Jake Lazaroff
@jakelazaroff.com
nyc-based programmer and designer. alum @recurse.com. public transit enjoyer. thoughts on local-first software, javascript frameworks, web components, css and other web minutiae.
🌐 https://jakelazaroff.com
🌐 https://jakelazaroff.com
Pinned
Jake Lazaroff
@jakelazaroff.com
· Nov 9
jakelazaroff.com
Just a programmer trying to make a home for myself on the WWW.
jakelazaroff.com
hi new friends! i’m jake, a programmer & designer based in NYC. i talk a lot about local-first apps & the web.
if you followed me from a starter pack & don’t know who i am, here are some (imo) cool things i’ve done/written. these are all on my website which you can follow via RSS:
jakelazaroff.com
if you followed me from a starter pack & don’t know who i am, here are some (imo) cool things i’ve done/written. these are all on my website which you can follow via RSS:
jakelazaroff.com
Reposted by Jake Lazaroff
I want this next generation of software development tools to run on my own computer. Vim and Emacs helped democratize software development and made it accessible. We shouldn't allow this AI wave to take us backwards.
I really hope the open source community can keep pace.
I really hope the open source community can keep pace.
January 12, 2026 at 11:47 AM
I want this next generation of software development tools to run on my own computer. Vim and Emacs helped democratize software development and made it accessible. We shouldn't allow this AI wave to take us backwards.
I really hope the open source community can keep pace.
I really hope the open source community can keep pace.
January 11, 2026 at 10:43 PM
the problem with changing data on the backend without pushing it to clients is that you can decide "i'm not in a heavy music mood right now" and click the big green play button on the pop star women playlist, and hear counterparts anyway
January 11, 2026 at 8:39 PM
the problem with changing data on the backend without pushing it to clients is that you can decide "i'm not in a heavy music mood right now" and click the big green play button on the pop star women playlist, and hear counterparts anyway
Reposted by Jake Lazaroff
i love the beginning of the year because everyone starts blogging. and if you (yes you) were thinking about starting, this is your sign
January 6, 2026 at 3:56 PM
i love the beginning of the year because everyone starts blogging. and if you (yes you) were thinking about starting, this is your sign
an unfortunate facet of most "LLMs write bad code" critiques i've seen is that they propagate the idea that all software should be made to scale up
I’ve been having really interesting experiences with “personal vibe software”. I write a spec for a piece of software I want - say a wine cellar tracker app made exactly for me, maybe useful to no one else. I don’t necessarily care if it has minor bugs. This can be made pretty fast!
January 10, 2026 at 5:41 PM
an unfortunate facet of most "LLMs write bad code" critiques i've seen is that they propagate the idea that all software should be made to scale up
Reposted by Jake Lazaroff
It is sad because there are a hundred better reasons to leave X right now, but I still think that Bluesky adding code blocks could be the trigger for some dev communities to do the jump.
Are there plans to add syntax highlighting to code blocks and inline code to Bluesky? It is one of the top features devs appreciated in Elk. Being able to share a11y code snippets instead of images makes a huge diff. I think it could help a lot to promote tinkering with the protocol among devs
January 8, 2026 at 6:49 PM
It is sad because there are a hundred better reasons to leave X right now, but I still think that Bluesky adding code blocks could be the trigger for some dev communities to do the jump.
Reposted by Jake Lazaroff
Sorry, but triumphant claims about autonomous vehicle safety are wildly exaggerated.
It's an open question whether today’s self-driving cars are any safer than those driven by humans.
And if reducing crashes is the goal, that isn’t even the right question.
My deep dive, in Bloomberg 🧵
It's an open question whether today’s self-driving cars are any safer than those driven by humans.
And if reducing crashes is the goal, that isn’t even the right question.
My deep dive, in Bloomberg 🧵
We Still Don’t Know if Robotaxis Are Safer Than Human Drivers
And even if self-driving technology proves to be less dangerous, there are many better ways to improve traffic safety and prevent fatal crashes.
www.bloomberg.com
January 6, 2026 at 2:54 PM
Sorry, but triumphant claims about autonomous vehicle safety are wildly exaggerated.
