matt meshm
@meshm.bsky.social
Minneapolis-based tinkerer. Work on websites for science at UMN's Supercomputing Institute. Into bikes, city infrastructure, and local politics
If you want to help catalog license plate reader locations near you in MN, get in touch and I can help you get started!
I just went on a bike ride verifying and entering locations of MPD and Hennepin County Sheriff ALPR cameras so DeFlock should be pretty accurate for Minneapolis now deflock.me/map#map=13/4...
November 24, 2025 at 3:55 PM
If you want to help catalog license plate reader locations near you in MN, get in touch and I can help you get started!
I just went on a bike ride verifying and entering locations of MPD and Hennepin County Sheriff ALPR cameras so DeFlock should be pretty accurate for Minneapolis now deflock.me/map#map=13/4...
November 23, 2025 at 10:47 PM
I just went on a bike ride verifying and entering locations of MPD and Hennepin County Sheriff ALPR cameras so DeFlock should be pretty accurate for Minneapolis now deflock.me/map#map=13/4...
The most important shift in my tech optimist-to-leftist trajectory was really wrapping my mind around the labor theory of value. It clarifies so much
Somehow, somewhere along the way, so many people have become confused to think that the value of knowledge is in producing a product, a knowledge artifact; but the products are merely side-effects that humans generate to demonstrate the work—the work being the place where the real value resides.
November 21, 2025 at 4:34 PM
The most important shift in my tech optimist-to-leftist trajectory was really wrapping my mind around the labor theory of value. It clarifies so much
Don't take this to mean Signal itself is compromised, the records came from a “sensitive source with excellent access.” Assume there's a mole in any big Signal group.
A “joint situational information report” from the FBI and the New York police department (NYPD), dated 28 August 2025, quoted from a chat on Signal, the encrypted messaging app, and also characterized the court watchers as “anarchist violent extremist actors.”
The FBI spied on a Signal group chat of immigration activists, records reveal
Exclusive: Agency accessed private conversations of New York ‘courtwatch’ group that was observing public hearings
www.theguardian.com
November 21, 2025 at 1:02 PM
Don't take this to mean Signal itself is compromised, the records came from a “sensitive source with excellent access.” Assume there's a mole in any big Signal group.
More great reporting on the proliferation of automated license plate readers. They are probably in your city, do you trust your local police with them? Do you know if the data is being shared with the feds? apnews.com/article/immi...
Border Patrol is monitoring US drivers and detaining those with 'suspicious' travel patterns
The U.S. Border Patrol is monitoring millions of American drivers nationwide in a secretive program to identify and detain people whose travel patterns it deems suspicious.
apnews.com
November 20, 2025 at 6:57 PM
More great reporting on the proliferation of automated license plate readers. They are probably in your city, do you trust your local police with them? Do you know if the data is being shared with the feds? apnews.com/article/immi...
Reposted by matt meshm
On this Trans Day of Remembrance, I want to remember Ra’Lasia Wright, an AfroLatine trans woman who was murdered in the Powderhorn Park neighborhood on December 1, 2024. Her murder has not been solved; only two local politicians made a statement.
November 20, 2025 at 3:46 PM
On this Trans Day of Remembrance, I want to remember Ra’Lasia Wright, an AfroLatine trans woman who was murdered in the Powderhorn Park neighborhood on December 1, 2024. Her murder has not been solved; only two local politicians made a statement.
Signal rolled out a built-in poll feature before Discord or Slack, lol signal.org/blog/polls/
Signal Polls: Yes, no, maybe (yes!)
Signal polling: An easier way to see what your group chat really thinks and feels.
signal.org
November 20, 2025 at 2:29 PM
Signal rolled out a built-in poll feature before Discord or Slack, lol signal.org/blog/polls/
Reposted by matt meshm
Per MIRAC trained observers are on site and MORE OBSERVERS REQUESTED. Go if you can:
November 18, 2025 at 2:57 PM
Per MIRAC trained observers are on site and MORE OBSERVERS REQUESTED. Go if you can:
Proud to announce I won a drawing for a dairy and meat showroom gift bag, I was nominated for my contributions as UMN research staff. This is as close as I'll get to winning a meat raffle
November 17, 2025 at 10:03 PM
Proud to announce I won a drawing for a dairy and meat showroom gift bag, I was nominated for my contributions as UMN research staff. This is as close as I'll get to winning a meat raffle
I want to ban cars as much as anyone and am hesitant to give up tools to hold drivers accountable, but I have been learning about the prevalence of automated license plate reader cameras and the cops can't be trusted with this shit deflock.me
DeFlock
Spot, map, and resist automated license plate readers (ALPRs) near you.
