John B. Roberts
pencoyd.bsky.social
John B. Roberts
@pencoyd.bsky.social
@pencoyd in lots of places.
Reposted by John B. Roberts
Wrap up 2025 in 6 words:

“Can’t say we didn’t warn you.”
December 27, 2025 at 1:57 AM
"We don't run profiles on the person who exercises consistently, maintains friendships, sleeps 8 hours, and builds nothing more remarkable than a sustainable existence.
But sustainability is remarkable.
It's actually quite difficult.
Ask anyone who's tried."

www.joanwestenberg.com/the-rime-of-...
The Rime of the Ancient Maintainer
Every culture produces heroes that reflect its deepest anxieties. The Greeks, terrified of both mortality and immortality, gave us Achilles. The Victorians, haunted by social mobility, gave us the sel...
www.joanwestenberg.com
December 27, 2025 at 1:51 AM
Reposted by John B. Roberts
CBS didn't run the 60 Minutes segment on CECOT, but over here at @propublica.org we've been working on the story since March, including finding out who each and every man sent to that maximum security prison was.

You can see our reporting here: www.propublica.org/series/depor...
Deported and Imprisoned Archives
A case-by-case investigation that examines the Trump administration’s claims that these immigrants are all “sick criminals” and “terrorists” and that shows what they suffered during months in one of t...
www.propublica.org
December 22, 2025 at 4:08 PM
Today? You sent this today, PG&E?
December 21, 2025 at 9:54 PM
Appreciate update but no context on whether things are improving. Outage map is worse + another two hours = confidence? #hugops because we all depend on this infrastructure.
December 21, 2025 at 12:25 AM
I'm pro more ways for tech experts to improve common infrastructure, like government. USDS and 18F were gutted. Now Tech Force announced, and I'm wary. If not outright skeptical. FAQ explains not DOGE but if you're explaining, you're losing.

Curious what @cydharrell.bsky.social thinks.
December 18, 2025 at 12:00 AM
Attended this talk live. History applied to current events helps with context. Visualizations as art: fantastic. www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsBn...

@katecrawford.bsky.social & @longnow.org
Kate Crawford | Mapping Empires
YouTube video by The Long Now Foundation
www.youtube.com
December 11, 2025 at 10:23 PM
Tom Whitwell's annual post is less narcissistic and wider ranging than Spotify Wrapped. medium.com/@tomwhitwell...
52 things I learned in 2025
This year I stopped being a consultant, started a tiny company, sold hundreds of little modular synths, hosted two incredible events, and…
medium.com
December 2, 2025 at 1:41 AM
It's more inspiring when the NYTimes allows data to drive the story. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/18/c... Feels similar to the local successes that @jfallows.bsky.social and Deb Fallows surface often.
Iowa City Made Its Buses Free. Traffic Cleared, and So Did the Air.
www.nytimes.com
November 20, 2025 at 6:55 PM
Avoid mediocrity, always.

"...if you don’t listen to smart humans who tell you the truth, you will achieve an impressive nothing or, worse, a mediocre something."

@rands.bsky.social latest is less an essay than internal dialogue shared.

randsinrepose.com/archives/the...
The Loop
Dream a Bit. Nothing innovative was created by committee. You have to stumble on that odd idea at 3:15a and recognize that you've never seen it before. Maybe no one has seen it. Let it bump around you...
randsinrepose.com
November 19, 2025 at 5:25 PM
"The average family will pay $1,800 more for groceries, clothing, and other necessities thanks to the Trump administration’s trade policies in 2025."

www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
What Tariffs Did
Is this the end of the trade war?
www.theatlantic.com
November 13, 2025 at 9:54 PM
Sharing for awareness. Government funding has to come from somewhere. Better taxpayers than most other sources. One more organization under fire: the IRS donmoynihan.substack.com/p/five-quest...
Five Questions for IRS CEO Frank Bisignano
The IRS has a new leader – maybe he can tell us whats happening
donmoynihan.substack.com
November 12, 2025 at 6:06 PM
I keep deferring MacOS "upgrade" to Tahoe (26.1) because (a) not excited about liquid glass UI and (b) not clear about any other benefits. Am I missing anything?

Usually in favor of staying current, but unconvinced, so far.
November 9, 2025 at 1:42 AM
Election Day
November 4, 2025 at 5:51 PM
Not surprising, but still chilling and worth paying attention to the individual cases.
New, from me: DHS says immigration enforcement employees like ICE are facing unprecedented threats and 1000% increase in assaults. But the data does not add up. Look at the details, and we see state agents using excessive force, and then lying about it.
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/whos-threa...
Who's Threatening Who?
The Trump administration says immigration enforcement are being assaulted; the details tell a different story
donmoynihan.substack.com
November 4, 2025 at 4:10 PM
Sign of the times: as a pedestrian at a crosswalk, I trust a Waymo to stop more than a human driver.
November 3, 2025 at 2:41 PM
TIL: Federal Universal Service Charge (or Fee) DRAMATICALLY increases your wireless bill for international calls.

Quarterly rate set by FCC for FUSF: www.fcc.gov/general/cont... (Q4 2025 is 38.1%)

Carrier contributions "may be recovered from customers."

Narrator: they are!
www.fcc.gov
October 31, 2025 at 6:15 PM
A pragmatic view on AI, looking over a longer horizon, from @rmhrisk.bsky.social

Whether AI is as disruptive as the printing press or the internet itself, TBD.

That's a stretch, for me. But I've heard similar from thoughtful people who are often my canaries about technical (r)evolution.
October 27, 2025 at 6:28 PM
As intended, @anildash.com wrote a clear piece about opinions about AI that are more nuanced than general attention. www.anildash.com/2025/10/17/t...
The Majority AI View - Anil Dash
A blog about making culture. Since 1999.
www.anildash.com
October 27, 2025 at 4:26 PM
"Perilous to us all are the devices of an art deeper than we possess ourselves."

Topical, despite original publication date of 1954 for The Two Towers, with Gandalf commenting on the Palantir... thank you, J.R.R. Tolkien.
October 22, 2025 at 1:16 AM
frankchimero.com/blog/2025/se...

"What makes the Market for Lemons concept so appealing (and what differentiates it in my mind from enshittification) is that everyone can be acting reasonably, pursuing their own interests, and things still get worse for everyone."
Frank Chimero · Selling Lemons
Frank Chimero’s Personal Website
frankchimero.com
October 22, 2025 at 1:04 AM
surfingcomplexity.blog/2025/10/08/t...

"But you neglect at your peril the engineers who are working nine-to-five days at boring companies."
The illegible nature of software development talent
Here’s another blog post on gathering some common threads from reading recent posts. Today’s topic is about the unassuming nature of talented software engineers. The first thread was a …
surfingcomplexity.blog
October 22, 2025 at 12:58 AM
Reposted by John B. Roberts
I'm not exactly sure Elon is the guy I'd want to take advice from regarding "the war on drugs" in San Francisco.
October 13, 2025 at 5:15 PM
"The reason I spend so much time writing it down is that I don’t want to explain it to you face-to-face."

randsinrepose.com/archives/one...
One Compliment
An idea just comes to me. I've been writing for a long time, so the ideas come partially formed. Not written but formed into the beginnings of a familiar shape. It is critical in the next hour that I ...
randsinrepose.com
October 10, 2025 at 8:56 PM
Nuanced proposal on how to reduce costs over time for public transit buses in the US. Rich with data, acknowledges reality (political and otherwise), but still offers ideas for improvement.

(PDF) www.brookings.edu/wp-content/u...
www.brookings.edu
October 9, 2025 at 4:23 PM