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John

@bostonenginerd.com
136 followers 396 following 66 posts

I love cats. I love every kind of cat.

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Reposted by John
Free Software Foundation @fsf.org · 10/08/2026
A program is free software if its users have the four essential freedoms: Freedom to... * run the program for any purpose (freedom 0); * study, and change, the program (freedom 1); * redistribute copies to help others (freedom 2); and, * distribute modified copies (freedom 3). #FreeSoftware
gnu.org
What is Free Software? - GNU Project - Free Software Foundation
Since 1983, developing the free Unix style operating system GNU, so that computer users can have the freedom to share and improve the software they use.
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John @bostonenginerd.com · 01/09/2026
Quarto? quarto.org/docs/dashboa...
quarto.org
Quarto Dashboards – Quarto
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John @bostonenginerd.com · 30/08/2026
What is an ALPR? It's a camera with a network connection. What is a speed camera? It's a camera with a network connection. I don't buy that speed cameras can't be updated to be ALPRs.
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John @bostonenginerd.com · 27/08/2026
They’re almost the same hardware, running different software. The software could be changed in the future, I’m sure.
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Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani @mayor.nyc.gov · 18/08/2026
I'm listening, I'm learning. Safety first, NYC.
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Quinn Blueheart, Author 🔥🔞 @qblueheart.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
KOSA is a back door bill to erode the rights of US citizens that will go far beyond what you can read and say. It will be a back door to monitor your politics, your purchases (including firearms) and much, much more. Use the link and contact your legislator today! Phone if you can!
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Fight for the Future @fightforthefuture.org · 23/06/2026
‼️ Bad Internet Bills, disguised as “kids safety” bills, are moving through Congress again ‼️ It's time to get those phones in Congress ringing off the hooks again w/ one simple message: we refuse any bill that age restricts, censors & surveils the Internet. : www.politico.com/live-updates...
politico.com
Lawmakers cement bipartisan deal for kids online safety package
The new package complicates a separate push for a kids safety bill coming from the Senate.
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John @bostonenginerd.com · 26/06/2026
Scribus isn't always the easiest to use, but it's pretty functional. If your newsletter is a single page, Inkscape might be easier?
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John @bostonenginerd.com · 26/06/2026
Are you wedded to a publisher-like experience? You could try something like Typst with a newsletter template: typst.app/universe/pac... You can run it locally on your PC and don’t need to use their webapp.
typst.app
dashing-dept-news – Typst Universe
Share the news with bold graphic design and a modern layout
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Cambridge Somerville Independent @csindie.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
Borrow an e-bike, from folding models to family cargo haulers, from Community Pedal Power
dlvr.it
Borrow an e-bike, from folding models to family cargo haulers, from Community Pedal Power
Trying before buying is a common tip for people considering an e-bike. They can range in price from $2,000 to $9,000 and require a lifestyle adjustment. Community Pedal Power, a nonprofit founded in 2023 by Cambridge-Somerville area bike advocates, has a backyard e-bike library with 30 vehicles... The post Borrow an e-bike, from folding models to family cargo haulers, from Community Pedal Power appeared first on Cambridge | Somerville Independent.
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nora @nora.bsky.social · 11/06/2026
Proud to finally share what I've been working on. I'm excited for a future where privacy is normal. encryptedspaces.org
wired.com
Signal Alums Reveal ‘Encrypted Spaces,’ a System for Making Private Collaboration Apps
The new open-source project could serve as the basis for a future of apps with features as complex as Slack, Discord, or Google Docs—but with added protection against surveillance.
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Electronic Frontier Foundation @eff.org · 10/06/2026
“Given this administration’s crackdown on free expression, protest, immigrants, and women’s health,” EFF sees this “as a bold attack on freedom of communication,” EFF’s @cooperq.com told @404media.co. “They want to take away our ability to make an anonymous phone call.”
404media.co
FCC Wants to Kill Burner Phones By Forcing Telecoms to Get All Customers’ IDs
The FCC wants to legally force telecoms to collect new and renewing customers’ government issued identity number and physical address, impacting everyone from the privacy-conscious to domestic abuse s...
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Electronic Frontier Foundation @eff.org · 25/03/2026
Location records from data brokers are typically unlinked to a device owner's name, but police have tools to track where a device has gone, where it spends every night, and where it goes during working hours, EFF’s @legind.bsky.social told @NPR.org. www.npr.org/2026/03/25/...
npr.org
Your data is everywhere. The government is buying it without a warrant
Data brokers buy up huge amounts of information from cell phones and browsers to sell for targeted advertising. But the government, including ICE, also buys the data.
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Technology Connections @techconnectify.bsky.social · 06/03/2026
I didn't think when I wrote "Additionally, because oil deposits inevitably run dry, we often rely on extraction efforts happening in other countries which may or may not be friendly.... and [its] cost can change quite dramatically based on supply and demand" it would be so prescient but, well...
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John @bostonenginerd.com · 27/02/2026
The War on General Purpose Computing is a bipartisan effort. @pluralistic.net.web.brid.gy www.pcgamer.com/software/ope...
pcgamer.com
An upcoming California law requires operating system providers to enforce basic mandatory age verification
It's basic, and by the looks of it, near unenforceable.
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John @bostonenginerd.com · 10/02/2026
A group buy of these would be pretty cool.
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John @bostonenginerd.com · 10/02/2026
Things which are worse than the Janet Jackson wardrobe malfunction: - Caillou - That Daniel Tiger episode where they build a sandbox in the living room - Blaze and the Monster Machines
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Peter Cheung @bostonaruban.bsky.social · 06/02/2026
Boston did not clear snow from the bike lanes after the storm two weeks ago, so our community came together to do so. "We just want to get home safe and alive!" @bikeboston.bsky.social @streets.boston.gov @mayorwu.boston.gov @universalhub.com @wcvb5.bsky.social @mass.streetsblog.org
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Electronic Frontier Foundation @eff.org · 28/12/2025
Our new age verification resource hub will answer all your questions about the dangerous new age-gating mandates sweeping the US and the world. www.eff.org/deeplinks/2...
eff.org
Age Verification Is Coming For the Internet. We Built You a Resource
Age verification laws are proliferating fast across the United States and around the world, creating a dangerous and confusing tangle of rules about what we’re all allowed to see and do online.
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Alt National Park Service @altnps.bsky.social · 24/12/2025
This is one of our favorites!
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ticks7.bsky.social @ticks7.bsky.social · 25/12/2025
🧪
Santa is looking his laptop screen while reading the Timmy wish list. Actually he is an academic editor…
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Reposted by John
Electronic Frontier Foundation @eff.org · 14/12/2025
