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robertl.in
Robert Lin
@robertl.in
3.4K followers 530 following 2K posts
One day, my tweets are all I'll leave behind. Building #atproto stuff in public bc I believe in an open web. 🧬 robertl.in/xna 📝 robertlin.substack.com 🕰️ @now.robertl.in 📜 @history.robertl.in 🦋 Joined: Feb 6, 2024 📍 Cincinnati, Ohio - USA 🍄 Chaga
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Robert Lin @robertl.in · 1d
Loved doing this w/ @codenprose.bsky.social!🥳

Notes:
0. Omg, I ramble A LOT. I apologize! Pls listen to this on 2x.😅

1. Paraphrasing @jay.bsky.team: "Today's [Substack] could be tmr's adversary." Curation's the next big thing. Whoever who builds SS on top of @atproto.com will become a millionaire!
Robert Lin
If you feel lost, laugh and create
open.substack.com
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robertl.in
Robert Lin @robertl.in · 17h
Notes:
1. Jamie Dimon: "You could drive a truck thru accounting rules. Fortress balance sheet."

2. On buying Bear Stearns & then later being sued by the US gov: "I would not trust the US gov again. From one admin to another, they don't care what the previous admin may've promised or committed to."
The Jamie Dimon Interview: How JP Morgan Became an $800 Billion Bank
YouTube video by Acquired
youtu.be
robertl.in
Robert Lin @robertl.in · 19h
Mon-Oct 13, 2025

“There are all kinds of courage,” said Dumbledore, smiling. “It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends. I therefore award ten points to Mr. Neville Longbottom.”

Harry Potter & the Sorcerer’s Stone (1997) - J.K. Rowling
Monday - October 13, 2025 Dumbledore raised his hand. The room gradually fell silent. “There are all kinds of courage,” said Dumbledore, smiling. “It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends. I therefore award ten points to Mr. Neville Longbottom.” Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (1997) - J.K. Rowling
robertl.in
Robert Lin @robertl.in · 1d
7. I ❤️ social media. To me, it embodies the spirit of the original internet. We're all connected by a "red thread"—you never know whom your post/skoot will reach when you launch it into the ether. At just the right moment, just the right person may read your words+be inspired/find courage. Be fate.
robertl.in
Robert Lin @robertl.in · 1d
6. My ideal social media experience is if I had a simple BUILT-IN way to filter posts to be only from users w/ only < X followers or 0-1 likes/replies. Idc ab seeing big accounts. I want a "fat middle" on social networks, something to fight power law effects for a more evenly distributed ecosystem.
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robertl.in
Robert Lin @robertl.in · 1d
5. My personal site's a temple to me!🥳 Every book I've ever read, movie I've ever watched, person I've ever interacted w/ is on robertl.in! The idea's to give a single unifying place for all my various experiments: fiction writing, art, @threejs.org tinkering, essays; all there for ppl to find me!!🎉
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robertl.in
Robert Lin @robertl.in · 1d
4. As @jasonkpargin.bsky.social has observed, "the young blood of today think of FB [& other app] icons on their phone as 'the internet'. They don't know what bookmarks/URLs even are." I think getting ppl to navigate to aggregator sites is a heavy lift in 2025 unless you're HN/already established.
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Robert Lin @robertl.in · 1d
3. Everyone wants to own "top-of-funnel" rn. Ergo, the sudden explosion of social networks atm: Robinhood/Substack Notes/Sora2. No company in their right mind's going to trust Zuck/Elon for their traffic. Whoever builds a social layer that unifies all these fiefdoms on @atproto.com will become rich!
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robertl.in
Robert Lin @robertl.in · 1d
2. I have colleagues who are always renovating their homes. I have no actual physical IRL skills though so I fiddle with my website instead!! (Ergonomics of ctrl-z also remain undefeated!!💪) "Help people find you." and also: "To meet other interesting ppl, you need to first be interesting yourself."
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robertl.in
Robert Lin @robertl.in · 1d
Loved doing this w/ @codenprose.bsky.social!🥳

Notes:
0. Omg, I ramble A LOT. I apologize! Pls listen to this on 2x.😅

1. Paraphrasing @jay.bsky.team: "Today's [Substack] could be tmr's adversary." Curation's the next big thing. Whoever who builds SS on top of @atproto.com will become a millionaire!
Robert Lin
If you feel lost, laugh and create
open.substack.com
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robertl.in
Robert Lin @robertl.in · 1d
Sun-Oct 12, 2025

“Remember Cedric. Remember, if a time should come when you have to make a choice between what is right and what is easy, remember what happened to a boy who was good, and kind, and brave... Remember Cedric Diggory.”

