Jamie McCarthy
@jamiemccarthy.bsky.social
Ruby on Rails engineer, vegan, enjoy D&D and relational databases
Reposted by Jamie McCarthy
First successful fine tune of Baguettotron. And very on brand to see it’s about poetry.
November 17, 2025 at 2:58 PM
First successful fine tune of Baguettotron. And very on brand to see it’s about poetry.
Reposted by Jamie McCarthy
“Housing shortage – Jews to blame," letter sticker, German Reich, 1938
zwangsraeume.berlin/en/context
zwangsraeume.berlin/en/context
November 14, 2025 at 2:16 AM
“Housing shortage – Jews to blame," letter sticker, German Reich, 1938
zwangsraeume.berlin/en/context
zwangsraeume.berlin/en/context
Reposted by Jamie McCarthy
Well Kyiv is having a fun night
November 13, 2025 at 10:12 PM
Well Kyiv is having a fun night
That was not the problem at Auschwitz
November 9, 2025 at 2:24 PM
That was not the problem at Auschwitz
Reposted by Jamie McCarthy
It's too long for Bluesky & I refuse to compromise. So here's a screenshot with the words in the alt-text.
October 30, 2025 at 6:27 PM
It's too long for Bluesky & I refuse to compromise. So here's a screenshot with the words in the alt-text.
Reposted by Jamie McCarthy
Something that not enough people know about SQLite is that it's in the public domain because it's a product of government. General Dynamics made it on contract with the U.S. Navy.
When government software is affirmatively placed in the public domain, and the code is public, good things can happen!
When government software is affirmatively placed in the public domain, and the code is public, good things can happen!
October 20, 2025 at 4:01 PM
Something that not enough people know about SQLite is that it's in the public domain because it's a product of government. General Dynamics made it on contract with the U.S. Navy.
When government software is affirmatively placed in the public domain, and the code is public, good things can happen!
When government software is affirmatively placed in the public domain, and the code is public, good things can happen!
Reposted by Jamie McCarthy
Beware of AI videos like the one below.
And, AI sucks for many reasons, but among the worst is that it destabilizes our shared reality.
And, AI sucks for many reasons, but among the worst is that it destabilizes our shared reality.
October 11, 2025 at 3:49 AM
Beware of AI videos like the one below.
And, AI sucks for many reasons, but among the worst is that it destabilizes our shared reality.
And, AI sucks for many reasons, but among the worst is that it destabilizes our shared reality.
MAIA11 (Rosalee®) - Midwest Apple Improvement Association
maiaapples.com
October 7, 2025 at 11:21 PM
"Can't spell Omelas without mela" would be mildly amusing to about 2,500 Maltese sci-fi fans worldwide, making it the most theoretically popular catchphase I've ever invented
October 7, 2025 at 12:54 PM
"Can't spell Omelas without mela" would be mildly amusing to about 2,500 Maltese sci-fi fans worldwide, making it the most theoretically popular catchphase I've ever invented
Reposted by Jamie McCarthy
October 2, 2025 at 3:50 PM
Reposted by Jamie McCarthy
Oh, man. After reading the article, what it actually says is that an historian did a lot of archival work and spatial research to determine the site of a killing and then the family of the likely perpetrator stepped forward with photographs to confirm identity.
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/o...
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/o...
Historian uses AI to help identify Nazi in notorious Holocaust murder image
Jürgen Matthäus has for years been investigating the killer – and is confident he has finally solved the mystery
www.theguardian.com
October 2, 2025 at 12:02 PM
Oh, man. After reading the article, what it actually says is that an historian did a lot of archival work and spatial research to determine the site of a killing and then the family of the likely perpetrator stepped forward with photographs to confirm identity.
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/o...
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/o...
Reposted by Jamie McCarthy
Poster I made for the Great Midwest Crane Fest!
September 30, 2025 at 1:41 PM
Poster I made for the Great Midwest Crane Fest!
Reposted by Jamie McCarthy
I get that the news cycle is packed right now, but I just heard from a colleague at the Smithsonian that this is fully a GIANT SQUID BEING EATEN BY A SPERM WHALE and it’s possibly the first ever confirmed video according to a friend at NOAA
10 YEAR OLD ME IS LOSING HER MIND (a thread 🧵)
10 YEAR OLD ME IS LOSING HER MIND (a thread 🧵)
September 24, 2025 at 8:30 PM
I get that the news cycle is packed right now, but I just heard from a colleague at the Smithsonian that this is fully a GIANT SQUID BEING EATEN BY A SPERM WHALE and it’s possibly the first ever confirmed video according to a friend at NOAA
10 YEAR OLD ME IS LOSING HER MIND (a thread 🧵)
10 YEAR OLD ME IS LOSING HER MIND (a thread 🧵)
Reposted by Jamie McCarthy
Being the parent of an autistic kid fucking rocks. He’s seven years old and his favorite things are silver age Batman comics, documentaries about the making of classic sci-fi and horror films, and a one-eyed geriatric therapy horse named Boog. He’s legit the coolest person I know
September 23, 2025 at 4:47 AM
Being the parent of an autistic kid fucking rocks. He’s seven years old and his favorite things are silver age Batman comics, documentaries about the making of classic sci-fi and horror films, and a one-eyed geriatric therapy horse named Boog. He’s legit the coolest person I know
Reposted by Jamie McCarthy
while I'm not working I've been spending some time learning about linux, which is sort of like tvOS (similar codebases, mostly POSIX compliant, with support for multiple users on a single host) but optimized for hosting private minecraft servers. people should check this out
September 18, 2025 at 5:48 AM
while I'm not working I've been spending some time learning about linux, which is sort of like tvOS (similar codebases, mostly POSIX compliant, with support for multiple users on a single host) but optimized for hosting private minecraft servers. people should check this out
Reposted by Jamie McCarthy
I was going to say this myself, but didn’t want to be the first—
The Peripheral.
