iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Tim Bray @tbray.org · 03/02/2026

Holy crap we have that in our powder room too! Where does one get the apron?

powder room with lurid floral-against-black wallpaper.

Tim Bray @tbray.org · 14/11/2025

I thought the @sarahkendzior.bsky.social suspension was an interestingly nontrivial moderation scenario. I wrote up a little case study/explainer on how it might have been handled on Mastodon. Probably only for people who care about moderation nitty-gritty. www.tbray.org/ongoing/When...

Actions available to a Mastodon moderator

More actions available to a Mastodon moderator

174

Tim Bray @tbray.org · 17/06/2025

Blue sky above signage with unlimited potential. #blueskyabove

A building and an evergreen tree; projecting from the side of the building are two signs, one oval and the other rectangular. Both are blank.

0120

Tim Bray @tbray.org · 18/05/2025

Blue sky above Flinders St Station, Melbourne, Jan. 3, 2007. #blueskyabove

A busy urban intersection with modern architecture filling the left half of the picture. Just right of center, an old-style orange building with a discolored green dome. A bright yellow car is at the bottom left.

0190

Tim Bray @tbray.org · 05/05/2025

I recommend Bontrager, see www.tbray.org/ongoing/When... Also worth saying that after the event illustrated below, Bontrager replaced the helmet for free.

Grey-bearded white man with multiple facial wounds, wearing a bright red cycling helmet.

050

Tim Bray @tbray.org · 02/05/2025

Blue sky above the Pacific at Pacific Rim National Park, December 1986. #blueskyabove

View out over the ocean. The water is windblown and wave-studded. To the right, a large rock emerges from the sea; a wave behind it is breaking over it. Above, a blue sky, full of cloud drama.

0111

Tim Bray @tbray.org · 17/04/2025

Blue sky above south Silly Valley at dusk, October 2018. A bit of the very south end of San Francisco Bay is visible at the center left. #blueskyabove

An aerial shot taken at dusk, of a city including residential and industrial constructs stretching away to bare brown mountains. Above the mountains, blue sky in an evening shade.

0111

Tim Bray @tbray.org · 10/04/2025

Blue sky above @mojombo.bsky.social, San Francisco, July 2013. Tom co-founded GitHub. I was sitting across from him at a rooftop biz boondoggle; at that point he’d never met Linus, who was also there. I encouraged him to go introduce himself and he did, and they had a nice long talk. #blueskyabove

A thirty-ish brown-haired stubble-bearded white man looks down at the camera. He is wearing a light sweater and is smiling. Above, blue sky.

1120

Tim Bray @tbray.org · 04/04/2025

Blue sky above hoop shadow, March 2025. #blueskyabove

A basketball hoop is mounted on a garage. The glass backing is broken. The hoop and netting are shadowed on the garage door. Above, blue sky.

040

Tim Bray @tbray.org · 29/03/2025

Blue sky above a ventilation fitting in Melbourne, January 2007 #blueskyabove

White clouds and a red stovepipe with a whirly ventilation thing on top. Above, blue sky.

0181

Tim Bray @tbray.org · 17/03/2025

Blue sky above English Bay and Howe Sound, near Vancouver, looking North up the passage between Bowen Island and Horseshoe Bay. March 2006. #blueskyabove #Vancouver

An aerial photo, the bottom half being ocean, empty except for a few boats, two them tugs pulling barges. A passage of the ocean extends away from the camera between small mountains on the left and large snow-capped ones on the right. Above, blue sky.

0220

Tim Bray @tbray.org · 10/03/2025

Blue sky above yours truly and my mother. Sometime in 1959 (this will be the earliest of the #bluesky posts I believe). This is on the OSU campus in Corvallis, OR. The building behind is the Coliseum which I believe still stands. The field was right across the street from Married Student Housing.

