EssayWells
@essaywells.bsky.social
Scientist, husband, parent, possibly a little too into Dungeons and Dragons. @essayWells on Twitter (Ex-Twitter?)
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Most people don’t know this: Heat pumps REDUCE gas consumption even if running 100% on electricity from a gas fired power plant.
More here in my piece for @carbonbrief.org👇
interactive.carbonbrief.org/factcheck/he...
More here in my piece for @carbonbrief.org👇
interactive.carbonbrief.org/factcheck/he...
February 11, 2026 at 9:03 PM
Most people don’t know this: Heat pumps REDUCE gas consumption even if running 100% on electricity from a gas fired power plant.
More here in my piece for @carbonbrief.org👇
interactive.carbonbrief.org/factcheck/he...
More here in my piece for @carbonbrief.org👇
interactive.carbonbrief.org/factcheck/he...
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If it's so fucking useful then go do that useful thing with it! Make something that doesn't look like lazy shit! File a bunch of legal briefs that don't make a judge want to vaporize you where you stand! Fuck off!
February 12, 2026 at 3:04 AM
If it's so fucking useful then go do that useful thing with it! Make something that doesn't look like lazy shit! File a bunch of legal briefs that don't make a judge want to vaporize you where you stand! Fuck off!
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Just a couple years ago it was "have fun being poor," "your job is going away, you're being replaced loser," "you better reskill because this is the only thing that matters now." So yeah I'm hostile to the idea and I think everyone into it is a thief and a loser
February 12, 2026 at 2:52 AM
Just a couple years ago it was "have fun being poor," "your job is going away, you're being replaced loser," "you better reskill because this is the only thing that matters now." So yeah I'm hostile to the idea and I think everyone into it is a thief and a loser
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Man I'm so goddamn sick of ai. "Wahhh you can't have a reasonable conversation about ai on here," yeah maybe be mad about the two year parade of scam artists and financial charlatans and environmental ruiners who have radicalized everyone against the spell check that agrees with you
February 12, 2026 at 2:45 AM
Man I'm so goddamn sick of ai. "Wahhh you can't have a reasonable conversation about ai on here," yeah maybe be mad about the two year parade of scam artists and financial charlatans and environmental ruiners who have radicalized everyone against the spell check that agrees with you
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Conclusion: either ‘seeing’ swirls/static when your eyes are closed is pretty normal and common, OR significant numbers of Bluesky users aren’t representative of the normal population (non-zero chance it’s this one 😆)
I just saw a video with a doctor (?) claiming that “most” people see pitch black when they close their eyes, but some see static/swirls/sparkles. The person (I’m increasingly doubtful) in the video linked this to visual snow syndrome, but as far as I can tell, that happens with eyes open AND closed
February 12, 2026 at 8:04 AM
Conclusion: either ‘seeing’ swirls/static when your eyes are closed is pretty normal and common, OR significant numbers of Bluesky users aren’t representative of the normal population (non-zero chance it’s this one 😆)
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It took more than 6 months, but it turns out you can grind low level trash mobs in real life too. aftermath.site/switch-2-citib...
My Grueling Quest To Buy A Switch 2 By Riding Citi Bikes
After roughly 495 bike rides and interrupted by a broken foot, I have a Nintendo Switch 2 from riding Citi Bike points. Was that work?
aftermath.site
February 11, 2026 at 8:01 PM
It took more than 6 months, but it turns out you can grind low level trash mobs in real life too. aftermath.site/switch-2-citib...
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My take on the AI selfhood debate is that it is a deeply dehumanising distraction technique. Real horrors are happening every day to people whose sentience is not a matter of scientific or philosophical debate but LOOK THE MACHINE I DESIGNED TO LOOK LIKE IT'S THINKING LOOKS LIKE IT'S THINKING!
1/
1/
February 11, 2026 at 9:40 PM
My take on the AI selfhood debate is that it is a deeply dehumanising distraction technique. Real horrors are happening every day to people whose sentience is not a matter of scientific or philosophical debate but LOOK THE MACHINE I DESIGNED TO LOOK LIKE IT'S THINKING LOOKS LIKE IT'S THINKING!
1/
1/
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Sorry but metaphysically I do not think this is possible.
February 12, 2026 at 7:21 AM
Sorry but metaphysically I do not think this is possible.
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I called up one of the White House's "special government employees" involved in the Fulton County FBI raid.
I ended up on the phone for almost two hours hearing about the "deep state" "cabal," "Satanists," poison soda, and the "pure evil" of "gay pride." talkingpointsmemo.com/news/meet-th...
