Quinn Norton
@quinn@social.circl.lu
mastodon
4.5.7
Writer, migrant, surprisingly nice in person. I write, these days mostly explainers. Old queer. I would rather be blocked than tone policed. More meme literate than I should be at this age. I mainly shitpost, then sometimes make you cry. ❤️
(I take #alt4u help, thanks)
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Joined November 24, 2022
Writer:
Internet, Security, Climate, Covid, Weirdness, Utopias etc
I hope to start a zine::
¯\_(ツ)_/¯:
It's all content
It's usually sensitive content:
B. 329 ppm
Posts
Quinn Norton
@quinn@social.circl.lu
Writer, migrant, surprisingly nice in person. I write, these days mostly explainers. Old queer. I would rather be blocked than tone policed. More meme literate than I should be at this age. I mainly shitpost, then sometimes make you cry. ❤️ (I take # alt4u help, thanks)
social.circl.lu
Quinn Norton
@quinn@social.circl.lu
Writer, migrant, surprisingly nice in person. I write, these days mostly explainers. Old queer. I would rather be blocked than tone policed. More meme literate than I should be at this age. I mainly shitpost, then sometimes make you cry. ❤️ (I take # alt4u help, thanks)
social.circl.lu
@quinn@social.circl.lu
·
13h ago
Hey guys I wrote this short story twelve years ago, but oops it came true. It's a dark look at the AI lifestyle, and it hits so many notes.
I would very much appreciate any boosting you might think warranted.
https://medium.com/message/agency-3d37adfc69a3
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@woody@pch.net
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on pleroma.pch.net
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Quinn Norton
@quinn@social.circl.lu
Writer, migrant, surprisingly nice in person. I write, these days mostly explainers. Old queer. I would rather be blocked than tone policed. More meme literate than I should be at this age. I mainly shitpost, then sometimes make you cry. ❤️ (I take # alt4u help, thanks)
social.circl.lu
Quinn Norton
@quinn@social.circl.lu
Writer, migrant, surprisingly nice in person. I write, these days mostly explainers. Old queer. I would rather be blocked than tone policed. More meme literate than I should be at this age. I mainly shitpost, then sometimes make you cry. ❤️ (I take # alt4u help, thanks)
social.circl.lu
@quinn@social.circl.lu
·
15h ago
@woody@pleroma.pch.net @TimWardCam@c.im @dalias@hachyderm.io i mean they exist in a lot of cities, but you pay a premium to live in a place where you can walk to a decent grocery store. Basically, if you can walk somewhere and get fresh fruit and veg, you're already rich. (there's a few exceptions, but they're generally being evicted and pushed out of cities.)
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@musevg@23.social
Open
on 23.social
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Quinn Norton
@quinn@social.circl.lu
Writer, migrant, surprisingly nice in person. I write, these days mostly explainers. Old queer. I would rather be blocked than tone policed. More meme literate than I should be at this age. I mainly shitpost, then sometimes make you cry. ❤️ (I take # alt4u help, thanks)
social.circl.lu
Quinn Norton
@quinn@social.circl.lu
Writer, migrant, surprisingly nice in person. I write, these days mostly explainers. Old queer. I would rather be blocked than tone policed. More meme literate than I should be at this age. I mainly shitpost, then sometimes make you cry. ❤️ (I take # alt4u help, thanks)
social.circl.lu
@quinn@social.circl.lu
·
21h ago
@musevg@23.social oh, I don't think they want to, I think they will
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Quinn Norton
@quinn@social.circl.lu
Writer, migrant, surprisingly nice in person. I write, these days mostly explainers. Old queer. I would rather be blocked than tone policed. More meme literate than I should be at this age. I mainly shitpost, then sometimes make you cry. ❤️ (I take # alt4u help, thanks)
social.circl.lu
Quinn Norton
@quinn@social.circl.lu
Writer, migrant, surprisingly nice in person. I write, these days mostly explainers. Old queer. I would rather be blocked than tone policed. More meme literate than I should be at this age. I mainly shitpost, then sometimes make you cry. ❤️ (I take # alt4u help, thanks)
social.circl.lu
@quinn@social.circl.lu
·
1d ago
RE: https://mastodon.social/@leavex/116234918216796533
...And immediately becoming part of the Russian Federation?
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Quinn Norton
@quinn@social.circl.lu
Writer, migrant, surprisingly nice in person. I write, these days mostly explainers. Old queer. I would rather be blocked than tone policed. More meme literate than I should be at this age. I mainly shitpost, then sometimes make you cry. ❤️ (I take # alt4u help, thanks)
social.circl.lu
Quinn Norton
@quinn@social.circl.lu
Writer, migrant, surprisingly nice in person. I write, these days mostly explainers. Old queer. I would rather be blocked than tone policed. More meme literate than I should be at this age. I mainly shitpost, then sometimes make you cry. ❤️ (I take # alt4u help, thanks)
social.circl.lu
@quinn@social.circl.lu
·
1d ago
So ways in which masto is my favorite...
1. I woke up to over 500 notifications and just said FUCK audibly. This is going to be a whole thing. But no, it was just a wide ranging and interesting discussion about America's class and social systems, and how they terribly disadvantage most Americans.
