheral attention.

I've regretted that vote for my entire adult life.

Ultimately, George Bush won by a margin of 500+ votes in the state of Florida over Gore. And that was the ballgame. Ralph Nader peeled 97,000+ votes away from Gore. If only 600 of those 90,000 had voted for the major party candidate that more aligned with their values, things would have been very different.

When I was in my senior year of college, 9/11 happened. The country and western world rallied around Bush's resolute response to the traumatizing terror attacks. I was in NY at the time, and it was a terrifying moment for the nation.

But the consequences of Bush being in office at that moment were immense.

Bush's disdain for his dad's nemesis, Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, led him to invent a rationale to invade a country that literally had nothing to do with 9/11. End result? He killed hundreds of thousands of Iraqi people, thousands of American troops, and spent over a trillion dollars of taxpayer money in the process.

Beyond the completely immoral and indefensible Iraq War, Bush was a complete disaster as a president. His "No Child Left Behind" effort turned public schools into standardized testing centers. He tripled down on fossil fuels and ignored climate change. His tax cuts for the rich helped contribute to the 2008 economic downturn that led to the Great Recession.

He was a terrible president.

In an alternate reality, Al Gore would have been president in 2001 when terrorists attacked America. Would he have gone into Iraq? Absolutely not. Would he have ignored global warming? 100% no! Gore was perhaps the preeminent proponent of fighting climate change at that time. Would he have passed massive tax cuts for the wealthy? No way.

This is a sliding doors scenario. What would have happened? We can't be sure. But one thing is for sure: those votes for Ralph Nader (in Florida in particular) were EXCEPTIONALLY consequential for the lives of millions around the world. Gore would have offered a more forward-facing, environmentally conscious & peaceful presidency that wasn't so rooted in grievance and privilege.

My point is:

Either Kamala Harris or Donald Trump will win the election. That is a fact. You might feel the need to submit a "protest vote" as I did in 2000.

Just be ready to wear it when Donald Trump wins, strips away reproductive rights from all Americans, implements an economy-destroying tariff, dismantles the entire federal government, eliminates the Department of Education, prosecutes his perceived enemies, and devolves America into chaos.

There are no perfect choices. But rest assured, there are only two.

Trust me - I've been wearing my vote for a quarter century.

[Nick Knudsen 🇺🇸 @NickKnudsenUS]

Girl dads unite. #BlueWave2024

[Jahara Jayde @JaharaJayde]

Good morning to everyone except this boss in A Link to the Past

[Taylor Ryan @yatryan]

Let's get this made! Tetris Solid https://t.co/u18eEaVz4x #lego

[Bobby Martrich | EPAWA @epawawx]

100% agreement with this - not just because it matches our first map. I do like their higher across Central NJ especially coastal mid-NJ (Monmouth/Ocean) and up to NYC and I think we'll be adjusting (higher) there today.

[XBOX @XBOX]

The perfect way to play Bluey The Videogame: with a #Bluey Xbox!

Follow and RT with #BlueyXboxSweepstakes for a chance to win a custom @OfficialBlueyTV Xbox Series X & controller.

Ages 18+. Ends 12/13/23. Rules: https://t.co/o7jQCwIfzY

[Taylor Ryan @yatryan]

Booo @myQConnect

[Home Assistant @home_assistant]

The @myQConnect integration will be removed from Home Assistant in release 2023.12. Chamberlain Group, the owners of MyQ, have released a public statement saying they will continue blocking access to third-party apps like the integration. Read more: https://t.co/qgi2eX9zAs

[Party Animals @party_animals]

🎉Countdown to the party: 1 day🎉
Retweet and follow for a chance to win a game key at launch. 2 winners will be randomly selected tomorrow.
#Steam #XboxGamePass

[Jo @JoJoFromJerz]

Today is the first day of school for many of the towns surrounding UNC Chapel Hill.
And they are on lockdown.
Kindergartners on their first day of school, huddled and hiding in their classrooms.
Not a drill.
Not an exercise.
An actual lockdown.
Because of a shooting on the college campus nearby.
Because.
Of.
Another.
School.
Shooting.
If we are willing to force our kids to accept that gun violence in school is a reality FROM DAY ONE…
Then we are failing them.
Then we HAVE failed them.
Is that who we want to be?

