iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Powen Shiah @powen.net · 20/09/2026

Today was my first time voting in a German election! #ltwberlin #BerlinWahl2026

Selfie standing in front of a plywood wall with a small paper sign with an arrow pointing left (also at my head) that says “Wahllokal”

Powen Shiah @powen.net · 01/09/2026

I’m really looking forward to speaking next week at #ÖffentlichesGestalten (an amazing event series I always love attending) and talking about what we’re doing at @sovereign.tech to secure and maintain the open software components that make up our shared digital infrastructure.

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clairikine @clairikine.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

Here’s a reminder that your EU friends who live in Berlin and aren’t German can only elect their district assemblies, & your friends who have neither citizenship can’t vote here at all! If you’re thinking of sitting out the Berlin government election next month, please reconsider! Thank you!!!

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Sovereign Tech Agency @sovereign.tech · 27/08/2026

Join the team! We are looking for a Director of Technology to lead and shape the Sovereign Tech Agency’s technology and research strategy. 1/6

"We’re hiring! Director of Technology" job announcement for Sovereign Tech Agency, featuring a photo of four colleagues conversing outdoors on a sunny day. Text at the bottom reads "Join our team!”

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Dara Lind @daralind.bsky.social · 04/07/2026

I’ve been thinking about the America I’m proud of and that I want to celebrate tomorrow, and it’s things like hip-hop and blue jeans and sending a man to the moon and this.

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Sherrilyn Ifill @sifill.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

I do not think there is sufficient appreciation for how catastrophic yesterday’s decision in Slaughter is for this country. As Justice Sotomayor said in her dissent and she intoned from the bench yesterday, “today the majority reshapes our Govt.”

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Angus Johnston @angus.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

Justice Jackson: "Justice Thomas's telling elides the entire point of the Second Founding: The Reconstruction Amendments were an anticaste, antisubordination reset for the Nation, not a mere spot treatment for the dark stain of slavery."

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Powen Shiah @powen.net · 16/06/2026

If you're wondering what's going on, since we just posted an opening for a new Communications Lead at the @sovereign.tech, I'm not going anywhere. When we fill this position, I'll be moving into a new role as Chief of Staff, applying the experience, context, & insight I've been honing in comms… 1/

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Powen Shiah @powen.net · 16/06/2026

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Mike Masnick @masnick.com · 06/06/2026

And it says *100% AI written* with "high confidence." It is 100% wrong. I say... AI detector tools are about as reliable as AI writing tools.

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Powen Shiah @powen.net · 29/05/2026

It's one of those times of year where I fax my ballot back to California to vote! Choosing from 60+ candidates for governor in the primary is hard (plus all the political offices that get way less news coverage) but as they say, #democracy is not a spectator sport.

screenshot of the voter oath and ballot return form for california's June 2, 2026 primary election. the word fax is visible in the upper right corner

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Powen Shiah @powen.net · 19/05/2026

What can I say? I'm *not* at #republica this year. It feels pretty weird, as it was one of the first big events I attended in Berlin when I moved here in 2014. I've been there in person every year since then (except 2020) and even got to give a talk last year.

Ten photos of me/selfies from 2014-2025 at re:publica

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Marisa Kabas @marisakabas.bsky.social · 26/02/2026

i know the situation in kansas right now is dangerous and terrifying. that said, i'm hoping to speak to someone who's had their license invalidated. i will do absolutely everything to protect your anonymity and maintain your safety. i can be reached securely via signal at marisakabas.04

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Powen Shiah @powen.net · 19/02/2026

I feel so lucky to be able to spend some time in Taipei with my family. If you’d told me in 2023 that I’d get to celebrate the next 3 Lunar New Years in Taiwan with my parents, I wouldn’t have believed it. Growing up, we never came - didn’t work w/U.S. school breaks and expensive of course).

Photo of a table full of different Chinese and Taiwanese foods served family-style on a table with yellow cloth, including scrambled eggs with shrimp, grilled salmon, dumplings, and various vegetables, and Taiwanese meatballs

View at night up toward a temple in Shilin in Taiwan, which is lit for Lunar New Year, and there are bright rows of red lanterns along the stairs leading up to the entrance.

Overhead shot of a very crowded market in an alley in Taiwan. Vendors line both sides of the semi-covered street, and the space is filled with people doing their shopping before Lunar New Year.

Night photo of a cherry tree with dark pink blossoms growing over a white wall.

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Morgan Fahey @morganfahey.bsky.social · 17/01/2026

In which @alexanderchee.bsky.social writes beautifully (as always) about the way Heated Rivalry has become a fragment shored against the ruin of almost everyone's mental health, and the artistic and narrative joys of both its universality and its specificity. open.substack.com/pub/querent/...

open.substack.com

I Would Start A War In Your Arms

A Heated Rivalry Notebook

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Dmitry Grozoubinski @explaintrade.com · 17/01/2026

9/ In exchange for a norm for severely limiting what it does do with its military, the US gets to live on a planet where most countries operate on the assumption that the US military isn't a direct threat to them. That has a myraid of benefits far outweighing potential plunder or territorial gain.