2. I can edit my posts to clean up my terrible spelling
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@s1m0n4@ohai.social
Open
on ohai.social
Open ancestor post
Current reply
Quinn Norton
@quinn@social.circl.lu
Writer, migrant, surprisingly nice in person. I write, these days mostly explainers. Old queer. I would rather be blocked than tone policed. More meme literate than I should be at this age. I mainly shitpost, then sometimes make you cry. ❤️ (I take # alt4u help, thanks)
social.circl.lu
Quinn Norton
@quinn@social.circl.lu
Writer, migrant, surprisingly nice in person. I write, these days mostly explainers. Old queer. I would rather be blocked than tone policed. More meme literate than I should be at this age. I mainly shitpost, then sometimes make you cry. ❤️ (I take # alt4u help, thanks)
social.circl.lu
@quinn@social.circl.lu
·
1d ago
@s1m0n4@ohai.social @benjamin@piaille.fr @nicksilkey@hachyderm.io @GustavinoBevilacqua@mastodon.cisti.org i'm even wonding if i'm on the right thread fork, lots of replies are interestingly difficult on masto? or maybe i'm not entirely awake yet
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@CapitalB@noauthority.social
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on noauthority.social
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Quinn Norton
@quinn@social.circl.lu
Writer, migrant, surprisingly nice in person. I write, these days mostly explainers. Old queer. I would rather be blocked than tone policed. More meme literate than I should be at this age. I mainly shitpost, then sometimes make you cry. ❤️ (I take # alt4u help, thanks)
social.circl.lu
Quinn Norton
@quinn@social.circl.lu
Writer, migrant, surprisingly nice in person. I write, these days mostly explainers. Old queer. I would rather be blocked than tone policed. More meme literate than I should be at this age. I mainly shitpost, then sometimes make you cry. ❤️ (I take # alt4u help, thanks)
social.circl.lu
@quinn@social.circl.lu
·
2d ago
@CapitalB@noauthority.social you really don't. Unless you get out of tourist America and really talk to people about their lives, you have no idea.
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Quinn Norton
@quinn@social.circl.lu
Writer, migrant, surprisingly nice in person. I write, these days mostly explainers. Old queer. I would rather be blocked than tone policed. More meme literate than I should be at this age. I mainly shitpost, then sometimes make you cry. ❤️ (I take # alt4u help, thanks)
social.circl.lu
Quinn Norton
@quinn@social.circl.lu
Writer, migrant, surprisingly nice in person. I write, these days mostly explainers. Old queer. I would rather be blocked than tone policed. More meme literate than I should be at this age. I mainly shitpost, then sometimes make you cry. ❤️ (I take # alt4u help, thanks)
social.circl.lu
@quinn@social.circl.lu
·
2d ago
Europeans don't, maybe sometimes can't, understand the absolute crushing pressure and gaslighting that most Americans are put through to make us the way we are.
It's a decades long effort to turn most of the population into a money and power pump for a tiny elite class, all while grinding us into dust.
We're crazy and scared all the time, and have no idea what's going on in the rest of the world.
There's a reason dying of opiates seemed like a rational choice to a lot of people.
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Quinn Norton
@quinn@social.circl.lu
Writer, migrant, surprisingly nice in person. I write, these days mostly explainers. Old queer. I would rather be blocked than tone policed. More meme literate than I should be at this age. I mainly shitpost, then sometimes make you cry. ❤️ (I take # alt4u help, thanks)
social.circl.lu
Quinn Norton
@quinn@social.circl.lu
Writer, migrant, surprisingly nice in person. I write, these days mostly explainers. Old queer. I would rather be blocked than tone policed. More meme literate than I should be at this age. I mainly shitpost, then sometimes make you cry. ❤️ (I take # alt4u help, thanks)
social.circl.lu
@quinn@social.circl.lu
·
3d ago
Hey guys, I actually wrote some science fiction. It's a capstone to my AI series at Emptywheel, but it takes place in 30 years. IT COUNTS. I'm also not actually anti AI in it.
https://emptywheel.net/2026/03/13/what-we-talk-about-when-we-talk-about-ai-epilogue/
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@MarkBrigham@universeodon.com
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on universeodon.com
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Quinn Norton
@quinn@social.circl.lu
Writer, migrant, surprisingly nice in person. I write, these days mostly explainers. Old queer. I would rather be blocked than tone policed. More meme literate than I should be at this age. I mainly shitpost, then sometimes make you cry. ❤️ (I take # alt4u help, thanks)
social.circl.lu
Quinn Norton
@quinn@social.circl.lu
Writer, migrant, surprisingly nice in person. I write, these days mostly explainers. Old queer. I would rather be blocked than tone policed. More meme literate than I should be at this age. I mainly shitpost, then sometimes make you cry. ❤️ (I take # alt4u help, thanks)
social.circl.lu
@quinn@social.circl.lu
·
3d ago
@MarkBrigham@universeodon.com @petergleick@fediscience.org having moved from California to France I definitely agree... Though I think building infrastructure that just gets people out of their cars through pull, not push, is much more successful. The US desperately needs high speed rail options, but that takes real legal reform. I wish more people could experience good trains; they'd clamor for them.
