Thursday, March 05, 2026

10 Hacks Every Bluesky User Should Know

When the Can Finally Stops Getting Kicked Down the Road...

Life is an empty book, you make up the pages. *If not now, when?

 

Epstein emails over the course of 19 years

Follow up to AI-Powered Epstein Files Research Databases and Data Explorers – See alsoEpstein emails Published on 2025-11-23 via Distributed Denial of Secrets (DDoSecrets)

Type: Leak, Limited Distribution
Download Size: 2.50 GB
Download: Link
Download 2: Link
External Collaboration Link: Link

“Approximately 20,900 unredacted emails and file attachments sent and received by Jeffrey Epstein over nineteen years, providing previously unknown details of Epstein’s activities and the cases against him. 

The data comes from Epstein’s [email protected] email address, dates ranging from 2002 until his death in 2019, with emails continuing to be received until December 2021. This dataset consists of about 18,700 emails and 2,200 file attachments that were exchanged with approximately 700 email addresses, and include emails with his lawyers and Ghislaine Maxwell. Several months before the data was submitted to Distributed Denial of Secrets(DDoSecrets), Bloomberg received a submission of a similar cache of emails from [email protected]. 

The source for the cache submitted to DDoSecrets stated that they were not the source for Bloomberg, a statement supported by slight variations in the data (such as Bloomberg identifying emails as having been sent to the account in 2022, as opposed to the December 2021 cut-off date for the data received by DDoSecrets). Based on the currently available evidence, the Bloombergarchive was created slightly after the archive that was submitted to DDoSecrets Reserved. The data is only being made available to verified journalists and researchers until we are able to identify which portions can be released unredacted without endangering victims whose identities have not been previously made public and what redactions are necessary for the remaining data. Request access. 

On November 26, 2025 the first public tranche was released, containing 13,010 emails or 69.5% of the full set. The publicly released portions of the emails and the rest of the Epstein files can be downloaded and searched here.”

Reference

10 Hacks Every Bluesky User Should Know

Lifehacker: “If you’re tired of X and Threads, it might be time to move to greener, or perhaps bluer, pastures…It turns out that, with the right platform, it’s possible to like social media again. Bluesky is quite unlike most other social media networks. You have a lot of control over who sees your posts and how they reply to them, plus you can block and mute users en masse and tweak moderation settings just so. If you’re new to Bluesky, or if you’ve just been using the default settings, it’s time to dig deeper into all the ways you can customize your experience…We say it often at Lifehacker: you really should be using RSS. 

Just like Bluesky, it’s another way to find or read new blogs and news without relying on an algorithm. And you can even follow Bluesky profiles in your RSS reader of choice, no setup required. Go to a Bluesky profile and add ‘/rss’to the end of the URL. Then, copy it and add it as a source in your RSS reader of choice. Easy peasy. Repeat this for as many profiles as you want, sort them in easy to access folders, and you can now read posts and links from your favorite Bluesky profiles right in your RSS reader, so you can easily mix them in with your articles and blogs…

…Even if you’re on Bluesky, that doesn’t mean you only have to use Bluesky. You can treat Bluesky as your home base, and still post your content to other networks like Threads and Mastodon at the same time, using an app like Croissant. It’s a simple app that lets you connect your Bluesky, Threads, and Mastodon accounts all at once, taking advantage of their fediverse connectivity. You can then use Croissant to draft your posts, and send them out to all three networks at once. You can schedule posts, too, which is helpful if you’re using Bluesky in a professional capacity. Croissant costs $2.99/month, or $19.99/year…”

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Google Has a Secret Reference Desk. Here’s How to Use It.

SM at Custom House
Sorry, is anyone tired of hearing about Spain? Because I'm not. I can never have too much integrity & decency in my life, in my timeline.


Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has said the conflict in the Middle East was another example of the failing world order, as he called on Australia to work with Canada to build a new system of middle-power coalitions to replace the ruptured status quo of great-power rivalry.
“Middle powers like Canada, and I would suggest Australia, should recognise that the rupture in the international system represents just that … a clear break from the past, and we need to act decisively to secure our shared future,” Carney said in a speech to the Lowy Institute in Sydney on Wednesday evening.
“Middle powers, working together, cannot only build true sovereignty. We can also help shape the next global order. Australia and Canada can’t compel, like the great powers, but we can convene. We can set the agenda, shape the rules, and organise and build capacity through coalitions that deliver results at speed and global scale” 

Carney urges Australia to join middle power bloc


Spain to Trump: "Spain opposes this catastrophe … governments are there to improve people's lives … not to worsen them .. it is absolutely unacceptable that leaders who are incapable of fulfilling this task use the smokescreen of war to mask their incompetence $ line the pockets of a select few."

