Tomas Apodaca

We’ve launched a database with about 1.5 million pages of once-secret records detailing when law enforcement officers in California seriously injured someone or an agency found an officer violated policy with @kqednews.kqed.org, @sfchronicle.com @latimes.com @calmatters.org 1/

Chatbots help students be more independent, but the isolation could be career poison As students use chatbots for quick answers, they can lose the human connections that are key to success in college and careers.

There are serious social capital implications of #chatbot use for #college students. Students are already inclined to avoid asking for help. When chatbots make it even easier, they lose opportunities to build connections that lead to long-term success: calmatters.org/education/hi...

PTSD is not something that can be detected from facial images/videos. this is simply scientifically bogus and a clear case of physiognomy

‘I’ve £90k in student debt – for what?’ Graduates share their job-hunting woes amid the AI fallout AI isn’t just taking away entry-levels jobs, it’s helping thousands apply for the same job with almost the same CV

source: www.theguardian.com/money/2025/j...

Yall asking Grok questions like it’s not pumping out 1000 cubic meters of poison gas into South Memphis every 15 minutes all so MFs can get a corny ass screenshot to dunk on.

I read your IMDb ratings post via this skeet and found it fascinating, and something I will definitely refer back to for future projects. Thank you for taking the time to share your process so clearly.

it’s on a section of JFK Drive in Golden Gate Park that was recently permanently closed to cars

If Mamdani had checked just Asian or say, Asian and white (bear with me) NYT would never have run that story.

The only reason they ran that story is because of the cultural belief that being Black gives you leg up in society despite research that says that isn't true.

demo, by eightball 4 track album

a perfect punk EP ragdollrecords.bandcamp.com/album/demo

London Breed’s legacy

Website/device age verification is a privacy and security nightmare and everyone who tells you that this is a solved problem is lying to you.

stop illustrating articles about AI with robots challenge

California colleges spend millions to catch plagiarism and AI. Is the faulty tech worth it? – The Markup Colleges and universities renew Turnitin subscriptions year after year even though its flawed detectors are expensive and require students to let the company keep their papers forever.

There are so many problematic things about Turnitin use in higher education it's hard to even write a headline. Can you just read the whole story?

themarkup.org/artificial-i...

This is a good book, highly recommended!

Close-up Matilija poppy seed pods and flowers, crinkled white petals and yellow stamen

Matilija poppies on Thursday

California police are illegally sharing license plate data with ICE and Border Patrol LAPD and the counties of San Diego, Orange, and Riverside have repeatedly shared automated license plate reader data to federal agencies

“Law enforcement agencies across Southern California violated state law more than 100 times last month by sharing information from automated license plate readers with federal agents, records show.”

Good morning, internet, and welcome to a new publication that @garnethenderson.com and I have been working on for months

“God, No, Not Another Case.” COVID-Related Stillbirths Didn’t Have to Happen. A lack of testing data and government guidance led many to avoid the COVID-19 vaccine during pregnancy, unwittingly increasing their chances of a stillbirth.

And if you haven't read this shattering ProPublica piece about the effects of Covid on pregnancies, you should take a deep breath and do so:

a matilija poppy plant growing in front of a stop sign

Matilija poppies in 2020

a matilija poppy plant, behind which is seen a street receding into the distance. Two people are crossing at the nearest intersection.

Matilija poppies in 2021

a matilija poppy plant behind a light pole with a “dead end” sign and a way sign on it.

Matilija poppies in San Francisco today

The NYC Algorithm Deciding Which Families Are Under Watch for Child Abuse – The Markup How a family’s neighborhood, age, and mental health might get their case a deeper look

“The baby’s not even here yet and you’re already talking about removing her?” themarkup.org/investigatio...

YouTube video by 11Alive Rescued Georgia hiker speaks | Full press conference

full press conference here: youtu.be/zMFOFj_TgpU?...

please join me in supporting National Bail Out’s #FreeBlackMamas campaign!

A white cactus flower (Echinopsis Hybrid, Trichocereus, aka Big Bertha) at night, lit from below with a flashlight

San Francisco, last night

The AI Boom Is Draining Water From the Areas That Need It Most A Bloomberg News analysis finds that roughly two thirds of new data centers built or in development in the US since 2022 are in places with high levels of water stress.

some hard data on how people are having to compete with data centers for water (gift link) www.bloomberg.com/graphics/202...

A Deadly Parasite’s Return Threatens US Ranchers Too Young to Remember It After being eradicated in the US in the 1980s, the screwworm could be back as soon as this summer.

fascinating and terrifying story about the possible return of the screwworm parasite (gift link) www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...

What to do if your loved one is homeless and lost in California If you’ve lost touch with a loved one and suspect they are living on the street, in their car or in shelters, it can be difficult to find them again. CalMatters has compiled some tips from people who ...

If you, like so many Californians, have a loved one who is homeless and aren't sure how to start looking for them, or how to help them once you've found them -- this is for you.

tinyurl.com/4dp2dcbm

Her homeless sister vanished. Six years later, she turned up in a news story After reading a CalMatters article, two people were able to reconnect with their homeless relatives. Here’s what happened next.

A few weeks ago, I got emails from two people who saw their homeless family members -- who they hadn't heard from in years -- quoted in one of my @calmatters.org stories. Thanks to several lucky breaks, I was able to reunite them.
But that was just the beginning...
tinyurl.com/yhj4426s