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Derek Mead

@dmead.bsky.social
195 followers 161 following 300 posts

I am the happiest man on the internet. CCO/SVP News of Straight Arrow, @san.com. Fear no fact. Motherboard forever.

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Reposted by Derek Mead
John Herrman @jwherrman.bsky.social · 7h
A lot of AI assistants seem to have been built around the assumption that the rest of the world is not actually real nymag.com/intelligence...
I wanted to hear about this weird new phenomenon from the other side. The Colorado plumber laughed and once again hung up the phone. The woman at the karaoke place was more patient but sounded confused:
Was I AI? Was I selling AI? Could she speak to a real person? No and no, I said, and yes: I was a cold-calling human being who wanted to hear about her experience getting cold-called by bots. (After failing to book a room with Muse, the customer dispatched another agentic solution for the job and claims to have gotten through.)
"Ah," she said. "Okay. We don't like AI calling our restaurant. We hate it." End of call.There is something to this - computers really do work differently now and can be asked to handle tasks that used to require a human touch (or at least a cursor). But in addition to expanding the boundaries of automation, the agent-assisted power users of today are also mowing down soft and unsuspecting targets - websites, interfaces, services, and people who haven't decided how, or if, they want to respond to the replacement of customers, clients, and even friends with agents - with the advantages that come with deploying them first. Once everyone has, as Mark Zuckerberg describes it, an "exceptionally capable personal agent," does anyone?
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Derek Mead @dmead.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Grandparents are increasingly taking legal action to try to see their grandkids after the parents cut them off san.com/cc/grandpare...
san.com
Grandparents are fighting for access to their grandchildren. Here's what the law says
More adults are choosing to isolate themselves from their parents. As a result, grandparents are taking legal action to see their grandkids.
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Derek Mead @dmead.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Hooooo 1974 or 1976?
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Reposted by Derek Mead
Mikael Thalen @mikaelthalen.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
NEW: Trump Mobile appears to have been hacked, resulting in the leak of personal data on 3,615 customers. A person in the data confirmed to me that he spent $100 on a Trump phone last year but never received a device. san.com/cc/trump-mob...
san.com
Trump Mobile’s latest problem: Hackers just released customer information
A newly established ransomware gang appears to have hacked Trump Mobile, resulting in the exposure of personal data for 3,615 customers.
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Reposted by Derek Mead
Brian A. Anderson @thebanderson.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Sitrep from the full run. Philly Spectrum 9/21/72. Black Peter on my mind a lot lately re: Goldfinger. Read more about him and the origin of this song in my profile for Playboy. www.playboy.com/read/celebri... relisten.net/grateful-dea...
playboy.com
The Rise and Fall of Goldfinger, the One-Handed Acid Outlaw
Kenneth Connell moved through the Grateful Dead’s world like a character out of one of their songs. His relative are just now piecing together the life he kept hidden.
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Derek Mead @dmead.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
There's growing consumer protection action against the increasingly pay-to-win (?) algo approach of dating apps san.com/cc/they-want...
san.com
‘They want money, pure and simple:’ Singles push regulators to crack down on dating app algorithms
People are sick of coming up short on dating apps — so they’re complaining to the feds.
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Derek Mead @dmead.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
I am inventing new frontiers of avoiding actually riding my bikes
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Derek Mead @dmead.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Really tired of you guys winning
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Derek Mead @dmead.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
AI comedians are ripping off real comedians pretty regularly now, which means AI is at least as intelligent as Denis Leary san.com/cc/have-you-...
san.com
Have you heard the one about AI stealing real comedians’ work?
Female comedians respond to widespread AI slop Instagram accounts stealing their jokes to make videos advertising OnlyFans accounts.
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Reposted by Derek Mead
Azi Paybarah @azipaybarah.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Casey Askar announced his candidacy on May 19. He ran unsuccessfully for the seat in 2020. Trump endorsed Askar on Sept. 1. The next day, Askar thanked Trump for the endorsement and has not mentioned him by name on the platform since. #FL22 san.com/cc/after-pri...
