Brenden Sparks
@brendensparks.bsky.social
Anti-fascist. Web and UX designer in #HigherEd and board member for Digital Collegium. Polyam, feminist, AuDHD. Hobbyist dev|editor|cartographer. Game enthusiast. Sometimes aka hafengrim.
@dominolucky.bsky.social What's the likelihood of seeing ya boy in the first ep after midnight?
November 14, 2025 at 6:40 AM
@dominolucky.bsky.social What's the likelihood of seeing ya boy in the first ep after midnight?
Reposted by Brenden Sparks
Computers were a skill. They were taught in classrooms as a skill. Skills give you power over your tools because you work them as an expert and that is leverage to multiply externally.
And then computers became an A/B tested telemetry-based advertising conduit to brains for SaaS recurring revenue.
And then computers became an A/B tested telemetry-based advertising conduit to brains for SaaS recurring revenue.
November 14, 2025 at 12:59 AM
Computers were a skill. They were taught in classrooms as a skill. Skills give you power over your tools because you work them as an expert and that is leverage to multiply externally.
And then computers became an A/B tested telemetry-based advertising conduit to brains for SaaS recurring revenue.
And then computers became an A/B tested telemetry-based advertising conduit to brains for SaaS recurring revenue.
Reposted by Brenden Sparks
Tech is having a midlife crisis.
Google is anxious, Apple is confused, & Meta is trying too hard. The tech bubbles of the last few years have been existential dread disguised as innovation.
Read more in my latest issue of Code & Conscience: “Tech’s Midlife Crisis” bit.ly/code-conscie...
Google is anxious, Apple is confused, & Meta is trying too hard. The tech bubbles of the last few years have been existential dread disguised as innovation.
Read more in my latest issue of Code & Conscience: “Tech’s Midlife Crisis” bit.ly/code-conscie...
November 13, 2025 at 11:42 PM
Tech is having a midlife crisis.
Google is anxious, Apple is confused, & Meta is trying too hard. The tech bubbles of the last few years have been existential dread disguised as innovation.
Read more in my latest issue of Code & Conscience: “Tech’s Midlife Crisis” bit.ly/code-conscie...
Google is anxious, Apple is confused, & Meta is trying too hard. The tech bubbles of the last few years have been existential dread disguised as innovation.
Read more in my latest issue of Code & Conscience: “Tech’s Midlife Crisis” bit.ly/code-conscie...
Reposted by Brenden Sparks
America is lacking any kind of social virtue ethics (cf Confucianism) which normalizes the ability to interrupt and contradict the bullshit of the powerful. This top-down authoritarian approach to knowledge formation curses and traps us in a make-believe world, a world of naked emperors.
November 13, 2025 at 4:25 PM
America is lacking any kind of social virtue ethics (cf Confucianism) which normalizes the ability to interrupt and contradict the bullshit of the powerful. This top-down authoritarian approach to knowledge formation curses and traps us in a make-believe world, a world of naked emperors.
Reposted by Brenden Sparks
Maybe it’s just the Humanities professor in me, but let it be noted that events of today (ahem) have demonstrated the value of being able to assess a large volume of qualitative data and do careful textual analysis with deep attention to context.
November 13, 2025 at 12:24 AM
Maybe it’s just the Humanities professor in me, but let it be noted that events of today (ahem) have demonstrated the value of being able to assess a large volume of qualitative data and do careful textual analysis with deep attention to context.
I've seen references to the "Turnitin" app for years and years. How many papers have they collected and how much has been sold to LLMs?
Hey can we put together a bank of student papers from the last ten or fifteen years with no identifying info or dates and then see if we can grade them and accurately guess their dates of composition so we have some kind of data to justify the refrain of how much worse writing/thinking has become
November 9, 2025 at 6:00 PM
I've seen references to the "Turnitin" app for years and years. How many papers have they collected and how much has been sold to LLMs?
Reposted by Brenden Sparks
Wave 3 of my Mass Effect location posters. Happy N7 day!
Get them here:
www.inprnt.com/gallery/laza...
Get them here:
www.inprnt.com/gallery/laza...
November 8, 2025 at 11:49 AM
Wave 3 of my Mass Effect location posters. Happy N7 day!
Get them here:
www.inprnt.com/gallery/laza...
Get them here:
www.inprnt.com/gallery/laza...
Via a friend:
"We're currently recruiting for a number of cutting edge VFX talent with film, games, or entertainment experience to create cinematic quality effects. This is a great opportunity to work for the largest social media company on the planet!"
aquent.com/lp/vfx-artis...
"We're currently recruiting for a number of cutting edge VFX talent with film, games, or entertainment experience to create cinematic quality effects. This is a great opportunity to work for the largest social media company on the planet!"
aquent.com/lp/vfx-artis...
