Tom VanAntwerp 🔵
@tomvanantwerp.com
💻 code things, mostly TypeScript
🏡 hyperlocal Alexandria VA drama
🔮 building bizarre things nobody wants
Please don't make me run for office, I do not want to run for office.
🏡 hyperlocal Alexandria VA drama
🔮 building bizarre things nobody wants
Please don't make me run for office, I do not want to run for office.
Reposted by Tom VanAntwerp 🔵
Raccoon gets drunk at a Virginia liquor store and passes out in bathroom
Raccoon gets drunk at Ashland ABC store and passes out in bathroom
Talk about a trashed panda.
www.axios.com
December 2, 2025 at 10:28 PM
Raccoon gets drunk at a Virginia liquor store and passes out in bathroom
Reposted by Tom VanAntwerp 🔵
The real question is not "Why is Bluesky so left-coded," the real question is "Why can't the right exist in a social media environment without algorithmic assistance, where people can ignore them"
December 2, 2025 at 3:08 PM
The real question is not "Why is Bluesky so left-coded," the real question is "Why can't the right exist in a social media environment without algorithmic assistance, where people can ignore them"
It's because they pay the tiny people who live inside the chip less than their competitors. All those teeny tiny people inside the chips, slaving away doing linear algebra for peanuts! The itty bitty teeny tiny chip people are so over-worked, they've got to pee in nanometer-sized bottles.
BREAKING: Amazon, $AMZN, has released a new AI chip and says it is more cost effective than Nvidia, $NVDA
December 2, 2025 at 4:11 PM
It's because they pay the tiny people who live inside the chip less than their competitors. All those teeny tiny people inside the chips, slaving away doing linear algebra for peanuts! The itty bitty teeny tiny chip people are so over-worked, they've got to pee in nanometer-sized bottles.
Reposted by Tom VanAntwerp 🔵
Before/after analysis of separated bike and ped facilities consistently show safety benefits and increases in number of people walking and bicycling... maybe near Braddock Rd Metro in #AlexandriaVA soon!
DDOT continues to publish before/after analyses of safety projects. The numbers for the 9th street NW bike lanes suggest that we should be doing these projects everywhere we can. Crashes plummeted, pedestrian and bike traffic skyrocketed, and vehicle travel times dropped.
December 2, 2025 at 3:08 PM
Before/after analysis of separated bike and ped facilities consistently show safety benefits and increases in number of people walking and bicycling... maybe near Braddock Rd Metro in #AlexandriaVA soon!
Reposted by Tom VanAntwerp 🔵
Ashburn Virginia, colo mama, take me home, Ashburn stroad
December 2, 2025 at 12:35 PM
Ashburn Virginia, colo mama, take me home, Ashburn stroad
Reposted by Tom VanAntwerp 🔵
Zoning for pizza.
December 2, 2025 at 2:03 AM
Zoning for pizza.
Reposted by Tom VanAntwerp 🔵
'Have you worked on anything I'd have heard of?'
I dunno, have you heard of an office chair.
I dunno, have you heard of an office chair.
December 1, 2025 at 10:18 PM
'Have you worked on anything I'd have heard of?'
I dunno, have you heard of an office chair.
I dunno, have you heard of an office chair.
Reposted by Tom VanAntwerp 🔵
walked down king st. in alx this morning and saw a historical sign about the streetcars that used to run along it that were removed to accommodate cars — mass adoption of a new technology restructuring our lives causing problems we are dealing with to this day
immediately thought of the push for ai
immediately thought of the push for ai
December 1, 2025 at 6:46 PM
walked down king st. in alx this morning and saw a historical sign about the streetcars that used to run along it that were removed to accommodate cars — mass adoption of a new technology restructuring our lives causing problems we are dealing with to this day
immediately thought of the push for ai
immediately thought of the push for ai
So I didn't much like the prior online catalog software used by the library, but the new one's got issues too. Moreso than not having dark mode.
The way it's set up right now makes it hard to just browse things. If you know what you want, you can search—otherwise, it's tough to discover things!
The way it's set up right now makes it hard to just browse things. If you know what you want, you can search—otherwise, it's tough to discover things!