Feeling overwhelmed by the onslaught of invasive age-verification mandates? You’re not alone. We built a resource hub to break down how these laws work, who they harm, what’s at stake, and how to protect yourself. Join the fight at EFF.org/Age.
eff.org
Age Verification and Age Gating: Resource Hub
Age verification (or age-gating) laws generally require online services to check, estimate, or verify all users’ ages—often through invasive tools like ID checks, biometric scans, or other dubious
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John @bostonenginerd.com · 24/11/2025
The link to the article in the screenshot: www.npr.org/sections/all...
npr.org
We Tracked Down A Fake-News Creator In The Suburbs. Here's What We Learned
"The whole idea from the start was to build a site that could kind of infiltrate the echo chambers of the alt-right," says Jestin Coler, whose company, Disinfomedia, is behind some fake news sites.
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John @bostonenginerd.com · 22/11/2025
Murray!!
A skull embedded in concrete reminding the viewer of Murray the Demonic Skull from the Monkey Island series of games.
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SpankChain @spankchain.bsky.social · 29/10/2025
Banning VPNs sets a dangerous precedent. It gives governments and corporations more power to decide when and how we can practice free speech, while eroding privacy and limiting access to information.
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John @bostonenginerd.com · 27/10/2025
Nice to see you as well!
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John @bostonenginerd.com · 27/10/2025
Where do you exhaust the fumes to?
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John @bostonenginerd.com · 27/10/2025
signal.org/blog/spqr/
signal.org
Signal Protocol and Post-Quantum Ratchets
We are excited to announce a significant advancement in the security of the Signal Protocol: the introduction of the Sparse Post Quantum Ratchet (SPQR). This new ratchet enhances the Signal Protocol’s...
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Reposted by John
Meredith Whittaker @meredithmeredith.bsky.social · 27/10/2025
📣THREAD: It’s surprising to me that so many people were surprised to learn that Signal runs partly on AWS (something we can do because we use encryption to make sure no one but you–not AWS, not Signal, not anyone–can access your comms). It’s also concerning. 1/
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John @bostonenginerd.com · 25/10/2025
Can we have all of the campaign finance data go into the OCPF database instead of being put online as scanned PDF forms on city websites?
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John @bostonenginerd.com · 25/10/2025
Are local elections really so expensive? Most candidates I see in our part of the Commonwealth are spending a few $k on the race.
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John @bostonenginerd.com · 17/10/2025
Lol, nope.
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Chris Meder @evcurvefuturist.com · 28/09/2025
California made history in 2025. 🌞⚡ Solar is now the state’s #1 electricity source, overtaking gas (83.1 vs 81.6 TWh). In under a decade, solar surged from marginal to dominant. Big kudos to California—proof the clean energy future is not capacity, it’s generation. More to come! #EnergyTransition
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John @bostonenginerd.com · 21/09/2025
Lovely time today at the Cambridge Science Festival! Thanks to the #MITMuseum, the sponsors and volunteers for organizing the event today!
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John @bostonenginerd.com · 09/08/2025
MRNA-based treatments are one of the most exciting things which have happened in my lifetime. We need to keep moving forward on biotech. www.noahpinion.blog/p/did-rfk-ju...
noahpinion.blog
Did RFK just take away your cancer treatment?
mRNA promised to help turn cancer from a death sentence into a manageable condition.
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John @bostonenginerd.com · 24/07/2025
That Halloween ice storm was unbelievable in how it took out half the trees in New England. Utilities have been a lot more diligent about trimming since then.
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John @bostonenginerd.com · 17/07/2025
Minimize information gathering and information stored in state databases, regulate information collected and stored by private companies including location information and communication metadata.
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John @bostonenginerd.com · 12/07/2025
It’s a hard problem. One possible solution would be a sort of ID which can attest >18 or <18 without revealing any other information. Our kids aren’t at the social media stage yet, and we’ve kept their footprint there to almost zero. Hopefully we can keep it this way for some time longer.
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John @bostonenginerd.com · 12/07/2025
Just put a GE heat pump washer / dryer combo in my house, and it’s blowing me away with how energy efficient it is. On the loads I’ve run so far, it’s used around 1kWh for washing and drying. The old units used around 8kWh for the same load. #electrifyallthethings
At graph showing the energy usage for a heat pump washer / dryer combination unit. The total energy used over the cycle is 893 Wh.
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John @bostonenginerd.com · 11/07/2025
Disappointed that @bsky.app has capitulated to the UK age verification laws -- age verification = identity verification and the end of pseudonymous speech. bsky.social/about/blog/0...
bsky.social
Working with the UK Government to Protect Children Online - Bluesky
Part of Bluesky’s mission to create a more open and decentralized social web is helping users feel safe and in control of their experience. We always try to balance safety with privacy, and free expre...
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John @bostonenginerd.com · 29/05/2025
Just setup wallabag as my @mozilla.org Pocket replacement. Sad to see that service is going away, but looking forward to self-hosting another service! wallabag.org
wallabag.org
Save the web, freely | wallabag: a self hostable application for saving web pages
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John @bostonenginerd.com · 26/05/2025
Achievement Unlocked: Finished the Costco package of asparagus before it rotted.
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John @bostonenginerd.com · 25/05/2025
The real alpha move is to bite into an onion.
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Reposted by John
Jamie Bernstein @uajamie.bsky.social · 18/05/2025
I cannot emphasize this enough: Please do not use AI tools as therapy. Not only is it not a good replacement for actual therapy, but your chat logs could be shared with the government, and I don't think you need a reminder that especially right now in the US, that could put you in danger.
theverge.com
AI therapy is a surveillance machine in a police state
Big Tech wants you to share your private thoughts with chatbots — while backing a government with contempt for privacy.
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John @bostonenginerd.com · 19/05/2025
Really bummed that the Iotawatt won't be produced locally any longer. This is one of the most useful devices we have in our house. The device was made in the US out of globally sourced material, and was made uneconomic by the tariffs. community.iotawatt.com/t/ending-pro...
community.iotawatt.com
Ending production
Sadly, the current business climate in America has become so unpredictable for small businesses that I’ve decided to stop making IoTaWatt units. My suppliers have put me on notice that they reserve th...
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Adam Bonin @adambonin.bsky.social · 09/05/2025
From Jeffrey Toobin's 2008 book THE NINE, this remains the greatest Justice Souter anecdote I can possibly share. RIP.
. . . It was, for example, a running joke at the Court that outsiders frequently mistook Souter and Breyer for each other. No one could really understand why this happened, because the two bore little resemblance. One day when Souter was making his usual solo drive from Washington to New Hampshire, he stopped for lunch in Massachusetts. A stranger and his wife came up to him and asked, "Aren't you on the Supreme Court?"

