Jon Udell
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jonudell.bsky.social
Jon Udell
@jonudell.bsky.social
170 followers 540 following 260 posts
This account exists mainly to test the Mastodon to Bluesky bridge.

If you would like to be followable from the Fediverse, please follow @ap.brid.gy from Bluesky, and let me know you did.

https://jonudell.info/fedi-bsky-interactive-cheatsheet/

Thanks!
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jonudell.bsky.social
Well this is the coolest BYTE archive ever.

The home page, a grid with cover pages down the left side, functions as an infographic that charts the rise and fall of the magazine. (I arrived long after the glory days of 450-page issues.)
Screenshot
November 10, 2025 at 12:59 AM
jonudell.bsky.social
"The tractor beam that pulled me in was the special exhibit of Ray Harryhausen’s orginal animatronic models and drawings. Here’s the Kraken from Clash of the Titans."

https://blog.jonudell.net/2025/11/02/release-the-kraken/

#Miniatures #HarryHausen #Dynamation
"The tractor beam that pulled me in was the special exhibit of Ray Harryhausen’s orginal animatronic models and drawings. Here’s the Kraken from Clash of the Titans."
November 3, 2025 at 7:23 PM
jonudell.bsky.social
There's nothing like a big dose of the majesty of California, a friend likes to say. It sure was powerful medicine today.

https://blog.jonudell.net/2025/10/30/a-day-in-sequoia-national-park/
1927 USGS topographical map of Sequoia National Park
October 31, 2025 at 5:52 AM
jonudell.bsky.social
This lovely paean to the roundabouts in my former home town omits the traffic disaster at Keene's core. Central Square (which is a circle) awkwardly combines a roundabout with intersections and traffic lights: the worst of both worlds.

I love you anyway, Keene!
Keene's Central Square
October 22, 2025 at 7:21 PM
jonudell.bsky.social
October 12, 2025 at 10:08 PM
jonudell.bsky.social
I updated the post: we found a 1972 Institut Géographique National map in a drawer. It doesn't show the A20 but who cares, it is a glorious representation of this region.
The missing map: part of the Dordogne valley at 1:25000
October 5, 2025 at 8:55 PM
jonudell.bsky.social
"The demonstration is widely considered to be the longest continuous act of political protest in U.S. history. It has survived seven presidents, countless global conflicts, hurricanes and blizzards, heat waves and floods. It has outlasted several U.S.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2025/08/11/peace-vigil-congressman-letter/
September 20, 2025 at 3:47 AM
jonudell.bsky.social
Here's how to make an XMLUI table responsive: https://docs.xmlui.org/howto/make-a-table-responsive

I just added the example to the Howto section in the docs. Now when I ask an agent how to do this, the XMLUI MCP server should guide the agent to the working example and cite the URL.

I tested.
September 17, 2025 at 9:28 PM
jonudell.bsky.social
The #PickettFire near Calistoga from Taylor Mountain in Santa Rosa.
Pickett fire
August 23, 2025 at 2:06 AM
jonudell.bsky.social
I asked Claude and ChatGPT to react to this chart.

Both initially applauded.

I told them to read Tufte and reconsider.

Both regurgitated Tufteisms but missed the main flaw.

I told them they missed the main flaw.

Finally they got it: The Lie Factor.
flawed chartjunk
August 19, 2025 at 4:56 AM
jonudell.bsky.social
At the end of a long ride, low on energy, those blackberries really hit the spot.
blackberries
July 14, 2025 at 1:22 AM
jonudell.bsky.social
Obviously and undeniably fascism. Now, who will care? Perhaps we can take inspiration from ... Hungary? Serbia? People are flooding the streets in those places.

https://mastodon.social/@QasimRashid/114778927751135044
July 2, 2025 at 12:57 AM
jonudell.bsky.social
Write the headline.
side by side carcasses: vulture and deer
June 12, 2025 at 2:31 AM
jonudell.bsky.social
Elon Musk is a mass murderer.
"No children are dying on my watch,” said Rubio. It's blatantly false. Credible estimates count 190K deaths so far.
May 25, 2025 at 3:56 AM
jonudell.bsky.social
Listening to Jim Croce tunes reminds me of the powerful internal rhythm of his lyrics.

It's impossible to unhear this one but if you could, and just said the words, I bet you'd arrive at a very similar rhythmic pattern.
You don't tug on Superman's cape You don't spit into the wind You don't pull the mask off that old lone ranger And you don't mess around with Jim
May 24, 2025 at 1:46 AM
jonudell.bsky.social
Excellent news. This is how to do it: carrot and stick. Reward integrity, shun cowards.

#boycott

https://jonudell.info/ShopCostcoBoycottTarget/
Simpson Thacher reached a deal with the White House last month in which the firm committed to perform $125 million in free legal work for causes acceptable to the Trump administration. In a joint statement with other firms making similar agreements, Simpson Thacher said the pro bono work would be on behalf of “a wide range of underserved populations.” On the same day that the Simpson Thacher lawyers filed paperwork withdrawing from the Microsoft case, at least three partners at the firm Jenner & Block informed the court that they would be representing Microsoft in the case. Jenner is fighting in court to permanently block a Trump administration executive order targeting its business.
May 2, 2025 at 1:38 AM
jonudell.bsky.social
"In the span of some 80 years and five decades, this family emerged from poverty in a hostile country to become a prosperous, educated clan of merchants, scholars, professionals, and, most important, American citizens.

