John Palowitch
@johnpalowitch.bsky.social
senior AI engineer @the internet archive. formerly @deepmind working on NLP, graphs, and computation social science.
ml.johnpalowitch.com
ml.johnpalowitch.com
Reposted by John Palowitch
What, exactly, does this string of words mean? Why does everyone who stands to profit from selling "AI" love to repeat it? And what's the value of slogans that masquerade as history?
sonjadrimmer.com/blog-1/2025/...
sonjadrimmer.com/blog-1/2025/...
"The Printing Press Democratized Knowledge": When Slogans Masquerade as History — Sonja Drimmer
The phrase is said so frequently it seems, like the mechanism it celebrates, to mechanically replicate itself. It's become a favorite catchphrase among tech boosters of any sort (see my post on...
sonjadrimmer.com
September 10, 2025 at 7:51 PM
What, exactly, does this string of words mean? Why does everyone who stands to profit from selling "AI" love to repeat it? And what's the value of slogans that masquerade as history?
sonjadrimmer.com/blog-1/2025/...
sonjadrimmer.com/blog-1/2025/...
Reposted by John Palowitch
Silicon Valley, 1990s: Free and open access to all the world’s knowledge will usher a new utopian age of information!
Silicon Valley, 2025:
Silicon Valley, 2025:
![Enable chats with Satan [enabled]
Premium subscription required](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:xk7r4kbdqfmrrzj3664ig4mt/bafkreielrwmwsrdoobdypob2kgwvma7g2yt56kcmn27mubosfpon7iziim@jpeg)
November 15, 2025 at 1:28 AM
Silicon Valley, 1990s: Free and open access to all the world’s knowledge will usher a new utopian age of information!
Silicon Valley, 2025:
Silicon Valley, 2025:
Reposted by John Palowitch
Google has moved from moral cowardice (removing ICE tracking apps) to direct complicity in the violent, unconstitutional abuse of vulnerable people.
As a civil liberties lawyer who worked at Google for ten years, this one hits me in the gut.
As a civil liberties lawyer who worked at Google for ten years, this one hits me in the gut.
Google Has Chosen a Side in Trump's Mass Deportation Effort
Google is hosting a CBP app that uses facial recognition to identify immigrants, while simultaneously removing apps that report the location of ICE officials because Google sees ICE as a vulnerable gr...
www.404media.co
November 14, 2025 at 3:28 PM
Google has moved from moral cowardice (removing ICE tracking apps) to direct complicity in the violent, unconstitutional abuse of vulnerable people.
As a civil liberties lawyer who worked at Google for ten years, this one hits me in the gut.
As a civil liberties lawyer who worked at Google for ten years, this one hits me in the gut.
Reposted by John Palowitch
Never forget the same people defending pedophilia have spent years trying to convince the public that drag queens and trans people are a threat to children.
It’s all smoke and mirrors to allow the real predators to roam free.
It’s all smoke and mirrors to allow the real predators to roam free.
November 14, 2025 at 12:21 AM
Never forget the same people defending pedophilia have spent years trying to convince the public that drag queens and trans people are a threat to children.
It’s all smoke and mirrors to allow the real predators to roam free.
It’s all smoke and mirrors to allow the real predators to roam free.
Reposted by John Palowitch
For folks (and journalists) who want to search the Oversight Committee email texts, I made a database for searching the 20k text files:
splendorous-chaja-f79791.netlify.app
splendorous-chaja-f79791.netlify.app
Epstein Document Search
splendorous-chaja-f79791.netlify.app
November 13, 2025 at 1:12 AM
For folks (and journalists) who want to search the Oversight Committee email texts, I made a database for searching the 20k text files:
splendorous-chaja-f79791.netlify.app
splendorous-chaja-f79791.netlify.app
Reposted by John Palowitch
Internet pioneer Vint Cerf, co-creator of the TCP/IP protocols that built the Internet, celebrates the Internet Archive reaching 1 trillion pages & reflects on why preserving our digital history matters for generations to come.
More ⤵️
blog.archive.org/2025/11/12/v...
