Finally, social media that's billionaire-proof. ⚡ Bluesky's first IRL ads spotted in @boston.gov @mbta.com.

tbt to simpler times (aug 2024)

i have not given up boba for lent

two of my favorite movie posters

sunday scaries

18F, the federal government’s technology shop, was just demolished by Musk’s team. It was a cost-recoverable org, charging agencies for their expertise, using a consulting model. Its cost to government was negligible, its benefits huge. My team there once saved DoD $500 million. A thread about 18F:

just incredible. my grandfather died of pancreatic cancer and it is an incredibly painful disease. This is going to help so many ppl.

one part of me says this is the best sleep score. another part says “why not 100”

Here's the reality about the #LAFires this week: this isn't the first time ANY of these places have burned. Not even close. In 2018, we mapped CA fire history to look at fire frequency across SoCal. Santa Monica Mtns area burns more than anywhere else -- up to once per decade in a given spot. 🧵

ghost pepper is the fentanyl of peppers

awesome chatting with @audreyt.org today about what sf can learn from taiwan’s cutting edge digital democracy. we talked about bsky too!

hello everyone! just got back on Bluesky. crazy year running for office twice this year in san francisco…just gave a talk on it. more soon.

tea eggs in family mart - this is my kinda place (taipei)

remember the old days when rap songs were only about weed

congrats bsky team!!

zongzi making for dragon boat festival in chinatown sf 🐉

really enjoyed the train ride through the swiss apps. highly recommend

weddings are a once in a lifetime opportunity to get to know the family of the bride & groom when they are at their happiest / most open use the opportunity wisely

visited taipei a week ago. little did i know it would change my story: http://mtclai.com/writing/2023/5/31/yuan-fen-and-taiwan-in-my-family-story

total net worth of the below visitors to raohe night market in taipei: $34B

eslite 24 hour bookstore in taipei aka heaven

10/10 dessert. much wow. iykyk

my new favorite beverage

TIL TSMC is 15% of taiwan’s gdp and 6% of its energy usage highly recommend this pod about TSMC: https://open.spotify.com/episode/2sUyRjx5GaDYXVWnhWjsRv?si=cUJ_fwI2Q4Gx7K7rQh12hg

booking summer travel rn and it’s wild how much easier travel is than the old days imagine getting on a ship or wagon for 90 days

my mom just quoted some lyrics from swedish house mafia love my mom

got sent this. this has bluesky vibes

seen on a private garage in sf

just 🚢 part ii of a series on fixing the childcare crisis in america https://michaellai.substack.com/p/regulatory-barriers-to-starting-new

passion and desire

i forgot my screen time passcode and it’s kind of awesome? time to write the next great american novel

going on a solitude retreat this wknd in the redwoods to think about the meaning of life 🙏🏻

whale hello there

CONSERVATIVES WERE RIGHT. I moved to California and within WEEKS, this guy set up a tent IN MY HOME and REFUSED to leave. He won’t pay rent and authorities won’t help AT ALL. This country is in shambles.

wild that hippies in the summer of love and red guards in the cultural revolution happened at the same time (1967)

ok so human history has a few big political economy shifts: 1/ hunter gatherer -> agriculture 2/ agriculture -> industry 3/ industry -> knowledge work 4/ knowledge -> ai stuffs?? our institutions & ideologies are still struggling with transition 3/ million dollar q: can we skip two steps ahead!?

last wednesday co-hosted dinner & rituals for qing ming jie, an ancestor reverence day with 2500 years of history thinking of my grandfather who passed 🙏🏻

“Mark Zuckerberg is spending most of his time on A.I., says Meta CTO” - CNBC

“to be like the rock that the 🌊 keep crashing over. it stands unmoved and the raging of the sea falls still around it.” — marcus aurelius, meditations

Free laughs at 6 am in a bathroom in a Tenderloin soup kitchen @mtclai.bsky.social

a central paradox in self / modern society: we want more efficiency and that comes at the cost of alienation

growing up i thought i had to do every hard thing by myself. i learned a lesson yet again tonight that when you lean on friends you get even closer. hard day and i’m incredibly grateful to: @cissy.bsky.social @zain.bsky.social for being there for me ❤️

ever wonder why daycare waitlists are so long? i wrote a thing: https://michaellai.substack.com/p/solving-the-childcare-shortage-in

remember lonely island? i miss those days. life was simpler then