After the U.S. senators and the Prime Minister of Spain, now the President of France, Macron, has also opposed Trump and Netanyahu’s aggression against Iran. The military actions by the U.S. and Israel against Iran have been carried out beyond the limits of international law, which we cannot endorse

Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has lashed out at the American-Israeli strikes, underlining his refusal to participate even after President Trump threatened Madrid with economic retaliation.


Spanish PM Pedro Sánchez on the Iran War: "Spain's position at this juncture is clear and forceful. It is the same position we have maintained in Ukraine and also in Gaza. No to the breaking of international law that protects us all, especially the most defenceless - the civilian population."

Spain’s Leader, Rejecting Iran War, Escalates Long Feud With Trump


A paraphrase of Heidegger?


Jimi Hendrix as systems engineer


NYT on the possible Nevis charter city


 New teen mental health problems in Australia?


Jacinda Ardern is moving to Australia (NYT)


Google Has a Secret Reference Desk. Here’s How to Use It. – 40 Google features to find exactly what you need, the alternative search engines that do things Google won’t, and the reference desk framework underneath all of it. Hana Lee Goldin, MLIS –

 “Most of us search Google the same way we always have: type a few words, scroll, click something that looks close enough, and hope. For a while, that worked. Google handed us a list of links and let us take it from there. What’s happening now is something different. A 2024 study by SparkToro found that nearly 60% of Google searches end without anyone clicking through to a website, and the trend has accelerated since. 

By February 2026, Ahrefs found that queries triggering AI Overviews now see a 58% reduction in clicks. Google has been systematically inserting itself between you and the original source, answering questions with AI-generated summaries before you ever reach the page those answers came from. The results you do see are filtered through an algorithm that weighs your search history, your location, and the billions of dollars advertisers have spent to appear for particular queries. 

Two people searching identical phrases on the same day can get meaningfully different results without either of them knowing it. And because Google controls roughly 90% of the world’s search traffic, most people have no frame of reference for what a less mediated search experience would even look like…”


Don’t Build Your House on Rented Land: Why Writers Should Avoid Platform Dependency and How They Can Do So

Via LLRX – Don’t Build Your House on Rented Land: Why Writers Should Avoid Platform Dependency and How They Can Do So – Over the past several years, platforms such as Substack have become increasingly attractive to writers seeking to establish themselves as an independent voice. The appeal is obvious. They are easy to use and can turn a writer into a publisher overnight. No web developer is required. Payment systems are integrated, and distribution is built in. Substack markets itself as a refuge for writers who prefer autonomy to corporate hierarchy. There are good reasons to use Substack and similar businesses, but there are also risks. These platforms are not inherently malign, but they are fragile. This article by Jerry Lawson will focus on Substack, the currently trendy platform, but the key ideas apply to many other platforms.

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How X’s Algorithm Shifts Political Attitudes

 What actually stops a would-be dictator? Political science research points to a single factor above all others: whether enough people can see the threat for what it is.


How X’s Algorithm Shifts Political Attitudes

Not only does brain-pickling by algorithm work, but it has a durable effect by influencing voter information sources over 


16 Successful Office Stories That Proved Kindness Is the Best Leadership


NY Times: Why the I.R.S. Wants $15 Billion From Meta

From Jesse Drucker, Alexandra Ostasiewicz, June Kim, and Joey Sendaydiego, the New York Timesproduced a video explaining dispute between Meta (the holding company of Facebook) and the IRS that is currently pending in the Tax Court. At issue is a notice of deficiency from the IRS of just under $16 billion (before interest and penalties) with respect to Meta Platforms’ 2017, 2018, and 2019 tax years. While the video focuses on the infamous “Double Irish” tax strategy, the central focus of the lawsuit is over the IRS’ application of section 


Police are finding suspects based on their online searches as courts weigh privacy concerns AP


AI glasses spark safeguarding and privacy concernsOptician



Hoopes Presents “Does Voluntary Private Disclosure Reduce IRS Audit Risk?” Today At Duke

Jeff Hoopes (North Carolina) presents Does Voluntary Private Disclosure Reduce IRS Audit Risk? (co-authored with Andrew Belnap and Reed Hadfield) at Duke today, as part of its Tax Policy Seminar hosted by Larry Zelenak:


The Government Just Made it Harder to See What Spy Tech it Buys

404 Media: “It might look like something from the early days of the internet, with its aggressively grey color scheme and rectangles nested inside rectangles, but FPDS.gov is one of the most important resources for keeping tabs on what powerful spying tools U.S. government agencies are buying. It includes everything from phone hacking technology, to masses of location data, to more Palantir installations. Or rather, it was an incredible tool and the basis for countless of my own investigations and others. Because on Wednesday, the government shut it down. Its replacement, another site called SAM.gov with Uncle Sam branding, frankly sucks, and makes it demonstrably harder to reliably find out what agencies, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), are spending tax payers dollars on.

