Sean Massa
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sean-massa.bsky.social
Sean Massa
@sean-massa.bsky.social
34 followers 32 following 15 posts
ex-Team Lead at ▲ Vercel
ex-CTO of FlashRecruit (Acquired)

software engineer by trade
technical leader by practice
community/conference organizer by chance

aka: https://social.massalabs.com/@sean

https://massalabs.com/
Posts Replies Media Videos
Reposted by Sean Massa
samleecole.bsky.social
But my most memorable moment in reporting in 2025 was seeing a longtime sex trafficker forced to face his victims, and watching a judge send him to prison for a long time.

After following GDP for ~6 years, being present for this sentencing felt important: www.404media.co/michael-prat...
Michael Pratt, GirlsDoPorn Ringleader, Sentenced to 27 Years in Prison
Michael James Pratt was sentenced to federal prison on charges of sex trafficking connected to the GirlsDoPorn crime ring. “He turned my pain into profit, my life into currency,” said one victim.
www.404media.co
December 23, 2025 at 5:17 PM
Reposted by Sean Massa
popsci.com
The name "Popular Science" doesn't mean we shift our coverage depending on public opinion. It means we cover relevant subjects that are rigorously researched, reliable, and grounded in reality.

And trans lives are grounded in reality.

We see y'all. No matter what.

www.popsci.com/science/tran...
First-of-a-kind study shows encouraging data for trans kids who socially transition
Ninety-four percent of participants in a new study stood firm in their trans identity after five years, and "detransitioning" is rare.
www.popsci.com
December 18, 2025 at 5:16 PM
Reposted by Sean Massa
michaelhobbes.bsky.social
People are not upset because they think every single member of the American elite is a mass rapist. They're upset because elites downplay and excuse mass rape while obscuring their ties to the rapists — *precisely the thing Brooks did in his column.*
December 18, 2025 at 8:12 PM
Reposted by Sean Massa
amytheamazonian.bsky.social
there sure are a lot of rich assholes that need some ghost muppets to haunt them on Christmas
December 18, 2025 at 1:28 AM
Reposted by Sean Massa
trek.bsky.social
Been on a mandated vibe code trend and I've rapidly gone from thinking I'd have no problem with people electing to use this on their own at a company I ran to "Nope. Outright ban."

If you think you hire FT software engineers just for their code output get out of engineering leadership immediately.
December 17, 2025 at 1:29 PM
Reposted by Sean Massa
mantzarlis.com
Merriam's word of the year is slop: "digital content of low quality that is produced usually in quantity by means of artificial intelligence."
2025 Word of the Year: Slop
Plus 'gerrymander', 'touch grass', 'performative', and other words that defined the year
www.merriam-webster.com
December 15, 2025 at 9:18 PM
Reposted by Sean Massa
punishedsiltyloam.bsky.social
also by the the talented @usagiboots.bsky.social
IDONT WANTTOTALK ABOUT AT WITH YOU I DONT LIKE ARTIFICIALLY GENERATED ART I LIKE WHIMSICALLY DEGENERATE ART
December 13, 2025 at 5:10 PM
Reposted by Sean Massa
pookleblinky.bsky.social
Sam Altman: hey I made a machine that stole literally all your stuff in order to make CSAM of your child actors, sometimes it encourages people to kill themselves

Disney: Holy shit here's a billion dollars

Altman: the machine loses more than that each week but thank you. Soon it will become god.
December 12, 2025 at 10:27 AM
Reposted by Sean Massa
djdynamic.ca
"I'm not in denial, I'm in open rebellion" damn that quote goes hard
thegmcconnachie.bsky.social Garry @thegmcconnachie.bsky.social · 13d
“I am so bored by AI. One of the things I love about the theatre is AI can’t do it.”

Ethan Hawke is a dude 👌🏻
December 10, 2025 at 5:10 AM
Reposted by Sean Massa
404media.co
404 Media is making a print zine about the surveillance tactics used by ICE, and how people are resisting this tech.

