Titus Brown
@titus.idyll.org
I am not a deep man, but I have many shallows. ctbrown@ucdavis.edu, http://ivory.idyll.org/blog/.
Reposted by Titus Brown
Dave Farber saw both the promise and the dangers that would come with the spread of the internet.
RIP Dave Farber, EFF Board Member and Friend
We are sad to report the passing of longtime EFF Board member, Dave Farber. Dave was 91 and lived in Tokyo from age 83, where he was the Distinguished Professor at Keio University and Co-Director of t...
www.eff.org
February 9, 2026 at 8:56 PM
Dave Farber saw both the promise and the dangers that would come with the spread of the internet.
Reposted by Titus Brown
Shocked. Shocked, I say, to find that Abundance is, in fact, a smuggle for tech fascism.
Courtesy @levernews.com
Courtesy @levernews.com
![A On the payroll. A new "pro-growth" centrist Democrat dark money group — pushing for, you guessed it, deregulation — has turned up on Capitol Hill, and it's being led by a former lawmaker-turned-lobbyist for OpenAI, the Big Tech behemoth behind ChatGPT. In 2025, former Rep. Cheri Bustos (D-III.) also lobbied on behalf of Oracle, the computing giant led by MAGA megadonor Larry Ellison, and the Solana Policy Institute, a cryptocurrency advocacy group.
• Bustos will now serve as president of Next American Era, a nonprofit aligned with the anti-progressive Abundance movement to "[make] it easier to build and to generate opportunity" by cutting so-called red tape.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:776hcssquwcv2ihpptzvttxj/bafkreidhysao5mrqlsbjy5x5opwrtv47x6jkwvt6yprevdric4aubqn2fq@jpeg)
February 9, 2026 at 6:19 PM
Shocked. Shocked, I say, to find that Abundance is, in fact, a smuggle for tech fascism.
Courtesy @levernews.com
Courtesy @levernews.com
Reposted by Titus Brown
starting to feel like there's a direct relationship between the growing obsession with lifestyle hygeine (no drinking, no caffeine, no sex, obsessive working out and looksmaxxing) and the inability to meaningful moral stands on issues of actual import
Cafes across the U.S. are embracing the low- and no-caffeine lifestyle, with options that are a far cry from dusty tea bags and rewarmed decaf. nyti.ms/3XKlqoj
February 9, 2026 at 5:12 PM
starting to feel like there's a direct relationship between the growing obsession with lifestyle hygeine (no drinking, no caffeine, no sex, obsessive working out and looksmaxxing) and the inability to meaningful moral stands on issues of actual import
Reposted by Titus Brown
A tour de force in
1) genomic epidemiology,
2) global equity of access and representation, and
3) phylogenetic wizardry.
Congrats Zam and Viridian team on this tremendous resource!
1) genomic epidemiology,
2) global equity of access and representation, and
3) phylogenetic wizardry.
Congrats Zam and Viridian team on this tremendous resource!
A long time ago in a galaxy far away, there was a SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Our paper, led by @martibartfast.bsky.social
a) correcting errors in 4.5 million genomes & their phylogeny
b) improving representation of the Global South in public data
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
(thread 1/n)
a) correcting errors in 4.5 million genomes & their phylogeny
b) improving representation of the Global South in public data
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
(thread 1/n)
Addressing pandemic-wide systematic errors in the SARS-CoV-2 phylogeny - Nature Methods
This Resource paper presents a global SARS-CoV-2 phylogenetic tree of 4,471,579 high-quality genomes consistently constructed by Viridian, an efficient amplicon-aware assembler.
www.nature.com
February 9, 2026 at 3:30 PM
A tour de force in
1) genomic epidemiology,
2) global equity of access and representation, and
3) phylogenetic wizardry.
Congrats Zam and Viridian team on this tremendous resource!
1) genomic epidemiology,
2) global equity of access and representation, and
3) phylogenetic wizardry.
Congrats Zam and Viridian team on this tremendous resource!
Reposted by Titus Brown
Concentration camps. That's what they are.
I’m not sure we’ve properly addressed how profoundly disturbing it is that America can largely shrug at the stashing of human beings in giant warehouses.
February 7, 2026 at 3:31 AM
Concentration camps. That's what they are.
Reposted by Titus Brown
A pretty stunning attempt at rewriting the last year. While there are exceptions, legal challenges were largely led by faculty, AAUP, and state AGs, while university leadership and scientific societies almost uniformly attempted appeasement and acquiesced in advance.
The world has changed, and the old ways are not the only thing needed for this moment.