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Dmitry Grozoubinski @explaintrade.com · 17/01/2026

10/ No amount of frozen islands in the Atlantic or bombing runs on Mexican border cities are worth turning the world into a place where everyone is paranoid about imminent US aggression and behaving accordingly. /end

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sarah jeong @sarahjeong.bsky.social · 13/01/2026

preview says 3, as of now the headline is updated to 6

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Mark Joseph Stern @mjsdc.bsky.social · 23/12/2025

This means the VA won't cover abortions EVEN in the case of rape, incest, or serious threat to the health of the patient. The DOJ memo was authored by Josh Craddock, one of the chief legal advocates for fetal personhood, i.e. imposing a nationwide abortion ban through the courts.

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Anil Dash @anildash.com · 22/12/2025

They know we were stripped of our citizenship, had our towns burned down, had our businesses destroyed, our houses of worship desecrated and attacked. And they know who did it 100 years ago & who’s doing it now.

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The name "Popular Science" doesn't mean we shift our coverage depending on public opinion. It means we cover relevant subjects that are rigorously researched, reliable, and grounded in reality. And trans lives are grounded in reality. We see y'all. No matter what. www.popsci.com/science/tran...

popsci.com

First-of-a-kind study shows encouraging data for trans kids who socially transition

Ninety-four percent of participants in a new study stood firm in their trans identity after five years, and "detransitioning" is rare.

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Ida Bae Wells @nhannahjones.bsky.social · 19/12/2025

There is actual racial discrimination occurring and people are suffering but sure, let’s focus on the musings of a bunch of elite white men posting from their elite positions about how they are the primary victims of racial discrimination in this country. www.propublica.org/article/trum...

propublica.org

Monkey Sounds, “White Power” and the N-Word: Racial Harassment Against Black Students Ignored Under Trump

Since Trump returned to office, the Education Department’s civil rights office has not resolved a single racial harassment investigation. It sends a message that “people impacted by racial discriminat...

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Adrian Daub @adriandaub.bsky.social · 19/12/2025

Just for shits and giggles, the top five reasons this story is as fake as the executions recorded in Dr. Wolf's dissertation: Number 1: What the fuck is "a dean in the department"? How many deans were in this department? Follow up question: How many of them did it take to screw in a lightbulb?

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Jonathan Cohn @jonathancohn.bsky.social · 19/12/2025

“They’re denying that any of her birth certificates, which are from Laurel, Maryland, her records of immunization, medical records — they’re denying the authenticity of them. It is something I’ve never encountered.” www.huffpost.com/entry/us-cit...

huffpost.com

Trump Administration Says Maryland Woman's Birth Certificate Is Fake In Dystopian Move

Dulce Consuelo Diaz Morales was arrested on Sunday. ICE won’t release her despite extensive documentation of her citizenship, her attorneys told HuffPost.

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Musa Okwonga @okwonga.bsky.social · 12/12/2025

It’s not necessary to keep highlighting the qualities of exceptional immigrants as a reason for them to be treated well by their governments. We don’t have to be on our best behaviour to receive a basic level of human decency: that‘s why they’re called “human rights”, and not “human privileges”.

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Gabriel Zucman @gabrielzucman.bsky.social · 12/12/2025

It has become received wisdom in Brussels and Washington that there is a new “euro-sclerosis”: that the EU economy is lagging the US This view is wrong A little primer on the measurement of productivity – and why reports of the economic death of Europe are greatly exaggerated🧵

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jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 12/12/2025

honestly, if i were trying to design a place for the political opposition to take a stand against trump, i couldn't have done better than abrego garcia. by trying to destroy basic constitutional protections, it was *trump* who made this a dispute over due process and the Constitution.

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Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 07/12/2025

If you've ever been to a naturalization ceremony, you know they're filled with people whose palpable love of this country is twenty times stronger than the pinched "patriotism" of any native-born MAGA chud. Just unspeakable assholery.

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Powen Shiah @powen.net · 02/12/2025

There are a few spots left for the event I'm hosting tmrw in Berlin for #SovereignTechFellowship. If you're interested in the work of folks like @hugovk.dev @icing.bsky.social @mklu.bsky.social, Sarah, Jan and others that maintains our digital infrastructure -> 🎟️ events.sovereign.tech/fellowship/

events.sovereign.tech

Sovereign Tech Fellowship

Wed, Dec. 3, 2025

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Martin Jordan @martinjordan.com · 28/11/2025

We got over 60 signups from all parts of German government. Thanks for letting us making this exchange happen, @nextnetz.bsky.social!

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Christopher Whitaker @civicwhitaker.com · 23/11/2025

The key to bureaucracy hacking is to reduce friction while STILL addressing the risk the regulations were attempting to address.

