Max Dale
@maxdale.me
Computer science and public policy student at UNC Chapel Hill. Posting about tech, politics, and how they change our world. Aro/ace, he/him. 🇺🇦🇵🇸🏳️🌈
Pinned
Max Dale
@maxdale.me
· 7d
Kaki Ryan
www.cs.unc.edu
Hey everyone! I wanted to share that Dr. Kaki Ryan and I have put together a systems research reading group for UNC computer science majors — or really, anyone who just thinks computers are neat. Meetings are Mondays at 4 PM in FB141. Great turnout so far, but we’d love to have more people join us!
RE: The Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill ICE Raids
Nearly 3/4s of my cousin’s majority hispanic elementary school class didn’t show up today. Profoundly grim.
Nearly 3/4s of my cousin’s majority hispanic elementary school class didn’t show up today. Profoundly grim.
November 18, 2025 at 9:48 PM
RE: The Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill ICE Raids
Nearly 3/4s of my cousin’s majority hispanic elementary school class didn’t show up today. Profoundly grim.
Nearly 3/4s of my cousin’s majority hispanic elementary school class didn’t show up today. Profoundly grim.
Reposted by Max Dale
The legendary HOPE hacking conference has been banned from its venue at St. John's University over what the university seems to be calling an "anti-police agenda." Part of a broader crackdown on security research / hacking / open source: www.404media.co/hope-hacking...
HOPE Hacking Conference Banned From University Venue Over Apparent ‘Anti-Police Agenda’
"The lack of due process on its own is extremely disturbing," the conference said.
www.404media.co
November 18, 2025 at 7:41 PM
The legendary HOPE hacking conference has been banned from its venue at St. John's University over what the university seems to be calling an "anti-police agenda." Part of a broader crackdown on security research / hacking / open source: www.404media.co/hope-hacking...
Reposted by Max Dale
Charlotte and Raleigh in North Carolina became the latest cities to see federal forces move in. Here’s a rundown of how President Trump has used ICE, and what’s going on in each place he's sent them.
How Trump Has Used ICE, the National Guard and Other Federal Forces Across the U.S.
Charlotte and Raleigh in North Carolina became the latest cities to see federal forces move in. Here’s a rundown of what’s going on in each place.
nyti.ms
November 18, 2025 at 9:20 PM
Charlotte and Raleigh in North Carolina became the latest cities to see federal forces move in. Here’s a rundown of how President Trump has used ICE, and what’s going on in each place he's sent them.
Hey everyone! I wanted to share that Dr. Kaki Ryan and I have put together a systems research reading group for UNC computer science majors — or really, anyone who just thinks computers are neat. Meetings are Mondays at 4 PM in FB141. Great turnout so far, but we’d love to have more people join us!
Kaki Ryan
www.cs.unc.edu
November 18, 2025 at 2:42 PM
Hey everyone! I wanted to share that Dr. Kaki Ryan and I have put together a systems research reading group for UNC computer science majors — or really, anyone who just thinks computers are neat. Meetings are Mondays at 4 PM in FB141. Great turnout so far, but we’d love to have more people join us!
Exciting stuff!
Releases of GrapheneOS based on Android 16 QPR1 are available for public testing. These are highly experimental and aren't being pushed out via the Alpha channel yet. Join our testing chat room if you have a spare device you can use to help with testing.
grapheneos.org/contact#comm...
grapheneos.org/contact#comm...
November 17, 2025 at 9:32 AM
Exciting stuff!
This is so frustrating. I admire and agree with the principled stance that the PSF is taking on this, but principles don’t pay the bills. If you benefit from Python at all, toss them a couple of dollars.
www.python.org/psf/donations/
www.python.org/psf/donations/
October 30, 2025 at 2:17 PM
This is so frustrating. I admire and agree with the principled stance that the PSF is taking on this, but principles don’t pay the bills. If you benefit from Python at all, toss them a couple of dollars.
www.python.org/psf/donations/
www.python.org/psf/donations/
Reposted by Max Dale
New: We have just sued ICE to demand it turns over a secretive spyware contract that it refuses to release:
www.404media.co/were-suing-i...
www.404media.co/were-suing-i...
