Logan Williams
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obtusatum.bsky.social
Logan Williams
@obtusatum.bsky.social
12K followers 1.4K following 420 posts
Mountains and websites; maps and birds; context collapse. Projects: https://subject.space/. Work: Data, research and technology for investigations @bellingcat.com. Personal account, posts/opinions are my own. NYC/Amsterdam via Oregon.
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obtusatum.bsky.social
Time to repost one of my favorite maps: all 22 lots in Somerville, MA that legally conform with contemporary zoning (as of ~2016)
a map of Somerville, MA with just 22 lots highlighted, a comically small area of the map
November 25, 2025 at 6:15 PM
obtusatum.bsky.social
Here's the MBTA (with rail and boat stops removed)
November 23, 2025 at 1:25 PM
obtusatum.bsky.social
The Queens bus network redesign altered the stop distribution in the borough significantly, moving the modal stop spacing closer to 300 meters (1000 ft).
Two histograms of bus stop spacing in Queens. The old one shows most stops clustered around 150-200 meters, the newer one has fewer stops overall and most are around 300 meters.
November 23, 2025 at 12:46 PM
obtusatum.bsky.social
Los Angeles has a strong mode at 0.25 miles (~400 meters), thanks to the Jefferson Grid.
The same histogram as before, but with Los Angeles shown too.
November 22, 2025 at 11:52 PM
obtusatum.bsky.social
Brighter colors are closer stops.
a map of bus stop spacing in new york city. brooklyn has noticeably closer bus stops, resulting in slower buses
November 22, 2025 at 11:03 PM
obtusatum.bsky.social
The two closest stops in New York City are just 40 meters apart from each other: WILSON AV/GREENE AV and WILSON AV/BLEECKER ST on the B60 southbound. You can see both the stops in this Street View image.
Two bus stops about half a short block from each other (120 ft).
November 22, 2025 at 10:09 PM
obtusatum.bsky.social
Bus stop spacing distribution in New York City, Toronto, and Prague.
A histogram of bus stop distance spacing in three cities. Toronto and NYC have noticeably closer spacing than Prague. NYC is interestingly bimodal with a peak at about 150 meters and another one at 225 meters.
November 22, 2025 at 10:00 PM
obtusatum.bsky.social
learning about customer service
In the process of removing him, the security officers struck his face against an armrest, then dragged him - bloodied, bruised, and unconscious - by his arms down the aircraft aisle, past rows of onlooking passengers. The incident is widely characterized by critics - and later by United Airlines itself - as an example of mishandled customer service.
November 20, 2025 at 10:42 PM
obtusatum.bsky.social
Life bird #1200: Mediterranean gull. Bird photography is my passion. 🪶
A rugged coastline. In the foreground, a very blurry bird with white wingtips.
November 20, 2025 at 5:16 PM
obtusatum.bsky.social
It is LAPD issue.

Did this tactical situation require "the element of surprise"? Do the actions of the LAPD show "reverence for human life"?

bsky.app/profile/phil...
3. Use of Force Guidelines for the Bokken®: a. The use of force policy for the Bokken does not differ from that of the side handle baton'. 1) While control of a suspect through verbalization is preferable, 2) When verbalization appears to be ineffective and an officer has reasonable belief that the situation may escalate to a physical confrontation, the Bokken may be drawn as a show of force. 3) This action may de-escalate the situation. 4) Baton provides officers with an alternative between unarmed self-defense skills and deadly force 5) Officer must constantly evaluate the situation and use reasonable force accordingly 6) There are many variables that can dictate the amount of force used a) Mental illness b) Type of weapon used by suspect c) The size of the suspect compared to that of the officer d) Location and number of suspects b. Warning 1) A verbal warning, when feasible, shall be provided to a suspects) prior to the actual use of a Bokken. 2) The warning is not required when an officer is attacked and must respond to the suspect's actions. 3) Additionally, if a tactical plan requires the element of surprise in order to stabilize the situation, a warning need not be given. 4) The verbal warning and the person who gave it, or the reason it was not given shall be documented in the appropriate reports. Los Angeles Police Department Mounted Patrol/Bokken Baton 1850-23808 Expand Course Outline 4. What constitutes a reasonable amount of force in a "lone officer" situation may not fit a similar field situation where several officers are present. An officer's response in each incident must be based upon the tactical situation, Department policy on the use of force, and relevant State and Federal case law. 5. Tactics De-Escalation Techniques Directive No. 1610 6. Reverence for human life Guiding principle in any use of force situation b. It is both moral and ethical to place the highest value on human life c. Not policy, but a philosophy for how to approach police work d. Consistent with the department's mission, vision, and values e. Helps build public trust f. Using tactical de-escalation techniques and reasonable force demonstrates this principle
November 2, 2025 at 4:06 PM
obtusatum.bsky.social
The data clearly shows Brooklyn voters are the most motivated by Halloween I Voted! stickers.
a graph of the proportion of the nyc election early vote by borough. the proportion of brooklyn has slowly grown, reaching its peak on October 31
November 1, 2025 at 12:45 AM
obtusatum.bsky.social
Recent GPS interference near Venezuela and Trinidad, per GPSJAM, as noticed by a Bellingcat workshop participant. I believe this is a recent development for the area. CC @lemonodor.bsky.social
"High" (>10% of planes affected) levels of GPS interference seen on a map of Venezuela and the souther Caribbean
October 31, 2025 at 3:45 PM
obtusatum.bsky.social
It's not just overall turnout. It's about who turns out.
three graphs of mayoral election turnout, showing that: - when the election is the same cycles as a presidential election, old homeowners are represented proportionally to the population - when the election is in a midterm cycle, old homeowners are overrepresented - when the election is off-cycole, old homeowners are very overrepresented
October 30, 2025 at 3:38 PM
obtusatum.bsky.social
A ship with no AIS captured by Sentinel-2 yesterday, 150 miles west of Acapulco. browser.dataspace.copernicus.eu?zoom=16&lat=...
October 28, 2025 at 8:09 PM
obtusatum.bsky.social
The New York City Council's seemingly illegal electioneering advertising campaign is still live. Now with over 300,000 impressions on Facebook and Instagram. Early voting starts tomorrow.
Active Library ID: 891052566920091 Started running on Oct 23, 2025 • Total active time 16 hrs Platforms f Categories - ¿: Estimated audience size: >1M G & Amount spent (USD): $200 - $299 € © Impressions: 15K - 20K € This ad has multiple versions © ... See ad details New York City Council Sponsored • Paid for by New York City Council Mayor Adams' Ballot Proposals 2, 3, and 4 would take away your voice to ensure new housing is affordable to your community. BALLOT PROPOSALS 2,3, and 4 Ballot Proposals 2,3 & 4 Learn More • Active Library ID: 680638538435828 Started running on Oct 22, 2025 Platforms f @ Categories - ¿: Estimated audience size: >1M © 自 Amount spent (USD): $600 - $699 € • Impressions: 60K - 70K G See ad details New York City Council Sponsored • Paid for by New York City Council Mayor Adams' Ballot Proposals 2, 3 and 4 would leave us with less affordable housing and more gentrification. Get the facts! PROPOSALS NUMBER TWO, THREE, AND FOUR TO ANSHOTHS NEW YORK CNY CHARTER DON'T BE MISLED BY MAYOR ADAMS' DECEPTIVE HOUSING PROPOSALS WHATSONMYBALLOT.NYC Know Before You Vote Learn the Truth About Proposals on Your 2025 Ballot In the coming election, New York City voters will decide the fate of several ballot... Learn more
October 24, 2025 at 7:01 PM
obtusatum.bsky.social
This is implemented as a client-side binary search of a 3GB file using HTTP Range-Request, which I'm pretty satisfied with.