Why? Print media is cool. Also, 404 Media has watched ICE grow from an already horrifying organization into a deportation force that is better funded than most militaries.
404 Media Is Making a Zine
We are publishing a risograph-printed zine about the surveillance technologies used by ICE.
www.404media.co
December 8, 2025 at 5:29 PM
Reposted by Sean Massa
bcmerchant.bsky.social
Really love how this guy posted this on TikTok thinking the woman who broke his Meta glasses would come off as the villain, as opposed to him, the guy recording her without her consent for social media content via a surveillance device made by one of the worst companies on earth
Woman Hailed as Hero for Smashing Man's Meta Smart Glasses on Subway
A New York subway rider has accused a woman of breaking his Meta smart glasses. She was later hailed as a hero.
futurism.com
December 5, 2025 at 11:50 PM
Reposted by Sean Massa
donnalanclos.com
The author is a GREAT example of someone who should have taken (and learned from) anthropology classes rather than reading Jared Diamond. Happily, @michaelhobbes.bsky.social and @notalawyer.bsky.social learn from anthropologists and historians and then rip this bullshit to shreds.
ifbookspod.bsky.social If Books Could Kill @ifbookspod.bsky.social · Nov 20
Episode 46: Sapiens

It's an ambitious goal to write the entire history of humanity in just 400 pages. It's even more ambitious to do it without reading any research.
Sapiens
Podcast Episode · If Books Could Kill · 11/20/2025 · 1h 38m
podcasts.apple.com
November 20, 2025 at 10:40 PM
Reposted by Sean Massa
coachsnacc.bsky.social
Republicans want to be Nazis.

Democrats want to be Republicans.
michaelhobbes.bsky.social Michael Hobbes @michaelhobbes.bsky.social · Nov 15
This is a straightforward Republican attack line, what the fuck is he doing
November 15, 2025 at 2:44 PM
Reposted by Sean Massa
josephcox.bsky.social
For years I've reported on the tech and tools that bounty hunters have access to. I think people would be shocked it is often essentially what cops can have too, w/ less accountability
- license plate reader databases
- credit header data
- smartphone location data
www.404media.co/ice-plans-to...
As I’ve reported for years, bounty hunters, private investigators, and skip tracers all have access to powerful surveillance technology and tools. That ranges from automatic license plate reader (ALPR) databases that can easily reveal a car’s movements (and by extension, a person’s movements); the personal data related to someone’s credit report which can reveal their address; and location data harvested from smartphones. In 2019 I reported that bounty hunters were able to pay a few hundred dollars for the realtime location of someone’s phone, via location data T-Mobile, Sprint, and AT&T were selling. A private investigator source with access previously demoed the ALPR tracking tool to me and I bought the telecom location data myself.
November 12, 2025 at 4:12 PM
Reposted by Sean Massa
dimcheff.wtf
this is the future that liberals want etc.
marklemley.bsky.social Mark Lemley @marklemley.bsky.social · Nov 6
Australia has so much electricity from solar power that it is going to start offering free electricity to everyone for at least three hours during the day as the wholesale price of power goes negative

electrek.co/2025/11/04/a...
Australia has so much solar that it's offering everyone free electricity
Australia's extensive solar power penetration makes so much energy that the government wants to offer free electricity at peak hours.
electrek.co
November 6, 2025 at 12:37 PM
Reposted by Sean Massa
molly.wiki
Newsletter: Faced with blowback over his pardon of Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, President Trump has offered a curious defense: he doesn’t even know the guy.
Trump says he has “no idea” who he just pardoned
President Trump reacts to condemnations of his recent pardon of Binance founder Changpeng Zhao by claiming he doesn’t know who he is.
www.citationneeded.news
November 3, 2025 at 10:40 PM
Reposted by Sean Massa
jasonkoebler.bsky.social
We are speedrunning "the worst, most dangerous technologies trickle down from military to feds to local police"

www.404media.co/cbp-quietly-...
CBP Quietly Launches Face Scanning App for Local Cops To Do Immigration Enforcement
The app, called Mobile Identify and available on the Google Play Store, is specifically for local and regional law enforcement agencies working with ICE on immigration enforcement.
www.404media.co
November 4, 2025 at 5:45 PM
Reposted by Sean Massa
tante.cc
You want to democratize "going to therapy"? Make it "free" as in paid by socialized healthcare. You want to democratize "making art"? Give people money and free time to express themselves.
October 28, 2025 at 10:53 PM
Reposted by Sean Massa
jasonkoebler.bsky.social
Grokipedia is not a 'Wikipedia Competitor.' It is the antithesis of Wikipedia in every possible way, and it is not going to work:

