Quinn Norton

Writer, migrant, surprisingly nice in person. I write, these days mostly explainers. Old queer. I would rather be blocked than tone policed. It's all warnable content. More meme literate than I should be at this age. I mainly shitpost, then sometimes make you cry. ❤️
(I take #alt4u help, thanks)

Public Key

npub1edqzazcwr2zwnyc8aynukgnsx2zvlv5v8sg229yyrj7lgnq3pf2shuzgwg

NIP-05 Address

quinn@social-circl-lu.mostr.pub

Profile Code

nprofile1qqsvkspw3v8p4p8fjvr7jf7tyfcr9px0k2xrcy99zjzpe005fsgs54gpz4mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujumt0wd68ytnsw43qz9thwden5te0wfjkccte9ejxjar5duh8qatzn95k42

Publishing to

relay.mostr.pub

relay.ditto.pub

Author Public Key

npub1edqzazcwr2zwnyc8aynukgnsx2zvlv5v8sg229yyrj7lgnq3pf2shuzgwg

Show more details

Last Notes

2026-10-21 23:20:42 UTC

I went out to hang with the kids, and it got weird.
https://emptywheel.net/2026/10/20/la-france-beats-her-children/
France, ofc, it was France that got (bad) weird.

2026-10-15 08:05:58 UTC

Doing Trump's dirty work in Europe won't age well.
#nevent1q…dgt7

2026-10-09 15:01:44 UTC

For everyone whose answer to everything going on in America right now is a midterm election, do you think the problem with the Nazis was that not enough people voted?

2026-10-06 13:38:47 UTC

I'm trying to write a talk proposal for CCC but I'm just dreading everything. I'm so tired of AI nonsense.

2026-10-06 13:36:40 UTC

I feel like the Fates are trying to pass a message to me
https://social.circl.lu/system/media_attachments/files/117/394/230/241/902/244/original/58fc0edf60dbeb2e.jpg

2026-10-04 08:35:36 UTC

America needs a revolution but Americans are way too lazy and smug* to bother
*Except for the poor who are invited to just die in the streets.

2026-10-02 10:01:21 UTC

I'm starting to think the world is steadily reducing to the AI brained people and the horrified people.

2026-09-30 16:29:00 UTC

I feel like I just live in a continuous AI nonsense headache. Bill Gates recently called AI the most dangerous thing humans have ever gone near. He said this on planet Earth in the year of our Lord 2026. It's been a year of fires, floods, famine, really endless disaster. He said this against a backdrop of global warming, and even, if you can remember it, the ever present threat of nuclear weapon armageddon.

2026-09-28 08:12:52 UTC

This is just the worst time, and I remember the 80s.

2026-09-26 19:38:30 UTC

FUCKING CATNIP
#nevent1q…huh6

2026-09-25 13:36:04 UTC

These new holidays are getting niche
#nevent1q…k3nt

2026-09-24 10:50:49 UTC

Fuck, this AI nonsense is exhausting.

2026-08-29 12:55:53 UTC

This is a good thread.
#nevent1q…lurd

2026-08-29 10:13:17 UTC

So I am definitely shadow banned on Twitter/x, and it was light switch obvious. I had around 20k followers, and now I've got basically 2 or 3 people who occasionally interact with me. I get why, I'm not Elon Musk's biggest fan.
What's weirder is that it seems to be similar on Bluesky. I did criticize it early and had a falling out with the early community, but nothing directly with staff. But I am definitely just yelling into the void, basically just a few old friends interact with me there.

2026-08-28 14:48:10 UTC

So I have written about putting datacenters into low Earth orbit and it's a great idea! Just kidding it's idiotic how do these people even remember to breathe https://emptywheel.net/2026/08/28/datacenters-in-spaaaaaaace/

2026-08-24 00:55:02 UTC

- reply

@nprofile…524c punk got old and has joint problems now.

2026-08-23 23:55:07 UTC

- reply

@nprofile…524c Nothing Matters Let's Get Drunk On Methanol

2026-08-20 09:16:17 UTC

My cat is crawling up on my belly in the mornings and purring directly on my digestive system, so that's pretty much the only healthcare I'm getting in France right now for this SIBO.

2026-08-16 17:50:24 UTC

- reply

@nprofile…pfuj I like the idea of a discussion area, but dear lord not yt comments. It's an actual hard problem. The bad answer with much of nebula is that there is a discord channel.

