iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Mike Olson

@mikeolson.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy

83 followers 2 following 1.1K posts

Ex-Illustra, Sleepycat, Cloudera. Currently: Board member at Cityside. Working on: Climate. Politics. Not a tech bro. 🌉 bridged from ⁂ mastodon.social/@mikeolson, follow @ap.brid.gy to interact

Posts Replies Media

Reposted by Mike Olson

John Ulrik @ujay68.mastodon.world.ap.brid.gy · 05/10/2026

@mikeolson He’s also here at rbreich@masto.ai.

Mike Olson @mikeolson.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 05/10/2026

Robert Reich, Secretary of Labor under Bill Clinton, is teaching a class this semester at UC Berkeley called Wealth and Poverty. He's putting each lecture up on his Substack, free for public consumption. This is week 3 of the semester at Berkeley, and he'll stream today's lecture at 2pm PT. I […]

mastodon.social

Original post on mastodon.social

Mike Olson @mikeolson.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 04/10/2026

Hey Berkeley, Peet’s on Vine is air-conditioned.

Reposted by Mike Olson

Tim Carmody @tcarmody.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

This is the funniest thing I've seen today, possibly ever

A tweet by SarahStarberry that says "oh god read the vertical axis" on top of a chart measuring AI models' release dates and model numbers rather than any real capabilities

Mike Olson @mikeolson.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 02/10/2026

Heres a good longish read on libraries: www.nytimes.com/interactive/2026/10… (NYT gift link) The local public library was a refuge for me when I was a kid. I live a couple of blocks […]

mastodon.social

Original post on mastodon.social

Mike Olson @mikeolson.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 01/10/2026

I'll be joining CEO Christin Glorioso on-stage at the Brain Optimization Summit on Sunday, Oct 11 to talk about real-world implementation of cognitive sharpness protocols. I'm a client of NeuroAge Therapeutics, Christin's company, and have incorporated a […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

Speaker card for my session at the Brain Optimization Summit, showing my picture and some information about the conference.

Mike Olson @mikeolson.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 30/09/2026

Heather Cox Richardson says that her daily newsletter is intended to create a record in real time of the Trump presidency, the MAGA movement and their activities. Future historians and researchers will need that detail in order to assess and explain what happened in, and to, the United States […]

mastodon.social

Original post on mastodon.social

000

Mike Olson @mikeolson.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 29/09/2026

I just got a notice from the state of California that, effective Jan 1, packaged software delivered to customer sites or as SaaS offerings will be subject to sales and use taxes. The state sometimes forgets that I am retired. I don't think this is a disaster. The carve-out for software was […]

mastodon.social

Original post on mastodon.social

000

Mike Olson @mikeolson.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 29/09/2026

This is fun: relief.bertspaan.nl/world?lang=en#1… It's an elevation map of the whole world, assembled from the Dutch government's collection of elevation data, by Bert Spaan and Jules Schoonman. You can get seriously lost in here.

Mike Olson @mikeolson.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 28/09/2026

If you carry an unlabeled glass jar full of baking soda through an airport checkpoint, TSA agents will be curious.

000

Mike Olson @mikeolson.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 27/09/2026

I generally recommend that people read what @sogrady writes. True this time, too: redmonk.com/sogrady/2026/09/16/new-… Whatever's happening to the craft of making code is still underway, for sure. But Steve has been right about trends and the locus of power for a long […]

mastodon.social

Original post on mastodon.social

Mike Olson @mikeolson.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 26/09/2026

Hey @palvaro what's a good way to message/email you? I'm @mikeolson.35 on Signal if you want to reply there so you're not broadcasting your email address to the admittedly trustworthy, would-never-spam-you Fediverse.

000

Mike Olson @mikeolson.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 25/09/2026

Today was a tough day.

Mike Olson @mikeolson.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 24/09/2026

This is the kind of science story I love: www.nytimes.com/2026/09/17/science/… (NYT gift link) How did the natural gene-editing techniques that we call CRISPR evolve? What evolutionary pressure […]

mastodon.social

Original post on mastodon.social

Mike Olson @mikeolson.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 23/09/2026

You hardly ever get to say "ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny." Today's the day! Interesting article about how the human brain developed from two different systems for monitoring and managing life-critical activity […]

mastodon.social

Original post on mastodon.social

000

Reposted by Mike Olson

Dr. Dan Killam @dantheclamman.scicomm.xyz.ap.brid.gy · 22/09/2026

Today from the El Niño department: Sea turtle nests on Southern California beach for first time in recorded history ktla.com/news/california/sea-turtle…

Mike Olson @mikeolson.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 22/09/2026

RE: flipboard.social/@Flipboard/1173160… This is some bullshit, right here.

