Max Fenton

Boosting with hearty endorsement after just now watching this

Forgive me; I know that’s not what that phrase means at all.

Watching now. The phrase “Explore-Exploit Tradeoff” just struck me in terms of “AI Tools” because they yeahsayers around me seem to feel they are exploring with things that to me seem like (systemic) exploitation.

Just want to urge anyone in the U.S. eligible to vote for anything at all this election cycle to please do so. Shock everyone with the turnout. Make jaded pundits cough coffee out their noses. Make poll volunteers smile. Make voter suppressors nervous again.

= Forward JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT. Support Us A few days later came another night I'll never forget - the Israelis for Peace vigil marking two years since the Hamas attack of Oct. 7, 2023. Hundreds gathered - Israelis, Palestinians, Jews, Arabs, Americans - huddled together on folding chairs in Union Square in chilly weather, under an open sky. As part of a wide-ranging lineup, from the stage, I read a message from Liat Atzili, whose husband Aviv was killed that day; a short, piercing story by Etgar Keret; and a poem by Mahmoud Darwish that hung in the air like a spell. And there was Mamdani again, sitting quietly in the front row next to Lander. He didn't take the microphone. He didn't try to center the event on himself. He was just listening. Bearing witness. His presence wasn't performative. It was pastoral. In a city that so often divides its grief by identity, he crossed the invisible line and simply showed up. That's when it hit me: This is what safety looks like. Not fences or slogans, not solidarity-as-branding - but the radical act of standing with people in pain, without needing to own or edit it.

“[Mamdani’s] presence wasn’t performative. It was pastoral. In a city that so often divides its grief by identity, he crossed the invisible line and simply showed up.”

i love this forward.com/opinion/7805...

How nice that the first time my kids saw footage of the Twin Towers on fire was thanks to a Cuomo ad during the World Series.

Retailers Dealing With Increasing Levels of Theft and Violence Report emphasizes importance of preventive measures, coordination with law enforcement

can't believe outlets are running moral-panic headlines again based on flimsy anecdata from the *same* trade group (the national retailer federation) and sponsored by the *same* anti-theft company (sensormatic) that had to retract this *same* "study" just two years ago for being bogus.

This is around 30 mins in:

This is one of the most important (to me) lectures of the 21st century and everyone at Stanford heard it in 2010 before they algo’d every feed. archive.org/details/robe...

They made it so school photos can’t be ordered without an automated masking that deletes the background and also a bunch of my kid’s hair. Thanks for nothing, Strawbridge.

Trying to set up a Mac for a kid and it’s completely unhinged that Apple makes the News app un-deleteable

Dopamine maximizes with a 50% chance of reward and AI is running at a 45%-55% accuracy so …

Manchin almost single-handedly turned the “I” from “infrastructure” to “inflation” and killed the message.

the party now cared more about climate change and various academic fixations than cheap energy and good-paying jobs.

This right here, this exact sentence, is THE problem in American political journalism.

The IRA *was* cheap energy and good jobs! That was the whole bill! Democrats did precisely what political pundits are telling them to do and the pundits just ignore it.

Double feature with TITANE if you stay up too late

Private Equity only exists to destroy. That's what it does.

I also think school lunches should be free and year round and applaud all the places where they are.

Obviously we cannot have good things. I know. This is not intended as, like, a plan for November 1 2025 in the US of A.

My long held opinion is that everyone should pay (more) into food assistance and also receive benefits. UBI for food. Normalize (and destigmatize) EBT for all. Watch food deserts shrink when everyone shops together.

U.S. Digital Response’s Custom Software Procurement Office Hours If you have questions about procuring custom software in government, U.S. Digital Response is available to answer them. I hold weekly office hours for any employee of any level of government in the Un...

Periodic reminder: I hold weekly open office hours at @usdigitalresponse.org. If you're a government employee in the U.S. with questions about procurement, budgeting, or oversight of custom software, I'm available to talk—there's no catch. That's every Wednesday from 3–4 PM ET (12–1 PT).

Trump administration blocked from suspending Snap benefits for millions of Americans Judge issues temporary restraining order arguing that halting of food aid benefits, due to kick in Saturday, is unlawful

Here’s hoping this sticks: www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

A kid in a mask with a big car behind them. The text reads: don't fkin drive. Halloween is the deadliest day of the year for young children. Drive slow. Don't drive on residential streets. Look for children crossing the street and between parked cars. Even better - don't drive on Halloween.

It's that time of year #Halloween

I am dreading the drive from school — it gets so dark so early

quite literally everything i hear about the economics of this feels insane, especially given the big issue of the tools not doing what boosters say they will do. so many details make me feel very not good!

Blue Ridge Area Food Bank | Nourishing Our Community Empowering Central & Western Virginia with nutritious food. Join us in our mission to end hunger—volunteer, donate, or find help today.

I thought I had been making a recurring donation to the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank and I’m glad I double-checked … because I wasn’t. Fixed now.

www.brafb.org

I love this so much and every link is gold

The Best $20 I Spent This Year Was at Monster Jam’s Pit Party in Oakland Times are tough. ‘Freestyle Mania’ bent them into the shape of a balloon animal for one glorious afternoon.

For my first feature in years, I wrote about Monster Jam as an echo of place and what that felt like in Oakland in 2025.

this is !important

HELLO me + @mcforelle.bsky.social + @carolinejack.bsky.social are co-editing a collected volume on TECH/MONEY! do you want yell about technology but also about finance and business models and stuff? do you have sooo many receipts? we want your proposals! find the CFP here: oddletters.com/tech-money/

Virginia declares state of emergency to deliver state VENA funds to EBT cards during federal refusal to issue SNAP funds. Details here:

www.dss.virginia.gov/vena/index.h...