Chris Nicholson

Today I turned in my petition signatures to qualify for the November ballot for RTD District A. This was an all-volunteer effort and I’m deeply grateful to Kate Williams, @jamesflattum, @RlyJohnConnor and @MikeFromCo for giving a helping hand & the SoS for a smooth process.

I keep thinking I miss having someone like Steve Jobs in the industry. He had some standards. He cared about quality, coherence, and making great products. He could be ruthless and he had plenty of flaws, but it still felt like he and Apple were trying to make something genuinely great above all else. They had their opinions and you could respect that. They didn't try to force you, but make their case why they think it's good. Now tech feels driven by trend chasing, fear, scale, revenue comparisons, endless games and everyone talks their book. Investors come first, business goals next, and users last if not at all. I wish there would still someone like Steve still around

The impacts of AI on the economy are the biggest political opportunity for progressive policy in a generation and we might blow it because people think Claude is Google.

Builders build. Then they ship. Then they solve what breaks. Launch isn’t the finish line. It’s where reality starts. Great products aren’t defined at launch...they’re defined by how they perform in the real world. With the #iPod it took us a few generations to truly get it right. We built and shipped the first version of the iPod in 9 months- greenlit in March 2001, announced that October and began shipping in November. Then we fixed, iterated, and produced a product that lasted many years, and ultimately paved the way for the #iPhone. Many of us still love our iPods! That’s what happens when you stay with the product. Trust comes from what happens after release and from doing the hard parts: scaling, supporting, improving. Focus on what’s real: working product, real customers, real outcomes. That’s the difference between hype and something that lasts.

Guys, is it starting? Are fire departments discovering they can drive slightly smaller trucks without fires becoming emboldened? That they can work with other public goals and maintain capability? Deputy Chief: “Charlottesville is a very bike-friendly community, walk-friendly community. One of the expectations we hear often is about getting smaller fire trucks,” Broscious said. “They’re easier to drive and maneuver through city streets.” The arrival of the newest engine means that the city’s front line is now entirely comprised of new, smaller models. He said these new trucks have a low hose bed, a shorter wheelbase that’s able to turn a lot easier than the classic, over-sized fire trucks. Community member: “Having the city proactively getting these smaller trucks means that hopefully we’ll be able to have narrower streets. That makes room for bikes and walking, but it also makes the road itself safer for everybody...I’m so excited to see the city taking actual concrete steps to follow through on its goals of being a safer, more walkable, more bikeable city.” Also as a side note see the pretty little gold filigree on the door that says “Class I ISO”? Turns out a smaller truck doesn’t suddenly cause them to lose ISO rating status or violate some mythical NFPA standard that equates truck size to capable response. Now - Someone get me in touch so I can help them save money via commercial chassis instead of being abused by Pierce with an all-custom setup next time. And start a conversation about cheaper turntable ladders with superior capability.

We’re living in a golden age of Fake 30 Rock Movies That Inexplicably Became Real

@MorePerfectUS This thing carries enough people to fill 10 full ride shares but it only provides one job. These eliminate 9 jobs each and the tech industry is trying to push them on my city

@burgessev Parents should be prevented from dropping off kids in front of the school. Make them walk a block and set up crossing guards.

Underrated societal scourge: Parent drivers at school drop-off. Many of these people are dangerous maniacs

@ThrillaRilla369 Did you ever have a secret? If you ever shared it with someone, you know how hard it was to keep it a secret. How the heck would they be able to fake a moon landing with hundreds, maybe thousands of co-conspirators, and keep it a secret all these years?

My conviction remains: God did not ordain Donald Trump to rescue the American church, or revive the American church, or redeem the American church. God ordained Donald Trump to test the American church. And the American church has failed.

I'm sorry George.

This is fucking brilliant

Shoutout to all the dads that paid five grand for this in 2004

Learn to find the good places, there’s great food all over Denver and across the state

@humantransit As a close partner of ATU 1001, I’m excited to build a future at RTD where labor is at the table as we make that transition.

@Boenau @Kazanjy That is not the case here in Colorado. The union here gets that this is coming regardless of what we do, and the alternative is likely privatization or voters moving away from public transit spending. Neither of those are better for them.

@Kazanjy @chrisFnicholson In VA, we had a similar fight against software operations at ports. Unions fought hard against automation that would save lives of union workers, not to mention prevent that many life-altering injuries.

The reason all the "new urbanist" and "transit" accounts are anti-AV is thanks to their historical alliance with public transit, and by extension, the unions of those agencies. Transit people should be overjoyed about a safer transit technology in the form of autonomy. But it threatens the jobs-programs-masquerading-as-transit-systems that is every public transit agency. So these transit people find themselves twisted into knots fighting against what is fundamentally a revolutionary transit technology innovation. Sad.

@Boenau @Kazanjy Great transit agencies and their unions should be doubling down on autonomy because it allows you to serve more people with the same number of staff. On the RTD board here in Denver, those of us most committed to autonomy are also those most committed to union labor.

@Kazanjy It's really disappointing to see my people double down on this.

@daveweigel I mean, the same dude thinks Phil Weiser here in Colorado is God’s gift to Democrats, so maybe he’s just blowing smoke to get attention.

Part of this story is that the lieutenant governor ran for two years, voters completely ignored her, and she dropped out. So I guess the question is why CA Dems don’t have more compelling statewide electeds? Eye of the beholder, it’s hard to grab attention

I feel like I’m picking on this guy but nobody thinks “they’re the best they have.” That’s been the story — the AAA players decided not to run, so you have Swalwell et al shooting their shot. The field includes a former cabinet secretary and state AG, people just think he’s lame

BREAKING: GRRM claims The Winds of Winter is "too powerful" to be released to the public, will restrict preview access to ~40 r/asoiaf mods.

Vetoing bills that are incredibly popular with your base will do that.

Pleasant days exploring greater Denver's @RideRTD network, as we get ready to start work on a transit plan here.