Dan Gillmor

Bio and disclosures: dangillmor.com/about/ Boosts mean I think you should see this -- usually but not always an endorsement.

Bay Area, Nara · dangillmor.com

Personal site: https://dangillmor.com
My Pixelfed photos: https://pixelfed.social/dangillmor
"Cornerstone of Democracy" Newsletter: https://cornerstone.dangillmor.com
Contact me: https://dangillmor.com/contact

Public Key

npub1ry2mcdygmcufem93yun6cqvl8q6weyqa8zfyud6ys0kuyr7paaesekma3q

NIP-05 Address

dangillmor_at_mastodon.social@momostr.pink

Profile Code

nprofile1qqspj9duxjyduwyuajcjwfavqx0nsd8vjqwn3yjwxazg8mwzplq77ucprpmhxue69uhhyetvv9ujumt0d4hhxarj9ecxjmntqywhwumn8ghj7mn0wd68yttsw43zuam9d3kx7unyv4ezumn9wsglhxmj

Publishing to

relay.momostr.pink

nostr-pub.wellorder.net

yabu.me

Author Public Key

npub1ry2mcdygmcufem93yun6cqvl8q6weyqa8zfyud6ys0kuyr7paaesekma3q

Show more details

Last Notes

2025-08-14 23:39:49 UTC

Techie friends: I bought a miniPC that I plan to turn into a home NAS. Recommendations on best software for this? Ease of use and security are top of mind.

2025-07-04 00:28:30 UTC

This is the saddest July 4 in my memory. The United States is plunging into vile right-wing dictatorship, in large part because once-vital institutions -- including Big Journalism -- have chosen to be quislings when courage was needed.
It's not too late to reverse our decline, but it's close.

2025-07-02 02:54:49 UTC

"Aaron’s work on ICEBlock stands in contrast to the support that some leaders in Silicon Valley have shown to Trump, including by donating to and attending his inauguration."
https://www.cnn.com/2025/06/30/tech/iceblock-app-trump-immigration-crackdown

2025-06-13 04:59:59 UTC

This stuff makes you -- or should make you -- ashamed as an American. https://www.newschannel5.com/news/newschannel-5-investigates/middle-tennessee-family-torn-apart-after-ice-highway-patrol-checkpoint-looking-for-color-of-skin-wife-says

2025-04-16 09:23:51 UTC

Is there any confirmation that Bluesky has obeyed Turkish government order to shut down accounts or access there? I've seen purported screenshots but I haven't seen anything that looks "official" --

2025-03-26 09:53:07 UTC

I just spent an hour in a browser without an ad blocker, visiting various news sites, and the experience was beyond awful -- constant interruptions and annoying ad placement forcing me to reduce or remove the ads.
I want to support journalism, so I donate/subscribe to many good orgs. But I also use Firefox loaded up with blockers.
Hoping Mozilla doesn't pull a block-the-blockers Google on us, though its recent moves are not promising.

2025-01-31 23:35:37 UTC

Elon Musk and his fascist friends now have control over government payment systems and databases that, if misused, could destroy countless lives.
To call this a clear and present danger to the nation understates the case.
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/musk-aides-lock-government-workers-out-computer-systems-us-agency-sources-say-2025-01-31/

2025-01-28 12:09:22 UTC

Before Google decided to let extremists rename bodies of water, it used common sense.
From 2008: "...if a ruler announced that henceforth the Pacific Ocean would be named after her mother, we would not add that placemark unless and until the name came into common usage."
https://publicpolicy.googleblog.com/2008/04/how-google-determines-names-for-bodies.html

2025-01-22 06:39:48 UTC

To argue about whether Musk made a Nazi salute is beyond futile. It is stupid. Don't waste your time.
Instead, if you are still on Twitter, leave now and tell people who know who are still there that you will respect them less if they stay.
If you were planning to buy an EV, don't consider Tesla.
If you own a Tesla, sell it.
Tell your legislators to push NASA, the FAA, et al to stop handing so much money and power to SpaceX.
Act.

2025-01-21 01:52:13 UTC

So one of Trump's first actions was to pardon everyone who tried to violently overthrow the United States government four years ago.
Think about that, journalists, as you continue to normalize a regime that plans to wipe out what you do (if you do it with integrity, that is).

