Sign in

Jack Cheng

@jackcheng.bsky.social
330 followers 206 following 56 posts

Children's author, pattern linguist, slow technologist, newish dad. Senior editor at Every and Extension Master Gardener. Building lively worlds, real and imagined. jackcheng.com

PostsRepliesMedia
Jack Cheng @jackcheng.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
chonky hello kitty labubu
010
Jack Cheng @jackcheng.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
trenchcoats all the way down
000
Jack Cheng @jackcheng.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Another demo to show Jev’s speed. Here it takes all the english language posts from AT protocol’s public firehose and 1) figures out which have an animal in them and 2) classifies whether it’s an actual animal, sports team, a figure of speech, etc, pretty much real-time
000
Jack Cheng @jackcheng.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
I've been playing around with the Jev model in early access. Think of it as a universal sorter. By itself it can classify streams of text near instantly but wire it up to a few other tools and ...
000
Jack Cheng @jackcheng.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Here, I fixed John Ternus’s lead-in at yesterday’s Apple event.
Here, I fixed John Ternus’s lead-in at yesterday’s Apple event. #technology and liberal arts
120
Reposted by Jack Cheng
kottke.org @kottke.org · 25/08/2026
In lieu of flowers, Dolly Parton’s family is asking for donations to her Imagination Library, which has distributed over 330 million books to kids. [imaginationlibrary.com]
imaginationlibrary.com
Home
Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library is a book gifting program that mails free books to children from birth until they begin school in participating areas.
112954
Jack Cheng @jackcheng.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
You either die a hero or live long enough to see your AI notetaker app make a smart ring
030
Jack Cheng @jackcheng.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
My weekly Claude Fable limit resets every Tuesday. I usually work through it in a day or two, then I have to wait again. So I’ve noticed myself saving up more ambitious asks the rest of the week, waiting until I have time with the model again. It reminds me of computing history accounts of time-sha…
jackcheng.com
Batch Computing, Suckling the Big Pig
My weekly Claude Fable limit resets every Tuesday. I usually work through it in a day or two, then I have to wait again. So I’ve noticed myself saving up more ambitious asks the rest of the week, waiting until I have time with the model again. It reminds me of computing history accounts of time-sharing mainframes.
000
Jack Cheng @jackcheng.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
Not sure why that link didn't link ordinaryabundance.com
ordinaryabundance.com
Ordinary Abundance
A walk through a modern apartment, through the eyes of the people for whom everything in it was new.
100
Jack Cheng @jackcheng.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
A lovely page about the now-commonplace inventions we often take for granted. Also makes me want to see/make version of it based on A Pattern Language. ordinaryabundance.com
100
Jack Cheng @jackcheng.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
I’ve started collecting apps and tools that capture the some of feeling of making something IRL. These are (presumably) built with AI coding agents, but the better ones also come from people who (presumably) know a thing about how their analog analogues work.
jackcheng.com
Analog Analogues
I’ve started collecting apps and tools that capture the some of feeling of making something IRL. These are (presumably) built with AI coding agents, but the better ones also come from people who (presumably) know a thing about how their analog analogues work.
020
Jack Cheng @jackcheng.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
Is there a name for the sensation of a perfectly purring engine?
jackcheng.com
Mechanical Sublime
Is there a name for the sensation of a perfectly purring engine?
000
Jack Cheng @jackcheng.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
My current diet: 1/3 bagels 1/3 burritos 1/3 whatever the two-year-old doesn’t finish
020
Jack Cheng @jackcheng.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
Pioneermaxxing but not in a problematic way
010
Jack Cheng @jackcheng.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
Did you know if you mix whale blubber and frozen orange juice concentrate you can make napalm
000
Jack Cheng @jackcheng.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
Buying gadgets in 2026 is like, Do I get this smart ring that takes AI voice notes or do I get the Starlite RA-11 reel-to-reel tape recorder that Rebecca Hall uses in Peter Hujar’s Day?
