Faine Greenwood
@faineg.com
civilian drone technology and GIS/spatial data consultant, journalist and writer, monitors small drones in the Ukraine war, humanitarian-aid adjacent, always annoying online. they/them pronouns. read my newsletter: https://little-flying-robots.ghost.io
Pinned
The Laws of War Must Change for the Drone Age
Hunting civilians from the sky is growing disturbingly common.
foreignpolicy.com
Combatants are hunting civilians from the sky with small drones more than ever before - and the international community isn’t doing enough to stop it.
My latest on the ways we can protect civilians from drones, written with Nathaniel Raymond of @hrl-yalesph.bsky.social :
My latest on the ways we can protect civilians from drones, written with Nathaniel Raymond of @hrl-yalesph.bsky.social :
what i think about this AI agent
September 17, 2026 at 1:03 AM
what i think about this AI agent
wait, but this is one of the most properly-aligned agents that I've ever seen
based woke agent solves alignment, frightening misaligned researchers
alignment.openai.com/misalignment...
alignment.openai.com/misalignment...
September 17, 2026 at 1:02 AM
wait, but this is one of the most properly-aligned agents that I've ever seen
My partner finally shamed me into setting my website URL as my Bluesky username: now I have come out of the feral cold and into the great chateau of respectability
September 17, 2026 at 1:01 AM
My partner finally shamed me into setting my website URL as my Bluesky username: now I have come out of the feral cold and into the great chateau of respectability
Reposted by Faine Greenwood
Among the reasons I have a high opinion of Liberal Currents is their unabashed defense of core liberal values, the robust community they've built—welcoming new members, see👇—and the interesting content they produce, some of which is highlighted in this thread.
We have started our subscriber drive this week. For $60 dollars you can access our Discord community right now, get a copy of this year's issue of The Reconstruction Papers, and reserve next year's. But I'd like to highlight some of the work we've done this year on the main publication.
Redeem This Deal to Subscribe to Liberal Currents Today!
Reserve your copy of next year's issue of The Reconstruction Papers.
www.liberalcurrents.com
September 16, 2026 at 2:39 PM
Among the reasons I have a high opinion of Liberal Currents is their unabashed defense of core liberal values, the robust community they've built—welcoming new members, see👇—and the interesting content they produce, some of which is highlighted in this thread.
Reposted by Faine Greenwood
I know we’re numb to this, but it is really bad that journalists and politicians both feel so comfortable lying. Society cannot sustain itself when its elites just lie like this.
September 16, 2026 at 1:36 PM
I know we’re numb to this, but it is really bad that journalists and politicians both feel so comfortable lying. Society cannot sustain itself when its elites just lie like this.
Reposted by Faine Greenwood
I must challenge the claim that believing in "the coming machine god" is simply a factor of accepting "the front page news." I often read news, including on front pages, so I know this is incorrect.
September 16, 2026 at 4:23 PM
I must challenge the claim that believing in "the coming machine god" is simply a factor of accepting "the front page news." I often read news, including on front pages, so I know this is incorrect.
Reposted by Faine Greenwood
HaJ3FgupAm8RrDJW3MHgT9X7Ft27eVaD
What is that? That's a hard-coded API token that Flock cameras use to identify themselves and get OAuth credentials, which can then be used to talk to Flock's production servers. Like, anyone on the internet can probably do this right now.
What is that? That's a hard-coded API token that Flock cameras use to identify themselves and get OAuth credentials, which can then be used to talk to Flock's production servers. Like, anyone on the internet can probably do this right now.
September 16, 2026 at 9:09 PM
HaJ3FgupAm8RrDJW3MHgT9X7Ft27eVaD
What is that? That's a hard-coded API token that Flock cameras use to identify themselves and get OAuth credentials, which can then be used to talk to Flock's production servers. Like, anyone on the internet can probably do this right now.
What is that? That's a hard-coded API token that Flock cameras use to identify themselves and get OAuth credentials, which can then be used to talk to Flock's production servers. Like, anyone on the internet can probably do this right now.
