Curious Jon
@jmbroad.bsky.social
Librarian, technologist, Special Circumstances Branch. Amateur collector of difficult truths. “Homo sum, humani nihil a me alienum puto.” @jmbroad@mastodon.xyz as well.
Reposted by Curious Jon
oh my god i take it back, grok is amazing
November 19, 2025 at 11:21 PM
oh my god i take it back, grok is amazing
Reposted by Curious Jon
November 19, 2025 at 11:12 PM
Reposted by Curious Jon
The “canceled people” database listing victims of cancel culture, which includes oft-repeated cases such as Bret Weinstein (Evergreen State College) and James Damore (Google), has a little over 200 entries across 18 years.
canceledpeople.org
canceledpeople.org
New: Reuters has tallied job losses, suspensions and investigations stemming from the reaction to Charlie Kirk's Sept. 10 assassination. Its findings: More than 600 Americans have been punished, and the figure is likely to be an under-count.
www.reuters.com/investigatio...
www.reuters.com/investigatio...
November 19, 2025 at 1:04 PM
The “canceled people” database listing victims of cancel culture, which includes oft-repeated cases such as Bret Weinstein (Evergreen State College) and James Damore (Google), has a little over 200 entries across 18 years.
canceledpeople.org
canceledpeople.org
Reposted by Curious Jon
Bruce Schneier on the Agentic AI trilemma: “Fast, smart, secure; pick any two. Fast and smart—you can’t verify your inputs. Smart and secure—you check everything, slowly, because AI itself can’t be used for this. Secure and fast—you’re stuck with models with intentionally limited capabilities.”
Agentic AI’s OODA Loop Problem - Schneier on Security
The OODA loop—for observe, orient, decide, act—is a framework to understand decision-making in adversarial situations. We apply the same framework to artificial intelligence agents, who have to make t...
www.schneier.com
November 19, 2025 at 3:40 PM
Bruce Schneier on the Agentic AI trilemma: “Fast, smart, secure; pick any two. Fast and smart—you can’t verify your inputs. Smart and secure—you check everything, slowly, because AI itself can’t be used for this. Secure and fast—you’re stuck with models with intentionally limited capabilities.”
Reposted by Curious Jon
I'm sure I'm not the only person to say this, but just look at the new org chart ontology here: school funding under the Dept of Labor, conveying that education is solely abt job training; language programs under the State Dept because statecraft is of course why we learn languages...
The U.S. Education Department is handing off some of its biggest grant programs to other federal agencies as the Trump administration accelerates its plan to shut down the department. https://to.pbs.org/4a1sm7z
Education Department offloads programs to other agencies as Trump accelerates plan for its closure
The Education Department is handing off some of its biggest grant programs to other federal agencies as the Trump administration accelerates its plan to shut down the department.
www.pbs.org
November 19, 2025 at 4:38 AM
I'm sure I'm not the only person to say this, but just look at the new org chart ontology here: school funding under the Dept of Labor, conveying that education is solely abt job training; language programs under the State Dept because statecraft is of course why we learn languages...
Reposted by Curious Jon
This is pretty intense foreignpolicy.com/2025/11/11/t...
November 19, 2025 at 3:43 AM
This is pretty intense foreignpolicy.com/2025/11/11/t...
Reposted by Curious Jon
Trump appointed Harmeet Dhillon to the Justice Department so she could own the libs and sue DEI out of existence. But she is a bad lawyer! And her utter incompetence is the main reason why a conservative Trump judge just struck down the racist Texas gerrymander. slate.com/news-and-pol...
Trump’s Scheme to Gift the GOP Extra House Seats Just Blew Up in His Face
The opinion, written by a Trump appointee, cites Chief Justice John Roberts right up top.
slate.com
November 18, 2025 at 11:21 PM
Trump appointed Harmeet Dhillon to the Justice Department so she could own the libs and sue DEI out of existence. But she is a bad lawyer! And her utter incompetence is the main reason why a conservative Trump judge just struck down the racist Texas gerrymander. slate.com/news-and-pol...
Reposted by Curious Jon
In 2024, China installed 1.5x as much new solar as the entire US installed base.
(via MS/Jonas)
(via MS/Jonas)
November 18, 2025 at 3:31 PM
In 2024, China installed 1.5x as much new solar as the entire US installed base.
(via MS/Jonas)
(via MS/Jonas)
Reposted by Curious Jon
Timeline cleanse:
"We tried to pin down what it was about Fire in the Mountains that still had us sobbing intermittently a week out. Von Till nailed it: 'It made me dare to hope.'” @btoastie.bsky.social @highcountrynews.org
www.hcn.org/issues/57-11...
www.hcn.org/issues/57-11...
Heavy metal is healing teens on the Blackfeet Nation - High Country News
In response to youth suicides, teachers show students the power of headbanging at Fire in the Mountains festival.
www.hcn.org
November 18, 2025 at 4:53 AM
Timeline cleanse:
Reposted by Curious Jon
I had the immense pleasure of seeing this (and beyond) in its early stages. Read and keep reading. This is storytelling in its most urgent and grounded form.
TODAY: @sirosenbaum.bsky.social debuts a new GRAPHIC MEMOIR! Introducing TEETH BEACH, pt. 1 flaminghydra.com/issue-444/#t...
On the beach
S.I. Rosenbaum debuts a new graphic memoir of devastation and love
flaminghydra.com
November 18, 2025 at 3:17 AM
I had the immense pleasure of seeing this (and beyond) in its early stages. Read and keep reading. This is storytelling in its most urgent and grounded form.