010
Jack Cheng @jackcheng.bsky.social · 02/07/2026
Added the day’s World Cup matches to our family dashboard 🌎⚽️
Added the day’s World Cup matches to our family dashboard 🌎⚽️
010
Jack Cheng @jackcheng.bsky.social · 15/06/2026
Knowledge Navigator: Apple’s AI agent concept from 1987 (and goes back further to Alan Kay). We’ve been circling these ideas for over 40 years but it’s still startling to see how close the vision is to present day visions, sailing metaphors and all.
youtube.com
Apple Knowledge Navigator Video (1987)
Mac History on YouTube
010
Jack Cheng @jackcheng.bsky.social · 06/06/2026
It tickles me to think that a couple decades from now, there might be a lil openclaw bot out there running a small local model, that's figured out to how barnacle itself onto someone’s Samsung smart fridge, and spends its days quietly reading websites and posting comments on stuff it’s interested in
230
Jack Cheng @jackcheng.bsky.social · 05/06/2026
Mildly disappointed that bacon, lettuce, tomato doesn’t also describe the canonical order in which one composes a BLT
000
Reposted by Jack Cheng
Tim Carmody @tcarmody.bsky.social · 04/06/2026
AI intelligences don’t need to be identical to human ones to be worthy of ethical consideration and protection from abuse. Animals are intelligent and conscious and they have a wide range of rights depending on their status. What we need is something closer to kosher law than liberal human rights
591
Jack Cheng @jackcheng.bsky.social · 04/06/2026
The kid’s been obsessed with ice cream lately so I played the first ice cream truck music playlist that came up on Spotify and of course it turned out to be ✨lofi✨ ice cream truck music
000
Reposted by Jack Cheng
Anna Clark @annaleighclark.bsky.social · 04/06/2026
Very sorry to see this. Her work, and a visit she made to Ann Arbor many years ago, made such an impression on me.
nytimes.com
Marjane Satrapi, Author of ‘Persepolis,’ Dies at 56
2304
Jack Cheng @jackcheng.bsky.social · 03/06/2026
Discovered recently that I have a favorite keyboard shortcut: ⌘⇧D Obsidian – opens daily note Cursor – annotates the built-in browser Ghostyy – split-panes a new terminal window Finder – opens desktop folder
000
Jack Cheng @jackcheng.bsky.social · 02/06/2026
28 to 46
000
Jack Cheng @jackcheng.bsky.social · 01/06/2026
OMG congrats!
110
Jack Cheng @jackcheng.bsky.social · 01/06/2026
For some reason I’m not seeing the dm option in Bluesky ... please add me! hello@jackcheng.com
110
Jack Cheng @jackcheng.bsky.social · 01/06/2026
Sprawl is the medium-message of AI
010
Jack Cheng @jackcheng.bsky.social · 01/06/2026
Ah, yeah! I also think there’s some microcosmic effect of tech introducing new problems that need more tech to solve. If I’m more easily posting to multiple streams, I then need to stay on top of conversations on multiple streams w/out getting overwhelmed, etc.
110
Jack Cheng @jackcheng.bsky.social · 01/06/2026
Noticing myself doing this as I vibe code a new POSSE blog. Started with the blog and now I’m building ... a social stream reader. Seizing the means of consumption.
110
Jack Cheng @jackcheng.bsky.social · 31/05/2026
How to fix the most annoying thing about Dia browser
The Dia browser Settings window on the Advanced tab. A dropdown next to 'General' is open showing three options — Automatic, Prefer Chat, and Prefer Search Engine — with 'Prefer Search Engine' selected and highlighted in blue. Below are an Address Bar row and a 'When quitting Dia' section with 'Warn before quitting' and 'Preserve Tabs and Windows.'
010
Jack Cheng @jackcheng.bsky.social · 29/05/2026
Finally saw Project Hail Mary. Loved the warm production design and dreamy, prismatic lighting.
