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froggleston
@froggleston.carpentries.org
Director of Technology @thecarpentries, @froggleston@mstdn.science, open source advocate, heavy metal lover, he/him/they, @docfrogs coffee, @antididact guitarist, noob
Reposted by froggleston
Short musings on "cognitive debt" - I'm seeing this in my own work, where excessive unreviewed AI-generated code leads me to lose a firm mental model of what I've built, which then makes it harder to confidently make future decisions simonwillison.net/2026/Feb/15/...
How Generative and Agentic AI Shift Concern from Technical Debt to Cognitive Debt
This piece by Margaret-Anne Storey is the best explanation of the term cognitive debt I've seen so far. Cognitive debt, a term gaining traction recently, instead communicates the notion that …
simonwillison.net
February 15, 2026 at 5:22 AM
Reposted by froggleston
Over on threads someone just use ai;dr and we all need to adopt that right quick
February 11, 2026 at 7:56 PM
Reposted by froggleston
My doomer-worry about AI is not that the LLMs become omnipotent and take over the world but that the wealthy and powerful use it as a means to consolidate power and marginalize or lay off skilled workers and also everything about our technological and political and social life gets worse
February 11, 2026 at 8:20 PM
Reposted by froggleston
Microsoft, Google, Meta and Amazon paying influencers $400k-$600k to post months of AI hype content. Absolutely busted, failed industry, embarrassing era
www.cnbc.com/2026/02/06/g...
Google and Microsoft offer lucrative deals to promote AI, but even $500,000 won't sway some creators
Tech companies including Google and Microsoft are paying influencers hundreds of thousands of dollars to promote AI products.
www.cnbc.com
February 11, 2026 at 7:03 PM
Reposted by froggleston
Infosec used to be serious
February 11, 2026 at 1:19 PM
Reposted by froggleston
I think it's best for everyone to understand that the unified class project of billionaires right now is to do to white collar workers what globalization and neoliberalism did to blue collar workers.
February 4, 2026 at 7:41 PM
Reposted by froggleston
Auschwitz was at the end of a process. We must remember that it did not start from gas chambers.

This hatred gradually developed: from ideas, words, stereotypes & prejudice through legal exclusion, dehumanization & escalating violence... to systematic and industrial murder.

Auschwitz took time.
January 27, 2026 at 11:00 AM
Reposted by froggleston
🟥 We are pleased to announce that the call for Expressions of Interest (EoIs) for Round 2 of the Research Software Maintenance Fund is now open until 25 February 2026, 16:00 GMT.

Find out more at www.software.ac.uk/news/rsmf-ro...
January 28, 2026 at 10:00 AM
UK government teaming up with Meta is looking great.
Court filings: Mark Zuckerberg approved allowing minors to access AI chatbot companions that safety staffers warned were capable of sexual interactions (Jeff Horwitz/Reuters)

Main Link | Techmeme Permalink
January 27, 2026 at 8:15 PM
Reposted by froggleston
Dave Matthews and Tim Ryenolds playing Neil Young’s Ohio last night and ends with some Rage Against the Machine.
January 24, 2026 at 11:35 PM
Really interesting thread!
Last term I tried an experiment: I walked into my Tech and Design Ethics class, admitted that I had *no idea* what to do about ChatGPT - so I would let them figure it out.

As in: their first project was to decide and write the ChatGPT policy for the class.

Here's what happened:
January 23, 2026 at 4:18 PM
Reposted by froggleston
Tomorrow's premium newsletter - The AI Bubble Is A Time Bomb, with every hyperscaler facing $10bn-$20bn a quarter in depreciation in the next two years and AI startups draining all that's left of venture capital.

Here's $10 off annual.
edzitronswheresyouredatghostio.outpost.pub/public/promo...
January 23, 2026 at 1:50 AM
Reposted by froggleston
So excited to see these new lessons in development from @carpentries.carpentries.org for open #qualitative research.

librarycarpentry.github.io/lc-qualitati... for Taguette
librarycarpentry.github.io/lc-qualitati... for QualCoder
January 22, 2026 at 3:40 PM
Reposted by froggleston
Free online intro training: Shell, Git & Python for research workflows.
16-18 Feb 2026 via #STEPUP.
For PhD students, researchers & tech professionals developing software or processing data. Software Carpentries lessons.
Register: tinyurl.com/ycxndkz8
#RSE #dRTP #UKRI
@carpentries.carpentries.org
STEP-UP Software Carpentry workshop: Introductory Shell, Git, and Python for Research
Developing a Strategic TEchnical Platform for University technical Professionals
tinyurl.com
January 21, 2026 at 10:04 AM
Reposted by froggleston
I'm starting my next book which is set to be released in 2030.

