Laura Edelson
@whiskeyocelot.bsky.social
Assistant Professor, Northeastern University
Co-Director, C4D
Formerly: Chief Technologist, DoJ Antitrust Division, DOJ Civil Rights Division
Co-Director, C4D
Formerly: Chief Technologist, DoJ Antitrust Division, DOJ Civil Rights Division
Lastly on the storage front: remember spinny drives fail. It was useful to look at data like this and think about replacement rates when making cost comparisons:
www.backblaze.com/blog/backbla...
www.backblaze.com/blog/backbla...
Hard Drive Failure Rates: The Official Backblaze Drive Stats for 2024
The 2024 Year End Drive Stats Report is here. See the the latest annualized failure rates and data insights for the Backblaze drive fleet.
www.backblaze.com
January 19, 2026 at 6:28 PM
Lastly on the storage front: remember spinny drives fail. It was useful to look at data like this and think about replacement rates when making cost comparisons:
www.backblaze.com/blog/backbla...
www.backblaze.com/blog/backbla...
Chassis required the most thought, particularly on the power front. We were trying to scavenge parts wherever possible from the Big Bin of Parts (you know you have one too, don’t judge). But the power requirements were all BIG when we did the math and we did have to buy those new.
January 19, 2026 at 6:28 PM
Chassis required the most thought, particularly on the power front. We were trying to scavenge parts wherever possible from the Big Bin of Parts (you know you have one too, don’t judge). But the power requirements were all BIG when we did the math and we did have to buy those new.
Coming from just building PCs or speccing out research servers that require really fast read/write, I haven’t thought about spinny drives in a minute, but they are absolutely the way to go for most home data center needs. Funny enough vendors really don’t have expect you to order 5 of these 😂
January 19, 2026 at 6:28 PM
Coming from just building PCs or speccing out research servers that require really fast read/write, I haven’t thought about spinny drives in a minute, but they are absolutely the way to go for most home data center needs. Funny enough vendors really don’t have expect you to order 5 of these 😂
In-home data center phase 3: buying chassis, compute, and storage. The ‘compute’ part is expensive but not complicated: low volume) availability of GPUs and CPUs is good right now. Storage is also $$$, but there are a lot of choices that require really thinking about your use cases.
January 19, 2026 at 6:28 PM
In-home data center phase 3: buying chassis, compute, and storage. The ‘compute’ part is expensive but not complicated: low volume) availability of GPUs and CPUs is good right now. Storage is also $$$, but there are a lot of choices that require really thinking about your use cases.
And now the student has become the master.
January 16, 2026 at 12:46 PM
And now the student has become the master.
We also used gridfinity for interior organization an open-source 3D printed solution, which required making some adaptations , none of which were all that hard : gridfinity.tools
gridfinity.tools
gridfinity.tools
January 6, 2026 at 9:32 PM
We also used gridfinity for interior organization an open-source 3D printed solution, which required making some adaptations , none of which were all that hard : gridfinity.tools
We leaned hard into the systainer system, which has been great for our needs. They are a particularly good fit for uses that involve moving around lots of small parts. One caveat: we learned too late that they have two different grid systems for interior organization, so be warned. systainer.store
Systainer USA
The systainer, a case, a toolbox, an entire system of organization for workshops, work vehicles and professionals. See the entire Systainer line up at Systainer USA.
systainer.store
January 6, 2026 at 9:32 PM
We leaned hard into the systainer system, which has been great for our needs. They are a particularly good fit for uses that involve moving around lots of small parts. One caveat: we learned too late that they have two different grid systems for interior organization, so be warned. systainer.store
In-home data center phase 2: tool and supply organization. The pain of not being able to find the punch down because it’s mixed in with the saws( or is it with the cabling) quickly was intolerable. All the hobby stuff got organized along the way because there’s too much of a continuum of what’s what
January 6, 2026 at 9:26 PM
In-home data center phase 2: tool and supply organization. The pain of not being able to find the punch down because it’s mixed in with the saws( or is it with the cabling) quickly was intolerable. All the hobby stuff got organized along the way because there’s too much of a continuum of what’s what
In-home data center phase 2: tool and supply organization. The pain of not being able to find the punch down because it’s mixed in with the saws( or is it with the cabling) quickly was intolerable. All the hobby stuff got organized along the way because there’s too much of a continuum of what’s what
January 6, 2026 at 9:26 PM
In-home data center phase 2: tool and supply organization. The pain of not being able to find the punch down because it’s mixed in with the saws( or is it with the cabling) quickly was intolerable. All the hobby stuff got organized along the way because there’s too much of a continuum of what’s what
And before you ask, yes, phase zero was a whole house battery system to go with the solar array and whole house backup generator.
January 2, 2026 at 4:23 PM
And before you ask, yes, phase zero was a whole house battery system to go with the solar array and whole house backup generator.
Phase 1 of the in-home data center is complete.
