Chris Royalty
@chrisroyalty.bsky.social
Aux Meadows (guitar/production).
Instrumental trio from Oakland CA, blending country traditions, new age sonics, and pastoral psychedelia.
https://auxmeadows.bandcamp.com/album/draw-near
Instrumental trio from Oakland CA, blending country traditions, new age sonics, and pastoral psychedelia.
https://auxmeadows.bandcamp.com/album/draw-near
Reposted by Chris Royalty
the main reason to go after the rich is that if you don’t the entire structure of your society is predicated on the whims of people who are entirely disconnected from ordinary life
billionaires are simply too dangerous to exist, and any budgetary stuff that comes out of it is just a bonus
billionaires are simply too dangerous to exist, and any budgetary stuff that comes out of it is just a bonus
It will not work, and is wrong in principle
Don’t go after the rich to fix broken budgets
It will not work, and is wrong in principle
econ.st
February 19, 2026 at 4:56 PM
the main reason to go after the rich is that if you don’t the entire structure of your society is predicated on the whims of people who are entirely disconnected from ordinary life
billionaires are simply too dangerous to exist, and any budgetary stuff that comes out of it is just a bonus
billionaires are simply too dangerous to exist, and any budgetary stuff that comes out of it is just a bonus
Reposted by Chris Royalty
You see this in the evolution of UX design into product design: the part of the job about user research & problem framing is shaved away, and the part of the job about production work and feature releases is valorized.
February 19, 2026 at 4:26 PM
You see this in the evolution of UX design into product design: the part of the job about user research & problem framing is shaved away, and the part of the job about production work and feature releases is valorized.
Reposted by Chris Royalty
Once, technology solved problems. People liked having problems solved, so they liked technology.
Tech execs started to think of that sentiment as their due. So when they stopped solving problems, and people stopped liking them, they became outraged. "How dare you not love whatever we give you?"
Tech execs started to think of that sentiment as their due. So when they stopped solving problems, and people stopped liking them, they became outraged. "How dare you not love whatever we give you?"
I am a luddite and to me there is a lot of joy in technology. In technology that we deploy for all our wellbeing. Solar panels and vaccines, high-speed rail and wikipedia.
But they joy stems from the feeling of being able to be part of humanity in an embedded, meaningful way. Not from buying shit.
But they joy stems from the feeling of being able to be part of humanity in an embedded, meaningful way. Not from buying shit.
February 19, 2026 at 4:22 PM
Once, technology solved problems. People liked having problems solved, so they liked technology.
Tech execs started to think of that sentiment as their due. So when they stopped solving problems, and people stopped liking them, they became outraged. "How dare you not love whatever we give you?"
Tech execs started to think of that sentiment as their due. So when they stopped solving problems, and people stopped liking them, they became outraged. "How dare you not love whatever we give you?"
Reposted by Chris Royalty
Yeah, it's the failing silently that is more problematic than not being able to do it perfectly (although that's irritating because it's not clear what the problem was). It makes it harder mental work to check such plausible output than the boring but easy task of creating it.
February 19, 2026 at 12:18 PM
Yeah, it's the failing silently that is more problematic than not being able to do it perfectly (although that's irritating because it's not clear what the problem was). It makes it harder mental work to check such plausible output than the boring but easy task of creating it.
Reposted by Chris Royalty
"excuse me sir, there must be some mistake- i voted to create the camps, not live in the zone of interest" is like every trump voter
“my children might see the children I voted to put in shackles, how shall they grow up”
February 19, 2026 at 5:31 AM
"excuse me sir, there must be some mistake- i voted to create the camps, not live in the zone of interest" is like every trump voter
Reposted by Chris Royalty
Seriously though. If you know anyone that lives around Santa Cruz, CA, send them to the Bitchin Bajas show Thursday night at Moe’s Alley. Agnes Martian plays as well!
February 19, 2026 at 12:42 AM
Seriously though. If you know anyone that lives around Santa Cruz, CA, send them to the Bitchin Bajas show Thursday night at Moe’s Alley. Agnes Martian plays as well!
Reposted by Chris Royalty
DHS is shutting down because it refuses to obey the law. They are tear-gassing schools, killing American citizens, and disappearing legal immigrants. Democrats shouldn’t fund an out of control ICE.
February 13, 2026 at 4:53 PM
DHS is shutting down because it refuses to obey the law. They are tear-gassing schools, killing American citizens, and disappearing legal immigrants. Democrats shouldn’t fund an out of control ICE.
Reposted by Chris Royalty
“Cut ICE’s budget to restore federal health care funding” is an extremely popular message www.politico.com/f/?id=000001...
February 11, 2026 at 1:48 PM
“Cut ICE’s budget to restore federal health care funding” is an extremely popular message www.politico.com/f/?id=000001...