It's an open question whether today’s self-driving cars are any safer than those driven by humans.
And if reducing crashes is the goal, that isn’t even the right question.
My deep dive, in Bloomberg 🧵
It's an open question whether today’s self-driving cars are any safer than those driven by humans.
And if reducing crashes is the goal, that isn’t even the right question.
My deep dive, in Bloomberg 🧵
Reposted by Jake Lazaroff
It is not enough that X bad. We also need Bluesky good
I want this site to beat twitter, and for twitter to evaporate. For that to happen, people you hate must have a more pleasant experience posting here than posting there.
A minority of this site decided instead that they want it to be their little club, so that's what we have.
A minority of this site decided instead that they want it to be their little club, so that's what we have.
January 5, 2026 at 8:08 PM
It is not enough that X bad. We also need Bluesky good
Reposted by Jake Lazaroff
This might seem like it doesn't matter but having all the people involved with an emerging technology, even one you dislike, stewing in the fascist ideology soup that is X is extremely bad for the world.
Lots of people tried to reconstruct the ML/AI/stats community over here. 90% of them left because the random abuse they got for just posting ordinary research results was too much.
bsky.app/profile/jwhe...
bsky.app/profile/jwhe...
Wrote about an obvious and yet profoundly underappreciated aspect of the AI boom: its total narrative capture by Elon Musk's X nymag.com/intelligence...
January 5, 2026 at 7:16 PM
This might seem like it doesn't matter but having all the people involved with an emerging technology, even one you dislike, stewing in the fascist ideology soup that is X is extremely bad for the world.
Reposted by Jake Lazaroff
This has been in the making for over a year, and I'm super excited about the new Web Weekly site!
Check it out if you're into Frontend news about browser APIs, CSS features, and web standards. 🥰
webweekly.email
There are still some rough edges here and there, but it's about time to get it out. 🫣
Check it out if you're into Frontend news about browser APIs, CSS features, and web standards. 🥰
webweekly.email
There are still some rough edges here and there, but it's about time to get it out. 🫣
January 5, 2026 at 1:51 PM
This has been in the making for over a year, and I'm super excited about the new Web Weekly site!
Check it out if you're into Frontend news about browser APIs, CSS features, and web standards. 🥰
webweekly.email
There are still some rough edges here and there, but it's about time to get it out. 🫣
Check it out if you're into Frontend news about browser APIs, CSS features, and web standards. 🥰
webweekly.email
There are still some rough edges here and there, but it's about time to get it out. 🫣
Reposted by Jake Lazaroff
amazing how the entire machine can pivot within 24 hours. no need to slowly upsell the argument; just issue new marching orders
January 5, 2026 at 6:50 AM
amazing how the entire machine can pivot within 24 hours. no need to slowly upsell the argument; just issue new marching orders
Reposted by Jake Lazaroff
Me, logging on to work after the long weekend
May 26, 2025 at 6:36 PM
Me, logging on to work after the long weekend
Reposted by Jake Lazaroff
Remember software UIs before minimalism?
December 30, 2025 at 10:26 PM
Remember software UIs before minimalism?
Reposted by Jake Lazaroff
or, hear me out: the reason that we have code standards today is because merging slop *reduces* your shipping velocity
Can't wait for the loosened up, non-perfect, but quickly shipped AI-enhanced updates to hit my banking and insurance services next year.
Im sure there will be no issues there at all.
Im sure there will be no issues there at all.
December 27, 2025 at 1:56 AM
or, hear me out: the reason that we have code standards today is because merging slop *reduces* your shipping velocity
Reposted by Jake Lazaroff
Paid parking has its place in the city's transportation ecosystem, but it's far better to just get rid of as much on-street parking as possible. This is what the best cities in the world are doing and there's no reason New York City shouldn't follow suit.
December 24, 2025 at 9:15 PM
Paid parking has its place in the city's transportation ecosystem, but it's far better to just get rid of as much on-street parking as possible. This is what the best cities in the world are doing and there's no reason New York City shouldn't follow suit.
some of the most valuable real estate in the world, given away to drivers at everyone else's expense
“Pairing free buses with paid parking says we value people in motion more than cars at rest,” writes Nicolas Rohatyn.