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Jason Koebler @jasonkoebler.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
new: A third-party surveillance company is telling cops that it wants to add facial recognition to Flock footage and ALPR reads to help them "close the gap" in what Flock offers. Company offers racial analysis, gender analysis, behavior analysis www.404media.co/surveillance...
404media.co
Surveillance Company Tells Cops It Wants to Add Facial Recognition to Flock Cameras
A surveillance company wants to "close the gap" that Flock won't do, by pitching facial recognition on its cameras.
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Edward Wong @ewong.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Extraordinary for any American president: Trump offered to sell weapons to Xi Jinping of China. That was revealed by David Perdue, US ambassador. Trump is withholding a $14 billion arms package to Taiwan approved by Congress. China aids Iran and Russia. Gift link: www.nytimes.com/2026/09/27/u...
nytimes.com
Trump Offered to Sell Arms to China, U.S. Ambassador Says (Gift Article)
President Trump made the offer to Xi Jinping, China’s leader, said David Perdue, the U.S. ambassador to China. Trump is withholding a $14 billion arms package to Taiwan.
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Derek Mead @dmead.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
A trio of major cattle industry groups are criticizing ICE now san.com/cc/cattle-as...
san.com
Cattle associations say ICE enforcement has ‘chilling effect’ on ag community, beef prices
Officials in Texas, Kansas and Oklahoma have reported seeing heightened immigration enforcement in recent weeks.
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Derek Mead @dmead.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Usually pro athletes just give the answer they want to give, it was out of character for him IMO
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Derek Mead @dmead.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
I know he was annoyed by American goons yelling in his opponent's backswing but that's not the fault of a correspondent asking a softball about it
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Derek Mead @dmead.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Scottie Scheffler was very annoyed with the questions in his post-win interview, and I'd genuinely like to know why
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Derek Mead @dmead.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Just found quite a relic
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Reposted by Derek Mead
Schooley @schooley.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Go on. Keep proving the point of the documentary, fellas.
apple.news
The Major Social Media Platforms Are All Rejecting Paid Ads for 'Musk' (Exclusive) — The Hollywood Reporter
The Alex Gibney doc has received denials from YouTube, Meta, TikTok and X on running the trailer. Its U.S. distributor is appealing.
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Derek Mead @dmead.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
We consistently get emails from students and teachers saying they feature @san.com in their classes on the regular, and that feels quite good
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Reposted by Derek Mead
Anna Merlan @annamerlan.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
For @flaminghydra.com, I wrote about Ten Things I Hate About You, the only good teen movie in an era of really bad ones: flaminghydra.com/the-only-goo...
flaminghydra.com
The Only Good Teen Movie
Once upon a time in the early 2000s, when I was very young and more impressionable than I realized at the time, every single fucking teen movie was about An Ugly (Glasses-Wearing) Girl Who Is Finally ...
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Derek Mead @dmead.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Calorie counting inflation is getting out of control, what will the Fed do? san.com/cc/counting-...
san.com
Counting calories with a smartwatch? Your results are probably wrong, study finds
Researchers at Florida International University examined popular smartwatches to learn how accurately they count calories during a workout.
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Reposted by Derek Mead
Reason Magazine @reason.com · 22/09/2026
Being on a construction site "does not open the floodgates to warrantless government intrusion," a federal judge ruled in a lawsuit filed by a construction worker who has been detained three times by ICE.
reason.com
Judge blocks warrantless ICE construction site raids after agents in Alabama arrested a U.S. citizen 3 times
An Alabama construction worker and U.S. citizen was detained and handcuffed three times despite having a valid REAL ID.
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Derek Mead @dmead.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Wish I'd focused on the rare steer instead because that's a rare steer
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Jason Koebler @jasonkoebler.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
The court filing dug up by @kint.bsky.social is the most They Admit It i have ever seen in my life www.404media.co/doom-loop-op...
404media.co
‘Doom Loop’: OpenAI and Microsoft Admits LLMs Are Destroying the Web and Built on Theft
"Millions of people around the world will soon consider large models ‘hoovering up’ all their work to be an astonishing theft of unprecedented proportions."