Reposted by Chris Royalty
No son, they are not "magically delicious." The workers made them delicious. This is a slogan meant to mystify the social conditions of labor
February 11, 2026 at 1:46 AM
No son, they are not "magically delicious." The workers made them delicious. This is a slogan meant to mystify the social conditions of labor
Reposted by Chris Royalty
*my biggest and most exhausted sigh*
"As AI Enters the Operating Room, Reports Arise of Botched Surgeries and Misidentified Body Parts"
www.reuters.com/investigatio...
"As AI Enters the Operating Room, Reports Arise of Botched Surgeries and Misidentified Body Parts"
www.reuters.com/investigatio...
February 10, 2026 at 2:55 AM
*my biggest and most exhausted sigh*
"As AI Enters the Operating Room, Reports Arise of Botched Surgeries and Misidentified Body Parts"
www.reuters.com/investigatio...
"As AI Enters the Operating Room, Reports Arise of Botched Surgeries and Misidentified Body Parts"
www.reuters.com/investigatio...
Reposted by Chris Royalty
The choice to frame this rhetorically as a negotiation *with ICE and DHS* rather than, you know, a decision about their future made by their rightful superiors in the popularly elected legislature is, to me, incredibly grating.
Our DHS reform demands are exceedingly reasonable.
We're asking ICE to do nothing more than follow the standards that the vast majority of law enforcement agencies already follow.
Republicans, the ball is in your court. The clock is ticking.
We're asking ICE to do nothing more than follow the standards that the vast majority of law enforcement agencies already follow.
Republicans, the ball is in your court. The clock is ticking.
February 10, 2026 at 4:55 AM
The choice to frame this rhetorically as a negotiation *with ICE and DHS* rather than, you know, a decision about their future made by their rightful superiors in the popularly elected legislature is, to me, incredibly grating.
Reposted by Chris Royalty
I have yet to see any evidence that there is a market for AI-generated books outside of people being tricked into thinking they are not AI-generated books. AKA, it is a project of scamming and deceiving people, and really should be treated as fraud
February 8, 2026 at 6:55 PM
I have yet to see any evidence that there is a market for AI-generated books outside of people being tricked into thinking they are not AI-generated books. AKA, it is a project of scamming and deceiving people, and really should be treated as fraud
Reposted by Chris Royalty
I hope folks grasp the fascistic resentment underpinning this shit, and the fact that there is nothing these AI robber barons would like more than to automate human creativity because they resent it and wish to devalue, own, and control it and us.
The whole article is repulsive but this passage is at the core of it. She has no interest in writing books, she wants to win some kind of competition that nobody entered
February 8, 2026 at 4:06 PM
I hope folks grasp the fascistic resentment underpinning this shit, and the fact that there is nothing these AI robber barons would like more than to automate human creativity because they resent it and wish to devalue, own, and control it and us.
Reposted by Chris Royalty
The current regime took a week to abolish USAID, which is three times as old and was not in the news every day for brutalizing children
“We cannot just abolish ICE!”
Bestie, you are older than ICE.
Bestie, you are older than ICE.
February 8, 2026 at 3:59 PM
The current regime took a week to abolish USAID, which is three times as old and was not in the news every day for brutalizing children
Reposted by Chris Royalty
Sun 2/8: Weirdo Americana–adjacent sound, Beauty Supply Arts. A solid lineup of East Bay acts that sound more "Wichita Linman” than “Rhinestone Cowboy,” from the lonesome, dreamy trio Aux Meadows, to the hypnotic improv fingerstyle of Joseph Dee Bradshaw, to avant-garde cello/etc of Captainmcsweeney
This week's calendar is live, and within you will find our impeccably sourced guide to pronouncing "Bathers"
Oakland Review of Books calendar of (not just) literary events, February 3–8
Plus! The definitive guide to pronouncing “Bathers”!
www.oaklandreviewofbooks.org
February 4, 2026 at 12:53 AM
Sun 2/8: Weirdo Americana–adjacent sound, Beauty Supply Arts. A solid lineup of East Bay acts that sound more "Wichita Linman” than “Rhinestone Cowboy,” from the lonesome, dreamy trio Aux Meadows, to the hypnotic improv fingerstyle of Joseph Dee Bradshaw, to avant-garde cello/etc of Captainmcsweeney
Reposted by Chris Royalty
Aux Meadows t-shirts (brown, green, and black) and "Draw Near" LPs in stock for #BandcampFriday. auxmeadows.bandcamp.com/merch
February 6, 2026 at 5:21 PM
Aux Meadows t-shirts (brown, green, and black) and "Draw Near" LPs in stock for #BandcampFriday. auxmeadows.bandcamp.com/merch
Aux Meadows t-shirts (brown, green, and black) and "Draw Near" LPs in stock for #BandcampFriday. auxmeadows.bandcamp.com/merch
February 6, 2026 at 5:21 PM
Aux Meadows t-shirts (brown, green, and black) and "Draw Near" LPs in stock for #BandcampFriday. auxmeadows.bandcamp.com/merch
Reposted by Chris Royalty
Good. "But DHS isn't just ICE, it's also..." nope, wrong. DHS no longer serves any useful functions, the whole thing has been reassigned to repression. FEMA isn't even paying out to states. All DHS does is shooting, teargassing, facial recognition, and administrative warrants. Shut it down.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Thursday that demands made by Democrats for new restrictions on federal immigration officers are “unrealistic” and warned that the Department of Homeland Security will shut down next week if they do not work with Republicans and the White House.
