Charles Roop

The TikTok deal & algorithm licensing arrangement are about to get tons of attention. But the algo is just personalized linear algebra. More crucial thing is content moderation — who's doing it, what the rules are, what enforcement looks like. AI slop & disinfo is absolutely rampant on the platform

So, a “cognitive disadvantage” because I choose to use my brain and not…whatever those are?

Florida to end vaccine mandates for children as state’s surgeon general likens them to ‘slavery’ Joseph Ladapo, a long-time vaccine skeptic, says that every state vaccine requirement would be repealed

We are Through the Looking Glass now. Ladapo is barking mad, and I mean actually deranged. And please stop calling him a skeptic. He’s a full out anti-vaxxer and denialist. This only ends badly not just for Florida, but for the entire country. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

ICE gains access to Israeli spyware maker Paragon's tool — Haaretz After the deal between Paragon and Homeland Security's investigations unit was frozen, the first signs that Trump wants spyware emerged, sparking concerns amid a growing arsenal of digital tools

ICE gains access to Israeli spyware maker Paragon's tool - Haaretz

apple.news/Axb18waZzT02...

How does DC’s homicide rate stack up worldwide? The chart President Donald Trump displayed during an Aug. 11 news conference included 2023 data for Washington, D.C. homicides. Since then, the district’s homicide rate has fallen considerably. And…

The chart President Donald Trump displayed during an Aug. 11 news conference included 2023 data for Washington, D.C. homicides. Since then, the district’s homicide rate has fallen considerably. And the rate was not the worst in the world, then or now.

buff.ly/ZqHz75L

Our voices matter!

This is what happens when you speak up and fight back hard enough.

Ever since the unelected bureaucrats began cutting meteorologists @NOAA and @NWS, I led the bipartisan effort to roll them back.

So happy to help deliver this win!

Two things:

1. Large language models like ChatGPT are statistically likely word generators; they don't have "expertise" in anything.

2. I have seen a team of PhD level experts fail to assemble a dresser from IKEA.

“GPT-5 is the first time that it feels like talking to an expert in any topic — a Ph.D.-level expert,” OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said.

say what you will about uploading your ID into that tea app to warn about toxic men but it’s sooo on the nose that now that womens information was hacked, hundreds of thousands of men are doxxing them, harassing them, and threatening women

NWS Tampa Bay has confirmed this was an actual reading. Pretty insane! Even though Tampa Int’l Airport butts right up to Old Tampa Bay, a steady breeze from the north means there’s no real relief from the water.

Another possible push towards 100°F tomorrow (forecasted high at TPA is 97°F).

We have to use the Swiss cheese approach for emergency alerting.

No one solution is the silver bullet. Layered approaches increase the likelihood that everybody is alerted.

www.theverge.com/science/7093...

100 years of average April-May-June temperature anomalies over land areas through 2025...

Data from NOAAGlobalTemp v6.0.0: www.ncei.noaa.gov/products/lan...

January-March 2025, temperature departure from normal. 😭

The government wants your data — here’s how to protect your privacy — The Hill If we don’t protect tech sovereignty today, we are going to regret it tomorrow.

“Imagine if what happened in the U.K. happened here. For regular people like us, it would mean losing a big chunk of what keeps our digital lives and democracy secure.”

apple.news/A7m0VBxp4Qy6...

Remember, it’s totally cool if you aren’t an expert in a subject, because there are actual experts in that subject who can provide true expert analysis and insight. It’s the sign of a leader to let the experts do the talking and not portray yourself as the expert.

Comparison of model-predicted and observed global surface temperatures by Zeke Hausfather

I've been encountering over the past few days the claim that the planet is warming twice as fast as predicted. This is entirely untruthful and unhelpful.
The planet is warming AS fast as predicted, which is cause enough for dramatic action.

The truth is bad enough!

Meme from The Simpsons. In the top panel, a bus driver says "Don't make me tap the sign." In the bottom panel, he is tapping the sign that says "Stop promoting the lightning crouch".

It's that time of year again.

News media and other organizations are starting to talk about #LightningSafety.

Tip 1: Adjust your plans so you're not outside when thunderstorms are around

Tip 2: When thunder roars, go indoors!

Tip 3: If you get caught outside, keep moving towards a safe place!

Photo credit: 2024 Weather Band Photo Contest submission "Badlands Storm" by Alex Gulino.

The weather & climate enterprise provides essential services that the public relies upon. We do not yet know the depth of the changes we face, but all have a voice, and we are stronger together than apart.

Read a message from the AMS President: bit.ly/40QoIaJ

U.K. orders Apple to let it spy on users’ encrypted accounts Secret order requires blanket access to protected cloud backups around the world, which if implemented would undermine Apple’s privacy pledge to its users.

The U.K. Government has lost its mind. #digitalprivacy

www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...

The biggest breach of U.S. government data is under way | TechCrunch Elon Musk's DOGE has taken control and accessed large swathes of Americans' private information held by the U.S. federal government.

New, by me: Elon Musk's DOGE has taken control of large swathes of Americans' private information held by the U.S. government, representing the widest known compromise of government-held data by a private group of individuals — and little has gotten in their way.

techcrunch.com/2025/02/05/t...

US Shoppers Face Fees of Up to $50 or More to Get Packages From China — WIRED Consumers and small businesses are already feeling the impact of President Donald Trump’s new tariffs, which eliminated a key trade exemption for parcels worth less than $800.

“‘I am now stuck with $30,000 of items I can’t move across the border, the lifeblood of my business,’”

apple.news/AXkW9qPCSRi-...

This is just...wild.

Trump Questions FEMA’s Future Just When LA Needs It Most The agency is currently juggling the response to more than 100 major disasters nationwide.

Trump's proposal to hand over some FEMA responsibility on disaster response+ recovery to states echoes the vision for the agency in Project 2025.

This means “we need to take what is written in Project 2025 even more seriously,” says @samlmontano.bsky.social.

www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

"As scientists..it is our moral duty and that of our institutions to alert humanity to the growing threats that we face...and to show leadership in addressing them"- @williamripple.bsky.social @michaelemann.bsky.social @naomioreskes.bsky.social @rahmstorf.bsky.social et al. Follow them.

Unfortunately, this remains very relevant today.

Does anybody know if March for Science is still around? Or happening this year?

Meta courted Trump. Now comes the backlash from Facebook, Instagram users. If you were surprised to see yourself suddenly following President Donald Trump on Instagram and Facebook this week, it’s not because Meta forced you to, the social media company says.

NEW: In the wake of the TikTok ban, a wave of paranoia around Meta’s data collection and relationship with the govt.

Trump introduced the ban. Biden signed it. Why are some people blaming Mark Zuckerberg?