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Quinn Norton
@quinn@social.circl.lu
Writer, migrant, surprisingly nice in person. I write, these days mostly explainers. Old queer. I would rather be blocked than tone policed. More meme literate than I should be at this age. I mainly shitpost, then sometimes make you cry. ❤️ (I take # alt4u help, thanks)
social.circl.lu
Quinn Norton
@quinn@social.circl.lu
Writer, migrant, surprisingly nice in person. I write, these days mostly explainers. Old queer. I would rather be blocked than tone policed. More meme literate than I should be at this age. I mainly shitpost, then sometimes make you cry. ❤️ (I take # alt4u help, thanks)
social.circl.lu
@quinn@social.circl.lu
·
5d ago
The only reason to do this to Beirut is pure evil spite. Lebanon is so torn up, and just gets kicked by one power after another (including Hezbollah)
Beirut is the capital city, not a Islamist fortification or something. When I was there the locals immediately bought me arak and we swapped stories all damn night.
I have never met the people of another nation as cool, chill, and funny as the Lebanese. I am extremely sad.
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Quinn Norton
@quinn@social.circl.lu
Writer, migrant, surprisingly nice in person. I write, these days mostly explainers. Old queer. I would rather be blocked than tone policed. More meme literate than I should be at this age. I mainly shitpost, then sometimes make you cry. ❤️ (I take # alt4u help, thanks)
social.circl.lu
Quinn Norton
@quinn@social.circl.lu
Writer, migrant, surprisingly nice in person. I write, these days mostly explainers. Old queer. I would rather be blocked than tone policed. More meme literate than I should be at this age. I mainly shitpost, then sometimes make you cry. ❤️ (I take # alt4u help, thanks)
social.circl.lu
@quinn@social.circl.lu
·
Mar 09, 2026
I guess Trump won't sign any bill until he takes my vote away.
Waking up every morning as an American.
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@cstross@wandering.shop
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@cstross@wandering.shop
AS I KEEP REPEATING ENDLESSLY—(no, not "with the Right it's *always* projection, although yes, that too)—*do not trust* an oviparous lagomorph, lagomorphs are universally viviparous, an oviparous one
Current reply
Quinn Norton
@quinn@social.circl.lu
Writer, migrant, surprisingly nice in person. I write, these days mostly explainers. Old queer. I would rather be blocked than tone policed. More meme literate than I should be at this age. I mainly shitpost, then sometimes make you cry. ❤️ (I take # alt4u help, thanks)
social.circl.lu
Quinn Norton
@quinn@social.circl.lu
Writer, migrant, surprisingly nice in person. I write, these days mostly explainers. Old queer. I would rather be blocked than tone policed. More meme literate than I should be at this age. I mainly shitpost, then sometimes make you cry. ❤️ (I take # alt4u help, thanks)
social.circl.lu
@quinn@social.circl.lu
·
Mar 02, 2026
@cstross@wandering.shop but my little woogums is different *squelchy petting noises* woogums would never hurt me.
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@quinn@social.circl.lu
Open
on social.circl.lu
Open ancestor post
Current reply
Quinn Norton
@quinn@social.circl.lu
Writer, migrant, surprisingly nice in person. I write, these days mostly explainers. Old queer. I would rather be blocked than tone policed. More meme literate than I should be at this age. I mainly shitpost, then sometimes make you cry. ❤️ (I take # alt4u help, thanks)
social.circl.lu
Quinn Norton
@quinn@social.circl.lu
Writer, migrant, surprisingly nice in person. I write, these days mostly explainers. Old queer. I would rather be blocked than tone policed. More meme literate than I should be at this age. I mainly shitpost, then sometimes make you cry. ❤️ (I take # alt4u help, thanks)
social.circl.lu
@quinn@social.circl.lu
·
Feb 26, 2026
But also sometimes when you're US centric it has its moments/posters
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Quinn Norton
@quinn@social.circl.lu
Writer, migrant, surprisingly nice in person. I write, these days mostly explainers. Old queer. I would rather be blocked than tone policed. More meme literate than I should be at this age. I mainly shitpost, then sometimes make you cry. ❤️ (I take # alt4u help, thanks)
social.circl.lu
Quinn Norton
@quinn@social.circl.lu
Writer, migrant, surprisingly nice in person. I write, these days mostly explainers. Old queer. I would rather be blocked than tone policed. More meme literate than I should be at this age. I mainly shitpost, then sometimes make you cry. ❤️ (I take # alt4u help, thanks)
social.circl.lu
@quinn@social.circl.lu
·
Feb 25, 2026
We have lost Jesse Jackson. I briefly knew him. This is about him spending his time with me, when I was a child. It's personal, adorable, and most of all, humane. I have adored him ever since that day. https://emptywheel.net/morality-is-a-long-game/
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Quinn Norton
@quinn@social.circl.lu
Writer, migrant, surprisingly nice in person. I write, these days mostly explainers. Old queer. I would rather be blocked than tone policed. More meme literate than I should be at this age. I mainly shitpost, then sometimes make you cry. ❤️ (I take # alt4u help, thanks)
social.circl.lu
Quinn Norton
@quinn@social.circl.lu
Writer, migrant, surprisingly nice in person. I write, these days mostly explainers. Old queer. I would rather be blocked than tone policed. More meme literate than I should be at this age. I mainly shitpost, then sometimes make you cry. ❤️ (I take # alt4u help, thanks)
social.circl.lu
@quinn@social.circl.lu
·
Feb 25, 2026
I am watching the thing, but in my defense, I'm in bed, and have been drinking AMA
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Quinn Norton
@quinn@social.circl.lu
