Max Poletto
@maxp.net
Generalist computer systems builder, climate nerd. Enjoy cycling, rowing, mountaineering. He/him.
Never forget Four Seasons Landscaping.
This is perfect. The DOJ's embarrassing snafu with disappearing redactions was the fault of Elon Musk. Musk cancelled government subscriptions to Adobe programs that would have made the redactions permanent. What a pack of fools.
December 27, 2025 at 4:39 AM
Never forget Four Seasons Landscaping.
This is so good:
www.scientificdiscovery.dev/p/salonis-gu...
It's like a capsule form of Edward Tufte's books, really well done.
h/t @scientificdiscovery.dev
www.scientificdiscovery.dev/p/salonis-gu...
It's like a capsule form of Edward Tufte's books, really well done.
h/t @scientificdiscovery.dev
Saloni's guide to data visualization
Why data visualization matters, and how to make charts more effective, clear, transparent, and sometimes, beautiful.
www.scientificdiscovery.dev
December 18, 2025 at 4:19 PM
This is so good:
www.scientificdiscovery.dev/p/salonis-gu...
It's like a capsule form of Edward Tufte's books, really well done.
h/t @scientificdiscovery.dev
www.scientificdiscovery.dev/p/salonis-gu...
It's like a capsule form of Edward Tufte's books, really well done.
h/t @scientificdiscovery.dev
TIL that it wasn't until the mid 1990s that more than 50% of Americans approved of interracial marriage. Apparently ~5% still don't.
news.gallup.com/poll/354638/...
news.gallup.com/poll/354638/...
U.S. Approval of Interracial Marriage at New High of 94%
Ninety-four percent of U.S. adults now approve of marriages between Black people and White people. Just 4% approved when Gallup first asked the question in 1958.
news.gallup.com
December 18, 2025 at 2:59 PM
TIL that it wasn't until the mid 1990s that more than 50% of Americans approved of interracial marriage. Apparently ~5% still don't.
news.gallup.com/poll/354638/...
news.gallup.com/poll/354638/...
Reposted by Max Poletto
I don’t often choose a specific day on which I think American democracy broke, but when I do, it’s this one
25 years ago today, SCOTUS elected George W Bush president of the United States by blocking completion of a voting canvass in Florida. A subsequent canvass by the Associated Press showed that Bush's rival, Al Gore, had won the race in Florida—and thus the contest for the presidency—by 700 votes.
December 13, 2025 at 6:31 AM
I don’t often choose a specific day on which I think American democracy broke, but when I do, it’s this one
Reposted by Max Poletto
Gotta admit "the font is DEI" is a stage of absurdity I could not have predicted
Marco Rubio ordered diplomats to return to using Times New Roman font in official communications, calling his predecessor's decision to adopt Calibri a “wasteful” diversity move
Rubio Stages Font Coup: Times New Roman Ousts Calibri
The secretary of state called it a "wasteful" diversity move, according to an internal department cable seen by Reuters.
www.huffpost.com
December 10, 2025 at 1:17 AM
Gotta admit "the font is DEI" is a stage of absurdity I could not have predicted
❤️
Why do I love living in Boston? Yo-Yo Ma playing the Bach cello suites before bringing Mayor Wu out to duet for an encore, that’s why.
November 22, 2025 at 7:46 AM
❤️
Incredible piece of writing on what it's like to live in Chicago under ICE occupation.
aphyr.com/posts/397-i-...
aphyr.com/posts/397-i-...
I Want You to Understand Chicago
aphyr.com
November 19, 2025 at 10:00 PM
Incredible piece of writing on what it's like to live in Chicago under ICE occupation.
aphyr.com/posts/397-i-...
aphyr.com/posts/397-i-...
Reposted by Max Poletto
In an absurd waste of time, I wrote a blog post about voting and the 19th Chopin Competition.
There has been controversy about who should have won.
Different voting systems would yield different winners. Differences in top rankings are statistically insignificant.
kencaldeira.com/2025/11/chop...
There has been controversy about who should have won.
Different voting systems would yield different winners. Differences in top rankings are statistically insignificant.
kencaldeira.com/2025/11/chop...
November 13, 2025 at 4:49 AM
In an absurd waste of time, I wrote a blog post about voting and the 19th Chopin Competition.
There has been controversy about who should have won.
Different voting systems would yield different winners. Differences in top rankings are statistically insignificant.
kencaldeira.com/2025/11/chop...
There has been controversy about who should have won.
Different voting systems would yield different winners. Differences in top rankings are statistically insignificant.
kencaldeira.com/2025/11/chop...
Reposted by Max Poletto
"Far from a peak, China's gasoline demand is estimated to have fallen 9% in October on the year to 12.5 million tons, with average daily use roughly flat with September..."
China's oil demand is entering structural decline.
China's oil demand is entering structural decline.
EVs put an end to China's usual holiday surge in gasoline use
Tianyu Jiang took a 2,000-km (1,200-mile) road trip this month during China's national holiday week, driving in his electric vehicle from the southwestern Sichuan basin to Beijing for the first time.
www.reuters.com
November 9, 2025 at 8:18 PM
"Far from a peak, China's gasoline demand is estimated to have fallen 9% in October on the year to 12.5 million tons, with average daily use roughly flat with September..."
China's oil demand is entering structural decline.
China's oil demand is entering structural decline.
