Andy Orban @andyorban.bsky.social · 11hWoof. There's a reason I never installed any Meta app on my phone 120
Reposted by Andy OrbanBy Cory Doctorow (GPG 0xBF3D9110957E5F4C) @doctorow.pluralistic.net · 01/10/2026In other words, voting only matters if it's the final stage of a sustained campaign to build and mobilize popular power. Without that, voting will get you precious little. 111637
Reposted by Andy OrbanDominique Baker @bakerdphd.bsky.social · 02/10/2026"The current level of political animosity is exactly what one would expect to see if an extremist faction attempted to rescind the hard-earned rights of the vast majority of the country’s citizens." There are not enough exclamation points to convey how I felt reading this paragraph 31167469
Andy Orban @andyorban.bsky.social · 01/10/2026So far so good. I biked to IY and Martin Hardware this morning. (Have to go to Harrisonburg this weekend with the family, I don't see any way to avoid a car trip there.) 142
Reposted by Andy OrbanDeborah McDowell @dem8z.bsky.social · 30/09/2026When I taught at Colby College years ago, the trustees abolished fraternities, which dominated campus social life & were notorious for sexual assault &rowdiness all around. “Donations will decline,” cried the fierce opponents.Their threats never materialized. Before long it didn’t seem that frats 1/ 525665
Andy Orban @andyorban.bsky.social · 28/09/2026So how do people use AI agents if they're unreliable and hallucinate? I don't get why anyone would rely on something like that to manage anything in their lives. (Not something I'm ever going to test, my wife still uses a paper calendar and our grocery list is handwritten.) 130
Andy Orban @andyorban.bsky.social · 27/09/2026Freshman boys and homecoming and chauffeuring them to various events of the evening. Phew, so much coordination among the parents to get everyone where they need to be. 150
Andy Orban @andyorban.bsky.social · 26/09/2026But are they sliced? (Don't mind me, just a Charlottesville in-joke about the defunct West Main streetscape project) I love a good yard boulder 010
Andy Orban @andyorban.bsky.social · 26/09/2026Gorgeous weekend on tap here in central VA. I got a nice jump on the weekend yesterday, going down to Roanoke in the afternoon (picking up my son from college for the weekend) and got in a huge ride. I even saw a black bear! Too stunned to stop and take a picture, wasn't sure which way it was going. 280
Reposted by Andy OrbanNathan Alderman @nathanalderman.com · 23/09/2026Happy @cvilleweekly.bsky.social day to all who celebrate! This week, our cover belongs to former at-large Albemarle school board member Allison Spillman, who cut short her first term and resigned last month. I wanted to know why -- so I asked her. c-ville.com/the-former-s...c-ville.comThe former school board member wanted to serve her community—then the death threats started - C-VILLE WeeklyBy the time she made her final address as the at-large member of the Albemarle County School Board, Allison Spillman’s self-appointed enemies had been celebrating for more than a week. “GOOD RIDDANCE... 1125
Andy Orban @andyorban.bsky.social · 22/09/2026Ever grateful for wire-rim glasses. Never see me wearing this chunky spy-opticon bullshit 120
Andy Orban @andyorban.bsky.social · 21/09/2026ICE has got to be dismantled and the people making these kinds of decisions prosecuted for their crimes. 060
Andy Orban @andyorban.bsky.social · 20/09/2026#fromthebike, in this case a mountain bike. I spotted a toad by the trail and stopped to say hi. Then I thought wouldn't it be cool if I saw a turtle too, and a few minutes down the trail... 0533
Andy Orban @andyorban.bsky.social · 18/09/2026#Fromtherun (inspired by @jimduncan.bsky.social and his early morning photos from the bike) I was out for an early run and as I was getting closer to the river I had an idea I could get a really nice photo of the pink clouds reflected in the water. 3211
Reposted by Andy OrbanBy Cory Doctorow (GPG 0xBF3D9110957E5F4C) @doctorow.pluralistic.net · 17/09/2026The best-ever reference work on technofascism was just published: Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor's *End-Times Fascism*, which unpacks the apocalyptic ideology that dominates Silicon Valley, especially the AI cultists: naomiklein.org/end-times-fa...naomiklein.orgEnd Times Fascism – Naomi Klein 1378
Andy Orban @andyorban.bsky.social · 16/09/2026A 5090 is currently literally about $9000 today. The most recent graphics card I bought was in 2024, the current price is 250% more for the exact same card. Truly mind-blowing 020
Andy Orban @andyorban.bsky.social · 16/09/2026Yet another example of school administrators being out of touch with the actual needs of teachers. Stop pushing "AI" into the classrooms! 040
Reposted by Andy OrbanMeghin Moore @meghin.bsky.social · 16/09/2026And if they don’t know much about the ballot amendments, vpm’s amending series is GREAT and worth the watch. www.vpm.org/shows/amendi...vpm.orgWatch Amending Virginia - VPM NewsIn 2026, commonwealth voters will decide the future of access to reproductive care, marriage equality and post-felony voting rights. 272
Andy Orban @andyorban.bsky.social · 15/09/2026How am I to give my two cents if they're no longer US currency 180
Reposted by Andy OrbanThe Nerdskull @nerdskull.bsky.social · 12/09/2026When democrats shrink away from supporting LGBTQ rights, they are validating Republican framing on LGBTQ issues. Trans rights are not some guilty thing they should be ashamed of and try to avoid. You need to stand up and say that people should have the freedom to live their lives as they wish. 518167