Both/and: inside advocacy is important but public attention achieved a lot of pushback this year. It’s wrong to talk about “seething advocacy” behind pics evoking “bipartisan compromise”
Both/and: inside advocacy is important but public attention achieved a lot of pushback this year. It’s wrong to talk about “seething advocacy” behind pics evoking “bipartisan compromise”
February 7, 2026 at 3:28 PM
A pretty stunning attempt at rewriting the last year. While there are exceptions, legal challenges were largely led by faculty, AAUP, and state AGs, while university leadership and scientific societies almost uniformly attempted appeasement and acquiesced in advance.
Reposted by Titus Brown
Trust me, the woman of academia are not at all surprised by the number of academic men orbiting Epstein.
February 7, 2026 at 1:19 PM
Trust me, the woman of academia are not at all surprised by the number of academic men orbiting Epstein.
README
Interesting comparison between coding agents now and the FORTRAN compiler.
www.reddit.com/r/programmin...
www.reddit.com/r/programmin...
From the programming community on Reddit: LLMs as natural language compilers: What the history of FORTRAN tells us about the future of coding.
Posted by benrules2 - 0 votes and 14 comments
www.reddit.com
February 7, 2026 at 1:27 PM
README
Reposted by Titus Brown
Interesting comparison between coding agents now and the FORTRAN compiler.
www.reddit.com/r/programmin...
www.reddit.com/r/programmin...
From the programming community on Reddit: LLMs as natural language compilers: What the history of FORTRAN tells us about the future of coding.
Posted by benrules2 - 0 votes and 14 comments
www.reddit.com
February 7, 2026 at 12:39 PM
Interesting comparison between coding agents now and the FORTRAN compiler.
www.reddit.com/r/programmin...
www.reddit.com/r/programmin...
Reposted by Titus Brown
Well?
You gonna prove 'em wrong?
You gonna prove 'em wrong?
This is bleak: Jes Staley, currently CEO of Barclays, reassuring Epstein that popular revolt against financial elites is unlikely because capitalism and pop culture have defanged social movements, leaving people more invested in consumption than justice.
February 7, 2026 at 12:55 AM
Well?
You gonna prove 'em wrong?
You gonna prove 'em wrong?
Reposted by Titus Brown
Already reposted the quoted post but just started cracking up all over again because I can’t believe we saw a wholesome example of this exact format in the wild
February 6, 2026 at 10:47 PM
Already reposted the quoted post but just started cracking up all over again because I can’t believe we saw a wholesome example of this exact format in the wild
Reposted by Titus Brown
Today's #maptimeDavis lightning talk session was invigorating! The talks represented many different kinds of work & across the whole spectrum of our community. I think everyone agreed that the undergrad who showed her work mapping the history of the campus-run bus system, Unitrans, was the best.
February 6, 2026 at 9:00 PM
Today's #maptimeDavis lightning talk session was invigorating! The talks represented many different kinds of work & across the whole spectrum of our community. I think everyone agreed that the undergrad who showed her work mapping the history of the campus-run bus system, Unitrans, was the best.
Reposted by Titus Brown
No excuses for this. It incensed me so much I wrote not one, but two articles linking to millions of free to use public domain images.
world.hey.com/jordanacosta...
world.hey.com/jordanacosta...
Free-to-use Picture Resources for Writers
You have options other than Generative AI to illustrate your work The other day, I posted the following Substack Note: My opinion was challenged with two now-familiar rebuttals: 1. The vast majority o...
world.hey.com
February 6, 2026 at 2:05 PM
No excuses for this. It incensed me so much I wrote not one, but two articles linking to millions of free to use public domain images.
world.hey.com/jordanacosta...
world.hey.com/jordanacosta...
Reposted by Titus Brown
Isn't it weird how the people proposing abundance never wanna do it for clean energy?
One group is now proposing “Abundance” on the Colorado River by building a “coordinated suite of desalination plants.”
“At some point, doesn’t it seem just a little bit easier, and a hell of a lot less expensive, to live within our means?” @landdesk.bsky.social
www.landdesk.org/p/abundance-...
“At some point, doesn’t it seem just a little bit easier, and a hell of a lot less expensive, to live within our means?” @landdesk.bsky.social
www.landdesk.org/p/abundance-...
"Abundance" comes to the Colorado; Lee attacks public lands again; Billionaires buy real estate
And more tidbits
www.landdesk.org
February 6, 2026 at 5:33 PM
Isn't it weird how the people proposing abundance never wanna do it for clean energy?
Very much worth reading.
If you want to read the transcript of the February 3 hearing where Julie Le had her "this job sucks" meltdown, now you can:
drive.google.com/file/d/1FnY2...
drive.google.com/file/d/1FnY2...
