Flo Ion
@ohthatflo.bsky.social
Freelance tech journalist based in the SF Bay Area. Sign up for my newsletter! Listen to my podcasts! www.florenceion.com Ask me about my Tamagotchi 💜
Reposted by Flo Ion
As you’re preparing for your Thanksgiving meal, remember the skilled work it took to get that food to your grocery store.
Tell us your favorite Thanksgiving dish, and we can share some of what we know about the work behind the ingredients.
Tell us your favorite Thanksgiving dish, and we can share some of what we know about the work behind the ingredients.
November 26, 2025 at 6:03 PM
As you’re preparing for your Thanksgiving meal, remember the skilled work it took to get that food to your grocery store.
Tell us your favorite Thanksgiving dish, and we can share some of what we know about the work behind the ingredients.
Tell us your favorite Thanksgiving dish, and we can share some of what we know about the work behind the ingredients.
I miss just talking to you guys on the microblogging sites. When I come to BlueSky, I feel like I need to perform and prove to you all why I'm someone worth following or have something to promote. HONESTLY, I'M JUST A PERSON
November 25, 2025 at 8:27 PM
I miss just talking to you guys on the microblogging sites. When I come to BlueSky, I feel like I need to perform and prove to you all why I'm someone worth following or have something to promote. HONESTLY, I'M JUST A PERSON
felt this one
November 24, 2025 at 10:08 PM
felt this one
Reposted by Flo Ion
Journalist challenge: Use “Machine Learning” when you mean machine learning and “LLM” when you mean LLM. Ditch “AI” as a catch-all term, it’s not useful for readers and it helps companies trying to confuse the public by obscuring the roles played by different technologies. 🧪
November 22, 2025 at 4:50 PM
Journalist challenge: Use “Machine Learning” when you mean machine learning and “LLM” when you mean LLM. Ditch “AI” as a catch-all term, it’s not useful for readers and it helps companies trying to confuse the public by obscuring the roles played by different technologies. 🧪
Reposted by Flo Ion
every year someone does a study that’s like “we gave 100 homeless ppl money and their lives improved” and every year the government kills that guy
November 21, 2025 at 4:44 PM
every year someone does a study that’s like “we gave 100 homeless ppl money and their lives improved” and every year the government kills that guy
Canadian metalcore scene. That's why I haven't responded to your email yet
November 20, 2025 at 11:54 PM
Canadian metalcore scene. That's why I haven't responded to your email yet
Reposted by Flo Ion
DESCRIBE YOUR IMAGES FFS
it doesn’t have to be perfect. just don’t be a jerk about it and you’ll be fine.
like : “image 1” is NOT acceptable alt text
but : “photo of a cat” or “a slice of pizza” is better than nothing.
NOT THAT HARD
it doesn’t have to be perfect. just don’t be a jerk about it and you’ll be fine.
like : “image 1” is NOT acceptable alt text
but : “photo of a cat” or “a slice of pizza” is better than nothing.
NOT THAT HARD
November 20, 2025 at 11:12 PM
DESCRIBE YOUR IMAGES FFS
it doesn’t have to be perfect. just don’t be a jerk about it and you’ll be fine.
like : “image 1” is NOT acceptable alt text
but : “photo of a cat” or “a slice of pizza” is better than nothing.
NOT THAT HARD
it doesn’t have to be perfect. just don’t be a jerk about it and you’ll be fine.
like : “image 1” is NOT acceptable alt text
but : “photo of a cat” or “a slice of pizza” is better than nothing.
NOT THAT HARD
Reposted by Flo Ion
Emily Sneddon saw beauty in the display on an obsolete San Francisco streetcar.
So she visited @sfmta.bsky.social yards, looked at serial numbers & searched for the engineer who created it.
A nice story about a kind & curious person in a good city.
🌁 🚍 ❤️
www.sfchronicle.com/totalsf/arti...
So she visited @sfmta.bsky.social yards, looked at serial numbers & searched for the engineer who created it.
A nice story about a kind & curious person in a good city.
🌁 🚍 ❤️
www.sfchronicle.com/totalsf/arti...
San Francisco has a new font. It was inspired by an old Muni streetcar
A San Francisco designer fell in love with the typeface on an old Muni streetcar. She tracked down the man who created it to build the city’s newest font.
www.sfchronicle.com
November 20, 2025 at 4:35 PM
Emily Sneddon saw beauty in the display on an obsolete San Francisco streetcar.
So she visited @sfmta.bsky.social yards, looked at serial numbers & searched for the engineer who created it.
A nice story about a kind & curious person in a good city.
🌁 🚍 ❤️
www.sfchronicle.com/totalsf/arti...
So she visited @sfmta.bsky.social yards, looked at serial numbers & searched for the engineer who created it.
A nice story about a kind & curious person in a good city.
🌁 🚍 ❤️
www.sfchronicle.com/totalsf/arti...
I miss these
Kudos Bars (1986-2017): A line of chocolate-covered chewy granola bars, marketed as a healthier snack for kids, despite ostensibly being candy bars. Available in flavors like chocolate chip, peanut butter, cookies n creme, and many more. then eventually actual candy variants like Snickers and M&Ms.
