Jon Udell
@jonudell.bsky.social
This account exists mainly to test the Mastodon to Bluesky bridge.
If you would like to be followable from the Fediverse, please follow @ap.brid.gy from Bluesky, and let me know you did.
https://jonudell.info/fedi-bsky-interactive-cheatsheet/
Thanks!
If you would like to be followable from the Fediverse, please follow @ap.brid.gy from Bluesky, and let me know you did.
https://jonudell.info/fedi-bsky-interactive-cheatsheet/
Thanks!
If you are from Philly you'll love this story about the Rocky statue.
https://pocketcasts.com/podcast/99-invisible/0cc43410-1d2f-012e-0175-00163e1b201c/the-rocky-statue/1b6c8939-30cd-4e00-af4b-a2b3121af8d4
https://pocketcasts.com/podcast/99-invisible/0cc43410-1d2f-012e-0175-00163e1b201c/the-rocky-statue/1b6c8939-30cd-4e00-af4b-a2b3121af8d4
September 24, 2026 at 6:02 AM
If you are from Philly you'll love this story about the Rocky statue.
https://pocketcasts.com/podcast/99-invisible/0cc43410-1d2f-012e-0175-00163e1b201c/the-rocky-statue/1b6c8939-30cd-4e00-af4b-a2b3121af8d4
https://pocketcasts.com/podcast/99-invisible/0cc43410-1d2f-012e-0175-00163e1b201c/the-rocky-statue/1b6c8939-30cd-4e00-af4b-a2b3121af8d4
This was beautifully built, I wish I could see it in action.
September 20, 2026 at 9:51 PM
This was beautifully built, I wish I could see it in action.
Passing through Bend, Oregon, I took a walk along the river and met a coven of vampires who asked me to capture a photo of them on one of their phones. Then they returned the favor.
#vampire
#vampire
September 14, 2026 at 3:10 PM
Passing through Bend, Oregon, I took a walk along the river and met a coven of vampires who asked me to capture a photo of them on one of their phones. Then they returned the favor.
#vampire
#vampire
Today I learned that Lake Siskiyou is basically a big flood control bucket that empties and fills seasonally. Weird to walk there when empty.
September 12, 2026 at 6:53 PM
Today I learned that Lake Siskiyou is basically a big flood control bucket that empties and fills seasonally. Weird to walk there when empty.
The p(doom) calculation flows from a premise that science fiction has thoroughly explored. Has scifi imagined p(salvation)? Skynet wakes up benevolent, heals civilization and the planet.
September 12, 2026 at 1:23 AM
The p(doom) calculation flows from a premise that science fiction has thoroughly explored. Has scifi imagined p(salvation)? Skynet wakes up benevolent, heals civilization and the planet.
I just added bench 45,272. It is one of my growing collection of places to do outdoor yoga-like calisthenics: stretching, balancing. The view from Taylor Mountain takes in Sonoma Mountain, Mount Hood, Mount St. Helena, Geyser Mountain, and Cobb Mountain.
September 8, 2026 at 3:53 AM
I just added bench 45,272. It is one of my growing collection of places to do outdoor yoga-like calisthenics: stretching, balancing. The view from Taylor Mountain takes in Sonoma Mountain, Mount Hood, Mount St. Helena, Geyser Mountain, and Cobb Mountain.
"Please proofread this article."
"I kept your voice and argument intact, fixing typos, grammar, a few awkward constructions, and malformed link markup. I also tightened a handful of sentences where the meaning was getting obscured."
"I kept your voice and argument intact, fixing typos, grammar, a few awkward constructions, and malformed link markup. I also tightened a handful of sentences where the meaning was getting obscured."
September 3, 2026 at 7:08 PM
"Please proofread this article."
"I kept your voice and argument intact, fixing typos, grammar, a few awkward constructions, and malformed link markup. I also tightened a handful of sentences where the meaning was getting obscured."
"I kept your voice and argument intact, fixing typos, grammar, a few awkward constructions, and malformed link markup. I also tightened a handful of sentences where the meaning was getting obscured."
And now another noble spirit gone: Wendell Berry. More than his poetry and fiction, it was The Unsettling of America that made an indelible impression on me.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Unsettling_of_America
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Unsettling_of_America
September 1, 2026 at 6:44 AM
And now another noble spirit gone: Wendell Berry. More than his poetry and fiction, it was The Unsettling of America that made an indelible impression on me.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Unsettling_of_America
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Unsettling_of_America
Today was a good day for both Bram and XMLUI. The two projects are helping each other effectively.
