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Gabriel

@gabe.zip

Works in higher education in the San Francisco Bay Area. Art, astronomy, films, pop culture, privacy and infosec. Header photo is of one of the telescopes on the observation deck the Eiffel Tower

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18.08.2023
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Latest posts by Gabriel @gabe.zip

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06.03.2026 23:47 πŸ‘ 390 πŸ” 76 πŸ’¬ 3 πŸ“Œ 0

If you’re wondering why I keep posting about my nonfiction legal history book on the origins of American migration and citizenship that is out on March 24 (see bio for link)….

06.03.2026 13:51 πŸ‘ 29 πŸ” 7 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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Proton Mail Helped FBI Unmask Anonymous β€˜Stop Cop City’ Protestor A court record reviewed by 404 Media shows privacy-focused email provider Proton Mail handed over payment data related to a Stop Cop City email account to the Swiss government, which handed it to the ...

New from 404 Media: Proton Mail, the privacy-focused email service, gave authorities data that let the FBI unmask an anonymous 'Stop Cop City' protester. It was payment data linked to the anonymous email account. From that, FBI ID'd them, then tracked their movements www.404media.co/proton-mail-...

05.03.2026 20:39 πŸ‘ 2460 πŸ” 1406 πŸ’¬ 92 πŸ“Œ 339
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UNC-CH Will β€˜Scrap’ New Recording Policy, Chancellor Says The move comes less than three weeks after the controversial rules were enacted.

Congrats to @ncaaup.bsky.social & all who fought against this surveillance policy that would've allowed admin to hijack microphones in the classroom for secret recordings.

This move would've chilled classroom discussion & suppressed students' willingness to ask questions & take intellectual risks.

01.03.2026 01:33 πŸ‘ 542 πŸ” 211 πŸ’¬ 8 πŸ“Œ 13
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New hit-and-run crash sparks concerns at Zachary's Corner A UC Berkeley student spoke out this week after a hit-and-run driver struck her, causing lasting injuries, in one of Berkeley's high-injury corridors.

A UC Berkeley student spoke out forcefully this week after a hit-and-run driver struck her at Zachary's Corner β€” 17 years after a little boy was killed by a driver at the same intersection.

28.02.2026 03:33 πŸ‘ 7 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 1
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New hit-and-run crash sparks concerns at Zachary's Corner A UC Berkeley student spoke out this week after a hit-and-run driver struck her, causing lasting injuries, in one of Berkeley's high-injury corridors.

β€œI am angry that the city that I love allowed an accident that should not have happened."
www.berkeleyscanner.com/2026/02/28/t...

28.02.2026 01:03 πŸ‘ 19 πŸ” 10 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 1

At what point will this city demonstrate even a shred of competence? Just assign a guy to go out there and pour concrete tomorrow. No public input! You can simply do things!

28.02.2026 02:03 πŸ‘ 15 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 3 πŸ“Œ 0
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This App Warns You if Someone Is Wearing Smart Glasses Nearby The creator of Nearby Glasses made the app after reading 404 Media's coverage of how people are using Meta's Ray-Bans smartglasses to film people without their knowledge or consent. β€œI consider it to ...

The creator of Nearby Glasses made the app after reading 404 Media's coverage of how people are using Meta's Ray-Bans smartglasses to film people without their knowledge or consent. How it works:

27.02.2026 19:16 πŸ‘ 373 πŸ” 142 πŸ’¬ 5 πŸ“Œ 7
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The University of Texas System has passed a set of rules regulating the teaching of "controversy." The administration of each university in the system gets to decide what constitutes controversy. I've published an op-ed in the Austin Statesman respoonding.

27.02.2026 16:24 πŸ‘ 160 πŸ” 55 πŸ’¬ 5 πŸ“Œ 6
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Seized Art, Eavesdropping Guards: Parents Describe a Clampdown at Dilley Detention Center as Kids Shared Their Stories Detainees told ProPublica that art supplies have been removed in room searches, immigrants have lost access to Gmail and staff hover within earshot during video calls.