deflock.me
November 17, 2025 at 6:04 PM
I want to ban cars as much as anyone and am hesitant to give up tools to hold drivers accountable, but I have been learning about the prevalence of automated license plate reader cameras and the cops can't be trusted with this shit deflock.me
Nothing but respect for the artists but this is lipstick on a pig. MNDOT has recommitted to keeping Hiawatha a highway that splits up south Mpls for the next generation. It's all I can think of every time I cross it
After a yearslong process, and input from community members, a team of artists created a massive mural and mosaic centered around the medicine wheel under the Hiawatha-Lake Street underpass.
Artists transform a Lake Street underpass with vibrant mural
After a yearslong process, and input from community members, a team of artists created a massive mural and mosaic under the Hiawatha-Lake Street underpass.
sahanjournal.com
November 17, 2025 at 5:08 PM
Nothing but respect for the artists but this is lipstick on a pig. MNDOT has recommitted to keeping Hiawatha a highway that splits up south Mpls for the next generation. It's all I can think of every time I cross it
Reposted by matt meshm
“Helsinki hasn’t registered a single traffic-related fatality in the past year…Citing data that shows the risk of pedestrian fatality is cut in half by reducing a car’s speed from 40 to 30km/hr, city officials imposed the lower limit in most of Helsinki’s residential areas & city center in 2021.”
Helsinki just went a full year without a single traffic death
The capital city is Finnish’ed with car-related fatalities.
www.politico.eu
November 17, 2025 at 6:31 AM
“Helsinki hasn’t registered a single traffic-related fatality in the past year…Citing data that shows the risk of pedestrian fatality is cut in half by reducing a car’s speed from 40 to 30km/hr, city officials imposed the lower limit in most of Helsinki’s residential areas & city center in 2021.”
That's my future senator
Saw @peggyflanagan.bsky.social on the campaign trail for the first time. She was quite good, smooth, effective campaign pro without stepping back from the Wellstonesque policy stuff. Appreciated her telling 30-some DFL Jews of mixed opinions that AIPAC could get stuffed, and exactly why.
November 16, 2025 at 11:47 PM
That's my future senator
Reposted by matt meshm
In keeping with the theme of the University of Minnesota walking out of negotiations: yesterday the graduate labor union at the U filed a petition with the state to finally get the University to follow the law. Explainer below, tl;dr press release here: umnglu.org/wp-content/u...
umnglu.org
November 15, 2025 at 9:36 PM
In keeping with the theme of the University of Minnesota walking out of negotiations: yesterday the graduate labor union at the U filed a petition with the state to finally get the University to follow the law. Explainer below, tl;dr press release here: umnglu.org/wp-content/u...
Reposted by matt meshm
NEW RESOURCE: For months, ICE has engaged in an arbitrary campaign of warrantless stops and arrests in Chicago.
Need security advice for activists under a significant threat landscape shift? Don't worry, we @lucyparsonslabs.com got you.
PDF: goldframes.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/LPL_ICEinvas...
Need security advice for activists under a significant threat landscape shift? Don't worry, we @lucyparsonslabs.com got you.
PDF: goldframes.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/LPL_ICEinvas...
November 15, 2025 at 10:39 PM
NEW RESOURCE: For months, ICE has engaged in an arbitrary campaign of warrantless stops and arrests in Chicago.
Need security advice for activists under a significant threat landscape shift? Don't worry, we @lucyparsonslabs.com got you.
PDF: goldframes.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/LPL_ICEinvas...
Need security advice for activists under a significant threat landscape shift? Don't worry, we @lucyparsonslabs.com got you.
PDF: goldframes.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/LPL_ICEinvas...
Or one better: Craig from Craigslist gives away $40M a year thru his foundation and his social media presence is mostly boosting teachers' school supply fundraisers
Why can't every tech guy be like Tom from MySpace: make $500 million and then fuck off into obscurity. Why do they have to keep bothering us
November 15, 2025 at 2:12 PM
Or one better: Craig from Craigslist gives away $40M a year thru his foundation and his social media presence is mostly boosting teachers' school supply fundraisers
Raising money for an app just for talking about bluesky meta
November 14, 2025 at 5:00 PM
Raising money for an app just for talking about bluesky meta
Already beginning to doubt Monarca's strategy of a single metro-wide zone for texting ICE rapid response alerts
November 14, 2025 at 3:36 PM
Already beginning to doubt Monarca's strategy of a single metro-wide zone for texting ICE rapid response alerts
Reposted by matt meshm
It's been 10 year since Jamar Clark was shot and killed in North Minneapolis. The uprising in 2020 is hard to imagine without the work of activists and people who showed up in 2015 to demand better and we're going to spend years grappling to understand the impacts of summer 2020's reckoning.
