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Zach Lipton

@zachlipton.com
2.4K followers 623 following 2.4K posts

🌉🚌🚲 || San Francisco || Data infrastructure @COVID19Tracking alum || To stop the train in cases of emergency pull down the chain; penalty for improper use, five pounds (he/him)

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Reposted by Zach Lipton
geoffrey @parsnip.bsky.social · 2h
there are moral arguments against the death penalty in its ideal form but in real life you never need to get there. the prior question is "can the state be trusted to end the life only of the rightly convicted without torture?" and the answer is no
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Zach Lipton @zachlipton.com · 9h
how...how is the plane still in (mostly) one piece?
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Zach Lipton @zachlipton.com · 9h
not me wanting to post this in the group chat at this exact moment when it would be inappropriate...or really appropriate?
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Zach Lipton @zachlipton.com · 10h
local defender of women's sports beclowns himself because he forgot women's sports exist
Schmitt said in an interview Wednesday that the mix-up was due to the fact that there were no other NBA games that same night with a 7:30 p.m. starting time.

“Well, we had text messages from [Smith’s] team that he was at a basketball game, and the only game at 7:30 tip-off in the NBA was in Atlanta,” Schmitt said, adding, “I didn’t know he was a Caitlin Clark fan. Now we know.”
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Zach Lipton @zachlipton.com · 10h
rather telling result in the SF city survey: the vibe shift is concentrated in certain neighborhoods and income groups that get all the attention www.sf.gov/reports--sep...
four neighborhoods approved ratings across most service areas, 2023 to 2026: fidi, outer richmond, pac heights, sunset/parkside (6/6 or 5/6 service areas). average all other neighborhoods: 2.4/6 service areas
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Reposted by Zach Lipton
Leah Stokes @leahstokes.bsky.social · 11h
“Unlike A.I., climate change’s existential threat is not hypothetical. It is killing people now." Amidst the AI-pocalypse, we can't lose sight of the climate crisis and the urgency of electrification. Gift link! shorturl.at/On4Jk
nytimes.com
The Big Threat Has Been Climate Change. Now Comes A.I. (Gift Article)
Both are human-caused, both are frightening, and one of them has raced to the forefront of the global conversation.
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Reposted by Zach Lipton
That Mack @thatmc.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
In addition to being a Muni Operator, I am a Muni Diaries Live Haiku Champion. Tonight MDL is holding a take all comers Haiku Brawl at Minibar. Out duel me with a Muni Haiku of your own, win a drink! 7 pm, 837 Divisadero St.
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Zach Lipton @zachlipton.com · 29/09/2026
in honor of Trajal Harrell getting a McArthur Fellowship, please enjoy the most scathing performing arts review I've ever read www.nytimes.com/2008/10/17/a...
At one point in Trajal Harrell’s 80-minute “Quartet for the End of Time” each of the four performers comes to the front of the stage and says, more than once, “I hope there is someone that will take care of me when I die.” I am afraid that appearing in this production may not prove their best way to realize that hope.

For about the first 20 minutes the audience watches collages of film and photographs, projected now on a screen facing the audience, now on screens placed sideways so that the view is at best oblique. Most of the rest of the show — punctuated by a few episodes during which there is nothing and nobody onstage — involves the performers changing and removing their clothes, walking on and offstage, kneeling and lying down. Sections of Messiaen’s eponymous quartet are played, along with rock, choral music and recorded dialogue, none apparently relevant. There is a good deal of nudity.