We’re Suing ICE for Its $2 Million Spyware Contract
404 Media has filed a lawsuit against ICE for access to its contract with Paragon, a company that sells powerful spyware for breaking into phones and accessing encrypted messaging apps.
www.404media.co
September 22, 2025 at 4:28 PM
New: We have just sued ICE to demand it turns over a secretive spyware contract that it refuses to release:
www.404media.co/were-suing-i...
www.404media.co/were-suing-i...
Reposted by Max Dale
🚨 Introducing our @tmlrorg.bsky.social paper “Unlearning Sensitive Information in Multimodal LLMs: Benchmark and Attack-Defense Evaluation”
We present UnLOK-VQA, a benchmark to evaluate unlearning in vision-and-language models, where both images and text may encode sensitive or private information.
We present UnLOK-VQA, a benchmark to evaluate unlearning in vision-and-language models, where both images and text may encode sensitive or private information.
May 7, 2025 at 6:55 PM
🚨 Introducing our @tmlrorg.bsky.social paper “Unlearning Sensitive Information in Multimodal LLMs: Benchmark and Attack-Defense Evaluation”
We present UnLOK-VQA, a benchmark to evaluate unlearning in vision-and-language models, where both images and text may encode sensitive or private information.
We present UnLOK-VQA, a benchmark to evaluate unlearning in vision-and-language models, where both images and text may encode sensitive or private information.
Reposted by Max Dale
"Age verification" laws are actually "upload your ID or get your face scanned to access every website, ending anonymity and associating your identity with everything you do online" laws and if more people understood that they would not be down for this authoritarian nonsense
April 2, 2025 at 12:57 PM
"Age verification" laws are actually "upload your ID or get your face scanned to access every website, ending anonymity and associating your identity with everything you do online" laws and if more people understood that they would not be down for this authoritarian nonsense
Reposted by Max Dale
If your organization supports censorship bills like KOSA I don’t want to see your Trans Day of Visibility post
March 31, 2025 at 12:57 PM
If your organization supports censorship bills like KOSA I don’t want to see your Trans Day of Visibility post
Reposted by Max Dale
incredibly depressing to read the replies here. "this is what they voted for" is just the stupidest, meanest response and if you start writing it please do yourself and me a favor and log off and pet the cat or something
“.. Heart pounding, he called his father, John Yates, shocked that Trump's administration would take such action.
“ .. ‘Dad, they're trying to bankrupt me,’ he said.”
www.reuters.com/world/us/fed...
“ .. ‘Dad, they're trying to bankrupt me,’ he said.”
www.reuters.com/world/us/fed...
March 31, 2025 at 12:42 PM
incredibly depressing to read the replies here. "this is what they voted for" is just the stupidest, meanest response and if you start writing it please do yourself and me a favor and log off and pet the cat or something
This is harrowing. We are about to see incursions on our digital liberties so comprehensive that nobody will be spared. Develop a threat model, know your resources, and stand your damn ground.
A prominent computer scientist who has spent 20 years publishing academic papers on cryptography, privacy, and cybersecurity has gone incommunicado, had his professor profile removed by employer Indiana University, & had his homes raided by the FBI. No one knows why.
arstechnica.com/security/202...
arstechnica.com/security/202...
FBI raids home of prominent computer scientist who has gone incommunicado
Indiana University quietly removes profile of tenured professor and refuses to say why.
arstechnica.com
March 31, 2025 at 5:11 AM
This is harrowing. We are about to see incursions on our digital liberties so comprehensive that nobody will be spared. Develop a threat model, know your resources, and stand your damn ground.
We may be ruled by stupid and evil people, but at least they're stupid in a way that includes being horrible at opsec.
