@mikeolson@mastodon.social

Mike Olson @mikeolson@mastodon.social · Aug 04, 2026

All right, Fedi. Help me out. I grew up addicted to Spiderman in the Stan Lee era -- I read all the Peter Parker the Spectactular Spiderman and The Amazing Spiderman comics as a kid and young adult, mostly as they came out. I've seen all the movies and generally enjoyed them. I just watched Brand New Day. I'm trying to figure out how I feel about it. Complicated, for sure. What's your view? Boosts for reach appreciated. Replies requested.

3

0

13

0

Mike Olson @mikeolson@mastodon.social · Jul 29, 2026

Here's Queen Maxima of The Netherlands, joining the Pride gathering in Amsterdam's Vondelpark and supporting the local (and global!) LGBTQ+ community. It's a shame that Donald Trump is to MAGA-whipped to do this.

4

0

2

0

Mike Olson @mikeolson@mastodon.social · Jul 28, 2026

Excellent piece by @pluralistic@mamot.fr: https://pluralistic.net/2026/07/28/hitl-ers/#ai-ai-oh If a human domain expert asks an AI agent a question about that domain, he or she can get a fast response, and then decide whether or not it makes sense. Good deal! Every really interesting use case for LLMs that I've seen matches this pattern. And every instance where a non-expert chooses to trust an LLM's output is a mistake.

pluralistic.net

Pluralistic: Discernment (28 Jul 2026) – Pluralistic: Daily links from Cory Doctorow

2

1

3

0

Mike Olson @mikeolson@mastodon.social · Jul 20, 2026

Super cool: https://a-hidden-infrastructure.spun.earth/map

3

0

2

0

Mike Olson @mikeolson@mastodon.social · Jul 13, 2026

This very good thing happened in the midst of all the doom: The Federal Trade Commission extracted a settlement from John Deere that gives farmers the right to repair the machines that they buy from the company. https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2026/07/ftc-states-secure-settlement-deere-company-advancing-farmers-right-repair If you can't fix it, you don't own it.

43

3

27

0

Mike Olson @mikeolson@mastodon.social · May 19, 2026

Replying to @mattblaze@federate.social

@mattblaze@federate.social Love these photos and the background on what they do. I was cycling the path of Hadrian's Wall in the UK last year, and pedaled past a similar antenna array in the wilds of Northumberland, on the coast, across a firth from Scotland. Middle of nowhere, surrounded by tiny villages, weather generally uncomfortable, but apparently still worth maintaining. Thanks for the post!

2

0

Mike Olson @mikeolson@mastodon.social · May 15, 2026

Replying to @gruber@mastodon.social

@gruber@mastodon.social Monolog boxes.

1

0

Mike Olson @mikeolson@mastodon.social · May 13, 2026

You might not be getting enough Wavy Gravy in your diet, so here you go:

https://www.berkeleyside.org/2026/05/12/wavy-gravy-90th-birthday

8

1

4

0

Mike Olson @mikeolson@mastodon.social · May 12, 2026

Replying to @futurebird@sauropods.win

@futurebird@sauropods.win Elder abuse via online or text message scams is common, effective and hugely embarrassing to the folks who are victimized by it. I wish that we had more cops working on it, and stiffer penalties for the perpetrators.

1

0

Mike Olson @mikeolson@mastodon.social · May 12, 2026

Grandma Stand!

https://kottke.org/26/05/grandma-stand

3

0

Mike Olson @mikeolson@mastodon.social · May 12, 2026

This story is an interesting overview of the design of mission-critical software that ran on Artemis:

https://cacm.acm.org/news/how-nasa-built-artemis-iis-fault-tolerant-computer/

It's also funny, because despite all the diligence and care, the massive brainpower aimed at reliability, Microsoft Outlook still didn't work right.

4

1

0

Mike Olson @mikeolson@mastodon.social · May 11, 2026

If you require my email address, it’s not “for free.”

1

0

Mike Olson @mikeolson@mastodon.social · May 11, 2026

Good HCR post this morning:

https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/may-10-2026

0

Mike Olson @mikeolson@mastodon.social · May 11, 2026

This is interesting:

https://kk.org/thetechnium/the-emergent-self-loop/

I am a big Kevin Kelly fan.