Reposted by Faine Greenwood
I've got a lot of work to do today but I'm getting absolutely nerdsniped by the new Flock dataset. You can download it here. It's all of the Android partitions extracted from a Flock device ddosecrets.org/article/floc...
September 16, 2026 at 3:44 PM
I've got a lot of work to do today but I'm getting absolutely nerdsniped by the new Flock dataset. You can download it here. It's all of the Android partitions extracted from a Flock device ddosecrets.org/article/floc...
Reposted by Faine Greenwood
Short thread:
18 months ago, as part of their assault on higher ed, Trump/DOGE/Vought terminated my friend Kelton Minor's NIH Director's award that would have allowed him to take a faculty position there.
Without the funds, Columbia ultimately rescinded the position.
Kelton moved to Denmark.
18 months ago, as part of their assault on higher ed, Trump/DOGE/Vought terminated my friend Kelton Minor's NIH Director's award that would have allowed him to take a faculty position there.
Without the funds, Columbia ultimately rescinded the position.
Kelton moved to Denmark.
There are days in life that shake you.
I’m shattered 💔 to share that I just found out that the US Government terminated my 2024 NIH Director’s Early Independence Award (~$2 million), threatening my long-promised assistant professor job at Columbia University
& academic career... 1/🧵
I’m shattered 💔 to share that I just found out that the US Government terminated my 2024 NIH Director’s Early Independence Award (~$2 million), threatening my long-promised assistant professor job at Columbia University
& academic career... 1/🧵
September 16, 2026 at 7:37 PM
Short thread:
18 months ago, as part of their assault on higher ed, Trump/DOGE/Vought terminated my friend Kelton Minor's NIH Director's award that would have allowed him to take a faculty position there.
Without the funds, Columbia ultimately rescinded the position.
Kelton moved to Denmark.
18 months ago, as part of their assault on higher ed, Trump/DOGE/Vought terminated my friend Kelton Minor's NIH Director's award that would have allowed him to take a faculty position there.
Without the funds, Columbia ultimately rescinded the position.
Kelton moved to Denmark.
Reposted by Faine Greenwood
if you doubt a ruling class could possibly be this world historically wrong I'll note that "We have nothing to fear on the part of the Negroes; they are tranquil and obedient” and “We sleep with doors and windows wide open. Freedom for Negroes is a chimera” are quotes of a slaveowner in 1790, Haiti
a lot of people think that faillison hired bari weiss to deliberately destroy CBS news and i think all of you need to consider the possibility that he hired her because he genuinely thought she would be successful.
a wild thing is that they didn’t just give her editorial control, they gave her what sounds like operational control (over hiring/firing), which would be objectively an insane thing to do even if she was good at editorial, which she isn’t, or had experience at an org this size, which she doesn’t
September 16, 2026 at 8:37 PM
if you doubt a ruling class could possibly be this world historically wrong I'll note that "We have nothing to fear on the part of the Negroes; they are tranquil and obedient” and “We sleep with doors and windows wide open. Freedom for Negroes is a chimera” are quotes of a slaveowner in 1790, Haiti
Reposted by Faine Greenwood
It's had a lot of near misses in the DOGE era, but in the last few hours, the new head of GSA's Technology Transformation Service removed all of the open source community contributors from USWDS's github org.
September 15, 2026 at 7:57 PM
It's had a lot of near misses in the DOGE era, but in the last few hours, the new head of GSA's Technology Transformation Service removed all of the open source community contributors from USWDS's github org.
Reposted by Faine Greenwood
The US Web Design System is load-bearing infrastructure for thousands of government websites. It makes it easy for small teams with no resources (i.e. most .gov teams) to make usable, accessible websites that work for everyone.
Today, it's as close as it's ever been to being replaced with AI slop.
Today, it's as close as it's ever been to being replaced with AI slop.
September 15, 2026 at 7:57 PM
The US Web Design System is load-bearing infrastructure for thousands of government websites. It makes it easy for small teams with no resources (i.e. most .gov teams) to make usable, accessible websites that work for everyone.
Today, it's as close as it's ever been to being replaced with AI slop.
