Nostr notes by Jon Udell

A human lifetime is not long enough to comprehend all that git ...

2026-02-11T21:34:48Z

A human lifetime is not long enough to comprehend all that git and github can do, and become maximally capable of using these tools.

I don't want to live forever but I do want to wield that full capability while I'm here, and now I can.

#git #github #agents

Speaking from personal experience, it hurts like hell when a ...

2025-11-05T02:00:06Z

Speaking from personal experience, it hurts like hell when a publisher kills a great magazine you poured your heart into.

But BYTE's fate wasn't political, as Teen Vogue's almost surely was.

Sorry folks, I really do feel your pain. You will be missed.

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/cafe/what-we-lost-when-conde-nast-unceremoniously-shuttered-teen-vogue

"Success depends on convincing people that opposing tyranny ...

2025-10-21T14:39:15Z

"Success depends on convincing people that opposing tyranny is just the first step in a program dedicated to changing the fact that some of us live too well while many others cannot live well at all." https://mastodon.online/@xankarn/115412582784682138

The project I joined in January just went public. XMLUI aims to ...

2025-07-19T20:49:50Z

The project I joined in January just went public. XMLUI aims to empower developers who aren't React and CSS pros to create and maintain effective browser-based user interfaces.

#XMLUI #React #CSS

https://blog.jonudell.net/2025/07/18/introducing-xmlui/

At the end of a long ride, low on energy, those blackberries ...

2025-07-14T01:17:28Z

At the end of a long ride, low on energy, those blackberries really hit the spot.

"It’s not freedom if it requires you to be perfect, ...

2025-06-26T11:57:31Z

"It’s not freedom if it requires you to be perfect, sighted, fluent in C, and emotionally bulletproof." https://dragonscave.space/@fireborn/114748601542434856

A former neighbor is exactly my age. She has spent her life in a ...

2025-06-26T00:14:20Z

A former neighbor is exactly my age. She has spent her life in a wheelchair because while the polio vaccine was available to me as a child in the US, it was not available to her as a child in Mexico.

I would like a congressional committee to introduce her to RFKjr.

#vaccine #polio

"The men smashing your car window, grinding your face into ...

2025-06-23T22:43:54Z

"The men smashing your car window, grinding your face into the asphalt, yanking away your family members — these are not human beings in any legible way, because they have no faces. You cannot engage with them as one person to another, you cannot even know which agency they represent or what authority they are acting under. They are pure instruments of power."

https://paulwaldman.substack.com/p/masked-men-with-guns-are-there-to

ICE agents getting doxxed is a reason for masks? Ok, let's ...

2025-06-20T04:09:16Z

ICE agents getting doxxed is a reason for masks?

Ok, let's paint opaque IDs on their masks for authentication and accountability.

Now it's undeniable what they are for: domestic terrorism.

It is amazing though. Try searching both NYT and WAPO for ...

2025-06-15T17:36:40Z

In reply to nevent1q…urcc
_________________________

It is amazing though. Try searching both NYT and WAPO for NoKings.

NYT: Wordles

WAPO: Protests

I unsubbed WAPO over the endorsement debacle and gave NYT another chance. Ugh.

If you only read the NYT you would not know that #NoKings ...

2025-06-15T17:25:53Z

If you only read the NYT you would not know that #NoKings happened.

That's OK. Nobody who saw the turnouts everywhere, and felt the energy, needs validation from the "paper of record" and maybe it's better this way. We are building a movement that doesn't depend on them.

It is tragic that https://disappeared.us/ must exist. Thank, you, ...

2025-04-17T20:59:56Z

It is tragic that https://disappeared.us/ must exist. Thank, you, codeberg.org/reed/, for creating it.

#AmericanGulag

When the list is more complete, I'll want to see how various ...

2025-04-06T18:40:16Z

In reply to nevent1q…zkkd
_________________________

When the list is more complete, I'll want to see how various locations track the oft-cited 3.5% rule. My neighboring town of Sonoma overperformed while my hometown of Philly underperformed. (Maybe because those folks joined the NYC or DC crowds?)

We are all in this together. The more we can see and feel that, the more effective we will be.

Let's also find a way paint the same picture for the various boycotts that will powerfully complement live events like yesterday's #HandsOff.

@npub16dj…2jp4 wants a clearer picture of the scope of ...

