Outdoor showers only?

Unlabeled coffee that is too hot may have lawsuit precedent but…

United States Postal Service stamp of dogbite awareness over a postcard stamp

Is #USPS making #DOGE jokes?

Cause if so, they bite.

When a graph really doesn’t make the point

Lasted sign that reads “ditch corporate media, read independent media” but is on an iPhone cut out

But stay on corporate devices with subscriptions to other corporates? The times they are a changing.

(Gentle snark, glad to see a student artist expressing themselves)

The office fridge…or sometimes you want to know and sometimes you don’t.

The internet loves cats…and curiosity in this situation may be death knell

Nerd alert

If @amtrak.com disappears, what happens to cities like @boston.gov, NYC, and DC and all the places linked together that people call community?

Sign on Boston’s T reading “changes are coming to the ways you can pay” announcing their fare project

Change came for Charlie, and it’s so good.

Thanks @mbta.com

Indiana Republicans Move to Ban Student IDs for Voting The new restriction, paired with Indiana’s stringent voter ID rules, would make it much harder for many young people to vote in a state that already ranks near-last in turnout.

Indiana University student Daniel Jenkins has spent years helping students register to vote & navigate the state’s already-strict election laws. He warns banning student IDs at the polls would create even more barriers, especially for out-of-state students.boltsmag.org/indiana...

Exclusive: Trump administration drops work on stronger building codes for disasters To help homes survive more intense disasters, FEMA has been developing recommendations for stronger building codes. The Trump Administration has pulled them back.

Building codes finally make the news! When was the last time most folks thought about them? Miami building collapse? Vermont floods? LA wildfires? If only there was a way to prepare for a stronger America…

FEMA backtracks on stronger building codes for disasters

www.npr.org/2025/02/20/n...

Analyzing DOGE actions one month into Trump’s second administration Faculty analysts at Harvard Kennedy School reflect on President Trump and Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency one month into the new administration.

@harvardkennedy.bsky.social asked a few of us to comment on the first weeks of DOGE. Read the perspectives of a wide range of faculty: www.hks.harvard.edu/faculty-rese...

picture of a trash can pedal reads 'push me down'

Push me down. Words for public trash cans, not public servants.

Lift us up.

Siberian elm with in Rose park covered in snow with branches stretching to the roots

Public servants do amazing work in government every day to make things better for those we serve.

Today we lift up and celebrate those Bright Spots so we can scale and expand.

“The cost of one modern heavy bomber is this: a modern brick school in more than 30 cities. It is two electric power plants, each serving a town of 60,000 population. It is two fine, fully equipped hospitals.“ -Pres Eisenhower

We’re seeing a lot of cutting right now - seems to me there are options

💡 This week's AI News that Caught Our Eye includes discussions of AI as a disaster planning tool and economic simulation planning partner. Featuring @michaelbaskin.bsky.social, @mitchweiss.bsky.social, @stephaniekelton.bsky.social, @ezrakleinbot.bsky.social
rebootdemocracy.ai/blog/news-th...

There is power and joy in imagining vibrant futures.

Trump's Federal Funding Pause Threatens State Financials President Donald Trump’s federal funding pause threatens more than $1 trillion that flows to states, cities and other local governments, putting everything from transit infrastructure to housing proje...

A shake up in govt shakes up people's lives - a pause means rent checks don't get paid and people get evicted, small businesses can't meet their obligations. We're all about to learn a lot about what our government does for us.

www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

2) governments aren’t doing enough (yet) to redesign services for agents…especially when that offers better routes than redesigning for humans

A good way to resist making govt worse for people? Make govt better with people.

www.doge.gov

And what does this do for trust in government (and knowing what is real and what isn't)?

Candidates need to be able to trust the website they apply on works, is safe, and is the official us gov site. USAjobs can get better ... and so many good UX and CX folks have spent so much quality time building the legitimacy of gov for this...

points for speed, and we can do better. www.doge.gov

screenshot of US Dept of Government Efficiency website.

So many folks have spent so long working to build trust in government through intentional, user tested government websites. And then....Woof.

h/t to hardworking colleagues in the #PlainLanguage #UX #CX communities of practice.

Reusing old office supplies is great …but apparently “insert this end in typewriter” is a sign these may have reached the end of their sticky life

Highway sign reading “DC EVENT TODAY USE METRO”

A good sign for transportation policy?

@buttigiegdem.bsky.social ‘a final message?

Mild understatement with solid directions

We Need Policy Implementers, Not Policy Makers Why the United States can’t buy technology.

Fukuyama: “The truth of the matter is that implementation is part of policymaking; if a policy can’t be properly implemented, it shouldn’t be rolled out in the first place since it will simply contribute to the narrative of ineffective and incompetent government.” open.substack.com/pub/persuasi...

Picture of a microwave door where the place one would press is not the place you actually press to open the door

Non-intuitive microwave door open button

#DesignOfEverydayThings

Metro Rewind

How did you use transit this year? Its #spotifywrapped for DMV #transit users metrorewind.com

Thank you David Graham for inviting @stephanieawade.bsky.social to present at the Generative AI and the Future City Executive Summit at @harvard.edu alongside @michaelbaskin.bsky.social where they empowered city leaders to harness the potential of AI within government operations.

#generativeai #ai

Big shifts for behavioural science: focusing on the social drivers of behaviour - BIT This is the second piece in our series explaining the four big shifts in behavioural science that BIT is aiming to achieve. In 2023, BIT published a manifesto setting out ten proposals for the future ...

Big shift 2️⃣ for behavioural science: make it more social

@mhallsworth.bsky.social shares how examining social connections, values, and identities can lead to surprising insights and push the field forward.

Read the second in our 4-part series👇
bit.ly/4jlRsR8