NEW: Guards have taken away crayons, colored pencils & paper during recent room searches at Dilley, according to detainees and others. After one inspection, the children just β€œcried and cried and cried,” a mother said. The facility denies the claims.

By @mckenziefunk.com @micarosenberg.bsky.social

26.02.2026 13:10 πŸ‘ 5852 πŸ” 3585 πŸ’¬ 325 πŸ“Œ 517

These are β€œlow enrollment” majors but the classes are regularly at capacity. They changed the funding structure a few years ago here, switching the allocation from course enrollments to majors then blamed these departments for a structural, top-down change. This is entirely a political choice.

26.02.2026 02:50 πŸ‘ 2849 πŸ” 920 πŸ’¬ 37 πŸ“Œ 45

join me: www.zeffy.com/en-US/donati...

26.02.2026 04:02 πŸ‘ 1295 πŸ” 594 πŸ’¬ 34 πŸ“Œ 21
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This App Warns You if Someone Is Wearing Smart Glasses Nearby The creator of Nearby Glasses made the app after reading 404 Media's coverage of how people are using Meta's Ray-Bans smartglasses to film people without their knowledge or consent. β€œI consider it to ...

NEW: A hobbyist has created Nearby Glasses, an app that warns you if someone close by is wearing smart glasses. 404 Media spoke to the creator who said he was inspired by our coverage that uncovers how men are wearing Meta's Ray-Bans to covertly film massage parlor workers.

24.02.2026 15:48 πŸ‘ 11751 πŸ” 5042 πŸ’¬ 150 πŸ“Œ 276
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In just a couple of weeks @bcnm.bsky.social will be hosting our Native Seas series, a week-long educational program with several traditional navigators, including students and relatives of Papa Mau Piailug, from the Northern Mariana Islands!!

Check it out!
bcnm.berkeley.edu/events/13/ar...

23.02.2026 22:29 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 1
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The UT System's New 'Controversial Topics' Policy Is About Policing Knowledge When politically appointed regents and administrators determine which topics are β€œgermane,” academic freedom quietly shifts into political compliance.

'In the UT system nearly 46% of the population is Latino. And where Latino students are the majority in public schools, calling the histories, literatures, and political realities of these communities β€œcontroversial” is not about neutrality. It is about deciding whose knowledge is expendable.'

23.02.2026 17:55 πŸ‘ 114 πŸ” 47 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 2
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Alysa Liu scores β€˜ice cream for life’ from Oakland creamery after historic Olympic win β€” San Francisco Chronicle Alysa Liu may have won gold at the Olympics, but one Oakland creamery wants to celebrate her figure skating achievements with a much sweeter prize. The 20-year-old athlete, who recently became the fir...

FREE FENTON’S FOR LIFE????? apple.news/ABtjlZBxlS-2...

23.02.2026 02:20 πŸ‘ 47 πŸ” 7 πŸ’¬ 3 πŸ“Œ 4
Artist Edward Gorey’s β€œThe Iron Tonic: Or, A Winter Afternoon in Lonely Valley” (1969) that depicts a cemetery with the words β€œThe monuments above the dead are too eroded to be read.”

Artist Edward Gorey’s β€œThe Iron Tonic: Or, A Winter Afternoon in Lonely Valley” (1969) that depicts a cemetery with the words β€œThe monuments above the dead are too eroded to be read.”

β€œMy mission in life is to make everybody as uneasy as possible...because that’s what the world is like.” - Chicago’s very own Edward Gorey, who was born on this day in 1925.

22.02.2026 23:46 πŸ‘ 244 πŸ” 84 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 3
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Help shape behavioral health services in Berkeley | City of Berkeley Share what behavioral health services our community needs most. Join a February meeting or complete the survey by March 4 to inform a three-year plan. Tell the City which mental health and substance use disorder services are most important for our community via virtual or in-person community meetings or an online survey.Your feedback will help shape a three-year plan for behavioral health services. Funding from the State of California supports programs such as:

Reminder for tomorrow πŸ“£
Help shape Berkeley’s behavioral health priorities at a community input meeting Tuesday, Feb 17, 6–7:30pm at North Berkeley Senior Center.

