David Aragon

[David Aragon @davidmaragon]

Mayor Pete after Amtrak posts its first operating surplus on the Northeast Corridor.

[David Aragon @davidmaragon]

The ChatGPT "which response do you prefer?" experience is literally insane and I can't believe they're still serving it.

[David Aragon @davidmaragon]

I can smell the ocean and feel the cool wind in this photo. I miss these melancholy streets deeply.

[Mark R. Brown, AICP, CNU @CompletedStreet]

"San Francisco is so beautiful."

90% of San Francisco:

[David Aragon @davidmaragon]

Fun fact this is the exact assignment in grad school that made me cry

[Dmitrii Kovanikov @ChShersh]

To understand if you’re a good software developer, ask yourself:

Can you implement a TCP server and client in pure C without using AI?

If the answer is no, you have some work to do.

[Daniel Dale @ddale8]

The White House has confirmed its official X account posted a fake image of a woman arrested in Minnesota after interrupting a service at a church where an ICE official appears to be a pastor. The White House image altered the actual photo to wrongly make it seem like the defendant was sobbing.

Asked for comment, the White House sent a link to a spokesperson’s X post that said, “Enforcement of the law will continue. The memes will continue.”

[Brian Stelter @brianstelter]

Here's the text of Sharyn Alfonsi's memo about "corporate censorship" and a "betrayal of the most basic tenet of journalism:"

News Team,

Thank you for the notes and texts.  I apologize for not reaching out earlier.

I learned on Saturday that Bari Weiss spiked our story, INSIDE CECOT, which was supposed to air tonight.  We (Ori and I) asked for a call to discuss her decision. She did not afford us that courtesy/opportunity.

Our story was screened five times and cleared by both CBS attorneys and Standards and Practices.  It is factually correct.   In my view, pulling it now—after every rigorous internal check has been met is not an editorial decision, it is a political one.

We requested responses to questions and/or interviews with DHS, the White House, and the State Department.   Government silence is a statement, not a VETO. Their refusal to be interviewed is a tactical maneuver designed to kill the story.

If the administration’s refusal to participate becomes a valid reason to spike a story, we have effectively handed them a "kill switch" for any reporting they find inconvenient.

If the standard for airing a story becomes "the government must agree to be interviewed," then the government effectively gains control over the 60 Minutes broadcast. We go from an investigative powerhouse to a stenographer for the state.

These men risked their lives to speak with us. We have a moral and professional obligation to the sources who entrusted us with their stories. Abandoning them now is a betrayal of the most basic tenet of journalism: giving voice to the voiceless.

CBS spiked the Jeffrey Wigand interview due to legal concerns, nearly destroying the credibility of this broadcast. It took years to recover from that "low point." By pulling this story to shield an administration, we are repeating that history, but for political optics rather than legal ones.

We have been promoting this story on social media for days. Our viewers are expecting it. When it fails to air without a credible explanation, the public will correctly identify this as corporate censorship. We are trading 50 years of "Gold Standard" reputation for a single week of political quiet.

I care too much about this broadcast to watch it be dismantled without a fight.

Sharyn

[David Aragon @davidmaragon]

@ablasalma Where did you see he was a Zionist? Link?

[David Aragon @davidmaragon]

@rosedommu Welcome to Philly queen

[Derya Unutmaz, MD @DeryaTR_]

As someone who works in cancer research and spent significant portion of his life dedicated to this, I support Sam’s point. The “spend less on entertainment, cure cancer” take sounds simple and feels good. It is also wrong.

The notion that you should devote all AI power to cancer or medical research is a false dichotomy that is not compatible with human reality and is not even as helpful as people assume. You could make that argument about any entertainment, sports, or games: why waste hundreds of billions on these when you could spend all of that on cancer research (currently less than $10 billion a year from the U.S. government, and being cut further). Yet they feel entitled to make these simplistic popular criticisms.