Reposted by Andy OrbanRazzball @razzball.bsky.social · 11/09/2026Sir, a 2nd watercolor has hit the canvas 243513
Reposted by Andy OrbanTressie McMillan Cottom @tressiemcphd.bsky.social · 11/09/2026Let me have my guy — hey J.D. get over here and meet Danna — get your info and a card number. Wave the red flag, Danna, or hoist the white flag. Decide who’s bigger, you or the bull. I believe in you but I can’t make you choose yourself. Choose yourself, Danna. 183204
Andy Orban @andyorban.bsky.social · 10/09/2026It's good to see that "slop" is an effective term of derision against "AI" when you see the effort with which boosters of same are trying to conflate it with unrelated eras of the internet. 091
Reposted by Andy OrbanAndy Orban @andyorban.bsky.social · 09/09/2026All these sweaty prognostications of "AI" altering the nature of humanity or destroying it completely are evidence of a group of people in the grip of a collective psychosis. This bubble can't collapse soon enough. 1101
Andy Orban @andyorban.bsky.social · 09/09/2026All these sweaty prognostications of "AI" altering the nature of humanity or destroying it completely are evidence of a group of people in the grip of a collective psychosis. This bubble can't collapse soon enough. 1101
Reposted by Andy OrbanChanda Prescod-Weinstein 🌌 @chanda.blacksky.app · 08/09/2026The most criminal thing in all of this is not what adults are doing to themselves but what they are trying to do to children They are trying to rob children of their brains and it’s abusive 236941
Andy Orban @andyorban.bsky.social · 08/09/2026Have you looked around lately at the AI slop that undergirds our current fascist moment? 151
Andy Orban @andyorban.bsky.social · 07/09/2026I was going to take a nap in the hammock but I've just been staring at this gorgeous clear blue sky. 070
Andy Orban @andyorban.bsky.social · 04/09/2026There are people in governor's offices for example, doing centrist triangulation this very minute 050
Andy Orban @andyorban.bsky.social · 31/08/2026Our zinnias have been growing well this year. Such incredible colors 070
Andy Orban @andyorban.bsky.social · 30/08/2026#Caturday in the box that didn't quite make it to the recycling bin 01413
Reposted by Andy OrbanPeter Flax @pflax1.bsky.social · 28/08/2026I think folks who ride for transit or on busy roads know this on a deep level. Every complaint about helmets or rolling stop signs or riding two abreast or empty bike lanes or entitled riders is pure misdirection. The core issue: They don't want riders on the road. The entitlement claim is batshit. 428734
Reposted by Andy OrbanDeborah McDowell @dem8z.bsky.social · 28/08/2026On this, the 63rd Anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, I urge you to think about the least quoted passages of “I Have a Dream,” the speech MLK delivered that day. Note the refrain: “we cannot be satisfied,” “we are not satisfied,” 1/ www.npr.org/2010/01/18/1...npr.orgRead Martin Luther King Jr.'s 'I Have a Dream' speech in its entiretyAmericans across the U.S. are celebrating King's legacy this weekend. One way to reflect on his life and message is by revisiting his celebrated 1963 speech delivered at the Lincoln Memorial. 24518
Reposted by Andy OrbanClaire Willett @clairewillett.bsky.social · 26/08/2026the only thing that helps sometimes is the fact that they know. all of them. they absolutely know. they deny it and repress it and lie about it, they tune out every contrary voice and crank up the obsequious yes-men to deafening volume, but deep in their shriveled little souls, they know 5132681
Andy Orban @andyorban.bsky.social · 26/08/2026Touching grass [rocks] this afternoon. Feels good to get out and shred some trails 0100
Andy Orban @andyorban.bsky.social · 26/08/2026It is funny and depressing at the same time that my clients will say "I spent 3 hours with AI trying to get it to draw what I want it to draw" when a crude 10 minute napkin sketch would have conveyed more useful info. Everyone can draw a plan sketch, it truly doesn't take much. 2130
Reposted by Andy OrbanTab C @drtcombs.bsky.social · 26/08/2026You should probably wear a helmet when you're on a bicycle. But you'll be better off when your city, state, or national approach to making bicycling safe is focused on safer streets, safer vehicles, safer speeds, and better access to post-crash care. 1272
Andy Orban @andyorban.bsky.social · 25/08/2026So pretty much every former football player is living with some level of CTE. Really freaking grim. 260
Reposted by Andy OrbanKevin J. Kircher @kevinjkircher.com · 24/08/2026Underappreciated: US farmland *already substantially produces energy, not food*, and does so very inefficiently. Corn ethanol (~40% of all US corn) requires about 100 times more land per vehicle-mile driven than solar photovoltaics -> electric vehicles. Shifting corn to solar *would free up land*. 4935121020
Reposted by Andy OrbanAndrew @tjsleakyroof.bsky.social · 22/08/2026anyway doing races in cities is dumb as hell and I fuckin hate it 391
Andy Orban @andyorban.bsky.social · 22/08/2026This is a really good piece that helps clarify in approachable writing some of the inherent limits of large language models. 091
Andy Orban @andyorban.bsky.social · 21/08/2026I'm almost finished reading Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities (I'm slowly working my way through a list of classics I've never read.) Oh my, the guillotine was working non-stop to purge France of every aristocrat complicit (so pretty much all of them) in the excesses of the fallen regime. 8394
