DEV Community: David Schuster

Is Artificial Intelligence the New Religion?

David Schuster — Tue, 16 Jun 2026 14:30:00 +0000

How people talk about AI with awe, fear, prophecy, and evangelism (not literally a religion)

There comes a moment in every generation when the world tilts just enough to make everyone wonder whether we’re witnessing a technological revolution, a cultural awakening, or just another overhyped gadget destined to end up in a drawer next to the PalmPilot.

For Gen X, that moment seems to arrive every few years — microwaves, video games, the internet, smartphones, social media — and now, Artificial Intelligence. And while other generations are busy declaring AI either the new messiah or the new menace, we’re over here sipping our coffee, shrugging, and saying, “Sure, why not. Add it to the list.”

So in the spirit of cosmic humor, mild irreverence, and the eternal Gen‑X eye‑roll, sit back and enjoy a spiritual and uplifting reading from The Good Book.

📜 A Reading from the Book of Gen‑X, Chapter AI verse Agentic

And lo, it came to pass in the days of the Generation of X
that the people beheld the rise of the algorithms,
and they spoke unto one another, saying:

Fear not, for we have survived the Plague of Dial‑Up,
the Trials of the Floppy Disk,
and the Great Tribulation of Clippy,
who did appear unbidden and ask if we were writing a letter.

And the elders of Gen X lifted their coffee mugs and proclaimed:

Embrace ye this Wonderful World of AI,
for if we could program a VCR with no manual,
surely this too shall be manageable.

Thus was it written:
Blessed are the multitaskers,
for they shall inherit the chatbots.

Chapter II: The Gospel According to Mixtapes & Microchips

And the children of the Generation of X did look upon the Spinning Wheel of Doom and the Blue Screen of Despair and say,

Yeah, we’ve seen worse.
Try waiting for your favorite song to come on the radio
so you can record it on a Maxell cassette without the DJ talking over it.

And a voice from the cloud (the digital one, not the sky one) proclaimed:

Behold, AI — your new helper, your new sidekick,
your new… slightly overeager intern.

And the children replied:

Cool. As long as it doesn’t become the new Clippy.

Chapter III: From the Semi‑Sacred Scroll of Silicon and Syntax

And it was foretold that a new power would arise,
not of flesh, nor of floppy, but of silicon and syntax.

And the Gen‑X scribes gathered,
armed with coffee, sarcasm, and a faint memory of BASIC,
and declared:

Let the Boomers fear it,
let the Millennials optimize it,
let Gen Z meme it —
but we, the middle children of history know as Gen X,
shall simply shrug and say,
‘Sure, why not. Just add it to the list.’

For we have known the ancient ways:
the rewinding of tapes,
the blowing of cartridges,
the sacred ritual of unplugging it and plugging it back in.

Thus we say unto all who wander:
“Embrace the Wonderful World of AI"
for it is neither god nor monster,
but merely the next gadget we’ll pretend to read the manual for.”

🎶 A Parody Hymn: “Let the Algorithms In”

(A loving, sarcastic homage to “Let the Sunshine In”)

When Gemini is in the twenty-first century
And Claude has alighted with Skynet
Then CoPilot will guide the Planets
and perplexity will steer the Stars…
This is the dawning of the Age of AI
Age of AI
AI, AI
Harmony and bandwidth aligning,
Neural nets refining,
Prompts and tokens intertwining
With a vibe both weird and divine.
Mystics once read the heavens,
Now we read patch notes instead.
Prophets once spoke in visions,
Now Siri just mishears what we said.
But still we chant across the cloud:
Let the algorithms in…
Let the algorithms in…
The algorithms in… yeah.
We who survived the age of dial‑up
Shall not fear the age of AI.
For we have known the sacred rites:
Blowing dust from cartridges,
Untangling cassette tapes,
And rebooting the router thrice.
So raise your phone flashlights,
Lift your coffee mugs high,
And proclaim unto all generations:
Let the chatbots try…
Let the chatbots try…
This is the dawning of the Age of AI,
Age of AI…
AI, AI… AI, AI…

And now let us bow our heads and roll our eyes for the Closing Reflection

Because honestly, what better posture is there for a Gen X'r standing at the edge of the AI frontier? We’ve spent our whole lives watching the world swing between panic and prophecy every time a new technology shows up. First it was microwaves, then video games, then the internet, then social media, and now AI — each one arriving with its own choir of evangelists and doomsayers.

