Greg Linden

@glinden.bsky.social

1.6K followers 290 following 1.2K posts

an internet relic, linkedin.com/in/glinden

Videos

Business 56%

Economics 33%

Posts Replies Media Videos

Reposted by Greg Linden

Science Magazine @science.org · 3h

The seemingly unstoppable growth of renewable energy is Science’s 2025 Breakthrough of the Year.

Learn more about this year's #BOTY and other big advances in science: https://scim.ag/3MGESjx

Science’s 2025 Breakthrough of the Year: The unstoppable rise of renewable energy

Clean energy infrastructure is being deployed with unmatched scale and speed—and China is leading the way

scim.ag

Greg Linden @glinden.bsky.social · 5h

If you're a manager and you see other managers enshittifying, you should be concerned. That other exec might benefit from adding scammy ads everywhere, hitting their revenue goal and getting their bonus, but it's going to hurt you and your team eventually.

Greg Linden @glinden.bsky.social · 5h

It's underemphasized that executives allowing enshittification doesn't work out for the company. As Cory Doctorow said, the final stage of enshittification is: "Then, they die." Captive markets (few alternatives for customers) might delay dying for years, but, even so, "then they die."

Greg Linden @glinden.bsky.social · 7h

This article doesn't talk about it, but because the ranker algorithms can be tuned in many ways, the incentives executives and teams have matter a lot for what people end up seeing. The biggest way to change their incentives is regulating ads. That's where the money is, everything else follows. 2/2

Greg Linden @glinden.bsky.social · 7h

Algorithms pick what you see, and there's lots of different ways those ranker algorithms could be tuned: "What gets amplified, how content is ranked, which posts surface first—can directly shape democratic outcomes ... Yet the policy conversation remains largely elsewhere." 1/2

Tech Policy Press @techpolicypress.bsky.social · 9h

Evidence is mounting that platform architecture can intensify phenomena such as polarization. But policy debates continue to miss the mark, writes Matthias J. Becker, a researcher at NYU’s Center for the Study of Antisemitism and lead of the “Decoding Antisemitism” project.

Algorithms Shift Polarization. Why Does Policy Still Miss the Real Problem? | TechPolicy.Press

Policy responses to social media harms reveal the gap between what research shows and what gets addressed, writes Matthias J. Becker.

buff.ly

Reposted by Greg Linden

Techmeme @techmeme.com · 7h

Oracle stock fell 30% this quarter, its steepest drop since Q3 2001, when it slid ~34%, amid skepticism about its ability to open more data centers for OpenAI (Jordan Novet/CNBC)

Main Link | Techmeme Permalink

Reposted by Greg Linden

Tech Policy Press @techpolicypress.bsky.social · 9h

Algorithms Shift Polarization. Why Does Policy Still Miss the Real Problem? | TechPolicy.Press

Policy responses to social media harms reveal the gap between what research shows and what gets addressed, writes Matthias J. Becker.

buff.ly

Greg Linden @glinden.bsky.social · 17h

Foolish that anyone could have thought anything else: "If you close your eyes and you don’t look at the code and you have AIs build things with shaky foundations as you add another floor, and another floor, and another floor, and another floor, things start to kind of crumble."

Techmeme @techmeme.com · 17h

Cursor CEO Michael Truell warns that "vibe coding" advanced projects may create "shaky foundations" and eventually "things start to kind of crumble" (Marco Quiroz-Gutierrez/Fortune)

Main Link | Techmeme Permalink

Reposted by Greg Linden

Techmeme @techmeme.com · 17h

Reposted by Greg Linden

Rodney Brooks @rodneyabrooks.bsky.social · 19h

5/5 `The cautious, if not downright gloomy, outlook by leaders and engineers of humanoid robot companies stands in contrast to forecasts made by some of the biggest names in technology.'

Reposted by Greg Linden

Rodney Brooks @rodneyabrooks.bsky.social · 19h

1/5 Some humanoid companies are admitting things are harder than the hype suggests. `Billions of dollars are flowing into humanoid robot startups, as investors bet that the industry will soon put humanlike machines in warehouses, factories and our living rooms.' www.wsj.com/tech/ai/huma...