I ended up on the phone for almost two hours hearing about the "deep state" "cabal," "Satanists," poison soda, and the "pure evil" of "gay pride." talkingpointsmemo.com/news/meet-th...
February 11, 2026 at 11:53 PM
I called up one of the White House's "special government employees" involved in the Fulton County FBI raid.
I ended up on the phone for almost two hours hearing about the "deep state" "cabal," "Satanists," poison soda, and the "pure evil" of "gay pride." talkingpointsmemo.com/news/meet-th...
I ended up on the phone for almost two hours hearing about the "deep state" "cabal," "Satanists," poison soda, and the "pure evil" of "gay pride." talkingpointsmemo.com/news/meet-th...
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The spend figures I am hearing from people and organizations who have really gone all-in on agentic coding practices are simply staggering, and the results... mostly fail to speak for themselves because they don't exist to do so.
Coding by hand is cheaper &, I'm convinced, a competitive advantage
Coding by hand is cheaper &, I'm convinced, a competitive advantage
The average price I hear quoted from “serious” devs for LLM coding agent subscriptions is $1000-$2000 a month, literally a mortgage payment, and some of the cheap priced leading coding models just doubled their prices overnight.
February 11, 2026 at 11:37 PM
The spend figures I am hearing from people and organizations who have really gone all-in on agentic coding practices are simply staggering, and the results... mostly fail to speak for themselves because they don't exist to do so.
Coding by hand is cheaper &, I'm convinced, a competitive advantage
Coding by hand is cheaper &, I'm convinced, a competitive advantage
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What is going on???
February 11, 2026 at 11:33 PM
What is going on???
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So DOD risked civilian airspace to obliterate some fucking balloons; when FAA found out and asked them to stop they refused; FAA did what it had to keep people safe; when the public rightly freaked out, DOD relented, lied, and blamed the FAA.
Sounds like Hegseth!
www.cnn.com/2026/02/11/u...
Sounds like Hegseth!
www.cnn.com/2026/02/11/u...
February 11, 2026 at 10:58 PM
So DOD risked civilian airspace to obliterate some fucking balloons; when FAA found out and asked them to stop they refused; FAA did what it had to keep people safe; when the public rightly freaked out, DOD relented, lied, and blamed the FAA.
Sounds like Hegseth!
www.cnn.com/2026/02/11/u...
Sounds like Hegseth!
www.cnn.com/2026/02/11/u...
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Over on threads someone just use ai;dr and we all need to adopt that right quick
February 11, 2026 at 7:56 PM
Over on threads someone just use ai;dr and we all need to adopt that right quick
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"If anything, my time with the Epstein Files has only further convinced me that the worst of us deserve the truth most of all"
and we're gonna give it to them good and hard
and we're gonna give it to them good and hard
Part One of my exploration of Jeffery Epstein's relationship with the Musk brothers is now live.
Unpacking the first year or so of the documented relationship, it shows how Epstein pursued Elon through connections and "girls," and hints at possible motivations.
niedermeyer.online/2026/02/10/m...
Unpacking the first year or so of the documented relationship, it shows how Epstein pursued Elon through connections and "girls," and hints at possible motivations.
niedermeyer.online/2026/02/10/m...
There's more than a whiff of Musk in the Epstein Files
Explore the relationship between Elon Musk and Jeffrey Epstein, as documented in the Epstein Files.
niedermeyer.online
February 11, 2026 at 10:24 PM
"If anything, my time with the Epstein Files has only further convinced me that the worst of us deserve the truth most of all"
and we're gonna give it to them good and hard
and we're gonna give it to them good and hard
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Once again: people are angry for very good reason, and this brand of post is perhaps one of the most tedious and bewildering. Practically every social media platform is rabidly pro-‘AI’ so are govts, academia, companies. This one small space being critical of AI is okay, I think.
February 11, 2026 at 10:06 PM
Once again: people are angry for very good reason, and this brand of post is perhaps one of the most tedious and bewildering. Practically every social media platform is rabidly pro-‘AI’ so are govts, academia, companies. This one small space being critical of AI is okay, I think.
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"It's really unfortunate that people don't share my near-religious faith in the robot god, and bog my evangelism down with concerns about the robot god being an uncontrollable demon, and, like, it's totally not, I don't know why you won't just believe, no I won't address your concerns at all."
Once again: people are angry for very good reason, and this brand of post is perhaps one of the most tedious and bewildering. Practically every social media platform is rabidly pro-‘AI’ so are govts, academia, companies. This one small space being critical of AI is okay, I think.
