Greg Gates
@gregat.es
philosopher-turned-software-engineer
VP of pivot tables @ https://rowzero.com, the world's fastest spreadsheet
data & technology manager for WA's 36th LD Democrats
my little blog: https://gregat.es
VP of pivot tables @ https://rowzero.com, the world's fastest spreadsheet
data & technology manager for WA's 36th LD Democrats
my little blog: https://gregat.es
How do whales hydrate?
My old favorite counterexample to the claim that everything you might want to know is googleable turns out to also be a useful demonstration of why you shouldn't trust LLM chat bot output.
My old favorite counterexample to the claim that everything you might want to know is googleable turns out to also be a useful demonstration of why you shouldn't trust LLM chat bot output.
gregat.es
gregat.es
November 14, 2025 at 9:57 PM
How do whales hydrate?
My old favorite counterexample to the claim that everything you might want to know is googleable turns out to also be a useful demonstration of why you shouldn't trust LLM chat bot output.
My old favorite counterexample to the claim that everything you might want to know is googleable turns out to also be a useful demonstration of why you shouldn't trust LLM chat bot output.
Reposted by Greg Gates
The Status Interview – Or How To Write Up a Senate Purge List talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/the-s...
The Status Interview – Or How To Write Up a Senate Purge List
Over the last couple days I’ve argued both that the denouement of...
talkingpointsmemo.com
November 12, 2025 at 8:05 PM
The Status Interview – Or How To Write Up a Senate Purge List talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/the-s...
It's a shame that the ST:TNG episode "Conspiracy" came in s1, when multi-episode arcs were still not really a thing. It could have made a very good arc!
November 12, 2025 at 4:54 AM
It's a shame that the ST:TNG episode "Conspiracy" came in s1, when multi-episode arcs were still not really a thing. It could have made a very good arc!
Still waiting for Chuck Schumer's "wait for Republicans to do something once Trump's approval is low enough" strategy to bear fruit.
Expecting the Schumer strategy of letting Trump wreck the country and hoping Republicans do something about it eventually to pay off right about now!
November 10, 2025 at 4:30 AM
Still waiting for Chuck Schumer's "wait for Republicans to do something once Trump's approval is low enough" strategy to bear fruit.
Reposted by Greg Gates
Yeah, the entire caucus is responsible for this, regardless of their vote
Any Democratic senator, at any moment, could've derailed this by calling for Schumer's replacement and casting their colleagues as MAGA collaborators, thereby shifting the Overton window. But they're all in on it. This was always a team effort.
November 10, 2025 at 2:41 AM
Yeah, the entire caucus is responsible for this, regardless of their vote
Reposted by Greg Gates
Primary all of them everywhere. Hound them at town halls. Show up at their offices. Call or write to them about every issue. That cadre of this party has to go. Clean house.
Important to understand this. There's a reasonable chance that your Dem Senator who voted against it and is acting mad now was in on the play. It's the same reason why they scheduled the surrender for AFTER the election this week. They didn't want people pissed at Dems right before an election.
The caucus meeting was just to orchestrate who would fall on the sword but not be up for a vote in 2026.
November 10, 2025 at 2:28 AM
Primary all of them everywhere. Hound them at town halls. Show up at their offices. Call or write to them about every issue. That cadre of this party has to go. Clean house.
Reposted by Greg Gates
Since the Democrats worked extra hard to hide who actually supported this, I think the No Kings/Resistance position should be to primary every Democrat unless they publicly call for Schumer's ouster this week
Either they go into total rebellion mode, which they won't, or the people will
Either they go into total rebellion mode, which they won't, or the people will
November 10, 2025 at 2:34 AM
Since the Democrats worked extra hard to hide who actually supported this, I think the No Kings/Resistance position should be to primary every Democrat unless they publicly call for Schumer's ouster this week
Either they go into total rebellion mode, which they won't, or the people will
Either they go into total rebellion mode, which they won't, or the people will
Reposted by Greg Gates
Will you be moving to replace the current party leadership in the Senate, or are these just empty words while other retiring senators take the heat for the rest?
November 10, 2025 at 2:21 AM
Will you be moving to replace the current party leadership in the Senate, or are these just empty words while other retiring senators take the heat for the rest?
Reposted by Greg Gates
The Stranger got one endorsement really wrong this year. As @lisarivera.bsky.social points out, they should have endorsed Sarah Clark for school board. Rivera, herself endorsed by the Stranger when she was on the board and a 2020 delegate for Bernie Sanders to the DNC, makes an excellent case:
Guest Rant: The Stranger Got It Wrong About Sarah Clark
Former Seattle School Board Director Lisa Rivera says we got the candidate in her old seat all wrong.
www.thestranger.com
November 4, 2025 at 12:45 AM
The Stranger got one endorsement really wrong this year. As @lisarivera.bsky.social points out, they should have endorsed Sarah Clark for school board. Rivera, herself endorsed by the Stranger when she was on the board and a 2020 delegate for Bernie Sanders to the DNC, makes an excellent case:
Reposted by Greg Gates
PSA for Seattle procrastinators: If you're voting today or tomorrow, USE A DROP BOX, NOT THE MAIL! The USPS won't guarantee your timely ballot is postmarked on time.
Locations of ballot boxes: cd.kingcounty.gov/en/dept/elec...
More details: publicola.com/2025/10/03/p...
Locations of ballot boxes: cd.kingcounty.gov/en/dept/elec...
More details: publicola.com/2025/10/03/p...
Post Office Delays Could Result in Uncounted Ballots; Harrell's Budget Increases Graffiti Spending 36 Percent - PubliCola
1. Mail processing delays could result in more invalidated mail-in ballots this year, and elections officials are advising voters to…
publicola.com
November 4, 2025 at 2:23 AM
PSA for Seattle procrastinators: If you're voting today or tomorrow, USE A DROP BOX, NOT THE MAIL! The USPS won't guarantee your timely ballot is postmarked on time.