Scientific progress, especially in biomedicine, not only needs AI and massive data centers; it also needs sustained R&D, actual expensive experiments, very robust datasets, faster trials, fewer regulations, and better incentives for such investments. We still have to solve these bottlenecks and invest tremendous amounts of money and resources. Pools of capital are not a single bucket. Consumer spend does not map cleanly to the NIH, biotech, or trials.

It is therefore unfair to attack OpenAI, which is in fact doing much more for the progress of science than most frontier labs, with the exception of Google, which is also devoting huge resources toward these goals. I do wonder how much of their time and money these people who are making these criticism have given to cancer research? Do they ask this to themselves evet time they spend any time and money for entertainment? Why waste it on that instead of donating to cancer research?

It is also important to remember that without fun games, we would not have NVIDIA and current AI. Why? Because games drove GPUs. GPUs powered AI. AI now accelerates drug discovery. The line from “entertainment” to cures is not straightforward. In fact, I have started making educational science videos using Sora 2. I can already see how powerful this will be for training people or get them interested in science, because it’s fun and seeing is understanding. I would not be surprised if one of these AI videos leads to an insight that results in a cure.

Life, education, and research need to be fun, at least while humans are in charge. We need this to sustain our motivation to learn and produce.

Now I will spend some time making a few more Sora 2 videos and will not feel guilty that I did not spend that time finding a cure for cancer. I also know that in science you have to remix unexpected things to arrive at the most creative ideas.

[roo @rootemperature]

venmo me when u get home so i know u are safe ❤️

[David Aragon @davidmaragon]

I thought it meant “California vacation” and sang it at the TOP of my lungs as a 12-year-old.

[David Aragon @davidmaragon]

@Olivia_Reingold Ah interesting. Yeah perhaps they could have revised quicker. I just think it’s almost always inaccurate to attribute malice or conspiracy to cautious breaking news headlines.

[David Aragon @davidmaragon]

Journalism nerd here. Usually when you see ragebait about headlines you’re seeing screenshots from the very first breaking reports, before reporters actually have any info about suspects, motive, anything. Here is the same story a few hours later, once the facts came in.

[Olivia Reingold @Olivia_Reingold]

Headlines like this are why I left public radio. This is from Colorado’s NPR network.

No mention of antisemitism or even Israel.

[David Aragon @davidmaragon]

@Olivia_Reingold Yep! https://t.co/WMXlpHOrRT

[David Aragon @davidmaragon]

Drew Barrymore voice:

[David @DavidSHolz]

every airplane flight is, for me, a spiritual experience. we dreamed of flying for *thousands* of years. we tried, we failed. we told stories, we found belief, we scavenged materials, we deciphered secrets. then one day, in an unimaginable future, we now fly on wings of dreams.

[David Aragon @davidmaragon]

Reading Cue the Sun! helps me understand this oeuvre in historical context. Thank you @emilynussbaum

[MrBeast @MrBeast]

I have a pilot living in a $2,500,000 private jet and if he doesn’t leave for 100 days he keeps it, a cop/criminal in a jail and if they don’t leave for 100 days they win $500,000, and someone living in a gym until he loses 100 pounds for $500,000. Can’t wait to upload these 🥰

[David Aragon @davidmaragon]

macOS when you plug your laptop into an external monitor

[David Aragon @davidmaragon]

When you love states’ rights

[Lewis Bollard @Lewis_Bollard]

Today Trump's USDA nominee, Brooke Rollins, told Congress that she will force states to allow the sale of pork from crated pigs.

States banned these sales to stop animal cruelty. The conservative Supreme Court upheld those bans.

Only pork industry lobbyists want this change.

[David Aragon @davidmaragon]

@truthbytwoheart Hi Maya, I’m raising my offer to $200 for a 30-minute phone call with you. Would love to learn more about your situation and compensate you for that time.

[David Aragon @davidmaragon]

@truthbytwo Did you see my earlier comment? I’m not able to DM you, so please DM me. I would like to donate $100 for a small request.