Dustin Block
@dustinblock.bsky.social
Journalism, product, AI and miscellenia.
I see the light at the end of the tunnel now. Someone please tell me it's not a train. -Cracker
I see the light at the end of the tunnel now. Someone please tell me it's not a train. -Cracker
As Flock's etwork grows, so do the concerns over mass surveillance. Like the woman in this story who had to use her own dashboard camera to prove her innocence.
Reporting by @coloradosun.com
coloradosun.com/2025/10/28/f...
Reporting by @coloradosun.com
coloradosun.com/2025/10/28/f...
After police used Flock cameras to accuse a Denver woman of theft, she had to prove her own innocence
Chrisanna Elser spent days collecting evidence, from apps on her phone to dashcam footage in her vehicle, to prove her whereabouts
coloradosun.com
October 29, 2025 at 2:04 PM
As Flock's etwork grows, so do the concerns over mass surveillance. Like the woman in this story who had to use her own dashboard camera to prove her innocence.
Reporting by @coloradosun.com
coloradosun.com/2025/10/28/f...
Reporting by @coloradosun.com
coloradosun.com/2025/10/28/f...
I tried out Google AI Studio's new vibe coding option. Here's the ☕ Pour Over Pal: pour-over-pal-734205236203.us-west1.run.app #coffee
Pour Over Pal
pour-over-pal-734205236203.us-west1.run.app
October 27, 2025 at 3:20 PM
I tried out Google AI Studio's new vibe coding option. Here's the ☕ Pour Over Pal: pour-over-pal-734205236203.us-west1.run.app #coffee
Pageless format should be the default in Google Docs.
October 10, 2025 at 1:02 PM
Pageless format should be the default in Google Docs.
It's been 15 years since Arcade Fire dropped their Google Maps video for The Wilderness Downtown. www.thewildernessdowntown.com
The Wilderness Downtown
Check out Arcade Fire's new interactive HTML5 music experience, “The Wilderness Downtown”.
www.thewildernessdowntown.com
September 17, 2025 at 3:12 PM
It's been 15 years since Arcade Fire dropped their Google Maps video for The Wilderness Downtown. www.thewildernessdowntown.com
Reposted by Dustin Block
A sweet old lady wrote me to ask if I would help her out by signing off Jeopardy! every night saying "Don't forget your night medicine, my friends." I am actively considering this.
August 15, 2025 at 6:25 PM
A sweet old lady wrote me to ask if I would help her out by signing off Jeopardy! every night saying "Don't forget your night medicine, my friends." I am actively considering this.
Reposted by Dustin Block
Hey, as a librarian I need to tell you:
Our funding depends on usage.
So go ahead and check out that book even if you don't think you'll finish it. No one will know. Check out that DVD even though you might not like it. Get ambitious in your quest for knowledge.
Our funding depends on usage.
So go ahead and check out that book even if you don't think you'll finish it. No one will know. Check out that DVD even though you might not like it. Get ambitious in your quest for knowledge.
August 12, 2025 at 2:05 PM
Hey, as a librarian I need to tell you:
Our funding depends on usage.
So go ahead and check out that book even if you don't think you'll finish it. No one will know. Check out that DVD even though you might not like it. Get ambitious in your quest for knowledge.
Our funding depends on usage.
So go ahead and check out that book even if you don't think you'll finish it. No one will know. Check out that DVD even though you might not like it. Get ambitious in your quest for knowledge.
With the new GPT-5 I keep adding the phrase "think hard" to try and get it to default to the new model. If I think hard about it, I'm the one being prompted.
August 12, 2025 at 7:48 PM
With the new GPT-5 I keep adding the phrase "think hard" to try and get it to default to the new model. If I think hard about it, I'm the one being prompted.
Reposted by Dustin Block
Confession time: I've been working on a secret side project at Vox Media for the past 18 months and it launched yesterday
August 6, 2025 at 4:25 PM
Confession time: I've been working on a secret side project at Vox Media for the past 18 months and it launched yesterday
Census of coffee mugs on my desk: 5.
July 10, 2025 at 4:55 PM
Census of coffee mugs on my desk: 5.
Karate Kid: Legends is perfect.
June 22, 2025 at 11:11 AM
Karate Kid: Legends is perfect.
Got an email today saying I was enrolled in Reddit 2FA, even though I never signed up. It said to contact them immediately if I didn't enroll, but just got a message back saying there's nothing they can do. Sharing for anyone with a similar experience.
May 8, 2025 at 3:23 PM
Got an email today saying I was enrolled in Reddit 2FA, even though I never signed up. It said to contact them immediately if I didn't enroll, but just got a message back saying there's nothing they can do. Sharing for anyone with a similar experience.
