Paul Ford
@ftrain.bsky.social
Bureaucracy enjoyer. So cringe it’s meta. Aboard.com.
Pinned
Paul Ford
@ftrain.bsky.social
· Oct 21
Do a teamwork, not a screamwork.
It’s been a year and I use them but I have absolutely no idea what a passkey is. Half the time login fails with them and I have to do something else that works (like a password). I refuse to understand more. I’m tired of computers and don’t care. This is what it’s like for every non-nerd, isn’t it?
January 18, 2026 at 12:54 PM
It’s been a year and I use them but I have absolutely no idea what a passkey is. Half the time login fails with them and I have to do something else that works (like a password). I refuse to understand more. I’m tired of computers and don’t care. This is what it’s like for every non-nerd, isn’t it?
I showed Gas Town to my business partner Rich and he said “oh it's SOAP/WSDL for agents” and I am still processing that.
January 16, 2026 at 6:44 PM
I showed Gas Town to my business partner Rich and he said “oh it's SOAP/WSDL for agents” and I am still processing that.
not a lot of eye contact in the endoscopy office
January 14, 2026 at 12:33 PM
not a lot of eye contact in the endoscopy office
@raf.eco is out here trying to figure it out.
I had a fun chat about AI and Etsy on the Aboard podcast with @ftrain.bsky.social and Rich Ziade, it just dropped ... aboard.com/podcast/rafe...
Rafe Colburn: Building Etsy in the AI era
Etsy’s Chief Product and Technology Officer talks about the engineering org’s AI transition and recent partnership with OpenAI.
aboard.com
January 13, 2026 at 7:22 PM
@raf.eco is out here trying to figure it out.
Reposted by Paul Ford
On my way to the Supreme Court where I'll be proud to support 15-year-old Becky Pepper-Jackson, West Virginia's only transgender athlete, as she opposes the state's effort to ban her from playing as herself.
Win or lose, Becky and her family are heroes for standing up for what's right
Win or lose, Becky and her family are heroes for standing up for what's right
January 13, 2026 at 12:10 PM
On my way to the Supreme Court where I'll be proud to support 15-year-old Becky Pepper-Jackson, West Virginia's only transgender athlete, as she opposes the state's effort to ban her from playing as herself.
Win or lose, Becky and her family are heroes for standing up for what's right
Win or lose, Becky and her family are heroes for standing up for what's right
Reposted by Paul Ford
this still slaps youtu.be/ZQ_MEFVx5jM?...
January 12, 2026 at 11:45 PM
this still slaps youtu.be/ZQ_MEFVx5jM?...
(Black swan lands, 10,000 black swans suddenly split off from it, completely darkening the sky.) Is that good?
January 11, 2026 at 3:30 AM
(Black swan lands, 10,000 black swans suddenly split off from it, completely darkening the sky.) Is that good?
Our worst are killing our best.
January 10, 2026 at 3:56 PM
Our worst are killing our best.
I keep thinking about how oh-so-aligned Claude just told me it’s less ethically fraught to kill a distant cousin than yourself.
January 9, 2026 at 1:50 AM
I keep thinking about how oh-so-aligned Claude just told me it’s less ethically fraught to kill a distant cousin than yourself.
sysadmin hits different now
January 9, 2026 at 12:36 AM
sysadmin hits different now
“Dad, I need you to unlock the PC so I can make a 3d model in something called Blender for science class for Monday,” said a young man who is about to experience a level of mental anguish and confusion he’s never imagined possible.
January 3, 2026 at 5:04 PM
“Dad, I need you to unlock the PC so I can make a 3d model in something called Blender for science class for Monday,” said a young man who is about to experience a level of mental anguish and confusion he’s never imagined possible.
Reposted by Paul Ford
In celebration of Mamdani's first day in office, the map from our 2016 NYC atlas celebrating Queens as the most linguistically diverse place on earth. (800 languages spoken in NYC, according to NY's Endangered Language Institute, which collaborated with us on this map.