2025-04-06T17:49:30Z

Sasha Wright (npub16dj…2jp4) wants a clearer picture of the scope of yesterday's #HandsOff gatherings, and I do too. Please reply to her with published estimates for your town, and/or show us where additional info has been compiled.

A key aspect of yesterday's events was the sense of shared engagement in many places. There are ~1000 rows to complete in her spreadsheet, let's see how it all adds up.

https://bsky.app/profile/sashajwright.bsky.social/post/3lm5muep2ak2q

The Handmaids won the Santa Rosa #HandsOff. ...

2025-04-06T00:01:16Z

The Handmaids won the Santa Rosa #HandsOff.

"The societies that survived authoritarian threats didn’t ...

2025-04-03T04:26:30Z

"The societies that survived authoritarian threats didn’t just rely on internal solidarity within the press, the courts, or academia. They succeeded because those institutions linked arms across sectors — forming a broad, popular front that transcended professional and even political boundaries."

https://www.ifyoucankeepit.org/p/why-collective-action-is-the-only

"remove improper ideology from such properties" Only ...

2025-03-28T03:26:16Z

"remove improper ideology from such properties"

Only proper ideologies allowed. https://weatherishappening.network/@ColesStreetPothole/114237441947296241

This doesn't end in the courts, it ends in the streets. 11 ...

2025-03-15T04:00:02Z

This doesn't end in the courts, it ends in the streets. 11 million people mobilized? It could happen.

1. George Floyd | 2020 | 50,000,000

2. Earth Day | 1970 | 20,000,000

3. Women's March | 2017 | 3,300,000–5,600,000

4. March for Our Lives | 1,200,000-2,000,000

5. Women's March | 2018 | 1,500,000

"No democracy movement has ever failed when it was able to mobilize at least 3.5 percent of the population to protest over a sustained period."

#mobilization

https://bigthink.com/the-present/the-3-5-percent-solution/

I've updated the DEI tracker. Not many new sources, ...

2025-03-12T04:39:20Z

I've updated the DEI tracker. Not many new sources, media's attention span is short. But I did validate a Reddit list of companies holding the line.

We see the effect the #Tesla boycott is having. Let's not only punish companies backing away from diversity but also reward those courageously upholding it.

From what I found there are more #heroes than #cowards. If true, that's an unreported story!

Some, of course, like Walgreens, are bending but not breaking.

#DEI

https://judell.github.io/dei-tracker/

I've refrained from joining the "Dems should..." ...

2025-02-28T21:37:20Z

I've refrained from joining the "Dems should..." chorus because I haven't had a crystal-clear recommendation.

But here's one: organize and publicize a mass exodus from Twitter to Bluesky (ideally with accounts that opt in to the Fediverse bridge).

Explain that you'll crosspost to Twitter but only interact on Bluesky because you can no longer support Twitter's toxicity.

Announce a day and do it with journos who are looking for a way to make the same move.

#twitter #resistance #bluesky

I was looking for a concise guide to determine which companies to ...

2025-02-18T17:41:16Z

I was looking for a concise guide to determine which companies to support or avoid based on diversity stance. Here's a starting point, subject to enhancement and correction. It's a "remixable artifact" so it should be easy to do that with AI and/or hands-on adjustments. Adding citations would of course be helpful.

#diversity #companies

https://claude.site/artifacts/851b7410-ef9f-4351-9f67-c07818630fbb

“The past was alterable. The past never had been altered. ...

2025-02-11T03:35:34Z

“The past was alterable. The past never had been altered. Oceania was at war with Eastasia. Oceania had always been at war with Eastasia.”

#GeorgeOrwell #1984

The ageism is really starting to bug me. Just because someone is ...

2025-02-05T02:14:46Z

The ageism is really starting to bug me. Just because someone is only 22 doesn't mean they can't do a perfectly good job of looting the treasury.

I've been looking for the soundbite that could break through ...

2025-02-03T23:25:11Z

I've been looking for the soundbite that could break through to all Americans and I just heard it from Lindsay Owens:

"Elon Musk wants to pay for his tax cut with your social security."

Don't talk about democracy, or justice, or the rule of law, or values, or humanitarian aid.

Appeal to the self-interest of every American across the ideological spectrum.

Land on the right bumper-sticker message and pound it out everywhere, repeatedly and relentlessly.

The brain drain will be just one of many ways America will become ...

2025-02-03T00:05:54Z

The brain drain will be just one of many ways America will become the opposite of great again. https://mastodon.social/@grimalkina/113912531230082517

Remember how Twitter was supposed to be, despite its tragic ...