Writer, migrant, surprisingly nice in person. I write, these days mostly explainers. Old queer. I would rather be blocked than tone policed. More meme literate than I should be at this age. I mainly shitpost, then sometimes make you cry. ❤️ (I take # alt4u help, thanks)
social.circl.lu
Quinn Norton
@quinn@social.circl.lu
Writer, migrant, surprisingly nice in person. I write, these days mostly explainers. Old queer. I would rather be blocked than tone policed. More meme literate than I should be at this age. I mainly shitpost, then sometimes make you cry. ❤️ (I take # alt4u help, thanks)
social.circl.lu
@quinn@social.circl.lu
·
Feb 20, 2026
RE: @metacurity@infosec.exchange
and popcorn futures go through the roof
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Quinn Norton
@quinn@social.circl.lu
Writer, migrant, surprisingly nice in person. I write, these days mostly explainers. Old queer. I would rather be blocked than tone policed. More meme literate than I should be at this age. I mainly shitpost, then sometimes make you cry. ❤️ (I take # alt4u help, thanks)
social.circl.lu
Quinn Norton
@quinn@social.circl.lu
Writer, migrant, surprisingly nice in person. I write, these days mostly explainers. Old queer. I would rather be blocked than tone policed. More meme literate than I should be at this age. I mainly shitpost, then sometimes make you cry. ❤️ (I take # alt4u help, thanks)
social.circl.lu
@quinn@social.circl.lu
·
Feb 17, 2026
I've spent my whole life seeking reliable expertise and asking, humbly, for time and specialized knowledge from the people who are the experts. This really is the shape of my career and key to who I am. I want to get things right, and I want to fix it when I don't.
But I'm now living in a society that's just thrown all that away for hallucinating stocastic parrots as arbiters of truth.
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Quinn Norton
@quinn@social.circl.lu
Writer, migrant, surprisingly nice in person. I write, these days mostly explainers. Old queer. I would rather be blocked than tone policed. More meme literate than I should be at this age. I mainly shitpost, then sometimes make you cry. ❤️ (I take # alt4u help, thanks)
social.circl.lu
Quinn Norton
@quinn@social.circl.lu
Writer, migrant, surprisingly nice in person. I write, these days mostly explainers. Old queer. I would rather be blocked than tone policed. More meme literate than I should be at this age. I mainly shitpost, then sometimes make you cry. ❤️ (I take # alt4u help, thanks)
social.circl.lu
@quinn@social.circl.lu
·
Feb 16, 2026
New, on Cassandra: https://cassandrazine.com/the-symmetry-of-suicidal-capitalism-and-carboniferous-forests/
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Quinn Norton
@quinn@social.circl.lu
Writer, migrant, surprisingly nice in person. I write, these days mostly explainers. Old queer. I would rather be blocked than tone policed. More meme literate than I should be at this age. I mainly shitpost, then sometimes make you cry. ❤️ (I take # alt4u help, thanks)
social.circl.lu
Quinn Norton
@quinn@social.circl.lu
Writer, migrant, surprisingly nice in person. I write, these days mostly explainers. Old queer. I would rather be blocked than tone policed. More meme literate than I should be at this age. I mainly shitpost, then sometimes make you cry. ❤️ (I take # alt4u help, thanks)
social.circl.lu
@quinn@social.circl.lu
·
Feb 16, 2026
I don't even know where to begin. This is so stupid I am beginning to question my own sanity. https://www.ft.com/content/a5cf86ec-47cb-448f-b4a3-56ca6390ad8e?accessToken=zwAGSnoQU9kgkdOlz4bsR8tEj9O0o1bKY5Ctjg.MEQCIBvCTsvx4YoFaEuXx9upgOPlNBiPMdpxiZ6BXkw-qfHJAiBALAZFPS-AWJAxoqbcIBnT20zFNyb8-478bphf3Fu1AQ&sharetype=gift&token=d92a912e-ccf0-4219-8317-ce2995379ef4
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Quinn Norton
@quinn@social.circl.lu
Writer, migrant, surprisingly nice in person. I write, these days mostly explainers. Old queer. I would rather be blocked than tone policed. More meme literate than I should be at this age. I mainly shitpost, then sometimes make you cry. ❤️ (I take # alt4u help, thanks)
social.circl.lu
Quinn Norton
@quinn@social.circl.lu
Writer, migrant, surprisingly nice in person. I write, these days mostly explainers. Old queer. I would rather be blocked than tone policed. More meme literate than I should be at this age. I mainly shitpost, then sometimes make you cry. ❤️ (I take # alt4u help, thanks)
social.circl.lu
@quinn@social.circl.lu
·
Feb 07, 2026
yeaaah... Substack is a bad idea. Look into Outpost or Ghost, and stop supporting literal Nazis. https://www.theguardian.com/media/2026/feb/07/revealed-how-substack-makes-money-from-hosting-nazi-newsletters
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@cstross@wandering.shop
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@cstross@wandering.shop
#WritersCoffeeClub 27th Jan 2026. What’s a technical skill you think should be more widespread? Critical reading/media literacy. (At risk of getting political on a writers hashtag, most of our politic
Current reply
Quinn Norton
@quinn@social.circl.lu
Writer, migrant, surprisingly nice in person. I write, these days mostly explainers. Old queer. I would rather be blocked than tone policed. More meme literate than I should be at this age. I mainly shitpost, then sometimes make you cry. ❤️ (I take # alt4u help, thanks)
social.circl.lu
Quinn Norton
@quinn@social.circl.lu
Writer, migrant, surprisingly nice in person. I write, these days mostly explainers. Old queer. I would rather be blocked than tone policed. More meme literate than I should be at this age. I mainly shitpost, then sometimes make you cry. ❤️ (I take # alt4u help, thanks)
social.circl.lu
@quinn@social.circl.lu
·
Jan 27, 2026
@cstross@wandering.shop 60% of the population of my native country can't read a high school novel. Math is even worse. So, the very basics.
