Tim Bray
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tbray.org
Tim Bray
@tbray.org
5.9K followers 200 following 390 posts
Web geek and environmentalist with a camera at the bottom left corner of Canada. He/him.

I’m mainly on Fedi, @cosocial.ca@timbray. On this account I mostly post #blueskyabove photos; for more, if you’re not on Fedi try @timbray.cosocial.ca.ap.brid.gy
Posts Replies Media Videos
tbray.org
Hmm: Ms Kendzior said: “the last things I posted were excerpts from my substack newsletter articles”. From her most recent “When I loved New York”: “for example, arrest war criminal Benjamin Netanyahu”. I wonder if that phrase gets you banned? sarahkendzior.substack.com/p/when-i-lov...
When I Loved New York
Will Mamdani bring back the city I remember? Can anyone?
sarahkendzior.substack.com
November 12, 2025 at 1:02 AM
tbray.org
WTF Sarah Kendzior?!
November 11, 2025 at 5:55 PM
Reposted by Tim Bray
timbray.cosocial.ca.ap.brid.gy
Over the weekend I ripped Google search out of my blog because it doesn’t work very well any more and replaced with PageFind, which is really pretty cool. Details: https://www.tbray.org/ongoing/When/202x/2025/11/01/Blog-Search-Pagefind
Bye, Google Search
www.tbray.org
November 3, 2025 at 6:14 PM
Reposted by Tim Bray
timbray.cosocial.ca.ap.brid.gy
“Last night I had a very strange experience: About two thirds of the way through reading a Web page about myself, Tim Bray, I succumbed to boredom and killed the tab. Thus my introduction to Grokipedia. Here are early impressions.”

https://www.tbray.org/ongoing/When/202x/2025/10/28/Grokipedia
Grokipedia
www.tbray.org
October 28, 2025 at 8:59 PM
Reposted by Tim Bray
tbray.org
*crickets*
October 26, 2025 at 5:56 PM
Reposted by Tim Bray
timbray.cosocial.ca.ap.brid.gy
News flash: There’s lots of really good new music out there! Here’s some of it: https://www.tbray.org/ongoing/When/202x/2025/10/15/Current-Music

Featuring: Kwashibu Area Band (Ghana), New Eves (UK), The Good Ones (Rwanda), Alfa Mist (UK), Sona Jobarteh […]

[Original post on cosocial.ca]
Vanessa SWagner plays Phil Glass's Piano Etudes The New Eves play “Mother” The Good Ones, “Rwanda Sings with Strings” Sora Jaborteh
October 16, 2025 at 8:56 PM
tbray.org
Check out the “Nadia story”, and an explanation of how we can make it easier to tell when media is faked and when it’s real, with existing technology: www.tbray.org/ongoing/When...
Social Media Provenance Challenge
www.tbray.org
October 5, 2025 at 5:19 PM
Reposted by Tim Bray
govpritzker.illinois.gov
Yesterday, Kristi Noem’s and Greg Bovino’s masked agents threw chemical agents near an elementary school, arrested elected officials exercising their First Amendment rights, and raided a Wal-Mart.
October 4, 2025 at 6:10 PM
Reposted by Tim Bray
timbray.cosocial.ca.ap.brid.gy
In which I (probably foolishly) make a bunch of predictions about the future of #genai: https://www.tbray.org/ongoing/When/202x/2025/09/26/GenAI-Predictions
GenAI Predictions
www.tbray.org
October 1, 2025 at 8:29 PM
tbray.org
Does Bluesky Social PBC publish any financial disclosures? I'm super interested in the economics of post-Twitter decentralized social media. (I'm similarly poking around the Fediverse and OMG it's complicated.)
September 26, 2025 at 9:43 PM
Reposted by Tim Bray
timbray.cosocial.ca.ap.brid.gy
Last week I gave a talk at the IPTC’s “Photo Metadata Conference”. Here’s a blog-ified version, with lots of juicy digging into exactly what works and what’s broken in C2PA in 2025. Also strong opinions about provenance. And a link to the YouTube recording […]

[Original post on cosocial.ca]
Photo in a shopping mall in Sydney, Australia, which includes Content Credentials. Content Credentials display provided by Lightroom describing the editing of a photograph. Contributor details: Information shared by people involved in making this content Produced by Timothy Bray @Instagram twbray @LinkedIn Tim Bray Content Details Information about this content and how it was made. App or device used Lightroom Classic 14.5.1 Recorded by Adobe Inc. on Sep 9, 2025 Actions Color or exposure edits Adjusted properties like tone, saturation, curves, shadows, or highlights Cropping Edits Used cropping tools, reducing or expanding visible content area Opened Opened a pre-existing file Ingredients L100004.DNG Recorded by Leica Camera AG Photograph taken with a Google Pixel 10 of objects on a desktop: A small black statuette of Budai, a crystal ball, and the base of a wooden lamp. Two wooden shafts appear in the background, but their nature is a mystery. The photo has been edited using Google's Magic Erase and that fact is disclosed in its Content Credentials.
September 25, 2025 at 7:38 PM
tbray.org
This Thu is the “IPTC Photo Metadata Conference 2025”, a free Zoom event open to all. I’m a speaker ( on #C2PA). Looks like it should be interesting for anyone interested in the tangle of issues about media provenance, #genAI, publishing workflow, social media, and so on.
iptc.org/events/photo...
Photo Metadata Conference 2025 - IPTC
IPTC is the global standards body of the news media. We provide the technical foundation for the news ecosystem.
iptc.org
September 16, 2025 at 7:04 PM
Reposted by Tim Bray
timbray.cosocial.ca.ap.brid.gy
Got bright Maritime colors if you want ’em: https://www.tbray.org/ongoing/When/202x/2025/09/01/Maritime-Colors