Reposted by Curious Jon
I don’t want to seem out of touch but I don’t actually understand the economy anymore.
November 18, 2025 at 3:23 AM
I don’t want to seem out of touch but I don’t actually understand the economy anymore.
Reposted by Curious Jon
Reposted by Curious Jon
Want to once again point out that Fox News has an entire Bill Maher section of their website that updates several times a week
November 17, 2025 at 5:34 PM
Want to once again point out that Fox News has an entire Bill Maher section of their website that updates several times a week
Reposted by Curious Jon
Reposted by Curious Jon
Today's delight: www.thisiscolossal.com/2025/10/mode...
62 Modern Tree Houses Climb to Architectural Heights
The arboreal designs featured in TASCHEN's new book, Modern Tree Houses, aren't your dad's Home Depot box variety.
www.thisiscolossal.com
November 15, 2025 at 3:07 AM
Today's delight: www.thisiscolossal.com/2025/10/mode...
Reposted by Curious Jon
No justice, no peace is a fact, not a threat.
Something the US needs to accept too is that without a large-scale correction imposing consequences on a large number of people, the crisis of governance here will continue indefinitely
November 15, 2025 at 3:08 AM
No justice, no peace is a fact, not a threat.
Reposted by Curious Jon
New insult to life itself just dropped
November 14, 2025 at 3:57 PM
New insult to life itself just dropped
Reposted by Curious Jon
From this minister's op-ed: "People wanting to experience God are more likely to meet the Divine trying to shut down the Broadview, Illinois, ICE facility than we ever were in church...God does not live in our houses of worship, but...with those who are bearing the brunt of cruelty in this moment."
Oh wow @reuters.com got the photo here:
November 14, 2025 at 9:38 PM
From this minister's op-ed: "People wanting to experience God are more likely to meet the Divine trying to shut down the Broadview, Illinois, ICE facility than we ever were in church...God does not live in our houses of worship, but...with those who are bearing the brunt of cruelty in this moment."
Reposted by Curious Jon
Given what we’ve seen on America’s streets, it’s worth repeating what the court says here:
Needlessly pointing a firearm at someone can violate the Fourth Amendment, even if the officer never pulls the trigger.
Needlessly pointing a firearm at someone can violate the Fourth Amendment, even if the officer never pulls the trigger.
Fourth Circuit publishes an opinion to make a point that otherwise would go unseen.
www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/...
www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/...
November 14, 2025 at 12:04 AM
Given what we’ve seen on America’s streets, it’s worth repeating what the court says here:
Needlessly pointing a firearm at someone can violate the Fourth Amendment, even if the officer never pulls the trigger.
Needlessly pointing a firearm at someone can violate the Fourth Amendment, even if the officer never pulls the trigger.
Reposted by Curious Jon
November 14, 2025 at 12:50 PM
Reposted by Curious Jon
I've been thinking for a long time about the parallels between the early days of cars and the early days of consumer-facing AI tools like chatbots, so I finally wrote about it. Shoutout to @thewaroncars.bsky.social.
www.halifaxexaminer.ca/morning-file...
www.halifaxexaminer.ca/morning-file...
From cars to AI, the spread of technologies is not inevitable - Halifax Examiner
None of this is inevitable. It is the result of powerful lobbies and poor decision-making.
www.halifaxexaminer.ca
November 14, 2025 at 6:15 PM
I've been thinking for a long time about the parallels between the early days of cars and the early days of consumer-facing AI tools like chatbots, so I finally wrote about it. Shoutout to @thewaroncars.bsky.social.
www.halifaxexaminer.ca/morning-file...
www.halifaxexaminer.ca/morning-file...
Reposted by Curious Jon
if I'm reading this correctly, it seems like a state institution is—what's the word? restraining?—whole swaths of speech prior to it being uttered?
is there perhaps a legal term of art for this that might be relevant to such a policy, I can't recall.
is there perhaps a legal term of art for this that might be relevant to such a policy, I can't recall.
“Texas A&M University System regents voted Thursday to limit how instructors may discuss matters like gender identity and race ideology in classrooms, tightening the rules in a conservative state where debates over academic freedom have flared for months.”
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/13/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/13/u...
Texas A&M Tightens Rules on Talking About Race and Gender in Classes
www.nytimes.com
November 13, 2025 at 11:39 PM
if I'm reading this correctly, it seems like a state institution is—what's the word? restraining?—whole swaths of speech prior to it being uttered?
is there perhaps a legal term of art for this that might be relevant to such a policy, I can't recall.
is there perhaps a legal term of art for this that might be relevant to such a policy, I can't recall.
Reposted by Curious Jon
Today is a good day to remember, and to say, that the #MeToo movement was right, and was righteous, and has been vindicated over and over again. There was no overreach. There was no excess. There was no they-went-too-far.
So much work remains to be done.
So much work remains to be done.
November 12, 2025 at 11:16 PM
Today is a good day to remember, and to say, that the #MeToo movement was right, and was righteous, and has been vindicated over and over again. There was no overreach. There was no excess. There was no they-went-too-far.
So much work remains to be done.
So much work remains to be done.
Reposted by Curious Jon
Well, it's a little clearer now why billionaires are so invested in technology that produces better written emails.
November 12, 2025 at 10:23 PM
Well, it's a little clearer now why billionaires are so invested in technology that produces better written emails.