I'm a citizen of Lexington, Kentucky, the United States, the world, and the digital sphere. Politically, I care about equality (and changing structures to support it), elections (that is, making them more fair and representative), and electronics (or, rather, their impact on society).

I am a believing agnostic in Community of Christ with a (mostly) cherished past as a (mostly) literalist Mormon.

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🔗 linkblog: just finished 'In Texas, Panic Over Critical Race Theory Extends to Bookshelves - The New York Times'

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All very worrying. link to ‘In Texas, Panic Over Critical Race Theory Extends to Bookshelves - The New York Times’

🔗 linkblog: just finished 'Researchers explain why they believe Facebook mishandles political ads : NPR'

- kudos:

Size and scale remain problems for Facebook and other social media platforms. link to ‘Researchers explain why they believe Facebook mishandles political ads : NPR’

🔗 linkblog: just finished 'Report - Legal Loopholes and Data for Dollars: How Law Enforcement and Intelligence Agencies Are Buying Your Data from Brokers - Center for Democracy and Technology'

- kudos:

This report sounds terrifying. Even the Capitol rioters deserve some freedom from this kind of surveillance. link to ‘Report - Legal Loopholes and Data for Dollars: How Law Enforcement and Intelligence Agencies Are Buying Your Data from Brokers - Center for Democracy and Technology’

🔗 linkblog: just finished 'Your Face Is, or Will Be, Your Boarding Pass - The New York Times'

- kudos:

Nope nope nope. link to ‘Your Face Is, or Will Be, Your Boarding Pass - The New York Times’

🔗 linkblog: just finished 'Twitter reportedly suspended accounts by mistake after extremists abused new private media policy - The Verge'

- kudos:

Not a great look. link to ‘Twitter reportedly suspended accounts by mistake after extremists abused new private media policy - The Verge’

🔗 linkblog: just finished 'Emails show what happened before Missouri gov. falsely called journalist a “hacker” | Ars Technica'

- kudos:

This dumb story got even dumber. link to ‘Emails show what happened before Missouri gov. falsely called journalist a “hacker” | Ars Technica’

🔗 linkblog: just finished 'Utah Makes Welfare So Hard to Get, Some Feel They Must Join the LDS Church to Get Aid — ProPublica'

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Bishop roulette makes for terrible public policy. link to ‘Utah Makes Welfare So Hard to Get, Some Feel They Must Join the LDS Church to Get Aid — ProPublica’

🔗 linkblog: just finished 'Twitter policy aimed at improving privacy sparks concerns over misuse : NPR'

- kudos:

File this under bad solutions to worse problems. link to ‘Twitter policy aimed at improving privacy sparks concerns over misuse : NPR’

🔗 linkblog: just finished 'The Internet Needs Fair Rules of the Road – and Competitive Drivers | Electronic Frontier Foundation'

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Appreciate this argument for the need for true ISP competition alongside net neutrality. link to ‘The Internet Needs Fair Rules of the Road – and Competitive Drivers | Electronic Frontier Foundation’

🔗 linkblog: just finished 'KU reaches compromise with Lexington tree-cutting protesters | Lexington Herald Leader'

- kudos:

Wish I had commuted earlier today to see this; when I biked past, there were only KU folks, no protestors. ALSO: “protesters might be abetting murderers by taking up police time” is not a good look. link to ‘KU reaches compromise with Lexington tree-cutting protesters | Lexington Herald Leader’

🔗 linkblog: just finished 'Qualcomm’s new always-on smartphone camera is a privacy nightmare - The Verge'

- kudos:

Takes some real self-confidence to describe an always-on camera as a feature, not a nightmarish bug. link to ‘Qualcomm’s new always-on smartphone camera is a privacy nightmare - The Verge’

🔗 linkblog: just finished 'Podcast Episode: Who Should Control Online Speech? | Electronic Frontier Foundation'

- kudos:

Such a good conversation on such an important topic. link to ‘Podcast Episode: Who Should Control Online Speech? | Electronic Frontier Foundation’

🔗 linkblog: just finished 'Ky. lawmakers plan to quickly pass redistricting maps – 89.3 WFPL News Louisville'

- kudos:

Dreading this whole process. link to ‘Ky. lawmakers plan to quickly pass redistricting maps – 89.3 WFPL News Louisville’

🔗 linkblog: just finished 'Meta ordered to sell Giphy by UK regulator - The Verge'

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I had completely forgotten that Meta owned Giphy. link to ‘Meta ordered to sell Giphy by UK regulator - The Verge’

🔗 linkblog: just finished 'Fayette schools considers spending $440,00 for outside drivers | Lexington Herald Leader'

- kudos:

School buses are the most common form of public transit around here, and we still can’t do that right. link to ‘Fayette schools considers spending $440,00 for outside drivers | Lexington Herald Leader’

🔗 linkblog: just finished 'How Steve Bannon Has Exploited Google Ads to Monetize Extremism — ProPublica'

- kudos:

Another reason to be wary of automated ad exchanges. [link to ‘How Steve Bannon Has Exploited Google Ads to Monetize Extremism — ProPublica’](https://www.propublica.org/article/how-steve-bannon-has-exploited-google-ads-to-monetize-extremism

🔗 linkblog: just finished 'Pluralistic: 28 Nov 2021 – Pluralistic: Daily links from Cory Doctorow'

- kudos:

Intellectual property can be a human rights issue. [link to ‘Pluralistic: 28 Nov 2021 – Pluralistic: Daily links from Cory Doctorow’](https://pluralistic.net/2021/11/28/somos-cuba/

- kudos:

I am about a decade late to Joanna Brooks’s beautiful memoir, and I know I wouldn’t have appreciated it fully in 2012, but I am so, so glad to be reading it now.

