Does Amazon engage in shady business practices? Sure. Is its founder a scummy dude? Also yes. But I don't think we talk enough about how shameful its UI is for a "Big Tech" company with that much money. The clutter makes me dizzy!

Seeing a Knives Out film in theaters is becoming a Thanksgiving tradition at our house. If you get a chance to catch Wake Up Dead Man on the big screen, do it! Who doesn't love a funny but substantive murder mystery set in a small town Catholic church? Plus it's gorgeous.

“Excuse me. I heard someone over here isn’t caring for the poor and welcoming immigrants.”

You could call me lazy and you'd be right, I don't have patience for pie crust. I also know when I'm beat. I live in pie heaven, strolling distance from 4 amazing bakeries. I bought this pear hazelnut affair and I was right to do it.

We've still got it*, date night at a live recording of @inbedwiththeright.bsky.social on moral panic. I finally learned where the annual Halloween candy scare came from, and thought more about why these hoaxes appeal to people. *our wholesome tradition of thinking lectures are romantic

I am a car free mass transit advocate, but damnit, could we please make city buses with a bit of suspension? All the rattling and bouncing makes for a fairly unsettling ride.

Tens of thousands in San Francisco said #NoKings, no fascists, no ICE or military occupations. We the People said yes to democracy, freedom, and being whoever your creator made you to be. Hello fellow sci fi nerd with the United Federation of Planets flag. We are what America looks like.

They've somehow made customer service phone trees *worse* with "AI" chatbots. I didn't think that was possible – they were already pretty bad, and LLMs are in principle good at sounding human & responding to varied input.

Made a phenomenal breakfast in my sunny kitchen with my awesome spouse. Small pleasures, but we really have nice lives. Sometimes it makes me dizzy to reflect on the gulf between how pleasant my daily life is and the bad stuff of the world.

San Francisco really turned out today

Happy belated Loving Day to one and all! 58 years ago yesterday the Supreme Court unanimously ruled in Loving v. Virginia that laws banning interracial marriage are unconstitutional. en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loving_...

Over here judging books by their covers (and titles) as we prepare to reopen our engineering library. Real missed opportunity on that Ant cover, O'Reilly!

Cook Blub started as bar hopping nerds reading books that blew our minds in high school. It has kept me in conversation with some really great books and better people. It brings me great joy that it has outlived my time in Lincoln. John's right, just start a club!

I, a giant fraidy cat, saw Sinners this afternoon and I am forced to admit at long last that I like horror movies. A colleague compared it to O Brother, Where Art Thou? and she was not wrong. Such a rich story!

If you are following the #LibraryofCongress challenges, here is a good analysis from @americalabs.org firstbranchforecast.substack.com/p/a-constitu...

ILL was such a lifeline when I was working in the prison library. I was sometimes doing a dozen a day. My collection had a budget of basically $0 (we survived on donations), so it had huge gaos, and ILL actually fulfilled the ideological promise of free and open access.

Freaky Tales was an amazing date night in Oakland's Grand Lake Theatre! Come for Pedro Pascal & rad 80s vibes, stay for Nazis getting their butts handed to them in outlandish, comic book fashion. Leave with an education about some things that make Oakland pretty cool. www.kqed.org/arts/1397390...

A while back I mentioned I helped to build a government AI tool. DOGE "deleted" (fired) my whole org (@alt18f.bsky.social) and took the tool to become their "AI-first strategy." But what is the strategy? What are they actually planning to do? I’m trying to piece it together. Here’s what I think 🧵

IMLS funds core library functions in every state like interlibrary loan and reference services. They also fund special projects, like Talking Books & Braille Services in my home state of Nebraska. Check out the IMLS state profiles to see impact in your area: www.imls.gov/find-funding...

If I were King of the Bay Area for a day I would merge the 25+ transit systems into a single, regional transit authority. It will be called Bay Area Metro. "BAM, you're there!"

I helped build a government AI system. DOGE fired me, rolled the AI out to the whole agency, and implied the AI can do my job and the jobs of the others they've fired. It can't. But, what DOGE accidentally revealed about themselves in the process is fascinating. 🧵

Each of us loves something that Trump's reverse-Midas touch comes to turn to shit, and as a librarian today it's my turn. These are YOUR libraries too. IMLS is the primary federal support for museums & libraries nationwide. They fund Interlibrary Loan (so efficient!), rural broadband, & much more.