Reposted by Dustin Block
“We train our journalists… to get the context right, to get the nuance right, the ‘so what?’, the ‘yes, but’, the ‘what don’t we know?’.
“Those are core tenants of journalism.
“And those are not core tenants built into any constitution of any AI model…”
mediacopilot.substack.com/p/inside-reu...
“Those are core tenants of journalism.
“And those are not core tenants built into any constitution of any AI model…”
mediacopilot.substack.com/p/inside-reu...
Inside Reuters’ AI playbook: Why Jane Barrett says journalism can’t afford to sit this one out
AI is rewriting the rules of content, but who’s writing the rules for AI in newsrooms?
mediacopilot.substack.com
May 4, 2025 at 2:09 PM
“We train our journalists… to get the context right, to get the nuance right, the ‘so what?’, the ‘yes, but’, the ‘what don’t we know?’.
“Those are core tenants of journalism.
“And those are not core tenants built into any constitution of any AI model…”
mediacopilot.substack.com/p/inside-reu...
“Those are core tenants of journalism.
“And those are not core tenants built into any constitution of any AI model…”
mediacopilot.substack.com/p/inside-reu...
Reposted by Dustin Block
the thing I hate most about that rfk quote is that autistic lives have value and worth and beauty and dignity whether they are able to do the things other people do or not. no one is defined by ability or lack thereof and to frame divergence as lack is monster stuff, utterly godless
April 19, 2025 at 12:05 AM
the thing I hate most about that rfk quote is that autistic lives have value and worth and beauty and dignity whether they are able to do the things other people do or not. no one is defined by ability or lack thereof and to frame divergence as lack is monster stuff, utterly godless
Reposted by Dustin Block
You’re not supposed to grant anonymity to liars. www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...
April 10, 2025 at 11:28 PM
You’re not supposed to grant anonymity to liars. www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...
The replies.
Today I introduced my first bill as a Senator.
A commonsense, bipartisan piece of legislation designed to protect people and their homes from natural disasters.
Let's get it passed.
A commonsense, bipartisan piece of legislation designed to protect people and their homes from natural disasters.
Let's get it passed.
April 9, 2025 at 5:18 PM
The replies.
Reposted by Dustin Block
Effective immediately, the government says it will begin screening immigrant social media for activity that officials think indicates support for antisemitism.
U.S. says it is now monitoring immigrants' social media for antisemitism
Effective immediately, the government says it will begin screening immigrant social media for activity that officials think indicates support for antisemitism.
www.npr.org
April 9, 2025 at 3:10 PM
Effective immediately, the government says it will begin screening immigrant social media for activity that officials think indicates support for antisemitism.
Reposted by Dustin Block
Well this is fun. It looks very much like Trump’s team asked AI “how to easily apply tariffs”, and based their numbers on the results - despite those results in no way corresponding to reality, economics or how tariffs work.
By fun I mean horrifying.
By fun I mean horrifying.
April 3, 2025 at 6:45 AM
Well this is fun. It looks very much like Trump’s team asked AI “how to easily apply tariffs”, and based their numbers on the results - despite those results in no way corresponding to reality, economics or how tariffs work.
By fun I mean horrifying.
By fun I mean horrifying.
"But it may be even worse than that. The Trump formula is apparently what you get if you ask ChatGPT and other AI models to make tariff policy."
open.substack.com/pub/paulkrug...
open.substack.com/pub/paulkrug...
Will Malignant Stupidity Kill the World Economy?
Trump’s tariffs are a disaster. His policy process is worse.
open.substack.com
April 3, 2025 at 1:15 PM
"But it may be even worse than that. The Trump formula is apparently what you get if you ask ChatGPT and other AI models to make tariff policy."
open.substack.com/pub/paulkrug...
open.substack.com/pub/paulkrug...
Booker's at least doing something. More than many Dems can say.
April 1, 2025 at 9:58 PM
Booker's at least doing something. More than many Dems can say.
“It will take millions and millions of dollars to update these stormwater systems. Detroit is 80% Black, and Black people have always recognized that the government is not going to do for us faster what we can do ourselves.” -Erin Johnson, Sierra Club Michigan
outliermedia.org/detroit-stor...
outliermedia.org/detroit-stor...
Stormwater specialists in Detroit help reduce flooding
The free Detroit Stormwater Specialist Training program pays people to help reduce flooding in the city.
outliermedia.org
April 1, 2025 at 3:33 PM
“It will take millions and millions of dollars to update these stormwater systems. Detroit is 80% Black, and Black people have always recognized that the government is not going to do for us faster what we can do ourselves.” -Erin Johnson, Sierra Club Michigan
outliermedia.org/detroit-stor...
outliermedia.org/detroit-stor...