[André @AndreSegers]

you know, there's something kind of beautiful about @CharlesMartinet concluding his time as Mario's voice actor with his final performance literally being the FATHER of Mario🥹

[Party Animals @party_animals]

Guess whooooo I am! 👀Retweet and follow for a chance to win a game key at launch. 2 winners will be randomly selected tomorrow.

[Taylor Ryan @yatryan]

This is so wild! so clean too

[Taylor Ryan @yatryan]

Guess I shouldn't complain about rubberbanding. #MK8D #NintendoSwitch

[Bread & Fred | Gnaughty Gnomes @SandCastlesSt]

🎁BREAD & FRED GIVEAWAY 🎁

We are giving away 1 STEAM KEY to one lucky winner

What you need to do to enter:
🔁RT & Like❤️
🐧Mention who's gonna help you climb the mountain

Ends this Sunday 28th (Sunday included), good luck!

[Kyle Nolan @_knolan]

🎉 My side project just reached $100k ARR!! 🥹

Two years ago, I never would have thought this was possible.

In fact, there was a time when I was one day away from halting work on it.

I had built an event-based finance simulator to replace one of my convoluted spreadsheets. I was satisfied that it did most of what I needed for my own planning, and a few shares to places like Reddit were met with little (i.e. no) fanfare. So I thought, "mission accomplished, time to move on."

I posted the link to HN just for kicks, but didn't bother checking back in... then an hour later I found my email inbox blowing up 🚀

Since that day, I have worked nights and weekends bootstrapping https://t.co/rDRcQ4D7PG as a side project from $0 to $8500 MRR.

→ 9 months to get to $1,000
→ 4 months to get to $2,000
→ 7 months to get to $5,000
→ 2 months to get to $6,000
→ 2 months to get to $8,500

It has been a long and challenging road to get here, trying to follow in the footsteps of indiehacker legends like @levelsio, @dr, @yongfook, @arvidkahl, and @dannypostma . And contrary to my own advice, I have been burning the candle at both ends pretty often. 🕯️

Would my own financial plans be looking a lot rosier if I had just grinded leetcode to go work for FAANG instead? Probably... but I still wouldn't trade this experience of building and growing a passion project for just about anything 😁

The process of materializing a creative idea in the real world and growing a user community around it has been energizing and fulfilling in a whole different way than corporate engineering could ever be. And I think all you fellow #indiehackers out there know a thing or two about that feeling!

I suppose the next question is: when should PL become more than just a side project? If only there was a personal finance simulator that could help explore the different scenarios and trade-offs... 😉

If you have an opinion, story, rule of thumb, or thoughts on personal risk calculus to share, let me know in the comments below!

#buildinpublic

[Taylor Ryan @yatryan]

@michaelj @mailbrew Oh, thanks! I recall seeing something like that, but didn't know which service.

[Taylor Ryan @yatryan]

@mailbrew How do i manage my subscription? I do not see a link anywhere in the settings, etc.

[Taylor Ryan @yatryan]

Do you remember when you joined Twitter? I don't, but Twitter does. #MyTwitterAnniversary

[Taylor Ryan @yatryan]

It's my #Twitterversary! I have been on Twitter for 15 years, since 1 Apr 2008 (via @twi_age).

[Taylor Ryan @yatryan]

Oh thank goodness, sties back up, still had my tickets

[Taylor Ryan @yatryan]

Hey @ArtsQuest , your site went down as i was purchasing tickets for @AJRBrothers, I'm guessing ive lost my seats?