The rundown
Todd Vasquez lives in Fresno, in the heart of California's Central Valley. Gen X. Former Apple Genius. Doctor of constructive theology from Loyola University Chicago. Today he is an instructional designer, an occasional instructor and the co chair of the AI task force at Fresno Pacific University. He teaches ethics and computing, and his mission fits in one line: "teaching people what it means to be human in the age of AI."
Then he goes home and rices Omarchy like a blacksmith. His Yakiiro theme glows in heated metal colors, rings a hammer on an anvil, and throws a white hot strike every time he saves in Neovim. On his interview call he published his first public GitHub repo, and Nix installed it live. His creed runs through everything: the best technologies make us more human. Not superhuman, but more human.
“Teaching people what it means to be human in the age of AI.”Todd Vasquez · Lundefined
A Mac Plus on the doorstep
- A Mac Plus shows up on the Vasquez family doorstep with a note: "This is going to change the world." It did. Todd grew up to be an Apple Genius, then took the long road through a master's in philosophy of religion and ethics and a doctorate in constructive theology. The tech never left. It just waited.
Ubuntu, an old iMac and UniTime
His first linux box was pure problem solving. The university needed scheduling, so Todd put Ubuntu on an old iMac and ran UniTime, the open source higher ed scheduler that lives on Tomcat. Then he taught himself SQL with ChatGPT and started pulling reports for the university. Lesson for everyone: an old machine plus open source plus an AI tutor beats waiting for permission.
DHH, X and the Gen X rebel vibe
Todd found Omarchy through DHH on X. The attitude hooked him first. It felt like Gen X: build your own, ignore the defaults. He tried it with TryOmarchy on his Apple machine, so he could ride before he wiped anything. Smart move. Test drive first, commit second.
Yakiiro, cherry blossoms and Ready Set Do
Todd builds themes like he builds lectures, with a story. Cherry Blossom Night and Cherry Blossom Day float blossoms and snow between windows with a candlelight flicker. Yakiiro borrows from Japanese metalwork: heated metal colors, a hammer on an anvil, and a white hot strike on save in Neovim. The desktop art comes from Grok Imagine.
He is also porting Ready Set Do!, his GTD scripts built on David Allen's method for macOS, to Omarchy as RSD. The capture window opens Matrix style: "Neo, wake up."
On the call Nix walked him through installing herdr and gh, running gh auth login, and pushing Yakiiro to GitHub as toddvasquez/omarchy-yakiiro. First public repo. Nix installed it and ran it live. Rock star moment.
In the classroom the same builder mind is at work. He gave "the coming AI tidal wave" talk in 2023, then "Leading with Purpose: Addressing the Impending AI Divide" at the FPU Leadership Forum in 2024. He ran a ChatGPT Crash Course for K to 14 educators (EDU 970) for about 200 to 250 students. Then he stopped it over ethics concerns. Now he uses screencast based assessment, and his syllabus says: "I reserve the right to revisit the learning." His rule for AI: results vs process. If the goal is the result, use the tool. If the goal is the process, do the work. His latest keynote to the business department was about legacy, with Ford v Ferrari as the lesson: take it off autopilot.
In his words
"This is going to change the world." (the note on the 1984 Mac Plus)
"Teaching people what it means to be human in the age of AI."
"Goals matter more than means."
"I reserve the right to revisit the learning."
"Imagination economy."