2025-02-01T20:19:35Z

Remember how Twitter was supposed to be, despite its tragic debasement, a valuable source of breaking news?

Try searching both Twitter and Mastodon for info on yesterday's digital #coup. You can learn as much, if not more, here.

Nothing from any MSM outlet except Reuters which broke the news. If you didn't get it from there or Wired or TPM, as most won't have, you'll have no idea about the illegal shenanigans that make Nixon's crimes look like child's play.

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/musk-aides-lock-government-workers-out-computer-systems-us-agency-sources-say-2025-01-31/

Nostr event nevent1qqsxqa32dq557lxan4gsyv5sadeh5guauqtek36vffunpjwtqhrrpkszyrsrr428rkvyrche6u7zaxu2mkdnzcd0rmt0qjjfk5kvrpt78qu9shcc2xm

2025-01-22T22:13:39Z

Wow.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/22/us/politics/pamela-hemphill-trump-jan-6-pardon-rejection.html

@npub1e9x…msz2 reminds us that the Fediverse could (and should) ...

2025-01-17T21:50:33Z

Chris Trottier (npub1e9x…msz2) reminds us that the Fediverse could (and should) inherit traditions going back to blogrings/webrings and before that to the mothership: Usenet. Decentralized social spaces for like-minded folks have worked well in the past and could again.

Chris Trottier (npub1e9x…msz2)/113845863191011139">https://elk.zone/social.coop/Chris Trottier (npub1e9x…msz2)/113845863191011139

The buttons are there but greyed out. Does it work for you?

2024-12-01T17:39:11Z

In reply to nevent1q…s3v6
_________________________

The buttons are there but greyed out. Does it work for you?

@npub1ck9…va0n My iPhone upgraded to 18-something-something and ...

2024-12-01T01:19:43Z

John Gordon (npub1ck9…va0n) My iPhone upgraded to 18-something-something and now I can't rotate photos which is a fundamental thing I have always been able to do.

Can this really be happening? Am I missing something?

I don't know what's more astonishing: the new typesetting ...

2024-10-12T17:49:05Z

I don't know what's more astonishing: the new typesetting language José Reyes explains here, or the depth and quality of the explanation.

https://blog.jreyesr.com/posts/typst/

#typst #latex

The first time I heard about UDP I thought it was a joke. Who ...

2024-09-22T23:16:59Z

In reply to nevent1q…9uj9
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The first time I heard about UDP I thought it was a joke. Who would want an unreliable protocol? But it has appropriate uses, and LLMs do too. Avoiding them for inappropriate uses isn't Luddism, it's wisdom.

Agreed. Fewer cycles spent on boilerplate code leaves more ...

2024-08-31T18:03:51Z

In reply to nevent1q…ctqp
_________________________

Agreed. Fewer cycles spent on boilerplate code leaves more available to think about, and evolve, fitness for purpose.

FWIW I am getting good results having them help me build vanilla ...

2024-08-31T16:33:09Z

In reply to nevent1q…tz0k
_________________________

FWIW I am getting good results having them help me build vanilla web stuff. The fact that "the industry" doesn't value that is a separate issue. LLMs can assist with learning and applying the basics.

The endorsement we haven't seen yet, but that could move the ...

2024-08-23T04:48:13Z

The endorsement we haven't seen yet, but that could move the needle more than any other: Taylor Swift.

"The only influence X has left is the influence journalists ...

2024-08-15T15:12:47Z

"The only influence X has left is the influence journalists and politicians give it. For the good of all of us, it’s time for them all to unplug."

Journos and poIs I know many of you feel your brands require you to be there. I was once in a similar position, no longer am, so leaving was easier for me than it would be for you. I'm not telling you that you should, only that if you do, many of us will honor the decision.

#twitter #journalism #choices

https://www.thestar.com/opinion/contributors/the-brain-wormed-fantasies-of-elon-musks-twitter-graveyard-keep-seeping-into-real-life-its/article_bafc3f66-5a6b-11ef-8d60-cb71b76fc97e.html

The MSM should not take being mainstream for granted. That status ...

2024-08-14T22:56:02Z

The MSM should not take being mainstream for granted. That status must be earned and can change. https://mstdn.social/@Strandjunker/112961684584733473

The schizophrenia at the NYTimes is truly weird. This is online ...