Although Mr. Harrell calls his four performers dancers, the only passage that could sensibly be described as dancing occurs when one woman, wearing baggy pants and a loose top, gyrates her pelvis and upper body. It lasts a few seconds.
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Zach Lipton @zachlipton.com · 28/09/2026
Which leads to the obvious question: if qwen or glm already can do a good enough job on many tasks, why are OpenAI and Anthropic valued based on the assumption anybody will pay a hefty premium for their models?
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Zach Lipton @zachlipton.com · 26/09/2026
Y’all. Shipwreck Cove looks absolutely amazing. And somehow it’s a construction project in San Francisco, on public land no less, that actually finished more-or-less on time?!
View of the playground on Sunset DunesThe ship
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Reposted by Zach Lipton
Jordan Grimes @cafedujord.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
You mean to tell me that building more sprawl doesn't actually do anything for urban affordability and is instead predominantly a wealth transfer from those areas to exurban ones? I'm shocked! Anyway, vote no on Prop 45.
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Reposted by Zach Lipton
Dr Grace S Peng @gspeng.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Air samplers installed next to queues of people at international terminals waiting to enter US. SFO, Newark, IAD Washington DC, DFW Dallas Ft Worth. 98% found Covid, 17% found Flu A !!! Flu levels track nasal swabs & wastewater data. Covid does not
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Reposted by Zach Lipton
COYOTE @coyotemedia.org · 25/09/2026
Today, we're launching our first women's sports story co-published with @valkyriesbeat.bsky.social: on how the inclusive culture touted by the Golden State Valkyries is faring amid the culture wars embroiling the rest of the WNBA. www.coyotemedia.org/valkyries-tr...
coyotemedia.org
Amid Anti-Trans Uproar in the WNBA, the Valkyries Are Standing Their Ground. Is That Enough?
For Valkyries fans, the inclusiveness of Ballhalla is sacred — even moreso as the culture war comes for the WNBA.
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Marcel Moran @marcelmoran.com · 25/09/2026
New Study! How many stairs does it take to get from the street to the platform of a New York City subway station? How long are the passageways? And what fare gates are present at different stations? We sought to find out at 85 different stations + 308 distinct entrances: doi.org/10.1016/j.jp...
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Zach Lipton @zachlipton.com · 25/09/2026
I have a ticket for opening night and have never been more scared to see a movie
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Zach Lipton @zachlipton.com · 24/09/2026
uhhhh
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Zach Lipton @zachlipton.com · 24/09/2026
tfw someone finally says it "But reopening the road would force the removal of park amenities, reducing it to a strip of asphalt for weekend visitors, hardly a compromise."
sfchronicle.com
Endorsement: Let Sunset Dunes live. No on G
OPINION: The Chronicle’s editorial board endorsed a yes vote on Prop K in 2024. We still believe that Sunset Dunes offers San Francisco the opportunity to build a transformative public space.
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Zach Lipton @zachlipton.com · 24/09/2026
of course they did
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Zach Lipton @zachlipton.com · 24/09/2026
Bernie’s “the Trump Administration gets to decide how much linear algebra you’re allowed to do” plan has a few potential flaws
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Reposted by Zach Lipton
eva (^_^)/ @eva.computer · 24/09/2026
and there it is: regulatory capture

6 SEC. 12. CHARTERS FOR ADVANCED ARTIFICIAL INTEL-
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LIGENCE.
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(a) AUTHORITY TO ISSUE.—The Secretary may issue

9 to a person a charter to develop or distribute an advanced

10 artificial intelligence model.
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(b) CHARTER REQUIRED.—No person may develop or