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2000) - J.K. Rowling
Sunday - October 12, 2025 “It is my belief — and never have I so hoped that I am mistaken — that we are all facing dark and difficult times… A week ago, a student was taken from our midst. “Remember Cedric. Remember, if a time should come when you have to make a choice between what is right and what is easy, remember what happened to a boy who was good, and kind, and brave, because he strayed across the path of Lord Voldemort. Remember Cedric Diggory.” Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2000) - J.K. Rowling
robertl.in
Robert Lin @robertl.in · 2d
TY for posting this! I think it's a fair Q and I've also wondered as well. I like X when I've used it periodically (eg. It's how I learned ab pSEO).

I definitely think X is important in that it exposes what a substantial contingent of ppl do actually believe. I do think it's influencing ppl.
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Robert Lin @robertl.in · 2d
Sat-Oct 11, 2025

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.

Pride and Prejudice (1813) - Jane Austen
Saturday - October 11, 2025 It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife. However little known the feelings or views of such a man may be on his first entering a neighbourhood, this truth is so well fixed in the minds of the surrounding families, that he is considered the rightful property of some one or other of their daughters. Pride and Prejudice (1813) - Jane Austen
robertl.in
Robert Lin @robertl.in · 3d
Fri-Oct 10, 2025

Somewhere along the way, men all got together and agreed that we’d all pretend not to understand women. For the most part, this is bullshit.

Domestic Violets (2011) - @thenormannation.bsky.social
Friday - October 10, 2025 Somewhere along the way, men all got together and agreed that we’d all pretend not to understand women. For the most part, this is bullshit. Right now, as the first signs of hurt betray this façade of feminist anger, I know that she’s interpreted what I just said as me telling her that she’s not good-looking . . . or at least not as good-looking as Katie. But I’m so mad at her that I let her keep thinking it. Domestic Violets (2011) - Matthew Norman
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Robert Lin @robertl.in · 4d
Ik plummeting TFR is a huge concern atm. (Population collapse, entire countries disappearing inside a century, etc.) Idk where the state of science currently is but someone should work on a surefire way to induce twins (maybe through IVF?🤔)—childbirth could be more efficient! 2+ kids per pregnancy!!
robertl.in
Robert Lin @robertl.in · 4d
Thu-Oct 9, 2025

Diane, whose IQ was nearly as impressive as Jason’s but who kept her vocabulary on a shorter leash, compared them to “different prisoners who escaped from the same cell.”

Spin (2005) - @wilsonspin.bsky.social
Thursday - October 9, 2025 Diane and Jason had been born minutes apart but were obviously fraternal rather than identical siblings; no one but their mother called them twins. Jason used to say they were the product of “dipolar sperm penetrating oppositely charged eggs.” Diane, whose IQ was nearly as impressive as Jason’s but who kept her vocabulary on a shorter leash, compared them to “different prisoners who escaped from the same cell.” Spin (2005) - Robert Charles Wilson
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Robert Lin @robertl.in · 4d
2/2 is how I increasingly fulfill my civic obligation. I do have a few heuristics how I go ab it:

1. I never argue with ppl. Not a single person has ever changed their mind due to an argument on social media.

2. Rather, I simply try to share my POV.

3. I only reply to posts that have 0-1 replies.
robertl.in
Robert Lin @robertl.in · 4d
1/2 I think of replying to comments as my daily dose of civic service to society. In the olden days before the internet, people volunteered to do community service: going out IRL to meet people, share life experiences, talk with each other. As I'm more+more online now, participating in social media
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Robert Lin @robertl.in · 5d
Wed-Oct 8, 2025

Everybody falls, and we all land somewhere.

The peak of the Archway was the brightest thing in the sky now, a delicate silver letter U (Unknown, Unknowable) written upside down by a dyslexic God. I held Diane’s hand while we watched it fade.

Spin (2005) - @wilsonspin.bsky.social
Wednesday - October 8, 2025 Everybody falls, and we all land somewhere. So we rented a room on the third floor of a colonial-style hotel in Padang where we wouldn’t be noticed for a while… the hotel was secure and the stars were out in all their scattered glory. The peak of the Archway was the brightest thing in the sky now, a delicate silver letter U (Unknown, Unknowable) written upside down by a dyslexic God. I held Diane’s hand while we watched it fade." Spin (2005) - Robert Charles Wilson
robertl.in
Robert Lin @robertl.in · 6d
Tuesday - October 7, 2025

“You dreamed of Fillory then, with a power and an innocence that not many people ever experience. That’s where all this began for you. You wanted the world to be better than it was.” (pg. 389)

