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Daniel Varghese

@drvarg01.bsky.social

🧑🏾‍💻 Menswear, gear, and urban design writer and editor 🚲 Subscribe to LEG DAY, my newsletter about the pursuit of joy as a city cyclist (https://legday.substack.com/)

105 Posts250 Follower209 Folgt
John Scalzi@scalzi.com · 6d ago

This is your occasional reminder that generative "AI" in particular could have been developed on public domain materials and/or licensed and compensated works but the major players intentionally, methodically and systemically chose to steal labor from working creative folks instead

Alejandra Caraballo@esqueer.net · 2mo ago

I've never seen such an effort to censor a document as I have the Amnesty International report on gender critical groups because of JK Rowling. They removed the report from the Wayback Machine and now I got a DMCA strike on my Google Drive for having it. It was deleted and removed from my account.

A screenshot of an email viewed in dark mode with the subject line "Google DMCA Violation." The email from Google informs the recipient that they have received a notification under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) that some of their materials allegedly infringe on copyrights. It explains the removal process, mentions that notice details will be posted on Lumen, warns against repeated violations, and lists one affected Google Drive URL at the bottomA nearly identical mobile browser screenshot of the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine. It shows a search for the same Amnesty International UK resources URL, resulting in the same message: "This URL has been excluded from the Wayback Machine."A mobile browser screenshot of the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine. A URL for an Amnesty International UK resources page is entered in the search bar, but the page displays the message: "This URL has been excluded from the Wayback Machine."
Daniel Varghese@drvarg01.bsky.social · 2mo ago

To celebrate LEG DAY hitting 1,000 subscribers, I'm hosting a group ride with CAMP YOSHI this weekend. We'll ride to the Rockaways, where the team will have a free beachside picnic waiting for us.

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Gravel Influencer@gravelinfluencer.bsky.social · 2mo ago

I feared this would be one of the effects of the e-bike moral panic: Disabled people losing access to a gamechanging piece of transportation technology. This is a great reminder of how disabled nondrivers are often completely absent from conversations and policy debates about transportation.

Jesse’s Rides specializes in selling e-bikes, e-trikes and scooters for people with mobility or other issues that would preclude them from obtaining a car driver’s license. The law has hit this community hardest because many who can’t pedal rely on throttle-controlled Class 2 e-bikes, which have to be insured and require a license, she said.The woman who returned her new e-bike has a vision issue and fears that this would prevent her from getting an e-bike license under the new law, since she doesn’t have a driver’s license. The law also unfairly affects people with medical issues who buy low-speed e-bikes with a throttle instead of a pedal-assist for use as transportation, Connor said. “There are disabled people losing jobs or who can’t get to school because of this dumb bill,” she said.
Larry Higgs@commutinglarry.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Unintended consequence of NJ's new e-bike law. Bike shop business is drying up as customers balk at the new law requirements www.nj.com/news/2026/08...

Daniel Varghese@drvarg01.bsky.social · 3mo ago

the promise of vibe coding is the ability to create something truly unique and specific to your needs ... the reality is dozens of websites for barely existing brands that look exactly the same

Alejandra Caraballo@esqueer.net · 4mo ago

I've spent the last two months putting together this exhaustive analysis of the New York Times coverage of trans people. It covers 3,242 articles over 12 years. In 2022, the NYT shifted towards a hostile stance towards trans people in their framing. www.thedissident.news/exclusive-ho...

Exclusive: How The New York Times Changed Its Coverage of Trans People

An exhaustive analysis of over 3,242 articles by the New York Times covering transgender issues from 2014-2026 revealed a stark shift towards hostile framing in 2022. In January 2015, the New York Ti...

thedissident.news

Michael Schulman@michaelschulman.bsky.social · 4mo ago

A data-driven analysis of how the New York Times's treatment of transgender subjects shifted "from rights-based framing toward more skeptical, conflict-driven coverage" since 2014, centering trans-rights opponents over trans people themselves. www.advocate.com/politics/nat...

The New York Times helped turn trans rights into political controversy, analysis finds

A new data investigation says the paper of record increasingly framed transgender rights as a debate instead of a lived reality.

advocate.com

Daniel Varghese@drvarg01.bsky.social · 4mo ago

the ads on the peacock feed for the dauphine*** are so constant the race is becoming unwatchable ... not looking good for the tour de france!! ***yes i know they changed the name but Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes just doesn't sound right yet

John Pfaff@johnpfaff.bsky.social · 4mo ago

As someone who regularly criticizes crime reporting, I want to highlight the good stuff when it happens. Like this. No equivocating in the post. Headline is clear. First paragraph blunt. Doesn’t quote the admin until paras 12-13, and explicitly notes that it’s evidence-free blather.

National Guard has done little to reduce violent crime in D.C., a new study finds JUNE 4, 2026 • 5:00 AM ET By Kat Lonsdorf National Guard members stand watch near the Lincoln Memorial on the morning of Memorial Day in Washington, DC, May 25, 2026. Alex Wroblewski/AFP via Getty Images President Trump's deployment of the National Guard in Washington, D.C. has reduced petty property crimes, but has had little to no effect on violent crime, despite the high cost to taxpayers, according to a new analysis from the nonpartisan think tank Niskanen Center.In response to NPR's request for comment about the study, White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said that it "should not be taken seriously." "The President's Safe and Beautiful Task Force and National Guard presence have driven down crime, beautified the city, and improved quality of life for countless individuals," Jackson said, without providing any evidence.
NPR@npr.org · 4mo ago

A new study has found that the National Guard's presence in Washington, D.C. had no effect on violent crime in the city. The Guard has been deployed since last August as part of a federal task force to fight crime, and their numbers are set to double in the coming weeks. n.pr/3PWDxqK

James Ball@jamesrball.com · 5mo ago

“These A.I. errors do not, in fact, diminish the larger questions that the book raises about truth, trust and A.I. and its impact on society, democracy and editorial" Certainly feels quite a *bold* approach to take.

Julia Carrie Wong@joolia.bsky.social · 5mo ago

"The author of a nonfiction book about the effects of artificial intelligence on truth acknowledged on Monday that he had included numerous made-up or misattributed quotes concocted by A.I." 🫠🫠🫠