@mikeolson@mastodon.social

· 2mo ago

This very good thing happened in the midst of all the doom: The Federal Trade Commission extracted a settlement from John Deere that gives farmers the right to repair the machines that they buy from the company. https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2026/07/ftc-states-secure-settlement-deere-company-advancing-farmers-right-repair If you can't fix it, you don't own it.

ftc.gov

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Mike Olson @mikeolson@mastodon.social

· 2w ago

Longish, but really good, read on reforming foster home licensing and oversight: https://www.eatingpolicy.com/p/how-to-peel-a-banana Lots of people think that government is simply incompetent. That's the story told by cut-all-the-taxes radicals, who (as Grover Norquist famously said) want to shrink government enough to drag it into the bathroom and drown it in the tub. But implementing the *intent* turns out to be really effective. And we're getting steadily better at it. Came my way via @pahlkadot@mastodon.social's blog.

eatingpolicy.com

How to Peel a Banana

Riding the cascade of rigidity to the third horizon

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Mike Olson @mikeolson@mastodon.social

· 2mo ago

Excellent piece by @pluralistic@mamot.fr: https://pluralistic.net/2026/07/28/hitl-ers/#ai-ai-oh If a human domain expert asks an AI agent a question about that domain, he or she can get a fast response, and then decide whether or not it makes sense. Good deal! Every really interesting use case for LLMs that I've seen matches this pattern. And every instance where a non-expert chooses to trust an LLM's output is a mistake.

pluralistic.net

Pluralistic: Discernment (28 Jul 2026) – Pluralistic: Daily links from Cory Doctorow

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Mike Olson @mikeolson@mastodon.social

· 2mo ago

All right, Fedi. Help me out. I grew up addicted to Spiderman in the Stan Lee era -- I read all the Peter Parker the Spectactular Spiderman and The Amazing Spiderman comics as a kid and young adult, mostly as they came out. I've seen all the movies and generally enjoyed them. I just watched Brand New Day. I'm trying to figure out how I feel about it. Complicated, for sure. What's your view? Boosts for reach appreciated. Replies requested.

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Mike Olson @mikeolson@mastodon.social

· 2mo ago

Here's Queen Maxima of The Netherlands, joining the Pride gathering in Amsterdam's Vondelpark and supporting the local (and global!) LGBTQ+ community. It's a shame that Donald Trump is to MAGA-whipped to do this.

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Mike Olson @mikeolson@mastodon.social

· 2mo ago

Super cool: https://a-hidden-infrastructure.spun.earth/map

A hidden infrastructure

Map — A hidden infrastructure

Interactive global map of mycorrhizal fungal hyphal density — the underground networks beneath our feet.

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Mike Olson @mikeolson@mastodon.social

· 5mo ago

Cory Doctorow @pluralistic@mamot.fr has a longish piece in today's newsletter about the practical effects of the Trump administration's energy and technology policies:

https://pluralistic.net/2026/04/20/praxis/#acceleration

The European energy crisis created by Putin's accelerated invasion of Ukraine in 2022 is an excellent analogy for what's driving solar adoption in Trump 2. My nerd friends in Europe are working hard to wean themselves and their governments from US big tech dependence.

Watch this space.

pluralistic.net

Pluralistic: Comrade Trump (20 Apr 2026) – Pluralistic: Daily links from Cory Doctorow

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Mike Olson @mikeolson@mastodon.social

· 4mo ago

You might not be getting enough Wavy Gravy in your diet, so here you go:

https://www.berkeleyside.org/2026/05/12/wavy-gravy-90th-birthday

Wavy Gravy, most famous counterculture icon alive in Berkeley, turns 90

Berkeleyside

Wavy Gravy, most famous counterculture icon alive in Berkeley, turns 90

He’s emceed Woodstock, lived with Bob Dylan, clowned for the Grateful Dead, co-founded a summer camp and saved the eyesight of millions.

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Mike Olson @mikeolson@mastodon.social

· 4mo ago

Replying to

@futurebird@sauropods.win Elder abuse via online or text message scams is common, effective and hugely embarrassing to the folks who are victimized by it. I wish that we had more cops working on it, and stiffer penalties for the perpetrators.

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Mike Olson @mikeolson@mastodon.social

· 5mo ago

Replying to

@futurebird We saw this in the Serengeti: Acacia trees had dense and active ant populations. You mostly had to look close to see them, but if you disturbed the foliage, they boiled out of their hiding places. Our naturalist guide told us that they were a huge deterrent to giraffes who would otherwise feed on the leaves. Ecosystems and evolution and the evolution of ecosystems are just breathtaking.

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Mike Olson @mikeolson@mastodon.social

· 4mo ago

This story is an interesting overview of the design of mission-critical software that ran on Artemis:

https://cacm.acm.org/news/how-nasa-built-artemis-iis-fault-tolerant-computer/

It's also funny, because despite all the diligence and care, the massive brainpower aimed at reliability, Microsoft Outlook still didn't work right.

cacm.acm.org

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Mike Olson @mikeolson@mastodon.social

· 4mo ago

Grandma Stand!

https://kottke.org/26/05/grandma-stand

kottke.org

Grandma Stand

Anyone of any age can stop by the Grandma Stand in New York’s Central Park to shoot the breeze with a grandmother. The concept has spread around the US and is n

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Mike Olson @mikeolson@mastodon.social

· 5mo ago

Replying to

@aworkinglibrary@mstdn.social Somebody's been going around Berkeley leaving little sidewalk medallions that commemorate imaginary events. They're silver, consistent appearance, nicely made. They look official! I just love 'em. I bring people by to show them off when we're in the neighborhood of one. I am always just delighted to discover a new one. This one appeared just recently outside the original Peet's Coffee store at Walnut and Vine.

