James T.
@jathaj.bsky.social
160 followers 470 following 610 posts
Public librarian. Erstwhile historian. Personal account - posts do not represent the views of my employer.
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Reposted by James T.
hyperlexic.bsky.social
A lot of terrible parts of California are downstream of what seemed like a good idea: direct democracy.
jathaj.bsky.social
My sense was that they didn’t do so out of an unwillingness to have intercourse with evil. The people who ultimately haul Dracula out of the castle, iirc, are Roma (the book uses a different term) - people on the margins of local society who might not have had an option.
jathaj.bsky.social
The only truly rational people in the whole book are the ostensibly “primitive” Transylvanian peasants who effectively protect themselves from Dracula’s predations. The English characters have no similar cultural antibodies to guard them.
Reposted by James T.
stano.bsky.social
Not exaggerating when I say that SB 79, a bill making it easier to build housing near mass transit, is the most consequential piece of legislation that the Democratic Party has passed all year. Saying no to the worst people in our coalition proves we're serious about the future.
jathaj.bsky.social
70s computer books are where it’s at. Hard to beat the original “Dragon book” IMO.
The cover of “Principles of Compiler Design” by Aho and Ullman. It depicts a somewhat crudely drawn knight, representing compiler design techniques, attempting to slay a dragon that represents the “complexity of compiler design”.
Reposted by James T.
cayimby.bsky.social
[VICTORY ALERT] Governor Newsom has signed SB 79, which will make it legal to build multi-family housing near high quality transit!

Our statement:
cayimby.org/news-events/...
cayimby.org
jathaj.bsky.social
This is HUGE. Hold queues are going to go up like Nvidia.
jathaj.bsky.social
The head of the Eisenhower Presidential Library was canned after he refused Trump’s demand to give an artifact that belongs to the American people to a monarch.
After Declining to Give Trump a Sword for King Charles, a Museum Leader Is Out
www.nytimes.com
jathaj.bsky.social
I mean, it’s one house Stan. What could it cost? $100,000?
Reposted by James T.
sethcotlar.bsky.social
I know this sounds strange, but I think the left need to take back the word "conservative" from the right. Like, it's conservative to want to preserve Medicaid, Social Security, the NEH, PBS, vaccines, the NLRB, the FCC, a non-weaponized DOJ, a world in which organizing a coup is considered bad.
jathaj.bsky.social
Arthur Blessitt did this wheelie cross thing for decades.
jathaj.bsky.social
They need to make the tote bag straps longer, at the very least. Give me something I can actually access while it’s hanging from my shoulder.
jathaj.bsky.social
Karen Bass letter voice: now we *really* don’t need SB 79
Reposted by James T.
annabookwriter.bsky.social
This is true!

That said, be prepared for the fact that libraries will not have DVDs for the streaming exclusives. That’s on the streaming companies’ greed, not the libraries.

I say this not to convince you to keep streaming, but to prepare people not to go “whaddya mean you don’t have x show?”
ladyjenpool.bsky.social
Hello friendos

Your librarian here with a tip

Your library has DVDs of movies, TV series, and documentaries that you can't find on streaming. They may even have foreign films.
jathaj.bsky.social
Shorter term, I keep wondering what happens if (when?) the eye of racist Sauron gets turned on the ol’ Valley of Heart’s Delight. What happens if there’s a push to “Americanize” the tech workforce?
jathaj.bsky.social
What school’s/district’s stats are those? FUHSD?
jathaj.bsky.social
Me in 2003: After several years of Kumon I swear to never put my own kid through it.
Me in 2025: He’s three. Is it too soon to enroll him in Kumon?
jathaj.bsky.social
Why pay more in taxes when you can spend all your money here instead?
A screenshot from Apple Maps centered on Cupertino showing the comically large number of tutoring centers in the area, especially along De Anza Boulevard
jathaj.bsky.social
What the heck is LA County’s malfunction?
urbfuturistdem.bsky.social
I've now categorized the votes by region.

Bay Area: 73% voted Yes (11/15)
Greater Sacramento: 83% (5/6)
Central Valley: 78% (7/9)
LA County: 32% (7/22)
San Diego: 67% (4/6)
Inland Empire & Orange County: 40% (6/15)
Coastal: 33% (2/6)
Far North: 100% (1/1)
Reposted by James T.
josephpolitano.bsky.social
I say it again: Get in Loser We’re Urbanizing California
jathaj.bsky.social
I think people in media view actual journalists being targeted as good and natural. That it’s a measure of their impact. However, opinion people are not expected to provoke violent passions so Kirk’s death feels like a rupture to media elites b/c you’re not supposed to take opinion seriously.
jathaj.bsky.social
I’m over generalizing for sure. I think we agree that most of HS math can be passed without developing intuition. I do think most of the (relatively few) adults who know this stuff probably had it reinforced through tertiary education where they were required to use both trig and stats.
jathaj.bsky.social
Pretty sure any actual grown ass adult who still remembers that cos^2(x) + sin^2(x) = 1 also knows what standard deviation is.