Stephanie
@stephaniekirmer.com
Sociology, urbanism, Chicago, machine learning and AI
Pinned
Stephanie
@stephaniekirmer.com
· Aug 1
Driving is dirty, dangerous, selfish, and expensive, and there are myriad better ways for people to move around their lives if we would only give them the chance.
Reposted by Stephanie
just a little more training bro then ice will be okay, i swear just some more training bro i promise, we can reform this
Apparently ICE goons in multi-car caravans are circling Spanish immersion preschools in the city taunting and photographing the parents and neighbors who are patrolling the school perimeter to keep kids safe.
January 14, 2026 at 4:40 PM
just a little more training bro then ice will be okay, i swear just some more training bro i promise, we can reform this
Surely the bulk of the reason for this is that vast swathes of Americans can’t get access to a doctor without waiting a month for an appointment, and when they do, it costs an arm and a leg, and after THAT the prescription would cost even more?
apple.news/Anoi3Z-RkQmC...
apple.news/Anoi3Z-RkQmC...
The Best Flu Drug Americans Aren’t Taking — The Atlantic
This flu season has been rough. Antivirals can help.
apple.news
January 14, 2026 at 10:35 PM
Surely the bulk of the reason for this is that vast swathes of Americans can’t get access to a doctor without waiting a month for an appointment, and when they do, it costs an arm and a leg, and after THAT the prescription would cost even more?
apple.news/Anoi3Z-RkQmC...
apple.news/Anoi3Z-RkQmC...
Reposted by Stephanie
"It wasn't murder, and if you say it was murder we will kill you, which again will not be murder."
Homan: "We gotta stop the hateful rhetoric. Saying this officer is a murderer is dangerous. It's just ridiculous. It's gonna infuriate people more which means there's gonna be more incidents like this."
January 11, 2026 at 5:04 PM
"It wasn't murder, and if you say it was murder we will kill you, which again will not be murder."
Reposted by Stephanie
Jesus Christ @lukeoneil47.bsky.social
December 22, 2025 at 4:42 AM
Jesus Christ @lukeoneil47.bsky.social
Reposted by Stephanie
Today, Zohran Mamdani announced a $4m investment in 20-30 public restrooms.
It’s been over 4 years since alders first intro’d a resolution to pilot public restrooms in Chicago, and Brandon Johnson 2 years to *maybe* do ONE restroom *sometime* in 2026 at the expense of Ald. La Spata’s menu money.
It’s been over 4 years since alders first intro’d a resolution to pilot public restrooms in Chicago, and Brandon Johnson 2 years to *maybe* do ONE restroom *sometime* in 2026 at the expense of Ald. La Spata’s menu money.
January 11, 2026 at 12:55 AM
Today, Zohran Mamdani announced a $4m investment in 20-30 public restrooms.
It’s been over 4 years since alders first intro’d a resolution to pilot public restrooms in Chicago, and Brandon Johnson 2 years to *maybe* do ONE restroom *sometime* in 2026 at the expense of Ald. La Spata’s menu money.
It’s been over 4 years since alders first intro’d a resolution to pilot public restrooms in Chicago, and Brandon Johnson 2 years to *maybe* do ONE restroom *sometime* in 2026 at the expense of Ald. La Spata’s menu money.
Reposted by Stephanie
losing my mind at the "she should have followed directions" people
really? really? you're cool with "if you don't follow directions, they get to kill you"? that seems like a good state of affairs to you? that seems like how law enforcement ought to work: instant obeisance or death?
really? really? you're cool with "if you don't follow directions, they get to kill you"? that seems like a good state of affairs to you? that seems like how law enforcement ought to work: instant obeisance or death?
January 7, 2026 at 6:25 PM
losing my mind at the "she should have followed directions" people
really? really? you're cool with "if you don't follow directions, they get to kill you"? that seems like a good state of affairs to you? that seems like how law enforcement ought to work: instant obeisance or death?
really? really? you're cool with "if you don't follow directions, they get to kill you"? that seems like a good state of affairs to you? that seems like how law enforcement ought to work: instant obeisance or death?
Reposted by Stephanie
Mayor Jacob Frey: "They are already trying to spin this as an action of self defense. Having seen the video myself, I want to tell everybody directly that is bullshit."
January 7, 2026 at 6:39 PM
Mayor Jacob Frey: "They are already trying to spin this as an action of self defense. Having seen the video myself, I want to tell everybody directly that is bullshit."
Reposted by Stephanie
Jacob Frey: "To ICE -- get the fuck out of Minneapolis"
January 7, 2026 at 6:40 PM
Jacob Frey: "To ICE -- get the fuck out of Minneapolis"
I just witnessed a CTA bus driver actually waiting a few minutes at a stop to reduce bunching with the bus ahead of him for the first time in my entire 17 years in this city (that I recall). I thanked him and wrote him a compliment to head office, as a bus bunching obsessive this made my day!