#maritimes #photography
On the oceanfront, a small shed is covered with many brightly colored boat fenders. Also in the picture: Some vacation trailers, a statue of a horse and carriage, and a small front-lawn lighthouse decoration. A Prince Edward Island oceanfront shot, with the sand and water being surprisingly red. Three houses in Lunenberg, Nova Scotia, brightly colored in green, orange, and violet-red.
September 6, 2025 at 11:19 PM
tbray.org
Due to my persistent yelling about C2PA and provenance, I’ve been invited to speak at the IPTC Photo Metadata Conference 2025: iptc.org/events/photo-metadata - September 18th.

It’s a free Zoom thing, so if you’re interested in this stuff, sign up and drop by.
iptc.org
September 4, 2025 at 8:47 PM
Reposted by Tim Bray
timbray.cosocial.ca.ap.brid.gy
I'm still digging into #c2pa and have a problem: I don’t have a camera that is equipped. If anyone reading this has such a camera, I’d sure appreciate it if they could take a picture of, well, anything, with embedded C2PA, and shoot me a copy. Should the work ever go public, I’d provide […]
Original post on cosocial.ca
cosocial.ca
September 3, 2025 at 10:25 PM
Reposted by Tim Bray
timbray.cosocial.ca.ap.brid.gy
About birds, bees, a lovely garden, and a remarkable old lens: https://www.tbray.org/ongoing/When/202x/2025/08/30/Maritime-Wildlife

#photography #maritimes
Shorebirds at the water’s edge. Pink roses against a black background A bee captured in flight looks ridiculously surprised. A bee hard at work on an orange flower.
August 31, 2025 at 5:21 PM
Reposted by Tim Bray
timbray.cosocial.ca.ap.brid.gy
Just came back from vacation in Canada’s Maritimes. Doesn’t mean I have any insights to offer about the area, but it’s super photogenic and my blog is going to be bulging with pictures over the next few days. Starting here: https://www.tbray.org/ongoing/When/202x/2025/08/27/Maritime-Vacation
Looking across the ocean at a shoreline with houses along the waterfront, rising wooded hills behind, blue sky above. On a very calm lake, a cluster of kids horsing around make circular ripples. In the background, forested lands and a blue sky. A wide expanse of waterfront exposed by low tide, the sun is low and casts my shadow across the rocky surface.
August 28, 2025 at 7:29 PM
Reposted by Tim Bray
timbray.cosocial.ca.ap.brid.gy
Three small announcements:
1. RFC 9839, a guide to which Unicode characters you should never use: https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc9839.html
2. Blog piece with background and context, “RFC 9839 and Bad Unicode”: https://www.tbray.org/ongoing/When/202x/2025/08/14/RFC9839
3. A little Go library […]
Original post on cosocial.ca
cosocial.ca
August 23, 2025 at 10:32 AM
Reposted by Tim Bray
timbray.cosocial.ca.ap.brid.gy
Progress report on our family De-Googling project: https://www.tbray.org/ongoing/When/202x/2025/07/29/DeGoogling

#google
De-Google Project Update
www.tbray.org
July 29, 2025 at 8:06 PM
Reposted by Tim Bray
timbray.cosocial.ca.ap.brid.gy
Visited my 95-year-old Mom in Saskatchewan and came away with Prairie pictures and thoughts on memory and topography and Google color science and healthcare economics. https://www.tbray.org/ongoing/When/202x/2025/07/09/Saskatchewan

#photography #saskatchewan
The sky, between dark trees, is full of blue and pink color at sunset. A gravel road goes straight away and uphill over the horizon. To its left, a row of telephone poles. Above, richly-blue sky. To either side, brilliant yellow canola flowers. On the horizon the right, a cluster of trees and buildings marks a farm. A red neon sign, all-caps, in swirling lines that suggest the stripes of a flag, reads "EVERY AMERICAN FLAG IS A WARNING SIGN". A large room with large and colorful artworks on its wall.
July 16, 2025 at 4:47 PM
Reposted by Tim Bray
timbray.cosocial.ca.ap.brid.gy
In which I argue that arguments about whether #genai is useful or not are the wrong arguments. The important issues are what it’s for and what it costs.