VFX Artist Jobs | Aquent
JOB: VFX ARTIST Shape the future of visual effects (VFX). Join an exciting, industry-changing creative initiative with one of the world’s most influential technology and social media companies. As a V...
aquent.com
November 7, 2025 at 9:16 PM
Via a friend:
"We're currently recruiting for a number of cutting edge VFX talent with film, games, or entertainment experience to create cinematic quality effects. This is a great opportunity to work for the largest social media company on the planet!"
aquent.com/lp/vfx-artis...
"We're currently recruiting for a number of cutting edge VFX talent with film, games, or entertainment experience to create cinematic quality effects. This is a great opportunity to work for the largest social media company on the planet!"
aquent.com/lp/vfx-artis...
My entire career I've relied on social media to listen and watch what people said on the web about the web.
My 7-year D&D campaign started when I responded to a tweet from a Critter looking for a DM.
"Such stars form constellations to navigate by": 100% acurate and 1000% beautifully expressed.
My 7-year D&D campaign started when I responded to a tweet from a Critter looking for a DM.
"Such stars form constellations to navigate by": 100% acurate and 1000% beautifully expressed.
It’s common to say that social media was a mistake. I understand that logic.
But in my local context I’ve spent this week in a lot of struggle I cannot speak of.
I’m comforted by the stars of hope on the far horizon, as here night seems without end.
Such stars form constellations to navigate by.
But in my local context I’ve spent this week in a lot of struggle I cannot speak of.
I’m comforted by the stars of hope on the far horizon, as here night seems without end.
Such stars form constellations to navigate by.
November 6, 2025 at 8:38 PM
My entire career I've relied on social media to listen and watch what people said on the web about the web.
My 7-year D&D campaign started when I responded to a tweet from a Critter looking for a DM.
"Such stars form constellations to navigate by": 100% acurate and 1000% beautifully expressed.
My 7-year D&D campaign started when I responded to a tweet from a Critter looking for a DM.
"Such stars form constellations to navigate by": 100% acurate and 1000% beautifully expressed.
Reposted by Brenden Sparks
If you aren't seeing skeets from some of your fave people, they might have been labeled "Rude" by bsky mods. Idk what they are thinking, I don't need a mommy to tell me who to be buddies with. Anyway, go into Settings > moderation > bluesky moderation (advanced) and turn Rude off.
November 5, 2025 at 7:10 AM
If you aren't seeing skeets from some of your fave people, they might have been labeled "Rude" by bsky mods. Idk what they are thinking, I don't need a mommy to tell me who to be buddies with. Anyway, go into Settings > moderation > bluesky moderation (advanced) and turn Rude off.
Reposted by Brenden Sparks
design is intentional and specific, not an average of all the work done before it
November 5, 2025 at 1:42 PM
design is intentional and specific, not an average of all the work done before it
Reposted by Brenden Sparks
Hello gamers I'm opening *emergency* graphic design commissions, to help me keep my healthcare due this friday. Flexible pricing, I'll do:
-Title typography
-Iconography
-flyers
Looking forl ow effort/stress (ie not suited for short turnarounds and big expectations), great for mockups and prototypes
-Title typography
-Iconography
-flyers
Looking forl ow effort/stress (ie not suited for short turnarounds and big expectations), great for mockups and prototypes
November 5, 2025 at 12:42 PM
Hello gamers I'm opening *emergency* graphic design commissions, to help me keep my healthcare due this friday. Flexible pricing, I'll do:
-Title typography
-Iconography
-flyers
Looking forl ow effort/stress (ie not suited for short turnarounds and big expectations), great for mockups and prototypes
-Title typography
-Iconography
-flyers
Looking forl ow effort/stress (ie not suited for short turnarounds and big expectations), great for mockups and prototypes
Reposted by Brenden Sparks
I am warming to the idea of GenAI having value in business in the same way canaries have value to the coal industry.
November 5, 2025 at 3:21 PM
I am warming to the idea of GenAI having value in business in the same way canaries have value to the coal industry.
Reposted by Brenden Sparks
Free UK game accessibility conference coming up in a few weeks!
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/ucl-access...
#gamedev #accessibility
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/ucl-access...
#gamedev #accessibility
UCL Accessibility day: Connecting research & practice in game accessibility
We're bringing together academics and industry professionals to collaborate on making games more accessible for everyone!
www.eventbrite.co.uk
November 4, 2025 at 1:53 PM
Free UK game accessibility conference coming up in a few weeks!
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/ucl-access...
#gamedev #accessibility
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/ucl-access...
#gamedev #accessibility
Reposted by Brenden Sparks
Rejecting the premise here. "AI" is not coming for your job. Companies are dumping people because they are putting more money into AI investment, not because there is labor replacement via productivity.