Opinion | The Way to Pay for Free Buses Is to End Free Parking
Free buses would be transformative not only for riders, but for the ecosystem of the city as a whole.
nyti.ms
December 24, 2025 at 2:24 PM
some of the most valuable real estate in the world, given away to drivers at everyone else's expense
this is fantastic
My Ubuntu Summit talk is up! Where I talk about:
1. How Desktop UX is effectively dead
2. Why I hate the term UX/UI with the heat of 1000 suns
3. How OSS can actually innovate in #ux
www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fZT...
1. How Desktop UX is effectively dead
2. Why I hate the term UX/UI with the heat of 1000 suns
3. How OSS can actually innovate in #ux
www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fZT...
Are we stuck with the same Desktop UX forever? | Ubuntu Summit 25.10
YouTube video by Canonical Ubuntu
www.youtube.com
December 24, 2025 at 4:03 AM
this is fantastic
Reposted by Jake Lazaroff
Happy holidays! I thought I would sneak in a little gift for everyone with the #WebComponents Language Server for @zed.dev! Enjoy!
wc-toolkit.com/integrations...
wc-toolkit.com/integrations...
Web Components Language Server - Zed
Editor support for web components / custom elements
wc-toolkit.com
December 23, 2025 at 2:34 PM
Happy holidays! I thought I would sneak in a little gift for everyone with the #WebComponents Language Server for @zed.dev! Enjoy!
wc-toolkit.com/integrations...
wc-toolkit.com/integrations...
Reposted by Jake Lazaroff
Year 1 data on congestion pricing in Manhattan…
* Vehicle traffic: -11%
* Foot traffic: +3.4%
* Storefront vacancy: -0.9%
* Pollution: -22%
* Revenue for mass transit: $548M
So YES this has been a huge success.
* Vehicle traffic: -11%
* Foot traffic: +3.4%
* Storefront vacancy: -0.9%
* Pollution: -22%
* Revenue for mass transit: $548M
So YES this has been a huge success.
December 23, 2025 at 2:00 PM
Year 1 data on congestion pricing in Manhattan…
* Vehicle traffic: -11%
* Foot traffic: +3.4%
* Storefront vacancy: -0.9%
* Pollution: -22%
* Revenue for mass transit: $548M
So YES this has been a huge success.
* Vehicle traffic: -11%
* Foot traffic: +3.4%
* Storefront vacancy: -0.9%
* Pollution: -22%
* Revenue for mass transit: $548M
So YES this has been a huge success.
what exactly are we doing here? claude doesn't "deserve" anything; we are talking about an inanimate tool. it's like saying that i need to respectfully engage with my toothbrush.
December 23, 2025 at 1:44 AM
what exactly are we doing here? claude doesn't "deserve" anything; we are talking about an inanimate tool. it's like saying that i need to respectfully engage with my toothbrush.
Reposted by Jake Lazaroff
I imagine this is going to down like the "I can't believe you used to smoke inside bars" reactions from the young ones.
"I can't believe you used to let every car into the city for free? Didn't you have gridlock, pollution, and dead pedestrians?"
"I can't believe you used to let every car into the city for free? Didn't you have gridlock, pollution, and dead pedestrians?"
I refuse to shut up about this: NYC started charging $9 to bring a car into our most transit-rich zone, the haters & trolls predicted doom, but traffic evaporated instantly and here’s Times Square tonite (even after the holiday tourists have left). For a better future, build transit & price driving!
December 20, 2025 at 7:40 PM
I imagine this is going to down like the "I can't believe you used to smoke inside bars" reactions from the young ones.
"I can't believe you used to let every car into the city for free? Didn't you have gridlock, pollution, and dead pedestrians?"
"I can't believe you used to let every car into the city for free? Didn't you have gridlock, pollution, and dead pedestrians?"
Reposted by Jake Lazaroff
local first vs atproto!! what should the source of truth for group data be?
Owning group data
Thinking about how communities can manage shared data on and off ATProto
meri.leaflet.pub
December 20, 2025 at 12:45 PM
local first vs atproto!! what should the source of truth for group data be?
Reposted by Jake Lazaroff