November 17, 2025 at 5:35 PM
I miss these
Okay but if anyone sees my holographic umbrella at Orinda station please rescue it for me
November 14, 2025 at 2:57 AM
Okay but if anyone sees my holographic umbrella at Orinda station please rescue it for me
Yeah, I need to focus. Yeah, I need to lock in. But I think I also needed like 15 minutes to sing this stupid song
November 12, 2025 at 6:19 PM
Yeah, I need to focus. Yeah, I need to lock in. But I think I also needed like 15 minutes to sing this stupid song
Ulta's point system is WAY better than Sephora's. I stopped buying at Sephora a few years ago. VIB isn't worth it anymore! Life is hell! Let me get some money back for that lipstick!
For the cover of Businessweek’s December issue, I wrote about the reigning queen of America’s strip malls: Ulta Beauty, the country’s biggest beauty retailer (yes, bigger than Sephora) and quietly one of the more fascinating retailers in the country. Gift link: www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...
How Beauty Behemoth Ulta Conquered the American Strip Mall
The retailer built an $11 billion business by acting more like Home Depot than like Sephora.
www.bloomberg.com
November 11, 2025 at 7:58 PM
Ulta's point system is WAY better than Sephora's. I stopped buying at Sephora a few years ago. VIB isn't worth it anymore! Life is hell! Let me get some money back for that lipstick!
I know you all think I'm outdated because I still use Photoshop instead of Canva. However, I've perfected the editing routine to the point where I can do it with my eyes closed. The idea of starting over in another app is so daunting after I've been doing the same thing for over two decades.
November 11, 2025 at 6:24 PM
I know you all think I'm outdated because I still use Photoshop instead of Canva. However, I've perfected the editing routine to the point where I can do it with my eyes closed. The idea of starting over in another app is so daunting after I've been doing the same thing for over two decades.
Sorry to be that person but I get rage baiting. I do it on Threads occasionally re: Bay Area stuff and it really gets engagement 😩
November 9, 2025 at 6:30 PM
Sorry to be that person but I get rage baiting. I do it on Threads occasionally re: Bay Area stuff and it really gets engagement 😩
Reposted by Flo Ion
Many of these cities are in the Bay Area! Yes! Including your little suburb!
Thousands of cities allowed cops to run racists searches through their Flock Safety license plate reader databases. www.eff.org/deeplinks/2...
License Plate Surveillance Logs Reveal Racist Policing Against Romani
More than 80 law enforcement agencies across the United States have used language perpetuating harmful stereotypes against Romani people when searching the nationwide Flock Safety automated license
www.eff.org
November 8, 2025 at 8:14 PM
Many of these cities are in the Bay Area! Yes! Including your little suburb!
Sometimes I go for it in the
@androidfaithful.com newsletter. This week, I explore how Fitbit's personal health coach is more validating than I am to myself, and why even kind chatbots are not a replacement for a sense of self.
www.androidfaithful.com/fitbits-gemi...
@androidfaithful.com newsletter. This week, I explore how Fitbit's personal health coach is more validating than I am to myself, and why even kind chatbots are not a replacement for a sense of self.
www.androidfaithful.com/fitbits-gemi...
Fitbit's Gemini-powered Health Coach is Nicer to Me Than I Am to Myself
The computer did not call me lazy for prioritizing rest.
www.androidfaithful.com
November 7, 2025 at 10:22 PM
Sometimes I go for it in the
@androidfaithful.com newsletter. This week, I explore how Fitbit's personal health coach is more validating than I am to myself, and why even kind chatbots are not a replacement for a sense of self.
www.androidfaithful.com/fitbits-gemi...
@androidfaithful.com newsletter. This week, I explore how Fitbit's personal health coach is more validating than I am to myself, and why even kind chatbots are not a replacement for a sense of self.
www.androidfaithful.com/fitbits-gemi...
The right way to cover Nancy Pelosi lol
November 6, 2025 at 8:11 PM
The right way to cover Nancy Pelosi lol
Hast du vielleicht ein'n Euro für mich?
November 6, 2025 at 7:27 PM
Hast du vielleicht ein'n Euro für mich?
Reposted by Flo Ion
Reposted by Flo Ion
Did Men With No Rizz Ruin the Workplace?
November 6, 2025 at 2:58 PM
Did Men With No Rizz Ruin the Workplace?
This is what I get for setting up my phone to scrobble whatever it hears
November 4, 2025 at 12:02 AM
This is what I get for setting up my phone to scrobble whatever it hears
This is not meant to sound condescending. I feel bad that Gen Z and after won't know the world without the internet. In their music, I can hear them yearning for a semblance of what life was like before it was constantly connected.
November 3, 2025 at 11:48 PM
This is not meant to sound condescending. I feel bad that Gen Z and after won't know the world without the internet. In their music, I can hear them yearning for a semblance of what life was like before it was constantly connected.
Reposted by Flo Ion
I also very much encourage you to *click* on articles, not just share them. Higher ups can sometimes make reckless decisions on this based off of clicks.
November 3, 2025 at 8:06 PM
I also very much encourage you to *click* on articles, not just share them. Higher ups can sometimes make reckless decisions on this based off of clicks.