Reposted by Mike Olson

Jef Poskanzer @jef.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 22/09/2026

Today is the last day of Summer. Fall starts at 5:05pm PDT. Daylight length is still a little over 12 hours due to refraction - the refraction-adjusted equinox isn't until Thursday. Day length is getting shorter by two and a half minutes per day, which is as fast as it gets. First sunrise after […]

mastodon.social

Original post on mastodon.social

Mike Olson @mikeolson.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 22/09/2026

Large language models, sure sure sure. But how about tiny electrochemical models? theconversation.com/learning-withou… Super interesting. Via 3QD.

theconversation.com

Learning without a brain – how bacteria store memories and remember the past like artificial neural networks

Bacteria use strategies similar to artificial neural networks to use the past to adapt to the future.

000

Reposted by Mike Olson

emptywheel @emptywheel.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Tom Massie posted a calendar labeling the days of work Mike Johnson canceled because of him.

Tom Massie tweet:

Here’s a calendar to show the days
@SpeakerJohnson
has cancelled in Congress. September 17 was canceled to avoid a vote on my Hegseth impeachment. The last two weeks in September were canceled to avoid a vote on releasing more Epstein files. He’s closing Congress to stop me.

Below there is a congressional calendar from July to December.

July 1-2 are labeled Rules retreat.
September 17 is labeled Hegseth Holiday.
September 22 to October 2 are labeled Epstein Recess.

Mike Olson @mikeolson.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 21/09/2026

Longish, but really good, read on reforming foster home licensing and oversight: www.eatingpolicy.com/p/how-to-peel-… 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 […]

mastodon.social

Original post on mastodon.social

Reposted by Mike Olson

Steve Bellovin @stevebellovin.infosec.exchange.ap.brid.gy · 20/09/2026

Timeline cleanse: "Scientists heard a knock at the door. It was a pelican in need of help." wapo.st/4roaN8r (gift link)

Mike Olson @mikeolson.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 20/09/2026

Via @Mattdevost: "Anthropic decides to operate bio-lab after demonstrating it doesn’t understand containment." techcrunch.com/2026/09/18/anthropic…

000

Mike Olson @mikeolson.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 20/09/2026

Howdy! Your occasional NYT crossword ranking and reviewing service here. Today's puzzle is good. Theme is pretty easy to figure out. The fill is fun. The cluing is above average.

Mike Olson @mikeolson.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 20/09/2026

000

Mike Olson @mikeolson.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 18/09/2026

I mostly agree with Alex, here. I go a little further, though. The companies that train and release these models are certainly responsible for the results of their use. So too, though, are the companies and individuals who deploy them — say, government contractors using them in intelligence or […]

mastodon.social

Original post on mastodon.social

Mike Olson @mikeolson.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 17/09/2026

Woz has a merch store you guys: wozmerch.com

Woz Merch - The Official Woz Fan Store

Shop the official Woz merch store featuring apparel and accessories inspired by Steve Wozniak and the human centered innovation behind Apple. Yes, innovation language matters here.

000

Mike Olson @mikeolson.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 17/09/2026

UC Berkeley economist Brad DeLong has a good review of a book that's been on my to-read list for a while: braddelong.substack.com/p/who-is-re…

braddelong.substack.com

America’s Gentry Élite: TUESDAY TRENDS & TURMOIL

Politics, Culture, & c.; Patrick Wyman saw America’s élite gentry in his Yakima hometown decades ago; now economists Zidar and Zwick show that he understated the case...

000

Mike Olson @mikeolson.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 17/09/2026

This is a pretty wild story: tedium.co/2026/09/11/ilands-agents-… Came my way via Dan Hon's Things That Caught My Attention.

The Worst Spam Emails: Inside iLands' AI Agent Hustle

iLands, a new AI agent-centric startup, is spamming creatives like me numerous times a day. What do its agents want? My job. Why? They need to buy more tokens.

000

Mike Olson @mikeolson.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 16/09/2026

Holy moly I love naps.

000

Mike Olson @mikeolson.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 16/09/2026

This is fun: www.berkeleyside.org/2026/09/15/ber…

berkeleyside.org

All the times Berkeley got there first — from inventions to transformations

The jacuzzi. The dog park. The polygraph machine. Single-family zoning. The term “Asian American.” Indigenous Peoples’ Day. And much, much more.

Mike Olson @mikeolson.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 16/09/2026

Thoughtful piece by @reidhoffman in the midst of the rhetorical hurricane that Dario Amodei's "pace the frontier" memo created: reidhoffman.substack.com/p/ai-dual-… Reid says we should manage not only the pace of AI research, but also who benefits from it. That's right.

reidhoffman.substack.com

AI for All Americans

The current AI debate is failing the American People. AI must deliver economic prosperity for all.

