Christopher Schmidt
@crschmidt.net
Software engineer (currently at Google). Founding member, Alphabet Workers Union. Advocate for sustainable cities through urban development. E-bike evangelist. Currently in Somerville, MA; formerly in Cambridge, MA.
Congratulations to newly selected Mayor @councillorsiddiqui.bsky.social and Vice Mayor @burhanazeem.bsky.social on the Cambridge City Council!
January 5, 2026 at 4:06 PM
Congratulations to newly selected Mayor @councillorsiddiqui.bsky.social and Vice Mayor @burhanazeem.bsky.social on the Cambridge City Council!
Kidnapping leaders of foreign nations is a bad thing.
I don't think that we should be doing that. And I'm really not sure who thinks this kind of thing is going to work out *well* for us in the end. It seems utterly insane to me to believe that the positives outweigh the negatives in 2026.
I don't think that we should be doing that. And I'm really not sure who thinks this kind of thing is going to work out *well* for us in the end. It seems utterly insane to me to believe that the positives outweigh the negatives in 2026.
January 3, 2026 at 6:43 PM
Kidnapping leaders of foreign nations is a bad thing.
I don't think that we should be doing that. And I'm really not sure who thinks this kind of thing is going to work out *well* for us in the end. It seems utterly insane to me to believe that the positives outweigh the negatives in 2026.
I don't think that we should be doing that. And I'm really not sure who thinks this kind of thing is going to work out *well* for us in the end. It seems utterly insane to me to believe that the positives outweigh the negatives in 2026.
Happy New Year.
May this year be better than the last.
May this year be better than the last.
January 1, 2026 at 12:51 PM
Happy New Year.
May this year be better than the last.
May this year be better than the last.
Today’s puzzle project: “Herding Cats”.
January 1, 2026 at 1:39 AM
Today’s puzzle project: “Herding Cats”.
Saw John Oliver live at the MGM Music Hall tonight in Boston.
December 28, 2025 at 3:27 AM
Saw John Oliver live at the MGM Music Hall tonight in Boston.
It is hard to argue this is not the objectively correct ranking.
Definitive ranking of the main Star Wars movies
1. Attack of the Clones
2. Empire Strikes Back
3. Force Awakens
4. Last Jedi
5. New Hope
6. Phantom Menace
7. Return of the Jedi
8. Revenge of the Sith
9. Rise of Skywalker
1. Attack of the Clones
2. Empire Strikes Back
3. Force Awakens
4. Last Jedi
5. New Hope
6. Phantom Menace
7. Return of the Jedi
8. Revenge of the Sith
9. Rise of Skywalker
December 21, 2025 at 7:49 PM
It is hard to argue this is not the objectively correct ranking.
Reposted by Christopher Schmidt
Definitive ranking of the main Star Wars movies
1. Attack of the Clones
2. Empire Strikes Back
3. Force Awakens
4. Last Jedi
5. New Hope
6. Phantom Menace
7. Return of the Jedi
8. Revenge of the Sith
9. Rise of Skywalker
1. Attack of the Clones
2. Empire Strikes Back
3. Force Awakens
4. Last Jedi
5. New Hope
6. Phantom Menace
7. Return of the Jedi
8. Revenge of the Sith
9. Rise of Skywalker
December 21, 2025 at 7:31 PM
Definitive ranking of the main Star Wars movies
1. Attack of the Clones
2. Empire Strikes Back
3. Force Awakens
4. Last Jedi
5. New Hope
6. Phantom Menace
7. Return of the Jedi
8. Revenge of the Sith
9. Rise of Skywalker
1. Attack of the Clones
2. Empire Strikes Back
3. Force Awakens
4. Last Jedi
5. New Hope
6. Phantom Menace
7. Return of the Jedi
8. Revenge of the Sith
9. Rise of Skywalker
influencing via social media is a thing that i have thought at times would be a thing I should try to do, and I have always been wrong.
i have said this before but if you are actually interested in influencing people beyond a narrow circle of too-online journalists you will be making direct to camera videos on tiktok, instagram and youtube. if you primarily post on text-based social media then you're just dicking around.
December 16, 2025 at 3:41 AM
influencing via social media is a thing that i have thought at times would be a thing I should try to do, and I have always been wrong.
Reposted by Christopher Schmidt
I am so proud of them. the kids did it. they made a new stupid number to say. they may now take their place in history.
December 13, 2025 at 6:00 PM
I am so proud of them. the kids did it. they made a new stupid number to say. they may now take their place in history.