#Wayback1T
More ⤵️
blog.archive.org/2025/11/12/v...
#Wayback1T
November 12, 2025 at 4:44 PM
Internet pioneer Vint Cerf, co-creator of the TCP/IP protocols that built the Internet, celebrates the Internet Archive reaching 1 trillion pages & reflects on why preserving our digital history matters for generations to come.
More ⤵️
blog.archive.org/2025/11/12/v...
#Wayback1T
More ⤵️
blog.archive.org/2025/11/12/v...
#Wayback1T
Reposted by John Palowitch
Three German universities offering post-docs for researchers "who cannot conduct or continue their work in the USA appropriately because of actual political pressure. "
www.uni-konstanz.de/zukunftskoll...
www.uni-konstanz.de/zukunftskoll...
Early Career Rescue Fellowship
www.uni-konstanz.de
November 11, 2025 at 7:10 PM
Three German universities offering post-docs for researchers "who cannot conduct or continue their work in the USA appropriately because of actual political pressure. "
www.uni-konstanz.de/zukunftskoll...
www.uni-konstanz.de/zukunftskoll...
Reposted by John Palowitch
I think the belief by the powerful that "people will put up with many things if you are excellent at math" is incredibly revealing in terms of understanding How We Got Here
November 11, 2025 at 7:14 PM
I think the belief by the powerful that "people will put up with many things if you are excellent at math" is incredibly revealing in terms of understanding How We Got Here
😡
November 11, 2025 at 5:52 PM
😡
Reposted by John Palowitch
Brandon Silverman explains how many social media platforms have made their data — and therefore their role in any number of societal concerns within the public interest — increasingly opaque by limiting access to researchers, even as they sell that same data to companies.
Despite new EU transparency laws, researchers are still blocked from vital social media data, while corporations buy the same information freely, argues Brandon Silverman. The result: a two-tier system that shields platforms from scrutiny and weakens democratic oversight.
Why Commercial Tools Can Scrape Social Media But Researchers Can't | TechPolicy.Press
Brandon Silverman explains how researchers face barriers to social media data under the DSA, while corporations can buy full access.
buff.ly
November 11, 2025 at 2:59 PM
Brandon Silverman explains how many social media platforms have made their data — and therefore their role in any number of societal concerns within the public interest — increasingly opaque by limiting access to researchers, even as they sell that same data to companies.
Reposted by John Palowitch
Tonight, Senate Republicans — aided by eight Democrats — passed a funding bill that will raise healthcare premiums for millions of Americans and leave some families without health care at all.
Let's discuss.
Let's discuss.
November 10, 2025 at 4:06 AM
Tonight, Senate Republicans — aided by eight Democrats — passed a funding bill that will raise healthcare premiums for millions of Americans and leave some families without health care at all.
Let's discuss.
Let's discuss.
Reposted by John Palowitch
Next year’s midterms will be crucial.
Donald Trump and Congressional Republicans have spent the past ten months making life less affordable and more uncertain for working families.
Donald Trump and Congressional Republicans have spent the past ten months making life less affordable and more uncertain for working families.
November 10, 2025 at 4:06 AM
Next year’s midterms will be crucial.
Donald Trump and Congressional Republicans have spent the past ten months making life less affordable and more uncertain for working families.
Donald Trump and Congressional Republicans have spent the past ten months making life less affordable and more uncertain for working families.
Reposted by John Palowitch
These 8 Senators sold us out to Trump:
Hassan
King
Cortez-Masto
Shaheen
Kaine
Fetterman
Durbin
Rosen
Understand This Fact: Chuck Schumer is behind this. None of these 8 are up for reelection in 2026. Schumer asked them vote yes—they agreed. He's such a coward that he folded and won't even own it.
Hassan
King
Cortez-Masto
Shaheen
Kaine
Fetterman
Durbin
Rosen
Understand This Fact: Chuck Schumer is behind this. None of these 8 are up for reelection in 2026. Schumer asked them vote yes—they agreed. He's such a coward that he folded and won't even own it.
