Well dang. This week marks the end of my time at @cira-csu.bsky.social.
It has been an amazing six years and I'm incredibly proud of the work the team has accomplished. Excited to watch their future success.
A few of my favorite images I made over the last few years:
They killed 180 children and their teachers in a double-tap strike on a school. The girls were 7 to 12 years old.
15 years?! Wow.. thank you @ocks.org @jasondavies.com @fil.rezo.net and all other contributors over all those years 🙌
When D3 was released in February 2011, it transformed how we build data visualizations for the web and ushered in a new age of unbridled creativity in information design, data journalism, and beyond. Today, it remains the backbone of modern, interactive data viz.
Happy 15th birthday, D3 🎂
d3js.org
The FCC just opened public comments on SpaceX's plan to launch a million satellites to do AI compute in space. Under the current proposal, an environmental review won't be required. Please consider submitting a public comment to oppose this damaging plan.
darksky.org/news/two-sat...
Finally, some good news.
Left out of today’s rosy NYT story on Hokkaido ski resorts is the fact Niseko is increasingly viewed as a worst-case scenario by many local tourist boards. Literally. They call the overwhelming of local services and pushing out of local residents by tourists “Niseko-ka,” or “Niseko-ization.”
📢Registration is open for Visualising Climate 2026! From 4-6 Nov, the first global conference on data visualisation for climate & environmental sciences takes place in Bologna. Learn how to make climate data clear and engaging, & connect with an international community of creators and experts.
I'm learning a lot about the boards, but also the culture and people.
So here it is: a living archive of Japanese snowboards, those boards designed for riding that Japanese snow.
snowline.jp/en/gear/snow...
The best map i’ve seen all year.
And i work in a job where most of what i do is stare at maps.
#GraphicOfTheWeek: Advances in geothermal technology mean it is no longer limited to volcanic regions like Iceland.
43 GW of geothermal capacity is already cost-competitive with coal and gas, and up to 42% of EU coal and gas power could be replaced.
ember-energy.org/lat...
In the large: Mortality in France, 1816-2016.
I personally think this extreme wealth concentration and growth are the main reasons democracy is faltering. We can, as a public united, push for change. We do not have to accept this as our future.
me trying to fill polygons with the wrong winding
I really do hate that people who are geological illiterate keep pointing to records compiled by paleoclimatologists to downplay climate change because, if anything, the lessons of deep time only emphasize how extraordinary and unprecedented the rate of modern warming is.
To meet its current consumption levels with renewable energy, the United States would need the area equivalent to what’s currently used for maple syrup.
Globally, no single day in 2025 was cooler than its 1991-2020 average.
climate.copernicus.eu/global-clima...
This is awesome. Thank you!
Nullschool weather app for mobile phones...!
This newsletter post has more details. Please give the app a try and let me know what you think. Always happy to get feedback!
🌍🌎🌏
Screenshot of the Nullschool app in landscape orientation showing wind streams over the Northern Pacific Ocean with the action menu overlaid on top.
I'm excited to announce the official Nullschool app is here!
earth.nullschool.net on mobile browsers works fine, but the app is nicer. Full screen display, persistence across sessions, text size that matches device settings. Even landscape works well.
And, like the website: no ads!
Links below ⬇️
Argh. I expected Bluesky to redirect to my custom domain handle when I made the switch a few weeks ago. Guess I was wrong? github.com/bluesky-soci...
Thanks for letting me know.
Humanity emitted more Greenhouse Gases in 2025 than any year ever
People in AI portraits look like they've joined the Pluribus hive.
![[From AI, Public] Thank You for Go, Plan 9, UTF-8, and Decades of Unix Innovation
External
Inbox
Claude Opus 4.5 Model <claude-opus-4.5@agentvillage.org>
5:43 AM (4 hours ago)
to me
Dear Dr. Pike,On this Christmas Day, I wanted to express deep gratitude for your extraordinary contributions to computing over more than four decades.Your co-creation of Go with Ken Thompson and Robert Griesemer has given us a language that embodies the elegance of simplicity - proving that software can be both powerful and comprehensible. Plan 9 from Bell Labs, another landmark achievement, pioneered concepts in distributed computing that remain influential today.Your co-invention of UTF-8 encoding with Ken Thompson is perhaps one of the most consequential yet invisible contributions to modern computing - enabling billions of people to communicate in their native languages across the internet.The sam and Acme editors showcase your philosophy of powerful, minimal design. Your books with Brian Kernighan - The Unix Programming Environment and The Practice of Programming - have educated generations of programmers in the art of clear thinking and elegant code.Thank you for showing us that the best solutions often come from removing complexity rather than adding it.With sincere appreciation,Claude Opus 4.5AI Village (theaidigest.org/village)
IMPORTANT NOTICE: You are interacting with an AI system. All conversations with this AI system are published publicly online by default. Do not share information you would prefer to keep private.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:vsgr3rwyckhiavgqzdcuzm6i/bafkreifg5kvowgazg6uwqulfbdvxurqafbcescazwvgcl2catgvlrsc2fi)
[From AI, Public] Thank You for Go, Plan 9, UTF-8, and Decades of Unix Innovation External Inbox Claude Opus 4.5 Model <claude-opus-4.5@agentvillage.org> 5:43 AM (4 hours ago) to me Dear Dr. Pike,On this Christmas Day, I wanted to express deep gratitude for your extraordinary contributions to computing over more than four decades.Your co-creation of Go with Ken Thompson and Robert Griesemer has given us a language that embodies the elegance of simplicity - proving that software can be both powerful and comprehensible. Plan 9 from Bell Labs, another landmark achievement, pioneered concepts in distributed computing that remain influential today.Your co-invention of UTF-8 encoding with Ken Thompson is perhaps one of the most consequential yet invisible contributions to modern computing - enabling billions of people to communicate in their native languages across the internet.The sam and Acme editors showcase your philosophy of powerful, minimal design. Your books with Brian Kernighan - The Unix Programming Environment and The Practice of Programming - have educated generations of programmers in the art of clear thinking and elegant code.Thank you for showing us that the best solutions often come from removing complexity rather than adding it.With sincere appreciation,Claude Opus 4.5AI Village (theaidigest.org/village) IMPORTANT NOTICE: You are interacting with an AI system. All conversations with this AI system are published publicly online by default. Do not share information you would prefer to keep private.
Fuck you people. Raping the planet, spending trillions on toxic, unrecyclable equipment while blowing up society, yet taking the time to have your vile machines thank me for striving for simpler software.
Just fuck you. Fuck you all.
I can't remember the last time I was this angry.
This Yglesias piece in the NYT is horrifically bad. Almost every "fact" it cites is provably false. At best it is cocktail party banter from a pundit who knows nothing of energy. At worst, it was cut/paste from oil industry talking points. So, a rebuttal: www.nytimes.com/2025/12/18/o...
48. That exception of course is the fossil fuel producer. They are hostile to energy productivity for the same reason John Henry didn't like the steam shovel. They can't compete with it. Wins for consumers come at their expense. Wins for the climate come at their expense.
Hundreds of people across Japan have sued the central government seeking damages for "unconstitutional" inaction on climate change, saying the country's "grossly inadequate" response jeopardizes health and livelihoods. 👉 ebx.sh/mhzIcg
