I consider myself an excellent SQL coder. At least I used to be. But I owe all but the basics to a person I've never met. A true master. I inherited his code when he left the job. His code taught me things I never would have seen in or out of a classroom. I'm certain he was younger than me, based on the descriptions others gave of him. I thank my lucky stars I got that lesson. I'm not sure we can assess our own top level without seeing something and wishing we had written it. Or perhaps even then. Then there's the Dunning–Kruger effect. And the sciolists of the world. Who among us hasn't seen those? Yet I think the person experiencing it doesn't know it. When I was a kid, someone stuck me in a choir. After a bit of time the choir director told me not to sing the words but to just move my lips. A monotone. Yet now I sing well, according to others. Probably I just had to grow into my voice. But I never pursued music after that. The last is just food for thought. Good subject for rumination.

Possibly outside the scope mentioned; 1. I need an app that can track which frickin streaming service I had been watching, so when they have new episodes I can pick up where I left off. I also want to know what movies I've seen since the titles on my action movies are starting to blend together. 2. I'd like a webpage watcher that can tell when the webpage gets updated. I know that might sound weird but there are low change sites that a notification would help on. Ideally, it would have the added feature of ignoring the letterhead and other garbage. 3. A news aggregator that works like a web search engine and crosses political lines and especially includes overseas sources. It would only include news and ignore other pages. As a US citizen I'm getting more accurate news from the BBC and Al Jazeera than I am from my local news sources. Less biased, as well. 4. A PR Newswire filter that looks for specific companies or narrow industries (meaning not just "finance"). 5. A piece of software that can scan all public government documents for an individual's name; meaning land purchases in adjacent counties, court cases and company filings including the person's name. Just some ideas of toys I've always wanted. Yes, you can use the last one for stalking but I'm thinking more about public/government figures. Beyond the tools? No harm, no foul. Just some ideas. Have fun with any of them.

Possibly outside the scope mentioned; 1. I need an app that can track which frickin streaming service I had been watching, so when they have new episodes I can pick up where I left off. I also want to know what movies I've seen since the titles on my action movies are starting to blend together. 2. I'd like a webpage watcher that can tell when the webpage gets updated. I know that might sound weird but there are low change sites that a notification would help on. Ideally, it would have the added feature of ignoring the letterhead and other garbage. 3. A news aggregator that works like a web search engine and crosses political lines and especially includes overseas sources. It would only include news and ignore other pages. As a US citizen I'm getting more accurate news from the BBC and Al Jazeera than I am from my local news sources. Less biased, as well. 4. A PR Newswire filter that looks for specific companies or narrow industries (meaning not just "finance"). 5. A piece of software that can scan all public government documents for an individual's name; meaning land purchases in adjacent counties, court cases and company filings including the person's name. Just some ideas of toys I've always wanted. Yes, you can use the last one for stalking but I'm thinking more about public/government figures. Beyond the tools? No harm, no foul. Just some ideas. Have fun with any of them.

I got sucked into forums with long political fights ages before facebook so I knew what I'd get if I signed up for that one. I never crossed that line in spite of pressure from friends. Sometimes they'd only post a party invite on Facebook and I'd chew them out over that. Cool that you grew up in Phoenix. I grew up in Denver, so of course I'm not used to the heat here. :) But the environment is very healthy for my body, overall, which is why I moved here. Denver was killing me and it is lightweight compared to some places with snow. The oxygen is nice, too.

I keep a twitter account because local municipalities will use it to post information. I think today I got a road closure announcement from one of the city departments I subscribe to. My local police (and since I'm in the US, my state troopers) post events and sometimes that's helpful for knowing where to avoid. City council meetings get posted in my area as well. That's my use case and why I would recommend using it for that narrow band of information. I don't see the point in following celebs or politicians, personally. Or arguing with people over meaningless things since twitter isn't an online community, unlike this forum. That's the value I see. Here's a sample:

In case you missed Gilbert Police Dept.'s Tweet
Heads up #GilbertAZ! 🚔

We have multiple reports of downed trees and debris blocking roads throughout town in the area between Williams Field and Baseline Roads and Greenfield and Cooper Roads.

Please avoid travel if possible while crews work to clear the roads. https://pic.twitter.com/FBUzCxKzzg

That's a hilarious story.