Alex Gil
@elotroalex.bsky.social
faculty of collective wonders for Yale Spanish & Portuguese. materialist spelunker and otrAmerican. he/him/colibri.
Lauren says what I think too.
My contribution to the discourse, which I've said before and will say again: DH isn't over. DH has won. 1/
February 17, 2026 at 3:54 PM
Lauren says what I think too.
Thinking of designing an undergrad course in Spanish called "La computadora de Borges." My Spanish majors tell me there would be demand for that. What do you think?
February 16, 2026 at 1:59 PM
Thinking of designing an undergrad course in Spanish called "La computadora de Borges." My Spanish majors tell me there would be demand for that. What do you think?
Debating whether to go through with Wax 2.0 in light of Claude Code. Pros: it would take me only a week or so to finish it to perfection. Wax would still be valuable in environments where internet is iffy. Cons: I could just work this year on helping with minicomp CC alternatives dev.
🤔🤔🤔
🤔🤔🤔
February 15, 2026 at 4:44 PM
Debating whether to go through with Wax 2.0 in light of Claude Code. Pros: it would take me only a week or so to finish it to perfection. Wax would still be valuable in environments where internet is iffy. Cons: I could just work this year on helping with minicomp CC alternatives dev.
🤔🤔🤔
🤔🤔🤔
You know those digital collections were the IIIF viewer & trash interface forces you to work really slow? Yeah, I just got Claude Code buffed with the Playwright MCP and Chromium to simulate a user zooming in/out, grab the tiles and create new composites.
In English : I can get all the images!
In English : I can get all the images!
February 15, 2026 at 1:32 AM
You know those digital collections were the IIIF viewer & trash interface forces you to work really slow? Yeah, I just got Claude Code buffed with the Playwright MCP and Chromium to simulate a user zooming in/out, grab the tiles and create new composites.
In English : I can get all the images!
In English : I can get all the images!
I have been recommending people who have a little internal grant or research funds and want to do a DH project with a team to back it up, rather than vibe coding, to use Performant. I've known those guys for over 2 decades now and they're legit.
Did you know you can get a turnkey DH website for less than $5,000? Complete with an interactive map-based search, built-in content management system, hosting, maintenance, and support! dh.tools/fairdata #DigitalHumanities #Mapping #LinkedData
Turnkey FairData Website Package
We partner with scholars in the humanities to build software for research and education.
dh.tools
February 12, 2026 at 2:37 PM
I have been recommending people who have a little internal grant or research funds and want to do a DH project with a team to back it up, rather than vibe coding, to use Performant. I've known those guys for over 2 decades now and they're legit.
I like these odds. Victory will be double-sweet knowing this. We get to rebuke more than fascism with the coming twofer.
February 10, 2026 at 6:40 PM
I like these odds. Victory will be double-sweet knowing this. We get to rebuke more than fascism with the coming twofer.
Reposted by Alex Gil
You know what they’re going to store in those warehouses?
People
People
In the last month ICE has bought warehouses in:
- Hagerstown, MD: $102 million
- Surprise, AZ: $70 million
- Hamburg, PA: $87 million
- Tremont, PA: $120 million
- San Antonio, TX: $82 million
- El Paso, TX: $123 million
- Social Circle, GA: price unknown
This is unprecedented.
- Hagerstown, MD: $102 million
- Surprise, AZ: $70 million
- Hamburg, PA: $87 million
- Tremont, PA: $120 million
- San Antonio, TX: $82 million
- El Paso, TX: $123 million
- Social Circle, GA: price unknown
This is unprecedented.
February 9, 2026 at 6:46 PM
You know what they’re going to store in those warehouses?
People
People
February 9, 2026 at 8:43 PM
Reposted by Alex Gil
ICE has now spent over half a BILLION dollars just on purchasing warehouses around the country to convert into detention camps.
If these mega-camps are utilized to the full capacity ICE intends, they'll be the largest prisons in the country, with little real oversight. www.ajc.com/politics/202...
If these mega-camps are utilized to the full capacity ICE intends, they'll be the largest prisons in the country, with little real oversight. www.ajc.com/politics/202...
