banner
aaronsnow.net
Aaron Snow
@aaronsnow.net
560 followers 360 following 71 posts
Led 18F/TTS and the Canadian Digital Service. Presidential Innovation Fellow, Georgetown's Beeck Center, VoProPartners. 206 for life, unlikely to shut up about the Guardians. The dadjokes don't stop just b/c they've grown & gone. https://aaronsnow.net/hi
aaronsnow.net
Posts Media Videos Starter Packs
aaronsnow.net
Aaron Snow @aaronsnow.net · 29d
Cleveland will hold a counter-protest at Huntington Bank Field, running 1995 clips of people booing, pulling the chairs out of Municipal and burning Art Model in effigy, soundtrack by Nirvana and Trent Reznor
profootballtalk.bsky.social
ProFootballTalk @profootballtalk.bsky.social · 29d
On Sunday, the Ravens will commence the celebration of 30 years in Baltimore. And the opponent, of course, will be the Browns.
www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profootb...
When Browns come to town on Sunday, Ravens will celebrate 30 years in Baltimore
Thirty years ago, the Browns moved to Baltimore and became the Ravens.
www.nbcsports.com
2
aaronsnow.net
Aaron Snow @aaronsnow.net · Sep 8
Shot: "The last [18F] report urged the courts to 'start small.'"

Chaser: "In mid-2022, the administrative office awarded a five-year, $298 million contract to General Dynamics Information Technology."

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/03/u...
Federal Courts Slow to Fix Vulnerable System After Repeated Hacking
www.nytimes.com
2 5 18
aaronsnow.net
Aaron Snow @aaronsnow.net · Aug 12
I see I can count on you to be a contributor to my inevitable side hustle slash passion project justhotelbathroomreviews dot com. Gold star if you also report back on the (nearly always inadequate) lighting for the mirror and the (frequently over-softened) water hardness
1 2
aaronsnow.net
Aaron Snow @aaronsnow.net · Jun 26
If we're going to make people prepare and file taxes, it should be free and easy. IRS Direct File does this, with sky-high customer satisfaction numbers.
3
aaronsnow.net
Aaron Snow @aaronsnow.net · Jun 26
Nobody asked for Americans to need tax preparers or filers at all.
1 5
Reposted by Aaron Snow
cmgiven.bsky.social
Chris Given @cmgiven.bsky.social · May 30
Direct File is now open source. Finally.

A short, personal post about why: chrisgiven.com/2025/05/dire...

Massive kudos to the Direct File team for pulling this off and showing their commitment to transparency and earning trust.
Direct File on GitHub
Personal blog of Chris Given, government technologist. These words are always written by a human; I have no one to blame but myself.
chrisgiven.com
34 130
Reposted by Aaron Snow
alt18f.bsky.social
Alt18F @alt18f.bsky.social · May 28
We have some news to share with you. 🥄

Today we took legal action to challenge our termination, filing an appeal with the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board. We did this because we believe the elimination of 18F violated safeguards that exist to protect a nonpartisan civil service.
18F files legal challenge
A statement about 18F’s appeal filed with the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board.
18f.org
16 260 1.2K
aaronsnow.net
Aaron Snow @aaronsnow.net · May 15
How did The Rising not show up in this episode? Please say it's because it's getting its own ep!
1
aaronsnow.net
Aaron Snow @aaronsnow.net · Apr 29
Outstanding thread for Canada's Election Day
jamespmcleod.ca
James McLeod @jamespmcleod.ca · Apr 28
A lot of Americans don't know this, but the winner of the Canadian election will be required live in a small cottage located in the backyard of the palace where the viceroy to the King of England lives.

The cottage just recently got a new wifi router, which was very exciting for all Canadians.
1 4
aaronsnow.net
Aaron Snow @aaronsnow.net · Apr 22
RIP Richie Havens, who died 12 years ago today. Boy, this cover hits differently now youtu.be/JltNLkh03ME?...
Richie Havens "License To Kill"
YouTube video by powerplaynetworks
youtu.be
2
aaronsnow.net
Aaron Snow @aaronsnow.net · Apr 1
A guy in our neighborhood has been posting a dad joke in their front yard every day since the pandemic started, and he chose today to get violent
A sign that says: Tom's bad dad jokes, day 1808 Today is April Fool's Day Believe nothing and trust no one. Just like any other day.
6
aaronsnow.net
Aaron Snow @aaronsnow.net · Mar 11
I think about this story every time someone tells me they think our federal government is too big and bloated.
1 1 31
aaronsnow.net
Aaron Snow @aaronsnow.net · Mar 11
There was, it turned out, almost nothing that was used by almost nobody. In fact when they tried to cut back on some legal industry specific features, they got enormous blowback and had to backtrack. Word was on everyone's desktops, so it had to be many things to many people — a price of ubiquity.
1 1 8
aaronsnow.net
Aaron Snow @aaronsnow.net · Mar 11
Sure enough, when they dug into how people used Word, they found that the vast majority of users only used about 20% of Word's features.