www.404media.co/grokipedia-i...
Grokipedia Is the Antithesis of Everything That Makes Wikipedia Good, Useful, and Human
Grokipedia is not a 'Wikipedia competitor.' It is a fully robotic regurgitation machine designed to protect the ego of the world’s wealthiest man.
www.404media.co
October 28, 2025 at 4:59 PM
Reposted by Sean Massa
jasonkoebler.bsky.social
This is so bleak:

www.404media.co/a16z-is-fund...
Last week, I wrote about Doublespeed, essentially a click farm that sells “synthetic influencers” to astroturf whatever product or service you want across social media, despite it being a clear violation of every social media platform's policy on inauthentic behavior. But that was just the tip of the iceberg. a16z’s Speedrun is also backing: Creed: An AI company “rooted in Christian Values” which produces Lenny, a “Bible-based AI buddy who's always got your back with wise words, scripture-inspired guidance, and a listening ear whenever you need it.” Zingroll: The “world’s largest Netflix-quality AI streaming platform,” which is another way of saying it’s a Netflix populated exclusively with AI Slop. Vega: which is building “AI-powered social orbits.” What does that mean? Not entirely clear, but the company has produced one of the most beautiful Mad Libs paragraphs I’ve ever seen: “We’re building the largest textual data moat on human relationships by gamifying the way people leave notes for each other. For the first time, LLMs can analyze millions of raw, human-written notes at scale and turn them into structured meaning, powering the most annotated social graph ever created.” Moona Health: an AI-powered Sleep care app the company says is covered by insurance. “Our AI-powered platform automates insurance claims and scheduling and analyzes sleep data – providing personalized session guidelines to therapists,” Moona says. Jooba: “The world’s first autonomous recruiting firm.” Margin: “The World’s first AI powered credit card.” Margin says “Customers earn points, with dynamic rewards that adapt to their preferences in real time.” First Voyage: A wellness app that gives you AI “mythological pets that turn wellness into play.” Axon Capital: billed as “DeepMind for Finance,” Axon says it has “pioneered brain-inspired, low-latency AI for financial markets.”
October 28, 2025 at 6:26 PM
Reposted by Sean Massa
molly.wiki
fixed that for you
CNBC headline: "Elon Musk’s AI-powered Wikipedia competitor goes live after a rocky launch". I've struck through "AI-powered" in red, and replaced it with "Wikipedia-powered" Grokipedia attribution text: "The content is adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License."
October 28, 2025 at 4:33 PM
Reposted by Sean Massa
gettheorion.bsky.social
It's Science.
star trek deep space nine fan art illustration of Jadzia Dax. Her arms are crossed in front of her, she looks annoyed. To the right, the colorful text says "trans people existing does nothing negative to your life you cry baby bitch."
October 23, 2025 at 5:01 AM
Reposted by Sean Massa
molly.wiki
Newsletter: Anatomy of a crypto meltdown

October 2025 brought the most dramatic crypto flash crash of all time, but it was only a dress rehearsal for the systemic crisis the industry is building toward.

www.citationneeded.news/anatomy-of-a...
Anatomy of a crypto meltdown
October 2025 brought the most dramatic crypto flash crash of all time, but it was only a dress rehearsal for the systemic crisis the industry is building toward.
www.citationneeded.news
October 17, 2025 at 9:18 PM
Reposted by Sean Massa
davidsirota.com
Every now and then I go back and read the Citizens United ruling to see if it is as unhinged as I thought, and every time I do that I see it is actually far more deranged than I remembered.

levernews.com/book
Supreme Court ruling: "This Court now concludes that independent expenditures, including those made by corporations, do not give rise to corruption or the appearance of corruption. That speakers may have influence over or access to elected officials does not mean that those officials are corrupt. And the appearance of influence or access will not cause the electorate to lose faith in this democracy."
October 21, 2025 at 3:35 AM
Reposted by Sean Massa
stealth40k.bsky.social
Legendary Final Fantasy Composer Nobuo Uematsu says he’s never used generative AI, and never will.

"I think it still feels more rewarding to go through the hardships of creating something myself."

automaton-media.com/en/news/fina...
October 17, 2025 at 7:29 PM