A woman and a little boy stand on a green field. He's flying a kite (not in view), they're both looking up. He's wearing a cute little-kid hat. She's wearing a bright red mid-calf skirt, an apron, and has elaborately curled brown 1950s' hair. In the background, a large pink building. Above, cloudy blue sky.

2270

Tim Bray @tbray.org · 05/03/2025

Blue sky above a Big Sur sunset, October 2007. #blueskyabove

Trees are silhouetted blackly against a Pacific sunset; above, blue sky.

0241

Tim Bray @tbray.org · 01/03/2025

Blue sky above calico cat, today, March 1, 2025. #blueskyabove #caturday

A calico cat is sitting on a slanted roof, looking away from the camera to the left. Behind, a grey-and-white house is visible. Beside the cat, a metal pole with an intricate tangle of utility wires. Above, blue sky.

1652

Tim Bray @tbray.org · 21/02/2025

Blue sky above the quad in Wadham College, Oxford, July 2005. I was there providing childcare while my wife taught at a seminar; saw an absolutely spine-chilling “Macbeth”, by torchlight on the grass. #blueskyabove

Through an arch, an impeccably disciplined square of grass surrounded by four stories of age-yellowed stone building featuring crenelations. Above, blue sky.

0140

Tim Bray @tbray.org · 15/02/2025

Blue sky above minstrel and bridge, October 2013. On Granville Island in #Vancouver. #blueskyabove

On a wooden dock, a silver-haired musician in a dark formal suit is playing an electric guitar and singing. In the background, a large bridge and apartment buildings. Above, blue sky.

2270

Tim Bray @tbray.org · 10/02/2025

Blue sky above southeast False Creek in #Vancouver, August 2003. Before the Olympics came, this was still funky smelly industrial space, with tugs orchestrating the big barge-loads of industrial input and output. Note that False Creek already had water squatters back then. #blueskyabove

A busy waterfront with several barges docked, warehouses visible behind a screen of trees. In the foreground, a few small boats covered by tarps, the water squatters.

1160

Tim Bray @tbray.org · 05/02/2025

Blue sky above snowy branches, earlier today. #blueskyabove

Dark bare tree branches, many with a layer of snow, silhouetted against a cloudy blue sy.

1213

Tim Bray @tbray.org · 03/02/2025

Blue sky above a totem pole - said to be the world’s tallest - in Alert Bay, September 1985 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alert_Bay Also, an airplane. BTW I do post online about things other than cameras pointing upward, check out @timbray.cosocial.ca.ap.brid.gy #blueskyabove

A very tall dark totem pole stretches up, supported by two guy-wires. At its top there are two diagonal pieces of wood crossing at 90°. An airport contrail is pointed directly at the crossed wood; the plane would go behind it moments after the photo was taken. Above, blue sky.

1220

Tim Bray @tbray.org · 29/01/2025

Blue sky above a grim industrial back street. Photographed on South Kent Road, on the way to the excellent #Vancouver Zero Waste Centre. #blueskyabove

Looking across a road directly into the sun. On the other side of the road, industrial machinery, utility wires, a large heap of some material. A small white car wearing a yellow construction-work helmet is driving left to right on the road.

0150

Tim Bray @tbray.org · 22/01/2025

Blue sky above Silly Valley, February 2005. Also, moon. This is somewhere near the marshy bits on the west side of Bay. #blueskyabove

The picture is mostly sky, blue but heading for sunset. In the top right corner, the moon is tiny. At the bottom, a couple of power pylons are silhouetted against that sky, with the land they're standing on mostly unrelieved dark shapes. In the very foreground, water reflects the pylons.

0260

Tim Bray @tbray.org · 20/01/2025

Blue sky above a bald eagle busy scratching its butt, May 2012. After I posted this on Twitter or my blog somewhere the eagles didn’t come back for a while and my kids said it was my fault, they were mad at me for posting an unflattering picture. #blueskyabove

A bald eagle is perched at the tip of an evergreen. It has one wing folded across its chest and the other not visible, and a thoughtful expression on its face. Above, blue sky.