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@cstross@wandering.shop
Open
@cstross@wandering.shop
Tesla convicted 18 times and ordered to pay thousands for failing to help UK police with investigations In each case, when British police officers tried to track down the details of speeding Tesla dri
Current reply
Quinn Norton
@quinn@social.circl.lu
Writer, migrant, surprisingly nice in person. I write, these days mostly explainers. Old queer. I would rather be blocked than tone policed. More meme literate than I should be at this age. I mainly shitpost, then sometimes make you cry. ❤️ (I take # alt4u help, thanks)
social.circl.lu
Quinn Norton
@quinn@social.circl.lu
Writer, migrant, surprisingly nice in person. I write, these days mostly explainers. Old queer. I would rather be blocked than tone policed. More meme literate than I should be at this age. I mainly shitpost, then sometimes make you cry. ❤️ (I take # alt4u help, thanks)
social.circl.lu
@quinn@social.circl.lu
·
Jan 23, 2026
@cstross@wandering.shop 100% getting ignored by musk with zero consequences.
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Quinn Norton
@quinn@social.circl.lu
Writer, migrant, surprisingly nice in person. I write, these days mostly explainers. Old queer. I would rather be blocked than tone policed. More meme literate than I should be at this age. I mainly shitpost, then sometimes make you cry. ❤️ (I take # alt4u help, thanks)
social.circl.lu
Quinn Norton
@quinn@social.circl.lu
Writer, migrant, surprisingly nice in person. I write, these days mostly explainers. Old queer. I would rather be blocked than tone policed. More meme literate than I should be at this age. I mainly shitpost, then sometimes make you cry. ❤️ (I take # alt4u help, thanks)
social.circl.lu
@quinn@social.circl.lu
·
Jan 23, 2026
What if we were able to pay attention to more than one genocide at any given time? That would be amazing.
Aw well.
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@mattblaze@federate.social
Open
@mattblaze@federate.social
A trade publication called The National Locksmith ran monthly guest editorials in which prominent members of that profession were invited to denounce me. My favorite quote, from a locksmith named Bill
Ancestor 2
@mattblaze@federate.social
Open
@mattblaze@federate.social
I should point out that master keying was about a century old at the time, and while the mechanical details weren't secret, locksmiths tended to the inner workings of locks as "restricted knowledge",
Parent
@mattblaze@federate.social
Open
@mattblaze@federate.social
Essentially, their argument was that this would be a huge pain and expense to fix, and so we are all better off just keeping it on the down low. And that kind of worked, for about a hundred years, unt
Current reply
Quinn Norton
@quinn@social.circl.lu
Writer, migrant, surprisingly nice in person. I write, these days mostly explainers. Old queer. I would rather be blocked than tone policed. More meme literate than I should be at this age. I mainly shitpost, then sometimes make you cry. ❤️ (I take # alt4u help, thanks)
social.circl.lu
Quinn Norton
@quinn@social.circl.lu
Writer, migrant, surprisingly nice in person. I write, these days mostly explainers. Old queer. I would rather be blocked than tone policed. More meme literate than I should be at this age. I mainly shitpost, then sometimes make you cry. ❤️ (I take # alt4u help, thanks)
social.circl.lu
@quinn@social.circl.lu
·
Dec 29, 2025
@mattblaze@federate.social as a woman who has lived alone I don't know that I'd buy it worked... Every problematic guy with a locksmith friend or some skills himself was probably terrorizing some ex girlfriend or ex wife, and we just never heard about it .