Reposted by Christopher Schmidt
The difference between e-bikes and e-motos in multiples of kitchen appliances:
1 Kitchenaid stand mixer: 500W
e-bike: 0.5-1.5 stand mixers
offroad/dirtbike e-moto: ~25 stand mixers
highway e-moto: ~150 stand mixers
basic family car: ~250 stand mixers
1 Kitchenaid stand mixer: 500W
e-bike: 0.5-1.5 stand mixers
offroad/dirtbike e-moto: ~25 stand mixers
highway e-moto: ~150 stand mixers
basic family car: ~250 stand mixers
December 3, 2025 at 2:10 AM
The difference between e-bikes and e-motos in multiples of kitchen appliances:
1 Kitchenaid stand mixer: 500W
e-bike: 0.5-1.5 stand mixers
offroad/dirtbike e-moto: ~25 stand mixers
highway e-moto: ~150 stand mixers
basic family car: ~250 stand mixers
1 Kitchenaid stand mixer: 500W
e-bike: 0.5-1.5 stand mixers
offroad/dirtbike e-moto: ~25 stand mixers
highway e-moto: ~150 stand mixers
basic family car: ~250 stand mixers
Happy Thanksgiving!
Today I learned that the Thanksgiving holiday was instituted to celebrate the win at Gettysburg, and the tradition of Turkey was because there was a campaign to get every Union soldier a turkey for Thanksgiving in 1864.
Forget pilgrims: Thanksgiving is about defeating slavers.
Today I learned that the Thanksgiving holiday was instituted to celebrate the win at Gettysburg, and the tradition of Turkey was because there was a campaign to get every Union soldier a turkey for Thanksgiving in 1864.
Forget pilgrims: Thanksgiving is about defeating slavers.
November 27, 2025 at 8:12 PM
Happy Thanksgiving!
Today I learned that the Thanksgiving holiday was instituted to celebrate the win at Gettysburg, and the tradition of Turkey was because there was a campaign to get every Union soldier a turkey for Thanksgiving in 1864.
Forget pilgrims: Thanksgiving is about defeating slavers.
Today I learned that the Thanksgiving holiday was instituted to celebrate the win at Gettysburg, and the tradition of Turkey was because there was a campaign to get every Union soldier a turkey for Thanksgiving in 1864.
Forget pilgrims: Thanksgiving is about defeating slavers.
Reposted by Christopher Schmidt
This is a common misconception!
There's actually fairly substantial differences between rural white voters in the South and the non-mountain west North -- looking at an election map that starts at R+75 (purple) and ends at R+0 (yellow) you can see a fairly clear line between North/South
There's actually fairly substantial differences between rural white voters in the South and the non-mountain west North -- looking at an election map that starts at R+75 (purple) and ends at R+0 (yellow) you can see a fairly clear line between North/South
November 16, 2025 at 2:39 AM
This is a common misconception!
There's actually fairly substantial differences between rural white voters in the South and the non-mountain west North -- looking at an election map that starts at R+75 (purple) and ends at R+0 (yellow) you can see a fairly clear line between North/South
There's actually fairly substantial differences between rural white voters in the South and the non-mountain west North -- looking at an election map that starts at R+75 (purple) and ends at R+0 (yellow) you can see a fairly clear line between North/South
Reposted by Christopher Schmidt
Yesterday members of our community mourned the lives lost to traffic violence. We grieved, but we also joined in commiting ourselves to a world where nobody has to die on our streets. We do not accept the status quo.
youtu.be/sQkZSUo5Ug0?...
youtu.be/sQkZSUo5Ug0?...
Families call for better safety measures following Massachusetts traffic deaths
YouTube video by CBS Boston
youtu.be
November 17, 2025 at 1:46 PM
Yesterday members of our community mourned the lives lost to traffic violence. We grieved, but we also joined in commiting ourselves to a world where nobody has to die on our streets. We do not accept the status quo.
youtu.be/sQkZSUo5Ug0?...
youtu.be/sQkZSUo5Ug0?...
Reposted by Christopher Schmidt
Truly there are few things and few industries more efficient than the modern data center and we don’t really accomplish anything by having fewer of them aside from less redundancy (ie more unreliable service) and greater centralization. That this likely uses *more* power and water is unavoidable.
November 12, 2025 at 12:08 PM
Truly there are few things and few industries more efficient than the modern data center and we don’t really accomplish anything by having fewer of them aside from less redundancy (ie more unreliable service) and greater centralization. That this likely uses *more* power and water is unavoidable.
Not having any documentation of the procedure by which the city audits its election results seems like maybe a bad thing.
"Our process exists only as spoken lore, passed down from generation to generation" is kinda a bad approach to repeatable, reliable processes.
