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
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.
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
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.
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
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...
Reposted by Laura Edelson
On Lawfare Daily, @jshermcyber.bsky.social spoke to @whiskeyocelot.bsky.social and @erie.bsky.social about how state enforcers and regulators can better work with technologists, what technologists are suited to help with, and what roles technologists can play. www.lawfaremedia.org/article/lawf...
October 14, 2025 at 1:37 PM
On Lawfare Daily, @jshermcyber.bsky.social spoke to @whiskeyocelot.bsky.social and @erie.bsky.social about how state enforcers and regulators can better work with technologists, what technologists are suited to help with, and what roles technologists can play. www.lawfaremedia.org/article/lawf...
Reposted by Laura Edelson
Great news!
JSTOR now have a free account with an Independent Researcher category. You can access 100 documents per month
www.jstor.org/action/showL...
JSTOR now have a free account with an Independent Researcher category. You can access 100 documents per month
www.jstor.org/action/showL...
September 29, 2025 at 3:27 PM
Great news!
JSTOR now have a free account with an Independent Researcher category. You can access 100 documents per month
www.jstor.org/action/showL...
JSTOR now have a free account with an Independent Researcher category. You can access 100 documents per month
www.jstor.org/action/showL...
Reposted by Laura Edelson
The folks who manage our building put a flyer in the elevator every week. Along with the weekly weather and notes about building rules being broken, they often add a quote. This is one I snapshotted a few weeks ago:
September 26, 2025 at 2:59 AM
The folks who manage our building put a flyer in the elevator every week. Along with the weekly weather and notes about building rules being broken, they often add a quote. This is one I snapshotted a few weeks ago:
Reposted by Laura Edelson
I spoke with @whiskeyocelot.bsky.social and @chinafile.bsky.social's Jessica Batke about their recent Locknet report, which provides a brilliant, concise, detailed but accessible overview of China's online censorship system.
Interview: Jessica Batke and Laura Edelson on China’s “Locknet”
"Just because there are gaps, that doesn't mean the system as a whole is not effective. The human psychological component to this is that for most people, most of the time, as long as it's inconvenient, that's enough."
"Just because there are gaps, that doesn't mean the system as a whole is not effective. The human psychological component to this is that for most people, most of the time, as long as it's inconvenient, that's enough."
Interview: Jessica Batke and Laura Edelson on China’s “Locknet”
In June, ChinaFile published a new report, "The Locknet: How China Controls Its Internet and Why It Matters"—the product of 18 months’ work by Jessica Batke, ChinaFile’s senior editor for investigatio...
chinadigitaltimes.net
September 11, 2025 at 9:48 PM
I spoke with @whiskeyocelot.bsky.social and @chinafile.bsky.social's Jessica Batke about their recent Locknet report, which provides a brilliant, concise, detailed but accessible overview of China's online censorship system.
I talked to @cbsmornings.bsky.social this morning about the rising tide of extreme content on social media in the aftermath of the Charlie Kirk assassination:
www.cbsnews.com/video/what-c...
www.cbsnews.com/video/what-c...
What can be done to slow misinformation in the digital age
The killing of political activist Charlie Kirk was followed almost immediately by a flood of misinformation and graphic content online. Northeastern University professor Laura Edelson about whether th...
www.cbsnews.com
September 15, 2025 at 8:43 PM
I talked to @cbsmornings.bsky.social this morning about the rising tide of extreme content on social media in the aftermath of the Charlie Kirk assassination:
www.cbsnews.com/video/what-c...
www.cbsnews.com/video/what-c...
Reposted by Laura Edelson
NEW
X helped spread ill-informed conclusions about the motivations of the Minneapolis school shooter based on cherry-picked words or phrases to millions.
with comment from @ninajankowicz.com @whiskeyocelot.bsky.social @rothschildmd.bsky.social @maargentino.com
www.wired.com/story/disinf...