Nearly 10 years ago Jamar Clark, a Black man, was killed by two white Minneapolis police officers. In the years since, activism in Minneapolis and the nation has changed.
Outrage around Jamar Clark’s killing by police has rippled through the last decade
It’s been 10 years since a Minneapolis police officer shot Jamar Clark, an unarmed 24-year-old Black man, during a confrontation. The frustration, anger and highly visible demonstrations led to change...
www.mprnews.org
November 13, 2025 at 10:54 PM
It's been 10 year since Jamar Clark was shot and killed in North Minneapolis. The uprising in 2020 is hard to imagine without the work of activists and people who showed up in 2015 to demand better and we're going to spend years grappling to understand the impacts of summer 2020's reckoning.
Great seeing Robin and our other socialist electeds looking to the next 4 years by establishing a formal socialist caucus in city hall!🧵⤵️
Last week, 65,000+ residents voted to elect a democratic socialist mayor. All Council races that had a DSA-endorsed candidate won by overwhelming margin. These results send a clear message: people want leaders who will fight for working-class communities, not corporate interests.
November 13, 2025 at 2:37 PM
Great seeing Robin and our other socialist electeds looking to the next 4 years by establishing a formal socialist caucus in city hall!🧵⤵️
Reposted by matt meshm
As of this morning, Starbucks workers across the country are officially ON STRIKE. And we're prepared for this to become the biggest and longest ULP strike in Starbucks history.
Say #NoContractNoCoffee with us: DON'T BUY STARBUCKS for the duration of our open-ended ULP strike! $SBUX
Say #NoContractNoCoffee with us: DON'T BUY STARBUCKS for the duration of our open-ended ULP strike! $SBUX
November 13, 2025 at 11:33 AM
As of this morning, Starbucks workers across the country are officially ON STRIKE. And we're prepared for this to become the biggest and longest ULP strike in Starbucks history.
Say #NoContractNoCoffee with us: DON'T BUY STARBUCKS for the duration of our open-ended ULP strike! $SBUX
Say #NoContractNoCoffee with us: DON'T BUY STARBUCKS for the duration of our open-ended ULP strike! $SBUX
Amazing ranked choice dataviz of the Minneapolis mayoral election by @fsargent.bsky.social
November 12, 2025 at 11:56 PM
Amazing ranked choice dataviz of the Minneapolis mayoral election by @fsargent.bsky.social
Reposted by matt meshm
Minneapolis is Burning
This morning Minneapolis park workers performed a controlled burn of the oak savanna near 36th St and W River Pkwy. It was the first time that the area was burned since habitat restoration began around 2001. Proud of MPRB for skilling up and expanding their use of fire to manage natural areas!
November 12, 2025 at 7:04 PM
Minneapolis is Burning
This morning Minneapolis park workers performed a controlled burn of the oak savanna near 36th St and W River Pkwy. It was the first time that the area was burned since habitat restoration began around 2001. Proud of MPRB for skilling up and expanding their use of fire to manage natural areas!
November 12, 2025 at 7:01 PM
This morning Minneapolis park workers performed a controlled burn of the oak savanna near 36th St and W River Pkwy. It was the first time that the area was burned since habitat restoration began around 2001. Proud of MPRB for skilling up and expanding their use of fire to manage natural areas!
I've only been at the U a little over a year but I've never seen such a breathless systemwide email from the regents. Not for federal funding cuts, not for ICE detaining an international student
This is really something. I don’t entirely know what to make of it, but it’s a very unusual thing and indicates some significant fracturing internally/boiling frustrations between central administration and the physician group.
U of M blasting new Fairview deal with university physicians as ‘hostile takeover’
The health system and U doctors are announcing an agreement for medical school funding — a deal the university is rejecting.
www.startribune.com
November 12, 2025 at 3:58 PM
I've only been at the U a little over a year but I've never seen such a breathless systemwide email from the regents. Not for federal funding cuts, not for ICE detaining an international student