Nathan J. Williams

@nathanjw

Boston-area nerd, computer professional, parent, cook, brewer, award-winning cidermaker. Xoogler. He/him. Also @nathanw@metasocial.com (fediverse), nathanw.62 (Signal)

331 Folgt455 Follower802 Posts

Bluesky

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Nathan J. Williams@nathanjw· 4d

Oh dear.

Photo of a package of white candies, with a clear panel that appears to be held open on two sides by the paws of an animal. It resembles a famous image.

Nathan J. Williams@nathanjw· 6d

Okay, this made me snicker. From @pkrugman.bsky.social's newsletter.

Screenshot - picture of the top of a bottle of MiraLAX, with a line of text underneath reading "There is no longer a presumption of regularity"

Nathan J. Williams@nathanjw· Jun 19

Cursed conference room connectors.

Wall electrical plate with two RJ-style phone jacks, labeled "VGA" and "HDMI".

Nathan J. Williams@nathanjw· Jun 10

I do not understand why this is an ad campaign that makes sense to run on the MBTA.

Photo of a city bus - identifiable as an MBTA bus - with an ad banner reading "Just beyond Boston, way beyond compare. Cambridge, Massachusetts, 3 miles from downtown Boston"

Nathan J. Williams@nathanjw· May 15

Here's a local example of them being respected: The turn from Lake St in Arlington onto Littlejohn St., which is posted no entry 4-7pm. At 3pm: www.google.com/maps/dir/42.... At 5pm: www.google.com/maps/dir/42....

Screenshot of Google Maps driving directions, showing a roundabout route from Lake St to a point on Littlejohn St in Arlington, MA. This is notable for avoiding the direct right turn onto Littlejohn St., as the turn is time-restricted.

Screenshot of Google Maps driving directions, showing a direct turn from Lake St. onto Littlejohn St. in Arlington, MA

Nathan J. Williams@nathanjw· May 12

Configuration complexity clock! mikehadlow.blogspot.com/2012/05/conf...

An analog clock face showing 12, 3, 6, 9. There are corresponding labels: "Hard Coded" at 12, "Config Values" at 3, "Rules Engine" at 6, "DSL" at 9.
From https://mikehadlow.blogspot.com/2012/05/configuration-complexity-clock.html

Nathan J. Williams@nathanjw· Apr 23

www.pnas.org/doi/full/10....

Chart titled "How heterosexual couples have met, data from 2009 and 2017". The major trend is online taking over everything else starting in the late 1990s.

Source: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1908630116

Nathan J. Williams@nathanjw· Mar 16

Two in a row on the crosswalk today.

Street crosswalk viewed from above, with a car parked on it.

Street crosswalk viewed from above, with a car parked along it.

Nathan J. Williams@nathanjw· Feb 17

Happy... everything, it seems. I'm celebrating school vacation week in Los Cabos, finding interesting things in the intertidal zone on the beach, and trying the local beer.

Selfie of a middle aged white guy in a broad hat on a beach in front of a bunch of rocks.

Close up of two snails attached to a rock.

Sampler: six small glasses of beer on a paddle labeled with the beer names.

Nathan J. Williams@nathanjw· Jan 25

If I'm going to be snowed in, might as well bake.

Two dark and glossy loaves of braided challah on a wire rack on a cutting board.

Nathan J. Williams@nathanjw· Jan 6

Three at once, with pedestrians walking around the one on the crosswalk.

Three cars parked at the edge of an intersection, with one across the crosswalk. Several people are standing in the crosswalk next to that car.

Nathan J. Williams@nathanjw· Dec 29

I thought this Cambridge police car might have been parked on the crosswalk to facilitate doing something about the van parked on the crosswalk... but no, they were just parking illegally to pick up their own lunch.

A crosswalk with a white van and a police sedan parked on top of it, while a bus passes by.

Nathan J. Williams@nathanjw· Dec 26

Sundog in Hillsboro, VA

Photo of the sun just setting behind a hill next to a bare tree, with a sun dog effect visible on both sides.

Nathan J. Williams@nathanjw· Dec 20

Screenshot of post by @skyelab.bsky.social, Dec 23 2023 at 2:38pm
Text: Do you believe that my being holly or jolly has anything to do with my cheer in this place? Do you think that's nog you're drinking?
Photo: Morpheus in "The Matrix" dojo.