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@mattblaze@federate.social
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@mattblaze@federate.social
I was recently reminded of this. A couple decades ago, I wrote a short paper that described how the basic approaches of cryptography and computer security lead to an efficient and practical privilege
Ancestor 2
@mattblaze@federate.social
Open
@mattblaze@federate.social
Unexpectedly, my paper got some press attention. @jswatz_tx found it and wrote a short piece in the NY Times. And then locksmiths freaked out. I mean completely lost it. They were very upset, not so m
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@mattblaze@federate.social
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@mattblaze@federate.social
A trade publication called The National Locksmith ran monthly guest editorials in which prominent members of that profession were invited to denounce me. My favorite quote, from a locksmith named Bill
Current reply
Quinn Norton
@quinn@social.circl.lu
Writer, migrant, surprisingly nice in person. I write, these days mostly explainers. Old queer. I would rather be blocked than tone policed. More meme literate than I should be at this age. I mainly shitpost, then sometimes make you cry. ❤️ (I take # alt4u help, thanks)
social.circl.lu
Quinn Norton
@quinn@social.circl.lu
Writer, migrant, surprisingly nice in person. I write, these days mostly explainers. Old queer. I would rather be blocked than tone policed. More meme literate than I should be at this age. I mainly shitpost, then sometimes make you cry. ❤️ (I take # alt4u help, thanks)
social.circl.lu
@quinn@social.circl.lu
·
Dec 29, 2025
@mattblaze@federate.social oh, those sweet sweet innocent souls, no clue how deeply fucked up the world they live in really is 😂
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@mattblaze@federate.social
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@mattblaze@federate.social
Anyway, my intent in looking at locks and publishing my paper wasn't to disrupt the lock industry. I believed, as I still do, that mechanical locks and physical security have quite a bit to teach comp
Ancestor 2
@carlmalamud@official.resource.org
Open
@carlmalamud@official.resource.org
@mattblaze@federate.social I had a similar experience in an unrelated area (except, of course, that it was @jswatz@journa.host who also wrote it up). After downloading district court records, we disco
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@mattblaze@federate.social
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@mattblaze@federate.social
@carlmalamud@official.resource.org @jswatz@journa.host Exactly what I'd expect from a "copyright terrorist"!
Current reply
Quinn Norton
@quinn@social.circl.lu
Writer, migrant, surprisingly nice in person. I write, these days mostly explainers. Old queer. I would rather be blocked than tone policed. More meme literate than I should be at this age. I mainly shitpost, then sometimes make you cry. ❤️ (I take # alt4u help, thanks)
social.circl.lu
Quinn Norton
@quinn@social.circl.lu
Writer, migrant, surprisingly nice in person. I write, these days mostly explainers. Old queer. I would rather be blocked than tone policed. More meme literate than I should be at this age. I mainly shitpost, then sometimes make you cry. ❤️ (I take # alt4u help, thanks)
social.circl.lu
@quinn@social.circl.lu
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Dec 29, 2025
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@cstross@wandering.shop
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@cstross@wandering.shop
Uh … AI bubble costing the US as much money in 12 months as *two major wars over 13 years* is quite the buried lede! "If it can't go on forever it will stop." — economist Herb Stein, 1985. (The "it" i
Ancestor 2
@quinn@social.circl.lu
Open
@quinn@social.circl.lu
@cstross@wandering.shop unsustainable thing don't sustain. It's right there in the word. This AI nonsense coinciding with the ramp up in climate change impacts is going to be fast, at least by histori
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@cstross@wandering.shop
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@cstross@wandering.shop
@quinn@social.circl.lu I'm hopeful (but beware—I'm a pathological optimist) that the AI bubble is inflating *so* fast that it'll burst before too many of the data centres/coal-burning power stations b
Current reply
Quinn Norton
@quinn@social.circl.lu
Writer, migrant, surprisingly nice in person. I write, these days mostly explainers. Old queer. I would rather be blocked than tone policed. More meme literate than I should be at this age. I mainly shitpost, then sometimes make you cry. ❤️ (I take # alt4u help, thanks)
social.circl.lu
Quinn Norton
@quinn@social.circl.lu
Writer, migrant, surprisingly nice in person. I write, these days mostly explainers. Old queer. I would rather be blocked than tone policed. More meme literate than I should be at this age. I mainly shitpost, then sometimes make you cry. ❤️ (I take # alt4u help, thanks)
social.circl.lu
@quinn@social.circl.lu
·
Dec 27, 2025
@cstross@wandering.shop I also share that hope, though it's going to result in absolute misery for so many people, and I suspect an era of madness, especially in my home country.
All of this will end in tears.
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@cstross@wandering.shop
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@cstross@wandering.shop
Uh … AI bubble costing the US as much money in 12 months as *two major wars over 13 years* is quite the buried lede! "If it can't go on forever it will stop." — economist Herb Stein, 1985. (The "it" i
Current reply
Quinn Norton
@quinn@social.circl.lu
Writer, migrant, surprisingly nice in person. I write, these days mostly explainers. Old queer. I would rather be blocked than tone policed. More meme literate than I should be at this age. I mainly shitpost, then sometimes make you cry. ❤️ (I take # alt4u help, thanks)
social.circl.lu
Quinn Norton
@quinn@social.circl.lu
Writer, migrant, surprisingly nice in person. I write, these days mostly explainers. Old queer. I would rather be blocked than tone policed. More meme literate than I should be at this age. I mainly shitpost, then sometimes make you cry. ❤️ (I take # alt4u help, thanks)
social.circl.lu
@quinn@social.circl.lu
·
Dec 27, 2025
@cstross@wandering.shop unsustainable thing don't sustain. It's right there in the word.