One more highlight: there are 92 eBirders with a most frequent country of "Antarctica." They form a small little cluster near Patagonia.
A screenshot of a user interface, showing a graph of nodes connected to a central node, labeled "Antarctica: Antarctica"
October 20, 2025 at 9:48 PM
obtusatum.bsky.social
Finally, because I had to look it up, here's my own position within the data.
Near the center of the ntework, a birder is highlighted, identified as "United States: New York". Connections reach to many American states, the Netherlands, Georgia, Costa Rica and Colombia.
October 20, 2025 at 12:41 AM
obtusatum.bsky.social
Citizen science data always contains geographic biases, and eBird data is no exception. There isn't enough intra-Africa connectivity in eBird data for the world's second largest continent to show a clear cluster.
With only Africa selected, a small handful of red points are visible scattered all over the visualization.
October 20, 2025 at 12:41 AM
obtusatum.bsky.social
Like the United States, India shows strong clusters around states, especially Kerala.
Now we are zoomed in on the India cluster. A birder in Kerala is highlighted, showing strong connectivity to other Keralan birders and weak connectivity to the rest of India, clustered nearby.
October 20, 2025 at 12:41 AM
obtusatum.bsky.social
The United States dominates eBird data. Scattered within the United States' large cluster, there are a number of birders who most commonly bird outside of the United States, but are very connect to Americans (often from different states.) Perhaps professional bird guides?
With the United States dimmed, a number of multicolored dots (reflecting birders from different continents) are visible scattered within the US cluster.
October 20, 2025 at 12:41 AM
obtusatum.bsky.social
Weekend project: network visualization of eBird shared checklist data.
A visualization of many colored dots, looking a bit like a galaxy. There are clear clusters of certain colors -- United States in the lower right, bleeding into Costa Rica and Mexico above with Colombia a bit more decent. Satellites have looser connectivity, Taiwan and a large cluster for India. Canada hangs close.
October 20, 2025 at 12:41 AM
obtusatum.bsky.social
Even if you have an account, it's really confusing. You might think that each of these $2.90 charges corresponds to a subway ride towards the cap. You would be wrong! Two of them are AirTrain charges (from the same ride but processed on different days, and weirdly bundled with other trips.)
September 30, 2025 at 8:30 PM
obtusatum.bsky.social
found a tiny jumping spider on my keyboard, so I made her a little terrarium
a macro photograph of a spider with striped hair legs, staring upward with a pleading expression in its 4 eyes
September 29, 2025 at 8:22 PM
obtusatum.bsky.social
4 Million Emotional Possibilities Powered by Proprietary Al
4 Million Emotional Possibilities Powered by Proprietary Al
September 25, 2025 at 2:27 AM
obtusatum.bsky.social
I challenge anyone to answer this question in a way impervious to a sufficiently motivated inquisitor.
From the I-485 form: Have you EVER been a member of, involved in, or in any way associated with any organization, association, fund, foundation, party, club, society, or similar group in the United States or in any other location in the world? If you answered "Yes" to Item Number 1., complete Item Numbers 2. - 9. If you were a member of more than two organizations, use the space provided in Part 14. Additional Information. Organization I 2. Name of Organization • Yes No 3. City or Town State or Province Country 4. Nature of Organization, including its purposes and activities, whether illicit or legitimate. Nature of involvement in organization, including role or positions) held, whether illicit or legitimate. 5. Dates of Membership or Dates of Involvement From (mm/dd/yyyy) Organization 2 6. Name of Organization To (mm/dd/yyyy)
September 18, 2025 at 1:29 PM