maddy varner
@regret.bsky.social
technologist, data journalist, dyer, etc ✨ www.maddy.zone
Reposted by maddy varner
Oh — the situation has escalated.
Pope Leo has spoken out: says "spiritual rights" of detainees should be respected and calls on the "authorities" to allow "pastoral workers" in.
"Jesus says very clearly … we're going to be asked, how did you receive the foreigner?" www.youtube.com/watch?v=taCi...
Pope Leo has spoken out: says "spiritual rights" of detainees should be respected and calls on the "authorities" to allow "pastoral workers" in.
"Jesus says very clearly … we're going to be asked, how did you receive the foreigner?" www.youtube.com/watch?v=taCi...
November 4, 2025 at 9:02 PM
Oh — the situation has escalated.
Pope Leo has spoken out: says "spiritual rights" of detainees should be respected and calls on the "authorities" to allow "pastoral workers" in.
"Jesus says very clearly … we're going to be asked, how did you receive the foreigner?" www.youtube.com/watch?v=taCi...
Pope Leo has spoken out: says "spiritual rights" of detainees should be respected and calls on the "authorities" to allow "pastoral workers" in.
"Jesus says very clearly … we're going to be asked, how did you receive the foreigner?" www.youtube.com/watch?v=taCi...
Reposted by maddy varner
Today marks 30 days of the government shutdown and federal workers -- 750,000 were furloughed -- are barely making ends meet.
@telliotter.bsky.social + @makenakelly.bsky.social spoke to federal workers struggling to pay bills, working side gigs, and relying on free food programs to get by:
@telliotter.bsky.social + @makenakelly.bsky.social spoke to federal workers struggling to pay bills, working side gigs, and relying on free food programs to get by:
Federal Workers Are Barely Making It Through the Government Shutdown
The US government shut down 30 days ago. WIRED spoke with more than a dozen federal workers who have struggled to pay bills, worked side gigs, and relied on free food programs to get by.
www.wired.com
October 30, 2025 at 12:55 PM
Today marks 30 days of the government shutdown and federal workers -- 750,000 were furloughed -- are barely making ends meet.
@telliotter.bsky.social + @makenakelly.bsky.social spoke to federal workers struggling to pay bills, working side gigs, and relying on free food programs to get by:
@telliotter.bsky.social + @makenakelly.bsky.social spoke to federal workers struggling to pay bills, working side gigs, and relying on free food programs to get by:
i tried "vibe coding" once and it did this to my terminal, thanks,
October 29, 2025 at 6:03 PM
i tried "vibe coding" once and it did this to my terminal, thanks,
cooking up some good stuff this weekend (black walnut dye)
October 24, 2025 at 10:43 PM
cooking up some good stuff this weekend (black walnut dye)
shot
Surrogate pregnancies are increasingly popular in tech circles, and the practice is expected to explode globally in the coming decade. It’s also shockingly unregulated. This is a story about what happens when it goes horribly wrong.
The Baby Died. Whose Fault Is It?
When her son died in utero, a venture capitalist went to extremes to punish her surrogate.
www.wired.com
September 4, 2025 at 12:09 AM
shot
Reposted by maddy varner
Don't miss this @forbes.com article by @shalinjyotishi.bsky.social on our brand new searchable inventory of contract provisions from over 175 union agreements that address workplace technologies, protect worker rights, and shape technology adoption, use, and oversight.
www.forbes.com/sites/shalin...
www.forbes.com/sites/shalin...
New Database Helps Labor Unions Navigate AI And Digital Technologies
Researchers at the UC Labor Center have created a database to help labor unions navigate the sector's response to AI, surveillance tools, and other digital technologies.
www.forbes.com
July 28, 2025 at 9:49 PM
Don't miss this @forbes.com article by @shalinjyotishi.bsky.social on our brand new searchable inventory of contract provisions from over 175 union agreements that address workplace technologies, protect worker rights, and shape technology adoption, use, and oversight.
www.forbes.com/sites/shalin...
www.forbes.com/sites/shalin...