Heartbreaking. Teslas are fire traps, run by a fascist who is tearing America apart. Do yourself and the country a favor, dump Tesla. #teslatakedown

Key to understanding "DOGE" is that it's not a department. It's not an organization at all: it has no firm membership list, no acknowledged leadership. The guy who liquidated 18F has been sent to destroy Dept of Labor tech. He's not "part of DOGE" but also he is. www.nextgov.com/people/2025/...

Kleptocracy in 4 easy steps: 1) Salesforce exec Stephen Ehikian is installed as head of GSA, manager of federal properties 2) Announces fire sale on the majority of said properties 3) His little brother & commercial real estate business partner jumps in line to buy below market rate 4) Profit!

My department celebrated Pi Day Observed yesterday, where I had my first ollalieberry pie. It's a blackberry -raspberry cross, bred for more tartness and fewer seeds. We have the USDA and Oregon State University to thank for this delicious berry. Fund federal agencies and research!

Andrea Dworkin is back in print. I went to a book talk about Right-Wing Women at my local feminist bookstore last night and I am so full of Thoughts.

John meant this as an analogy but it's literally true. Today Trump's admin announced a massive fire sale on federal buildings. Headquarters of FBI, DOJ, the USDA, HUD, HHS, DOL, DOE, FAA, GSA, FTC, State, ACF, the VA. Office buildings in every state. Trump is making us homeless in our own country.


You might know us from the guides we have put together, like the de-risking guide and the UX guide. Governments all around the world have used them to make services more accessible and add more value to the public — all while saving millions of dollars. You can still find them here: 18f.org/guides/

thread - 18F had effects far beyond the federal government

Wiped out or fired up? ❤️‍🔥Thank you so much to @matteowong.bsky.social for writing about us!

I got laid off today, with the rest of 18F. 18F was an elite federal software shop. We made gov't websites work better, more efficiently for the American people. We saved taxpayers from getting screwed over by contractors. And were fired for it. We made this website to tell our story: 18f.org

My husband's government tech modernization shop was terminated last night. He and his colleagues are smart as hell, dedicated to making more efficient govt tech that serves the American people. Such bitter irony. I am furious for him and for all of us – losing 18F and its people is America's loss.

Nothing beats being home for the holidays when you've got a good one, but California's Lost Coast was a good runner up. Just me, my spouse, a car full of books and 1.5 pies. We found seaside sunsets, ancient redwoods, and deer that feared neither humans nor steep cliffs.

Bartender to me and spouse: Can I ask you a kinda weird question? Me: Sure! Bartender: Are you pastors? Me: What Bartender: You know, Christian pastors. It's just, you read together and smile a lot. Me: You know....fair.

Went to the Hearst castle this weekend on the California central coast and...same, girl. Same.

Happy Tax Day! Shoutout to the IRS for bringing us the federal Direct File pilot this season. It was fast and easy, a testament to the power of user-centered design in government services. I completed my return in 30 minutes. I would happily use it again and hope they'll expand the program.

It's gauche to complain about one platform on another, but Facebook's enshittified UI won't let you view comments chronologically, only by "relevance." My father is in the hospital with a serious heart condition. I don't care what got the most likes, I need to see his wife's most recent updates.

I'm home in Nebraska for the holidays, where I can find coffee shops that stay open until 10pm or midnight. In the SF Bay Area I'm lucky to find coffee open past 4pm. Getting dinner after 8 is hit or miss. What's the deal?

The Computer History Museum was worth the trek from Berkeley down to Mountain View this weekend. From the abacus to supercomputer, they bring history to life with engaging, interactive exhibits. This science librarian highly recommends it if you get a chance!

Librarian Halloween is a stack of books. Specifically, books with versions of the folk tale The Girl with the Green Ribbon. I first heard it from another kid at a slumber party, but Carmen Maria Machado tells it best. Its title - The Husband Stitch - is true horror!

Hard to believe East Bay Restaurant Supply will just let me walk in and buy anything belonging in a commercial kitchen my little heart desires. Maybe an 80 qt stock pot? 500 drink umbrellas?