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Orion Reed

@orionreed.com
665 followers 82 following 111 posts

advocating widespread dissatisfaction with computing. researcher @inkandswitch.com + libcomp.org ½ @folkjs.org ¼ @tentpole.bsky.social

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Orion Reed @orionreed.com · 02/05/2026
The nascent HTML-in-Canvas API is exciting to me not because of flashy effects, but because it extends the semantics that the DOM can (tractably) represent — as a tiny example, it's possible to show an element in multiple places, cheaply, under arbitrary transforms. folkjs.org/demos/html-i...
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Orion Reed @orionreed.com · 07/04/2026
doing some pixel science
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Orion Reed @orionreed.com · 27/03/2026
shader debugging so quickly turns into abstract art
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Orion Reed @orionreed.com · 26/02/2026
"The 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 inherited the organisational form of the 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞: self-contained, manufactured at a distance from its users, designed for a general market."
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Orion Reed @orionreed.com · 23/02/2026
Still one of the paragraphs I'm proud to have had a part in writing. From the ever-nascent libcomp.org (the great phrase "rendered computationally passive" is from Melanie Hoff's "Always Already Programming")
We live under a capitalist mode of computing. The tools, languages, techniques, and assumptions of digital systems are structured by economic forces that shape not just what we can do, but what we can imagine doing. By separating production from use, producing inflexible software, and slicing up computing into siloed apps, your agency is held back by a tech industry that profits from a population rendered computationally passive.
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Orion Reed @orionreed.com · 16/02/2026
"Just as the invention [of industrial automation] had the paradoxical effect of turning more [people] into full-time industrial workers, so has all the software designed to save us from administrative responsibilities turned us into part- or full-time administrators" — David Graeber
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Orion Reed @orionreed.com · 16/02/2026
What are your favorite visual critiques of software? On my mind right now are: 1. "The long tail of user needs" 2. diSessa's monolithic apps vs computational media 3. (a recent favorite by @todepond.com) "wish these apps could talk to each other"
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Orion Reed @orionreed.com · 11/02/2026
Enclosure [of agency supported by file-app separation] worked through the existing material form — first by hollowing it out (proprietary formats and internalization), then by abolishing it entirely (cloud platforms)
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Orion Reed @orionreed.com · 04/02/2026
Googling for “a world without apps” has great contrast in its top two results: 1. An Apple WWDC intro equating a world without apps to a literal apocalypse 2. A keynote from Michel Beaudouin-Lafon arguing we should abolish apps in favour of a substrates-oriented computing
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Orion Reed @orionreed.com · 28/01/2026
Emoji is neoliberal, not working class. We have 👮 police, 🏦 banks, 💹 stocks go up, 👔 office necktie, 🏛️ government, ⚖️ law, 🤴👸 royalty but no wages stub, no union card, no "on strike" sign, no pink slip. there's a levitating businessman emoji 🕴️ but no picket sign.
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Orion Reed @orionreed.com · 11/01/2026
from www.loper-os.org?p=568
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Orion Reed @orionreed.com · 27/07/2025
www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc1149
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Orion Reed @orionreed.com · 13/07/2025
I enjoyed making the sketches for this post, they're just custom html elements I chucked straight into the markdown. This post was low stakes, just describing a thing I did. Next time will be spicier.
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Orion Reed @orionreed.com · 13/07/2025
most sane typescript type
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Orion Reed @orionreed.com · 21/03/2025
Here’s a multimodal protocol that uses QR codes to stream data and audio to “backchannel” acknowledgement of received chunks. About 1-2KB/s Multimodality helps when there’s an asymmetry, like here where you need to aim the phone camera.
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Orion Reed @orionreed.com · 16/03/2025
Another low-tech and very local-first webRTC signalling approach for folk canvas with @chrisshank.com, this time over sound via ggwave (using MFSK) folk.systems/canvas/netwo... (careful of volume)
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Orion Reed @orionreed.com · 16/03/2025
A tiny protocol to stream data over QR codes in both directions at once. Each device confirms receipt of the previous chunk, so it handles interruptions smoothly. Made this for webRTC signalling and other things as part of the Folk Canvas project with @chrisshank.com
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Orion Reed @orionreed.com · 11/03/2025
What if hypertext were zoomable? Then you could zoom forever, in circles... I made this the other day and came up with a data structure that allows the coordinate origin to move through the graph, to keep memory fixed and avoid floating point precision limits. folk.systems/canvas/space...
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Orion Reed @orionreed.com · 14/02/2025
Had a fantastic and surprising hang out with @wintergatan.bsky.social recently seeing Book of Mormon in NYC. Thanks for the great conversations Martin! Hope we get to hang out again sometime.
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Orion Reed @orionreed.com · 14/02/2025
Alright. Very extended internet holiday over, for real this time. Hey again! I’ve been away, err, working super hard…
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Orion Reed @orionreed.com · 14/04/2016
Finishing the sound design for short #1 (Well, 4th short). But now we're releasing a short every two weeks. We hope.
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