Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Ryan Ragona

@ragona.com

140 followers 110 following 95 posts

cryptography + trusted computing @ openai. I’m into guitar, music theory, photography, and weird math. he/him. anti-fascist. child of radical queers. 🏳️‍⚧️ 🖤

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Pinned

Ryan Ragona @ragona.com · Jan 10

been thinking about my queer friends and fam a lot this week. the inauguration, the hard right shift in the tech bubble.

I have two moms and a trans dad. I grew up in the 80s in oregon, when there were aggressive anti-gay measures on the ballots.

(me at portland pride with my moms in the 80s)

Picture of a small boy on his mother’s shoulders at a pride march in oregon in the late 80s. Everyone has hilarious curly hair, and there is a partially occluded protest sign demanding something regarding ceasing funding for racism.

2 1 8

Ryan Ragona @ragona.com · Jul 22

I’m sorry. And I’m glad your life is feeling in motion, that’s so important. 😔

Ryan Ragona @ragona.com · Apr 21

does the paper of record count as a meme right now

Ryan Ragona @ragona.com · Mar 31

to be fair SCIFs also don’t provide the desired privacy properties if you invite Jeffrey Goldberg

1 1

Ryan Ragona @ragona.com · Feb 9

> cointelHO

a cartoon character giving an ok sign with his hand

ALT: a cartoon character giving an ok sign with his hand

media.tenor.com

Reposted by Ryan Ragona

lauren @lauren.rotatingsandwiches.com · Feb 7

the only people who benefit from this are child predators and i'd like dem officials to say so into a microphone

Marisa Kabas @marisakabas.bsky.social · Feb 7

New — The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) was told this week by DOJ that they'd lose their funding if the org didn't remove any mentions of LGBTQIA+ issues from their public materials, I've learned. Staff were told they need to deadname trans kids in their reports to comply.

78 3.1K 11K

Reposted by Ryan Ragona

David Buchanan @retr0.id · Feb 7

if you were ever looking for a reason to become radicalized

The Verge @theverge.com · Feb 7

Apple ordered to open encrypted user accounts globally to UK spying

If implemented, the secret order would give the UK access to encrypted backups belonging to any user — not just Brits.

buff.ly

6 34 220

Ryan Ragona @ragona.com · Jan 29

protest sign reading, “respect my trans homies or I’m gonna identify as a fucking problem”

Ryan Ragona @ragona.com · Jan 27

if ai agents end up being a notable part of global conflict in the future, there will _never_ be such a thing as too much compute, even just for inference.

you have agi in a tiny model? cool. here’s 100gw of compute, make me a billion hackers and see what you can do about that power grid.

Ryan Ragona @ragona.com · Jan 19

you think the southern border is a problem wait until you hear about the northern border and… the internet. (and AIRPLANES you silly geese, guarding a border like its the 1500s. 😑)

Ryan Ragona @ragona.com · Jan 19

I’m now picturing my canadian hacker friends contributing to canadian cyber resistance.

do y’all have any idea how many genius fucking canadian hackers we rely on? probably leave behind `sorry.txt` after they pwn everything, but we’d still get wrecked.

Ryan Ragona @ragona.com · Jan 19

1. I love this guy, and god bless Canada.
2. The clearly involuntary “eh?” in the sentence — “The American people aren’t going to put up with it, and the Canadian people… EH, we will NEVER put up with it.” SO GOOD. 🍁🇨🇦

I’m nominating this for “Hardest ‘Eh’ of 2025” I don’t care that it’s January.

Acyn @acyn.bsky.social · Jan 18

Canadian MP Charlie Angus: Donald Trump, you’re a disgrace as a human being. While you may have gotten the presidency, you’re still a disgrace. You’re a convicted felon, a pervert, and you treat your allies with disdain while you kiss up to Putin.

Anytime, anywhere, Donald—we will take you on.

2 11

Ryan Ragona @ragona.com · Jan 19

I think this might be my favorite thing I’ve read this year. inspiring tbh, makes a nerd want to build privacy preserving shit.

Black Aziz Anansi @blackazizanansi.blacksky.app · Jan 18

@dansup.bsky.social , who is the founder of pixelfed, sent this letter to Mark Zuckerberg/Meta regarding their blocking of links to Pixelfed.

