Brandon Downey
@bdowney.bsky.social
Infosec professional, photographer, math enthusiast, occasional augmented reality warlord. Peculiar but refined tastes in triangles, cinema, and cocktails. Some skill with Azad.
Signal: bdowney.23
Opinions are my own and not those of my employer
Signal: bdowney.23
Opinions are my own and not those of my employer
It worries me that the far left and Trump both seem to be paranoid enough about journalists to try to scare people about them.
January 30, 2026 at 9:08 PM
It worries me that the far left and Trump both seem to be paranoid enough about journalists to try to scare people about them.
Kinda worried when the far left and Trump both seem to be hating on mainstream journalists in the same week.
January 30, 2026 at 8:38 PM
Kinda worried when the far left and Trump both seem to be hating on mainstream journalists in the same week.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prosopa...
Listen you don't want to make fun too hard or the lobbying group for these people are going to come for you.
Listen you don't want to make fun too hard or the lobbying group for these people are going to come for you.
Prosopagnosia - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
January 30, 2026 at 7:56 PM
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prosopa...
Listen you don't want to make fun too hard or the lobbying group for these people are going to come for you.
Listen you don't want to make fun too hard or the lobbying group for these people are going to come for you.
Reposted by Brandon Downey
I blocked some people tonight who lectured me including on how press is deadly and not needed because we have "the commons."
January 30, 2026 at 6:07 AM
I blocked some people tonight who lectured me including on how press is deadly and not needed because we have "the commons."
I want to believe they're not going to fuck this up like Occupy or 2020.
January 30, 2026 at 5:33 AM
I want to believe they're not going to fuck this up like Occupy or 2020.
I'm trying to be generous and just assuming that in a stressful, even horrible situation people without a background in security or privacy threat modeling are going to make mistakes.
But normies are pinging me about an article Stancil got from the ride along; why shut that down?
But normies are pinging me about an article Stancil got from the ride along; why shut that down?
January 30, 2026 at 4:12 AM
I'm trying to be generous and just assuming that in a stressful, even horrible situation people without a background in security or privacy threat modeling are going to make mistakes.
But normies are pinging me about an article Stancil got from the ride along; why shut that down?
But normies are pinging me about an article Stancil got from the ride along; why shut that down?
Signal chats can have mods. So, decision of the mods -- was it a vote, or just vibes?
January 30, 2026 at 12:27 AM
Signal chats can have mods. So, decision of the mods -- was it a vote, or just vibes?
It's always going to be *hard* to model
(sigh edits).
(sigh edits).
January 29, 2026 at 10:03 PM
It's always going to be *hard* to model
(sigh edits).
(sigh edits).
I don't want to be too down about the people concerned, but I hope they understand this is a risk they have *already* assumed by doing a large, public response network.
Threat modeling is *really* hard, but it seems like they are being driven by fear at the moment.
Threat modeling is *really* hard, but it seems like they are being driven by fear at the moment.
January 29, 2026 at 9:55 PM
I don't want to be too down about the people concerned, but I hope they understand this is a risk they have *already* assumed by doing a large, public response network.
Threat modeling is *really* hard, but it seems like they are being driven by fear at the moment.
Threat modeling is *really* hard, but it seems like they are being driven by fear at the moment.
Further, you can read the articles these reporters have written, and you won't learn a thing about other rapid responders.
It's always going to be model threats in this environment, but it's also really tempting to give in to privacy theater.
Meanwhile, the world needs to know what's going on.
It's always going to be model threats in this environment, but it's also really tempting to give in to privacy theater.
Meanwhile, the world needs to know what's going on.
January 29, 2026 at 9:50 PM
Further, you can read the articles these reporters have written, and you won't learn a thing about other rapid responders.
It's always going to be model threats in this environment, but it's also really tempting to give in to privacy theater.
Meanwhile, the world needs to know what's going on.
It's always going to be model threats in this environment, but it's also really tempting to give in to privacy theater.
Meanwhile, the world needs to know what's going on.
Shale (who is baby).
January 29, 2026 at 6:57 AM
Shale (who is baby).
Oh lol and it was Ben Shapiro he told it to.
January 29, 2026 at 6:54 AM
Oh lol and it was Ben Shapiro he told it to.
The boot is here, it's just not equally distributed.
Think of it like a moving piece of the violence of the border, focused on one place and then another.
Think of it like a moving piece of the violence of the border, focused on one place and then another.
January 29, 2026 at 6:46 AM
The boot is here, it's just not equally distributed.
Think of it like a moving piece of the violence of the border, focused on one place and then another.
Think of it like a moving piece of the violence of the border, focused on one place and then another.