January 3, 2026 at 3:21 AM
In celebration of Mamdani's first day in office, the map from our 2016 NYC atlas celebrating Queens as the most linguistically diverse place on earth. (800 languages spoken in NYC, according to NY's Endangered Language Institute, which collaborated with us on this map.
We all watched it at our function and it was so wholesome and we cheered.
January 1, 2026 at 6:15 AM
We all watched it at our function and it was so wholesome and we cheered.
Happy New Years, Nerds.
January 1, 2026 at 4:37 AM
Happy New Years, Nerds.
Merry Christmas, nerds. Here’s a pretty song for you from Taylor Mac’s Christmas Album. youtu.be/TRcgJPujiXM?... .
How Can I Keep from Singing
YouTube video by Taylor Mac - Topic
youtu.be
December 25, 2025 at 4:57 PM
Merry Christmas, nerds. Here’s a pretty song for you from Taylor Mac’s Christmas Album. youtu.be/TRcgJPujiXM?... .
I have an almost medical level of cowlick. This morning my barber pointed to the back of my head and said: ”I can get you through Christmas. [Serious pause.] But after that no promises.”
December 22, 2025 at 11:01 PM
I have an almost medical level of cowlick. This morning my barber pointed to the back of my head and said: ”I can get you through Christmas. [Serious pause.] But after that no promises.”
I have an almost medical level of cowlick. This morning my barber pointed to the back of my head and said: ”I can get you through Christmas. [Serious pause.] But after that no promises.”
December 22, 2025 at 11:01 PM
I have an almost medical level of cowlick. This morning my barber pointed to the back of my head and said: ”I can get you through Christmas. [Serious pause.] But after that no promises.”
They can’t do this. Not now. I can’t know this exists. caligra.com
December 7, 2025 at 5:28 AM
They can’t do this. Not now. I can’t know this exists. caligra.com
The notes of the C major scale? You mean the big naturals?
December 5, 2025 at 4:00 PM
The notes of the C major scale? You mean the big naturals?
Reposted by Paul Ford
Bloomberg's Jealousy List (best articles written in other publications) is out and looks stuffed with goodies www.bloomberg.com/features/202...
The Stories We Most Admired in 2025: Businessweek’s Jealousy List
The stories we admired most this year.
www.bloomberg.com
December 5, 2025 at 10:12 AM
Bloomberg's Jealousy List (best articles written in other publications) is out and looks stuffed with goodies www.bloomberg.com/features/202...
Reposted by Paul Ford
I’m on Scott Hanselman’s podcast today, talking esolangs and code art hanselminutes.com/1026/daniel-...
Daniel Temkin and the Beauty of Esoteric Languages
What happens when code stops being useful and starts being art? Scott talks with artist and programmer Daniel Temkin about his new book Forty-Four Esolangs, a deep dive into the world of esoteric prog...
hanselminutes.com
December 5, 2025 at 12:05 PM
I’m on Scott Hanselman’s podcast today, talking esolangs and code art hanselminutes.com/1026/daniel-...
Reposted by Paul Ford
Also: there's a 20% discount for signups before January 1st!
I posted some new opinion writing workshop dates for 2026, and tried to include a few different times and one weekend slot to accommodate different time zones and schedules: www.elizabethspiers.com/workshops/
Workshops
Learn to write professional op-eds and personal essays with Elizabeth Spiers, a contributing writer for The New York Times opinion section, former columnist at Fortune and Fast Company, and opinion co...
www.elizabethspiers.com
December 2, 2025 at 3:31 PM
Also: there's a 20% discount for signups before January 1st!
I vibehacked a fun little sight reader app that runs in browser. Works with MIDI in Chrome; you play and if you get all the notes right you go to the next level of complexity. It doesn't save any data to a server, it just is. ftrain.github.io/sightreading/ (Source at github.com/ftrain/sight...)
December 3, 2025 at 5:51 AM
I vibehacked a fun little sight reader app that runs in browser. Works with MIDI in Chrome; you play and if you get all the notes right you go to the next level of complexity. It doesn't save any data to a server, it just is. ftrain.github.io/sightreading/ (Source at github.com/ftrain/sight...)