I am absolutely loving my new hobby, extracting data from pdfs and shoving it into a sqlite database
June 24, 2025 at 3:07 AM
I am absolutely loving my new hobby, extracting data from pdfs and shoving it into a sqlite database
im listening to the NASA livestream and one of the NASA guys opened his monologue about how long the astronauts have been up on the ISS w "for all the statistic freaks out there"
March 18, 2025 at 4:56 AM
im listening to the NASA livestream and one of the NASA guys opened his monologue about how long the astronauts have been up on the ISS w "for all the statistic freaks out there"
you can currently bid on the United States Postal Inspection Service’s auction lot consisting of one (1) year-long microsoft 365 subscription www.govdeals.com/asset/47/26459
www.govdeals.com
March 5, 2025 at 1:39 AM
you can currently bid on the United States Postal Inspection Service’s auction lot consisting of one (1) year-long microsoft 365 subscription www.govdeals.com/asset/47/26459
FTC takes first ever action related to connected vehicle data! www.ftc.gov/news-events/...
FTC Takes Action Against General Motors for Sharing Drivers’ Precise Location and Driving Behavior Data Without Consent
The Federal Trade Commission is taking action against General Motors (GM) and OnStar over allegations they collected, used, and sold drivers’ precise geolocation data and driving behavior informati
www.ftc.gov
January 18, 2025 at 12:55 AM
FTC takes first ever action related to connected vehicle data! www.ftc.gov/news-events/...
if you’re saddened by the panera news do not fear, it appears there is still time to stock up on gallons of charged lemonade
May 8, 2024 at 2:30 AM
if you’re saddened by the panera news do not fear, it appears there is still time to stock up on gallons of charged lemonade
just donated my Sigma Award winnings to @proofnews.bsky.social, a new newsroom led by @juliaangwin.com. I would not have had the skills to do the work we did on LA's priority scores–let alone been a journalist *at all*–without Julia's mentorship over the years. Excited to see what this crew does!
If you want accurate information about an upcoming election, don't trust AI. We tested queries voters might ask the five leading AI models and found that half of their responses were inaccurate. www.proofnews.org/seeking-elec...
Seeking Reliable Election Information? Don’t Trust AI
Experts testing five leading AI models found the answers were often inaccurate, misleading, and even downright harmful
www.proofnews.org
May 2, 2024 at 3:42 PM
just donated my Sigma Award winnings to @proofnews.bsky.social, a new newsroom led by @juliaangwin.com. I would not have had the skills to do the work we did on LA's priority scores–let alone been a journalist *at all*–without Julia's mentorship over the years. Excited to see what this crew does!
Reposted by maddy varner
I was the journalist who found this filing and asked about it 👇🏼
March 31, 2024 at 12:09 AM
I was the journalist who found this filing and asked about it 👇🏼
Hypothesis: “AI chatbots will follow company policies and direct users toward trustworthy websites when asked voting-related questions.”
Results: www.proofnews.org/leading-ai-c...
Results: www.proofnews.org/leading-ai-c...
Leading AI Companies OpenAI and Anthropic Are Not Keeping Their Election Promises
AI companies have made pledges in recent months to limit the potential for election misinformation on their platforms. Those promises are proving hard to keep.
OpenAI, which created the ChatGPT model...
www.proofnews.org
March 13, 2024 at 12:23 PM
Hypothesis: “AI chatbots will follow company policies and direct users toward trustworthy websites when asked voting-related questions.”
Results: www.proofnews.org/leading-ai-c...
Results: www.proofnews.org/leading-ai-c...
Reposted by maddy varner
I’m delighted to announce that today I’m launching a new nonprofit journalism studio: Proof News.
Proof is into proving things! Our goal is to question, test, and investigate the most important issues of our time. We will always tell you what we know and what we don’t know.
www.proofnews.org
Proof is into proving things! Our goal is to question, test, and investigate the most important issues of our time. We will always tell you what we know and what we don’t know.
www.proofnews.org
Proof
Proof provides data-driven reporting and analysis of the most important questions of our time. Join our mailing list for updates.
www.proofnews.org
February 27, 2024 at 7:27 PM
I’m delighted to announce that today I’m launching a new nonprofit journalism studio: Proof News.
Proof is into proving things! Our goal is to question, test, and investigate the most important issues of our time. We will always tell you what we know and what we don’t know.
www.proofnews.org
Proof is into proving things! Our goal is to question, test, and investigate the most important issues of our time. We will always tell you what we know and what we don’t know.
www.proofnews.org
Reposted by maddy varner
Our first investigation at @proofnews.bsky.social is a test of whether voters can trust AI to provide accurate information about elections.