Even the Companies Making Humanoid Robots Think They’re Overhyped

Despite billions of dollars in investment, startups say their androids can only perform simple tasks.

www.wsj.com

Reposted by Steven Heydemann, Martin Tomko, Alessandro Nai , and 4 more Steven Heydemann, Martin Tomko, Alessandro Nai, Bessma Momani, Ann Bartow, Greg Linden, Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò

The New Republic @newrepublic.com · 1d

President Trump’s spiteful defamation suit against the Pulitzer Prize Board may backfire, as the latter is now demanding Trump’s psychological records, prescription medication records, and tax returns in the discovery process. trib.al/LUCScTR

Reposted by Dorothy Bishop, Joe R. Feagin, Steve Peers , and 8 more Dorothy Bishop, Joe R. Feagin, Steve Peers, Rosemary A. Joyce, Sanford F. Schram, Robert C. Richards, Ann Bartow, Thomas Masterson, Greg Linden, Olivier Mannoni, David Darmofal

Barack Obama @barackobama.bsky.social · 1d

Merry Christmas! Michelle and I hope you have a wonderful holiday filled with light and joy.

Reposted by Greg Linden

Hypervisible @hypervisible.blacksky.app · 1d

“Because riders and passersby can be unreliable, Waymo pays workers in Los Angeles $20 or more for rescuing a robotaxi by closing a door, summoning help through an app called Honk that is like an Uber for towing companies.”

When robot taxis get stuck, a secret army of humans comes to the rescue

Waymo robotaxis get stranded when a passenger leaves the door open. Tow truck operators can get paid $22 to close a door and set them free again.

www.washingtonpost.com

Greg Linden @glinden.bsky.social · 1d

Yes, it's remarkable that billionaire Mark Cuban believes that the shills on X stroking his ego are genuine. Of course there's tens of thousands of accounts trying to ingratiate themselves with him on X, seeking influence, higher reach, or favor. Explains a lot that he can't easily see through that.

Reposted by Greg Linden, Michael Evans

Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 1d

Context for Trump withdrawing dozens of ambassadors
*China has invested heavily in expanding diplomacy
*The US has significantly degraded soft power
*The US already has scores of diplomatic vacancies

Mr. Trump has not chosen nominees for a number of vacant ambassadorships in sub-Saharan
Africa. Around the world, scores of U.S. embassies have vacant ambassador slots. In those cases, the deputy chief of mission, usually a career diplomat, is serving as the chief of mission.
China has surpassed the United States in the number of diplomatic missions in the world, and maintains a consistent rotation of ambassadors through each one.

Reposted by Greg Linden

SMBC Comics @smbccomics.bsky.social · 1d

Back of the envelope estimate suggests Jericho has 700 spirits-not-at-rest per square meter.

COMIC ◆ www.smbc-comics.com/comic/spirit-4
PATREON ◆ www.patreon.com/ZachWeinersm...
STORE ◆ smbc-store.myshopify.com

1-panel SMBC comic update. A man reading in bed is looking up from his book, berating a ghostly figure. He says : "No! I don't care! Cities have been here 10,000 years and there's literally no way to not build on an ancient temple of graveyard! Fuck off, ghost!" The caption below the comic reads : "it's hard to set haunting movies in the Middle East."

Reposted by Efrén O. Pérez, Eric D. Knowles, Ann Bartow , and 5 more Efrén O. Pérez, Eric D. Knowles, Ann Bartow, Alessandro Rigolon, Greg Linden, Nathan P. Kalmoe, David Darmofal, Pieter Vantieghem

Joshua McElwee @joshmcelwee.org · 2d

Pope Leo said in a Christmas Eve sermon that the story of Jesus being born in a stable because there was no room at an inn should remind Christians that refusing to help the poor and strangers today is tantamount to rejecting God himself. For @reuters.com

Pope Leo, on Christmas Eve, says denying help to poor is rejecting God

Pope Leo said in a Christmas Eve sermon on Wednesday that the story of Jesus being born in a stable because there was no room at an inn should remind Christians that refusing to help the poor and stra...

www.reuters.com

Greg Linden @glinden.bsky.social · 2d

Wow, absolutely disgraceful that Princeton University Press published this book with a citation saying the exact opposite of what you said. Makes me think much less of everything going through Princeton University Press, like lighting their reputation on fire, crazy their management allowed this.

Greg Linden @glinden.bsky.social · 2d

I'm a skeptic of asking teams to use these LLMs for production code -- they're great for demos and prototyping though -- so I thought this was interesting coming from an expert like Peter Norvig. I would say that the quality of the code, especially verbosity, is a concern for maintainability. 3/3

Greg Linden @glinden.bsky.social · 2d

Much better but not without problems: "This is a huge improvement over just one year ago, when LLMs could not perform anywhere near this level ... [But] the code ... could be improved stylistically ... slower than my code ... [and] LLMs' code is about five times more verbose." 2/3

Greg Linden @glinden.bsky.social · 2d

Fun and interesting post from Peter Norvig on the latest LLM models' ability to solve his Advent of Code 2025 problems: "Overall, the LLMs did very well, producing code that gives the correct answer to every puzzle." 1/3
github.com/norvig/pytud...