1

0

Mike Olson @mikeolson@mastodon.social · May 11, 2026

I like a lot of physicists but Richard Feynman is my favorite.

Today is his 108th birthday!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Feynman

2

0

Mike Olson @mikeolson@mastodon.social · May 10, 2026

A while ago, I finished Michael Pollan's new book, A World Appears. Loved it! He explores sentience and consciousness, providing a survey of research in the field by a variety of different folks with a whole bunch of different viewpoints and approaches.

Highly recommended!

https://bookshop.org/p/books/a-world-appears-a-journey-into-consciousness-michael-pollan/47e179e0a2408aa0

1/2

2

1

0

Mike Olson @mikeolson@mastodon.social · May 10, 2026

"The crackdown was led by the Dubai Police, under the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Ministry of Interior, in partnership with the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Chinese Ministry of Public Security."

https://thehackernews.com/2026/05/global-crackdown-arrests-276-shuts-9.html

Via @Mattdevost@infosec.exchange's Global Frequency newsletter. Matt's on a roll this morning.

1

0

Mike Olson @mikeolson@mastodon.social · May 10, 2026

In case it needed saying:

https://cyberscoop.com/cisa-nsa-five-eyes-guidance-secure-deployment-ai-agents/

Via @Mattdevost@infosec.exchange's Global Frequency newsletter.

1

0

Mike Olson @mikeolson@mastodon.social · May 06, 2026

Replying to @palvaro@discuss.systems

@palvaro@discuss.systems Formative film for me!

1

0

Mike Olson @mikeolson@mastodon.social · May 04, 2026

Replying to @yaelwrites@mastodon.social

@yaelwrites Congratulations!!!!

2

0

Mike Olson @mikeolson@mastodon.social · May 03, 2026

Replying to @mikeolson@mastodon.social

The USA250 series is here: https://www.wsj.com/usa250

0

Mike Olson @mikeolson@mastodon.social · May 03, 2026

Good historical piece on the effects of communication technology -- not the technology itself, but how it altered the economy and society -- from the WSJ series USA250:

https://www.wsj.com/tech/personal-tech/information-technology-us-4f3c71f3

Came my way via @Mattdevost@infosec.exchange's Global Frequency newsletter

1

0

Mike Olson @mikeolson@mastodon.social · May 01, 2026

Replying to @futurebird@sauropods.win

@futurebird We saw this in the Serengeti: Acacia trees had dense and active ant populations. You mostly had to look close to see them, but if you disturbed the foliage, they boiled out of their hiding places. Our naturalist guide told us that they were a huge deterrent to giraffes who would otherwise feed on the leaves. Ecosystems and evolution and the evolution of ecosystems are just breathtaking.

7

0

3

0

Mike Olson @mikeolson@mastodon.social · Apr 30, 2026

Looks like Ted and Coach Beard are back in Richmond to coach the women's team. S4E1 drops 5 Aug.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PxZg4SfIURg

h/t @jkottke@threads.net

YouTube

Ted Lasso — Season 4 Official Teaser | Apple TV

Apple TV

2

0

1

0

Mike Olson @mikeolson@mastodon.social · Apr 30, 2026

Heather Cox Richardson today:

https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/april-29-2026

A British monarch reminds a US Congress and President of the ideals and commitments of America's Founders.

1

0

2

0

Mike Olson @mikeolson@mastodon.social · Apr 29, 2026

Replying to @aworkinglibrary@mstdn.social

@aworkinglibrary@mstdn.social Somebody's been going around Berkeley leaving little sidewalk medallions that commemorate imaginary events. They're silver, consistent appearance, nicely made. They look official! I just love 'em. I bring people by to show them off when we're in the neighborhood of one. I am always just delighted to discover a new one. This one appeared just recently outside the original Peet's Coffee store at Walnut and Vine.

3

1

0

Mike Olson @mikeolson@mastodon.social · Apr 21, 2026

Cory Doctorow @pluralistic@mamot.fr has a longish piece in today's newsletter about the practical effects of the Trump administration's energy and technology policies:

https://pluralistic.net/2026/04/20/praxis/#acceleration

The European energy crisis created by Putin's accelerated invasion of Ukraine in 2022 is an excellent analogy for what's driving solar adoption in Trump 2. My nerd friends in Europe are working hard to wean themselves and their governments from US big tech dependence.

