Ali | Software Developer

A view of an ornate ceiling and two pigeons looking a the photographer. Caption reads: The photographer was lying on the ground, trying to shoot this ceiling. The pigeons were concerned.

Going to work on Friday as a software engineer. Wearing a Legend of Korra t-shirt and listening to the Kim Possible soundtrack. Pure vibes.

If someone had told me that understanding how to optimize algorithms would help conserve resources like water and electricity, I would’ve paid more attention in that algorithms class 😤

Eid Mubarak brothers and sisters. Completed at Franklin Elementary in Minnesota nearly a year ago. How time flies .
#eidmubarak #rochesterminnesota #mayoclinic #kidlit #mural

Civil rights attorney, former Miss Kansas contestant killed in plane crash near DC airport As families and communities identify victims in Wednesday night’s plane crash near Washington, D.C., we’re learning that a well-known civil rights attorney and former Miss Kansas contestant is among t...

Kiah was set to join our faculty at Howard Law School in the Fall. She was a dedicated, brilliant civil rights lawyer poised to make a powerful difference in our world.

Our hearts are broken & we pray for her family & friends.

www.kwch.com/2025/01/30/c...

Kansas tuberculosis outbreak is now America's largest in recorded history Kansas public health officials say the state's ongoing tuberculosis outbreak is the largest since the CDC started reporting TB cases in the 1950s.

“An ongoing tuberculosis outbreak in Kansas has become the largest in recorded history in the United States”

Find your silver linings where you can 💜

Trump’s USDA Is Letting Factories With Troubling Safety Records Slaughter Chickens Even Faster Workers are getting injured, but the Department of Agriculture says their safety is not its responsibility.

It’s also worth noting the Trump has made an effort to deregulate industries like food and agriculture, so there’s a possibility that the frequency of these breakouts among livestock might increase www.propublica.org/article/line...

And this statement is not to condone bigotry

Even though I don’t like to eat eggs, I know that for a lot of people it is a cheaper source of protein and also easier to feed children in the morning. Otherwise, it’s also used in baked goods. So while the price of eggs might not seem important, it has been used as a metric for a while.

A brief thread on alt-text.

Alt text is descriptive text that conveys the meaning of an image. It's designed to make visual content accessible to people with vision disabilities. When a person uses assistive technology such as a screen reader, the screen reader will read the onscreen text aloud 1/7

Photo of Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde.

This is the face of courage and compassion. Thank you Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde for speaking truth to power on behalf of the marginalized.

Is TikTok back online already?

Ali (light tan skin) with brown hair that looks crimped, smiling

I took down my braids and I feel so cute

What's the point of being rich if you can't afford to do the right thing.

Reading Scary Smart by Mo Gawdat. I’ve had it for a few years but haven’t finished it yet.

Trying to retrain my brain to read books is rough

Fires in Southern California.

People losing homes and loved ones

Incarcerated firefighters are 30% of our protectors

Millionaires stealing water for property

ICE on the ground to detain farmworkers and laborers

A convicted felon is being inaugurated

While LA firefighters were running out of water…

Rick Caruso, the real estate developer and former L.A. mayoral candidate, hired private firefighters to save his upscale shopping center in Pacific Palisades on Tuesday night.

The question is: did he use public water for this?

Far from Hollywood's wealth, Los Angeles fire survivors feel forgotten Residents say that insurance companies might shortchange less affluent households.

The media has focused on wealthy, White neighborhoods. But the fire in Altadena--a racially and economically diverse suburb--deserves more attention, because insurance may not cover their rebuilding costs, forcing families out and leading the neighborhood to gentrify.
www.reuters.com/world/us/far...

How do you know?

Btw these reading notes and passing thoughts are brought to you by Scary Smart from Mo Gawdat

What if you could give AI a virus? Like what if everyone gave AI bad data and that output bad data. Like trolling the AI.

Why do we keep using AI to solve our problems if we could be using math? Is everything really about convenience or speed? Is it because we really believe AI will have the better answer?

I was just watching a video about how Octavia Butler’s writing has been prophetic and now I have to read her books

The problem with certifications is that it creates a barrier, right? And then the tech becomes less accessible. But some resources require it- like being able to use a HAM radio, you need a license. But then marginalized communities would probably have less access in the end

What would it look like if LLMs were regulated? What if people had to take a test and get a license to use an LLM and one of the topics was sustainability. People would have to agree to not be frivolous with their prompts. No more generating sci-fi hamster art for fun

Creating a Post-Release Career Pathway for Incarcerated Firefighters Spurred by devastating wildfires and a shortage of qualified firefighters, California is creating a pathway for incarcerated firefighters.

Here is more information www.michelsonphilanthropies.org/news/incarce...

“Among other hurdles, applicants must demonstrate to a judge that they have been rehabilitated. Furthermore, the expungement only applies to the specific convictions that led to their firefighting duties while incarcerated. Many people have unrelated convictions that must be separately expunged. “

I made a video related to this last night. Basically, Newsom signed a law to make it easier for formerly incarcerated firefighters to have their records expunged. There are orgs trying to help ease the transition from incarcerated firefighter to professional but they still face many obstacles