J. I. Swiderski, MURP

@swiderski

// 🚶, 🚲, & 🚌 advocate & planner // DC Michigander; Pitt+VATech alum // fan of PGH, SF, cities; walking, bikes, & buses; libraries; maps; baseball, football, & hockey; puns; oxford commas; & semicolons // Opinions mine, but you can have 'em // 💜🤍💚 they/he

381 Siguiendo1320 Seguidores3229 Publicaciones

Bluesky

¿Es tu perfil?Reclámalo y swiderski.dirty.social es tuyo.Reclamar perfil

J. I. Swiderski, MURP@swiderski· 19d

Update: 7/24/2026; This article was updated with confirmation from the National Guard Bureau that the contract is for three years.

J. I. Swiderski, MURP@swiderski· 19d

About as real as anything else printed in The Onion, yes. (It's also, per the date in the corner, about four years old.)

J. I. Swiderski, MURP@swiderski· 20d

love that according to the Yelp box in DDG, The Point is a Salad. Not a Salad Bar, or a Salad Restaurant, just … Salad. #MBTSaladRoll

Duck Duck Go highlights information from Yelp about The Point, on 2nd St SW in Buzzard Point DC. In addition to its URL, street address, phone number, hours, and reviews (an average of slightly less than 4 stars over 399 reviews), the box states that The Point is a "Salad in Washington".

J. I. Swiderski, MURP@swiderski· 21d

Got an email today from our renters' insurance company notifying us that something they'd tried to mail us had been returned by the Postal Service. Indeed, they still have our old—like, two apartments ago, not since 2019—address listed. Go to update it, and…DC isn't even an option anymore.

Progressive Homesite "Update Your Mailing Address" form. The State selector skips from Delaware to Florida -- no District of Columbia.

Progressive Homesite "Update Your Mailing Address" form. The State selector doesn't list DC under "Washington, DC", either.

J. I. Swiderski, MURP@swiderski· 21d

... "Interstate Street" ? (This appears to be an awkward auto-substitution for "I St", more commonly known locally as "Eye", but this isn't I St NW, or at least isn't the unit block—that isn't even a through street, it's an alley for a private high school. maps.app.goo.gl/rnfcjYDeMSWn...)

Streetview image of the unit block of I St NW, which is posted "Gonzaga parking only / no through traffic"

J. I. Swiderski, MURP@swiderski· 21d

As @westnorth.com wrote in @ggwash.org this week (ggwash.org/view/104128/...), "We’re all paying for underproduction" of housing. "it forces people into exhausting and expensive commutes to get to work" … and exhausting and expensive fights over where to put the vehicles they commute in….

We’re all paying for underproduction

It’s important to recognize that the housing shortage isn’t just an abstract phenomenon. DC’s housing shortage has very real human impacts: it raises your rent – or mortgage payment and property taxes; it forces people into exhausting and expensive commutes to get to work or accomplish daily tasks; it results in air and water pollution. What’s more, more homes would make our neighborhoods better places to live – and for more people.

J. I. Swiderski, MURP@swiderski· 22d

also, from their AI Settings page:

"Don't want AI? Visit noai.duckduckgo.com to search with no AI features and AI images filtered out."

J. I. Swiderski, MURP@swiderski· 24d

from the BBC liveblog after the final whistle…:

'There is no place or space for that'
FT: Spain 1-0 Argentina

Alan Shearer, Former England striker on BBC One at New York New Jersey Stadium

Paredes threw two or three haymakers into someone's face. He went for them. There is no place or space for that. We know how much it means to them and we know how much it hurts to lose, but there is a way to lose. Too many times we have seen that from Argentina. The reaction after the final whistle is terrible.

J. I. Swiderski, MURP@swiderski· 25d

@bsky.app still baffles me sometimes.

"No reposts yet" but in the upper corner "Reposted By" says "1 repost".

J. I. Swiderski, MURP@swiderski· 26d

Uh, I'm not sure that's _fog,_ y'all...

Notification from the Capital Weather app:
⚠️ Air Quality Alert
Fog (Washington DC)

J. I. Swiderski, MURP@swiderski· 27d

meanwhile, this very much not-AI content showed up in my email this afternoon from peoplesbooktakoma.com, and it was actually charming and made me smile....

[banner: Best of DC results are in!]

A huge THANK YOU to everyone who voted for us in Washington City Paper's Best of DC. We're so honored to WIN THE TOP PRIZE for our third year in a row and keep our title as Best Bookstore. Our customers and staff make this place what it is, and we're so grateful for all of you.

As a celebration of this incredible honor, we spent a LOT of time making this special t-shirt to celebrate:

[image of a classic 1990s "3PEAT World Champons Chicago Bulls" tshirt, with "2026" on a white bar over the years, "Peoples" on a white bar over the 'Chicago', and "ook" over the 'ulls' in 'Bulls'.]

(please note this is not a real shirt and a joke you can ask a sports fan about)

J. I. Swiderski, MURP@swiderski· 27d

oh, i'm sorry, is it Sweeps Month again already?