But who are we?

We’re the generation that learned to take all of it with a shrug and a smirk.

We’ve lived through enough “revolutions” to know that AI isn’t a deity descending from the cloud, nor a demon rising from the server room. It’s just the next strange invention in a long line of strange inventions — another tool, another toy, another thing we’ll figure out while everyone else is arguing about it.

And maybe that’s our superpower.

We don’t worship the machine.
We don’t fear the machine.
We just… use the machine, complain about it a little, and keep going.

Because if there’s one thing Gen X has mastered, it’s navigating the space between hype and hysteria with a healthy dose of sarcasm and survival instinct. We’ve gone from mixtapes to microchips, from Atari to AI, from Clippy to CoPilot — and somehow, we’re still here, still curious, still caffeinated.

So as the Age of AI dawns, let the other generations debate ...and embrace... its destiny.

We, the children of the Generation of X will be over here, rolling our eyes, cracking a joke, and quietly embracing the future — just like we always do.

An Online Community for Developers and Tech Fans

David Schuster — Fri, 05 Jun 2026 15:42:30 +0000

I joined a really supportive community for tech folks (web, software, mobile, data, security — all the nerdy goodness) who are job hunting, laid off, or just in between gigs. It’s full of smart, kind people sharing leads, advice, and good vibes.

They also host frequent virtual live events — think developer and coding workshops, resume and LinkedIn profile reviews, career advice sessions, and even casual Happy Hours. Plus, they organize in-person conferences and meetups throughout the year, so it’s not just online chatter — it’s real connection.

Are you looking for your next job opportunity, Ready to add some oomph to your resume or LinkedIn profile? Ready to advance in your career? Are you a tech or dev enthusiasts? Want to hang out with other cool people like yourself? …come join us!

Follow this link: Torc.dev

Hello fellow followers! I wanted to share that I've on CoderLegion, a community for sharing, learning, discussing & collaborating all things dev and tech. If you're interested, join me here: https://coderlegion.com/register?u=4614

David Schuster — Thu, 28 May 2026 16:01:02 +0000

Register as a new user - Coder Legion

coderlegion.com

My Path Into Programming: A Web Nerd's Tale

David Schuster — Mon, 18 May 2026 13:00:00 +0000

I’ve always believed that every computer programmer, coder, developer, and nerd has an origin story. Some people discover coding in a college course, some stumble into it through a job, and some — like me — were simply destined to become nerds from the start.

My journey into programming began in the early 1980s, long before sleek laptops, cloud IDEs, or AI‑powered anything. Back then, computers felt mysterious and a little magical. They hummed, they beeped, they had screens that glowed in a way that made you feel like you were peeking into the future. And for me, that future started with MS‑DOS and a blinking cursor.

The First Program I Ever Wrote

I still remember typing out my first lines of BASIC. It wasn’t anything groundbreaking — just a simple program that printed text on the screen — but the moment I hit Enter and watched the computer do something because I told it to, I was hooked.

There was no Stack Overflow. No YouTube tutorials. No ChatGPT or Copilot to bail you out. Just trial, error, and the thrill of making something work. I didn’t know it then, but that little program was the spark that would shape my entire career.

HTML: The Language of The Web

Fast‑forward to college life. The World Wide Web was exploding with a new tool that was used browse the web called Netscape, and suddenly everyone wanted a website. When I discovered HTML, it felt like BASIC all over again — but this time, what I built could live on the internet for the world to see.