Every time I read about incarceration in the United States I have to go for a walk to cool off. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/28/u...
F.C.C. Changes Course on the Price of Prisoners’ Phone Calls
www.nytimes.com
October 30, 2025 at 8:12 AM
Every time I read about incarceration in the United States I have to go for a walk to cool off. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/28/u...
This from the "Head of Mission Alignment" at OpenAI. Huge uncertainties, indeed. 🤡
October 30, 2025 at 8:02 AM
This from the "Head of Mission Alignment" at OpenAI. Huge uncertainties, indeed. 🤡
Reposted by Max Poletto
I can’t stress this enough: you cannot understand politics without reading this paragraph about why there’s no such thing as a 1/3rd pound hamburger
October 30, 2025 at 2:26 AM
I can’t stress this enough: you cannot understand politics without reading this paragraph about why there’s no such thing as a 1/3rd pound hamburger
In Utah, homeless people are going to be put into detention camps on the outskirts of town ("large-scale involuntary mental health treatment"). Curious that this is not front page news everywhere.
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/29/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/29/u...
In Utah, Trump’s Vision for Homelessness Begins to Take Shape
www.nytimes.com
October 29, 2025 at 11:40 AM
In Utah, homeless people are going to be put into detention camps on the outskirts of town ("large-scale involuntary mental health treatment"). Curious that this is not front page news everywhere.
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/29/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/29/u...
Clean on OPSEC.
EXCLUSIVE: One Saturday afternoon in October, my phone lit up with a notification.
I glanced down at the message.
“Anna, Lindsey Halligan here,” it began.
So began my text exchange with the woman who is prosecuting the president's perceived political enemies.
www.lawfaremedia.org/article/anna...
I glanced down at the message.
“Anna, Lindsey Halligan here,” it began.
So began my text exchange with the woman who is prosecuting the president's perceived political enemies.
www.lawfaremedia.org/article/anna...
October 21, 2025 at 5:14 AM
Clean on OPSEC.
Reposted by Max Poletto
A master class from MIT in responding to authoritarian overreach:
Your “premise … is inconsistent with our core belief that scientific funding should be based on scientific merit alone.
… America’s leadership in science & innovation depends on independent thinking & open competition for excellence.
Your “premise … is inconsistent with our core belief that scientific funding should be based on scientific merit alone.
… America’s leadership in science & innovation depends on independent thinking & open competition for excellence.
October 10, 2025 at 2:47 PM
A master class from MIT in responding to authoritarian overreach:
Your “premise … is inconsistent with our core belief that scientific funding should be based on scientific merit alone.
… America’s leadership in science & innovation depends on independent thinking & open competition for excellence.
Your “premise … is inconsistent with our core belief that scientific funding should be based on scientific merit alone.
… America’s leadership in science & innovation depends on independent thinking & open competition for excellence.
Reposted by Max Poletto
Excited to introduce Vibes from Meta. Eat your slop, piggies!
September 30, 2025 at 5:59 PM
Excited to introduce Vibes from Meta. Eat your slop, piggies!
Make war crimes great again.
bsky.app/profile/atru...
bsky.app/profile/atru...
Hegseth: "We unleash overwhelming and punishing violence on the enemy. We also don't fight with stupid rules of engagement. We untie the hands of our warfighters to intimidate, demoralize, hunt, and kill the enemies of our country. No more politically correct and overbearing rules of engagement."
September 30, 2025 at 1:10 PM
Make war crimes great again.
bsky.app/profile/atru...
bsky.app/profile/atru...
Reposted by Max Poletto
Absolute failed-state shit that this guy was nominated, approved, and has stayed in office for this long.
Hegseth to military leaders: "Good morning and welcome to the War Department. Because the era of the Department of Defense is over. You see, the motto of my first platoon was 'those who long for peace must prepare for war.'"
September 30, 2025 at 12:31 PM
Absolute failed-state shit that this guy was nominated, approved, and has stayed in office for this long.
Echoes of Makani Power, but seemingly simpler and probably more effective?
www.scmp.com/news/china/s...
www.scmp.com/news/china/s...
World’s most powerful flying wind turbine launched in western China
Gigantic gliding ‘power bank’ could help communities cut off from the grid during blackouts and cement China’s leading role in green energy.
www.scmp.com
September 30, 2025 at 9:08 AM
Echoes of Makani Power, but seemingly simpler and probably more effective?
www.scmp.com/news/china/s...
www.scmp.com/news/china/s...
Look at these pathetic fucking Rambo cosplayers www.thedailybeast.com/ice-arrest-g...
September 26, 2025 at 3:18 PM
Look at these pathetic fucking Rambo cosplayers www.thedailybeast.com/ice-arrest-g...
Reposted by Max Poletto
“For my friends: everything; for my enemies: the law.”
September 26, 2025 at 4:38 AM
“For my friends: everything; for my enemies: the law.”
The US has become a mafia state running shakedown operations. I got to stay after my PhD (and eventually become a US citizen) thanks to H1B. Every day feels like mourning. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/19/u...
Trump Says the U.S. Will Institute $100,000 Fee for Skilled Worker Visas
www.nytimes.com
September 20, 2025 at 8:26 AM
The US has become a mafia state running shakedown operations. I got to stay after my PhD (and eventually become a US citizen) thanks to H1B. Every day feels like mourning. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/19/u...