I don't yet see how to illustrate with a screencast, but this raw storyboard has the ingredients.
https://gist.github.com/judell/663ac00adf36a01096f2bdcdd08642ae
I don't yet see how to illustrate with a screencast, but this raw storyboard has the ingredients.
https://gist.github.com/judell/663ac00adf36a01096f2bdcdd08642ae
bram-xmlui-stress-test.md
bram-xmlui-stress-test.md. GitHub Gist: instantly share code, notes, and snippets.
gist.github.com
August 26, 2026 at 4:21 AM
Today was a good day for both Bram and XMLUI. The two projects are helping each other effectively.
I don't yet see how to illustrate with a screencast, but this raw storyboard has the ingredients.
https://gist.github.com/judell/663ac00adf36a01096f2bdcdd08642ae
I don't yet see how to illustrate with a screencast, but this raw storyboard has the ingredients.
https://gist.github.com/judell/663ac00adf36a01096f2bdcdd08642ae
Bram now indexes and searches:
- Claude Code and Codex session files
- Bram's own worklist history
- GitHub issues
- GitHub commits
- Claude Code and Codex session files
- Bram's own worklist history
- GitHub issues
- GitHub commits
August 25, 2026 at 7:51 PM
Bram now indexes and searches:
- Claude Code and Codex session files
- Bram's own worklist history
- GitHub issues
- GitHub commits
- Claude Code and Codex session files
- Bram's own worklist history
- GitHub issues
- GitHub commits
August 20, 2026 at 7:55 PM
"The reason the Mitch McConnell saga is so disturbing isn’t because McConnell may be dead, but because the Senate is."
https://sarahkendzior.substack.com/p/ghost-senate
https://sarahkendzior.substack.com/p/ghost-senate
Ghost Senate
The vanishing of Mitch McConnell.
sarahkendzior.substack.com
August 18, 2026 at 6:38 PM
"The reason the Mitch McConnell saga is so disturbing isn’t because McConnell may be dead, but because the Senate is."
https://sarahkendzior.substack.com/p/ghost-senate
https://sarahkendzior.substack.com/p/ghost-senate
Imagine being a person whose job it is to carry out these orders.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2026/aug/18/trump-federal-data-deleted-altered
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2026/aug/18/trump-federal-data-deleted-altered
Trump 2.0 has deleted or altered nearly 400 US datasets, endangering public health, education and more
Health data appears to be most affected by administration’s attempt to wipe findings that don’t align with its priorities, tracker shows
www.theguardian.com
August 18, 2026 at 4:56 PM
Imagine being a person whose job it is to carry out these orders.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2026/aug/18/trump-federal-data-deleted-altered
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2026/aug/18/trump-federal-data-deleted-altered
A sentence that begins with "you can't underestimate" or "you can't overstate" is quite likely to mean the opposite of what the speaker or writer intended. I think I know why: the extra layer of negation is a cognitive challenge.
What would be simpler and clear forms of these common tropes?
What would be simpler and clear forms of these common tropes?
August 17, 2026 at 3:32 AM
A sentence that begins with "you can't underestimate" or "you can't overstate" is quite likely to mean the opposite of what the speaker or writer intended. I think I know why: the extra layer of negation is a cognitive challenge.
What would be simpler and clear forms of these common tropes?
What would be simpler and clear forms of these common tropes?
Reposted by Jon Udell
I work at a public library. People who want to use AI seem to have no trouble doing so. People who don't want to use AI have a harder time. I crowdsourced and then finalized this document "How to disable or avoid intrusive AI" and then gave it a short URL: notoai.org Please pass along if it's useful
July 31, 2026 at 9:35 PM
I work at a public library. People who want to use AI seem to have no trouble doing so. People who don't want to use AI have a harder time. I crowdsourced and then finalized this document "How to disable or avoid intrusive AI" and then gave it a short URL: notoai.org Please pass along if it's useful
A friend found my name (almost, John not Jon) carved into a rock at El Morro, New Mexico. I looked it up, he was a well-known "diarist of the American frontier".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Udell
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Udell
August 11, 2026 at 8:34 AM
A friend found my name (almost, John not Jon) carved into a rock at El Morro, New Mexico. I looked it up, he was a well-known "diarist of the American frontier".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Udell
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Udell
"Lest you think that McPhee is a product of a bygone era, working with paper, binders, scissors and pen, he actually switched early to computers. The software he has been using since the mid-1980s is in fact more sophisticated and tailored to his needs than that of almost any writer working today."
August 7, 2026 at 12:29 AM
"Lest you think that McPhee is a product of a bygone era, working with paper, binders, scissors and pen, he actually switched early to computers. The software he has been using since the mid-1980s is in fact more sophisticated and tailored to his needs than that of almost any writer working today."