This AI nonsense coinciding with the ramp up in climate change impacts is going to be fast, at least by historical standards. Humans these days have a hard time thinking in longer timespans than a few weeks, but we're setting up the destiny and destruction of the next generations.
And how they will hate us.
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@cstross@wandering.shop
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@cstross@wandering.shop
#WritersCoffeeClub Dec 26 Who or what serves as your "rubber duck"? Friends. I get all my best flashes of insight when telling friends about my current work in progress over a coffee or a beer. (I sus
Current reply
Quinn Norton
@quinn@social.circl.lu
Writer, migrant, surprisingly nice in person. I write, these days mostly explainers. Old queer. I would rather be blocked than tone policed. More meme literate than I should be at this age. I mainly shitpost, then sometimes make you cry. ❤️ (I take # alt4u help, thanks)
social.circl.lu
Quinn Norton
@quinn@social.circl.lu
Writer, migrant, surprisingly nice in person. I write, these days mostly explainers. Old queer. I would rather be blocked than tone policed. More meme literate than I should be at this age. I mainly shitpost, then sometimes make you cry. ❤️ (I take # alt4u help, thanks)
social.circl.lu
@quinn@social.circl.lu
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Dec 26, 2025
@cstross@wandering.shop 100% same. Right now, I have a local writers group and they've been great. The meetings are very good, the drinks after are even better. Not the ASD part, but they're very supportive of the Covid brain I have now, and happily let me know when I already said something or left something out.
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@cstross@wandering.shop
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@cstross@wandering.shop
#WritersCoffeeClub 12/7 What future writing goals are you working towards with your present work? Having in recent years (2022-present) concluded two long-running book series (The Merchant Princes and
Current reply
Quinn Norton
@quinn@social.circl.lu
Writer, migrant, surprisingly nice in person. I write, these days mostly explainers. Old queer. I would rather be blocked than tone policed. More meme literate than I should be at this age. I mainly shitpost, then sometimes make you cry. ❤️ (I take # alt4u help, thanks)
social.circl.lu
Quinn Norton
@quinn@social.circl.lu
Writer, migrant, surprisingly nice in person. I write, these days mostly explainers. Old queer. I would rather be blocked than tone policed. More meme literate than I should be at this age. I mainly shitpost, then sometimes make you cry. ❤️ (I take # alt4u help, thanks)
social.circl.lu
@quinn@social.circl.lu
·
Dec 07, 2025
@cstross@wandering.shop to actually answer your question, I've been struggling to find the magic words that will somehow make the world better and reverse my birth nation's fall into perdition. It feels as painful as it does urgent. I'm considering a series of articles about people in American history who resisted and advanced the nation, maybe in the mold of my very tiny bio of Fred Hampton. We have in many ways been here before, maybe reminding people will help?
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@cstross@wandering.shop
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@cstross@wandering.shop
#WritersCoffeeClub 12/7 What future writing goals are you working towards with your present work? Having in recent years (2022-present) concluded two long-running book series (The Merchant Princes and
Current reply
Quinn Norton
@quinn@social.circl.lu
Writer, migrant, surprisingly nice in person. I write, these days mostly explainers. Old queer. I would rather be blocked than tone policed. More meme literate than I should be at this age. I mainly shitpost, then sometimes make you cry. ❤️ (I take # alt4u help, thanks)
social.circl.lu
Quinn Norton
@quinn@social.circl.lu
Writer, migrant, surprisingly nice in person. I write, these days mostly explainers. Old queer. I would rather be blocked than tone policed. More meme literate than I should be at this age. I mainly shitpost, then sometimes make you cry. ❤️ (I take # alt4u help, thanks)
social.circl.lu
@quinn@social.circl.lu
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Dec 07, 2025
@cstross@wandering.shop how much do you think current events and politics creeps into your work without you meaning it to?
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@mattblaze@federate.social
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@mattblaze@federate.social
If the Federal District Court for ED Virginia has any sense of ironic justice, it will now appoint James Comey as Interim US attorney.
Current reply
Quinn Norton
@quinn@social.circl.lu
Writer, migrant, surprisingly nice in person. I write, these days mostly explainers. Old queer. I would rather be blocked than tone policed. More meme literate than I should be at this age. I mainly shitpost, then sometimes make you cry. ❤️ (I take # alt4u help, thanks)
social.circl.lu
Quinn Norton
@quinn@social.circl.lu
Writer, migrant, surprisingly nice in person. I write, these days mostly explainers. Old queer. I would rather be blocked than tone policed. More meme literate than I should be at this age. I mainly shitpost, then sometimes make you cry. ❤️ (I take # alt4u help, thanks)
social.circl.lu
@quinn@social.circl.lu
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Dec 02, 2025
@mattblaze@federate.social "gentleman, you have before you the opportunity before you to do the funniest thing..
