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Brian

@brianell.in
240 followers 230 following 186 posts

tinkerer and product builder. working on @doing.tools and making @obob.dog with my kids. helped build twitter, medium, and a couple of ebike businesses. here to learn!

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Reposted by Brian
Doing @doing.tools · 03/04/2026
Useful AI tools like Granola need to be re-thought to be private, on-device, and local. There's just too many risks with sharing your data with a subscription based cloud service that has to provide VC level returns to investors.
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Brian @brianell.in · 23/03/2026
Notes about how I use voice to build stuff with Claude doing.tools/guides/bette...
doing.tools
How to Write Better AI Prompts with Voice
You give better instructions when you talk than when you type. Here's how to use that for AI prompts.
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Brian @brianell.in · 22/03/2026
We are taking the kids to see Stop Making Sense tonight, so... 😎
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Brian @brianell.in · 20/03/2026
Fast voice + Screenshots, now in @doing.tools
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Doing @doing.tools · 05/03/2026
Want to use text-to-speech on your mac to talk with apps like Claude Code and Codex? Here's a guide on how to use Apple's built-in voice transcription model on macos 26+ for free: doing.tools/guides/macos...
doing.tools
macOS 26 Voice Transcription: Setup Guide for Developers (2026)
Apple's foundation model makes Mac dictation actually good. Setup steps, hotkey config, and real developer workflow tips.
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Brian @brianell.in · 26/02/2026
I built a voice-to-text app for Mac that is very fast, private + local, and isn't a subscription. Designed for those building with AI who want a simple, quality tool that does one thing well. If you give it a try, I'd love to know what you think.
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Rosie @obob.dog · 16/11/2025
Oh snap, we've got real mock battles now. Woof.
blog.obob.dog
Mock battles
Moderate a real OBOB battle between two teams
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Reposted by Brian
Graze Social @graze.social · 06/11/2025
On Tuesday night, you may have noticed something a little different on Bluesky. Here's a peek behind the scenes of how the election feed came together. Endlessly grateful for this collaboration with @wnyc.org/@gothamist.com & @bsky.app!
graze.leaflet.pub
About The Other Night...
How Graze is defining the next era of a decentralized, open social attention economy.
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Brian @brianell.in · 20/10/2025
Is there currently a way to share my track plays to @teal.fm and/or @rocksky.app without running my own scrobbling service?
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Brian @brianell.in · 17/10/2025
Made a quick #atproto "agent skill" for claude code that pulls in all the current atproto.com docs and reference implementations so claude can use them to help you build atproto stuff. Check it out: tangled.org/@brianell.in...
tangled.org
@brianell.in/atproto-claude-skill
A claude skill that has access to all of the atproto docs and reference implementations
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Brian @brianell.in · 09/10/2025
Took the kids to their first punk show tonight - turnstile and amyl and the sniffers 🫶
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Devin Gaffney @devingaffney.com · 09/10/2025
This is what I’m fucking talking about baby PDX forever
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Brian @brianell.in · 04/10/2025
went on a bike ride through portland with benson boone and my daughter this afternoon. 100% would recommend
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Brian @brianell.in · 17/09/2025
@baileytownsend.dev is it possible to add a blob of an arbitrary file type via AT Toolbox? For example a .gpx file from a garmin device that I've saved to my iphone. I want to attach that as a blob to another record via a shortcut.
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Reposted by Brian
Rosie @obob.dog · 10/09/2025
Hot off the new OBOB.dog blog, we've released some updates to the app in response to last years feedback. Woof!
blog.obob.dog
OBOB season is here!
What's new for 2025-2026 on OBOB.dog
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Brian @brianell.in · 01/09/2025
Tonight we watched the new Jurassic Park movie, and at the very end after the credits started rolling my 10yo daughter said “and that’s why you don’t eat snickers” 🤯
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Brian @brianell.in · 05/08/2025
My 10yr olds review of NEVER ENOUGH: "it sounds the same as GLOW ON - i don't really feel like they've grown"
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Brian @brianell.in · 30/07/2025
just arrived in maui / napili bay and we being evacuated to high ground because of the tsunami warning
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Mike Masnick @masnick.com · 12/06/2025
This is amazing, and again, why open systems, open protocols are so important.
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Brian @brianell.in · 01/06/2025
Experimenting with a jetstream to webhook connector for serverless atproto webapps
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Reposted by Brian
dame @dame.is · 20/05/2025
the status updates feed is filled with wholesome bangers like these
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Brian @brianell.in · 18/05/2025
Going for a walk. Here are some lamps I like in the neighborhood park
Lamp in mt tabor park
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Reposted by Brian
Jessie Rushing @immber.bsky.social · 04/05/2025
I feel like you just described the entire protocol with that one sentence.
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Brian @brianell.in · 04/05/2025
I just scored 2,972 on a game of at://2048. Think you can do better? Join in on the fun with @2048.blue.
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Brian @brianell.in · 29/04/2025
Making cranberry beans in the Rancho Gordo manner. At the “show them who’s the boss” step. #beansky @ranchogordo.bsky.social
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Brian @brianell.in · 23/04/2025
Donuts for the #earthday Glencoe Bike Bus today! @glencoebikebus.bsky.social
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Reposted by Brian
