13 years since Sandy Hook, and look where we're at.

Who's ready

This is an underacknowledged phenomenon, IMO: Real events, even those with actual proof and documentation, being falsely depicted in the form of AI outputs. When fake content is based on real info, the everyday social media user is left with no choice but to call every image into question

AI literacy education is sorely and increasingly needed—not just because AI-generated content can be so convincing, but because its very existence sows doubt in authentic content AND it also needs to co-occur with standard media literacy education. Without that foundation, it won't be enough

My nephew James is smart, curious and polite. He loves Pokémon, hanging out with his very grown-up family and telling jokes. Two weeks ago, we didn't know if we would still have James. Thanks to the lifesaving heroes at CHOP (@childrensphila.bsky.social) and @pennmedicine.bsky.social, we do.

Melissa was part of the “Be Here for the Cure” campaign in 1993. She was 21 yo. She’s still here, more than three decades later. Sometimes, when the present makes me sad or scared, I think about the courage that those young people had to stand up and fight — for their lives — against the stigma.

Keep thinking about this excerpt from a recent @cwarzel.bsky.social article on the X "user location" fiasco, and what it means in a climate where intel that once seemed reliable now feels like a mere suggestion, if not an overt manipulation of the truth. He writes:

I joined @cwarzel.bsky.social on the Galaxy Brain Podcast to explain some of the reasons why America, and a lot of other Western democracies, are sliding into authoritarianism and why it's probably inevitable www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvFh...

When Landry is balling out for the Knicks

But yes, Huntrix is also nominated, despite being fictional and a front for a demon-slaying operation

one of the most harmful things about the contemporary internet is the propagation of conspiracy-type thinking en masse it's gotten to the point where the average highly online person is part of at least one epistemological community that's totally divorced from the rest of reality

"Hell is empty & all the devils are here"

I've watched this video maybe 20 times in the last day

Hi, ASL interpreter of 30 yrs & a person w/ Deaf family here. In response to the anti-ASL horseshit going around: ASL and English are not the same language. ASL has no written form. Reading English subs is not = to seeing ASL & many Deaf ppl need sign to fully understand info.

Shoutout to the Los Angeles Times reporters who are doing essential journalism under very difficult circumstances. They’ve dropped their paywall, but their ongoing coverage is a good reminder of why local newsrooms need support — and what we lose when those outlets are hollowed out.

"We are the media now," say the people who share every unverified claim that they hope is true -- and then point to the few that turn out to be true as "evidence" that ... "we are the media now." It's a destructive circularity that refuses to be held accountable for spreading harmful falsehoods.

It's presently unclear why, but over the past year someone has created a network of fake Facebook accounts pretending to be employees of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Many of the accounts in this network have GAN-generated faces.

In a surreal twist, Mike and I were supposed to be on a panel in St. Louis together this weekend. Obviously neither of us are there, and he's dealing with an indescribable loss. Please help him and his family get through this awful time. bsky.app/profile/roth...

The numerous images purporting to show the iconic Hollywood sign engulfed in flames are fake, and some appear to be AI-generated. The chair of the Hollywood Sign Trust told me, and AFP journalists in Los Angeles confirmed, that the sign has not been burned by the wildfires.

I'm starting to think it's all this cartoon's fault.

We lost our house in the Eaton Fire. We're safe, but the level of devastation is impossible to convey. I won't be able to work for a while, so if you want to support us, I'd appreciate a Patreon subscription or buying one of my books. It will help. www.patreon.com/MikeRothschild

I keep thinking of the incredible work all the #Firefighters are doing right now in LA. 🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌🙏🙏🙏🙏🙌🙌🙌🙌

Still wild to me that so many "savvy" folks on left and right have bought into the idea that online misinformation is overblown and doesn't really matter. From lies about migrants to transgender people to crime to election denial to climate denial, it's literally driving our country's politics.

Trump, Musk, James Woods, and the wider MAGA world are of course blaming wokeism and DEI for the #wildfires currently devastating LA www.wired.com/story/maga-b...

These extraordinary photos of the LA fires have been shared widely on social media, often without crediting the photographer. These are all the work of Ethan Swope, an LA-based photojournalist working for AP. You can follow his remarkable reporting here👇 www.instagram.com/ethanswopeph...

The TikTok case heads to the Supreme Court tomorrow. “Rarely, if ever, has the Court confronted a free-speech case that matters to so many people,” reads a brief filed on behalf of TikTok creators.

CBS News has obtained a man on the street interview of great beauty. You cannot stop human beings. www.tiktok.com/t/ZTYwBY7yV/

Journalists are doing seriously hard work in Los Angeles right now. Keep them in your thoughts—they run towards fire to report the news and keep us safe.

It was just a matter of time, talked to Wired about the eventuality. www.wired.com/story/las-ve...

You're going to hear a lot about Altadena, a beautiful, eccentric, really special community that suffered massive losses. If you haven't had a chance to visit, help them rebuild when it's time by coming, supporting local businesses and donating; they don't have the resources some other areas do.

being on bluesky