Locations of ballot boxes: cd.kingcounty.gov/en/dept/elec...
More details: publicola.com/2025/10/03/p...
Locations of ballot boxes: cd.kingcounty.gov/en/dept/elec...
More details: publicola.com/2025/10/03/p...
At Row Zero we get amazing speeds ingesting data from Snowflake and other databases that can export column-oriented data. But there's a long tail of data stores that we're forced to slow down for, because they only allow row-oriented export. Here's hoping we can change that!
The future of data connectivity is columnar. Today we launched
@columnar.tech to accelerate the shift from slow, row-oriented APIs like ODBC and JDBC to >10x faster alternatives powered by @arrow.apache.org. Learn more 👇
@columnar.tech to accelerate the shift from slow, row-oriented APIs like ODBC and JDBC to >10x faster alternatives powered by @arrow.apache.org. Learn more 👇
Announcing Columnar
Back to the future of data connectivity
columnar.tech
October 29, 2025 at 11:14 PM
At Row Zero we get amazing speeds ingesting data from Snowflake and other databases that can export column-oriented data. But there's a long tail of data stores that we're forced to slow down for, because they only allow row-oriented export. Here's hoping we can change that!
Seattle Voters: King County elections has recommended (in an email, for some reason they haven't posted this on their website) that you place your ballot in a drop box after Oct. 28, due to concerns that USPS may not postmark your ballot in time to be counted.
October 29, 2025 at 4:51 PM
Seattle Voters: King County elections has recommended (in an email, for some reason they haven't posted this on their website) that you place your ballot in a drop box after Oct. 28, due to concerns that USPS may not postmark your ballot in time to be counted.
Fun to see which services I rely on are overly dependent on us-east-1
October 20, 2025 at 6:15 PM
Fun to see which services I rely on are overly dependent on us-east-1
Reposted by Greg Gates
Wondering who to choose for Seattle school board? All Together for Seattle Schools, the parent org that came together to successfully fight the mass school closure plan in 2024, did the research and knows the inside story -- and trusts Sarah Clark, Joe Mizrahi, Vivian Song, and Jen LaVallee.
Election 2025 - ATSS Recommendations
All Together for Seattle Schools is recommending Sarah Clark, Joe Mizrahi, Vivian Song, and Jen LaVallee for the school board in 2025. We believe that these four candidates have the skills and experie...
www.alltogetherforseattleschools.org
October 19, 2025 at 11:29 PM
Wondering who to choose for Seattle school board? All Together for Seattle Schools, the parent org that came together to successfully fight the mass school closure plan in 2024, did the research and knows the inside story -- and trusts Sarah Clark, Joe Mizrahi, Vivian Song, and Jen LaVallee.
This is the slate!
Excited to vote for this group! @wilsonforseattle.bsky.social @alexis4seattle.bsky.social Dionne Foster, and Erika Evans!
October 19, 2025 at 9:10 PM
This is the slate!
Took my 3yo to No Kings Seattle. 1 hour each way and 3 hrs at the event. Not one complaint. Usually shy kid feeling the protest energy and striking up convos with strangers. Demanded I "say it!" whenever a chant started up. Dozens of compliments on her sign. My shoulders so tired.
So, so worth it.
So, so worth it.
October 19, 2025 at 1:51 AM
Took my 3yo to No Kings Seattle. 1 hour each way and 3 hrs at the event. Not one complaint. Usually shy kid feeling the protest energy and striking up convos with strangers. Demanded I "say it!" whenever a chant started up. Dozens of compliments on her sign. My shoulders so tired.
So, so worth it.
So, so worth it.
Saw Erika Evans out today, too!
Looks like @wilsonforseattle.bsky.social was at #NoKings today. Any evidence that Bruce was there too?
Proud to back a mayoral candidate that actually stands for something. Vote Katie!
Proud to back a mayoral candidate that actually stands for something. Vote Katie!
October 19, 2025 at 12:17 AM
Saw Erika Evans out today, too!
Reposted by Greg Gates
Seattle No Kings from the monorail
October 18, 2025 at 10:20 PM
Seattle No Kings from the monorail
So difficult not to violate my rule against posting my kid online. The video of her holding her protest sign and shouting, "No Kings! Yes Democracy!" is sooooo cute.
October 18, 2025 at 5:06 PM
So difficult not to violate my rule against posting my kid online. The video of her holding her protest sign and shouting, "No Kings! Yes Democracy!" is sooooo cute.
Reposted by Greg Gates
AAUP v. Rubio is out, and look at how it starts. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
September 30, 2025 at 4:37 PM
AAUP v. Rubio is out, and look at how it starts. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
every time an amazon linux update shows me this I get a little heartburn
September 30, 2025 at 5:00 PM
every time an amazon linux update shows me this I get a little heartburn
I was told the people of Italy were going to be paying these tariffs.
September 12, 2025 at 4:01 PM
I was told the people of Italy were going to be paying these tariffs.
Watching the Star Trek TOS episode "Patterns of Force" and there's a bit where Kirk is shaking a sleeping old man. "Professor! You've got to speak!" he says, trying to get him to take a stand against literal Nazis.
A little too on the nose for the current day.
A little too on the nose for the current day.
September 5, 2025 at 3:08 PM
Watching the Star Trek TOS episode "Patterns of Force" and there's a bit where Kirk is shaking a sleeping old man. "Professor! You've got to speak!" he says, trying to get him to take a stand against literal Nazis.
A little too on the nose for the current day.
A little too on the nose for the current day.