Everyone has a 1-2 season TV show they sorely miss and not enough people knew about that you are always praising the heavens about.
What's yours?
What's yours?
September 13, 2025 at 11:56 PM
I was going to say this myself, but didn’t want to be the first—
Reposted by Jamie McCarthy
can't sing this man's praises enough—he gave me so many opportunities to advance when I was at Polygon, had my back every step of the way, defended me against sexist bullshit, and once made me a really great list of things to do in Philly. the rare combo of incredibly smart and kind
Monday was my last day at Vox Media which, after 14 years, feels wild to say out loud. But here I am!
I'm looking for my next role, so if you think that may be with you please reach out! You can DM me here, or find me on LinkedIn, or email me (chrisgrant @ this domain).
I'm looking for my next role, so if you think that may be with you please reach out! You can DM me here, or find me on LinkedIn, or email me (chrisgrant @ this domain).
September 5, 2025 at 4:40 PM
can't sing this man's praises enough—he gave me so many opportunities to advance when I was at Polygon, had my back every step of the way, defended me against sexist bullshit, and once made me a really great list of things to do in Philly. the rare combo of incredibly smart and kind
Reposted by Jamie McCarthy
Nez Perce through the smoke, Grand Teton National Park. July, 2021.
📷 Fujifilm X-T3 + XF100-400mmF4.5-5.6 R LM OIS WR
🎞 100 mm – 1/950″ – f/6.4 – ISO 160
🏷️ #Photography #Landscapes #NationalParks
📷 Fujifilm X-T3 + XF100-400mmF4.5-5.6 R LM OIS WR
🎞 100 mm – 1/950″ – f/6.4 – ISO 160
🏷️ #Photography #Landscapes #NationalParks
August 30, 2025 at 4:00 PM
Nez Perce through the smoke, Grand Teton National Park. July, 2021.
📷 Fujifilm X-T3 + XF100-400mmF4.5-5.6 R LM OIS WR
🎞 100 mm – 1/950″ – f/6.4 – ISO 160
🏷️ #Photography #Landscapes #NationalParks
📷 Fujifilm X-T3 + XF100-400mmF4.5-5.6 R LM OIS WR
🎞 100 mm – 1/950″ – f/6.4 – ISO 160
🏷️ #Photography #Landscapes #NationalParks
Reposted by Jamie McCarthy
Reposted by Jamie McCarthy
LLMs are math. i know how to make them. to actually remove them from society you have to find all the copies of all the LLMs on all the hard drives on the world and everyone who knows how to make them and throw them all into the sea. you cannot do it
August 20, 2025 at 7:46 PM
LLMs are math. i know how to make them. to actually remove them from society you have to find all the copies of all the LLMs on all the hard drives on the world and everyone who knows how to make them and throw them all into the sea. you cannot do it
Reposted by Jamie McCarthy
once again: I am very much *not* an “AI is boiling the oceans and is ontologically evil” type, and I do think it has reasonable use cases.
but I *also* think we’re rolling it out to the public in some wildly irresponsible and illogical ways that I believe that we’ll come to regret.
but I *also* think we’re rolling it out to the public in some wildly irresponsible and illogical ways that I believe that we’ll come to regret.
August 17, 2025 at 12:43 PM
once again: I am very much *not* an “AI is boiling the oceans and is ontologically evil” type, and I do think it has reasonable use cases.
but I *also* think we’re rolling it out to the public in some wildly irresponsible and illogical ways that I believe that we’ll come to regret.
but I *also* think we’re rolling it out to the public in some wildly irresponsible and illogical ways that I believe that we’ll come to regret.
Reposted by Jamie McCarthy
worth a read to see that, once you peel back the dumb hype and parallel anti-hype hype, GPT-5 is just a very good LLM system
August 15, 2025 at 9:43 PM
worth a read to see that, once you peel back the dumb hype and parallel anti-hype hype, GPT-5 is just a very good LLM system
Reposted by Jamie McCarthy
Here's the context of the misleading graph that was circulating, with alt text:
August 8, 2025 at 9:02 PM
Here's the context of the misleading graph that was circulating, with alt text:
Reposted by Jamie McCarthy
I've had preview access to GPT-5 for a couple of weeks, so I have a lot to say about it. Here's my first post, focusing just on core characteristics, pricing (it's VERY competitively priced) and interesting details from the GPT-5 system card simonwillison.net/2025/Aug/7/g...
GPT-5: Key characteristics, pricing and model card
I’ve had preview access to the new GPT-5 model family for the past two weeks, and have been using GPT-5 as my daily-driver. It’s my new favorite model. It’s still …
simonwillison.net
August 7, 2025 at 5:44 PM
I've had preview access to GPT-5 for a couple of weeks, so I have a lot to say about it. Here's my first post, focusing just on core characteristics, pricing (it's VERY competitively priced) and interesting details from the GPT-5 system card simonwillison.net/2025/Aug/7/g...