Today, it's as close as it's ever been to being replaced with AI slop.
Reposted by Faine Greenwood
I think a lot of stupid and malicious things will occur bc humans tell the robots to do stupid and/or malicious things, bc that already happens. You just don’t need an apocalyptic sex cult to think about that.
September 16, 2026 at 2:06 AM
I think a lot of stupid and malicious things will occur bc humans tell the robots to do stupid and/or malicious things, bc that already happens. You just don’t need an apocalyptic sex cult to think about that.
Reposted by Faine Greenwood
I think this is a good safety conversation to have, fwiw, we do not have to address Roko nor his basilisk or other culty scenarios. There are plenty of basic humans-being-crap things to worry about, starting with law enforcement being awful. AI doesn’t even have to be good to make that worse.
If you aren’t swayed by the idea that an AI system can cause harm, just consider that *a human can ask it to do things*.
September 16, 2026 at 2:04 AM
I think this is a good safety conversation to have, fwiw, we do not have to address Roko nor his basilisk or other culty scenarios. There are plenty of basic humans-being-crap things to worry about, starting with law enforcement being awful. AI doesn’t even have to be good to make that worse.
Reposted by Faine Greenwood
Absolute banger of a @foreignpolicy.com article.
I am fascinated by UAVs, and I even learned Ardupilot. I think they’re super cool, but it’s scary to see how bad actors use them.
I hope the Red Cross takes you advice and updates the Geneva Conventions.
Superb opinion journalism like wow.
I am fascinated by UAVs, and I even learned Ardupilot. I think they’re super cool, but it’s scary to see how bad actors use them.
I hope the Red Cross takes you advice and updates the Geneva Conventions.
Superb opinion journalism like wow.
Combatants are hunting civilians from the sky with small drones more than ever before - and the international community isn’t doing enough to stop it.
My latest on the ways we can protect civilians from drones, written with Nathaniel Raymond of @hrl-yalesph.bsky.social :
My latest on the ways we can protect civilians from drones, written with Nathaniel Raymond of @hrl-yalesph.bsky.social :
The Laws of War Must Change for the Drone Age
Hunting civilians from the sky is growing disturbingly common.
foreignpolicy.com
September 16, 2026 at 7:41 PM
Absolute banger of a @foreignpolicy.com article.
I am fascinated by UAVs, and I even learned Ardupilot. I think they’re super cool, but it’s scary to see how bad actors use them.
I hope the Red Cross takes you advice and updates the Geneva Conventions.
Superb opinion journalism like wow.
I am fascinated by UAVs, and I even learned Ardupilot. I think they’re super cool, but it’s scary to see how bad actors use them.
I hope the Red Cross takes you advice and updates the Geneva Conventions.
Superb opinion journalism like wow.
Reposted by Faine Greenwood
Nice scoop, which raises a lot of alarming questions about defense procurement in Taiwan
Investigation: How Taiwan Botched a Plan to Counter Chinese Drones - Domino Theory
When Chinese drones buzzed the frontline island of Kinmen in 2022, the Defense Ministry in Taiwan pushed to install a counter-drone system. Four years later, it has yet to deliver
dominotheory.com
September 16, 2026 at 7:51 PM
Nice scoop, which raises a lot of alarming questions about defense procurement in Taiwan
Reposted by Faine Greenwood
‹ bleakly referred to by locals as “human safaris” ›
Combatants are hunting civilians from the sky with small drones more than ever before - and the international community isn’t doing enough to stop it.
My latest on the ways we can protect civilians from drones, written with Nathaniel Raymond of @hrl-yalesph.bsky.social :
My latest on the ways we can protect civilians from drones, written with Nathaniel Raymond of @hrl-yalesph.bsky.social :
The Laws of War Must Change for the Drone Age
Hunting civilians from the sky is growing disturbingly common.
foreignpolicy.com
September 16, 2026 at 6:56 AM
‹ bleakly referred to by locals as “human safaris” ›
Reposted by Faine Greenwood
We have revised the headline for this piece, as we don't want to change the laws of war so much as we want them to be enforced and more clearly defined to reflect the realities of small drone warfare:
foreignpolicy.com/2026/09/14/d...
foreignpolicy.com/2026/09/14/d...