2024-08-13T15:33:29Z

The schizophrenia at the NYTimes is truly weird.

This is online now:

Musk’s Trump Talk: After Glitchy Start, a Two-Hour Ramble

I won't link, but it bears some resemblance to every other report I heard about the event.

The screenshot (with partial alt text) is from the earlier version that my local paper syndicated to its print edition:

Trump's X Return a Victory for Musk

It bears no resemblance to the revised story or to all other accounts.

I am so glad I canceled.

#NYTimes #WTF

People are not likely to check their voter registration ...

2024-08-13T02:46:26Z

People are not likely to check their voter registration proactively.

Is there a way to do it for them, by diffing snapshots, and alerting those who have gone missing?

#VoterSuppression

I know, and I shouldn't have let nostalgia cloud my judgment. ...

2024-08-10T15:20:40Z

In reply to nevent1q…d85h
_________________________

I know, and I shouldn't have let nostalgia cloud my judgment.

Do you think these defections will matter or are they just building a whole different audience at this point?

"This is yet another example of how LLMs don’t replace ...

2024-08-10T05:38:46Z

"This is yet another example of how LLMs don’t replace human developers: they augment us."

I so wish Doug Engelbart could be here too see this happening.

https://simonwillison.net/2024/Aug/8/django-http-debug/

#llm #augmentation

I remember when the Times published the Pentagon papers, covered ...

2024-08-10T01:43:22Z

I remember when the Times published the Pentagon papers, covered Watergate, and honored democracy in many other ways.

This was painful.

#NYTimes #GoodBye

/cc Jeff Jarvis (npub1esh…ggsa), Dan Gillmor (npub1ry2…ma3q), Dan Froomkin/presswatchers.org (npub16e0…egue)

"Almost everything has been done by someone else before. ...

2024-08-07T05:23:42Z

"Almost everything has been done by someone else before. Almost nothing you want to do is truly novel. And language models are exceptionally good at giving you solutions to things they've seen before."

I collect examples of this kind of thing, and this is by far the most exhaustive list of practical LLM uses I've seen.

https://nicholas.carlini.com/writing/2024/how-i-use-ai.html

/ht Ethan Mollick (npub149q…en5a)

#llm #examples

This was particularly egregious I thought. ...

2024-08-05T21:43:55Z

In reply to nevent1q…zlug
_________________________

This was particularly egregious I thought.

Nostr event nevent1qqsydrh950tc3dq50xs8h5593qrzz977z9czc2vxuckvt25dhy2q78qzyrsrr428rkvyrche6u7zaxu2mkdnzcd0rmt0qjjfk5kvrpt78qu9sdlaaeq

2024-08-05T19:14:11Z

In reply to nevent1q…dxfy
_________________________

Related: Dan Gillmor (npub1ry2…ma3q)/112910326608711366">https://elk.zone/social.coop/Dan Gillmor (npub1ry2…ma3q)/112910326608711366

I think that Molly Roberts article in WaPo is what prompted me to revisit Twitter and get triggered.

Not exactly gentle and empathetic pressure from @dangillmor, and to your point, @glyph, it's worth thinking about what that could look like.

I understand. There was a time when my social media reach was far ...

2024-08-05T16:36:45Z

In reply to nevent1q…ry7e
_________________________

I understand. There was a time when my social media reach was far greater than it is now, and it would have been a much harder decision to leave than it was 2 years ago.

> keep that pressure gentle and empathetic

Yep. Maybe I crossed that line today, I dunno, but seeing what I saw there today really triggered me.

I try not to judge people who feel they must remain on Twitter ...

2024-08-05T15:25:37Z

I try not to judge people who feel they must remain on Twitter for professional reasons.

But it's getting harder and harder to respect that choice. After a long absence I took a peek at my feed there and this is what I saw.

I'm not naming names. And there are so many of you. How, at this point, do you justify being there?

#Twitter #CognitiveDissonance #SelfRespect

There's much talk of AI-driven unemployment, not so much ...

2024-04-20T17:59:29Z

There's much talk of AI-driven unemployment, not so much about AI-powered employment. Reflecting on a week in which I accomplished a lot more than I could have two years ago, I'm feeling conflicted. It's exhilarating to be empowered by tools that make me a more effective thinker and doer. It's also starting to feel exhausting. As with all forms of augmentation, we need to find balance. Just because we can exercise these new superpowers doesn't mean we always should.