January 2, 2026 at 4:21 PM
Phase 1 of the in-home data center is complete.
So what you’re saying is that we are one media studies paper away from solving this problem?
December 31, 2025 at 11:20 AM
So what you’re saying is that we are one media studies paper away from solving this problem?
Ug, the worst reason 🫠
December 30, 2025 at 10:04 PM
Ug, the worst reason 🫠
Why is this? Copyright?
December 30, 2025 at 9:43 PM
Why is this? Copyright?
This article about the property of 'stickiness' that content feed algorithms can have is absolutely fascinating. I'm thinking about how to study this in a larger way.
www.washingtonpost.com/technology/i...
www.washingtonpost.com/technology/i...
TikTok’s mental health ‘rabbit hole’? It’s not in your head.
It’s not just you: Data shows the app’s algorithm makes some topics ‘stickier’ than others
www.washingtonpost.com
December 12, 2025 at 5:27 PM
This article about the property of 'stickiness' that content feed algorithms can have is absolutely fascinating. I'm thinking about how to study this in a larger way.
www.washingtonpost.com/technology/i...
www.washingtonpost.com/technology/i...
Reposted by Laura Edelson
Many thanks to Cornell CALS for a grant to support early organizing, and to our collaborators Marie Bragg, @whiskeyocelot.bsky.social, @sarahagilbert.bsky.social, Ashley Maxie-Moreman, Damon McCoy, Amrit Purba, Jenny Radesky, & Pamela Wisniewski. Thanks also to co-authors Avriel Epps & Daniel Susser
December 11, 2025 at 3:45 PM
Many thanks to Cornell CALS for a grant to support early organizing, and to our collaborators Marie Bragg, @whiskeyocelot.bsky.social, @sarahagilbert.bsky.social, Ashley Maxie-Moreman, Damon McCoy, Amrit Purba, Jenny Radesky, & Pamela Wisniewski. Thanks also to co-authors Avriel Epps & Daniel Susser
Cardi B, Yann LeCunn, Banksy, and I have written a open letter calling for a ban on unicorn breeding. Geneticists say that unicorns will only bring benefits to humanity, but their reckless attempts to cross a rhino with a miniature pony could, in fact, doom us all.
December 11, 2025 at 4:29 PM
Cardi B, Yann LeCunn, Banksy, and I have written a open letter calling for a ban on unicorn breeding. Geneticists say that unicorns will only bring benefits to humanity, but their reckless attempts to cross a rhino with a miniature pony could, in fact, doom us all.
It’s the world championships so #fightrobotsfight
December 7, 2025 at 12:05 AM
It’s the world championships so #fightrobotsfight
Oh man, unless you really know you want to do it, don’t do it. I did this at the Met like 15 years ago and then I just had to take a few years off from live opera.
December 6, 2025 at 11:16 AM
Oh man, unless you really know you want to do it, don’t do it. I did this at the Met like 15 years ago and then I just had to take a few years off from live opera.
Backblaze unwrapped: you’re a data trillionaire!
December 4, 2025 at 8:52 PM
Backblaze unwrapped: you’re a data trillionaire!
Leaked docs on “Expedition Cloud” show the Chinese military-industrial complex building a digital shooting range for cyber ops. Not that anyone was in doubt about the importance cyber operations, but it's fascinating to look inside the machine.
netaskari.substack.com/p/train-to-k...
netaskari.substack.com/p/train-to-k...
Critical strike: China's hacking training grounds (PART 1)
Exclusive internal design documents reveal details of China's digital training grounds, set up to attack critical infrastructure of its "major adversaries".
netaskari.substack.com
November 25, 2025 at 3:02 PM
Leaked docs on “Expedition Cloud” show the Chinese military-industrial complex building a digital shooting range for cyber ops. Not that anyone was in doubt about the importance cyber operations, but it's fascinating to look inside the machine.
netaskari.substack.com/p/train-to-k...
netaskari.substack.com/p/train-to-k...
Also, this complaint is 🔥🔥🔥
A man was arrested for playing Darth Vader's theme music, "The Imperial March," behind National Guard troops walking through Logan Circle.
Now the ACLU is suing on his behalf. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
Now the ACLU is suing on his behalf. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
October 24, 2025 at 11:54 AM
Also, this complaint is 🔥🔥🔥
Reposted by Laura Edelson
tangentially related: @erie.bsky.social and @whiskeyocelot.bsky.social suggest that people with technical chops punch way above their weight in policy circles: www.lawfaremedia.org/article/lawf...
Lawfare Daily: How Technologists Can Help Regulators with Erie Meyer and Laura Edelson
What tasks are technologists best-suited to help regulators with?
www.lawfaremedia.org
October 21, 2025 at 10:08 PM
tangentially related: @erie.bsky.social and @whiskeyocelot.bsky.social suggest that people with technical chops punch way above their weight in policy circles: www.lawfaremedia.org/article/lawf...