"How to write and deploy software without prompts"
January 22, 2026 at 1:36 AM
Reposted by froggleston
Open AI loses copyright case in Germany.

Judge Elke Schwager summarized the case saying that if you want to build something and need components, "then you purchase them and do not use the property of others."
Blow for OpenAI in Germany as court rules song lyrics used illegally
A German court ruled on Tuesday that OpenAI violated copyright on nine popular songs in a lawsuit that marked another attempt to prevent the free use of artists' content online. The Munich Regional Co...
www.yahoo.com
November 14, 2025 at 2:49 PM
Reposted by froggleston
“Women and girls are far more reluctant to use AI. This should be no surprise to any of us. Women don’t see this as exciting new technology, but as simply new ways to harass and abuse us and try and push us offline.”
Use of AI to harm women has only just begun, experts warn
While Grok has introduced belated safeguards to prevent sexualised AI imagery, other tools have far fewer limits
www.theguardian.com
January 14, 2026 at 1:09 PM
Reposted by froggleston
Delete Spotify
In April 2024, Spotify implemented a new scheme: songs with less than 1k streams per year would no longer receive royalties.

The data for 2025 was just released via Luminate, and 88% of songs have been demonetized.

Read it again: 88% of songs on Spotify have been demonetized.
January 16, 2026 at 4:16 AM
Reposted by froggleston
Have you ever wished there was something like a Carpentries workshop but for qualitative research tools and skills? If so, join next week's discussion session, Qualitative Research Lessons with The Carpentries.

🗓️ Tue, 20 January
⏰ 17:30 UTC

Sign up on Pretix: pretix.carpentries.org/community-ev...
Qualitative Research Lessons with The Carpentries
Tue, Jan. 20th, 2026
pretix.carpentries.org
January 14, 2026 at 10:09 AM
The main goal of capitalist LLM use is to take the work of others and pass it off as their own because "meritocracy" and "productivity".
January 13, 2026 at 11:28 AM
Reposted by froggleston
Last 2025 post, on @python.org & @carpentries.carpentries.org values, a great @posit.co conf session feat @mchow.com @richmeister.bsky.social @davisvaughan.bsky.social, the magic of #rstats #python dev cultures sharing best practices, and random #rstats history

www.emilyriederer.com/post/py-rgo-...
R + Python: From polyglot to crosspolination | Emily Riederer
A combined reflection on 2025, posit::conf(2025), and the necessity of diversity in open source
www.emilyriederer.com
December 30, 2025 at 9:55 PM
Reposted by froggleston
“Uruguay did what most nations still call impossible: it built a power grid that runs almost entirely on renewables—at half the cost of fossil fuels. The physicist who led that transformation says the same playbook could work anywhere—if governments have the courage to change the rules.”
Uruguay’s Renewable Charge: A Small Nation, A Big Lesson For The World
Uruguay built a power grid that runs 99% on renewables—at half the cost of fossil fuels. Here’s how its bold energy overhaul became a global model.
www.forbes.com
January 10, 2026 at 8:29 AM
Reposted by froggleston
I call on my party and my government to remove themselves entirely from X and communicate with the public where they actually participate online and can be protected from such illegality.
January 8, 2026 at 12:31 PM
A great opportunity at a fantastic and supportive research institution
📣 Applications have just opened for a Lead Architect to join the @biofair.bsky.social Hub at Earlham Institute.

Blending systems architecture and solutions architecture, this role will guide the design of a national, federated research ecosystem. #FAIRdata #DataSystems
BioFAIR Lead Architect
buff.ly
January 7, 2026 at 2:13 PM
Anyone still running an account on X is now complicit in normalising Elon Musk's Sexual Abuse Website.
January 7, 2026 at 11:25 AM