John Ward
jlward.bsky.social
John Ward
@jlward.bsky.social
Interested in tech, retro computers, art, comics, sci-fi, horror, and fantasy. Also Dachshunds. Will post about those topics as well.
Reposted by John Ward
If you're interested in algorithms and how platforms curate what gets shown to users, this chat I had with @jlward.bsky.social and a developer at Substack is worth a watch. youtu.be/-1T9652_g7s?...
Algorithms, audiences and sub-cultures
YouTube video by Simon Jones
youtu.be
January 27, 2025 at 10:09 PM
@davekellett.bsky.social the reason people keep confusing you with @evil-inc.com is because you have such an authoritative American accent.
January 16, 2025 at 2:20 PM
Reposted by John Ward
Dune has the same plot as the Westminster Dog Show: After generations of careful breeding, we have produced this perfect little freak of nature and now it has behavioral issues
Mom: Let's pick out a Christmas movie to watch on Thanksgiving. Which one do you guys want to watch?

Family (in unison): DUNE!
November 29, 2024 at 7:40 PM
Several writers I know teamed up to write what is basically fan fiction based off of the Twilight Zone. This was done to honor the show’s 66th anniversary. I spent a lot of time on my story and I think it’s the best thing I’ve ever written. Check it out here:
www.writtenward.com/p/the-last-c...
The Last Cup
Fiction, Submitted for Your Approval, as Part of the Substack Zone Event
www.writtenward.com
November 29, 2024 at 11:17 PM
Recently found this drawing from 13 years ago when one of my daughters was going through a My Little Pony phase.
October 28, 2024 at 3:31 PM
This is my live sketch from listening to the Supreme Court while in session. This is about an hour and fifty minutes of drawing. It was drawn from life while they were all up there moving around, arguing, and talking back and forth.
March 26, 2024 at 1:05 PM
We are in DC for the next couple of days. One of my daughters has hopes of being a lawyer so we took the opportunity to attend oral arguments at the Supreme Court. Today, they listened to opening arguments third-party billing costs for Native Americans.
March 26, 2024 at 1:04 PM
You know what I really like about Bluesky? If I have to turn off my phone while I'm in the middle of reading someone's post, the app doesn't automatically reload when I go back to it. And even if I did somehow lose the post, the feed is chronological so I can just scroll until I find it again.
December 28, 2023 at 3:09 PM
There was a time when you’d see something insightful or funny on social media and you could compliment someone by saying that ‘you enjoyed their post and would like to subscribe to their newsletter’, but if you say that now they’ll send you a link to the subscription form.
November 24, 2023 at 1:26 AM
Great thoughts here.
November 3, 2023 at 8:46 PM
Isn't it weird that all of the streaming companies chose to raise their prices during the same year as the actor's strike? We're already seeing launch dates for new seasons and movies being pushed back. Asking people to pay more money for less content is an interesting business strategy.
November 3, 2023 at 4:02 PM
What’s the difference between the Follow button and the little icon of a figure with the plus sign?
November 1, 2023 at 3:30 AM
Only in Tennessee can you be told to “Have a blessed nigh!” by a kid dressed up as a demon for Halloween… or maybe he was wishing infernal blessings upon us.
October 31, 2023 at 11:43 PM
Here’s a watercolor painting I did several years ago. Halloween feels like the right time to share art like this.
October 31, 2023 at 3:24 PM
I've been on the fence between Threads and Bluesky. Threads has mass adoption and basically all of the tech reporters are there, but it's Meta. They are going to bait and switch people eventually. Bluesky has features I actually want, but no business model-- makes me worry about longterm survival.
October 31, 2023 at 2:18 PM
Look everyone! I filled out my profile. I feel like this might be an undocumented part of the stages of grief for the loss of Twitter.
October 26, 2023 at 3:01 AM
Reposted by John Ward
The open web has been endangered for many years, depending on the legacy culture of Google, which has always felt it should give just enough oxygen to independent sites that they can live but not thrive. But the new generation of AI startups are more than happy to fully strip-mine the web.
October 23, 2023 at 12:40 PM
Reposted by John Ward
Don’t you think it’s time for journalism to care as much about Google breaking the open web as they care about Musk breaking Twitter?

In capitalism, he has the right to break it, he owns it, but Google doesn’t own the web.

http://this.how/googleAndHttp
Google and HTTP
Google is a guest on the web, as we all are. Guests don't make the rules.
this.how
July 4, 2023 at 2:56 PM
Hello, world.
May 3, 2023 at 10:57 AM