Founder and President of Civilytics Consulting | Political Science Ph.D. | Specializing in data viz 📊, policy research, and data analysis of US public data with a side of public finance 💸 | 🎸 📷 🖥️ self-hoster and active de-googler | Boston, MAhttps://bsky.app/profile/jaredknowles.comhttps://bsky.app/profile/jaredknowles.com/post/3mx3pcp5y772hSpent more time than I want to admit cleaning out dust and dead bugs from my server enclosure today. I’ve had some high temp alerts lately and I’m concerned about one drive in my ZFS pool so I’m hoping adding some airflow will keep things running until HDD prices come back down. https://jaredknowles.com/takes/2026-10-04-205018/05 Oct 2026 00:54 +0000at://did:plc:erfdomqnsys3dcaweevtclxl/app.bsky.feed.post/3mx3pcp5y772hhttps://bsky.app/profile/jaredknowles.com/post/3mwz54fymfv2yWhy hello there! Today was a great day to get out and ride. Perfect weather and the foliage was looking sharp! 🔗04 Oct 2026 00:23 +0000at://did:plc:erfdomqnsys3dcaweevtclxl/app.bsky.feed.post/3mwz54fymfv2yhttps://bsky.app/profile/jaredknowles.com/post/3mwz4wzwkyw22Took a ride today along a rail trail and had some stunning river views and this quintessential New England scene. That's me on the bike. 🔗04 Oct 2026 00:20 +0000at://did:plc:erfdomqnsys3dcaweevtclxl/app.bsky.feed.post/3mwz4wzwkyw22https://bsky.app/profile/jaredknowles.com/post/3mwsvqthq7k2jAmen [contains quote post or other embedded content]01 Oct 2026 12:55 +0000at://did:plc:erfdomqnsys3dcaweevtclxl/app.bsky.feed.post/3mwsvqthq7k2jhttps://bsky.app/profile/jaredknowles.com/post/3mwnvjpnpkq2tAs someone who has immediate family struggling with mental health disorders, this profile was compassionate and very real feeling. It is hard to describe the ups and downs, day by day, but Brendan Quinn’s writing nails it. Much 💝 to Duncan and his family. 🔗 https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7617243/2026/09/23/nba-detroit-pistons-duncan-robinson-brother-mental-health/?unlocked_article_code=1.E1E.Uhle.FQmhO22dHmLO&source=athletic_user_shared_gift_article_copylink&smid=url-share-ta29 Sep 2026 13:08 +0000at://did:plc:erfdomqnsys3dcaweevtclxl/app.bsky.feed.post/3mwnvjpnpkq2thttps://bsky.app/profile/jaredknowles.com/post/3mwliblmpr226A really interesting "meta-analysis light" approach to summarizing evidence. It reminds me of work eliciting priors, which would be helpful to local evaluators as baseline before doing internal evals. Context matters so much in education as do the biases of the experts polled. [contains quote post or other embedded content]28 Sep 2026 14:05 +0000at://did:plc:erfdomqnsys3dcaweevtclxl/app.bsky.feed.post/3mwliblmpr226https://bsky.app/profile/jaredknowles.com/post/3mwchahbils24Took some time today to get out in nature and see some of the great open spaces near my own backyard. This is the Great Meadows Wildlife Reserve! https://jaredknowles.com/shots/2026-09-24-sunshine-before-the-storm/24 Sep 2026 23:53 +0000at://did:plc:erfdomqnsys3dcaweevtclxl/app.bsky.feed.post/3mwchahbils24https://bsky.app/profile/jaredknowles.com/post/3mw7xkldv2g2zSaw Brandon Flowers, whose new album Thrasher is great, was playing down the road from me tonight. Grabbed a last minute ticket and hopped on my bike and it's time to rock! https://jaredknowles.com/shots/2026-09-23-wednesday-night-at-the-rock-show/24 Sep 2026 00:07 +0000at://did:plc:erfdomqnsys3dcaweevtclxl/app.bsky.feed.post/3mw7xkldv2g2zhttps://bsky.app/profile/jaredknowles.com/post/3mw6pojvaun2zTarrant County's 300-page budget landed six days before the only hearing on it. A speaker gets three minutes, cut to two if 30 people register and one if 50 do. The better attended the hearing, the less each person can say. We drafted 10 comments so the group could make 10 arguments. https://civilytics.com/newsletter/summer-of-budget-reviews/23 Sep 2026 12:13 +0000at://did:plc:erfdomqnsys3dcaweevtclxl/app.bsky.feed.post/3mw6pojvaun2zhttps://bsky.app/profile/jaredknowles.com/post/3mw4fq3pbnl2jThis article in the Economist gets to a layer of AI discourse that seems completely absent. Workers by the thousands are using AI to file administrative claims against their employers in Britain, putting a previously overly burdensome legal remedy in their hands. Sorry for the paywall, but thi... 