Having very unkind feelings about the people pushing it.

https://www.tbray.org/ongoing/When/202x/2025/07/06/AI-Manifesto
The Real GenAI Issue
www.tbray.org
July 6, 2025 at 7:16 PM
tbray.org
Hmm… The Fedi/Mastodon world is at least as “progressive” and I have quite a few followers, I participate in sports chatter and have never seen this crap. We even have a #HNOM hashtag (“hockey night on Mastodon”) which is cheery and lighthearted and fun. Not obvious why bsky should be different…
velodus.bsky.social Velodus 🦃🍂 @velodus.bsky.social · Jun 23
Since the NBA season ended last night, here's my self indulgent take on where Sports Bluesky is atm. The TLDR is that crappy Resistance accounts are working like antibodies to flush casual sports ppl off this platform and the devs should address this if they actually want sports to take off here.
The NBA season ended on Sunday and believe it or not, that marks two entire seasons in which I've been running the Shams account. I have put a goofy amount of effort into that account for the sake of trying to make NBA Bluesky a thing - and I take the fact that the NBA now posts on Bluesky as a source of pride because I like to think I played a tiny role in that. I'm saying this because I want you to believe me when I say that I want Bluesky to succeed a lot and only criticize it out of love. I think Twitter is broken and I believe a better community can form here, and you know what, the NBA community here actually IS really good. But here's the thing: Bluesky must must MUST address the scale to which horrible Resistance accounts have been allowed to invade every waking corner of this app, because it's choking the life out of it and will eradicate whatever chance this place has of truly taking off if it's not fixed SOON. I am very discouraged by how poorly Bluesky has dealt with this situation, because the aforementioned Resistance accounts (I'm using "Resistance" as a catch-all) have been draining the vibes on here for months and little seems to have been done about them. These accounts are rude, they're obnoxious, they're homophobic, they spam people like crazy, they drown the app in slop, and they react confrontationally to everything they see that isn't just about Trump - including sports. It's turned Bluesky into the only app I've ever been on where random users will actually come at you if you post about sports sometimes. It's hard to stress how bad that is for this place's sports prospects. Sports Twitter is never, ever, ever gonna meaningfully migrate over here if this place develops a reputation as Killjoy Land where angry Facebook refugees and scolds will legitimately confront you if you post about sports. I believe the people running this app have consistently taken the easy way out when it comes to managing its user base - choosing to sit back and do little to nothing time and again as rude users who are poisonous for the community feel empowered to dictate the terms of engagement on it. Add that with the fact that the Discover feed is totally broken (search "Discover feed" on here and you will exclusively see people complaining about it) and is allowing this app's population of insufferable dweebs to find posts about sports/games/music/etc. that they consistently react to with hostility and you have an environment that is not just murky for sports but diametrically opposed to it. This place should be welcoming for sports ppl, but it can't really be that if the devs here never take a meaningful stand against the users who are manipulating the platform in a way that's ruining everyone else's time. If there's one thing I could say to the people running Bluesky, it would be this: you can either be an app with a fun, chill, healthy environment in which thriving sub communities for things like sports can take hold, or you can be an app that 70-year-old grampas log into to scream at random people in between following grifter accounts that are pretending to be an underground cabal of park rangers, but you can't be both. Taking the path of least resistance will only result in malcontents strengthening their grip on this place. Just because most of the thinkpieces about Bluesky are bullshit doesn't mean the user experience hasn't also plummeted for a lot of people over the last year and will continue to plummet unless you find the initiative to wrestle control of this place away from ppl who are toxic. I still believe the sports community can become huge, but only if this app gives it a chance to be and right now it's unfortunately not.
June 24, 2025 at 5:18 PM
Reposted by Tim Bray
timbray.cosocial.ca.ap.brid.gy
Another “Long Links” curation of long-form works that probably nobody has time for all of, but one or two of which might enrich your life. Featuring: Population shrinkage, “evitability of enshittification”, vibe-coding tales, the usual cosmology fun, a story 70 […]

[Original post on cosocial.ca]
Asinus in opere tesselato Byzantino. My neighborhood’s network infrastructure, which outlines the form of a cathedral’s nave.
June 23, 2025 at 6:42 PM
tbray.org
Bluesky needs to stop stripping the C2PA provenance data from EXIF in uploaded media. Pass the word.

Also, see github.com/bluesky-soci...
Support C2PA · Issue #7415 · bluesky-social/social-app
Describe the Feature It has become increasingly important for users to be able to quickly verify the authenticity and provenance of digital assets like images and videos. The Coalition for Content ...
github.com
June 20, 2025 at 5:01 PM
Reposted by Tim Bray
timbray.cosocial.ca.ap.brid.gy
Things are happening in the C2PA world; here are a couple of useful steps forward, plus cheers and boos for Adobe. Plus a live working C2PA demo you can try out: https://www.tbray.org/ongoing/When/202x/2025/06/17/More-C2PA

#photography #c2pa #adobe
A blurry picture of something or over with swirls of light. A C2PA verifier pop-up saying that Adobe asserts that this picture was produced by Timothy Bray, that it was processed with Lightroom, and links to the author's accounts on LinkedIn and Instagram. A C2PA verifier popup with a thumbnail of the picture, a hard-to-understand about embedded vs cloud credentials, a confirmation that this information was published by Adobe, that the photo was produced by Timothy Bray, and that it was processed with Lightroom.
June 18, 2025 at 8:50 PM