ICE to begin detaining immigrants inside Social Circle warehouse in April
Homeland Security plans to build warehouse detention facilities in other cities being met with opposition.
www.ajc.com
February 9, 2026 at 5:56 PM
ICE has now spent over half a BILLION dollars just on purchasing warehouses around the country to convert into detention camps.
If these mega-camps are utilized to the full capacity ICE intends, they'll be the largest prisons in the country, with little real oversight. www.ajc.com/politics/202...
If these mega-camps are utilized to the full capacity ICE intends, they'll be the largest prisons in the country, with little real oversight. www.ajc.com/politics/202...
I just did mine. Well... @moacir.com sent me a screenshot. Apparently I'm solidly in the DH scholars/librarians cluster. My neighbors are Real ScholarsTM, "left-wing academic intellectuals" and Media Studies folks.
I made a map of 3.4 million Bluesky users - see if you can find yourself!
bluesky-map.theo.io
I've seen some similar projects, but IMO this seems to better capture some of the fine-grained detail
bluesky-map.theo.io
I've seen some similar projects, but IMO this seems to better capture some of the fine-grained detail
Bluesky Map
Interactive map of 3.4 million Bluesky users, visualised by their follower pattern.
bluesky-map.theo.io
February 9, 2026 at 8:11 PM
I just did mine. Well... @moacir.com sent me a screenshot. Apparently I'm solidly in the DH scholars/librarians cluster. My neighbors are Real ScholarsTM, "left-wing academic intellectuals" and Media Studies folks.
So the "real American" halftime show got 6.1M viewers and that other fake one in the actual Super Bowl was 135M.
[pulls out calculator]
So the "real America" is just 4.5% of actual America. Neat.
[pulls out calculator]
So the "real America" is just 4.5% of actual America. Neat.
February 9, 2026 at 5:23 PM
So the "real American" halftime show got 6.1M viewers and that other fake one in the actual Super Bowl was 135M.
[pulls out calculator]
So the "real America" is just 4.5% of actual America. Neat.
[pulls out calculator]
So the "real America" is just 4.5% of actual America. Neat.
Hm. Just read this thing that said that Lady Gaga was out of place because this was about Latinos and America. I'm sorry. Lady Gaga playing a cameo was part of the point, not a "consession." Some people can't read a narrative. Madre mia. otrAmerica is not a silo. It was always America.
February 9, 2026 at 1:52 PM
Hm. Just read this thing that said that Lady Gaga was out of place because this was about Latinos and America. I'm sorry. Lady Gaga playing a cameo was part of the point, not a "consession." Some people can't read a narrative. Madre mia. otrAmerica is not a silo. It was always America.
I like this take.
Benito is a threat b/c he makes art so alluring and enjoyable you want to understand everything about it and then you end up learning about sugar and slavery and colonialism and the Taínos and Hawaii and then you probably have some thoughts of your own, and that's why art is powerful and dangerous
February 9, 2026 at 1:53 AM
I like this take.
Was that kid Liam? I need confirmation ASAP. I mean, it was Liam by metonym, but was it Liam Liam?
February 9, 2026 at 1:52 AM
Was that kid Liam? I need confirmation ASAP. I mean, it was Liam by metonym, but was it Liam Liam?
I'm gonna call the theme of the show: Latino Life. They hit a lot of the notes in their stages. There were tons of small details that you could connect to if you grew up watching futbol americano con la familia.
February 9, 2026 at 1:38 AM
I'm gonna call the theme of the show: Latino Life. They hit a lot of the notes in their stages. There were tons of small details that you could connect to if you grew up watching futbol americano con la familia.
I'm being informed by my wife and teenager that we will be watching the Super Bowl today—and by Super Bowl they mean *just* the halftime show. 🤣
February 8, 2026 at 6:01 PM
I'm being informed by my wife and teenager that we will be watching the Super Bowl today—and by Super Bowl they mean *just* the halftime show. 🤣
Lol. O sea, que cuando hablo y canto en mi lengua es por odio a los que no hablan lo mio? Si eso es asi, los monolinguos gringos estos nos odian a todos.
Former ESPN host Sage Steele tells Fox News that Bad Bunny is leading "with hate" because he won't do the Super Bowl halftime show in English.