Homeland Security shutdown grows more likely as Republicans rebuff Democratic demands for ICE
Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Thursday that demands made by Democrats for new restrictions on federal immigration officers are “unrealistic” and warned that the Department of Homeland Secu…
trib.al
February 5, 2026 at 9:44 PM
Good. "But DHS isn't just ICE, it's also..." nope, wrong. DHS no longer serves any useful functions, the whole thing has been reassigned to repression. FEMA isn't even paying out to states. All DHS does is shooting, teargassing, facial recognition, and administrative warrants. Shut it down.
Reposted by Chris Royalty
This is why every company that makes specialized tools for particular communities starts to fall apart when they set their sights on increasing shareholder value, because that always means “find a way to make this product with specific utility appealing to people outside of that community”
February 4, 2026 at 10:58 AM
This is why every company that makes specialized tools for particular communities starts to fall apart when they set their sights on increasing shareholder value, because that always means “find a way to make this product with specific utility appealing to people outside of that community”
Reposted by Chris Royalty
There are DEFINITELY enough artists and animators out there to sustain a happy and healthy business providing specialty products and software to people within that community. What there isn’t, is a large enough consumer base to make the line go up forever for shareholders
February 4, 2026 at 10:53 AM
There are DEFINITELY enough artists and animators out there to sustain a happy and healthy business providing specialty products and software to people within that community. What there isn’t, is a large enough consumer base to make the line go up forever for shareholders
Reposted by Chris Royalty
I'm going to start offering a service called "Should you rebrand or is your board bored?" It will be $25,000 for one meeting, but it will save you so much more.
press.philamuseum.org/brand-update...
press.philamuseum.org/brand-update...
Brand Update: Philadelphia Museum of Art Will Return as Name of Institution; Griffin Logo and Brand Identity Will Remain
Philadelphia, February 4, 2026 – Philadelphia’s art museum will update its recent brand changes by returning the name of the institution to “Philadelphia Museum of Art,” while retaining the griffin lo...
press.philamuseum.org
February 5, 2026 at 12:17 AM
I'm going to start offering a service called "Should you rebrand or is your board bored?" It will be $25,000 for one meeting, but it will save you so much more.
press.philamuseum.org/brand-update...
press.philamuseum.org/brand-update...
Sun 2/8: Weirdo Americana–adjacent sound, Beauty Supply Arts. A solid lineup of East Bay acts that sound more "Wichita Linman” than “Rhinestone Cowboy,” from the lonesome, dreamy trio Aux Meadows, to the hypnotic improv fingerstyle of Joseph Dee Bradshaw, to avant-garde cello/etc of Captainmcsweeney
This week's calendar is live, and within you will find our impeccably sourced guide to pronouncing "Bathers"
Oakland Review of Books calendar of (not just) literary events, February 3–8
Plus! The definitive guide to pronouncing “Bathers”!
www.oaklandreviewofbooks.org
February 4, 2026 at 12:53 AM
Sun 2/8: Weirdo Americana–adjacent sound, Beauty Supply Arts. A solid lineup of East Bay acts that sound more "Wichita Linman” than “Rhinestone Cowboy,” from the lonesome, dreamy trio Aux Meadows, to the hypnotic improv fingerstyle of Joseph Dee Bradshaw, to avant-garde cello/etc of Captainmcsweeney
Reposted by Chris Royalty
I find it extremely scary that people have become ever reliant on AI chatbots to form their political opinions. Interent literacy is already horrendous enough but the abuse and misinformation will have generations of consequences
I'm going to take this clear hallucination from Google's AI as a sign that....
It is absurd that Matt Mahan didn't actually endorse sb79, he should have.
Pictured, hallucination and irrelevant linked "evidence" it relied on.
It is absurd that Matt Mahan didn't actually endorse sb79, he should have.
Pictured, hallucination and irrelevant linked "evidence" it relied on.
February 3, 2026 at 5:12 PM
I find it extremely scary that people have become ever reliant on AI chatbots to form their political opinions. Interent literacy is already horrendous enough but the abuse and misinformation will have generations of consequences
Reposted by Chris Royalty
Definitely seems like they destroyed the country on purpose.
February 2, 2026 at 6:30 PM
Definitely seems like they destroyed the country on purpose.