NEW: WIRED has found four new Venmo accounts that appear to be associated with Trump officials who were in an infamous Signal chat. One made a payment with a note consisting solely of an eggplant emoji.
Even More Venmo Accounts Tied to Trump Officials in Signal Group Chat Left Data Exposed
WIRED has found four new Venmo accounts that appear to be associated with Trump officials who were in an infamous Signal chat. One made a payment with a note consisting solely of an eggplant emoji.
www.wired.com
March 27, 2025 at 10:03 PM
We may be ruled by stupid and evil people, but at least they're stupid in a way that includes being horrible at opsec.
Reposted by Max Dale
This is inaccurate. There is no known vulnerability with Signal's core tech. The memo was discussing phishing attempts, which Signal has worked to mitigate. And it was hastily reported.
It's important not to spread misinfo that can confuse people into moving away from meaningfully private comms.
It's important not to spread misinfo that can confuse people into moving away from meaningfully private comms.
In case you missed it: the Pentagon--that's Hegseth--got warned about using Signal a week ago.
March 26, 2025 at 1:40 PM
This is inaccurate. There is no known vulnerability with Signal's core tech. The memo was discussing phishing attempts, which Signal has worked to mitigate. And it was hastily reported.
It's important not to spread misinfo that can confuse people into moving away from meaningfully private comms.
It's important not to spread misinfo that can confuse people into moving away from meaningfully private comms.
I'm seeing a lot of misinformation re:Hegseth and @signal.org, and I think a lot of it needs to be put to rest. Signal is, and remains, secure if your opsec isn't abysmal. The weakest link in any security system is generally the person using it. That's what this is.
March 25, 2025 at 3:44 PM
I'm seeing a lot of misinformation re:Hegseth and @signal.org, and I think a lot of it needs to be put to rest. Signal is, and remains, secure if your opsec isn't abysmal. The weakest link in any security system is generally the person using it. That's what this is.
In light of some recent painful events in my family, I'd like to remind everybody of a major accomplishment of the Biden admin. before Trump tries to kill it. The government has offered the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline since 2022. Professional mental heath support, zero wait times. Please use it.
March 22, 2025 at 4:21 PM
In light of some recent painful events in my family, I'd like to remind everybody of a major accomplishment of the Biden admin. before Trump tries to kill it. The government has offered the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline since 2022. Professional mental heath support, zero wait times. Please use it.
Reposted by Max Dale
The coolest thing I’ve seen today is that a bunch of volunteer public health professionals and developers have restored the CDC website from before January 20th 2025.
This differs from an archive in that they want to rebuild the links between pages and replicate the full website.
This differs from an archive in that they want to rebuild the links between pages and replicate the full website.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
restoredcdc.org
March 9, 2025 at 1:11 PM
The coolest thing I’ve seen today is that a bunch of volunteer public health professionals and developers have restored the CDC website from before January 20th 2025.
This differs from an archive in that they want to rebuild the links between pages and replicate the full website.
This differs from an archive in that they want to rebuild the links between pages and replicate the full website.
Reposted by Max Dale
THIS IS HUGE! Researchers at Stanford University have developed a dual-antibody treatment that remains effective against ALL SARS-CoV-2 variants by targeting a less-mutable part of the virus. This breakthrough could lead to longer-lasting therapies that OUTPACE viral evolution. 🧪🧵⬇️
March 9, 2025 at 4:00 PM
THIS IS HUGE! Researchers at Stanford University have developed a dual-antibody treatment that remains effective against ALL SARS-CoV-2 variants by targeting a less-mutable part of the virus. This breakthrough could lead to longer-lasting therapies that OUTPACE viral evolution. 🧪🧵⬇️
Reposted by Max Dale
Catalan court says NSO Group executives can be charged in spyware investigation
Catalan court says NSO Group executives can be charged in spyware investigation
The ruling said that a lower court can charge two NSO Group co-founders and a former executive of two affiliate companies for the alleged hacking of a lawyer.