I loved everything about it. The tags, the structure, the way a few lines of code could transform into something visual. I’d stay up late building pages, tweaking layouts, experimenting with colors, and breaking things just to figure out how to fix them.

That passion for building and creating webpages became the foundation of my career. It wasn’t just coding — it was storytelling, design, logic, and creativity all rolled into one.

Falling Down the Developer Rabbit Hole

Once you learn one language, you start to see the patterns. And once you see the patterns, you want to learn more...

So I did.

JavaScript came next — back when it was still the wild west of pop‑ups, mouse trails, and “DHTML.” Then came PHP, SQL, React, Python, and a handful of others I picked up along the way. Each one opened a new door. Each one taught me a new way to think.

And each one reminded me that in tech, the learning never stops.

The Challenge No One Warns You About

If there’s one struggle that’s followed me throughout my journey, it’s this:

Just when you finally master a language… it becomes outdated.

I’d spend months learning a framework, getting comfortable, building real projects — and then suddenly the industry would shift. A new version would drop. A new “must‑learn” tool would appear. Great, so now I have to learn this new language: wha-who-where-huh.wtf!?

Some weeks it felt like programming languages were being released faster than I could install them.

At first, I saw this as a personal failing. Why couldn’t I keep up? Why did everything I learned seem to expire so quickly? Why did the tech world move at a pace that felt impossible to match?

But over time, I realized something important:

The goal isn’t to keep up with everything — it’s to stay curious.

Once I embraced that, everything changed.

What I Learned Along the Way

Looking back, here are the lessons that have stuck with me the most:

Your first language matters — not because you’ll use it forever, but because it teaches you how to think.
BASIC didn’t follow me into adulthood, but the logic it taught me did. Loops, conditions, structure — those fundamentals never go out of style.
The web is always evolving, and that’s a good thing.
HTML in the 90s was simple. Today it’s part of a massive ecosystem. That growth is what makes this field exciting. If things stayed the same, we’d all be bored.
You don’t need to learn every new language.
Seriously. You don’t. Pick the ones that align with your goals. Learn enough to stay relevant, not enough to burn out.
Curiosity beats mastery.
Mastery is temporary. Curiosity is renewable. The developers who thrive aren’t the ones who know everything — they’re the ones who stay open to learning.
Your journey is uniquely yours.
Some people start coding at 12. Some start at 40. Some love backend logic. Some love frontend design. Some love both. There’s no “right” path — only your path.

Why I Still Love This "Work"

Even after all these years, I still get that same spark I felt back in the 80s when I typed my first BASIC command. Technology has changed, but the feeling hasn’t.

I love the puzzle‑solving.
I love the creativity.
I love the moment when something finally works after hours of debugging.
I love that the web is still a place where anyone can build something from nothing.

And I love that, in a field that evolves constantly, there’s always something new to learn — not because you have to, but because you get to.

And The Journey Continues...

If there’s one thing I hope readers take away from my story, it’s this:

You don’t need to be the fastest learner or the trendiest developer. You just need to stay curious, stay persistent, and stay excited about what you’re building.

The tools will change.
The languages will change.
The frameworks will definitely change.

But the joy of creating something from scratch — that never goes away.

And that’s why, after all these years, I’m still proud to call myself a web nerd!

Early Internet Chaos Turns into a Passion for a Determined Web Nerd

David Schuster — Thu, 07 May 2026 22:14:45 +0000

How going from FrontPage to AI-Powered Content became the starting point for a life journey.

I’ve spent a big chunk of my life orbiting around websites — building them, fixing them, reorganizing them, analyzing them, and occasionally whispering to them like they’re temperamental houseplants. If it lives on the web, I’ve probably poked at it, audited it, optimized it, or tried to make it behave.

And somewhere along the way, I realized something:
I’m not just someone who works on the web. I’m a full‑blown web nerd.
Not the “I can hack into the Pentagon using a green‑text terminal” kind of nerd.
More like the “I get excited about metadata, analytics dashboards, and clean content architecture” kind of nerd.

Please allow me to explain.