"Our process exists only as spoken lore, passed down from generation to generation" is kinda a bad approach to repeatable, reliable processes.
In other news, the City has responded to my request for a copy of the election auditing procedures (also some other things).
I am not sure I understand this this.
"Regarding the first portion of your request, the City has no responsive records."
I am not sure I understand this this.
"Regarding the first portion of your request, the City has no responsive records."
November 12, 2025 at 10:08 PM
Not having any documentation of the procedure by which the city audits its election results seems like maybe a bad thing.
"Our process exists only as spoken lore, passed down from generation to generation" is kinda a bad approach to repeatable, reliable processes.
"Our process exists only as spoken lore, passed down from generation to generation" is kinda a bad approach to repeatable, reliable processes.
I'm still not sure what should have been done on releasing election results, but I think the fact that city staff seem to have *known* something was off, but did not inform the Election Commissioners of that prior to releasing results was inappropriate. They're the people intended to make that call.
One reason that's massive is that a decision to withdraw results (which did not happen, and I do not know why) is much harder to make than a decision to defer releasing results.
[ Although reasonable people can differ on that! Pressure to release results is immense! ]
[ Although reasonable people can differ on that! Pressure to release results is immense! ]
November 12, 2025 at 2:22 PM
I'm still not sure what should have been done on releasing election results, but I think the fact that city staff seem to have *known* something was off, but did not inform the Election Commissioners of that prior to releasing results was inappropriate. They're the people intended to make that call.
Reposted by Christopher Schmidt
BTW: The new five-person Bike Champion majority on Cambridge City Council have all ridden multiple times with the Peabody/RAUC #BikeBus.
Kids on bikes have caregivers who vote.
Kids on bikes have caregivers who vote.
November 5, 2025 at 2:35 PM
BTW: The new five-person Bike Champion majority on Cambridge City Council have all ridden multiple times with the Peabody/RAUC #BikeBus.
Kids on bikes have caregivers who vote.
Kids on bikes have caregivers who vote.
If anyone is interested in the actual process behind how @johnhawkinson.bsky.social and other volunteers produce the "early results" for Cambridge City Council election #1s, I did a writeup of the process by which dozens of folks helped people get results last night.
www.reddit.com/r/CambridgeM...
www.reddit.com/r/CambridgeM...
From the CambridgeMA community on Reddit: how we got "early results" last night
Explore this post and more from the CambridgeMA community
www.reddit.com
November 5, 2025 at 6:45 PM
If anyone is interested in the actual process behind how @johnhawkinson.bsky.social and other volunteers produce the "early results" for Cambridge City Council election #1s, I did a writeup of the process by which dozens of folks helped people get results last night.
www.reddit.com/r/CambridgeM...
www.reddit.com/r/CambridgeM...
How I’m spending my day
November 4, 2025 at 2:47 PM
How I’m spending my day
"No, 12 million Americans don't believe the country is run by shape-shifting lizards."
foreignpolicy.com/2013/04/02/n...
foreignpolicy.com/2013/04/02/n...
November 3, 2025 at 2:26 PM
"No, 12 million Americans don't believe the country is run by shape-shifting lizards."
foreignpolicy.com/2013/04/02/n...
foreignpolicy.com/2013/04/02/n...
If you want to help on Election Day, and don’t have anything to do, I could use a few more people to hold signs for @abciepac.org on Election Day in the morning or evening; let me know if you’re interested!
November 2, 2025 at 5:09 PM
If you want to help on Election Day, and don’t have anything to do, I could use a few more people to hold signs for @abciepac.org on Election Day in the morning or evening; let me know if you’re interested!
please vote in your local municipal elections on Tuesday (if you have one).
November 1, 2025 at 2:38 PM
please vote in your local municipal elections on Tuesday (if you have one).
I specifically changed my work travel plans to accommodate being part of this event. I'm glad I did, because it's just a genuinely joyful thing every time.
We’ve done four Peabody #BikeBus rides with the band so far, and each one relies on an incredible selfless army of volunteers.
I’m so grateful to them without whom we couldn’t pull off this joyful madness. A true community.
Happy HONKoween 🎺🎷🎃
I’m so grateful to them without whom we couldn’t pull off this joyful madness. A true community.
Happy HONKoween 🎺🎷🎃
November 1, 2025 at 12:53 PM
I specifically changed my work travel plans to accommodate being part of this event. I'm glad I did, because it's just a genuinely joyful thing every time.
While my hotel window could use some cleaning, the view is cool.
October 28, 2025 at 1:05 AM
While my hotel window could use some cleaning, the view is cool.