Watch this space.

mamot.fr

Cory Doctorow (@pluralistic@mamot.fr) - Mamot - Le Mastodon de La Quadrature du Net

11

1

13

0

Mike Olson @mikeolson@mastodon.social · Apr 16, 2026

Replying to @ben@werd.social

@ben Ghost of Tom Joad live by Bruce Springsteen and Tom Morello.

0

Mike Olson @mikeolson@mastodon.social · Feb 13, 2026

Replying to @oxidecomputer@hachyderm.io

@oxidecomputer@hachyderm.io I think you’re gonna pull it off.

0

Mike Olson @mikeolson@mastodon.social · Feb 12, 2026

I’m on the board of directors of Cityside Journalism, non-profit parent company of the newsrooms Berkeleyside, The Oaklandside and Richmondside.

Enormously proud that two of our newsrooms have been ranked among the top 25 in the nation by Nieman Lab. Honestly I think it should be all three!

You’ll see some big national publications on the list. Oakland has a population of 440k and Berkeley of 120k. We’re peers with bigger newsrooms serving much larger audiences.

https://www.niemanlab.org/2026/02/ice-activity-is-pushing-readers-to-nonprofit-news-sites-that-cover-immigrant-communities/

4

0

4

0

Mike Olson @mikeolson@mastodon.social · Jul 02, 2025

I'm a regular reader of @brianmerchant@mastodon.social's Blood in the Machine newsletter. Today's edition recaps the very narrow failure of Big Tech efforts to forbid states from passing any laws regulating artificial intelligence.

The collapse of that amendment in the Trump spending bill is a rare instance of good news. Brian reminds us how near a thing that was.

https://www.bloodinthemachine.com/p/dont-forget-what-silicon-valley-tried

mastodon.social

Brian Merchant (@brianmerchant@mastodon.social) - Mastodon

13

1

6

0

Mike Olson @mikeolson@mastodon.social · May 06, 2025

Replying to @Migueldeicaza@mastodon.social

@Migueldeicaza@mastodon.social congratulations!

0

1

0

Mike Olson @mikeolson@mastodon.social · Mar 23, 2025

Replying to @mikeolson@mastodon.social

@kenshirriff He was mostly there to talk Forth, but a bunch of us were curious about the device. He showed how he could chord the switches, enter different letters. He was pretty fast at typing with it. I'm positive, in retrospect, that he'd built himself an Englebart keyset, and had gotten good at using it. I appreciate your post for explaining a 45-year-old mystery to me! I did write some Forth code afterwards, but used a regular keyboard for it. 2/2

7

0

1

0

Mike Olson @mikeolson@mastodon.social · Mar 23, 2025

Replying to @kenshirriff@oldbytes.space

@kenshirriff In 1977 and 1978, I was a high school nerd in Kansas City who went with my step-dad to the local computer user group meetings. One night, Chuck Moore, inventor of the Forth language, was the featured speaker. He gave a good talk about the language's philosophy and showed how to write interesting programs. But he used a freaky data entry device -- a collection of five switches he worked with one hand. I'd never seen anything like it. 1/2

5

1

0

Mike Olson @mikeolson@mastodon.social · Aug 26, 2024

Replying to @mhoye@mastodon.social

@mhoye @thatandromeda One of my favorite tricks. Makes me seem like a metric-to-imperial genius. Also phi is one of my phavorite numbers.

1

0

Mike Olson @mikeolson@mastodon.social · Apr 03, 2024

Replying to @bcantrill@mastodon.social

@bcantrill@mastodon.social @ahl@mastodon.social @AndresFreundTec@mastodon.social Dude. Good get!

3

0

Mike Olson

Posts

Pluralistic: Discernment (28 Jul 2026) – Pluralistic: Daily links from Cory Doctorow

Ted Lasso — Season 4 Official Teaser | Apple TV

Cory Doctorow (@pluralistic@mamot.fr) - Mamot - Le Mastodon de La Quadrature du Net

Brian Merchant (@brianmerchant@mastodon.social) - Mastodon

Remote instance

Media