12 distribute an advanced artificial intelligence model without
13 a charter issued by the Secretary under subsection (a).
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Zach Lipton @zachlipton.com · 23/09/2026
if nothing else, this does make everyone look exceedingly stupid for accepting the beyond embarrassing practice of giving the Vice President anonymity for a background briefing
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Zach Lipton @zachlipton.com · 23/09/2026
it's looking so good! I gave the slide a good test last week
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Reposted by Zach Lipton
Bart⚓️ @bartgonnissen.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
The Facial Expressions of Tethys by artist Julius von Bismarck. A suspended high-sea buoy that moves in real time. Sensors on a twin buoy out in the Atlantic Ocean send live satellite data to motors inside the museum. This makes the indoor buoy copy the exact, real-time movements of the ocean waves.
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Reposted by Zach Lipton
Rothaí @rothaiocht.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Thread in response to Horowitz Andreessen's new boarding academy for 16-22yos in San Francisco. Accidentally went on and on forgetting I was in @faineg.com's mentions vs. my own feed; sorry!
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Reposted by Zach Lipton
Maya🚂🚃🚄🚅🚆🚇🚈🚉🚊🚝🚞🚋🚌🚎 @trains.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
And heres some of my favs from the Western Railway Museum For all the photos in the series their full resolution see here- glass.photo/lesbomaya/se...
B/W photo of a Key system train in a field in from of a wind turbineB/W photo of the legacy BART train control consoleB/W photo of a legacy Bart train front
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Mission Local @missionlocal.org · 23/09/2026
The entire San Francisco Board of Supervisors signed a letter demanding Ho Yin Mo's release. ICE detained Mo, an aide to Assemblywoman Catherine Stefani and former London Breed campaign staffer, at a Las Vegas airport last week. missionlocal.org/2026/09/san-...
missionlocal.org
San Francisco elected officials call for feds to release Ho Yin Mo, detained assembly legislative aide
Former Chinese-language TV anchor, detained last week at Vegas airport, works for Assemblymember Catherine Stefanie and previously served as field organizer for Mayor London Breed
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Reposted by Zach Lipton
KeepScore @keepscorebaseball.com · 23/09/2026
FINAL GAME of the WPBL Championship series is now! Who will be crowned the winners? Follow along with us ⚾️ #WPBL
keepscorebaseball.com
KeepScore - Los Angeles Queens @ San Francisco Firebells
Los Angeles Queens @ San Francisco Firebells — 7:00 PM ET. Follow live on KeepScore.
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Reposted by Zach Lipton
sick public transit, gloria @seung.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
I’ve had some talks with transit-friendly but very tax-weary friends locally about how RTM felt to them bit like a hostage ransom, and I explained as best I can that the stakes are actually this high and this stark based on how the measure passes or fails. Don’t overthink it!
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San Francisco Chronicle @sfchronicle.com · 22/09/2026
The report, which details how transit cuts could make traffic apocalyptic, was put out by a nonprofit think tank that has endorsed both upcoming transit measures in the November election.
bit.ly
A Bay Area transit ‘death spiral’ could double Bay Bridge delays, report says
The report, which details how transit cuts could make traffic apocalyptic, was put out by a nonprofit think tank that has endorsed both upcoming transit measures in the November election.
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Reposted by Zach Lipton
tschuy 🏳️‍🌈 @tsch.uy · 21/09/2026
Well that's ONE way to keep people from doing unwanted things along the Lake Merritt estuary paths 😵‍💫
Rocks, everywhere there used to be grass along the estuary Construction workers adding more rocks in a park
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Reposted by Zach Lipton
Austin 🚎 @signaltap.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
I am going crazy we will never get a consistent answer for what happened to the alcatraz coyote www.sfgate.com/local/articl...
At the time, National Park Service officials were concerned about how the coyote that wound up on Alcatraz could affect its local biodiversity; the Rock hosts some of the largest nesting populations of Brandt’s cormorants and western gulls in the Bay Area. Before they could follow through on plans to remove the animal, however, he was either swept away or left of his own accord.
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Zach Lipton @zachlipton.com · 20/09/2026
this is really a quite extraordinary piece of writing may you have a meaningful fast, whatever that means to you
On this Day of Atonement, if we are serious about reckoning with our collective transgressions, then we must not only honestly recite them.

We must put Palestinian liberation at the center of our t’shuvah. Not only for the human rights and dignity of Palestinians. But also for our own possibility of redemption.

With that sincere intention for the new year 5787, we plead:

V’al kulam, Elohai selichot — for all these transgressions, God of forgiveness — selach lanu, mechal lanu, kaper lanu. Forgive us. Pardon us. Grant us atonement.

Brad


P.S. After wrestling again this year with Unetaneh Tokef (the wrenching High Holiday prayer that inspired Leonard Cohen’s song “Who By Fire?” and that I discussed with Lex Rofeberg and Rena Yehuda on their “Judaism Unbound” podcast), I’ve changed my Yom Kippur greeting.

Traditionally, I have wished people “G’mar tov” (short for “G’mar chatimah tova,” may you be inscribed for blessing in the book of life). But, as Unentaneh Tokef teaches, and as we all know too well, we don’t control our fates for the coming year.

So instead this year, I’m wishing people “Ha’aver heitev.” That comes from the final line of the prayer: “But t’shuvah, t’fillah, and t’zedekah (work for justice), deflect (or avert, or temper) the severity of the decree.” We don’t control our fates, but through honest reckoning with our transgressions, through standing in awe and reverence at what is sacred, and by working for justice, we can deflect the suffering that comes with being human.