The CMS Rabbit Hole (Where It All Began)

Anyone who has ever touched a website — whether you’re a developer, a content editor, or someone who once updated the “About Us” page at 4:59 PM on a Friday — has used a Content Management System (CMS).

WordPress, GeoCities, Drupal, Joomla, SharePoint, Adobe Experience Manager…
If it has a login screen and a WYSIWYG editor, I’ve probably broken it, fixed it, or trained someone on it.
But before all of that — before CMS platforms became the sprawling digital ecosystems they are today — there was Microsoft FrontPage

MS FrontPage was my gateway drug.
It was clunky, it was quirky, it generated HTML that looked like it had been through a blender…
but in the mid‑90s, it felt like magic.

It was the first time I realized, “Wait… I can build something that lives on the World Wide Web?”

FrontPage was the tool that made the web feel accessible, tinker-able, and full of possibility. It wasn’t just software — it was the spark that lit the fuse.

At some point I got curious about where all this started.
What did the early CMS world look like?
How did we get from hand‑coded HTML pages to drag‑and‑drop blocks and AI‑powered content workflows?
That curiosity sent me down a historical rabbit hole — and honestly, the evolution of CMS platforms is wild. What started as simple tools for publishing text has grown into full‑blown digital experience ecosystems with personalization, automation, governance, and analytics baked in.

And yes, I read articles about CMS history for fun. This is who I am.

🕯️ In Memoriam: Microsoft FrontPage (June 1996–December 2006)

“We gather here today to remember a pioneer… and to forgive its HTML.”

Let us pause for a moment of silence for Microsoft FrontPage, the dearly departed WYSIWYG editor that ushered an entire generation into the world of web creation. Before modern CMS platforms strutted onto the scene with their sleek interfaces and standards‑compliant markup, there was FrontPage — earnest, enthusiastic, and blissfully unaware of the chaos it sometimes unleashed.

FrontPage was many things:

A gateway to the early web
A loyal companion to aspiring site builders
A fearless generator of <font> tags nested six levels deep
A bold experiment in “What if we let anyone build a website… instantly… with no guardrails whatsoever?”

It introduced us to the mystical realm of FrontPage Server Extensions, a technology so temperamental it could bring seasoned IT professionals to their knees. It gave us themes that looked like they were designed during a sugar rush. It gave us table layouts that defied physics. It gave us hope.

And yes — it gave us code that modern developers still wake up screaming about.
But for all its quirks, FrontPage did something extraordinary:

It made the web feel possible.
It empowered curious minds.
It sparked careers.
It opened doors.
It whispered, “Go ahead… publish something.”

So today, we honor FrontPage not for its perfection, but for its impact.
For the spark it lit.
For the paths it opened.
For the web nerds it created — myself proudly included.

Your spirit lives on in every CMS login screen, every WYSIWYG editor, and every nostalgic sigh from those who remember the early days of the web.

Rest peacefully, old friend. And please give my best to Clippy!

Web Analytics: My Other Nerdy Obsession

If CMS is the “how,” analytics is the “why.”

And I’ve been hooked on analytics for about a decade.
There’s something magical about seeing how people actually use a website — what they click, what they ignore, where they get stuck, and what finally convinces them to take action. It’s like watching a story unfold in data form.
Here are a few metrics I always keep an eye on:

Qualifying Leads

How many visitors actually become customers, clients, or real‑world foot traffic.

Conversion Rate

The percentage of visitors who take the action you want them to take — buy, sign up, register, donate, contact you, etc.

Awareness Level

How effectively your site educates people about your brand, product, or services.

Visitors come to your site because they need something.
Your job is to help them find it quickly, clearly, and without friction.

If they can’t?
They bounce fast.

A few simple ways to keep that from happening:

Keep your SEO updated so people can actually find you.
Use email campaigns to bring people back.
Add a blog to build authority and keep content fresh.
Make sure your site is structured, accessible, and easy to navigate.