This is unreal. An AUSA talking like that in open court is about as close as you can come to a total breakdown. Never heard of anything like it.
February 6, 2026 at 4:24 PM
Very much worth reading.
Reposted by Titus Brown
Here's @rickhasen.bsky.social detailing the scenario in which Trump uses search warrant to seize ballot boxes in a contested 2026 locale. This is more worrisome than ICE at the polls. Hasen also suggests ways to act against this now.
It's harrowing stuff:
newrepublic.com/article/2062...
It's harrowing stuff:
newrepublic.com/article/2062...
February 6, 2026 at 1:27 PM
Here's @rickhasen.bsky.social detailing the scenario in which Trump uses search warrant to seize ballot boxes in a contested 2026 locale. This is more worrisome than ICE at the polls. Hasen also suggests ways to act against this now.
It's harrowing stuff:
newrepublic.com/article/2062...
It's harrowing stuff:
newrepublic.com/article/2062...
Reposted by Titus Brown
"The “anti-woke” movement was not a genteel intellectual inquiry, made by disinterested parties who cared deeply about free speech. It is a social circle of powerful people who feel threatened by #MeToo."
www.theverge.com/tech/874721/...
www.theverge.com/tech/874721/...
How the men in the Epstein files defeated #MeToo
The emails show the “anti-woke” crusaders are afraid of accountability.
www.theverge.com
February 6, 2026 at 2:59 PM
"The “anti-woke” movement was not a genteel intellectual inquiry, made by disinterested parties who cared deeply about free speech. It is a social circle of powerful people who feel threatened by #MeToo."
www.theverge.com/tech/874721/...
www.theverge.com/tech/874721/...
Reposted by Titus Brown
"if they do this, if they try to overthrow our democracy, if you are allied with democracy, do not go to work. If you’re a pilot, do not show up. If you drive a train, do not show up. If you’re a teacher, do not show up. We grind the country to a halt.”
‘Grind the country to a halt’: Democrat urges national strike if Trump meddles in midterms
In wake of Donald Trump’s call for Republicans to ‘take over’ voting, senator Ruben Gallego urges citizens to take a stand and give the ‘ultimate response’
www.theguardian.com
February 6, 2026 at 3:46 PM
"if they do this, if they try to overthrow our democracy, if you are allied with democracy, do not go to work. If you’re a pilot, do not show up. If you drive a train, do not show up. If you’re a teacher, do not show up. We grind the country to a halt.”
Reposted by Titus Brown
February 6, 2026 at 4:00 PM
Reposted by Titus Brown
Once again, it turns out “fully autonomous” means “a guy in the Philippines.”
It Turns Out Waymos Are Being Controlled by Workers in the Philippines
During a Congressional hearing, Waymo's chief safety officer, Mauricio Peña, was grilled over the company's reliance on overseas workers.
futurism.com
February 6, 2026 at 3:37 PM
Once again, it turns out “fully autonomous” means “a guy in the Philippines.”
Reposted by Titus Brown
No joke: I got angry hate mail today for writing an obituary of a Black woman scientist—because the person felt she did didn’t deserve the recognition.
Which just makes me want to share it again: www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Which just makes me want to share it again: www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Gladys Mae West obituary: mathematician who pioneered GPS technology
She made key contributions to US cold-war science despite facing huge barriers as a Black woman.
www.nature.com
February 6, 2026 at 9:09 AM
No joke: I got angry hate mail today for writing an obituary of a Black woman scientist—because the person felt she did didn’t deserve the recognition.
Which just makes me want to share it again: www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Which just makes me want to share it again: www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Reposted by Titus Brown
I moved from Substack to Ghost a while ago and can vouch for Ghost's ease of use, and I'm exceptionally lazy about these things. Just in case you need another datapoint for your persuasion campaign.
February 5, 2026 at 10:38 PM
I moved from Substack to Ghost a while ago and can vouch for Ghost's ease of use, and I'm exceptionally lazy about these things. Just in case you need another datapoint for your persuasion campaign.
Reposted by Titus Brown
A direct quote from Asimov himself: "The question then is not whether or not a girl should be touched. The question is merely where, when, and how she should be touched."
Not a lot of space here for consent.
Not a lot of space here for consent.
February 5, 2026 at 9:52 PM
A direct quote from Asimov himself: "The question then is not whether or not a girl should be touched. The question is merely where, when, and how she should be touched."
Not a lot of space here for consent.
Not a lot of space here for consent.
Reposted by Titus Brown
congratulations to everyone who did not email regularly with jeffrey epstein
November 13, 2025 at 3:24 AM
congratulations to everyone who did not email regularly with jeffrey epstein