Answer: they cannot. Thread 👇🏻
Answer: they cannot. Thread 👇🏻
If you want accurate information about an upcoming election, don't trust AI. We tested queries voters might ask the five leading AI models and found that half of their responses were inaccurate. www.proofnews.org/seeking-elec...
Seeking Reliable Election Information? Don’t Trust AI
Experts testing five leading AI models found the answers were often inaccurate, misleading, and even downright harmful
www.proofnews.org
February 27, 2024 at 7:34 PM
Our first investigation at @proofnews.bsky.social is a test of whether voters can trust AI to provide accurate information about elections.
Answer: they cannot. Thread 👇🏻
Answer: they cannot. Thread 👇🏻
ngl I bought a gallon of the panera death lemonade and I’ve been ripping through it this past week
February 8, 2024 at 9:30 PM
ngl I bought a gallon of the panera death lemonade and I’ve been ripping through it this past week
my new hobby is unsubscribing from mailing lists i forgot i signed up for
January 19, 2024 at 1:50 PM
my new hobby is unsubscribing from mailing lists i forgot i signed up for
Reposted by maddy varner
New: Rite Aid secretly scanned shoppers with facial recognition for years, leading to false shoplifting accusations, embarrassment and harassment. The chain banned workers from discussing it, and one distraught 11-year-old girl was searched due to a bad match www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...
Rite Aid used facial recognition on shoppers, fueling harassment, FTC says
In one case, the FTC said, employees called the police on a Black customer after the technology mistook her for the actual target, a White woman with blonde hair.
www.washingtonpost.com
December 20, 2023 at 1:31 AM
New: Rite Aid secretly scanned shoppers with facial recognition for years, leading to false shoplifting accusations, embarrassment and harassment. The chain banned workers from discussing it, and one distraught 11-year-old girl was searched due to a bad match www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...
the FTC published a staff report yesterday detailing themes from an October roundtable on generative AI and the creative economy, which featured working creative professionals from fields like programming, screenwriting, voice acting and visual art: www.ftc.gov/news-events/...
FTC Staff Report Details Key Takeaways from AI and Creative Fields Panel Discussion
In a
www.ftc.gov
December 19, 2023 at 8:31 PM
the FTC published a staff report yesterday detailing themes from an October roundtable on generative AI and the creative economy, which featured working creative professionals from fields like programming, screenwriting, voice acting and visual art: www.ftc.gov/news-events/...
really honored that colin lecher and i's reporting on racial disparities in LA's scoring system for subsidized housing got chosen as an ONA finalist. these types of scoring systems are all but required across the country, and they deserve more scrutiny
L.A.’s Scoring System for Subsidized Housing Gives Black and Latino People Experiencing Homelessne...
Read More
awards.journalists.org
July 28, 2023 at 9:47 PM
really honored that colin lecher and i's reporting on racial disparities in LA's scoring system for subsidized housing got chosen as an ONA finalist. these types of scoring systems are all but required across the country, and they deserve more scrutiny
so many things in this article (labelers using VPNs to have access to better wages, a byzantine maze of front groups and opaque project names to obscure the actual projects workers are contributing to, reactive and ever-expanding instruction manuals)
Inside the AI Factory
How many humans does it take to make tech seem human? Millions.
www.theverge.com
June 20, 2023 at 7:16 PM
so many things in this article (labelers using VPNs to have access to better wages, a byzantine maze of front groups and opaque project names to obscure the actual projects workers are contributing to, reactive and ever-expanding instruction manuals)
how are thigns going on this app
June 2, 2023 at 1:30 AM
how are thigns going on this app
some news: I'm no longer at The Markup. it's been a great run, but it's time for me to try something new. I'll have more to say soon, but first I'm going to take some time to rest and recharge 💕
May 16, 2023 at 8:17 PM
some news: I'm no longer at The Markup. it's been a great run, but it's time for me to try something new. I'll have more to say soon, but first I'm going to take some time to rest and recharge 💕
For The Markup's Hello World column, I interviewed artist Jamie Bourgeois about her attempt to make the pollution in her hometown visible using natural dyeing techniques https://themarkup.org/hello-world/2023/05/13/the-color-of-data
May 13, 2023 at 2:23 PM
For The Markup's Hello World column, I interviewed artist Jamie Bourgeois about her attempt to make the pollution in her hometown visible using natural dyeing techniques https://themarkup.org/hello-world/2023/05/13/the-color-of-data