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@mattblaze@federate.social
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@mattblaze@federate.social
The worst thing here is we almost certainly lack functioning mechanisms to hold anyone meaningfully to account for these crimes. These were not heat-of-battle excesses or unwise orders from mid-level
Ancestor 2
@mattblaze@federate.social
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@mattblaze@federate.social
It's clear that our official embrace of torture after 9/11 was a point of no return for our country.
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@mattblaze@federate.social
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@mattblaze@federate.social
I know, rationally, that this is a long haul, and that to maintain my ability to function over time I have to measure my outrage and despair at news like this. But I'm having trouble doing that here.
Current reply
Quinn Norton
@quinn@social.circl.lu
Writer, migrant, surprisingly nice in person. I write, these days mostly explainers. Old queer. I would rather be blocked than tone policed. More meme literate than I should be at this age. I mainly shitpost, then sometimes make you cry. ❤️ (I take # alt4u help, thanks)
social.circl.lu
Quinn Norton
@quinn@social.circl.lu
Writer, migrant, surprisingly nice in person. I write, these days mostly explainers. Old queer. I would rather be blocked than tone policed. More meme literate than I should be at this age. I mainly shitpost, then sometimes make you cry. ❤️ (I take # alt4u help, thanks)
social.circl.lu
@quinn@social.circl.lu
·
Nov 30, 2025
@mattblaze@federate.social I find myself repeating the serenity prayer, even though, maybe especially, because I don't know if I believe in a God.
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@cstross@wandering.shop
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@cstross@wandering.shop
Senator Kelly is 61—doesn't that put him over the mandatory retirement age? https://mastodon.social/@heidilifeldman/115606170261231905
Ancestor 2
@masukomi@connectified.com
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@masukomi@connectified.com
@cstross@wandering.shop would court-martial apply anyway? I'm thinking you probably can't court-martial someone for something they do when they're not in the military.
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@cstross@wandering.shop
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@cstross@wandering.shop
@masukomi@connectified.com Yup. I think this is just Kegseth blowing smoke menacingly. He's a total ass.
Current reply
Quinn Norton
@quinn@social.circl.lu
Writer, migrant, surprisingly nice in person. I write, these days mostly explainers. Old queer. I would rather be blocked than tone policed. More meme literate than I should be at this age. I mainly shitpost, then sometimes make you cry. ❤️ (I take # alt4u help, thanks)
social.circl.lu
Quinn Norton
@quinn@social.circl.lu
Writer, migrant, surprisingly nice in person. I write, these days mostly explainers. Old queer. I would rather be blocked than tone policed. More meme literate than I should be at this age. I mainly shitpost, then sometimes make you cry. ❤️ (I take # alt4u help, thanks)
social.circl.lu
@quinn@social.circl.lu
·
Nov 25, 2025
@cstross@wandering.shop @masukomi@connectified.com I think the theory is that he can be called up or that he has some kind of reserve status. Honestly this case is so bad that this isn't close to being its biggest flaw. That's still trying to prosecute someone for saying something pulled straight from the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
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@SteveBellovin@infosec.exchange
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@SteveBellovin@infosec.exchange
The Trump regime wants to start making a list of Jews (https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/21/us/eeoc-university-pennsylvania-antisemitism-jewish.html). Now where have I heard that one before?
Ancestor 2
@mattblaze@federate.social
Open
@mattblaze@federate.social
@SteveBellovin@infosec.exchange the peope who think swastikas aren’t hate symbols want a list of Jews, in order to protect Jews. Naturally.
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@mattblaze@federate.social
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@mattblaze@federate.social
@SteveBellovin@infosec.exchange maybe they can encode them on IBM punch cards.
Current reply
Quinn Norton
@quinn@social.circl.lu
Writer, migrant, surprisingly nice in person. I write, these days mostly explainers. Old queer. I would rather be blocked than tone policed. More meme literate than I should be at this age. I mainly shitpost, then sometimes make you cry. ❤️ (I take # alt4u help, thanks)
social.circl.lu
Quinn Norton
@quinn@social.circl.lu
Writer, migrant, surprisingly nice in person. I write, these days mostly explainers. Old queer. I would rather be blocked than tone policed. More meme literate than I should be at this age. I mainly shitpost, then sometimes make you cry. ❤️ (I take # alt4u help, thanks)
social.circl.lu
@quinn@social.circl.lu
·
Nov 22, 2025
@mattblaze@federate.social @SteveBellovin@infosec.exchange oh, they're definitely going to be identified by AI. For their own safety of course.
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Quinn Norton
@quinn@social.circl.lu
Writer, migrant, surprisingly nice in person. I write, these days mostly explainers. Old queer. I would rather be blocked than tone policed. More meme literate than I should be at this age. I mainly shitpost, then sometimes make you cry. ❤️ (I take # alt4u help, thanks)
social.circl.lu
Quinn Norton
@quinn@social.circl.lu
Writer, migrant, surprisingly nice in person. I write, these days mostly explainers. Old queer. I would rather be blocked than tone policed. More meme literate than I should be at this age. I mainly shitpost, then sometimes make you cry. ❤️ (I take # alt4u help, thanks)
social.circl.lu
@quinn@social.circl.lu
·
Nov 19, 2025
One day we will look back at the asbestos crisis and our teachers will say, "Yes, it was bad, but not nearly has bad as social media."
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