Bob Downs

Bob Downs

@bobdowns.bsky.social

Sci-fi writer 🚀 AI fan 🤖 Web Dev BAS 💻 Wordplay 🔠 Pragmatic techno-optimist ⚖️ Future musings & dad jokes 👨‍💻😄 New Era Pathfinder 🧭🌠

81 followers219 following47 posts

Bob Downs reposted

Indivisible ❌👑
@indivisible.org

Thank you for showing up in historic numbers on this No Kings Day to promote early voting and defend our elections! Your signs were pretty good, too! ❌👑

Bob Downs
@bobdowns.bsky.social

The math feels slippery to me (confusing total daylight hours with peak sun hours, conflating collocated solar with grid-connected renewables), and the “500x larger footprint” framing seems designed more to mislead than inform.

Bob Downs
@bobdowns.bsky.social

Given your recent video on renewable energy misinformation, I’d love your take. x.com/object_zero_...

x.comObject Zero on X: "This 100MW data center in UAE is the largest solar powered datacenter in the world. There are currently 1,300 data centers in the world that are bigger than this one, but this one is the largest solar powered one. That’s 10 square kilometres of solar panels you can see. The https://t.co/KRXdjdYDHw" / XThis 100MW data center in UAE is the largest solar powered datacenter in the world. There are currently 1,300 data centers in the world that are bigger than this one, but this one is the largest solar powered one. That’s 10 square kilometres of solar panels you can see. The https://t.co/KRXdjdYDHw
Bob Downs
@bobdowns.bsky.social

Let’s make this happen everywhere! And they shouldn’t be allowed to detain children (except to keep families together) or use them as bait!!

Alt National Park Service@altnps.bsky.social

Physical intimidation and assaults are explicitly barred. If agents ignore these rules, they won’t be protected they’ll be arrested.

phillyvoice.comCity Council members lay out 'ICE Out' legislation that includes ban on agents wearing masksThe package of seven bills, which will be introduced this week, also prohibits city agencies from collaborating with ICE.

Bob Downs reposted

City of Minneapolis
@minneapolismn.gov

“ICE – Get the f*** out of Minneapolis.” There was a fatal shooting involving federal law enforcement that occurred earlier today in the area of 34th Street and Portland Avenue. We are demanding accountability, justice and the need to meet this moment with peace and unity.

Bob Downs
@bobdowns.bsky.social

Last night at 5:44 AM, I met the Mara for the first time. Sleep paralysis with full hallucinations—arms reaching up from beneath my mattress, wrapping around me from behind, immobilizing me. Ancient. Terrifying. Real. My Apple Watch told me what my body couldn't. Here's what happened 🧵

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Bob Downs
@bobdowns.bsky.social

I spent this morning researching rather than fearing. Learning her names. Understanding the physiology. Mapping my biometrics. The terror dissolved as knowledge replaced mystery. Tonight: early bed, saline rinse for my airways, glycine supplement, 10-hour sleep opportunity. She won't return.

Bob Downs
@bobdowns.bsky.social

Here's what I learned: explanation isn't exorcism, but understanding transforms terror into respect for what our bodies are telling us. The Mara is real—but only as a messenger. Have you met her? What was your experience? I'd love to hear your stories. #SleepParalysis

Bob Downs
@bobdowns.bsky.social

Last night at 5:44 AM, I met the Mara for the first time. Sleep paralysis with full hallucinations—arms reaching up from beneath my mattress, wrapping around me from behind, immobilizing me. Ancient. Terrifying. Real. My Apple Watch told me what my body couldn't. Here's what happened 🧵

View full thread
Bob Downs
@bobdowns.bsky.social

My Apple Watch revealed the perfect storm: Heart rate variability at 19ms (should be 50-70+)—extreme stress. Blood oxygen at 94-96% (borderline low). Sleep efficiency 60% (should be 85%+). I got 4.5 hours of fragmented sleep vs my 8-hour need. My nervous system was screaming while I slept.

Bob Downs
@bobdowns.bsky.social

What summoned her? Head/chest cold interfering with my sleep apnea treatment. Severe sleep deprivation. Went to bed at 12:40 AM instead of my usual 9:45 PM. And chronic stress—recent move, unemployment, mental health challenges. My body had been whispering for help. She made me listen by shouting.