2026-08-16 17:29:49 UTC

- reply

@nprofile…pfuj I really like nebula, because I am a nerd.

2026-08-16 14:36:34 UTC

Ok human, that's enough pets.
https://social.circl.lu/system/media_attachments/files/117/105/685/667/557/652/original/bca2ec83bd37b0b0.jpg

2026-08-14 08:40:54 UTC

I mean... No notes.
(Hat tip @nprofile…wd9k)
https://social.circl.lu/system/media_attachments/files/117/092/962/898/248/545/original/027413541ad9720d.png

2026-08-13 16:31:12 UTC

I did not enjoy Nolan's Odyssey, sad to say. As far as I am concerned, Nolan didn't understand his main character at all, and didn't even notice that Odysseus' whole thing is that he's clever. Even funny sometimes. Sympathetic, but also kind of a scamp. That's his flaw, that he's a scamp, and sometimes it gets him in trouble, and sometimes it gets him out of trouble.

2026-08-09 09:29:29 UTC

I keep thinking I should make plans to go back to America to do something helpful and I keep running into the fact that I hate that place and kind of want it to fall off the edge of the world.

2026-08-09 08:47:47 UTC

I know this is going to sound crazy but maybe the lesson of the Iran/USA/Russian/Ukraine/Gulf States/Israel/Lebanon/Yemen/Sudan/Greenland/Venezuela/Cuba global meltdown is that we should stop using fossil fuels.

2026-08-07 18:07:54 UTC

- reply

@nprofile…524c oh i think we know which way they're going to break. ICE is just practicing for the real job.

2026-08-07 01:40:07 UTC

I fondly remember my immediate reaction when I saw that first webpage:
"Why would anyone use this when there are perfectly good gopher servers out there?"
#nevent1q…yj58

2026-08-02 21:53:03 UTC

- reply

@nprofile…pfuj @nprofile…vvgx but if you believe that whatever the outcome it's inherently superior, you're happy to accept the death and suffering for superior genes. It becomes a feature not a bug.

2026-08-02 00:10:18 UTC

- reply

@nprofile…pfuj we are none of us made of more than dirt

2026-08-02 00:05:01 UTC

- reply

@nprofile…pfuj it's kinda extra upsetting from him because he's supposed to care about climate change and poverty.

2026-08-01 18:54:41 UTC

When people on social media get extremely upset by dark jokes, l'm very 'oh you sweet summer child. If I tell you half of my life story you'll need to be institutionalized.'
In the meantime let me drink my wine.

2026-08-01 14:43:00 UTC

The best I can say about the last couple of months that I'm not dead yet.

2026-07-30 16:06:10 UTC

The whole Hugging Face/Openai thing just reeks of scam. It's a publicity stunt, it helps keep them in the media, trying to scare people into being wowed by their horrible next word picker.
folks are assuming that it must of happened... because they said so?
If it happened, it would be fucking CFAA felony.
And there's no way to know if it's totally cleaned up on HF's side, *that's not how compromises of infrastructure work*

2026-07-30 08:37:48 UTC

I've decided to just call myself an LLM vegan. I plan to be annoying as hell about it too.

2026-07-30 08:36:29 UTC

- reply

@nprofile…524c but have you considered the counter argument: we're in a trillion dollar hole and we have to use this shit for everything or people will notice the trillion dollar hole?

2026-07-29 11:14:17 UTC

I am fighting an ant invasion and all twisted up about how to get rid of them, but nicely if possible, thinking "what would @nprofile…pfuj do?"

2026-07-21 09:57:50 UTC

jesus fuck.
#nevent1q…mpum

2026-07-16 14:54:59 UTC

If there was something i could beam into the heads of all my fellow journalists, it's that polls are polls, and just polls. They can't peer into the collective soul of the people. They're not elections, sales figures, personality tests, cultural benchmarks, or some god-like insight into how the people will think and act.
They're polls, and they've been broken for a while, partly because everyone knows what a poll is. And most people don't love them.