January 7, 2026 at 2:05 AM
I just witnessed a CTA bus driver actually waiting a few minutes at a stop to reduce bunching with the bus ahead of him for the first time in my entire 17 years in this city (that I recall). I thanked him and wrote him a compliment to head office, as a bus bunching obsessive this made my day!
Same. Waguespack has performed shamefully in recent years in city council.
The rumor I’ve hear is that Alderman Scott Waguespack will run to replace Quigley in Congress.
I will help anyone that runs against Waguespack
wgntv.com/news/chicago...
I will help anyone that runs against Waguespack
wgntv.com/news/chicago...
January 6, 2026 at 6:26 PM
Same. Waguespack has performed shamefully in recent years in city council.
Reposted by Stephanie
You can’t report illegal acts because you don’t want to compromise them being carried out is an interesting take, if true
NYT, WaPo learned of the secret US raid on Venezuela soon before it was scheduled to begin but held off publishing what they had at the administration's request to avoid endangering US troops
January 4, 2026 at 4:18 AM
You can’t report illegal acts because you don’t want to compromise them being carried out is an interesting take, if true
Reposted by Stephanie
"Superintelligence" 🙄 claims aside, I think he's right. LLM boosters always start dissembling when you point out that the tech has two critical problems—it scales poorly and routinely generates errors—and nobody has a clue how to fix either. Both problems appear inherent to the tech itself.
Ex-Meta chief AI scientist Yann LeCun has Lunch with the FT and in one of those instances so rare that you know he didn't sign an NDA, says exactly why as.ft.com/r/e503690d-8...
January 2, 2026 at 3:12 PM
"Superintelligence" 🙄 claims aside, I think he's right. LLM boosters always start dissembling when you point out that the tech has two critical problems—it scales poorly and routinely generates errors—and nobody has a clue how to fix either. Both problems appear inherent to the tech itself.
Reposted by Stephanie
Appreciate this article noting that the instrument here (played by Sarah Goldstone) is something called an Omnichord and it's the most baller 1980s thing I've ever seen
January 1, 2026 at 9:34 PM
Appreciate this article noting that the instrument here (played by Sarah Goldstone) is something called an Omnichord and it's the most baller 1980s thing I've ever seen
Reposted by Stephanie
Advocate for the #plowthesidewalks campaign, sign up to stay in touch with your alder, and more! in this month's tiny lil actions. tinylilactionschicago.substack.com/p/december-2...
December 30, 2025 at 5:38 PM
Advocate for the #plowthesidewalks campaign, sign up to stay in touch with your alder, and more! in this month's tiny lil actions. tinylilactionschicago.substack.com/p/december-2...
Is there such a concept as a USPS desert? If so, Wicker Park/UKV/Bucktown must qualify, after our post offices on Ashland and on Milwaukee were eliminated with no replacement years ago. I just had to travel to River North to mail a package. Is there any hope that this will be remedied?
December 29, 2025 at 9:44 PM
Is there such a concept as a USPS desert? If so, Wicker Park/UKV/Bucktown must qualify, after our post offices on Ashland and on Milwaukee were eliminated with no replacement years ago. I just had to travel to River North to mail a package. Is there any hope that this will be remedied?
Reposted by Stephanie
Finding that users are pushing back against mandatory AI features? Forcing adoption can damage your brand. In her latest piece, @stephaniekirmer.com makes the case for making new AI tools optional to preserve user trust.
Understanding the Generative AI User | Towards Data Science
What do regular technology users think (and know) about AI?
towardsdatascience.com
December 22, 2025 at 7:18 PM
Finding that users are pushing back against mandatory AI features? Forcing adoption can damage your brand. In her latest piece, @stephaniekirmer.com makes the case for making new AI tools optional to preserve user trust.
Reposted by Stephanie
This was a fun one, went on the Stack Overflow podcast for the first time in years, specifically to talk to that audience of coders about why we shouldn’t believe the hype that LLMs are some kind of magical technology. Grateful to the crew for having me back! stackoverflow.blog/2025/12/23/s...
Settle down, nerds. AI is a normal technology - Stack Overflow
stackoverflow.blog
December 23, 2025 at 10:02 PM
This was a fun one, went on the Stack Overflow podcast for the first time in years, specifically to talk to that audience of coders about why we shouldn’t believe the hype that LLMs are some kind of magical technology. Grateful to the crew for having me back! stackoverflow.blog/2025/12/23/s...
Reposted by Stephanie
These declines are MASSIVE.
And the comparative silence in media coverage is absolutely DAMNING.
“Why are ppl always so afraid of crime?”