Ha’aver heitev means something like: “Deflect it well.”
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Zach Lipton @zachlipton.com · 20/09/2026
if I had a nickel for every time I've said "they put in the paper that I have friends," I'd have a surprising number of nickels
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Zach Lipton @zachlipton.com · 20/09/2026
eras tour
A Waymo and a historic Muni bus
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Zach Lipton @zachlipton.com · 19/09/2026
he just tweeted it out. the entire Effective Altruism AI safety rabbit hole in one (long) post
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Zach Lipton @zachlipton.com · 19/09/2026
really weird that they waited 2 days to apologize—producing a 2nd story about this—rather than just apologizing immediately on Wednesday
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Reposted by Zach Lipton
Musicology Duck @musicologyduck.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Man on the metro train holding a sign that just says no in large black letters
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Brandy Zadrozny @brandyzadrozny.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Wait so is my math right? Last month, his EO demanded the MMR be broken up into 3 separate shots. Now in his wisdom he wants to break those up. So instead of one shot at 12 months, Dr Trump is “demanding” babies get FIFTEEN SHOTS, given at 12, 18, 24, 30, 36 and 48 months. Amazing. It’s so stupid.
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Zach Lipton @zachlipton.com · 18/09/2026
love how they put "liability exposure" in scare quotes like it's not just the same old idea product liability that's been around since at least the Code of Hammurabi buddy, even Deuteronomy said you got to put up a fence to stop people falling off your roof. sandboxing your shit is your problem
nytimes.com
The A.I. Industry’s New Worry: ‘Liability Exposure’
The prospect of artificial intelligence tools being used to do significant harm presents the companies and their leaders with a legal challenge.
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Zach Lipton @zachlipton.com · 18/09/2026
not to be all "everything is my pet issue," but I do wonder how much of this boils down to "cars are insanely expensive now" and people start to report pain after they're locked into an $800+ car payment
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eliza hamilton @eliza.vg · 18/09/2026
funniest reason to accidentally pedestrianise a street lowkey lmao
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Robert Simmon @rsimmon.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Here’s the best view of an aurora I’ve ever seen (and that includes watching a solar storm from a Fairbanks snow bank).
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Seth D. Michaels @sethdmichaels.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Everybody’s talking about this shocking Sankey diagram
a “Sankey diagram,” a graphical display of information, in which there are inputs on one side and outputs on the other. The diagram is labeled “Transportation Funding Flows from Public and Private Interests to Auto and Oil Industries.” Of money spent by consumers on vehicles, fuel, and maintenance, and various sources of government funding, a large share ends up in the aforementioned industry.
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Zach Lipton @zachlipton.com · 18/09/2026
Ok who’s opening the first Medicaid eligibility sports book?
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George Spies @georgespies.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
I have A LOT more to say about this, but I think it's most important to recognize that Joel Young is a tall pole in the tent of the AC Transit culture of steady decline. Most people in management, and Young and his allies on the Board will tell you that ACT is a system of last resort. 1/x
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A. Zivarts @nondriver.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
The explosion of e-bikes, e-trikes and e-scooters is truly revolutionary...The joy and freedom of biking is intoxicating for everyone who has had the opportunity to try out life on two or three wheels with a little e-boost.
amny.com
Op-Ed | E-bikes mean freedom for low-vision cyclists like me: don’t take that away | amNewYork
So did a lot of other people who, like me, don’t have valid driver’s licenses. In July, the state’s new e-bike law went into effect. Among other regulations
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Hayes Promenade @hayespromenade.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Enjoy a free live performance by the SF Opera Orchestra String Quartet! This Friday, 6-8pm on Hayes Street between Gough & Octavia! hayespromenade.org/events/sf-op...
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Jane Natoli 🥑🚲🍍 @wafoli.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
This is very good and I’d really implore my followers, especially my cis ones, to read it. It’s a topic that deserves more depth than a couple hundred characters and Julia nails it like usual
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Mission Local @missionlocal.org · 16/09/2026
Potential cuts to San Francisco’s public transit system would be significantly worse for the city’s economy than the effects of a proposed parcel tax to fund it, according to a new analysis from the controller's office. via @kellywaldron.bsky.social missionlocal.org/2026/09/san-...
missionlocal.org
S.F. economy will take a hit if Muni measure fails, controller warns
A report from the controller's office San Francisco’s GDP would grow $310 to $400 million over 15 years by passing the parcel tax measure.
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Alt Bureau of Labor Statistics @domesticshoggoth.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
"moderator of r/doordash by the reddit username u/i_love_femboys6969 attempts to commit an act of terror on behalf of ISIS" is the most 21st century headline I've ever read.
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