The Alexandria Library's default light mode catalog website was burning my eyes, so I vibe coded a dark mode for it. Now I can browse at night without pain!
December 1, 2025 at 3:44 PM
So I didn't much like the prior online catalog software used by the library, but the new one's got issues too. Moreso than not having dark mode.
The way it's set up right now makes it hard to just browse things. If you know what you want, you can search—otherwise, it's tough to discover things!
The way it's set up right now makes it hard to just browse things. If you know what you want, you can search—otherwise, it's tough to discover things!
Reposted by Tom VanAntwerp 🔵
when someone tells me not to use em dashes because AI uses em dashes
November 30, 2025 at 7:48 PM
when someone tells me not to use em dashes because AI uses em dashes
Reposted by Tom VanAntwerp 🔵
an image that comes to mind is that i’m strapped to a unicorn running around in circles vomiting rainbows nonstop and my job is to nudge it by the horn so that the rainbows form the desired pattern
November 30, 2025 at 7:49 PM
an image that comes to mind is that i’m strapped to a unicorn running around in circles vomiting rainbows nonstop and my job is to nudge it by the horn so that the rainbows form the desired pattern
The Alexandria Library's default light mode catalog website was burning my eyes, so I vibe coded a dark mode for it. Now I can browse at night without pain!
December 1, 2025 at 2:35 AM
The Alexandria Library's default light mode catalog website was burning my eyes, so I vibe coded a dark mode for it. Now I can browse at night without pain!
Reposted by Tom VanAntwerp 🔵
As someone who works on the interaction layer of software: it's this.
Stupid trends in hardware self correct after a generation or two, but *software* ratchets in the direction of unusable because designers are occupied with interaction patterns and not whether the fucking thing works properly.
Stupid trends in hardware self correct after a generation or two, but *software* ratchets in the direction of unusable because designers are occupied with interaction patterns and not whether the fucking thing works properly.
i think it's useful to look at areas where the *tech* has gotten much better while tech *interactions* have gotten way worse. streaming has gotten worse, google search has gotten worse, digital cameras are leaps better. apple's silicone is so good it's threatening their user upgrade cycle
it’s so weird to look around and realize like, tech and media are materially worse than a decade ago
November 30, 2025 at 1:38 PM
As someone who works on the interaction layer of software: it's this.
Stupid trends in hardware self correct after a generation or two, but *software* ratchets in the direction of unusable because designers are occupied with interaction patterns and not whether the fucking thing works properly.
Stupid trends in hardware self correct after a generation or two, but *software* ratchets in the direction of unusable because designers are occupied with interaction patterns and not whether the fucking thing works properly.
Reposted by Tom VanAntwerp 🔵
Autolabelling service that tells you if a poster needs a wellness check or if they are watching sport
November 30, 2025 at 12:16 AM
Autolabelling service that tells you if a poster needs a wellness check or if they are watching sport
Reposted by Tom VanAntwerp 🔵
But *how* will they #PlowTheSidewalks? With what technology?
November 29, 2025 at 9:48 PM
But *how* will they #PlowTheSidewalks? With what technology?
Wanting to find a TV stand that's height-adjustable, so I can watch it easily either seated or standing.
But apparently "height adjustable TV stand" as a search term means "we let you pick a height during assembly and fix it in place with four bolts". 😞
But apparently "height adjustable TV stand" as a search term means "we let you pick a height during assembly and fix it in place with four bolts". 😞
November 29, 2025 at 10:10 PM
Wanting to find a TV stand that's height-adjustable, so I can watch it easily either seated or standing.
But apparently "height adjustable TV stand" as a search term means "we let you pick a height during assembly and fix it in place with four bolts". 😞
But apparently "height adjustable TV stand" as a search term means "we let you pick a height during assembly and fix it in place with four bolts". 😞
This is incredible!
last week i remembered that macOS lets you set your own icons and that *I* have the power to delegitimize the professionalism of the software that runs on my machine, so here's a thread of the 16 new icons i've made so far
i really forgot how fun it was to just sit down and make art for myself :')
i really forgot how fun it was to just sit down and make art for myself :')
November 29, 2025 at 1:09 PM
This is incredible!