Ben Werdmuller @werd.io · 22/04/2025
This is obvious, but if people broadly rely on a black box to give them answers that help them understand the world, whoever controls the black box controls those answers and therefore the understanding that comes from them. Openness is safety.
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Brian @brianell.in · 21/04/2025
Added a new `get-post-thread` tool to the Bluesky MCP server which pulls the full conversation tree for a post into the context window for analysis. Great for summarizing long winding conversations. Thanks to @joshuashew.bsky.social for the idea and help! github.com/brianellin/b...
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Brian @brianell.in · 16/04/2025
i have 27 feeds pinned on here. that's normal... right?
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Brian @brianell.in · 16/04/2025
This was really fun. Thank @peat.org @devingaffney.com @graze.social for organizing!
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Brian @brianell.in · 10/04/2025
My dog Rosie has unique facial markings, and I have been trying various AI tools to make accurate drawings of her. Even the fancy new ones seem incapable of replicating her markings, presumably because they haven't seen dogs like her in the training data? Always a white line that goes to both sides.
Rosie the hound pitbullAI Rosie with inaccurate face markings on a skateboard at burnside skatepark
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Brian @brianell.in · 10/04/2025
“The way that you become a leader is you just add value—you just do things.” - @jay.bsky.team
newyorker.com
Bluesky’s Quest to Build Nontoxic Social Media
X and Facebook are governed by the policies of mercurial billionaires. Bluesky’s C.E.O., Jay Graber, says that she wants to give power back to the user.
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Brian @brianell.in · 09/04/2025
Hardcore date night
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Brian @brianell.in · 09/04/2025
Hey @littleironwaltz.com @cameron.pfiffer.org how are y'all representing bsky posts in all their weird permutations (threads, embeds, quotes, reposts, etc) to the LLM? I've tried a few representations (raw & simplified JSON, YAML, MD) for my MCP bsky server, but feel like I'm re-inventing the wheel?
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Brian @brianell.in · 08/04/2025
If you were considering getting an ebike soon, "we’re likely 30 to 40 days away from seeing prices go up" heatmap.news/economy/trum...
heatmap.news
Trump’s Tariffs Will Flatten the U.S. Bicycle Industry
Businesses were already bracing for a crash. Then came another 50% tariff on Chinese goods.
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Brian @brianell.in · 08/04/2025
A few updates to the Bluesky MCP server today: 1) More token efficient post pre-processing (brings more post/embed/conversation detail into the context window), 2) Query feeds by time eg "What's the most unhinged post from my timeline in the last 7 days", 3) Easy install via Smithery.
github.com
GitHub - brianellin/bsky-mcp-server: Bluesky MCP (Model Context Protocol) Server
Bluesky MCP (Model Context Protocol) Server. Contribute to brianellin/bsky-mcp-server development by creating an account on GitHub.
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Brian @brianell.in · 06/04/2025
It is Trillium season
Wild Trillium flowers in mt tabor part, Portland Oregon
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Reposted by Brian
Julia Silverman @jrlsilverman.bsky.social · 03/04/2025
I have no chill/objectivity when it comes to Oregon Battle of the Books. It's a magic program for young readers and I was honored to moderate some battles at regionals in PDX earlier this month. Putting its federal funding in limbo is desperately sad.
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Michael Rabby @michaelrabby.bsky.social · 04/04/2025
Oregon Battle of the Books has deeply enriched my children’s lives. Enough with destroying the things that make us great
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Brian @brianell.in · 04/04/2025
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Brian @brianell.in · 03/04/2025
Are there any common developer tools/libraries or patterns for rendering #atproto objects? Not AppView sized, but collection or record sized.
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Reposted by Brian
Brian @brianell.in · 03/04/2025
imo tools like this that make the reality of the network conspicuous are very important. i'm worried about the pattern of training users to think their data and interactions are private because they aren't easily visible.
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Brian @brianell.in · 03/04/2025
the wind in your hair and randomly running into friends around town is priceless ⚡️🚲⚡️
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Brian @brianell.in · 02/04/2025
the web will be the biggest @bsky.app client
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Brian @brianell.in · 02/04/2025
Tony Hawk Pro Skater 3+4 for Switch 2 will have Nora Vasconcellos and an underwater Spongebob level. So good! It's like they called my daughters and asked what they want for their skate birthday. 🤙
Nora Vasconcellos in Tony Hawk Pro Skater 3+4 Nora skating bikini bottom in the spongebob world
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Brian @brianell.in · 01/04/2025
Two things that I enjoy about this experiment: 1) Passive experience - watch a live feed of personalized activity like tv, instead of running on the pull-to-refresh treadmill. 2) Explores the confusing/controversial grey area of likes being actually public but hidden/not available in the app layer.
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Reposted by Brian
Brian @brianell.in · 06/02/2025
👋 here's a little @bsky.app experiment that let's you see a realtime stream of activity from all the people you follow: whosky.social
whosky.social
Whosky: Live activity from your Bluesky network
Real time feed of activity from all the people you follow
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Brian @brianell.in · 01/04/2025
Cool job alert
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Brian @brianell.in · 29/03/2025
Great talk from @dholms.xyz - if you are curious about why #atproto works the way it does and where the design inspiration came from, start here
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George Black @george.black · 28/03/2025
Someone did!
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