The Magician’s Land (2014) - @levgrossman.com
Tuesday - October 7, 2025 “We call it the Drowned Garden, though I don’t know why. The plants aren’t just plants, they’re thoughts and feelings. A new thought happens and a new plant springs up. A feeling fades away and the plant dies. Some of the more common ones are always in bloom—fear, anger, happiness, love, envy. They’re quite unruly, they grow like weeds. Certain basic mathematical ideas never go away either. But others are quite rare. Complex concepts, extreme or subtle emotions. Awe and wonder are harder to find than they once were. Though there—I think those irises are a kind of awe. Once in a while you even see a new one.” Julia stooped to one knee—an awesome sight, given the scale of her divine frame. “Look. This one is very rare… This is a feeling that you had, Quentin,” she said. “Once, a very long time ago. A rare one. This is how you felt when you were eight years old, and you opened one of the Fillory books for the first time, and you felt awe and joy and hope and longing all at once. You felt them very strongly, Quentin. You dreamed of Fillory then, with a power and an innocence that not many people ever experience. That’s where all this began for you. You wanted the world to be better than it was.” (pg. 389) The Magician’s Land (2014) - Lev Grossman
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Robert Lin @robertl.in · 6d
Notes:
1. In the beginning, to get the flywheel going, Substack provided "revenue guarantees" for the 1st yr. The example that CB gives is @mattyglesias.bsky.social

2. Thinking of Substack as "epistemic infrastructure"

3. Substack Defender will defend you against "legal nastygrams" from bad actors
How blogging went legit, with Substack CEO Chris Best
YouTube video by Complex Systems with Patrick McKenzie
youtu.be
robertl.in
Robert Lin @robertl.in · 6d
What a coincidence! I literally learned yesterday that A24 (the company that produced and distributed Everything Everywhere All At Once) is also owned by private equity.

I know PE may have a bad reputation but I don't think that alone is reason to be sad. Good work is good work!!
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robertl.in
Robert Lin @robertl.in · 7d
Monday - October 6, 2025

“You will never be great. You know nothing of greatness. You want to see? I will show you greatness… This is my museum. Museum of Mayakovsky.”

And he showed them what he’d built in the long Antarctic winters. (pg. 126)

The Magician’s Land (2014) - @levgrossman.com
“But you, Quentin, you I understand. You are like me. You have ambition. You want to be a great wizard. Gandalf, maybe. Merlin. Dumb-bell-door.” “Sure,” [Quentin] said. “Why not.” “But you will not be great. You are clever, yes—you have good head.” He reached over and rapped on Quentin’s head with his knuckles. “Don’t do that.” But Mayakovsky was unstoppable, a drunk best man hell-bent on giving an inappropriate toast. “Fine head. Better than most. But sadly for you there are many heads like it. One hundred. One thousand maybe.” “I’m sure you’re right.” No point in denying it. [Quentin] leaned against the cool, oiled metal of a drill press. It felt reassuringly stable, an ally at this back. “Five hundred,” Plum said generously. She boosted herself up on a table. “Be fair.” “You will never be great. You know nothing of greatness. You want to see? I will show you greatness.” He waved his arm expansively at the darkened workbenches, and all through the room metal and glass stirred and glowed and came alive. Engines moved, wheels turned, flames lit." “This is my museum. Museum of Mayakovsky.” And he showed them what he’d built in the long Antarctic winters. (pg. 126) The Magician’s Land (2014) - Lev Grossman
robertl.in
Robert Lin @robertl.in · 8d
Random thought: I think PC use will actually return en vogue for Gen Alpha+beyond. There's already been something similar that happened for Gen Z w/ digital cameras over smartphones. Fiddling on a personal website will become akin to how some Gen X ppl like to fiddle around w/ old cars as a hobby.
robertl.in
Robert Lin @robertl.in · 8d
Pushed `client-1.11.4` of robertl.in to PROD just now w/ some small cosmetic fixes. (Hovering over tweetId now shows a snapshot of that day's news 📰 + you can now hover over 🖼️ to see images in tweets!)

The best part of pushing to PROD is closing the issue in the Roadmap tracker tho!🥳 #buildinpublic
Hovering over the tweetId now shows a snapshot of that day's news
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robertl.in
Robert Lin @robertl.in · 8d
Dialectic by @jdahl.bsky.social is phenomenal. IMO, it's the best podcast currently on right now. I listened to eps with Geoffrey Litt + Billy Oppenheimer recently & loved those.

Have a great flight! (Btw, if you're flying Delta, there's free wifi!)
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