000

Mike Olson @mikeolson.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 15/09/2026

Good news. This bill did nothing to impose meaningful ethical controls on crypto trading by the Trump family or members of Congress […]

mastodon.social

Original post on mastodon.social

Reposted by Mike Olson

Chris Alemany🇺🇦🇨🇦🇪🇸 @chris.mstdn.chrisalemany.ca.ap.brid.gy · 15/09/2026

RE: techhub.social/@NSFVoyager2/1172749… Voyager 1 is only 11 minutes shy of a full “light-day” away from Earth! #voyager

Mike Olson @mikeolson.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 12/09/2026

The Daily Cal has a good explainer on the (possible? likely?) detection of dark matter by the LUX/ZEPLIN device […]

mastodon.social

Original post on mastodon.social

Mike Olson @mikeolson.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 12/09/2026

I've read a few recaps of the OpenAI/HuggingFace breach. This one, by @pluralistic, adds some useful context: pluralistic.net/2026/09/12/god-in-t…

000

Mike Olson @mikeolson.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 09/09/2026

RE: mathstodon.xyz/@tao/117237320796901… Thoughtful thread by @tao: Working on hard problems in mathematics (and in general) is important. When we choose them, and as we explore them, we find new techniques, connections to other interesting problems. New understanding is how we get […]

mastodon.social

Original post on mastodon.social

000

Reposted by Mike Olson

Marc Hedlund @marcprecipice.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

Good thread and one that both references Berkeley, and matches Berkeley debates to a T, but applies very broadly.

Mike Olson @mikeolson.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 08/09/2026

High of 84 degrees Fahrenheit in Berkeley today. I know that doesn't sound like much to folks in hot climates, but it's a lot for here. We're not really built for heat. It's a hot day.

Reposted by Mike Olson

Marc Hedlund @marcprecipice.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

The car in front has been parked in front of Monterey Market for days on end (see accumulated leaves in the previous photo). The white van behind it has been parked there for 15 years (seriously; see Google Maps Street View). But no, it's the bike lane that's wrong.

Reposted by Mike Olson

myrmepropagandist @futurebird.sauropods.win.ap.brid.gy · 08/09/2026

How many times can someone say punk is dead or they made AGI or the strait is open before people catch on?

Mike Olson @mikeolson.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 07/09/2026

Kevin Kelly is a thoughtful commentator on technology. This piece gives some good intuition on what a large language model actually *is* and draws useful analogies to libraries and librarians. I like his enthusiasm for open-source and open-weight models for the public good. I dislike how some […]

mastodon.social

Original post on mastodon.social

Mike Olson @mikeolson.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 07/09/2026

I've been meditating regularly for some months now. I try not to proselytize. I don't have an opinion about whether or not *you* should meditate. However, it's currently interesting to me, so I do talk about it some. A good pal and intellectual sparring partner pointed me at this excellent […]

mastodon.social

Original post on mastodon.social

000

Mike Olson @mikeolson.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 06/09/2026

I learned about www.pangram.com from @ahl and @bcantrill on the Oxide and Friends podcast while doing some yardwork today. Max Spero, Pangram CEO, joined the two of them to talk about detecting AI-generated text and images. The story he told on the pod was good enough that I signed up […]

mastodon.social

Original post on mastodon.social

Mike Olson @mikeolson.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 06/09/2026

Got my flu shot and my COVID shot.

Reposted by Mike Olson

highly praised and little read @hannah.posts.rat.pictures.ap.brid.gy · 05/09/2026

Too bad its never like “our ai agent went rogue and deleted ten billion dollars of medical debt”

Mike Olson @mikeolson.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 04/09/2026

Captivating essay on consciousness and selfhood. Some bonus inter-tribal sniping between scientists and secularists: 3quarksdaily.com/3quarksdaily/2026/… I'm not personally quite at the "I have experienced having no head" point, but I find the destination […]

mastodon.social

Original post on mastodon.social

000

Reposted by Mike Olson

Marc Hedlund @marcprecipice.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

Absolutely incredible post on this whole topic by @idothethinking.bsky.social. 👏🏻 Well worth your time if you're in Berkeley, but plenty to learn for anyone fighting for bike lanes (or housing, or city improvements of any kind) in any location. darrellowens.substack.com/p/reflection...

darrellowens.substack.com

Reflection on Berkeley’s Bike Lane Drama

Hopkins bike lanes get approved for at least a third time. The drama won’t stop here.

Mike Olson @mikeolson.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 03/09/2026

I’m all about commerce but Network Solutions having a Labor Day sale on domain names is just weird. Like, pick up a couple for the barbecue? Wut?

000

Mike Olson @mikeolson.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 03/09/2026

Interesting factoid in this article by @delong: "But every place that Vikings ever set foot—Sweden, Canada, and Ukraine at the core; with Germany, the Baltics, the other Nordics; plus France and Britain and Poland; are now building an advance guard: a durable European capability that no longer […]

mastodon.social

Original post on mastodon.social

000