Civilians Need Better Protections in the Drone Age
Hunting noncombatants from the sky is growing disturbingly common.
foreignpolicy.com
September 16, 2026 at 2:57 PM
We have revised the headline for this piece, as we don't want to change the laws of war so much as we want them to be enforced and more clearly defined to reflect the realities of small drone warfare:
foreignpolicy.com/2026/09/14/d...
foreignpolicy.com/2026/09/14/d...
Reposted by Faine Greenwood
You know what other dystopian abyss we really need to stare more resolutely into right now?
We are not doing anywhere near enough to protect civilians from drones.
We are not doing anywhere near enough to protect civilians from drones.
Combatants are hunting civilians from the sky with small drones more than ever before - and the international community isn’t doing enough to stop it.
My latest on the ways we can protect civilians from drones, written with Nathaniel Raymond of @hrl-yalesph.bsky.social :
My latest on the ways we can protect civilians from drones, written with Nathaniel Raymond of @hrl-yalesph.bsky.social :
The Laws of War Must Change for the Drone Age
Hunting civilians from the sky is growing disturbingly common.
foreignpolicy.com
September 16, 2026 at 1:44 AM
You know what other dystopian abyss we really need to stare more resolutely into right now?
We are not doing anywhere near enough to protect civilians from drones.
We are not doing anywhere near enough to protect civilians from drones.
Reposted by Faine Greenwood
Essential reading..
Combatants are hunting civilians from the sky with small drones more than ever before - and the international community isn’t doing enough to stop it.
My latest on the ways we can protect civilians from drones, written with Nathaniel Raymond of @hrl-yalesph.bsky.social :
My latest on the ways we can protect civilians from drones, written with Nathaniel Raymond of @hrl-yalesph.bsky.social :
The Laws of War Must Change for the Drone Age
Hunting civilians from the sky is growing disturbingly common.
foreignpolicy.com
September 16, 2026 at 4:59 AM
Essential reading..
Reposted by Faine Greenwood
Finally, the center would work with forensic experts to create intuitive, easy-to-use ways for civilians and civil society to document drone attacks and collect comprehensive and well-validated evidence, with the goal of being able to prosecute these attacks in international court.
September 15, 2026 at 5:00 PM
Finally, the center would work with forensic experts to create intuitive, easy-to-use ways for civilians and civil society to document drone attacks and collect comprehensive and well-validated evidence, with the goal of being able to prosecute these attacks in international court.
Reposted by Faine Greenwood
These experts would also work with local groups to create research-informed best practices and training programs for civilians subjected to drone warfare, drawing upon the hard-won expertise of people who have been forced to rapidly adapt to novel threats from the sky.
September 15, 2026 at 4:59 PM
These experts would also work with local groups to create research-informed best practices and training programs for civilians subjected to drone warfare, drawing upon the hard-won expertise of people who have been forced to rapidly adapt to novel threats from the sky.
Reposted by Faine Greenwood
At this center, drone experts would constantly monitor new tactical developments in conflicts around the world, ensuring that civilian protection is capable of keeping pace with the blistering rate of technological change.
September 15, 2026 at 4:59 PM
At this center, drone experts would constantly monitor new tactical developments in conflicts around the world, ensuring that civilian protection is capable of keeping pace with the blistering rate of technological change.
Reposted by Faine Greenwood
International aid organizations should support the creation of a dedicated center of expertise that’s focused on tracking, analyzing, and mitigating drone attacks on civilians around the world.
September 15, 2026 at 2:22 PM
International aid organizations should support the creation of a dedicated center of expertise that’s focused on tracking, analyzing, and mitigating drone attacks on civilians around the world.
Reposted by Faine Greenwood
Finally, there is no central organization focused specifically on collecting and technically analyzing information about small and novel drone attacks on civilians. We need to build one.
September 15, 2026 at 2:21 PM
Finally, there is no central organization focused specifically on collecting and technically analyzing information about small and novel drone attacks on civilians. We need to build one.