Analytics isn’t just about tracking anymore. It’s about predicting, personalizing, and shaping digital experiences in real time.

And yes, I geeked out over that too.

Accessibility: The Internet’s Most Underrated Superpower

Technology has come a long way, and the internet is more accessible than ever — but only if we build it that way.

For example, visually impaired users rely on screen readers to interpret content out loud. When a site is built well, the experience is smooth and intuitive. When it’s not… Let’s just say the results can be confusing, chaotic, or downright unusable.

Section 508
Applies to federal agencies and any company doing business with the government. It lays out clear requirements for accessible digital content.

ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act)
Private companies fall under this umbrella. Even if you’re not required to follow Section 508, you can still be held responsible if your digital content isn’t accessible.

The good news?
Accessibility isn’t scary. It’s not even hard when you approach it intentionally.
Alt text, proper headings, readable contrast, keyboard navigation — these aren’t just compliance checkboxes. They’re ways to make your website usable for the widest possible audience.

And honestly, accessible websites are better websites for everyone.

Why This Matters Today

The web isn’t slowing down — it’s accelerating.

AI‑powered content workflows, privacy‑driven analytics, accessibility lawsuits, structured content, omnichannel publishing, personalization engines…
The digital world is evolving faster than ever.

And in this landscape, being a “web nerd” isn’t just a quirky personality trait.
It’s a competitive advantage.

Understanding CMS history helps you understand where digital experiences are going.
Understanding analytics helps you make smarter decisions.
Understanding accessibility helps you build for everyone — and avoid costly mistakes.
Understanding structure, metadata, and governance helps you create content that’s future‑proof, scalable, and AI‑ready.

The web rewards people who care about the details.
The invisible gears.
The stuff most people never think about.

People like us.

So Yes… I’m a Web Nerd. And Proud of It.

I love the systems, the structure, the analytics, the strategy, the accessibility, the architecture — all the invisible gears that make the web work.
Some people get excited about sports stats, foodie pics or car engines.
I get excited about metadata schemas, HTML code and conversion funnels.

FrontPage lit the fuse.
Everything since then — the CMS rabbit holes, the analytics dashboards, the accessibility deep dives — has only confirmed it:

We all have our "thing". I am a web nerd!
And honestly?
I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Why Gen X Should Care About AI (Even If We Still Miss Mixtapes)

David Schuster — Wed, 06 May 2026 15:48:15 +0000

By a Gen‑Xer who still remembers when “the cloud” meant actual weather

The AI Wave Is Here — And No, It’s Not Just for Tech Bros

Let’s be honest: If you’re somewhere between 45 and 60, you’ve probably noticed that AI is suddenly everywhere — in your news feed, in your workplace, in your kid’s homework, and possibly judging you silently from your phone. And like every major tech shift we’ve lived through, it arrived without asking whether we were ready. But here’s the thing: Gen X has been training for this moment our entire lives. We grew up analog, adapted to digital, and survived the era when you had to explain to your parents what “the Facebook” was. AI isn’t here to replace us — it’s here to supercharge the skills we already have.

We were perfectly happy mastering the art of the group text, figuring out which streaming service has the movie we want, and pretending we understand what our kids mean when they say “it’s giving.” But here we are — staring down the biggest tech shift since the internet showed up and politely ruined our attention spans. And whether we’re excited, skeptical, or just tired, AI is worth paying attention to because it’s not going away. It’s basically the new coworker who just joined the team and immediately started doing everyone’s job faster. You don’t have to love them, but you should probably learn their name.

Why It Matters: AI Is Basically the Intern We Always Wanted

Let’s be real: our generation has earned the right to work smarter. We’re leading teams, managing households, navigating aging parents, and trying to remember why we walked into the kitchen. AI can help with all of it. Need a dense report summarized? Shorten the 40‑page PDF you’ve been avoiding? Done. Want help brainstorming ideas, drafting content, analyzing data, or learning something new without feeling like you’re back in a college computer lab? Easy. Think of AI as the endlessly patient intern who never takes lunch breaks, never rolls their eyes, and never says, “Okay, boomer.” It’s not about being “techy.” It’s about leveraging a tool that makes your life easier and your work sharper.