“FPDS may have been a little clunky, but its simple, old-school interface made it extremely functional and robust. Every facet of government operations touches on contracting at one point, and this was the first tool that many investigative journalists and researchers would reach for to quickly find out what the government is buying and who is selling it, and how these contracts all fit together,” Dave Maass, director of investigations at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, told me. I’ve used FPDS to reveal ICE paid Palantir tens of millions of dollars for work on “complete target analysis of known populations” (which then led to a leak from inside Palantir describing the company’s new work for ICE); figure out Customs and Border Protection (CBP) spent millions of dollars on software that uses AI to detect “sentiment and emotion” in online posts; and identify the multiple agencies that bought access to a massive, and warrantless, database of peoples’ travel histories. FPDS was very basic, in a very good way. You could type in something like “Clearview AI” for example, and it would show all the government contracts that mentioned the facial recognition company. That included both contracts with Clearview AI, but also ones with larger government contractors that were reselling the technology and included “Clearview AI” in the item description. Often when digging through government purchasing data you’ll find some surveillance technology is not sold to agencies by the company directly, but by firms that have ongoing relationships with the government…”

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Wednesday, March 04, 2026

Home Really Is Where the Heart Is

Home Really Is Where the Heart Is Nautilus




US NEWS YOU CAN USE:  The most famous local sandwich from every state

Raineri of Five Punj Dock  - Shop came first, everything else second’: The man behind Sydney’s viral $15 sandwich store dies

Long before block-long queues formed for a viral focaccia, Peter Raineri spent his Saturday mornings navigating a different kind of crowd. Before TikTok and Instagram, customers lined the counter of his Five Dock continental deli, shoulder-to-shoulder, arguing over who was next in line.
When the Raineris floated the idea of a ticket system to manage the rush, regulars revolted. They threatened to boycott the shop – the “Saturday morning stoush” was half the fun.
That communal energy sustained the family-run Raineri’s for decades. Peter, who opened P&R Raineri’s Continental Deli on Great North Road in 1981, died last Saturday, aged 90.
“My mum and dad decided to get into the deli business, which was very popular among the Italian community back then,” Peter’s son, Sam, said.
“They started in the small shop, and it expanded from there. It got really popular over time … people just love to come and see us and have a chat.”

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I lined up for 65 minutes for this $15 sandwich, and I’d do it again

Raineri’s has long been a sanctuary for Italian Australians, stacked with chargrilled eggplant, prosciutto, wood-fired breads and enormous wheels of cheese. It also catered to customers seeking the specific staples of their home provinces. The Herald previously reported on Peter’s understanding of those loyalties: Sicilians drink Torissi, Calabrese drink Mauro, and Neapolitans drink Kimbo.
Peter’s presence at the deli was a main reason customers kept returning, Sam says. He still hears stories about his father decades on.
“My dad was always open to everybody,” Sam said. “Because he treated everyone equally, we got this generational thing. Families, their kids coming in, and it’s like, ‘I remember your dad gave me a panino for free when I was six,’ and now they’re married with kids.”

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More recently, Raineri’s became known for its sandwiches. Social media brought a new audience, drawing customers from across Sydney who line up outside for focaccia filled with cut-to-order cured meats, cheeses, and marinated eggplant and capsicum.
Despite their generous sizes, the sandwiches are $15, no matter what goes on them. Peter was determined to keep his panini affordable.



Peter’s sons, Joseph and Sam, will keep Raineri’s going, having taken over day-to-day operations when their father, then 86, stepped back to tend to his garden. For the four decades before that, Sam said, his father practically lived at the deli.
Even his death did not stop the doors from opening. Sam said they considered closing for a day, but it wouldn’t have been in his father’s spirit.
“We’re going to close on the day of the funeral, but that’s it,” Sam said. “My dad, he’d always send my mum to people’s funerals. He’d always be at the shop because he was so in love with the shop. That was his life, that was his old mentality – the shop came first, and everything else came second.”
While still coming to terms with his father’s passing, Sam said he is beginning to see those traits in himself.
Sam Raineri, son of Peter and Rosaria, took over running the deli with his brother, Joseph.JANIE BARRETT


Longevity influencers are curiously silent about a core driver of unhealthy aging. Why? Synergies



Follow the Changes: 9 Ways Web Archives are Used in Digital Investigations

Internet Archive Blogs: “Digital journalists increasingly turn to web archives like the Wayback Machine to follow how things on the Internet break, change or disappear – from deleted posts to quietly edited pages. The web has become not only a source of informationbut also the subject of media investigations, prompting journalists, researchers and activists to use digital archives to reconstruct timelines, verify claims, uncover hidden connections and hold powerful actors to account. 