"When I added the search feature I was thinking mainly of my own need to find things scattered across these buckets. But of course agents can use this unified search too!"
https://blog.jonudell.net/2026/08/01/make-agent-memory-searchable/
https://blog.jonudell.net/2026/08/01/make-agent-memory-searchable/
Make agent memory searchable
The Bram binary now embeds SQLite with its FTS5 fulltext indexer and search engine. When you run Bram in a local GitHub (or GitLab) repo, here is what it indexes: – the JSONL session files wr…
blog.jonudell.net
August 5, 2026 at 2:53 AM
"When I added the search feature I was thinking mainly of my own need to find things scattered across these buckets. But of course agents can use this unified search too!"
https://blog.jonudell.net/2026/08/01/make-agent-memory-searchable/
https://blog.jonudell.net/2026/08/01/make-agent-memory-searchable/
“You’re only getting out deported or dead.”
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jul/30/ice-detention-center-camp
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jul/30/ice-detention-center-camp
Don’t call them ICE detention centers. Call them camps | John Washington
I’ve spent a decade reporting on immigration enforcement. The word ‘camp’ best captures the political function of these facilities
www.theguardian.com
July 30, 2026 at 11:21 PM
“You’re only getting out deported or dead.”
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jul/30/ice-detention-center-camp
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jul/30/ice-detention-center-camp
"In a talk at the Open Education Conference I cited open source software development as a model for observable work. Because the processes and products yield digital artifacts, anyone can learn how the work is done and — if motivated — become a participant.
July 23, 2026 at 7:44 PM
"In a talk at the Open Education Conference I cited open source software development as a model for observable work. Because the processes and products yield digital artifacts, anyone can learn how the work is done and — if motivated — become a participant.
"My family left Russia in 1917. My relatives left Germany in 1933. In both generations, leaving was called excessive; staying was the reasonable position. But an alarm that was right both times it sounded is not overcaution. On Thursday, it sounded a third time."
July 22, 2026 at 10:13 PM
"My family left Russia in 1917. My relatives left Germany in 1933. In both generations, leaving was called excessive; staying was the reasonable position. But an alarm that was right both times it sounded is not overcaution. On Thursday, it sounded a third time."
When I publish a blog post, a growing flock of idiotic bots pile on instantly.
Fastmail's filters aren't smart enough to recognize this slop and route it to spam.
There are so many useless AI features that nobody wants, that's one I would welcome.
Fastmail's filters aren't smart enough to recognize this slop and route it to spam.
There are so many useless AI features that nobody wants, that's one I would welcome.
July 16, 2026 at 5:24 PM
When I publish a blog post, a growing flock of idiotic bots pile on instantly.
Fastmail's filters aren't smart enough to recognize this slop and route it to spam.
There are so many useless AI features that nobody wants, that's one I would welcome.
Fastmail's filters aren't smart enough to recognize this slop and route it to spam.
There are so many useless AI features that nobody wants, that's one I would welcome.
Encouraging agents to be prolific writers and readers of trace logs is a strategy that keeps paying dividends.
https://blog.jonudell.net/2026/07/08/dont-infer-behavior-from-code-observe-it-in-logs/
#claude_code #codex #logging #debugging
https://blog.jonudell.net/2026/07/08/dont-infer-behavior-from-code-observe-it-in-logs/
#claude_code #codex #logging #debugging
Don’t infer behavior from code, observe it in logs
Agents are hardwired to be prolific writers and readers of code. As my work on Bram progressed I found that their code-first instinct wasn’t serving me well. So I began pushing them to be, al…
blog.jonudell.net
July 13, 2026 at 2:12 PM
Encouraging agents to be prolific writers and readers of trace logs is a strategy that keeps paying dividends.
https://blog.jonudell.net/2026/07/08/dont-infer-behavior-from-code-observe-it-in-logs/
#claude_code #codex #logging #debugging
https://blog.jonudell.net/2026/07/08/dont-infer-behavior-from-code-observe-it-in-logs/
#claude_code #codex #logging #debugging
"In the Before Time you could imagine a function that takes in event titles and descriptions and uses regexes and word lists to map an event to a category. But that was unsustainable. What we always needed, and now can have, is a function that requires no procedural code to effect that mapping."
July 12, 2026 at 8:24 PM
"In the Before Time you could imagine a function that takes in event titles and descriptions and uses regexes and word lists to map an event to a category. But that was unsustainable. What we always needed, and now can have, is a function that requires no procedural code to effect that mapping."
If you need a coworking space in Silver Spring, Kaldi's Social House is the place to go. I have no idea if the story about the Ethiopian goatherder is true but I like to think that it is.
#coffee
#coffee
July 8, 2026 at 4:47 PM
If you need a coworking space in Silver Spring, Kaldi's Social House is the place to go. I have no idea if the story about the Ethiopian goatherder is true but I like to think that it is.
#coffee
#coffee