2026-07-08 15:32:25 UTC

OMFG the Brits have the chance to do the funniest thing
Please come through guys, it would be amazing. Epic. It's the miracle we all need right now.
https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/uk-farages-election-gamble-could-see-him-face-one-challenger-count-binface-2026-07-08/
https://social.circl.lu/system/media_attachments/files/116/885/074/932/234/310/original/94b38e9344e254d5.png

2026-07-05 08:41:37 UTC

- reply

It's worthwhile to ask why so much of humanity is falling for this con right now. I suspect climate and a deep, even subconscious fear of there not being enough, of scrambling for survival against our neighbors.
Whatever is it, looking at America or Britain or even Russia and chalking up all the problems to the low character of the people isn't going to get you ready for this era of turmoil.
Look for solidarity, never give up on human rights, even for Americans.

2026-07-05 08:34:36 UTC

A lot of people acting like Trump is a uniquely American problem because of some integral flaw in the character of Americans. Folks sure aren't looking too close to their own right wings, which is how America got where it is now.
There is a general rise in stupid awful fascism around the world, and slagging off Americans as particular idiots isn't going to help you get ready to fight your own fascists. Especially when you realize they might be your neighbors or your kids.

2026-06-29 15:49:09 UTC

This belongs in the Louvre.
https://social.circl.lu/system/media_attachments/files/116/834/182/263/762/469/original/d42399597ed47fa2.png

2026-06-24 13:45:20 UTC

Ah, my Brits and weather. Back since twitter days I've tried to tell British people how to survive hot weather. And they always get very angry and yell at me.
See, when British people talk about the weather, they're talking about politics. When Southwesterners talk about the weather, they're talking about the weather, and the weather will kill you.
British people get mad at me for talking about the weather is a whole vibe in my life, going back to the 90s.

2026-06-21 00:18:15 UTC

We need to use the word indigenous more.
As in, the indigenous peoples of France favor cheese and wine as preservation techniques that also embody their cultural values. Even though these preserved and fermented edible items are often challenging to the modern tastes, these indigenous food preservation techniques were once vital to allow the simple people to provision themselves throughout the year.

2026-06-16 15:29:29 UTC

The most pro-USA, patriotic thing you can do as an American who loves their country is critisize the ever-living fuck out of it.
Never let the bastards tell you different.

2026-06-14 20:02:01 UTC

I was a blogger back in the 90s and I'm so confused by how much worse blogging and blogging software is now vs the last fucking century.

2026-06-14 10:15:20 UTC

I'm upset in this year of our lord people are *still* talking about the water waste of golf courses and lawns while eating beef, sending soy feed to China, and buying clothes they don't need.

2026-06-12 20:41:41 UTC

Not all heroes wear capes
#nevent1q…8w6u

2026-06-10 16:22:25 UTC

I don't know who needs to hear this, but journalists almost never write the headlines of their pieces.

2026-06-10 16:14:50 UTC

The longer I live away from America, the more American culture looks like an ecosystem of cults. The jobs are cults, the neighborhoods are cults, the politics are cultish, the grocery stores are tribally affiliated. Step out of line and your cult will punish you. Or, the cult you are physically geolocated with. In the case of homeowner associations, literally you will be punished. It's weird, and bad, and America should stop it. Land of the Free - as long as your life style pleases the HOA.

2026-06-05 12:48:52 UTC

- reply

@nprofile…acpk followup: are you from California or Florida or another FAFO region?

2026-06-05 12:41:41 UTC

Weird question: if/when you're looking at places to live, either buying or renting, would you examine the geology and/or flood maps?

2026-05-25 06:18:59 UTC

- reply

@nprofile…4nva "What do you call this act?"
"The Democrats!"

2026-05-19 09:07:10 UTC

Oh my fucking god. Great work as always, @nprofile…gu7x, but fuckin hell, man. USG is a clown shit show.
https://krebsonsecurity.com/2026/05/cisa-admin-leaked-aws-govcloud-keys-on-github/

2026-05-16 15:33:39 UTC

no post has ever made me feel more seen than this one.
https://social.circl.lu/system/media_attachments/files/116/584/974/984/573/183/original/c141e2334e71c9ff.png

2026-05-13 07:09:06 UTC

- reply

@nprofile…42mr keeps me busy.

2026-05-11 14:16:38 UTC

I have once again stumbled on people calling me a white supremacist again) for telling white people that yes, we are obligated to talk to and confront other white people's racism.
I get called terrible things for writing stuff like this https://medium.com/@quinnnorton/the-problem-with-white-shunning-56b67cc2d726
And I just think the other white people cancel me for calling them out.

