Mathew Kiang

Distracted boyfriend meme. Boyfriend: "me". Girlfriend: "My 20 current projects that are 80% done." Other girl: "A new *fun* project with friends.

Why am I like this?

Users opt in and we use a smartphone app on their own devices so they can turn things on and off. Some users will request data deletion but mostly because we automatically delete their data if they don't open the app in a while. It's rare it's intentional but obviously respected when they do.

And obviously combine that with the expectation of privacy (the spatial data I have users consent to that data and we are clear we are collecting it so there's never an illusion of anonymity).

I think style is just one extracted feature. They also get the LLMs to find identifying terms like user school or subject of research, etc. I think most worrying is how little effort it takes to do tons of people. With spatial data, it's fairly easy but you need to be focused on one person/area.

Large-scale online deanonymization with LLMs We show that large language models can be used to perform at-scale deanonymization. With full Internet access, our agent can re-identify Hacker News users and Anthropic Interviewer participants at hig...

I've worked with enough individual-level spatiotemporal data to know how easy it is to reidentify somebody in a "deidentified" dataset but this paper is next level scary:

Packing for a work trip when your side hustle is Girl Scout Cookie Pusher:

homer simpson and bart simpson from the simpsons ALT: homer simpson and bart simpson from the simpsons

Highest number be measles cases *so far*.

JAMA RESEARCH LETTER shows US childhood vaccination exemptions. Maps show prepandemic(2010-2020) & postpandemic(2021-2024) rates by county; colors denote exemption % ranges. A graph shows county-level variation over 2 periods by state.

County-level data indicate a sharp rise in nonmedical childhood #vaccination exemptions in the US from 2010 to 2024, with post-pandemic rates highest in Utah, Idaho, Oregon, Wisconsin, and Arizona.

ja.ma/4qky0qM

a man with a mustache sits on a yellow swing ALT: a man with a mustache sits on a yellow swing

After weeks of playing together 30 minutes every night, the child finally beat her first video game and now is just walking around the house like Sad Pablo muttering "what do I do now" to herself.

Email body says: Regarding: Trends in County-Level Childhood Vaccination Exemptions in the US We are eliminating vaccines and prosecuting all of you mass murderers. Exemptions? You rotten mass murderers want us get "exemptions" from your poison injections?

🥰🤩✨ fan mail ✨🤩🥰

GitHub - mkiang/vaccine_exemptions Contribute to mkiang/vaccine_exemptions development by creating an account on GitHub.

Code: github.com/mkiang/vacci...

The letter was submitted long before the current South Carolina outbreak, but data show Spartanburg (where the outbreak is centered) has experienced an increase in exemption rates for years.

Vaccine policies work even if you don't see the consequences of their destruction until years later.

In a new, timely project led by @nathanlo.bsky.social, we collected vaccine exemption rates (mostly) at the county-level for nearly all states.

Now up at @jama.com: jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

This one might be of interest to demographers! On Wednesday Amy Mann will talk about her work (w/ me and @mathewkiang.com) on metrics for measuring the quality of cause of death data. We find huge variation in quality across the US.

Anytype is a local-first version of notion. If you go down the notion-esque route but want to be able to work without constant internet access, I'd consider it.

2025: Did I publish as much as I wanted? Did I submit as many grants as I wanted? Did I code up as many cool things as I wanted? No.

But did I get to ride my bike as much as I wanted? Also no.

Phew — those mandatory workplace violence training sessions hitting different this year.

Two years in a row — start of a tradition?

📢 Join us for "How-To Tuesday: How to Define Your Research Agenda" with our President-Elect, Jennifer Karas Montez, on November 18, 2025, 12:00-12:45PM EST.

This event is complimentary and open to everyone.

📆 Register here: us02web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

Dude, you won't believe the embarrassing level of effort it took to make Fig 9.

Have you ever wondered how to ensure a loss in Candyland though?

github.com/mkiang/candy...

Last week, the child caught me doing The Mini crossword and asked me why I was doing "the duplo of crosswords". Now I only do the real NYT crossword until she falls asleep so I don't get shamed.

It's that time of the year again. The mornings have a crisp edge. The smell of hot PSLs fills the air. The NIH SROs are sending out their "what to do if a government shutdown happens" emails. Magic is in the air.

I use Slack for precisely one thing.

Excellent coverage of our study out today on climate impacts on wildfire smoke and related health impacts.

I'm just saying I've never took the day off work, went for a bike ride, enjoyed the summer inversion and then regretted it.

Me too but I'm not above backing out.

"When the first of August came round, the Professor realized he had pleasantly trifled away nearly two months at a task which should have taken little more than a week."

--Willa Cather, 1925 and timeless

bsky.app/profile/math...

Making travel decisions at this point in my career: