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Mar Hicks

@histoftech.bsky.social
54K followers 3.5K following 3.8K posts

Historian of technology, occasional dad jokes. If you’re thinking “the bunny looks different” it’s because it’s a different bunny🥲 www.marhicks.com

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Mar Hicks @histoftech.bsky.social · 2h
Lmaoooooo
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Mar Hicks @histoftech.bsky.social · 2h
“If you’re keeping score, the things that are borked if AI encounters a serious problem now include: The entire global stock market Private markets The dollar”
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Mar Hicks @histoftech.bsky.social · 2h
Are we doing Halloween names on here or…?
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Mar Hicks @histoftech.bsky.social · 3h
even the New Yorker cartoonists don’t deserve this
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🇬🇾🗽Sydette The Dreaded Gorgon🗽🇬🇾 @blackamazon.bsky.social · 9h
Oh so a fundamental section of a necessary discovery was recognized by the woman interacting most with it .. not the credentialed “scientists” And it’s being shown that the person with privilege kept lying This isn’t common at all
static.klipy.com
Wendy Peter Pan: Internally Screaming
ALT: Wendy Peter Pan: Internally Screaming
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Richard Kadrey @richardkadrey.bsky.social · 18h
Econ 101
Person one: Taught my kids how socialism works. Let them trick or treat while I stayed home. Then took all their candy. Socialism 101.

Person two : The socialism part is where the community came together and fed your kids for free. The capitalism part is where you made them do all the work and stole from them.
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Dr. Katja Thieme (she/they) @katjathieme.bsky.social · 3h
Create (more or less elaborate) notetaking assignments.
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Eric Dirnbach @ericdirnbach.bsky.social · 06/04/2026
NEW ANALYSIS: This is my annual roundup of labor data on union membership, elections and strikes. How is the U.S. labor movement doing in the Trump 2.0 era? ericdirnbach.medium.com/state-of-the...
ericdirnbach.medium.com
State of the U.S. Unions 2026
This is my annual roundup of labor data on union membership, elections and strikes. How is the U.S. labor movement doing in the Trump 2.0…
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Eric Dirnbach @ericdirnbach.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Now I realize I crave a soft mint experience.
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Mar Hicks @histoftech.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
ok I know nobody asked but if you crave a soft mint experience these are the absolute best
Red Bird
HANDCRAFTED CANDY
SINCE 1890
PEPPERMINT CANDY PUFFS
NATURALLY FLAVORED
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Elizabeth Anne, PhD @lacksauthority.bsky.social · 15h
never the wrong time for this classic
Screenshot of a tweet by @RobbtKraft reading “scientist: "does everyone here know what Watson and Crick discovered?" 
me from back of room: "Rosalind Franklin's notes"”
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Jon Seidel @jonseidel.bsky.social · 8h
“Somebody needs to do something." Marimar Martinez's attorneys insist they have the evidence to charge Border Patrol agent Charles Exum with wrongdoing in her October 2025 shooting in Chicago. From @chicago.suntimes.com on her new lawsuit: chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/...
chicago.suntimes.com
Chicago woman shot by Border Patrol sues feds — and keeps pushing for criminal charges
Marimar Martinez was labeled a "domestic terrorist" and criminally charged after she was shot by agent Charles Exum last year. Since her exoneration, she has fought the Trump administration's aggressi...
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Scott Horton @robertscotthorton.bsky.social · 7h
She was maliciously shot by CBP agents who proceeded to lie about every single element of the incident and criminally charged her. The charges were dismissed after film and photos showed she was right and they were lying. Now she demands criminal charges against the CBP agents.
chicago.suntimes.com
Chicago woman shot by Border Patrol sues feds — and keeps pushing for criminal charges
Marimar Martinez was labeled a "domestic terrorist" and criminally charged after she was shot by agent Charles Exum last year. Since her exoneration, she has fought the Trump administration's aggressi...
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Mr. Fahrenheit @mrfahrenheit.bsky.social · 7h
Arrests have reached a record high—nearly fifty-one thousand in August alone—with agents conducting operations nationwide at hospitals, at airports, and outside schools.
newyorker.com
ICE Is Everywhere and Acting with Impunity
ICE arrests have reached a record high—nearly fifty-one thousand in August alone—with agents conducting operations nationwide at hospitals, at airports, and outside schools.
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Michael Froomkin @mfroomkin.bsky.social · 16h
Relative got a $500 check from US Treasury and a shocking letter full of lies signed by Trump and ending with "May God bless you". Basically a pre-electoral bribe. News reports say they're sending almost a million of these. Full text in alt below. (I told him to cash it quick before it bounces.)
Dear [name],

For years, the Biden Administration overcharged you to fund the operation of HealthCare.gov. That money belongs to hard-working Americans, not the Government, and now, I am returning it to you!

With this Historic Action, my Administration is taking the surplus funds that accumulated from the Obamacare ''Premium Tax" and issuing a one-time $500 REFUND to Americans who use the HealthCare.gov platform to purchase their health insurance, but who do not receive Taxpayer Subsidies to help pay for their Coverage. You have paid into this flawed System, and now you are finally getting something back.

Healthcare Dollars should benefit Patients, not Insurance Companies or Government Bureaucrats. Since returning to office, I have fought to lower Healthcare Costs, increase Accountability, and Put Patients First. Through TrumpRx, we are delivering massive discounts on Household Prescription Drugs, and my Most-Favored-Nation Pricing Agreements have already saved Americans more than 1 Billion Dollars on much-needed Medications. We also secured an unprecedented 50 Billion Dollar investment to transform Rural Healthcare, expanded access to Health Saving Accounts for millions of people on Obamacare, and restored Pnce Transparency, all while roofing out the Waste, Fraud, and abuse across our Healthcare System.

I am proud to return your money to you, and I will never stop fighting to put the American People FIRST, restore Affordability, protect your hard-earned money, and lower the Cost of Healthcare.

May God bless you, and may He continue to bless the United States of America!

Sincerely,

[signed] 

DONALD J. TRUMP
PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
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The Guy From Yesterday @akma.bsky.social · 17h
The point of a headline used to be to let you know what the article was about; now it has to conceal what the article is about, to make sure you click through.
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Virginia Scharff @vscharff.bsky.social · 18h
I had chickenpox as a kid and still have scars. I had shingles as an adult. Then I got the shingles vaccine. I feel a whole lot better about my future.
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Mar Hicks @histoftech.bsky.social · 17h
Ironically a lot of this writing is hyper verbose and wayyy too long. Reminds me of those old stories you’d read sometimes where you could 100% tell that the writer had been paid by the word. Just words on words for the sake of more words.
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Mar Hicks @histoftech.bsky.social · 17h
More and more, everything sounds like some version of ad copy. And if it doesn’t, people are expected to scroll past. I don’t love what we’re being pushed to become accustomed to.
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Mar Hicks @histoftech.bsky.social · 17h
One thing that’s become apparent to me as AI generated text proliferates is how much we’re being influenced by short attention span/clickbait styles of writing becoming the norm—or even the new accepted & desirable standard.
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Mar Hicks @histoftech.bsky.social · 17h
😑
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papeekaboo.bsky.social @papeekaboo.bsky.social · 18h
Zuckerberg toujours du bon côté @histoftech.bsky.social
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Dr. Damien P. Williams, dread portent down from a mountain cave @wolven.blacksky.app · 05/10/2026
Remember when us phil-tech types said effective altruism was just utilitarianism taken to its worst possible extents? This is what we meant: Real harm for unquantifiable potential benefit. "…'we believe that the world should accept some bad things happening for the benefits of this technology….'"
politico.com
Sam Altman to Decoded: ‘The world should accept some bad things happening’ for the benefits of AI
The OpenAI CEO sought to distinguish his policy stance from rival developer Anthropic.
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ProPublica @propublica.org · 19h
NEW: Remember when John Oliver opened a church to expose how easy it was to get tax exemptions? This year, ProPublica reporters set out to establish private schools to test if, truly, anyone could open one. We founded two. Here’s how.
propublica.org
How ProPublica Reporters Became Private School Owners in 24 Hours
The reporting experiment demonstrates how easy it can be to open private schools that might then access public money. No credentials or background checks required.
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Mar Hicks @histoftech.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
succumb to the soft mint experience
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Mar Hicks @histoftech.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
When I bought it my partner said “wow that’s a ton of mints! It’s going to take forever to get through them” It did not take long at all.
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Mar Hicks @histoftech.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Additional info that will be pointless to all but six committed mint fanatics: the old style mints taste different (sweeter, more like candy) vs their new style mints that are marketed as having no artificial coloring (sharper, more like a breath freshener). I hope they keep making the original ones
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Mar Hicks @histoftech.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
ok I know nobody asked but if you crave a soft mint experience these are the absolute best
Red Bird
HANDCRAFTED CANDY
SINCE 1890
PEPPERMINT CANDY PUFFS
NATURALLY FLAVORED
91075
Mar Hicks @histoftech.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
hey do you still have that plant and can you give me exact dimensions
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Mar Hicks @histoftech.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
This is one of the great parts about living in a neighborhood with a culture of giving things away via putting them on the curb—gone within 2-5 hours usually, no need to speak to anyone🤓