1390

Tim Bray @tbray.org · 17/01/2025

Blue sky above Tintagel castle, June 1989. Tintagel, in Cornwall, features in several of the Arthurian legends. #blueskyabove

A wall of dark and exteremely rough-hewn stone descends a steep hill from left to right, with small extrusions that have tiled tops. In front of the wall, there is is some grass on the hillside. Above, blue sky.

2303

Tim Bray @tbray.org · 16/01/2025

In which I consider the announcements from Mastodon and Bluesky-adjacent “Free Our Feeds”, both surfacing on the 13th, concerning fundraising and governance measures for the worlds of ActivityPub and ATProto: www.tbray.org/ongoing/When...

Free Our Feeds landing page, linked from blog

Mastodon initiative landing page, linked from blog

Mastodon post from Anil Dash, which says "This is a monumental day for the future of the social web, though it might not be obvious for a while. Mastodon matures its governance model with a great, solid non-profit https://blog.joinmastodon.org/2025/01/the-people-should-own-the-town-square/ and a coalition of independents push to open up Bluesky's AT Protocol: https://freeourfeeds.com/ These two moves together put the most credible players on solid ground for years to come — and set up the open platforms to enable lots of innovation just when it's needed most."

1143

Tim Bray @tbray.org · 14/01/2025

Blue sky above the Rocky Mountains today, 2025/01/14. #blueskyabove

Aerial photo. The bottom two thirds are occupied by twisting interpenetrating mountain ranges, partially snow-covered. Clouds cover the mountains in the distance. Above, blue sky.

0463

Tim Bray @tbray.org · 11/01/2025

Blue sky above the Lake Shinji waterfront in Matsue, Japan, September 2009. Matsue is notable for being the home base of Matz, inventor of the Ruby programming language. #blueskyabove #Japan #Matsue

A paved surface with water behind it. There is a little raised area with small trees and shrubbery and a small monumental tower, perhaps once a navigation light? At the right, a person is sitting on the wall around the raised area reading a newspaper. Above, blue sky.

1272

Tim Bray @tbray.org · 09/01/2025

Blue sky above Vancouver today, January 9, 2025. A much-welcomed and rare Pacific-Northwest visit from the sun. #blueskyabove

A large bare mossy deciduous tree extends its branches in every direction under a blue sky studded with small clouds.

0300

Tim Bray @tbray.org · 05/01/2025

Blue sky above Makuhari - a burb on the Tokyo side of Chiba, May 2005. There’s a big conference venue, “Makuhari Messe”, I was speaking on something on behalf of Sun Microsystems. Tbh it’s kind of a boring place, but there was a good light that morning. #blueskyabove #Japan #Chiba

A busy urban scene, every inch surrounded or covered by concrete. Two large square commercial buildings dominate the picture. Above them, blue sky.

2423

Tim Bray @tbray.org · 29/12/2024

Blue sky above Saskatchewan hoarfrost; Christmas Eve 2024. #blueskyabove #saskatchewan

A bare deciduous tree, all of its branches thickly hoarfrost, against an almost pure blue sky.

0222

Tim Bray @tbray.org · 27/12/2024

Blue sky above a Maui beach, March 2008. We used to be spring-break regulars in Maui, usually staying at www.kahanasunset.com, usually very good. #blueskyabove

On a beach, light-brown sand, three empty white beach chairs look out at the Pacific.

0170

Tim Bray @tbray.org · 26/12/2024

Blue sky above Halemaʻumaʻu. November 1986. At this point in time, you could stand right on the edge and look down into the crater. In recent decades it’s had a lava lake and repeated eruptions; visitors are kept well away. #blueskyabove #hawaii

Looking down into an inactive volcanic crater, a disorderly floor in different shades of grey and brown, lots of geological history visible in the layered sides. Overhead, blue sky with a few clouds.