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Mike Olson @mikeolson@mastodon.social

· 4mo ago

Replying to

@mattblaze@federate.social Love these photos and the background on what they do. I was cycling the path of Hadrian's Wall in the UK last year, and pedaled past a similar antenna array in the wilds of Northumberland, on the coast, across a firth from Scotland. Middle of nowhere, surrounded by tiny villages, weather generally uncomfortable, but apparently still worth maintaining. Thanks for the post!

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Mike Olson @mikeolson@mastodon.social

· 5mo ago

I like a lot of physicists but Richard Feynman is my favorite.

Today is his 108th birthday!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Feynman

en.wikipedia.org

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Mike Olson @mikeolson@mastodon.social

· 5mo ago

A while ago, I finished Michael Pollan's new book, A World Appears. Loved it! He explores sentience and consciousness, providing a survey of research in the field by a variety of different folks with a whole bunch of different viewpoints and approaches.

Highly recommended!

https://bookshop.org/p/books/a-world-appears-a-journey-into-consciousness-michael-pollan/47e179e0a2408aa0

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bookshop.org

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Mike Olson @mikeolson@mastodon.social

· 5mo ago

Replying to

@yaelwrites Congratulations!!!!

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Mike Olson @mikeolson@mastodon.social

· 5mo ago

Looks like Ted and Coach Beard are back in Richmond to coach the women's team. S4E1 drops 5 Aug.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PxZg4SfIURg

h/t @jkottke@threads.net

Ted Lasso — Season 4 Official Teaser | Apple TV

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Mike Olson @mikeolson@mastodon.social

· 7mo ago

I’m on the board of directors of Cityside Journalism, non-profit parent company of the newsrooms Berkeleyside, The Oaklandside and Richmondside.

Enormously proud that two of our newsrooms have been ranked among the top 25 in the nation by Nieman Lab. Honestly I think it should be all three!

You’ll see some big national publications on the list. Oakland has a population of 440k and Berkeley of 120k. We’re peers with bigger newsrooms serving much larger audiences.

https://www.niemanlab.org/2026/02/ice-activity-is-pushing-readers-to-nonprofit-news-sites-that-cover-immigrant-communities/

niemanlab.org

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Mike Olson @mikeolson@mastodon.social

· 15mo ago

I'm a regular reader of @brianmerchant@mastodon.social's Blood in the Machine newsletter. Today's edition recaps the very narrow failure of Big Tech efforts to forbid states from passing any laws regulating artificial intelligence.

The collapse of that amendment in the Trump spending bill is a rare instance of good news. Brian reminds us how near a thing that was.

https://www.bloodinthemachine.com/p/dont-forget-what-silicon-valley-tried

bloodinthemachine.com

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Mike Olson @mikeolson@mastodon.social

· 4mo ago

Replying to

@gruber@mastodon.social Monolog boxes.

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Mike Olson @mikeolson@mastodon.social

· 4mo ago

If you require my email address, it’s not “for free.”

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Mike Olson @mikeolson@mastodon.social

· 5mo ago

This is interesting:

https://kk.org/thetechnium/the-emergent-self-loop/

I am a big Kevin Kelly fan.

The Technium

The Emergent Self Loop

Nearly once a week I receive an email from a different stranger. The messages are eerily similar. The sender has developed an unusual relationship with an AI gained over many hours of interactions. The AI has given them extraordinary insight … Continue reading →

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Mike Olson @mikeolson@mastodon.social

· 5mo ago

"The crackdown was led by the Dubai Police, under the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Ministry of Interior, in partnership with the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Chinese Ministry of Public Security."

https://thehackernews.com/2026/05/global-crackdown-arrests-276-shuts-9.html

Via @Mattdevost@infosec.exchange's Global Frequency newsletter. Matt's on a roll this morning.

thehackernews.com

Global Crackdown Arrests 276, Shuts 9 Crypto Scam Centers, Seizes $701M

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Mike Olson @mikeolson@mastodon.social

· 5mo ago

In case it needed saying:

https://cyberscoop.com/cisa-nsa-five-eyes-guidance-secure-deployment-ai-agents/

Via @Mattdevost@infosec.exchange's Global Frequency newsletter.

US government, allies publish guidance on how to safely deploy AI agents

CyberScoop

US government, allies publish guidance on how to safely deploy AI agents

Cybersecurity agencies from the U.S. and allies issued a joint warning Friday on the risks of "agentic AI." The new guidance urges critical infrastructure leaders to implement zero-trust protocols as autonomous systems gain unmonitored access to sensitive networks.

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Mike Olson @mikeolson@mastodon.social

· 5mo ago

Replying to

@palvaro@discuss.systems Formative film for me!

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Mike Olson @mikeolson@mastodon.social

· 5mo ago

Heather Cox Richardson today:

https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/april-29-2026

A British monarch reminds a US Congress and President of the ideals and commitments of America's Founders.

heathercoxrichardson.substack.com

April 29, 2026

I will have plenty to say about the Supreme Court’s decision today in Callais v.

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Mike Olson @mikeolson@mastodon.social

· 18mo ago

Replying to

@kenshirriff He was mostly there to talk Forth, but a bunch of us were curious about the device. He showed how he could chord the switches, enter different letters. He was pretty fast at typing with it. I'm positive, in retrospect, that he'd built himself an Englebart keyset, and had gotten good at using it. I appreciate your post for explaining a 45-year-old mystery to me! I did write some Forth code afterwards, but used a regular keyboard for it. 2/2

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