February 6, 2026 at 6:05 PM
Lol. O sea, que cuando hablo y canto en mi lengua es por odio a los que no hablan lo mio? Si eso es asi, los monolinguos gringos estos nos odian a todos.
More I think on it, more I suspect this will be my path next couple of years: to find the uses of the open side of the house, slowly shedding dependence on locked "foundational models"*
*Except for Claude Code for now, which might as well end up being a long-term thing brought to scope.
We'll see.
*Except for Claude Code for now, which might as well end up being a long-term thing brought to scope.
We'll see.
I have found similar uses to be indeed useful. They are so niche when you compare it to the "general public" that it seems out of balance for the overall cost of these systems. Not afraid that we will lose these applications because of the corporate to open pipeline, but it makes you wonder.
February 6, 2026 at 6:03 PM
More I think on it, more I suspect this will be my path next couple of years: to find the uses of the open side of the house, slowly shedding dependence on locked "foundational models"*
*Except for Claude Code for now, which might as well end up being a long-term thing brought to scope.
We'll see.
*Except for Claude Code for now, which might as well end up being a long-term thing brought to scope.
We'll see.
Reposted by Alex Gil
The Wright Museums Instagram page is HILARIOUS. Think The Office but it's the staff at a Museum for Black History. Better believe this is on my list of places to visit.
Gentle Spades
"I'm a veteran"
Gentle Spades
"I'm a veteran"
February 6, 2026 at 8:23 AM
The Wright Museums Instagram page is HILARIOUS. Think The Office but it's the staff at a Museum for Black History. Better believe this is on my list of places to visit.
Gentle Spades
"I'm a veteran"
Gentle Spades
"I'm a veteran"
I have found similar uses to be indeed useful. They are so niche when you compare it to the "general public" that it seems out of balance for the overall cost of these systems. Not afraid that we will lose these applications because of the corporate to open pipeline, but it makes you wonder.
February 4, 2026 at 2:36 PM
I have found similar uses to be indeed useful. They are so niche when you compare it to the "general public" that it seems out of balance for the overall cost of these systems. Not afraid that we will lose these applications because of the corporate to open pipeline, but it makes you wonder.
Reposted by Alex Gil
gestapo gets help from neighbors, this one just happen to call the wrong number
February 4, 2026 at 2:13 PM
gestapo gets help from neighbors, this one just happen to call the wrong number
The more you know...
ChatGPT is Trump’s biggest donor and is used by ICE. If you don’t like Trump or ICE, you should quit ChatGPT.
QuitGPT — OpenAI Execs are Trump's Biggest Donors
Join the movement. Delete ChatGPT. Cancel your subscription. It's time to quit.
quitgpt.org
February 2, 2026 at 7:17 PM
The more you know...
Reposted by Alex Gil
Built an object detector from zero-labelled data in one afternoon with help from Claude Code (it can do more than vibe code, TODO apps...)
SAM3 on HF Jobs → correct the errors → train YOLO → repeat.
Three rounds: 31% → 99% accuracy on historical index cards from @natlibscot.bsky.social
SAM3 on HF Jobs → correct the errors → train YOLO → repeat.
Three rounds: 31% → 99% accuracy on historical index cards from @natlibscot.bsky.social
February 2, 2026 at 4:43 PM
Built an object detector from zero-labelled data in one afternoon with help from Claude Code (it can do more than vibe code, TODO apps...)
SAM3 on HF Jobs → correct the errors → train YOLO → repeat.
Three rounds: 31% → 99% accuracy on historical index cards from @natlibscot.bsky.social
SAM3 on HF Jobs → correct the errors → train YOLO → repeat.
Three rounds: 31% → 99% accuracy on historical index cards from @natlibscot.bsky.social
I got a little pot of money to give Claude Code access to a few of my DH grads. I myself use the Pro version at $20/m, but that might be overkill for grads, who are probably just going to be messing around with very pinpointed things. Has anyone tried the API option? Thoughts?
February 1, 2026 at 8:41 PM
I got a little pot of money to give Claude Code access to a few of my DH grads. I myself use the Pro version at $20/m, but that might be overkill for grads, who are probably just going to be messing around with very pinpointed things. Has anyone tried the API option? Thoughts?