© 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.
tcrn.ch
March 5, 2025 at 7:18 PM
Catalan court says NSO Group executives can be charged in spyware investigation
"Vance skis in jeans"
I would never show my face again, my god.
I would never show my face again, my god.
Wow: JD Vance is apparently skiing in Vermont this weekend and the locals aren’t having it. Thousands have lined the streets in protest.
March 1, 2025 at 8:24 PM
"Vance skis in jeans"
I would never show my face again, my god.
I would never show my face again, my god.
Reposted by Max Dale
securitylab.amnesty.org/latest/2025/...
Amnesty International’s Security Lab has a post about 3 vulnerabilities exploited by Cellebrite to extract data from locked Android devices. GrapheneOS blocked exploiting these vulnerabilities in multiple different ways. We also patched them much earlier.
Amnesty International’s Security Lab has a post about 3 vulnerabilities exploited by Cellebrite to extract data from locked Android devices. GrapheneOS blocked exploiting these vulnerabilities in multiple different ways. We also patched them much earlier.
Cellebrite zero-day exploit used to target phone of Serbian student activist - Amnesty International Security Lab
Amnesty International’s Security Lab uncovers sophisticated Cellebrite zero-day exploit, impacting billions of Android devices.
securitylab.amnesty.org
February 28, 2025 at 1:30 PM
securitylab.amnesty.org/latest/2025/...
Amnesty International’s Security Lab has a post about 3 vulnerabilities exploited by Cellebrite to extract data from locked Android devices. GrapheneOS blocked exploiting these vulnerabilities in multiple different ways. We also patched them much earlier.
Amnesty International’s Security Lab has a post about 3 vulnerabilities exploited by Cellebrite to extract data from locked Android devices. GrapheneOS blocked exploiting these vulnerabilities in multiple different ways. We also patched them much earlier.
Don't panic, but brace. This will not be the last that we hear of this. Build your habits. Encrypt everything end-to-end. Set messages to auto-delete. Get comfortable with TOR and/or Tails, if you can.
Make them work for it.
Make them work for it.
The Department of Homeland Security has eliminated policies preventing the investigation of individuals or groups solely based on their sexual orientation or gender identity.
DHS quietly eliminates ban on surveillance based on sexual orientation and gender identity
The DHS quietly updated its policy manual earlier this month, removing LGBTQ+ identities from the section prohibiting surveillance based solely on immutable characteristics.
www.advocate.com
February 27, 2025 at 9:07 PM
Don't panic, but brace. This will not be the last that we hear of this. Build your habits. Encrypt everything end-to-end. Set messages to auto-delete. Get comfortable with TOR and/or Tails, if you can.
Make them work for it.
Make them work for it.
Sigh. I'm not sure how else to phrase this. I've been really enjoying using Molly lately — the Signal client, not the drug. Really awesome that I can finally pair my Pixel to my iPhone and only need one account between the two of them. The TOR integration is also extremely cool.
February 25, 2025 at 4:08 AM
Sigh. I'm not sure how else to phrase this. I've been really enjoying using Molly lately — the Signal client, not the drug. Really awesome that I can finally pair my Pixel to my iPhone and only need one account between the two of them. The TOR integration is also extremely cool.
Reposted by Max Dale
Waiting for federal employees to refuse to cooperate with DOGE based on a sincerely held religious belief that cooperating with Nazis is a sin.
February 25, 2025 at 3:40 AM
Waiting for federal employees to refuse to cooperate with DOGE based on a sincerely held religious belief that cooperating with Nazis is a sin.
Every website that handles your data should have a warrant canary. Full stop.
Three feature requests for @bsky.app:
1. Community-contributed alt text support.
2. Warrant canary on the @safety.bsky.app homepage.
3. Longer videos.
1. Community-contributed alt text support.
2. Warrant canary on the @safety.bsky.app homepage.
3. Longer videos.
February 24, 2025 at 4:52 PM
Every website that handles your data should have a warrant canary. Full stop.