Learn more:

17.02.2026 00:15 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 3 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

"It's very possible that comedy podcasting will turn out to be the reason God put me on this Earth.

Isn't that disappointing?"

-Elliott Kalan, "Joke Farming"
@flophousepodcast.com

16.02.2026 13:15 πŸ‘ 21 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Another great clip from our HIGH ROLLERS ep, featuring @jordanmorris.bsky.social

flophousepodcast.com

16.02.2026 16:21 πŸ‘ 19 πŸ” 3 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 1

I fear poking the AI bear, but do you think law profs should have to disclose AI use?

I have yet to use AI (under the old school assumption that I am being paid to create original scholarship and it should be mine alone). I know others have different opinions.

But should folks have to disclose?

14.02.2026 14:08 πŸ‘ 40 πŸ” 12 πŸ’¬ 14 πŸ“Œ 2

Posting the preliminary list with alt-text, and to also comment that this is literally just a list of the top schools in the nation.

It seems like someone looking for the best and brightest would be working to find ways to get their top brass into these institutions.

14.02.2026 02:02 πŸ‘ 27 πŸ” 9 πŸ’¬ 5 πŸ“Œ 2

404 Media bought a superbowl ad, and it's the charming, feel-good story you need today www.404media.co/watch-404-med...

09.02.2026 15:18 πŸ‘ 35 πŸ” 6 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 1
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After Years of Silence, Texas Medical Board Issues Training for Doctors on How to Legally Provide Abortions The course includes examples of when abortion is permitted to protect the life of the patient, but many experts say the complications women face in pregnancy are impossible to capture in a brief prese...

The new training from the Texas Medical Board comes nearly 5 years after the state passed its strict abortion ban in 2021. ProPublica’s reporting has shown that pregnancy became far more dangerous in the state after the law took effec www.propublica.org/article/texa...

05.02.2026 13:00 πŸ‘ 167 πŸ” 52 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 2
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The undergrads on my campus are having a retro-nostalgia party… for the wayback year of 2016.

04.02.2026 23:00 πŸ‘ 207 πŸ” 19 πŸ’¬ 25 πŸ“Œ 6
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The FBI was able to access Washington Post reporter Hannah Natanson's Signal messages because she used Signal on her work laptop. The laptop accepted Touch ID for authentication, meaning the agents were allowed to require her to unlock it. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

31.01.2026 17:59 πŸ‘ 1252 πŸ” 500 πŸ’¬ 28 πŸ“Œ 131
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mekka okereke :verified: (@mekkaokereke@hachyderm.io) Attached: 1 image Happy #BlackHistoryMonth ! You know the drill by now. I don't like talking about Black history. Americans know Black history. I want to talk about white American history. In other...

Happy #BlackHistoryMonth !

Feb 1

You know we always kick off with the Statue of Liberty.

This is especially relevant this year, when we're pretending that fascism against immigrants is a new low for the US, by ignoring fascism against Black people.

Read the whole linked thread.

01.02.2026 15:53 πŸ‘ 79 πŸ” 28 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 5
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Here is the User Guide for ELITE, the Tool Palantir Made for ICE 404 Media is publishing a version of the user guide for ELITE, which lets ICE bring up dossiers on individual people and provides a β€œconfidence score” of their address.

SCOOP: 404 Media is publishing a version of the user guide for ELITE, a tool Palantir made for ICE which brings up dossiers on individual people and provides a β€œconfidence score” of their address.

The full user guide here:

30.01.2026 14:50 πŸ‘ 1539 πŸ” 980 πŸ’¬ 30 πŸ“Œ 78
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Archaeologists have discovered a 1,400-year-old Zapotec tomb in southern Mexico, adorned with complex carvings, which has been called β€œthe most significant archaeological discovery of the last decade.” https://cnn.it/3M2MzQP

30.01.2026 03:00 πŸ‘ 187 πŸ” 46 πŸ’¬ 13 πŸ“Œ 5