November 10, 2025 at 2:59 AM
These 8 Senators sold us out to Trump:
Hassan
King
Cortez-Masto
Shaheen
Kaine
Fetterman
Durbin
Rosen
Understand This Fact: Chuck Schumer is behind this. None of these 8 are up for reelection in 2026. Schumer asked them vote yes—they agreed. He's such a coward that he folded and won't even own it.
Hassan
King
Cortez-Masto
Shaheen
Kaine
Fetterman
Durbin
Rosen
Understand This Fact: Chuck Schumer is behind this. None of these 8 are up for reelection in 2026. Schumer asked them vote yes—they agreed. He's such a coward that he folded and won't even own it.
Reposted by John Palowitch
Mamdani's first loss:
www.kenklippenstein.com/p/mamdanis-f...
www.kenklippenstein.com/p/mamdanis-f...
Mamdani's First Loss
Mayor-elect of New York bows to "national security." Will it last?
www.kenklippenstein.com
November 8, 2025 at 11:51 PM
Mamdani's first loss:
www.kenklippenstein.com/p/mamdanis-f...
www.kenklippenstein.com/p/mamdanis-f...
Stories like this demonstrate why retaining our right to develop and use VPNs is so critical @fightforthefuture.org @eff.org
This summer, Russia banned online searches for "extremist" information. Federal agents have now demonstrated that they can act against overcurious Internet users within a matter of hours. meduza.io/en/feature/2...
A Russian medical student read about Ukraine’s Azov Regiment while riding the bus. Within hours, federal agents arrested him for an ‘illegal Internet search.’ — Meduza
One fine day in late September, a medical student named Sergey was riding the bus to work in Kamensk-Uralsky, browsing the Internet on his phone. He came across some photos showing the insignia…
meduza.io
November 7, 2025 at 7:55 PM
Stories like this demonstrate why retaining our right to develop and use VPNs is so critical @fightforthefuture.org @eff.org
Reposted by John Palowitch
There is something deeply broken about an economy that creates trillionaires while people get buried under the cost of living and 42 million go hungry. The ultra-rich should realize that my Billionaires Income Tax, aimed at ensuring they pay their fair share, represents the moderate path forward.
Tesla shareholders have approved a pay package that could make CEO Elon Musk, already the world’s richest person, the world’s first trillionaire. https://cnn.it/43KZnkA
November 7, 2025 at 1:57 AM
There is something deeply broken about an economy that creates trillionaires while people get buried under the cost of living and 42 million go hungry. The ultra-rich should realize that my Billionaires Income Tax, aimed at ensuring they pay their fair share, represents the moderate path forward.
Reposted by John Palowitch
serious note: they're gonna try 5x harder to sabotage the midterms after tonight and we're gonna have to organize on a literally historic scale to stop them
really obvious now why trump and the republican party have been working so hard to prevent fair elections lol they know
November 5, 2025 at 4:41 AM
serious note: they're gonna try 5x harder to sabotage the midterms after tonight and we're gonna have to organize on a literally historic scale to stop them
Reposted by John Palowitch
If Andrew Cuomo is the right choice for fascist, right-wing billionaires, he’s the wrong choice for NYC.
This isn’t complicated.
This isn’t complicated.
November 4, 2025 at 2:31 AM
If Andrew Cuomo is the right choice for fascist, right-wing billionaires, he’s the wrong choice for NYC.
This isn’t complicated.
This isn’t complicated.
Reposted by John Palowitch
a helpful starter pack to find stuff you may be interested in and/or is local to you
go.bsky.app/2Fq4P6e
go.bsky.app/2Fq4P6e
November 3, 2025 at 9:17 PM
a helpful starter pack to find stuff you may be interested in and/or is local to you
go.bsky.app/2Fq4P6e
go.bsky.app/2Fq4P6e
Reposted by John Palowitch
Amazon is helping fund a $300 million build of a ballroom for the White House.
Independent bookstores are donating to food banks and organizations that help with food insecurity.
They are not the same.
Independent bookstores are donating to food banks and organizations that help with food insecurity.
They are not the same.
October 30, 2025 at 4:01 PM
Amazon is helping fund a $300 million build of a ballroom for the White House.
Independent bookstores are donating to food banks and organizations that help with food insecurity.
They are not the same.
Independent bookstores are donating to food banks and organizations that help with food insecurity.
They are not the same.
What are the legal mechanisms that enable a private company to put 2-ton surveillance boxes that can drive 60mph on public streets?
Genuine question. Did we (SF residents) vote on something that allowed this takeover?
Genuine question. Did we (SF residents) vote on something that allowed this takeover?
the beloved neighborhood bodega cat getting killed by a waymo is something I just can't stop thinking about, and it breaks me in little ways over and over again.
October 30, 2025 at 5:03 AM
What are the legal mechanisms that enable a private company to put 2-ton surveillance boxes that can drive 60mph on public streets?
Genuine question. Did we (SF residents) vote on something that allowed this takeover?
Genuine question. Did we (SF residents) vote on something that allowed this takeover?
Reposted by John Palowitch
Companies are often forbidden from telling customers when they hand over data to authorities. To counter this, Israel reportedly worked with Google & Amazon on a secret system to alert the government when Israeli data is given to foreign investigators. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Revealed: Israel demanded Google and Amazon use secret ‘wink’ to sidestep legal orders
The tech giants agreed to extraordinary terms to clinch a lucrative contract with the Israeli government, documents show
www.theguardian.com
October 29, 2025 at 3:38 PM
Companies are often forbidden from telling customers when they hand over data to authorities. To counter this, Israel reportedly worked with Google & Amazon on a secret system to alert the government when Israeli data is given to foreign investigators. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Reposted by John Palowitch
Kat is being federally charged by the FBI for protesting at Broadview.
This is a flagrant political prosecution by the Trump administration, which is trying to prevent free speech and free association.
I am proud of Kat. Her movement is being targeted by the government. She needs your support.
This is a flagrant political prosecution by the Trump administration, which is trying to prevent free speech and free association.
I am proud of Kat. Her movement is being targeted by the government. She needs your support.
I have been charged in a federal indictment sought by the Department of Justice.
This political prosecution is an attack on all of our First Amendment rights. I’m not backing down, and we’re going to win.
This political prosecution is an attack on all of our First Amendment rights. I’m not backing down, and we’re going to win.
October 29, 2025 at 4:58 PM
Kat is being federally charged by the FBI for protesting at Broadview.
This is a flagrant political prosecution by the Trump administration, which is trying to prevent free speech and free association.
I am proud of Kat. Her movement is being targeted by the government. She needs your support.
This is a flagrant political prosecution by the Trump administration, which is trying to prevent free speech and free association.
I am proud of Kat. Her movement is being targeted by the government. She needs your support.
Reposted by John Palowitch
This is a sad but correct decision. Thank you, @python.org, for committing to your values when it matters.
I would love a list of organization that have made this kind of value-driven decision to donate to.
I would love a list of organization that have made this kind of value-driven decision to donate to.
as a condition of funding, we were asked to affirm that we wouldn’t undertake any diversity, equity, and inclusion work, whether or not we used the government funds to do so. The PSF simply couldn’t agree to that statement,
October 27, 2025 at 4:49 PM
This is a sad but correct decision. Thank you, @python.org, for committing to your values when it matters.
I would love a list of organization that have made this kind of value-driven decision to donate to.
I would love a list of organization that have made this kind of value-driven decision to donate to.
Reposted by John Palowitch
TLDR; The PSF has made the decision to put our community and our shared diversity, equity, and inclusion values ahead of seeking $1.5M in new revenue. Please read and share. pyfound.blogspot.com/2025/10/NSF-...
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The official home of the Python Programming Language
www.python.org
October 27, 2025 at 2:47 PM
TLDR; The PSF has made the decision to put our community and our shared diversity, equity, and inclusion values ahead of seeking $1.5M in new revenue. Please read and share. pyfound.blogspot.com/2025/10/NSF-...
🧵
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