Keeping Up

I've had two strange digital experiences in the past couple weeks. First, I find out PDF is an open standard, then I find out SNI, which I've been cautiously optimistic about for some time, is relatively well-supported and requires no setup under my web server of choice.

I turned 30 this summer. At this point I've crossed a threshold and have spent half my life truly immersed in technology. In years past I have not felt "out of the loop." Some popular technologies went in and out of vogue around me without ever really drawing my attention, but I had a pretty solid core that stayed current.

Those recent learning experiences were strange because I consider those pieces of data pretty important in their own spheres. It's like someone baking for years before finding out yeast is a leavening agent. It's one thing to learn about things as they develop, but another to hear about something that happened four years ago and be surprised. In some ways, it felt like I was stuck in time, behind the curve in a space where I'm usually closer to the forefront.

Maybe that's more likely to happen as my experience is measured in decades rather than years.