X helped spread ill-informed conclusions about the motivations of the Minneapolis school shooter based on cherry-picked words or phrases to millions.
with comment from @ninajankowicz.com @whiskeyocelot.bsky.social @rothschildmd.bsky.social @maargentino.com
www.wired.com/story/disinf...
How Disinformation About the Minnesota Shooting Spread Like Wildfire on X
Under Elon Musk’s leadership, X has become the perfect platform to supercharge the spread of dangerous disinformation during breaking news events.
www.wired.com
September 3, 2025 at 4:17 PM
NEW
X helped spread ill-informed conclusions about the motivations of the Minneapolis school shooter based on cherry-picked words or phrases to millions.
with comment from @ninajankowicz.com @whiskeyocelot.bsky.social @rothschildmd.bsky.social @maargentino.com
www.wired.com/story/disinf...
X helped spread ill-informed conclusions about the motivations of the Minneapolis school shooter based on cherry-picked words or phrases to millions.
with comment from @ninajankowicz.com @whiskeyocelot.bsky.social @rothschildmd.bsky.social @maargentino.com
www.wired.com/story/disinf...
Reposted by Laura Edelson
I'm one of the 37 targeted below by DNI Tulsi Gabbard. I haven't had a clearance nor worked in government since 2013. This is political theater & a dangerous example of government abusing its powers to punish private citizens for openly exercising their 1st Amendment rights. My full statement:
August 26, 2025 at 1:42 PM
I'm one of the 37 targeted below by DNI Tulsi Gabbard. I haven't had a clearance nor worked in government since 2013. This is political theater & a dangerous example of government abusing its powers to punish private citizens for openly exercising their 1st Amendment rights. My full statement:
One of the things I was most excited that we got to do for the Locknet report was to produce these explainers of how the internet actually works. It’s not magic!
How do the components of the Internet work together?
@whiskeyocelot.bsky.social and Jessica Batke discuss what they learned over the course of their investigation into China's online censorship system.
Read the full report on @chinafile.bsky.social. locknet.chinafile.com/the-locknet/...
@whiskeyocelot.bsky.social and Jessica Batke discuss what they learned over the course of their investigation into China's online censorship system.
Read the full report on @chinafile.bsky.social. locknet.chinafile.com/the-locknet/...
July 24, 2025 at 5:47 PM
One of the things I was most excited that we got to do for the Locknet report was to produce these explainers of how the internet actually works. It’s not magic!
Reposted by Laura Edelson
@chinafile.bsky.social’s Jessica Batke and @whiskeyocelot.bsky.social, authors of a new report that reshapes our understanding of Chinese censorship, spoke to the @washingtonpost.com about how the “Locknet” works.
www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/0...
www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/0...
July 15, 2025 at 6:21 PM
@chinafile.bsky.social’s Jessica Batke and @whiskeyocelot.bsky.social, authors of a new report that reshapes our understanding of Chinese censorship, spoke to the @washingtonpost.com about how the “Locknet” works.
www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/0...
www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/0...
I talked to @washingtonpost.com for this piece on China's digital ID system. It's a great example of two key features of the Locknet: 1) different aspects of the censorship system reinforce each other, and 2) pushing the policeman into citizens heads.
wapo.st/4kBkkEc
wapo.st/4kBkkEc
Big Brother gets new powers in China with digital ID system
China is launching a digital ID system, giving Beijing greater control over online activity and further raising concerns about surveillance and censorship.
wapo.st
July 15, 2025 at 1:41 PM
I talked to @washingtonpost.com for this piece on China's digital ID system. It's a great example of two key features of the Locknet: 1) different aspects of the censorship system reinforce each other, and 2) pushing the policeman into citizens heads.
wapo.st/4kBkkEc
wapo.st/4kBkkEc
Can anyone help me identity this mushroom? It grew up in just a few days in my garden, and it’s currently over a foot wide. I’m definitely not going to eat it, I’m just curious!
July 13, 2025 at 2:52 PM
Can anyone help me identity this mushroom? It grew up in just a few days in my garden, and it’s currently over a foot wide. I’m definitely not going to eat it, I’m just curious!