2026-05-01 17:35:21 UTC

Happy Real Labor Day, everyone. Occupy the streets and man the barricades!
Here's a little but of the history they try to make sure you never learn in school:
https://medium.com/message/may-day-4ddceeae25ad

2026-04-25 18:37:39 UTC

- reply

@nprofile…rtl5 @nprofile…hmpg i literally started off saying age verification bad, but there is a real problem here. Algo feeds really do radicalize people and make them crazy. you are what you eat and that includes media.
the fact that people on big tech platforms are having their opinions and even realities shaped by shit like Facebook.. well. Facebook has at least one genocide on their tab, one that wouldn't have happened without their involvement... this is a real and global problem.

2026-04-25 08:48:22 UTC

- reply

@nprofile…hmpg @nprofile…rtl5 you guys had a valid experience, but increasingly this isn't how online community works for most young people. I met my people on the old internet, but now the internet is monitized and managed to the benefit of cyberpunk style megacorps that atomize and control people on the net. These days there's a lot more young people who go online, and instead of finding their people they end up radicalized or with eating disorders. Anything to keep them kids hooked on the product.

2026-04-24 08:30:49 UTC

I'm endlessly confused by the wave of legislation to ban children from accessing social media, rather than banning social media companies from harming children.
And yes I know Free Speech but now we know that we can torture and sicken people, including kids, in this medium. Some of the things we currently call Free Speech turn out to be poison, mental control, and torture.
At some point we have to separate the "innovation" from the digital lead and asbestos tech companies are feeding people.

2026-04-17 21:40:53 UTC

- reply

@nprofile…ryua I will pay any fine in a heartbeat if spider-verse breaks your rules 🏴

2026-04-06 16:40:32 UTC

My fellow journalists, I need you to stop talking about the Turing Test; it was never a good metric. Turing was a computer scientist, not a psychologist. ELIZA passed it, and also was a decent Person-centered therapy bot. Some people actually used it that way, even knowing it was a bot.
A) There are many paths to the top of a mountain, and
B) LLMs and other AIs aren't real girls and boys just because we feel they are.

2026-04-05 01:34:55 UTC

- reply

@nprofile…l2f6 oh no, what did I miss now

2026-03-19 13:29:44 UTC

Fun fact, (and you always know it's not a fun fact with me) the last republican to enter office as president with an *actual* majority of the votes was Reagan.

2026-03-19 10:52:35 UTC

Listen up, fellow honkies. You don't come for a mid-tier oldhead rapper. ALL HE HAS IS STANS.
https://apnews.com/article/afroman-police-raid-lawsuit-ohio-first-amendment-309accc1ce068620e19cfd7d0f70dae1

2026-03-16 18:05:46 UTC

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

2026-03-04 19:26:20 UTC

If the whole of Europe isn't in a civilizational mad dash for renewables within months I don't know what to tell you. It's going to get real rough and even more expensive to function.

2026-03-02 09:12:42 UTC

- reply

@nprofile…7kse as someone who has looked at horrible things professionally at times in my life, i'd like to echo and reinforce this. When I am looking at, writing about, analyzing suffering, violence, death etc I've already mentally prepared myself and i have methods of mode shifting. It's something I'm either doing or not doing. It's not casual, it's not data foraging. And I have exit activities.

2026-02-26 02:25:56 UTC

- reply

@nprofile…p3s8 @nprofile…p25k that is the best episode bar none and I can't watch it too often, it's too painful. DS9 was best trek, fight me 😁

2026-02-22 09:56:09 UTC

- reply

@nprofile…3qha the internet might have not been a good idea but here we are

2026-02-21 10:38:33 UTC

- reply

@nprofile…ryua it's definitely a signal though, if they're doing that, what the hell are they doing to their usual victims by now?

2026-02-18 01:34:37 UTC

- reply

@nprofile…pfuj They're all disposable to each other, all in a giant game of insecurity and status that drives them insane. None of them can sit quietly, by themselves, thinking, and just be ok, much less happy.

2026-02-16 20:17:51 UTC

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

2026-02-07 19:14:40 UTC

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

2026-02-02 19:04:29 UTC

- reply

@nprofile…ryua or might raise the profile, at a time when it's being suppressed by one of the world's historical enslavers?
I don't know, sometimes bandwagons help, sometimes they hurt, and I never know in advance. But I hope Europe keeps the faith while this white supremacism madness is going around.