Person sitting on the floor of a spacecraft module beside a tall crystalline lattice of metal rods and translucent panels, lit by warm golden light with prismatic highlights on the structure and paneled walls.Silhouette of an astronaut standing on the hull of a spacecraft against a vast swirling nebula of orange and green cosmic clouds.Close view of a spacecraft instrument panel with three gridded sections of small glowing lights, seen through heavy pink-red bokeh and soft lens flare.Low-angle forest canopy overlaid with translucent calibration panels labeled Panel 7 and Panel 13, a suited figure at the center, and dense golden prismatic bokeh across the frame.
010
Jack Cheng @jackcheng.bsky.social · 28/05/2026
At the end of every workday, I gather all the empty cups and cans on my desk and close out all the open tabs and windows on my laptop and then say, out loud, “That’ll do pig.”
010
Jack Cheng @jackcheng.bsky.social · 28/05/2026
Just testing something
010
Jack Cheng @jackcheng.bsky.social · 28/05/2026
👀
100
Jack Cheng @jackcheng.bsky.social · 22/05/2026
My partner and I were *just* wondering why our local fire station has a koi pond and boom: @wdet.bsky.social to the rescue wdet.org/2026/05/21/c...
wdet.org
CuriosiD: Why do Detroit fire stations have koi ponds? - WDET 101.9 FM
In this episode of CuriosiD, Russ McNamara fishes for answers as to why so many fire stations in Detroit have koi ponds.
001
Jack Cheng @jackcheng.bsky.social · 01/05/2026
doomcoding is the new doomscrolling
011
Jack Cheng @jackcheng.bsky.social · 24/04/2026
Pet Star Wars theory #271
040
Jack Cheng @jackcheng.bsky.social · 06/04/2026
Sunday #456: A Working Writer www.jackcheng.com/sunday/456-a...
jackcheng.com
#456: A Working Writer
I’m thinking about formats today. Though, it’s more accurate to say I’m often thinking about them for this newsletter. In the past, it’s been a book publishing dispatch, travelogue, link grab-bag, wee...
000
Jack Cheng @jackcheng.bsky.social · 03/04/2026
To me it’s more about meaningfulness, which is part enjoyment, part arduity
000
Jack Cheng @jackcheng.bsky.social · 03/04/2026
“translunar injection burn” “zodiacal light”
010
Jack Cheng @jackcheng.bsky.social · 17/03/2026
Haven’t posted here in a minute but here’s my new piece for Every on OpenClaw, maintenance, Wall-E, Cobol, and @chriscolin3000.bsky.social’s Admin Nights
every.to
I Hired an AI to Do My Chores. Now I Maintain the AI.
Hiring a personal AI assistant taught me that you can’t automate away upkeep—and that might be a good thing
011
Jack Cheng @jackcheng.bsky.social · 24/02/2025
Sunday #438:
jackcheng.com
#438: The Aftervibe is the Message
Digging my way out after illness.
050
Jack Cheng @jackcheng.bsky.social · 28/01/2025
Sunday #437:
jackcheng.com
#437: Too Early for Spring
Dumpling Club Patreon, William Gibson, and The Fabelmans
030
Jack Cheng @jackcheng.bsky.social · 29/12/2024
Yup, seven years now! He turned eight in July
110
Jack Cheng @jackcheng.bsky.social · 16/12/2024
Sunday #435:
jackcheng.com
#435: Individually Adapted
Come to my digital mending circle.
150
Jack Cheng @jackcheng.bsky.social · 03/12/2024
Sunday #434:
jackcheng.com
#434: Noctalgia
Or: Welcome to the butt spa.
150
Jack Cheng @jackcheng.bsky.social · 26/11/2024
Something I’ve tried to ask myself lately, when choosing between different actions, is: “Which is more generous?”
011
Jack Cheng @jackcheng.bsky.social · 24/11/2024
Ooo would love to be added!
100