Souter said he was.

"You're Justice Breyer, right?" said the man.

Rather than embarrass the fellow, Souter simply nodded and exchanged pleasantries, until he was asked an unexpected question.

"Justice Breyer, what's the best thing about being on the Supreme Court?"

The justice thought for a while, then said, "Well, I'd have to say it's the privilege of serving with David Souter."
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Gravel Influencer @gravelinfluencer.bsky.social · 02/05/2025
More data supporting the need to restrict vehicle sizes. Car bloat is killing people, plain and simple.
As SUVs become more common, there is an increase in their impact at the population level. At present, the authors estimate that the proportion of car crashes involving an SUV is around 45% in the USA and around 20% in Europe. If all SUVs were replaced with passenger cars, the number of pedestrians and cyclists killed in car crashes would decrease by an estimated 17% in the USA and by 8% in Europe. The number of child pedestrians and cyclists killed in car crashes would decrease by 27% in the USA and by 14% in Europe.
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Randall Munroe @xkcd.com · 25/04/2025
PhD Timeline xkcd.com/3081
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Kat O’Brien @lavidagata.bsky.social · 18/04/2025
I knew the U.S. higher education system was a massive draw for foreigners, but I did not know the U.S. sold more educational services to the rest of the world than it did natural gas and coal combined. Great piece by @crampell.bsky.social
Colleges and universities are among America's most competitive international exporters. In dollar terms, last year, the United States sold more educational services to the rest of the world than it sold in natural gas and coal combined.
Make sense of the latest news and debates with our daily newsletter
What are America's most competitive exports? By dollars, not coal or corn.
Dollar value of exports in select sectors, 2024
Education-related travel
$56B
Natural gas
34B
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Tim Barnes @timbarnes.bsky.social · 29/03/2025
the Dunkin’ logo has never felt more accurate
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