I haven't bought anything on Black Friday in the past few years. Not out of any anti-capitalist boycott, but just because I didn't see anything I needed or wanted. And I really tried!
This year, I'm not even going to bother looking.
This year, I'm not even going to bother looking.
November 28, 2025 at 3:46 PM
I haven't bought anything on Black Friday in the past few years. Not out of any anti-capitalist boycott, but just because I didn't see anything I needed or wanted. And I really tried!
This year, I'm not even going to bother looking.
This year, I'm not even going to bother looking.
This isn't as tone-deaf as Jay and the WAFFLES incident, but it's pretty bad. Bad enough that I'm going to cancel my subscription to @wired.com over it.
Rather than address feedback, they just prefer to mock the readers and make excuses. Truly pathetic.
Rather than address feedback, they just prefer to mock the readers and make excuses. Truly pathetic.
November 28, 2025 at 2:18 PM
This isn't as tone-deaf as Jay and the WAFFLES incident, but it's pretty bad. Bad enough that I'm going to cancel my subscription to @wired.com over it.
Rather than address feedback, they just prefer to mock the readers and make excuses. Truly pathetic.
Rather than address feedback, they just prefer to mock the readers and make excuses. Truly pathetic.
When I first used GitHub Copilot, I wasn't impressed. But that was a couple of years ago. Things have changed, and this take is 100% true. I can't speak to other fields, but AI enables *a lot* in programming that would've been too time consuming or difficult before.
At the risk of starting the flame war to end all flame wars...
Modern LLMs (GPT-5.1, Claude 4.5, Gemini 3) produce excellent code and can be a significant productivity boost to software engineers who take the time to learn how to effectively apply them - especially if used with coding agent tools
Modern LLMs (GPT-5.1, Claude 4.5, Gemini 3) produce excellent code and can be a significant productivity boost to software engineers who take the time to learn how to effectively apply them - especially if used with coding agent tools
November 28, 2025 at 12:42 AM
When I first used GitHub Copilot, I wasn't impressed. But that was a couple of years ago. Things have changed, and this take is 100% true. I can't speak to other fields, but AI enables *a lot* in programming that would've been too time consuming or difficult before.
I've just learned that if I'd chosen to focus my Bluesky time into writing a book this past year, I'd be a published author by now. 🤷♂️
Anisota's Annual Bluesky Harvest 2025
A recap of your year on Bluesky. Discover patterns, connections, and insights from your journey in the ATmosphere.
anisota.net
November 27, 2025 at 7:27 PM
I've just learned that if I'd chosen to focus my Bluesky time into writing a book this past year, I'd be a published author by now. 🤷♂️
Best I can manage for a side dish this year is tater tots from frozen. I'm thankful for modern conveniences that keep me alive despite ADHD.
November 27, 2025 at 6:44 PM
Best I can manage for a side dish this year is tater tots from frozen. I'm thankful for modern conveniences that keep me alive despite ADHD.
Reposted by Tom VanAntwerp 🔵
Reposted by Tom VanAntwerp 🔵
Happy Thanksgiving, America
November 27, 2025 at 2:14 PM
Happy Thanksgiving, America
Reposted by Tom VanAntwerp 🔵
Not much is known about our family’s patriarch. Sometimes in genealogy, the surname itself can be a clue. Mason, Baker, and Smith, for example, are all family names derived from an occupation, but the inscrutable origin of Ratbait is lost in the fog of English and American history.
As a Direct Descendent of a Mayflower Pilgrim, Thanksgiving Means a Little More to Me, Bartholomew Dunston Ratbait IV
In a meritocracy like the United States, fine breeding and birthright may seem like antiquated notions, but for a few storied American surnames (yo...
buff.ly
November 27, 2025 at 1:30 PM
Not much is known about our family’s patriarch. Sometimes in genealogy, the surname itself can be a clue. Mason, Baker, and Smith, for example, are all family names derived from an occupation, but the inscrutable origin of Ratbait is lost in the fog of English and American history.