2025-01-21 01:41:47 UTC

As @npub1fdr…lvhs advised a few days ago, Canada has a PERFECT weapon at its disposal to fight back against Trump tariffs:
Punish the "intellectual property" cartel by giving people a way to jailbreak everything.
https://pluralistic.net/2025/01/15/beauty-eh/#its-the-only-war-the-yankees-lost-except-for-vietnam-and-also-the-alamo-and-the-bay-of-ham

2024-11-30 00:45:02 UTC

Australia's under-16 ban on social media isn't just absurd. It's dangerous in almost every way.
It denies a parental role in child-raising.
It's a gift to the media barons, especially the Murdochs, who control legacy media and will profit hugely.
And it is huge step toward government control of speech of all kinds, because age requirements require age verification.
Age verification blows away all privacy. it amounts to a license to read and speak.
And licenses can be taken away.

2024-11-23 00:48:22 UTC

@npub13ye…fhsw is one of the most tech-savvy and energy-savvy members of Congress. He's here -- and active -- on Mastodon. I recommend you follow him.

2024-10-07 16:18:27 UTC

Google is proud that it's using generative "AI" to design microprocessors. So software that spews out garbage is the perfect tool for this, really?
https://deepmind.google/discover/blog/how-alphachip-transformed-computer-chip-design/

2024-08-29 16:03:28 UTC

“But there is also some good news: The country is now in far better shape to avoid the kind of protracted mess we saw in 2020. The fact that we are no longer facing the emergency demands of a pandemic is a big help, but no less important are the electoral guardrails that have been put in place since then.”
That's Rick Hasen, election law expert. Unfortunately he wrote it for the paywalled Wall Street Journal.
What a terrible choice of outlets for a democracy activist.

2024-08-22 18:22:52 UTC

- reply

This is a good point. I'm not sure what I can do about it, but I'm looking into the issue. @npub16nr…879s

2024-08-21 16:47:22 UTC

In an otherwise fine commentary pointing out Trump's pathological lying about crime, the Washington Post never uses the word "lie" -- https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/08/21/trump-crime-fear/

2024-08-21 16:43:23 UTC

Wall Street banks have realized what suckers Elon Musk made of them in the Twitter buyout. https://www.techdirt.com/2024/08/21/banks-realize-backing-elons-twitter-buyout-is-close-to-the-worst-buyout-of-all-time/

2024-08-21 15:24:05 UTC

- reply

Law enforcement people love Trump because his policy is to let police do anything they want, anytime they want. (Unless it's to bring to justice his violent mobs...) @npub1aqs…nar4

2024-08-20 23:21:03 UTC

Big fact-checking operation headline: "Kamala Harris says Donald Trump ‘intends to cut’ Medicare. This ignores Trump’s repeated pledges."
It should have added to that headline:
"This fact-check ignores Trump's repeated lies about almost everything."

2024-08-20 19:48:40 UTC

Disney, endlessly lampooned for its streaming "terms of service" refuge in a restaurant lawsuit (plaintiff was grievously injured), backs down before a judge slaps it down. https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2024/08/disney-stops-claiming-disney-terms-require-arbitration-in-allergy-death-case/

2024-08-20 18:07:32 UTC

Big Journalism is engaged in a parody of fact checking at this point.
Trump gets ho-hum corrections -- often granularly parsed to give him endless benefits of the doubt -- and the fact-checkers don't even pretend to get to every lie.
Democrats get granular parsing, too. But the goal is to find falsehoods and never, ever give the benefit of the doubt.
Fact-checking is a sadly broken both-sides (even when one is lying) enterprise.

2024-08-20 16:56:24 UTC

Of course RFKjr and his running mate -- virulent anti-vaxxers -- are looking at endorsing Trump, whose contempt for public health took countless lives and will, if he gets back in power, consume countless more.
https://www.cnbc.com/2024/08/20/rfk-jr-campaign-trump-alliance-shanahan.html

2024-08-20 04:33:04 UTC

Maureen Dowd isn't just a raging hypocrite. She's illiterate. She doesn't know what a coup is. And she was one of the countless NY Times people yelling at Biden to drop out.
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/992/474/454/104/476/original/a4f74a5b069f1957.png

2024-08-20 03:15:35 UTC

Are the Dems really going to put Biden on after midnight Eastern time?