THIS is why. When crime goes up, media trips over itself to report it.
Falls to pre-war (!!) levels? Just CRICKETS.
And the comparative silence in media coverage is absolutely DAMNING.
“Why are ppl always so afraid of crime?”
THIS is why. When crime goes up, media trips over itself to report it.
Falls to pre-war (!!) levels? Just CRICKETS.
I count 10 cities in 2025 that are on track to have the fewest murders since at least 1970. Newark is on pace to have the fewest murders since 1956 (though only have data through Oct this year) and San Francisco is on pace to have the fewest murders since 1942.
December 23, 2025 at 10:03 PM
These declines are MASSIVE.
And the comparative silence in media coverage is absolutely DAMNING.
“Why are ppl always so afraid of crime?”
THIS is why. When crime goes up, media trips over itself to report it.
Falls to pre-war (!!) levels? Just CRICKETS.
And the comparative silence in media coverage is absolutely DAMNING.
“Why are ppl always so afraid of crime?”
THIS is why. When crime goes up, media trips over itself to report it.
Falls to pre-war (!!) levels? Just CRICKETS.
Reposted by Stephanie
The full spiked 60 Minutes CECOT package, clean & subtitled. 1/5
December 23, 2025 at 1:28 AM
The full spiked 60 Minutes CECOT package, clean & subtitled. 1/5
If your alderperson voted for this heinous Chicago city budget, give them a call and a piece of your mind. You have influence over your local reps.
December 22, 2025 at 4:39 PM
If your alderperson voted for this heinous Chicago city budget, give them a call and a piece of your mind. You have influence over your local reps.
Reposted by Stephanie
really cannot be emphasized enough that bari weiss has literally never done journalism. i don’t mean that in the pejorative sense. i mean that in the “has never performed the job she was hired to do” sense
One explanation for Bari killing the story is that she did so as a public act of fealty to the administration. But another is that, as an inexperienced journalist, she doesn’t understand that a refusal to go on the record is a kind of comment in and of itself
December 22, 2025 at 2:19 PM
really cannot be emphasized enough that bari weiss has literally never done journalism. i don’t mean that in the pejorative sense. i mean that in the “has never performed the job she was hired to do” sense
Reposted by Stephanie
Sometimes the no comment is the entire story!
One explanation for Bari killing the story is that she did so as a public act of fealty to the administration. But another is that, as an inexperienced journalist, she doesn’t understand that a refusal to go on the record is a kind of comment in and of itself
December 22, 2025 at 2:40 PM
Sometimes the no comment is the entire story!
Truly the worst of all possible scenarios- corporations don’t pay their fair share and now our city budget is going to be more than 50% for cops.
Chicago just sold off its unpaid ambulance bills to debt collectors, to pay for an 8% increase in the police budget
December 22, 2025 at 3:35 AM
Truly the worst of all possible scenarios- corporations don’t pay their fair share and now our city budget is going to be more than 50% for cops.
Reposted by Stephanie
Nenko Gantchev should still be alive—home with his family. After 30 years contributing to Chicagoland as a small business owner and taxpayer, ICE detained him, ignored his medical needs, and he died in custody. This system is cruel, reckless, and must be held accountable.
Bulgarian Chicago business owner dies in ICE custody, sparking calls for 'immediate investigation'
https://abc7chicago.com/post/bulgarian-chicago-business-owner-nenko-gantchev-dies-ice-custody-family-congresswoman-call-immediate-investigation/18301520/
https://abc7chicago.com/post/bulgarian-chicago-business-owner-nenko-gantchev-dies-ice-custody-family-congresswoman-call-immediate-investigation/18301520/
Bulgarian Chicago business owner dies in ICE custody, sparking calls for 'immediate investigation'
A Bulgarian man from Chicago arrested during an immigration enforcement 'blitz' has died while in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement at a Michigan private prison, the ABC7 I-Team has learned.
abc7chicago.com
December 20, 2025 at 2:42 AM
Nenko Gantchev should still be alive—home with his family. After 30 years contributing to Chicagoland as a small business owner and taxpayer, ICE detained him, ignored his medical needs, and he died in custody. This system is cruel, reckless, and must be held accountable.
The fact that CTA does exactly nothing to try and remedy bus bunching is my obsession. How they claim they can achieve 10 minute or less headways without taking real action on this baffles me.
6 buses an hour doesn’t necessarily mean 10-minute service without actual headway management
I'd much rather the CTA just crew the #6 to run every 5-7 minutes than pretend they're running the #26 every 10 when it's only coming a third of the time!
December 19, 2025 at 2:36 AM
The fact that CTA does exactly nothing to try and remedy bus bunching is my obsession. How they claim they can achieve 10 minute or less headways without taking real action on this baffles me.