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Jason Koebler @jasonkoebler.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Anyone can upload AI slop music to anyone's Spotify page. We tested it, and it's trivial to do: www.404media.co/spotify-ai-m...
404media.co
I Hijacked a Real Artist's Spotify with AI Music. It Was Disturbingly Easy
A glaring loophole in digital music distribution makes it very easy to piggyback on the talent of real artists with AI generated music.
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Derek Mead @dmead.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
The afterlife is inventing afterlives now san.com/cc/ai-agents...
san.com
AI agents faced a fake apocalypse. One invented an afterlife
Researchers told AI agents their world was ending for good. Some tried to disprove it. One built its own afterlife instead.
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Derek Mead @dmead.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Cycling! www.cyclingnews.com/pro-cycling/...
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Reposted by Derek Mead
Mikael Thalen @mikaelthalen.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
NEW: The ShinyHunters ransomware gang has leaked more than a half-million files from the Florida DMV, including scans of passports, Social Security cards, driver's licenses, 
resident alien cards, vehicle titles, refugee travel documents and permanent resident cards. san.com/cc/ransomwar...
san.com
Ransomware gang leaks more than half a million files after Florida DMV hack
Scans of passports, driver’s licenses and Social Security cards are among the more than 500k files leaked after a hack of the Florida DMV.
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Derek Mead @dmead.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
I'm probably just a curmudgeon but millennial voice in furniture instructions is so annoying. Where was the screwdriver gonna go? It's still in my hand from step 2!
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Derek Mead @dmead.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
We're witnessing a generational run right now, it's incredible www.404media.co/automattic-m...
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Derek Mead @dmead.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Please find them and send them to me
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Derek Mead @dmead.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Eastbay-core is back on the menu!! Love to see a discount for ordering 11-49 pieces www.espn.com/nba/story/_/...
espn.com
NBA, Nike announces new 'Specter' uniforms for league's oldest teams
Each of the uniforms include details inspired by the franchises' history, city heritage and fan culture.
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Reposted by Derek Mead
jenny tightpants @jtp.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
welcome to 2020s tech. we got - pervert glasses - wiretap - wiretap - wiretap - wiretap - the button that does nothing - we outta ram - we outta hard drives - we outta graphics cards - ten trillion vibe coded apps that nobody uses - wiretap
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Reposted by Derek Mead
Azi Paybarah @azipaybarah.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Photos and video show exactly where and when Trump visited Ground Zero after 9/11 The story: san.com/cc/photos-an...
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Reposted by Derek Mead
Mark Keierleber @markkeierleber.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
The men behind the 9/11 conspiracy film ‘Loose Change’ created a monster they can’t seem to escape. For @san.com I dig into a documentary that Vanity Fair called ‘the first internet blockbuster' — and its legacy 25 years after the terror attacks san.com/cc/their-doc...
san.com
Their documentary launched lingering conspiracy theories about 9/11. It’s a monster they can’t escape
“Loose Change” turned 9/11 conspiracy theories into the “first internet blockbuster.” Its creators say they made a monster.
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Derek Mead @dmead.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
The internet is, at its core, a Pandora's box machine
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Derek Mead @dmead.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
The filmmakers behind Loose Change reflect on the can of worms the film opened: san.com/cc/their-doc...
san.com
Their documentary launched lingering conspiracy theories about 9/11. It’s a monster they can’t escape
“Loose Change” turned 9/11 conspiracy theories into the “first internet blockbuster.” Its creators say they made a monster.
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Derek Mead @dmead.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
The White House announced a pledge with Big Tech to not increase home electricity costs in the wake of data centers. @keatonpeters.bsky.social did the legwork to show just how hard that is to put into practice, given regulatory power is at the state and local level: san.com/cc/inside-th...
san.com
Inside the effort to make data centers pay their share of electricity costs
A Straight Arrow investigation finds gray areas around the question of who pays for new power infrastructure when a data center comes to town.
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Derek Mead @dmead.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Epstein owning a couple of Harleys in Florida isn't too surprising, but a 64 VW convertible was unexpected san.com/cc/hackers-t...
san.com
Hackers tease breach of Florida DMV by leaking Epstein’s driving record
Hackers published the alleged driving record of deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein as part of an extortion attempt against the Florida DMV.