Even in the Amazon announcement, Jassy backed away from the framing that AI took those 14k jobs.
Even in the Amazon announcement, Jassy backed away from the framing that AI took those 14k jobs.
Much like dictatorship or climate change, the threat of AI taking your job is no longer hypothetical. It's here, as shown by last week's bloodbath at UPS, Amazon, etc.
Should the government be sending us $1,000 a month? Is there any alternative to UBI? My new column www.inquirer.com/columnists/a...
Should the government be sending us $1,000 a month? Is there any alternative to UBI? My new column www.inquirer.com/columnists/a...
AI is coming for your job. Will the government pay you? | Will Bunch Newsletter
Plus, the tragic neutering of Teen Vogue.
www.inquirer.com
November 4, 2025 at 11:02 PM
Rejecting the premise here. "AI" is not coming for your job. Companies are dumping people because they are putting more money into AI investment, not because there is labor replacement via productivity.
Even in the Amazon announcement, Jassy backed away from the framing that AI took those 14k jobs.
Even in the Amazon announcement, Jassy backed away from the framing that AI took those 14k jobs.
This thing cuts between scenes worse than Manos: The Hands of Fate.
Coca-Cola's annual Christmas commercial is AI-generated again
The company used even fewer people to make it this year
“We need to keep moving forward and pushing the envelope … The genie is out of the bottle, and you’re not going to put it back in"
(via THR)
The company used even fewer people to make it this year
“We need to keep moving forward and pushing the envelope … The genie is out of the bottle, and you’re not going to put it back in"
(via THR)
November 4, 2025 at 8:39 PM
This thing cuts between scenes worse than Manos: The Hands of Fate.
Reposted by Brenden Sparks
They heard "bread and circuses" and thought this sandwich trial would count
November 4, 2025 at 4:43 PM
They heard "bread and circuses" and thought this sandwich trial would count
Reposted by Brenden Sparks
Sora 2 is not being “misused” when people use it to produce racist, transphobic, misogynistic, & otherwise vile images—it exists to make it easier to put these images out into the world. Calling it a “misuse” is a grave misunderstanding of what these companies are up to, & lets OpenAI off the hook.
November 4, 2025 at 3:22 PM
Sora 2 is not being “misused” when people use it to produce racist, transphobic, misogynistic, & otherwise vile images—it exists to make it easier to put these images out into the world. Calling it a “misuse” is a grave misunderstanding of what these companies are up to, & lets OpenAI off the hook.
Reposted by Brenden Sparks
hire all the fired political teen vogue writers and make a new magazine call teen rogue.
we’ll all subscribe en masse
we’ll all subscribe en masse
November 4, 2025 at 2:32 AM
hire all the fired political teen vogue writers and make a new magazine call teen rogue.
we’ll all subscribe en masse
we’ll all subscribe en masse
Fascinating research on the impact of art on ethnocentric and gender biases: dl.acm.org/doi/abs/10.1...
Their preliminary results showed that art-driven stimulus can untrain gender/ethnocentric bias.
I wonder if the inverse is true.
Which makes me wonder further about generative visual slop.
Their preliminary results showed that art-driven stimulus can untrain gender/ethnocentric bias.
I wonder if the inverse is true.
Which makes me wonder further about generative visual slop.
November 4, 2025 at 3:26 AM
Fascinating research on the impact of art on ethnocentric and gender biases: dl.acm.org/doi/abs/10.1...
Their preliminary results showed that art-driven stimulus can untrain gender/ethnocentric bias.
I wonder if the inverse is true.
Which makes me wonder further about generative visual slop.
Their preliminary results showed that art-driven stimulus can untrain gender/ethnocentric bias.
I wonder if the inverse is true.
Which makes me wonder further about generative visual slop.
Reposted by Brenden Sparks
Big Bad Con announcement.
November 4, 2025 at 12:34 AM
Big Bad Con announcement.
Reposted by Brenden Sparks
New awareness campaign
November 3, 2025 at 3:23 PM
New awareness campaign
Reposted by Brenden Sparks
I think this is related to tech's devotion to the idea of eradicating friction.
I do think this is one of fascism's main hooks, the full-on demonization of mental/emotional discomfort, the casting of it as a state of victimization at the hands of a diabolical (((them))).
It casts laziness as our natural state, and one to which we are entitled.
It casts laziness as our natural state, and one to which we are entitled.
November 2, 2025 at 12:58 AM
I think this is related to tech's devotion to the idea of eradicating friction.
Reposted by Brenden Sparks
Pssst, help me reach queer book clubs about Hearth Witch!
October 27, 2025 at 6:07 PM
Pssst, help me reach queer book clubs about Hearth Witch!