Dear Mark,
I hope this finds you well. I noticed something interesting today - it seems Instagram is blocking links to my little open-source project. You know, the one that lets people share photos without harvesting their personal data or forcing algorithmic feeds on them.
I have to admit, I'm flattered. Who would've thought a small team of volunteers could build something that would catch your attention? We're just trying to give people a choice in how they share their memories online. No VCs, no surveillance capitalism, just code and community.
Remember when Facebook started? It was about connecting people, not maximizing engagement metrics. Our project might be tiny compared to Instagram, but we're staying true to that original spirit of social media - giving people control over their online presence without turning them into products.
You could've ignored us. Instead, by blocking our links, you've given us the best endorsement we could ask for. You've confirmed what we've been saying all along - that big tech is more interested in protecting their walled gardens than fostering genuine innovation.
Every time you block a link to our platform, you remind people why we built it in the first place. Your action tells them there are alternatives worth exploring, ones that respect their privacy and agency. So thank you, Mark. You've turned our little project into a symbol of resistance against digital monopolies.

16 37

Ryan Ragona @ragona.com · Jan 12

as an individual fqdn becomes more popular, I want the the dns resolution to get fuzzier. goigle.com I’m really sorry you’re google now.

Ryan Ragona @ragona.com · Jan 11

awww that’s too bad, touch to encrypt/decrypt really would be awesome. 🥺

Ryan Ragona @ragona.com · Jan 10

she really was _so_ disappointed to learn about anesthesia. 😬😅

Ryan Ragona @ragona.com · Jan 10

🥺

Ryan Ragona @ragona.com · Jan 10

a group of people sitting in a theater with the words so hot right now written on the bottom

ALT: a group of people sitting in a theater with the words so hot right now written on the bottom

media.tenor.com

Ryan Ragona @ragona.com · Jan 10

I don’t have a conclusion. I still believe Dr. King, that the arc of the moral universe may be long, but it bends towards justice.

fucking hurts when you watch it move the wrong direction, and it means it’s time for the us to do the same kind of activism my parents did. love y’all. 🏳️‍⚧️

Ryan Ragona @ragona.com · Jan 10

I’m very proud of my family. And I’m very proud of all of my trans friends, and their families.

I’m thinking of you, and your kids. I remember what it’s like when your country seems to tell you, “your family isn’t right, we don’t know if we’ll let you keep it.” It’s awful, and I’m sorry.

1 2

Ryan Ragona @ragona.com · Jan 10

My other parents were awesome too. My bio mom taught hard of hearing and deaf kids. My other mom is an ordained minister who went to seminary at Yale, and was a minister for 40 years before retiring. She’s the most well read person I know.

Ryan Ragona @ragona.com · Jan 10

(When I was a teenager punk rock was my favorite thing on the planet, but as a wrinkly old man myself now I play the folk music he taught me. I love playing his songs, even though I only know a couple.)

Ryan Ragona @ragona.com · Jan 10

This leads to my favorite sentence, which is — “my dad was a lesbian folk singer.” I wonder if I’m the only person who can say that! I spent a lot of time at women’s music festivals as a kid. His music changed when he transitioned. It’s hard as a professional musician to navigate a brand new voice.

Ryan Ragona @ragona.com · Jan 10

So fuck it. I’m gonna tell the internet about my family.

My dad was trans. He transitioned when I was young, and became a sweet, calm old man. I didn’t think much of it. He told me he felt more like a man. He took up gardening. He calmed down. We learned to shave together. He loved his grandkids.

My dad with my youngest son. A man in his late 50s holding a two year old drinking a bottle of milk.

Ryan Ragona @ragona.com · Jan 10

And that was foolish of course. Progress doesn’t come linearly. But damn, it stings to realize I feel a little less safe talking about my family today than I did 10 years ago.

Ryan Ragona @ragona.com · Jan 10

But yesterday… I found myself missing it? I miss it when of COURSE major corporations give their ERGs money for a float, it’d be corporate suicide not to support gay rights. I thought — trans rights are coming too, the arc of the universe is bending linearly towards justice.