2026-02-02 18:20:56 UTC

So my journalistic alma mater, Wired, has been doing great coverage. Last year they put out a video on how governments spy on protestors, and everything about it is technically superb (though it has been a while and it might be out of date.) It comprehensive look at surveillance at protests, and how to evade it.
But it missed an important political point: You go to a protest to make a political statement about your rights and desires.

2026-02-02 16:29:36 UTC

I have been invited to forgo my work day. Sigh.
https://social.circl.lu/system/media_attachments/files/116/001/980/421/493/776/original/d99c64b152c78d13.jpg

2026-02-01 23:26:10 UTC

- reply

@nprofile…ryua you woke up and chose violence, I see.

2026-01-17 21:19:37 UTC

- reply

@nprofile…suvt it wouldn't be going this well.

2026-01-11 19:34:11 UTC

In the great competition of best social media site between bsky, Mastodon, and X, I think we can all agree the true and undefeated winner is Tumblr.

2025-12-29 19:18:08 UTC

- reply

@nprofile…k72k @nprofile…0jjp my guess is neither is the original author, now that I'm paying attention to attribution 😂

2025-12-28 17:11:25 UTC

We've reached the point where people are sweetly offering to hang out with me in my hotel and I'm like I have the flu, fuck off everyone let me die quietly
And not spread this horrible no good very bad disease

2025-12-28 14:50:25 UTC

- reply

@nprofile…ekm4
1. One battle after another
2. Don't generally watch TV, probably would have been Fallout if LA hadn't burned down again
3. Diary of a Man in Despair
4. The FORCE
5. Does SNL count?
6. Close All Tabs
7. None, really, still want to go to Corsica though
8. Pokemon Go 10 years running 😂

2025-12-27 17:15:29 UTC

You know what no one needed? Liberal Twitter but with Merkel trees, unusable federation, and VC.

2025-12-24 02:12:35 UTC

The AI controversy is the loneliness crisis, the inequality crisis, and the education crisis stacked on each other, wearing a trenchcoat and a fedora.

2025-12-17 08:26:52 UTC

"Once again I am begging you not to create yet another Torment Nexus"

2025-12-07 11:32:12 UTC

Ouch
https://social.circl.lu/system/media_attachments/files/115/678/060/688/447/250/original/7d46c4aa39527b54.png

2025-11-23 09:39:16 UTC

- reply

@nprofile…e4ry I recently had a very similar catball experience
https://social.circl.lu/system/media_attachments/files/115/598/342/229/018/518/original/44f278b1d5a61e6b.jpg

2025-11-19 14:58:15 UTC

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."

2025-11-15 12:18:43 UTC

- reply

@nprofile…e4ry @nprofile…q502 I don't agree, mortgage deductions mean that renters are effectively subsidizing home owners, which is sucky.

2025-11-15 11:49:16 UTC

- reply

@nprofile…e4ry but it is one of those situations with transit improvement that everyone wants it in general, but not to be locally inconvenienced by someone actually coming in and doing it. Which is a hard problem no doubt! But you can't build new infrastructure in a city like NY without pissing off the locals 😂 (it's understandable given how disruptive it can be, buuut)

2025-11-15 11:43:59 UTC

- reply

@nprofile…e4ry fair! It's been a long time since I "lived" in New York. (I couldn't afford housing them)

2025-11-15 11:39:07 UTC

- reply

@nprofile…e4ry this can be helped by building housing and expanding public transit, but that's kind of a political non-stater in New York. Heck, most of America right now, but it does work.

2025-10-30 09:45:11 UTC

- reply

@nprofile…ekm4 typical heel behavior 😂

2025-10-28 09:59:17 UTC

Oh ffs, this is insane. Antifa foreign terrorist designation could completely fuck America.
https://one.npr.org/i/nx-s1-5587726:nx-s1-9508257

2025-10-26 11:37:35 UTC

- reply

@nprofile…e4ry they're targeting lonely people without community or social support. That's not you, but statistically that's most Americans, especially the young ones.

2025-10-25 12:35:13 UTC

- reply

@nprofile…ekm4 @nprofile…ekm4 ...honestly not sure you're missing much. 😬

2025-10-24 12:28:46 UTC

Unpopular opinion, but I don't care that much what they do with the Whitehouse, I'm much more concerned about what they're doing to the people and civil institutions while distracting us with the Whitehouse.

2025-10-23 19:07:15 UTC

Bsky is 'What if Twitter, but only the cancelling and bullying parts?'