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Martin Jordan @martinjordan.com · 22/11/2025

A test run for #publicDesign jobs — Here’s an experimental RSS feed for the German #GovDesign roles I am posting here and on my little, manually maintained job board*: 🛜 fetchrss.com/feed/aSDtgrm... * currently listing positions at @digitalservice.bund.de, @sprind-de.bsky.social and elsewhere

fetchrss.com

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Powen Shiah @powen.net · 21/11/2025

It’s been a whirlwind getting everything together, but I’m excited: on 3 Dec in Berlin, come learn about the first year of the Sovereign Tech Fellowship—and get together with maintainers, the fellows, and public-interest tech folks. I’d love to see you there!

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Sovereign Tech Agency @sovereign.tech · 19/11/2025

Who will maintain our digital future? On 3 Dec 2025 in Berlin, we’re hosting an event for the #SovereignTechFellowship. In 2025, this program has paid maintainers of essential open source projects, piloting a new model for supporting digital infrastructure in the public interest. 1/2

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Powen Shiah @powen.net · 15/11/2025

My district, @baxhain.bsky.social, organized a celebration for local residents who became German citizens. My naturalization was in May & more of an individual, bureaucratic (though nice) process in a government office in Wedding, so it was really nice to mark the milestone in a more festive way.

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Glonzo the Bureaucrat 🇬🇱 🌹 @snarkranger.bsky.social · 09/11/2025

15 percent of American homes lacked indoor plumbing in 1960. The idea that everyone in 1955 America lived in a split-level suburban home with two cars and three kids and one income is, quite simply, a fantasy borne of media consumption.

census.gov

Historical Census of Housing Tables: Plumbing

These Historical Census of Housing Tables: Plumbing tables are from the Decennial Census.

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Powen Shiah @powen.net · 08/11/2025

Lots has happened since our last @demsabroad.bsky.social #Kreuzberg Kiez meetup! Join your local Americans abroad and friends on Monday 10 Nov 2025 at Yorckschlösschen for community, strategizing, and drinks. RSVP appreciated: www.democratsabroad.org/324260/kreuz... #Berlin #Germany

Dems Abroad Kiez Meetup for Kreuzberg graphic in the style of the Zohran Mamdani campaign slogan.

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Powen Shiah @powen.net · 08/11/2025

If you're wondering how to generate your own slogan, this fun site made it possible: homes.luddy.indiana.edu/ccshan/for/f... (check out the design coop called Forge that did the incredible design work for the Mamdani campaign: forge.coop/ )

forge.coop

Forge

Forge is a small design and development cooperative.

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Powen Shiah @powen.net · 07/11/2025

If someone shares photos in #ProtonDrive folders, is there a way to get a view w/larger previews in the web? I don't have an account, don't see an option to switch view style anywhere. It's unwieldy because looking at each photo is slow—it shows a blurry preview, loads higher-res seconds later.

Screenshot of a web page showing a folder in Proton Drive with a compact list of image files.

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Alexander Chee @alexanderchee.bsky.social · 01/11/2025

Shook a few needed laughs and smiles out of my bitter ragged bag of a heart.

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Powen Shiah @powen.net · 27/10/2025

California ballot faxed yesterday; counted today!

An email confirmation from California BallotTrax notifying the recipient that their ballot for the November 4, 2025, Statewide Special Election has been received and counted. It includes contact information for questions and links for election information.

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Powen Shiah @powen.net · 27/10/2025

Really looking forward to speaking at @writethedocs.bsky.social in Berlin tomorrow! I’ll be sharing how we at @sovereign.tech Agency communicate about complex open source technologies in ways that everyone — not just software developers — can understand… and WHY we invest time/energy in doing so.

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Powen Shiah @powen.net · 25/10/2025

There are few things as gratifying as a long over-due freezer defrosting. Reaching in and breaking off giant pieces of ice and accumulated frost, I think I’d need a pressure washer for more fun.

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Assigned Media @assignedmedia.org · 24/10/2025

24 Oct 2025 -- TIME story on trans ppl escaping discrimination: "Rainbow Railroad which helps LGBTQ+ people escape state violence, received a record number of requests from US...& nearly half of trans adults have relocated or are planning to relocate to another state..." @rikiwilchins.bsky.social

time.com

From Haven to Exodus: Trans Americans Are Fleeing The U.S.

As restrictions on trans rights mount under the Trump Administration, more transgender Americans are emigrating.

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Powen Shiah @powen.net · 23/10/2025

That's a Thursday night downer: SchwuZ in #Berlin has announced that they are officially closing down. They had filed for bankruptcy in August, hoping a buyer or some way could be found to be able to keep one of the oldest queer clubs in Berlin (since 1977!) open. www.instagram.com/p/DQKTg7fjDNA/

instagram.com

Welcome back to Instagram. Sign in to check out what your friends, family & interests have been capturing & sharing around the world.

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Powen Shiah @powen.net · 23/10/2025

Have you ever had work-from-home days where you've been writing emails/chatting/doing so much computer work that your fingers are just tired? Not like a sprain or repetitive stress, just... over the taptaptap. For the record, I am very good at typing, very fast, and can even do it without looking!

media.tenor.com

a black cat is playing with an apple laptop computer .

ALT: a black cat is playing with an apple laptop computer .

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