Ryan

OUT NOW: 2026 Social Web Operations & Needs Assessment Report! We surveyed operators on ATProto, ActivityPub and legacy social. Read the full report & help safeguard the open social web: about.iftas.org/2026/10/15/2...

separate the art from the artist

hello hello baby

Huge.

NEWS! Anil Dash will be keynote speaker at the next FediForum Oct 6-7! Anil is a technologist, writer and activist advocating for ethical, inclusive tech. He'll talk about lessons learned working on open standards, community and what's to come. More details & registration:

boiling is the worst way to cook food this includes bagels, shellfish, even hot pot pasta is only good because you immediately put tasty non-boiled stuff on it before you eat it I will not be taking questions at this time

“The Speed of the Earth” has returned to Black Rock City. Originally created in 02024, this art piece by Long Now Board members @kevinkelly.bsky.social and David Rumsey uses a mile-long line of solar-powered LED strobes to create a streak of light that moves at the speed of the Earth's rotation.

at 44 years of age I am just now realizing that my favorite food is fat

office

This is a lovely site which helps remind us of much of what we take for granted in material progress ordinaryabundance.com (HT @aveek18.bsky.social)

Periodic reminder: we still don't have a comprehensive threat model for social software. We need one! Out of everything I want as a social software developer, a real threat model might be at the top of the list. It would help *so much*.

Much of my career boils down to: All code is liability. Minimize it. Feedback loops are everywhere. Speed them up; do them more. We're bad at predicting the future. Avoid it. More tests. Hire smart, motivated people, then get out of their way. Find the right thing to turn off and on again.

Star Axis is complete. 50 years in the making, land artist Charles Ross has finished his monumental observatory in New Mexico. An open lens tracks Polaris and the 26,000-year cycle of Earth's precession. Read the beautiful feature in the NYT -> www.nytimes.com/2026/07/22/a...

"The world is a comedy to those that think, a tragedy to those that feel"

Huge, and surprising, and important. Dementia is down by almost half over the last 40-50y! (Also reconfirms that amyloid beta was largely a red herring, APOE4 is real, and - news to me - the shingles vaccine seems preventative!)

Forget Utopian futures, or dystopian ones, and aim for Protopia — a slight betterment. I explain in full: kevinkelly.substack.com/p/protopia

every packet is an adventure

TIL: "valley-free" routing

taking a vacation? forgot which day of the week it is? don't worry, hotel elevator's got you

Real-time animated dashboard of SF water and sewage flow at @mysfpuc.bsky.social headquarters.

We do have to come to terms with the fact that the open social web is for everyone not just the people we agree with

no no, you don't understand, it's not a torment nexus it's just a torment fidget spinner

It's so weird that even with this World Cup's expanded field, China and India still didn't qualify, despite having the world's largest populations by far. Maybe football isn't historically as important for them, at least within their own countries?

kill your darlings