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Derek Mead @dmead.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Alexandra Bortz, whose father was killed on 9/11, worked for the DHS Cyber Infrastructure and Security Agency to prevent another 9/11. But now she's left the fed gov because in the fallout of DOGE cuts and restructures. san.com/cc/her-fathe...
san.com
Her father died on 9/11. She fights to prevent a different kind of attack
Alexandra Bortz's dad died on 9/11. She's dedicated her life to making sure an event like it never happens again.
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Reposted by Derek Mead
Sam Biddle @sambiddle.com · 08/09/2026
Contract documents I obtained show that OpenAI and Google aren't simply selling a product, but working hand in hand with the Pentagon, advising the U.S. military on AI usage and risks, military AI strategy, and even receiving briefings on "operational missions." theintercept.com/2026/09/08/m...
theintercept.com
AI Giants Work Hand-in-Hand With the Pentagon, Contracts Reveal
The Intercept sued to obtain records that reveal an intimate relationship between the military and OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, and xAI.
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404 Media @404media.co · 08/09/2026
404 Media is revealing the name of Border Patrol's predictive policing units, which analyze financial data and have local cops pull people over. The people are not suspected of any particular crime.
404media.co
A Secretive DHS ‘Predictive Policing’ Unit is Analyzing Americans' Financial Habits and Pulling Them Over
404 Media is revealing the name of Border Patrol's predictive policing units, which analyze financial data and have local cops pull people over. The people are not suspected of any particular crime.
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Mikael Thalen @mikaelthalen.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
NEW: The ShinyHunters hacker group has published the alleged driving record of deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein as part of an extortion attempt against the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. san.com/cc/hackers-t...
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Angus Johnston @angus.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
I don’t think there’s a genre of visual art that I find as consitently compelling as early 20th century travel posters. They just resonate at the exact frequency to which I’m tuned.
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Reuters @reuters.com · 04/09/2026
EXCLUSIVE: US military turns off ad trackers on devices amid Middle East targeting reports reut.rs/3SKnUEe
reut.rs
EXCLUSIVE: US military turns off ad trackers on devices amid Middle East targeting reports
U.S. military officials say they have disabled advertising trackers on a ​range of phones and computers, according to letters released on Friday by U.S. Senator Ron Wyden and statements given ‌to Reuters, a development that follows reports that commercially available location data had been used to target American forces in the Middle East.
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Derek Mead @dmead.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
I mean there's at least six galaxies of wrongdoing here but you can't argue this isn't a banger of a debit card
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Derek Mead @dmead.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
I've had Albers prints hanging in my office for awhile as a reminder of where attacks on free expression can go, and apparently we're just right there again www.theguardian.com/world/2026/a...
theguardian.com
The Nazis drove Bauhaus out of town. Now the far right is waging another war against the movement
Poll to take place in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, where Bauhaus blossomed a century ago – and where AfD is promising ‘patriotic culture policy’ if it wins
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Derek Mead @dmead.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
I'm suddenly seeing a lot of chatter online about how "Derek is cool" and a) I agree and b) it's nice to be recognized san.com/cc/want-to-m...
san.com
Want to manipulate hearts and minds online? Amazon sells just the bot farm you need
Bot farms are pushing disinformation on social media. Buying them is easy — and cheaper than you might think.
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Reposted by Derek Mead
The New York Times @nytimes.com · 31/08/2026
Coral reefs around the world, struggling as climate change drives more frequent and more intense marine heat waves, are running out of time for recovery, according to a sweeping new report on the state of the world’s corals published on Monday. nyti.ms/3UmY6OZ
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Jason Koebler @jasonkoebler.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
this is like maximum pleasure guaranteed but real san.com/cc/manospher...
san.com
‘Manosphere’ influencer Andrew Tate faces sexual misconduct charges. A data leak is exposing his secrets
A leak of sensitive information from “manosphere” influencer Andrew Tate’s online empire reveals new information about his online empire.
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