As online materials grow more fragile and prone to disappearance, the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine has been critical in making “lost” web pages available – recently celebrating archiving over a trillion pages. As we’ve previously written about on this blog, the Wayback Machine is an important resource for our work as media researchers, helping us to trace histories of digital media objects (for example, changes in ad tracker signatures of viral “fake news” sites over time). We are also interested in how others use web archives across fields, and what we can learn from each other.


 In this piece we draw on the Internet Archive’s News Stories collection to surface practices and use cultures of the Wayback Machine amongst journalists and media organisations. We analysed a dataset of about 8,600 news articles, assembled by the IA via daily Google News keyword searches since 2018. Drawing on a combination of digital methods, machine learning and lots of reading – we surfaced nine ways that journalists use the Wayback Machine in their reporting…” [h/t Barclay Walsh]


From AI tools to Prince Andrew’s arrest: How newsrooms are digging into the Jeffrey Epstein files

Reuters Institute: “Over 3.5 million documents, 180,000 images and 2,000 videos. The Jeffrey Epstein files, released by the US Department of Justice (DOJ) in several tranches, constituted a disclosure of rare magnitude. This trove of documents opened a window into the ecosystem surrounding a powerful, well-connected convicted child sex offender.  

The release offered journalists an opportunity to interrogate a sprawling evidentiary record and trace networks of access and influence stretching across politics, academia, finance and royalty. So far, journalists have broken stories on Epstein’s connections to powerful figures such as Peter Mandelson, Noam Chomsky, Steve Bannon, Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, and many others. Yet those revelations account for only a small fraction of what the files contain. As reporting teams continue to excavate the archive, more disclosures are almost certainly to come. 

But how are journalists identifying patterns of power and proximity in such a huge trove? What, precisely, are they looking for? And how do they search for it?  To answer those questions, I spoke with five editors and newsroom leaders from the BBC, the New York Times, the Guardian, the Miami Herald and Bellingcat, who are coordinating coverage of the Epstein files in their newsrooms across multiple beats…”

See also AI-Powered Epstein Files Research Databases and Data Explorers


With no local news, those in news deserts turn to social media feeds, influencers and gossip

Medill: “In local news deserts in the U.S., residents rely heavily on social media and other non-journalistic sources to stay informed, according to a comprehensive survey by the Medill Local News Initiative at Northwestern University. 

The survey revealed that among people who consume news daily in news deserts, a little more than half (51%) said they get local news from non-journalistic sources, like social media groups, influencers and friends and family. This means that by a small margin, more people in news deserts relied on non-journalistic sources than news organizations to keep informed. The survey, conducted for Medill by the national polling firm Qualtrics, asked respondents which local news sources they relied upon. 

The results showed that among news desert dwellers, there was a strong preference for social media news groups (e.g., Facebook groups and Nextdoor) and local television news. About four in 10 people (42%) said they accessed social news groups daily, and they reported the same figure (41%) for local TV news. These were followed by search engines (35%), friends and family (33%) and social media influencers (30%)…”

See also As Jeff Bezos dismantles The Washington Post, 5 regional papers chart a course for survival “The Washington Post’s evisceration at the hands of its billionaire owner, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, didn’t have to happen. Following months of speculation, the Post cut at least 300 of its 800 journalistson Feb. 4, 2026, drastically reducing its international, local and sports coverage and eliminating its photo department and stand-alone book review section. 


The downsizing followed several decisions by Bezos that drove away hundreds of thousands of subscribers, from killing the Post’s endorsement of Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris just before the 2024 election to announcing that the editorial pages would henceforth be dedicated to “personal liberties and free markets.” But though those moves inflicted considerable damage, the paper had been floundering ever since Donald Trump’s first presidential term, when Bezos proudly added the slogan “Democracy Dies in Darkness” to its nameplate and the paper achieved both growth and profitability. 


While its principal rival, The New York Times, successfully pivoted by rolling out ancillary products such as games, a cooking app and a consumer guide, the Post lost momentum – and was then pushed off a cliff as Bezos, in my view, started placing a higher value on peace with Trump than on making sure that democracy didn’t die in darkness. I’m a journalism professor and the author of three books about the future of news. 

I tracked Bezos’ stewardship of the Post during better times in my 2018 book, “The Return of the Moguls: How Jeff Bezos and John Henry Are Remaking Newspapers for the Twenty-First Century.” And I’ve been watching in horror over the past several years as he’s dismantled much of what he built. 

The Times, as the nation’s leading newspaper, is unique, and the extent to which other publishers can learn from its example is limited. But if Bezos ever decides he wants to take journalism seriously again, then he might take a look at a handful of large regional papers that have charted a route to sustainability against the strong headwinds that continue to buffet the news business.”

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