Bob Downs
@bobdowns.bsky.social

Last night at 5:44 AM, I met the Mara for the first time. Sleep paralysis with full hallucinations—arms reaching up from beneath my mattress, wrapping around me from behind, immobilizing me. Ancient. Terrifying. Real. My Apple Watch told me what my body couldn't. Here's what happened 🧵

View full thread
Bob Downs
@bobdowns.bsky.social

She has many names: the Mara (Germanic/Scandinavian), the Night Hag (Newfoundland), Kanashibari (Japan), A Pisadeira (Brazil). She's the origin of the word "nightmare"—"night" + "mare" (Old English for crushing demon). Every culture that sleeps has a version of her. She's archetypal terror.

Bob Downs
@bobdowns.bsky.social

Sleep paralysis happens when your conscious mind wakes while your body's still in REM atonia—the natural paralysis that keeps you from acting out dreams. Your brain, confused and threatened by immobility, projects a danger to explain it. Enter: the entity holding you down. She's not real-but feels.

Bob Downs
@bobdowns.bsky.social

Last night at 5:44 AM, I met the Mara for the first time. Sleep paralysis with full hallucinations—arms reaching up from beneath my mattress, wrapping around me from behind, immobilizing me. Ancient. Terrifying. Real. My Apple Watch told me what my body couldn't. Here's what happened 🧵

Bob Downs
@bobdowns.bsky.social

I woke unable to move. On my back, fully conscious, but frozen. I felt distinctly female arms emerge from beneath me, encircling my torso from behind on either side. Not sitting on my chest—she was underneath, reaching up, wrapping around me like a suffocating embrace. I couldn't breathe right.

Bob Downs
@bobdowns.bsky.social

I would like to see this proliferate throughout society: At Virginia Wesleyan, a new neurodiversity center aims to support students www.whro.org/health/2025-... A first-of-its-kind center at Virginia Wesleyan University is offering neurodivergent students more than academic help.

whro.orgAt Virginia Wesleyan, a new neurodiversity center aims to support studentsA first-of-its-kind center at Virginia Wesleyan University is offering neurodivergent students more than academic help.

Bob Downs reposted

9to5Mac
@9to5mac.com

GIVEAWAY: To honor Memorial Day in the US, 9to5Mac and Grid Studio are giving away (5) Grid® 1 (iPhone 2G) frames — a tribute to the original iPhone. Open to everyone, worldwide. Closes 5/30. Winners announced 5/31. Enter here 👇 gleam.io/dDwOU/9to5mac-x-grid-memorial-day-giveaway

gleam.io9to5Mac x Grid Memorial Day Giveaway 🇺🇸To honor Memorial Day in the US, 9to5Mac and Grid Studio are giving away (5) Grid® 1 (iPhone 2G) frames! Open to everyone, worldwide. Closes 5/30. Winners announced 5/31.

Bob Downs reposted

Alt National Park Service
@altnps.bsky.social

Assuming this post today is aimed at us. The Trump admin changed the rules to make it easier to replace career federal employees with political loyalists. If you’re not alarmed by Trump’s post, you should be. This isn’t about policy it’s about control. It’s “do as I say, or you’re replaced.”

Bob Downs
@bobdowns.bsky.social

Of all the meditations I’ve done with this wonderful app over the past couple of months, this one - ironically - was the most difficult (this first time, anyway). I currently have such an enormous pull to be DOING constantly.

Bob Downs reposted

Bill Goodykoontz
@goodyk.bsky.social

Again, the willful ignorance it takes to make ANY of this work is staggering. I just don't get it. You have to believe the lies, which means you're lying to yourself. How humiliating. www.nytimes.com/2025/02/23/u...

nytimes.comTrump Uses Lies to Lay the Groundwork for Radical Change (Gift Article)Condoms for Gaza? Ukraine started the war with Russia? The president’s manipulations of the truth lay the groundwork for radical change.
Bob Downs
@bobdowns.bsky.social

“By leveraging the power of machine learning to interpret immune responses, Mal-ID has the potential to streamline the diagnostic process, potentially reducing the time and resources required for accurate disease identification across a wide range of conditions.” www.perplexity.ai/page/ai-tool...

perplexity.aiAI Tool Diagnoses Diabetes, HIV, and Covid-19Based on reports from Science, researchers have developed an innovative AI tool called Mal-ID that can diagnose multiple diseases, including COVID-19, type 1...

Bob Downs reposted

zelDemon
@zeldman.bsky.social

“The fact that Sam Altman can ship such mediocre software and get more coverage and attention than every meaningful scientific breakthrough of the last five years combined is a sign that our society is sick, our media is broken, and that the tech industry thinks we're all fucking morons.”

wheresyoured.atThe Generative AI ConIt's been just over two years and two months since ChatGPT launched, and in that time we've seen Large Language Models (LLMs) blossom from a novel concept into one of the most craven cons of the 21st ...