February 11, 2026 at 10:31 PM
"It's really unfortunate that people don't share my near-religious faith in the robot god, and bog my evangelism down with concerns about the robot god being an uncontrollable demon, and, like, it's totally not, I don't know why you won't just believe, no I won't address your concerns at all."
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Damn, @ryanhatesthis.bsky.social's got hands today.
February 11, 2026 at 9:09 PM
Damn, @ryanhatesthis.bsky.social's got hands today.
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I think the greatest gift college professors in the humanities can give to students right now is a seminar room where, for 80 minutes twice a week, nothing that happens to them is a sales pitch for an AI product.
February 11, 2026 at 8:45 PM
I think the greatest gift college professors in the humanities can give to students right now is a seminar room where, for 80 minutes twice a week, nothing that happens to them is a sales pitch for an AI product.
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In fact the whole point of notepad is that it is as barebones as fucking possible.
The AI features added to Notepad created a critical exploit vulnerable to loading a compromised txt file.
The fix is part of Patch Tuesday, so update your systems.
AI is not a feature I ever desired in Notepad. I should look into some alternatives...
The fix is part of Patch Tuesday, so update your systems.
AI is not a feature I ever desired in Notepad. I should look into some alternatives...
AI-upgraded Notepad now exposes Windows users to critical exploit
A critical remote code execution vulnerability found in the AI-upgraded Windows 11 Notepad has fueled renewed criticism of Microsoft's forced AI feature creep.
cybernews.com
February 11, 2026 at 9:29 PM
In fact the whole point of notepad is that it is as barebones as fucking possible.
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Today in "leaving money on the table"
After 40 years of publishing, Harlequin will end its iconic historical romance line in 2027:
#Booksky
#Booksky
Harlequin Is Ending Its Historical Romance Line After Nearly 40 Years - Reactor
The publisher's decision to end its historical romance line in 2027 comes on the heels of controversial changes to its international publishing tactics
reactormag.com
February 11, 2026 at 6:29 PM
Today in "leaving money on the table"
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ah, another person who assumes that working on drones means I work on murdering children and not, in fact, on the exact opposite (using my technical knowledge of drone tech to fight back against the growing use of small drones to kill civilians + using drone mapping to respond to disasters).
February 11, 2026 at 6:46 PM
ah, another person who assumes that working on drones means I work on murdering children and not, in fact, on the exact opposite (using my technical knowledge of drone tech to fight back against the growing use of small drones to kill civilians + using drone mapping to respond to disasters).
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the people who spread the “female brains are bad at math and spatial reasoning” lies should be tried at the Hague
Another fun wrinkle from that period (that might still exist): I was good at math and loved it and then my geometry teacher told me that I'd probably struggle because female brains were bad at spatial thinking. I kept loving math & being good at it but assumed that would end so I ended it first.
Those who weren’t resigned to the Math Idiot Garbage Bin as kids may not grasp how much “if you’re bad at math, you’ll die in a ditch and all will be better off for it” sentiment was floating around in the 90s and 2000s, but it sure felt real to me.
(my parents are great! It didn’t come from them!)
(my parents are great! It didn’t come from them!)
February 11, 2026 at 2:41 PM
the people who spread the “female brains are bad at math and spatial reasoning” lies should be tried at the Hague
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The more jobs I hear listed as "bullshit jobs", the more I realize that people just don't understand that coordination and organization are necessary tasks
Incidentally, this has reminded me of when I got blocked on here for arguing with the David Graeber Institute that "Logistics Manager" wasn't a "bullshit job". I hope every one of them is waiting on a vital package from Southern Texas.
All this speculation about the potential horrid things the airspace closure around El Paso could signifiy, and all I can think of is the logistics managers having the *worst* day and week of their lives.
February 11, 2026 at 5:49 PM
The more jobs I hear listed as "bullshit jobs", the more I realize that people just don't understand that coordination and organization are necessary tasks
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She really just said why are you talking about the mass coverup of child rape when you should be talking about money
Bondi crashes out over Epstein: "The Dow is over 50,000 dollars! I don't know why you're laughing. You're a great stock trader as I hear, Raskin. The Dow is over 50,000 right now. The S&P at almost 7,000, and the Nasdaq smashing records. That's what we should be talking about."
February 11, 2026 at 4:46 PM
She really just said why are you talking about the mass coverup of child rape when you should be talking about money
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why is it more necessary to attempt to prop up an industry than warn about the blatant, deceitful marketing campaign going on right now, and the high likelihood of mass data center insolvencies?
February 11, 2026 at 4:58 PM
why is it more necessary to attempt to prop up an industry than warn about the blatant, deceitful marketing campaign going on right now, and the high likelihood of mass data center insolvencies?