But **everyone used a different 20%.**
2 1 8
aaronsnow.net
Aaron Snow @aaronsnow.net · Mar 11
The big knock on Office, and especially Word, was that it was too bloated. Too many features, such a huge install footprint, so wasteful. If you're old enough you remember.

The "bloated" din got so loud that the team conducted a big customer research study to ask the question: what should we cut?
1 1 4
aaronsnow.net
Aaron Snow @aaronsnow.net · Mar 11
At the time (for reasons not pertinent to this story), MS Office was ubiquitous. Its market share was basically 100%. But being on everyone's desktop didn't mean popular sentiment was also sky high. It was the tool that almost everyone had and used, like it or not. Some people loved to hate it.
1 2 5
aaronsnow.net
Aaron Snow @aaronsnow.net · Mar 11
A quick story about big "bloated" systems that people love to hate.

When I was at Microsoft a million years ago, I had a friend on the MS Word team who told me this one. (I got the details second-hand; MSFT friends, please correct me.)
2 8 30
aaronsnow.net
Aaron Snow @aaronsnow.net · Mar 11
18F had already saved the US government over a billion dollars in cost avoidance by the time I left in early 2017. No doubt it and TTS have saved much more since then -- all for the cost of a couple hundred civil servants' comp and benefits annually.
altusds.altgov.info
Alt US Digital Service @altusds.altgov.info · Mar 11
@alt18f.bsky.social saved taxpayers billions, modernized digital services, and made government work better. 💡Now, DOGE has shut it down—eliminating projects that served voters, refugees, military personnel, and more. Read about 18F’s impact ⬇️

🔗 www.wethebuilders.org/posts/what-i...

#altgov #18f
3 8
Reposted by Aaron Snow
altusds.altgov.info
Alt US Digital Service @altusds.altgov.info · Mar 11
@alt18f.bsky.social saved taxpayers billions, modernized digital services, and made government work better. 💡Now, DOGE has shut it down—eliminating projects that served voters, refugees, military personnel, and more. Read about 18F’s impact ⬇️

🔗 www.wethebuilders.org/posts/what-i...

#altgov #18f
3 64 180
Reposted by Aaron Snow
randyhart.bsky.social
Randy Hart @randyhart.bsky.social · Mar 7
18F story behind my favorite government website:
www.ustaxcourt.gov/dawson.html
DAWSON | United States Tax Court
Docket Access
www.ustaxcourt.gov
1 18 41
aaronsnow.net
Aaron Snow @aaronsnow.net · Mar 6
I'm told some DC AUSAs got those pizza-threats too. Absolutely beyond the pale.
lawrencehurley.bsky.social
Lawrence Hurley @lawrencehurley.bsky.social · Mar 5
"several federal judges in the Washington D.C. area had received pizzas sent anonymously to their homes, which is being interpreted by law enforcement as a form of intimidation meant to convey that a target’s address is known."
www.reuters.com/world/us/jud...
Exclusive: Judges face rise in threats as Musk blasts them over rulings
U.S. Marshals have warned federal judges of unusually high threat levels as tech billionaire Elon Musk and other Trump administration allies ramp up efforts to discredit judges who stand in the way of White House efforts to slash federal jobs and programs, said several judges with knowledge of the warnings.
www.reuters.com
2
Reposted by Aaron Snow
richardbranson.bsky.social
Richard Branson @richardbranson.bsky.social · Mar 4
(1/3) It needs repeating: in 1994, Ukraine was persuaded to give up its nuclear weapons to Russia in return for the US, the UK, and Russia guaranteeing Ukraine’s sovereignty, security, and territorial integrity.
1.8K 23K 76K
Reposted by Aaron Snow
alt18f.bsky.social
Alt18F @alt18f.bsky.social · Mar 3

You might know us from the guides we have put together, like the de-risking guide and the UX guide. Governments all around the world have used them to make services more accessible and add more value to the public — all while saving millions of dollars. You can still find them here: 18f.org/guides/
18F Guides
A central resource for all 18F guides and methods
18f.org
17 230 910
Reposted by Aaron Snow
waldo.net
Waldo Jaquith @waldo.net · Mar 3
What happens when you force mission-driven, impact-craving public servants out of their job, their career?

I have no idea. I don’t think they all pack it in and go work for Fortune 500s. Somebody who could harness their energy and experience would reap big benefits.
3 4 34
Reposted by Aaron Snow
angelacolter.bsky.social
An-ghoul-a Colter 🎃 @angelacolter.bsky.social · Mar 2
18F alum here. While I appreciate the well-deserved attention the 18F team is getting, let's address a fundamental misunderstanding of why 18F was so effective in working with other govt agencies to improve their digital services and why starting a consulting company is not a substitute. 1/
mcuban.bsky.social
Mark Cuban @mcuban.bsky.social · Mar 2
If you worked for 18F and got fired, Group together to start a consulting company.

It’s just a matter of time before DOGE needs you to fix the mess they inevitably create.

They will have to hire your company as a contractor to fix it. But on your terms.

I’m happy to invest and/or help
11 130 390