1160

Tim Bray @tbray.org · 21/12/2024

Blue sky above yours truly, aged 28, playing with a tabby cat. I forget her name, she was a. neighbor not a pet. Reminder about “Blue sky above” concept: bsky.app/profile/tbra... #blueskyabove

A young man with blond hear is playing with a small grey and white tabby cat, which is climbing the trunk of an elderly fruit tree. In the background, old wooden fences and a nondescript low wooden building. Behind the tree’s foliage, cloudy blue sky.

1101

Tim Bray @tbray.org · 18/12/2024

Blue sky above bare winter tree branches and below the moon. February 2005. #blueskyabove

The sky, blue above, cloudy below, with bare branches and one unlit street-light silhouetted blackly. In the center, the moon.

0362

Tim Bray @tbray.org · 15/12/2024

Blue sky above Peng Chau, one of Hong Kong’s many islands. From 1994; there’s a story that goes with it that it seems I’ve never told, so here’s an accompanying blog entry. www.tbray.org/ongoing/When... #blueskyabove

A crowded waterfront with colorful low-rise buildings. In front, rusty metal marine stuff. Behind, forest. Above, blue sky.

0201

Tim Bray @tbray.org · 13/12/2024

Blue sky above Georgian Bay, 1988. One of the thousands of little islands not far from Parry Sound. After lunch, some of us napped and others built the mini-cairn. #blueskyabove

On a rocky surface, apparently surrounded by water, there is a cairn built of a few large flat stones. There are a few shrubs on the rocks. Overhead, blue sky.

0131

Tim Bray @tbray.org · 12/12/2024

Bluesky above the tree outside m y office window, today. Only been in the new place since late October, am seriously looking forward to spring. The tree is a White Ash. #blueskyabove #vancouver

Blue sky with some cloud above a bare deciduous tree with grey mossy bark.

0230

Tim Bray @tbray.org · 10/12/2024

Blue sky above the Foo Camp. Sebastopol, California. October 2003. #blueskyabove #oreilly

A nondescript NorCal lo-rise corporate campus, blue sky above, dry ground in the foreground, a large lawn in the center studded with modern small camping tents. There is a large canopy on the lawn with people clustered underneath.

3170

Tim Bray @tbray.org · 09/12/2024

Blue sky above the Buddha and (look closely) a helicopter. Jodo mission in Lahaina, Maui, Feb. 2005. I have read that the mission was burnt in the tragic Lahaina fire. I found a photo on TripAdvisor suggesting the statue itself is still there; anyone know for sure? #blueskyabove #maui #Buddha

White clouds and blue sky above the head and right shoulder of a large statue of the Buddha. A helicopter is just visible against the clouds above the Buddha's shoulder.

370

Tim Bray @tbray.org · 07/12/2024

Blue sky above Mount Lebanon, sometime in the late Sixties. This is at the American University of Beirut’s Agriculture Faculty experimental farm; my Dad was an Ag prof at AUB then. Hey, it has a Web site now! www.aub.edu.lb/fafs/arec Photo credit: Bill Bray. #blueskyabove #Lebanon

Transfer of a slide from the 1960's, thus kind of muddy-looking. A blue sky, partially cloudy, over indistinct mountains. In the foreground, farm fields, a white shed, and a few trees silhouetted blackly.

0312

Tim Bray @tbray.org · 05/12/2024

Blue sky above an “extreme unicyclist” - that’s how this guy described what he did - on Vancouver’s Jericho Beach pier, April 2007. #blueskyabove #Vancouver

A marine ramp slants down and to the right across the bottom third of the picture. In the background, ocean waters, a city's high-rise buildings, mountain, and sky. A unicyclist in a red-and-black top, white helmet, shorts, wearing pads on wrists on elbows, is riding down one of the ramp's handrails.