🔗 https://www.economist.com/britain/2026/08/06/the-tragedy-of-the-commons-ai-edition22 Sep 2026 14:10 +0000at://did:plc:erfdomqnsys3dcaweevtclxl/app.bsky.feed.post/3mw4fq3pbnl2jhttps://bsky.app/profile/jaredknowles.com/post/3mw2xzggixc2zComment on Education Department General Administrative Regulations (EDGAR, 2026) The proposed changes in EDGAR would harm small businesses like mine and hurt innovation in education research. Register your opposition to the further politicization of education research today. https://jaredknowles.com/posts/edgar-comments-2026/22 Sep 2026 00:32 +0000at://did:plc:erfdomqnsys3dcaweevtclxl/app.bsky.feed.post/3mw2xzggixc2zhttps://bsky.app/profile/jaredknowles.com/post/3mw24ecfczf2eMaureen Tkacik wrote the heck out of this piece which explains the collusion, consolidation, and consumer exploitation at the root of the censorship of Macklemore. The roots run deep and old, but there is hope that the public is showing we’re fed up! 🔗 https://prospect.org/2026/09/19/macklemore-ed-sheeran-palestine-israel-nfl-live-nation/21 Sep 2026 16:17 +0000at://did:plc:erfdomqnsys3dcaweevtclxl/app.bsky.feed.post/3mw24ecfczf2ehttps://bsky.app/profile/jaredknowles.com/post/3mvpyk23gqb2iScenes from Posit Conf https://jaredknowles.com/shots/2026-09-17-scenes-from-posit-conf/17 Sep 2026 15:42 +0000at://did:plc:erfdomqnsys3dcaweevtclxl/app.bsky.feed.post/3mvpyk23gqb2ihttps://bsky.app/profile/jaredknowles.com/post/3mvo2brc7lc27One of my favorite talks of the whole conference! [contains quote post or other embedded content]16 Sep 2026 21:07 +0000at://did:plc:erfdomqnsys3dcaweevtclxl/app.bsky.feed.post/3mvo2brc7lc27https://bsky.app/profile/jaredknowles.com/post/3mvnwhqrpx22sI loved this talk. Mirai reinvented my workflow and mori looks like another huge level up! Thank you [contains quote post or other embedded content]16 Sep 2026 19:59 +0000at://did:plc:erfdomqnsys3dcaweevtclxl/app.bsky.feed.post/3mvnwhqrpx22shttps://bsky.app/profile/jaredknowles.com/post/3mvnj2zztu22fIncredibly impressive project. Excited to collaborate with non-Quarto users much more seamlessly! [contains quote post or other embedded content]16 Sep 2026 15:59 +0000at://did:plc:erfdomqnsys3dcaweevtclxl/app.bsky.feed.post/3mvnj2zztu22fhttps://bsky.app/profile/jaredknowles.com/post/3mvnf64oewj2zWes McKinney’s keynote at #positconf2026 is 🔥 The idea of a clanker constitution is one I’ve been working on as well, but not as elegant. Luckily he’s sharing it so we can read and learn from it. 🔗 https://github.com/kenn-io/constitution16 Sep 2026 14:50 +0000at://did:plc:erfdomqnsys3dcaweevtclxl/app.bsky.feed.post/3mvnf64oewj2zhttps://bsky.app/profile/jaredknowles.com/post/3mvlnbjzqks2eGreat keynote by @christinezhang.bsky.social at #positconf2026 giving us the behind the scenes story of the NYT election needle and laying out the many angles to consider when "squaring the circle" of visualizing data uncertainty for a broad audience. Thank you!15 Sep 2026 22:09 +0000at://did:plc:erfdomqnsys3dcaweevtclxl/app.bsky.feed.post/3mvlnbjzqks2ehttps://bsky.app/profile/jaredknowles.com/post/3mvljpkhu7s2iReally enjoying day 1 of #positconf2026. Lots of great ideas being shared. I definitely need to dig in on ShinyChat and data-dict to make public data more accessible. https://jaredknowles.com/shots/2026-09-15-posit-conf-2026-houston-2/15 Sep 2026 21:06 +0000at://did:plc:erfdomqnsys3dcaweevtclxl/app.bsky.feed.post/3mvljpkhu7s2ihttps://bsky.app/profile/jaredknowles.com/post/3mvl7btdgi227Hey #positconf2026 here's a data source you might find useful to connect with or for your next training! If you want to learn more about the way public money has been used in your community over time - check it