pytudes/ipynb/Advent-2025-AI.ipynb at main · norvig/pytudes

Python programs, usually short, of considerable difficulty, to perfect particular skills. - norvig/pytudes

github.com

Reposted by Richard S.J. Tol, David G. Rand, Bruce D. Baker , and 7 more Richard S.J. Tol, David G. Rand, Bruce D. Baker, Joshua Goodman, Mika Maliranta, Aaron Sojourner, Scott A. Imberman, Brian Keegan, Greg Linden, Brian Jm Quinn

The Quarterly Journal of Economics @qjeharvard.bsky.social · 2d

Recently accepted by #QJE, “Marginal Returns to Public Universities,” by Jack Mountjoy: doi.org/10.1093/qje/...

Marginal Returns to Public Universities

Abstract. This paper studies the returns to enrolling in American public universities by comparing the long-term outcomes of barely admitted versus barely

doi.org

Reposted by Brendan Nyhan, Steve Peers, Iikka Korhonen , and 2 more Brendan Nyhan, Steve Peers, Iikka Korhonen, Laurent Pech, Greg Linden

Jameel Jaffer @jameeljaffer.bsky.social · 2d

The government has broad authority to control admission but courts have held *repeatedly*, over more than half a century, that the First Amendment bars the government from denying visas to foreign citizens simply because it dislikes what they have to say. 1/
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/24/b...

They Seek to Curb Online Hate. The U.S. Accuses Them of Censorship.

www.nytimes.com

Greg Linden @glinden.bsky.social · 2d

Many of these threats to judges and others are coming from foreign sources including Russian-aligned groups according to the article. A serious national security issue that should have been stopped a long time ago. The story of why not is one I'd like to read. I assume it'll come out eventually.

Greg Linden @glinden.bsky.social · 2d

Many of the death threats appear to be sent from groups outside of the United States, obviously something that is a national security issue and should have been stopped a long time ago: "seized upon by foreign actors ... related to the Russian government ... It’s just a way to destabilize."

Ryan J. Reilly “paints a vivid and urgent portrait of… disarray” @ryanjreilly.com · 2d

“I’m 84 years old. Threats against my life expectancy are kind of hollow. I don’t have much time anyway. I’m more concerned that our democracy is at risk because of the trends against the rule of law.” www.nbcnews.com/politics/pol...

Judges who ruled against Trump say harassment and threats have changed their lives

More than 100 pizzas were delivered to the homes of judges and their families this year, some with signs of foreign involvement. Judges say the message is clear: We know where you live.

www.nbcnews.com

Reposted by Greg Linden, Pam Jarvis

Mark Jacob @markjacob.bsky.social · 2d

When will the news industry get serious about the dictator's threats to shut them down? Do they think it's just bluster? He's willing to murder people on the high seas and send immigrants to foreign torture prisons. He's serious about killing the 1st Amendment, too.

If Network NEWSCASTS, and their Late Night Shows, are almost 100% Negative to President Donald J, Trump, MAGA, and the Republican Party, shouldn't their very valuable Broadcast Licensees be terminated? I say, YES!

Greg Linden @glinden.bsky.social · 2d

The conclusion, okay for hacked demos, but risky to try to have teams use them for writing production code: "Coding proof-of-concept demos and internal tools is probably the ideal use of coding agents right now."

Ars Technica @arstechnica.com · 2d

How do AI coding agents work? We look under the hood.

From compression tricks to multi-agent teamwork, here's what makes them tick.

arstechnica.com

Reposted by Greg Linden

Mark Riedl @markriedl.bsky.social · 2d

I think this would really mostly be to get more engagement from users. OpenAI’s SORA has a feature that allows you to edit others’ generated images. It’s funny for about 10 minutes. Then gets sad.

Reposted by Anna O. Law, Lisa W. Fazio, Joe R. Feagin , and 8 more Anna O. Law, Lisa W. Fazio, Joe R. Feagin, Brendan Nyhan, Bruce D. Baker, Juan Cole, Robert C. Richards, Rebecca Tushnet, Kate Starbird, Greg Linden, Andrew Perchard

Ryan J. Reilly “paints a vivid and urgent portrait of… disarray” @ryanjreilly.com · 2d

Judges who ruled against Trump say harassment and threats have changed their lives

More than 100 pizzas were delivered to the homes of judges and their families this year, some with signs of foreign involvement. Judges say the message is clear: We know where you live.

Add to Home Screen

Light up
your news

Add to Home Screen

Light upyour news

Sign in to Lightnews

Sign up to start reading

Connect Bluesky

Connect with Bluesky

Light up
your news