🔗 linkblog: just finished 'In Kentucky, the ‘Lost Cause’ lingers as a new myth takes hold | Lexington Herald Leader'

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Compelling article on histories we’ve made and the ones we are now making. link to ‘In Kentucky, the ‘Lost Cause’ lingers as a new myth takes hold | Lexington Herald Leader’

🔗 linkblog: just finished 'How will KY spend its $4.6B in infrastructure bill funds? | Lexington Herald Leader'

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Helpful read on infrastructure money coming to Kentucky. link to ‘How will KY spend its $4.6B in infrastructure bill funds? | Lexington Herald Leader’

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I dream of a world where IP laws are liberalized to the point that libraries can provide their own, publicly-funded streaming services.

🔗 linkblog: just finished 'Reporter’s notebook: How to be a kinder consumer this holiday season – 89.3 WFPL News Louisville'

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Lots to think about here. link to ‘Reporter’s notebook: How to be a kinder consumer this holiday season – 89.3 WFPL News Louisville’

🔗 linkblog: just finished 'Thanksgiving is a day of mourning for New England's Native American tribes : NPR'

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Humbling read today. link to ‘Thanksgiving is a day of mourning for New England’s Native American tribes : NPR’

🔗 linkblog: just finished 'Podcast Episode: The Revolution Will Be Open Source | Electronic Frontier Foundation'

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Very interested in the idea of making contributions to open source software tax deductible. link to ‘Podcast Episode: The Revolution Will Be Open Source | Electronic Frontier Foundation’

🔗 linkblog: just finished 'Security Researcher Finds Facebook App Tracking iPhone Movements'

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Accelerometer data can be used for invasive tracking, and Facebook seems to be doing so. This is truly scary stuff. link to ‘Security Researcher Finds Facebook App Tracking iPhone Movements’

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Guess who responded to a recent House censure by joining Gab a few days ago?

🔗 linkblog: just finished 'The Amazon Privacy Nightmare. “What you search for, what you buy… | by Micah Sifry | Nov, 2021 | OneZero'

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Very scary stuff here. link to ‘The Amazon Privacy Nightmare. “What you search for, what you buy… | by Micah Sifry | Nov, 2021 | OneZero’

🔗 linkblog: just finished 'Clearview AI does well in another round of facial recognition accuracy tests. - The New York Times'

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The problem with facial recognition isn’t (just) accuracy—it’s the underlying values of such a project. link to ‘Clearview AI does well in another round of facial recognition accuracy tests. - The New York Times’

🔗 linkblog: just finished 'For Rules in Technology, the Challenge is to Balance Code and Law - The New York Times'

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Glad to see Lessig expressing caution here. link to ‘For Rules in Technology, the Challenge is to Balance Code and Law - The New York Times’

🔗 linkblog: just finished 'Police Aerial Surveillance Endangers Our Ability to Protest | Electronic Frontier Foundation'

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Surveillance remains scary. link to ‘Police Aerial Surveillance Endangers Our Ability to Protest | Electronic Frontier Foundation’

🔗 linkblog: just finished 'Rand Paul to challenge Biden’s Saudi arms sale  | Lexington Herald Leader'

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The thing about Rand Paul is that sometimes he gets things very right, even though he so often gets things so wrong. link to ‘Rand Paul to challenge Biden’s Saudi arms sale | Lexington Herald Leader’

🔗 linkblog: just finished 'Predictive analytics in child welfare raise concerns - Youth Today'

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We need data to make decisions, but predictive analytics tend to give me the heebie jeebies. link to ‘Predictive analytics in child welfare raise concerns - Youth Today’

🔗 linkblog: just finished 'Lexington KY gets ‘perfect score’ for LGBTQ protections | Lexington Herald Leader'

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Good news for Lexington! 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈 link to ‘Lexington KY gets ‘perfect score’ for LGBTQ protections | Lexington Herald Leader’

🔗 linkblog: just finished 'Bipartisan Bill Seeks to Stop Warrantless Car Spying by Police'

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Something else to write representatives about. link to ‘Bipartisan Bill Seeks to Stop Warrantless Car Spying by Police’

🔗 linkblog: just finished 'BTS fan accounts targeted with fake copyright takedowns - The Verge'

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Weaponized copyright enforcement is awful. link to ‘BTS fan accounts targeted with fake copyright takedowns - The Verge’

🔗 linkblog: just finished 'Podcast Episode: What Police Get When They Get Your Phone | Electronic Frontier Foundation'

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Time to write some representatives. This is scary stuff. link to ‘Podcast Episode: What Police Get When They Get Your Phone | Electronic Frontier Foundation’