J. I. Swiderski, MURP@swiderski· 28d

@capitalweather.com enjoying the (Android) app, but wishing the link at the end of this air quality alert were clickable, and/or that any of this text were selectable. As is, there's no real way to get from seeing the URL to actually accessing the page without a long detour.

Air quality alert message in Capital Weather app. At the end, there's a line that says "for more information on ground level ozone and find particles visit the web site https://www.mwcog.org/environment/air/forecast/" — but the URL isn't actually linked and you can't select the text; I only got it here bc I can see it and voice-to-text it.

J. I. Swiderski, MURP@swiderski· 28d

hopefully it works better than the one in Pittsburgh, which as i recall was an expensive *not* off-the-shelf product which had some significant issues... maps.app.goo.gl/hYRxKVdUrAPf... (2017: www.cbsnews.com/pittsburgh/n...; 2018: www.cbsnews.com/pittsburgh/n...)

High-water signal and barrier on Washington Blvd at Negley Run in Pittsburgh

J. I. Swiderski, MURP@swiderski· 29d

friendly reminder that nobody should ever allow automatic loading of images in email, and if you don't use ALT text for the images in your email your emails will look like hot garbage to many of your recipients.

Email from DC Mayor's Office of Community Affairs is entirely images with no alt text. I have automatic loading of images in email disabled (it's an immense security risk and should never be enabled!) and none of the images have alt text, so it's just a big blank block of broken-image icons.

J. I. Swiderski, MURP@swiderski· Jul 10

i have ofc seen questions in online-shopping Q&As that clearly indicate the asker did not read the listing. but when the question specifically asks for clarity about a statement _in_ the features list, perhaps simply restating it might not be a sufficient response....

Bullet from feature list for Garmin Forerunner 170 Music at REI:

"Listen on the go with downloaded songs and playlists from Spotify, Amazon Music or Deezer (subscription required)"

question submitted to REI's listing for the Garmin Forerunner 170 Music:

'Features mentions "downloaded songs and playlists from Spotify, Amazon Music or Deezer" — can you add songs you own, such as from your phone or computer, or _only_ through these three services?'

Reply from "REIservice": 'Songs can be downloaded directly to the watch from Spotify, Amazon Music, or Deezer (subscription required).'

J. I. Swiderski, MURP@swiderski· Jul 9

Ya don't say !

Alerts from the Capital Weather app: rain has been detected near my location and there is thunder in the vicinity (I can hear it from my desk).

J. I. Swiderski, MURP@swiderski· Jul 9

MD DOOM inbound to Silver Spring.... #dcwx

Dark clouds west of Downtown Silver Spring

J. I. Swiderski, MURP@swiderski· Jul 8

DC Board of Elections website dcboe.org still out to lunch…?

Cloudflare reports the DCBOE server is unreachable.

J. I. Swiderski, MURP@swiderski· Jul 6

The Guardian on Norway beating Brazil:

If you think that's a sporting miracle, get a load of this: the New York Mets won today.

J. I. Swiderski, MURP@swiderski· Jul 1

DC Democratic Party holding their Post-Election Unity Happy Hour the night before a holiday weekend when many people are or will be out of town—incl. many who often _don't_ leave town on holidays—is certainly A Choice. (And of course they announced it all of two days ahead of time…)

Post-Election Unity Happy Hour [organized by DC Democratic Party]

The primary elections are officially behind us, and while we may have knocked on doors for different campaigns, we are moving forward as one united party.

Whether you backed a specific candidate or worked behind the scenes to keep our democracy moving, it’s time to celebrate our collective efforts and reconnect with fellow local Democrats. Come enjoy botanical-inspired craft beers, signature mocktails, and great food at Shaw’s newly opened Urban Garden Brewhouse — D.C.’s first Black woman-owned brewery.

When: Thursday, July 2nd | 6:30 PM – 8:00 PM

Where: Urban Garden Brewhouse | 624 T Street NW, Washington, D.C.

Let’s toast to our continued progress and build the momentum we need for the General Election. We can't wait to see you there!

J. I. Swiderski, MURP@swiderski· Jun 28

Not sure it's still there, but there used to be one like that outside a GetGo (≈ 7-11) on the South Side of Pittsburgh. Not only was it so close to the wall you couldn't use the back, there was an ice chest to the left and a Redbox to the right so close you couldn't even use the front.

Circa 2013 photo of my bike completely unable to reach a bike rack at a Pittsburgh convenience store

J. I. Swiderski, MURP@swiderski· Jun 26

.@fastmail.com has a "masked" email feature, which is actually a whole other address. (+-suffixes also work, I believe.)

Masked Email

Keep your real email address private. Make a unique email address to use everywhere you log in on the web. Add a description to track who should have it. Block addresses if they start sending spam.

Add a domain to personalize this in Settings → Domains.

J. I. Swiderski, MURP@swiderski· Jun 26

Fun fact about using custom email addresses for various functions, especially when your system lets you name the addresses: When you get added to email lists without consent or outright spammed, sometimes you get to see exactly where they got your address.

J. I. Swiderski, MURP@swiderski· Jun 15

curious message that landed in my spam filter this weekend. anyone know if it's legit....?