081

Tim Bray @tbray.org · 04/12/2024

Blue sky above a poodle on a pedestal. January 2013. It’s an art offering on Vancouver’s Main Street. Don’t ask me to explain it, but I really enjoy the expressions on newcomers’ faces when I point it out to them. #blueskyabove #Vancouver

Looking up at a sculpture of a white poodle sitting on a pedestal. Behind and above it, blue sky, with bits of bare tree branches visible around the edges of the photo.

1111

Tim Bray @tbray.org · 03/12/2024

Blue sky over Avebury, June 1989. I always preferred Avebury to Stonehenge, if only because you can (or at least could until not that long ago) wander around in among the stones. On this ’89 trip I stayed at a little B&B/pub inside the ring. #blueskyabove

3100

Tim Bray @tbray.org · 02/12/2024

Blue sky above Átl'ka7tsem/Howe Sound today, December 1, 2024. Lovely day for a boat ride. #blueskyabove

Under a blue sky with a sprinkling of cloud, a range of snow-capped forested mountains. In the foreground, the ocean.

1131

Tim Bray @tbray.org · 30/11/2024

Blue sky above a friendly male radish. 1/2 This is in the Ohakune Carrot Adventure Park, December 2019. The “Carrot” in question is said to be the world’s biggest. Ohakune is a small town near the center of NZ’s North Island. #blueskyabove

4111

Tim Bray @tbray.org · 29/11/2024

Blue sky above - even though the camera’s looking down - False Creek in Vancouver, the marina near Vanier Park, January 2021. False Creek will appear regularly in this series. #blueskyabove #Vancouver

Looking down and at an angle at mostly-calm water, in which are reflected blue sky, some clouds, and two trees in upside-down orientation. A rocky shore is visible at the top left.

1110

Tim Bray @tbray.org · 28/11/2024

Sitting on a sofa looking at a screen? To enhance your viewing pleasure, here are 2000 words on TV in 2024: www.tbray.org/ongoing/When...

British singer PJ Harvey, screen-capture from a 4K concert broadcast. She is half-kneeling in a white dress and white boots as she sings.

Seven pieces of AV electronics stacked on a wooden table, viewed from behind, highlighting a terrifying tangle of cable connections.

1110

Tim Bray @tbray.org · 28/11/2024

Blue sky above San Francisco, June 2012. Confession: I’ve used Lightroom’s fairly-magical “select sky” tool for nearly everything in this series. All I do is bump the saturation a bit, but it helps. PS: Spot the blimp. #blueskyabove

A street in a non-fancy part of a big American city, blue sky overhead. The buildings are low-rise in grey and white. A sign reveals that this is the 500 block on 6TH ST. A crosswalk timer displays “10” in orange. Two flashes of brilliant red - a small scooter parked in the foreground and a Coca-Cola sign. In the sky, a blimp.

2100

Tim Bray @tbray.org · 27/11/2024

Blue sky above Makuhari Beach near Chiba, May 2005. Related blog: “The Ultra-Rare Breed of Chicken”: www.tbray.org/ongoing/When... #blueskyabove #japan

A single jogger in a white top on a flat featureless mostly-rocky beach; across the water, a blurry city landscape. Overhead, dirty blue sky.

0141

Tim Bray @tbray.org · 26/11/2024

Blue sky above a parasailing lesson. Auckland, March 2015. BTW before I upload these pictures I insert C2PA “Content Authenticity” proof-of-provenance data, see contentcredentials.org - unfortunately all the social networks strip this, which I think they should stop doing. #blueskyabove #c2pa

Looking up at a large red parasail from which two people are dangling. Red sail against blue sky.

1111

Tim Bray @tbray.org · 25/11/2024

Blue sky over the Eastern Qing Tombs (清東陵, see en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern..., blog www.tbray.org/ongoing/When..., “Blue Sky Above” concept bsky.app/profile/tbra...). #blueskyabove

Blues sky over a large old-Chinese building in reddish brick with highly decorated roof and complex woodwork under the eaves. In front, a grey crenelated stone wall.

030