Nathan J. Williams@nathanjw· Dec 10

And the rest of my lunchtime, including three in a row where one car waited on the car traffic lane for the previous one to vacate the "spot" on the bike lane.

Two red cars stopped at the wrong place in an intersection, one atop the bike lane and one behind it sticking into the main travel lane.

A red car stopped on the bike lane and a black car behind, with an EZ Ride bus making a wide turn around them.

Wider view of two cars stopped at the wrong place on an intersection.

Two cars stopped in the semi-blocked travel lane.

Nathan J. Williams@nathanjw· Dec 10

This looked promising at first - a police car approached with lights on and talked to the driver of this one. But then just drove away, maybe after determining that the car wasn't broken down? Sigh. One minute later, another one

Car parked at the edge of an intersection, with a Cambridge police SUV stopped in front of it.

Nathan J. Williams@nathanjw· Dec 8

This one is novel; it's parked in the vestigial westbound lane (blocked long-term due to the construction next door) that had become part of the merge/slip leave from southbound Galileo.

White car parked in a mostly-unused travel lane near an intersection crosswalk.

Nathan J. Williams@nathanjw· Dec 8

A twofer: on top of the crosswalk *and* the parallel bike lane. Coincidentally similar SUVs.

Two white SUVs parked in an intersection, one in the crosswalk, one blocking the parallel bike lane.

Nathan J. Williams@nathanjw· Dec 2

Another one literally on top of the crosswalk, minutes later.

Blue-grey sedan parked on top of a street crosswalk.

Nathan J. Williams@nathanjw· Dec 2

Back to the office, back to this thread.

Nathan J. Williams@nathanjw· Nov 24

Three more in fifteen minutes today.

Black car parked in the street next to a crosswalk.

White sedan parked in the street next to a crosswalk.

Silver sedan parked in the street right up against a crosswalk.

Nathan J. Williams@nathanjw· Nov 20

Today's edition

Overhead photo of a silver sedan stopped on top of a crosswalk while the driver walks toward the building (presumably towards the Sweetgreen).

Nathan J. Williams@nathanjw· Nov 17

This one is abuse of the (currently unused due to construction) turn lane, but it left the crosswalk alone.

Overheard photo of a car stopped on the road near a crosswalk.

Nathan J. Williams@nathanjw· Nov 17

At least this one isn't literally on top of the crosswalk?

Overhead view of crosswalk with a black SUV parked illegally against it.

Nathan J. Williams@nathanjw· Nov 17

Five minutes later, on the other side of the same intersection:

Overhead view of a crosswalk with a black car parked across it, blocking the curb cut.

Nathan J. Williams@nathanjw· Nov 17

Food delivery is a menace. We're tolerating parking on top of a crosswalk so somebody can get a slop bowl brought to them?

Overhead photo of a street crosswalk, with a black car parked across it, pointed at the curb, four-what flashers active, while the driver approaches the car carrying a bag from Sweetgreen.

Nathan J. Williams@nathanjw· Nov 4

As promised. (Cubano from Dave's Fresh Pasta)

A sandwich on butcher paper, in the form of a cibatta roll with ham, cheese, and pickles visible at the edges. Cut in half, and with grill marks running the length of the roll.

Nathan J. Williams@nathanjw· Oct 18

Excellent signs courtesy of @kjhealy.co .

Adult and teen in the Boston Common with "No King Any Time" parking-sign style signs.

Nathan J. Williams@nathanjw· Sep 6

Re-upping the "award winning cidermaker" part of my bio - thank you to the New England Homebrew Jamboree for a #1 prize for my 2023 Quebec-style ice cider.

Selfie of a white man with a ribbon and medal, in front of a campground, picnic table, and tents.

Close up of a medal on a ribbon on a person's chest, reading "NEHJ 2025/1st Place/Cider"

Nathan J. Williams@nathanjw· Jul 31

Regarding the discourse du jour, you don't even want a regular knife for opening boxes. One of these "Canary" tools is way better. It's good at cutting through tape and cardboard without cutting or stabbing the contents or yourself, and is coated (Teflon?) so tape doesn't stick to it.