EMAIL NOTICE

If you purchased five or more new physical goods from third-party sellers on Amazon’s marketplace on or after May 26, 2017, you may be a class member in an ongoing class action lawsuit.

For more information about the lawsuit, read below or visit www.AmazonAntitrustLitigation.com.
Para una notification en Espanol, visitor www.AmazonAntitrustLitigation.com.

A federal court authorized this Notice. This is not a solicitation from a lawyer.

Who’s included? You could be affected by a lawsuit against Amazon.com, Inc. The Court ordered this notice and decided that the lawsuit should proceed on behalf of a group of people that could include you (the “Class”). The Court has decided that, unless you request to opt out (exclude yourself), you are a member of the Class defined as: all persons in the United States who on or after May 26, 2017, purchased five or more new, physical goods from third-party sellers on Amazon’s marketplace.

What is the lawsuit about? The name of the lawsuit is De Coster et al. v. Amazon.com, Inc., and it is pending in the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington (Case No. 2:21-cv-00693-JHC).

A group of consumers (“Plaintiffs”) have filed a class action lawsuit against Amazon. The lawsuit alleges that Amazon violated federal antitrust laws by using its market power to impose and enforce an anti-discounting policy on its third-party sellers that allowed Amazon to charge higher commission fees and caused higher prices for goods sold on the Amazon marketplace by third-party sellers. Specifically, Plaintiffs claim that Amazon violated the Sherman Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1 et seq. Plaintiffs are seeking money damages for purchasers and changes to Amazon’s policies and practices. Amazon denies any wrongdoing, and the Court has not yet decided whether Amazon did anything wrong.

Who represents the Class? The Court has appointed the law firms of Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP, Keller Postman LLC, and Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP to represent the Class (“Class Counsel”). If you are a member of the Class, Class Counsel is representing your interests in the lawsuit. You don’t have to pay Class Counsel to participate. You may hire your own lawyer to appear in Court for you at your own expense.

What are your options? If you want to be included in the Class and this lawsuit, you do not need to do anything, and you will be legally bound by all of the Court’s orders and Court’s judgment, whether favorable or not. You also keep open the possibility of getting money or benefits that may come from a trial or settlement. If you do not want to participate in this lawsuit against Amazon or if you want to keep any right you may have to sue Amazon on your own over the legal claims in this lawsuit, you need to exclude yourself (“opt out”). If you exclude yourself, you cannot get money or benefits, if any are awarded, from this lawsuit in the future. Your request to opt out must be submitted by August 31, 2026. Go to www.AmazonAntitrustLitigation.com for more information on how to opt out.

Where to get more information? This notice is only a summary. For more information on this lawsuit, please visit www.AmazonAntitrustLitigation.com or call (877) 238-1874.

You may also obtain information regarding the lawsuit on the Court docket in this lawsuit, for a fee, through the Court’s Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER) system at https://ecf.wawd.uscourts.gov or by visiting the office of the Clerk of the Court for the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington, 700 Stewart Street, Suite 2310, Seattle, WA 98101, between 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

PLEASE DO NOT TELEPHONE OR CONTACT AMAZON, AMAZON’S ATTORNEYS, THE COURT OR THE COURT CLERK’S OFFICE TO ASK ABOUT THIS LAWSUIT.

J. I. Swiderski, MURP@swiderski· Jun 11

apparently @fastmail.com has decided the incessant "didja see this post didja see it didja didja huh huh ?!?" emails from Facebook are just as spammy as the incessant "give me money give me attention gimme gimme gimme!!!" emails "from" DJT, and.... I'll take it.

my email spam filter with emails from Facebook mixed between emails from "Donald J. Trump", "TEST FROM TRUMP", "President Trump", and "Freedom 250".

J. I. Swiderski, MURP@swiderski· Jun 11

Is it me, or your screen, or could they not even get the typefaces to be internally consistent……? "Finding" and "Jesus" look like different weights, if not completely different fonts, like the second word was just added in there later… (…dontsayitdontsayitdontsay …"my Jesus iz pastede on yay!!"…)

Screenshot of photo of title screen for "Finding Nemo" ripoff 'Finding Jesus'

J. I. Swiderski, MURP@swiderski· Jun 10

i have like 40 — among others, there's over two dozen TSI requests entered for 19th & Wyoming NW, all marked "for Future Consideration", and AFAICT not a single one is accessible. The problem SRs seem to date from as early as 2023 and as late as 2025, though I could get to both older & newer ones.

Search bar on the 311 website. An error message says the entered "request ID has expired or is invalid."

J. I. Swiderski, MURP@swiderski· Jun 9

nope, i get the same error even from the search on the main page. (But mostly i just go direct to the SR URL, 311.dc.gov/citizen/s/se... [SR#] )

a search bar with a service request number and the error message "The request ID has expired or is invalid."

J. I. Swiderski, MURP@swiderski· Jun 9

...maybe it's just me, but i kinda feel like 311 SR numbers shouldn't just.... expire....? /cc @vegjosh.bsky.social @zachisrael.bsky.social