What does this classically American tale have to do with Stephen Miller? Well,
In the span of some 80 years and five decades, this family emerged from poverty in a hostile country to become a prosperous, educated clan of merchants, scholars, professionals, and, most important, American citizens. What does this classically American tale have to do with Stephen Miller? Well, Izzy Glosser is his maternal grandfather, and Stephen’s mother, Miriam, is my sister.
May 1, 2025 at 5:14 AM
jonudell.bsky.social
This meme photo showed up at today's #TeslaTakedown .

I can't find the full TikTok username for attribution but @billy.ray.v.. this is outstanding, well done.

#cecot #justice
trump and musk as cecot prisoners
April 26, 2025 at 11:25 PM
jonudell.bsky.social
Update: And here's the expected retaliation.

Data point: Harvards endowment is > $50 billion, so fuck you wannabe fascists.
Trump Administration Will Freeze $2 Billion After Harvard Refuses Demands Federal officials said they would freeze the money after Harvard said it would not submit to requests to overhaul hiring and report international students who break rules.
April 15, 2025 at 1:32 AM
jonudell.bsky.social
Over the weekend I listened to this episode of Radio Open Source. It ended with the question: "Will Harvard do the right thing?"

Today we got the answer: they did!

Looking at you, other major universities and big law firms.

"We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang
We’re tracking President Trump’s squeeze on higher education, and the argument in the Ivy League: whether or not to make a fight of it. First, Columbia surrendered under a Trump threat to cut $400 million in federal funding. Then Princeton said, “No way, we’ll fight your flimsy charges to the end.” And then Harvard, with $9 billion at stake, tried gentle engagement with the Trump inquiry, until 800 of its professors and staff said, “No way, when free expression and democracy are at risk.”
April 15, 2025 at 12:26 AM
jonudell.bsky.social
"It’s not our job to reflect the political ideology of the country. We’re not a Sunday morning talk show.

We’re supposed to be having arguments that get at truth and knowledge, and that’s different from a political debating society. It’s different from what goes on in Congress. And it’s different
It’s not our job to reflect the political ideology of the country. We’re not a Sunday morning talk show that has ideological balance on it. We need to be open to conservative views. We need to be a place where conservatives feel they can flourish. But we’re supposed to be doing something different than just reflecting what’s going on in the country. We’re supposed to be having arguments that get at truth and knowledge, and that’s different from a political debating society. It’s different from what goes on in Congress. And it’s different from what goes on in a lot of journalism or from the political distribution in the country.
April 10, 2025 at 4:45 PM
jonudell.bsky.social
I've been looking for a way to build on the #TeslaTakedown momentum.

Let's reward companies like Costco for holding strong on diversity and encourage companies like Target to get on the right side of history.

In many cities there's a Costco right next to a Target, so if Costco has what you need
Shop Costco, Boycott Target A tool for mapping Costco and Target stores by state and city.
April 8, 2025 at 5:30 AM
jonudell.bsky.social
The Handmaids won the Santa Rosa #HandsOff .
handmaids protesting
April 6, 2025 at 12:06 AM
jonudell.bsky.social
Arguably it's in a firm's self-interest not to grovel. How does that look to prospective clients who need to hire a fighter?

#courage #honor #EnlightentedSelfInterest

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/30/opinion/perkins-coie-trump.html
Our decision to speak out on this issue was an easy one. We believe that one of the noblest things a lawyer can do is to stand up against the government on behalf of a client whom the government seeks to destroy. When Mr. Trump was indicted and sued, he hired lawyers to defend him. They did a good job, keeping him out of jail and preserving his fortune. For his administration to attack lawyers and firms whose members have opposed or annoyed him is a threat to our democracy. Lawyers and big firms: For God’s sake, stand up for the legal profession, and for the Constitution. Defend the oath you took when you became officers of the court. If we stand together and fight, we will win.
March 31, 2025 at 6:34 PM
jonudell.bsky.social
"there are stirrings in Europe to provide safe places for American researchers. This is the beginning of something hopeful. But it also raises the question of what UK institutions are doing to meet the coming challenge. The answer, at the moment, seems to be nothing much. Perhaps that’s because
The bullying of Columbia is the canary in the coalmine which reveals the Trump-Musk junta has it in for American universities. There are two reasons for their hostility. The first is that, as elite institutions devoted to freedom of inquiry and the telling of uncomfortable truths, they are anathema to the new autocrats in Washington. The second is that some of them (the so-called Ivy League) are fabulously wealthy, being for the most part hedge funds with nice universities attached. And if there’s one thing that Donald Trump cannot abide, it is large pots of money that he and his ghastly tribe can smell but not touch. So if the aloof trustees of Harvard, Princeton, Yale et al think that their august institutions lie beyond his reach, perhaps they should understand that Trump looks on them much as Henry VIII looked on the rich monasteries of his heyday.
March 31, 2025 at 6:16 AM