2024-08-20 00:11:54 UTC

Right-wing media is just aching for a repeat of the 1968 Democratic convention violence.
Example from the Murdoch family's Fox "News" -- headline is "DNC host Chicago, haunted by 1968 convention rioting, braces for bloodshed"
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/991/448/916/653/152/original/49db8b9220667251.png

2024-08-19 20:49:29 UTC

The Republican Party is using every trick in the book to torpedo Harris, including support for a third-party candidate who will take votes only from Harris.
https://apnews.com/article/republican-lawyers-cornel-west-arizona-88cd1b4f698715a3071a93b5e1526074

2024-08-16 23:01:12 UTC

The Washington Post editorial page has definitely moved to the right in recent years. Its trashing of Harris' (admittedly not perfect) economic plan is shallow, and mostly wrong. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/08/16/harris-economy-plan-gimmicks/

2024-08-16 21:42:48 UTC

If Harris said something as disgusting as Trump's dunking today on Medal of Honor winners, Big Journalism wouldn't stop talking about it for WEEKS.
Trump's vile statement is getting the denunciation it deserves today.
But I guarantee that our political press will decide it's old news by tomorrow, or Monday at the latest.
https://www.militarytimes.com/news/pentagon-congress/2024/08/16/trump-belittles-medal-of-honor-award-in-campaign-speech/

2024-08-16 15:58:36 UTC

Latest reminder that if you buy something that the maker calls "smart" you are setting yourself up for being ripped off.
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024/08/smart-sous-vide-cooker-to-start-charging-2-month-for-10-year-old-companion-app/?utm_brand=arstechnica&utm_social-type=owned&utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social
I go out of my way to avoid "smart" stuff -- but it's increasingly difficult to find.
Someone will make a lot of money when they open a store that sells things that purchasers fully own.

2024-08-16 15:23:39 UTC

I realize this is a sign of aging, but some of the activities that have become Olympic "sports" are just ludicrous.

2024-08-15 21:08:12 UTC

A horrible flaw on ALL Google Pixel phones leaves them open to exploits by bad actors. Naturally, Google is pointing the finger at other people. What a shabby response.
https://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/security-experts-just-found-a-massive-flaw-with-google-pixel-phones/

2024-08-15 16:27:33 UTC

Pretty evil, I would say, for Eric Schmidt -- former Google CEO -- to be this brazen about how Big Tech sees the rest of the world, as a resource to be plundered.
https://www.theverge.com/2024/8/14/24220658/google-eric-schmidt-stanford-talk-ai-startups-openai

2024-08-15 16:25:44 UTC

Harris' (apparent) proposal to make a crime out of grocery "price gouging" could be a major unforced error.
The details will tell us, but we haven't seen an actual plan yet.
What we need is to break up the monopolies and cartels that run pretty much every sector of our economy and restore true competition.
Granular interference with markets won't cut it.

2024-08-15 15:27:09 UTC

When I stopped being active at Twitter, I had more than 45,000 followers and a moderate amount of engagement (replies, retweets, etc.).
I have a third fewer followers here, and at least 10 times the genuine engagement. Sure, some bots, but most of it is genuine -- and useful.
I no longer see what (some) people I respect are saying publicly. I miss their thoughts, and wish they'd recognize that by staying active there they are supporting a dangerous extremist.
They feel trapped. They're not.

2024-08-11 22:05:59 UTC

It's beyond comprehension that, less than two weeks after a blockbuster Washington Post report -- which strongly suggests Trump took a $10 million bribe from a foreign government during the 2016 election -- other Big Journalism organizations have made clear their indifference, by not following up.
No, sorry, it's not beyond comprehension at all. It's just what you'd expect from journalists at this point.

2024-07-03 12:58:46 UTC

- reply

Meanwhile, the Times continues its full-court press to force Biden off the Democratic ticket.
Home page is dominated, once again, by the paper's campaign to decide for all of us who gets to run.
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/722/671/873/762/536/original/f32769c9b46398fa.png

2024-06-24 02:22:38 UTC

A friend who says he/she's expressing displeasure with Biden by voting for RFKjr, Jill Stein, Cornell West, or any other third-party candidate in this year's presidential election will no longer be a friend.
They'll have all kinds of twisted logic explaining that they're doing something honorable. But the reality is pretty simple: Those votes for spoilers are effectively votes for Trump.

2024-06-21 04:41:22 UTC

Stanford University's contempt for journalism it doesn't like is on full display here.
Just reprehensible, and it should put to rest some of the longstanding mythology about the school's political leanings. https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/stanford-presses-prosecution-student-journalist-19523761.php