out! [contains quote post or other embedded content]15 Sep 2026 17:59 +0000at://did:plc:erfdomqnsys3dcaweevtclxl/app.bsky.feed.post/3mvl7btdgi227https://bsky.app/profile/jaredknowles.com/post/3mvi3drxrk22zThis might be particularly interesting for #PositConf2026 attendees to check out. What does your usage look like on a typical project? What tools am I missing out on? [contains quote post or other embedded content]14 Sep 2026 12:10 +0000at://did:plc:erfdomqnsys3dcaweevtclxl/app.bsky.feed.post/3mvi3drxrk22zhttps://bsky.app/profile/jaredknowles.com/post/3mvi25flh2q2iA case study in agentic data science: building the Census of Governments API Six weeks, roughly 100 human hours, 167 hours of agent time and 6.88 billion tokens went into turning 56 years of Census of Governments finance data into a queryable API. Here is what that actually cost, measured fro... 🔗 https://civilytics.com/newsletter/case-study-agentic-data-science-cog-api/14 Sep 2026 11:49 +0000at://did:plc:erfdomqnsys3dcaweevtclxl/app.bsky.feed.post/3mvi25flh2q2ihttps://bsky.app/profile/jaredknowles.com/post/3mvg5bdyen32aI really enjoyed rraxijf the ASA Nation’s Data At Risk 2025 report. I’m very late to the party reading it but it does such a valuable service. I’ll have more to say from it soon, but great work by the authors and ASA for bringing it together. https://jaredknowles.com/takes/2026-09-13-123524/13 Sep 2026 17:40 +0000at://did:plc:erfdomqnsys3dcaweevtclxl/app.bsky.feed.post/3mvg5bdyen32ahttps://bsky.app/profile/jaredknowles.com/post/3mvbrmnp45h2zFollow the Money: Opening 56 Years of the Fiscal Record of Our Democracy The U.S. Census Bureau has recorded what every state, county, city and township raises and spends since 1967, and it has been effectively out of reach. Today we are re-releasing it as a free API, an interactive explorer... 🔗 https://civilytics.com/newsletter/follow-the-money-fiscal-record-of-our-democracy/12 Sep 2026 00:00 +0000at://did:plc:erfdomqnsys3dcaweevtclxl/app.bsky.feed.post/3mvbrmnp45h2zhttps://bsky.app/profile/jaredknowles.com/post/3mvas346fl224Going to my first one live and I'm very excited! [contains quote post or other embedded content]11 Sep 2026 14:36 +0000at://did:plc:erfdomqnsys3dcaweevtclxl/app.bsky.feed.post/3mvas346fl224https://bsky.app/profile/jaredknowles.com/post/3mvahtbbomf2jThe East Bay bike path in Rhode Island is a wonderful 14mile ride that includes this fun piece of public art. https://jaredknowles.com/shots/2026-09-11-the-east-providence-troll/11 Sep 2026 11:33 +0000at://did:plc:erfdomqnsys3dcaweevtclxl/app.bsky.feed.post/3mvahtbbomf2jhttps://bsky.app/profile/jaredknowles.com/post/3mv6sntqo2n2eFollow the Money: Opening 56 Years of the Fiscal Record of Our Democracy The U.S. Census Bureau has recorded what every state, county, city and township raises and spends since 1967, and it has been effectively out of reach. Today we are re-releasing it as a free API, an interactive explorer... 🔗 https://civilytics.com/newsletter/follow-the-money-fiscal-record-of-our-democracy/10 Sep 2026 19:41 +0000at://did:plc:erfdomqnsys3dcaweevtclxl/app.bsky.feed.post/3mv6sntqo2n2ehttps://bsky.app/profile/jaredknowles.com/post/3mv24nlettx2lWhat ten models say about Paterson's zero arrests Ten Bayesian models, one case study: what Paterson, NJ’s own arrest history says about whether its reported zero for 2021-22 is real. https://civilytics.com/newsletter/misreported-zeros-analytic/08 Sep 2026 22:57 +0000at://did:plc:erfdomqnsys3dcaweevtclxl/app.bsky.feed.post/3mv24nlettx2lhttps://bsky.app/profile/jaredknowles.com/post/3muki6y2jqo2lSaw Coyote vs. ACME last night - it was wonderful. I take to heart its message of perseverance and the importance of trying looking at our primary election results in MA. We need more bold challengers! All the credit to those who took on incumbents, except Seth of course. https://jaredknowles.com/takes/2026-09-02-133628/02 Sep 2026 17:41 +0000at://did:plc:erfdomqnsys3dcaweevtclxl/app.bsky.feed.post/3muki6y2jqo2l