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Mar Hicks @histoftech.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
don’t forget to set your alarms for Monday morning
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Mar Hicks @histoftech.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Just when you thought “smile you’ll look prettier” couldn’t get worse…
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Mar Hicks @histoftech.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Ugh, I’m sorry—unfortunately I know a lot of parents who would do this, even if it was explicitly against their kids wishes.
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Mar Hicks @histoftech.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Good lord
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Tom Cox @dj-acid-reflux.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
A linoprint of two otters by my mum, also from Yokel.
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Thomas “Scary” Fuchs 🎃👻💀 @thomasfuchs.at · 04/10/2026
100% all the shit that’s going on in tech is always a social problem, usually it’s about consent.
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Karin Wulf @kawulf.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
What a book. Highly recommend, relevant then, relevant now. I knew and appreciated it (and her work on race and regency!) before I got to know the wonderful @triciamatthew.bsky.social. I'm so sorry for the grief of this anniversary, but so grateful for both book and author.
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Jesse Locker @jessemlocker.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Job: Associate Professor of Art and Architecture of the Medieval World at Johns Hopkins University #medievalsky
arthist.net
Associate Professor of Art and Architecture of the Medieval World, Baltimore
Lauren Crabtree. Department of the History of Art at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, 01.07.2027, Bewerbungsschluss: 30.10.2026
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Social Media Lab @socialmedialab.ca · 03/10/2026
"Agency Diverted $1.4 Billion in Science Funds Mandated by Congress. The move, affecting about one-fifth of the National Science Foundation's primary research budget, is the latest sign of how the White House is asserting more control over grants." www.nytimes.com/2026/10/02/u...
nytimes.com
National Science Foundation Diverted $1.4 Billion in Science Funds Mandated by Congress
The move, affecting about one-fifth of the National Science Foundation’s primary research budget, is the latest sign of how the White House is asserting more control over grants.
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Evan Sutton @evansutton.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Getting ready for our 10/4 day of action for a statewide data center moratorium in Washington! Find your closest action and join us! @wa-air.bsky.social @troublemakers.bsky.social actionnetwork.org/event_campai...
Overpass banner sign that reads

Stop AI data centersOverpass banner sign that reads

Moratorium now
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Mar Hicks @histoftech.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
That’s good to know. I always assumed that was the way it was, that the recordings were basically under the control of, if not the property of, the individual reporter. 
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Mar Hicks @histoftech.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Which also goes to show how long some publications are keeping these recordings past the point of the initial, disclosed use
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Mar Hicks @histoftech.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
until he’s eating my hair >:(
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Mar Hicks @histoftech.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
every time I close my eyes he gets closer
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Mar Hicks @histoftech.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
he craves oaaats
Small black rabbit near the foot of my sleeping area, but getting closer to my head 
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Mar Hicks @histoftech.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
I can’t stop laughing
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Mar Hicks @histoftech.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Whenever I sleep on the floor, my sleep paralysis demon shows up 
A bunch of blankets with a small black rabbit at the foot of them 
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Mar Hicks @histoftech.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
This is awful. More outlets are doing things like this—not limiting reporters’ recordings to their intended purpose. I was contacted by one publication, years after an interview, telling me—not asking—that that recording was going to be used in a new, unrelated podcast the publication was doing.
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Nicole Bedera @nbedera.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
And that led to my words appearing in a victim-blaming article written by a journalist I have never met about how Jane Doe's story was "inconsistent."
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Nicole Bedera @nbedera.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Earlier this week, I agreed to interviews with two USA Today journalists. They wrote fantastic articles about the Cornell case that I'm proud to have been a part of. What I did not know is that their employer considers interviews to proprietary and opens up recordings to be used by any journalist.
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