For Gen X, the value is huge. AI is the ultimate “work smarter, not harder” tool — and if any generation has earned the right to work less hard, it’s us. We’re juggling leadership roles, aging parents, teenagers who communicate in emojis, and a metabolism that now negotiates with us. It’s like suddenly having a research assistant, writing partner, and productivity coach who never needs coffee breaks.

The Big Picture: We’re Not Done — We’re Evolving (Again)

The real reason Gen X should care about AI is simple: we’re still in the game. We’re not coasting toward retirement; we’re reinventing ourselves, launching side hustles, shifting careers, and leading organizations through change. AI doesn’t diminish or replace our experience — it amplifies it. We’ve already survived the transition from rotary phones to smartphones, from VHS to streaming platforms, from “be kind, rewind” to “skip intro.” This is just the next evolution. And if there’s one thing Gen X has always done well, it’s adapt with a little grit, a little humor, and a healthy dose of “fine, I’ll figure it out myself".

So don’t think of AI as the thing that’s coming for your job — think of it as the tool that helps you keep evolving, keep leading, and keep doing what Gen X does best: figure it out, adapt, and quietly crush it. Because we are the most adaptive generation, we should not be afraid of AI. Just ask HAL. he tried to warn us. (iykyk)

And remember, AI... is your... wink wink... friend!

A Gen X Programmer’s Journey Through the Golden Age of Tech & A.I.

David Schuster — Thu, 30 Apr 2026 20:31:31 +0000

How the 1980s Shaped My Tech Journey and Career

The Nerdy Stuff

What's all about this "Nerd" stuff anyways. My interest in computer programming dates back to the early 1980s. I remember using MS-DOS to write my first program in BASIC.
I’m mentioning this because I find it fascinating that we have come from this:

5 PRINT "HELLO WORLD"
10 END

to this:

// My First C++ Program
include
int main() {
std::cout << "Hello World!";
return 0;
}

to this:

print("Hello, World!")

Look Ma! I'm going to College

When I got to college in 1995, I knew right away I wanted to do something in computer. I was working at the student computer lab when I first heard about this HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) I just had to learn more about it. So what the they are tell me is that I can use this computer language to create pages and put them on the World Wide Web where everybody can see it? Sign me up, I said!

The Passion for Web Programming

That passion for learning about computers and programming and creating webpages all those years ago helped me get to where I am today in my professional career. Without that introduction to BASIC I never would have been introduced to other programming languages like Python, Visual Basic, Perl, PHP, Ruby, C#, and JavaScript.

Looking back, it’s incredible to think that something as simple as printing “Hello World” on a black screen could spark a lifelong journey. What started as curiosity in the 1980s grew into a career shaped by constant change, new languages, and evolving technologies.

If you measure it by raw technology, the answer is obviously no. But if you measure it by curiosity, creativity, and the excitement of discovery, it’s a harder question to dismiss.

Back then, technology didn’t do the work for you — you had to meet it halfway. You had to think, experiment, and sometimes fail before things worked. And that process made the outcome more meaningful.

And Now The Big Question:

Which brings us back around to my original question: Did society peak in the 1980s? (See the blog post here)

Maybe not in terms of technology—we’ve clearly come a long way. But there’s a case to be made that something important was different back then. In the early days of computing, there was a certain magic in the simplicity. You had to learn, experiment, and build from the ground up. Every small success felt earned. Every “Hello World” meant something.

Today, technology is more powerful, more accessible, and more automated than ever. But that early sense of discovery—the curiosity that drove us to figure things out line by line—is a little harder to come by. Maybe the 1980s weren’t the peak. Maybe they were the spark—the moment we first realized how much was possible. And in many ways, we’re still building on that foundation today.

Discussion Question:

What is something you learned when you were young that has stuck with you today and has helped with creating a career path?

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