This is only a test.

🌊 Hello, my name is Branden Byers. I test stuff. I question stuff. And I live to always be learning (ABL). To me, the saddest thing in life is my premortem regret that I won't be alive to learn all the things that there will be to learn before the end of the universe (and not being able to share that knowledge with others). Mind upload or some other ridiculous solution maybe?

You can find me in Portland, Oregon, USA (but please don't be creepy and literally come find me; have your people call my people). I live with 🐐, 🥰, 🦆, 🐕, and 🦜. I am also autistic and relatively optimistic.

For the next sixty seconds... this is only a test.

The sounds I remember from my childhood are dial up modems

#bbs #americaonline #MUDs #nostalgia

and the emergency broadcast system.

Maybe the tones of the EBS are to blame for my desire to test all the things

Probably not. I late-blossomed into a developer in test (SET? SDET? DIT!) as a self-taught-thirty-something-year-old many years ago. But then again, I spent much of my life questioning all the things, which isn't that much different than testing all the things. Assume nothing. Trust no expectation until proven innocent. Hammer away at the status quo. Automate the repetitive bits in life. Break lots of things in the process.

Testing, testing, 1, 2, 3.

I ❤️ microphones, audio recording gear, and analog synthesizers too.

Mixing my love of audio with an awe for microorganisms, I recorded 101 episodes of a podcast about fermented food science. If you go by the ~~iTunes~~ Apple Podcast reviews, it was a rambling and rough show (maybe a little too reminiscent of this homepage? 🤔). But I worked with three great co-hosts, talked with many fascinating guests, and am grateful I dedicated the time to share fermented excitement with the world.

In a slightly more concise lightning talk, that I gave years ago, I share deets about a quest for fermented cultures in Wisconsin.

The podcast also inspired a now out-of-print fermented food cookbook (which wasn't vegan, but I'm vegan now, and I do hope I find the time to do a fermented vegan redux in the future). Maybe the German translation is still in print, in case you read das Deutsche.

Volunteer4Life

By no means am I the most altruistic person in the world, but I do care. I also find volunteering a great way to engage with others via common interests. #socialanxietylifehack

I dream of a day where everyone has the priviledge to devote voluntary time to their interests without the need to prove their worth and value via capitalistic means. #universalincome

The pandemic basically threw a giant wrench into the middle of the all-volunteer (and primarily in-person) non-profit organization that I helped find (found? founded?) years ago, but technically we still exist and we will likely pick up momentum again some day to spread more goodness throughout the world (or at least the Pacific Northwest). Yay for electronics, workshops, events, and keyboards! 🎉

Tangential as 💩

You may have deduced a hint of tangent up in here. Welcome to my 🧠. Before I forget to mention it: "fanny" packs were, and are, a magnificent invention. And why no fanny pack emoji?! But we do have 🍑👝. Maybe I will start a fanny-pack brand: Peach Pouch? 🤔

Sometimes I'm concise; thank you, 🤖.

No formality on this website though. I share my brain-dribblings and TILs. My hope: you might enjoy a few of these varied musings from within our galaxy and beyond. ❤️