James Truitt
@linguistory.bsky.social
Digital archivist at Swarthmore College. Testing out bluesky; more active on Mastodon.
Good at regular expressions; still working on irregular ones.
Good at regular expressions; still working on irregular ones.
Me, a digital archivist: Huh, I should really refresh these external HDDs that are like 6+ years old
WD and Seagate confirm: Hard drives for 2026 sold out
WD and Seagate confirm: Hard drives for 2026 sold out
Hyperscalers are tearing hard drives out of the hands of manufacturers. Prices are therefore also rising for SSDs.
www.heise.de
February 18, 2026 at 12:13 AM
Me, a digital archivist: Huh, I should really refresh these external HDDs that are like 6+ years old
Reposted by James Truitt
I have no interest in policing other people's personal health choices in any way. If you're taking a GLP-1 and happy with it, then I'm happy.
But we're never going to be a country without fat people — or the need to treat each other with grace and humanity regardless of size.
But we're never going to be a country without fat people — or the need to treat each other with grace and humanity regardless of size.
February 17, 2026 at 8:16 PM
I have no interest in policing other people's personal health choices in any way. If you're taking a GLP-1 and happy with it, then I'm happy.
But we're never going to be a country without fat people — or the need to treat each other with grace and humanity regardless of size.
But we're never going to be a country without fat people — or the need to treat each other with grace and humanity regardless of size.
Reposted by James Truitt
Historian of medicine here. Yes. Yes, they did.
before antibiotics did people just die all the time from everything?
February 17, 2026 at 5:47 PM
Historian of medicine here. Yes. Yes, they did.
Reposted by James Truitt
me, 50 years from now, doing a Zoom lecture from a hospital bed:
“though other formats for encoding bibliographic data hold great promise, and MARC’s days are clearly numbered, it manages to hang on”
“though other formats for encoding bibliographic data hold great promise, and MARC’s days are clearly numbered, it manages to hang on”
📚 i’m about to head into Boston for the LIS class i teach. As ever, i am inspired and heartened by my students’ commitment to our profession, despite the grave uncertainties of its future (BIBFRAME)
February 17, 2026 at 9:33 PM
me, 50 years from now, doing a Zoom lecture from a hospital bed:
“though other formats for encoding bibliographic data hold great promise, and MARC’s days are clearly numbered, it manages to hang on”
“though other formats for encoding bibliographic data hold great promise, and MARC’s days are clearly numbered, it manages to hang on”
Reposted by James Truitt
I think LLMs are an incredible testament to collective human ingenuity. *Collective*: they are built on layers upon layers of work, spanning centuries, institutions, nations. Only in the crudest sense are they the property of Sam Altman and Elon Musk, and yet they are deployed in a world that +
February 17, 2026 at 7:08 PM
I think LLMs are an incredible testament to collective human ingenuity. *Collective*: they are built on layers upon layers of work, spanning centuries, institutions, nations. Only in the crudest sense are they the property of Sam Altman and Elon Musk, and yet they are deployed in a world that +
Reposted by James Truitt
Discovered today that Instagram had turned on (without my opt-in) automatic AUDIO translation of any reel that shows up in my feed not in English USING AI TO MIMIC THE SPEAKER’S VOICE and WOW it was creepy and upsetting.
You can turn it off in “Language & Translations” in Settings. 🙅🏻♀️
You can turn it off in “Language & Translations” in Settings. 🙅🏻♀️
February 17, 2026 at 1:57 AM
Discovered today that Instagram had turned on (without my opt-in) automatic AUDIO translation of any reel that shows up in my feed not in English USING AI TO MIMIC THE SPEAKER’S VOICE and WOW it was creepy and upsetting.
You can turn it off in “Language & Translations” in Settings. 🙅🏻♀️
You can turn it off in “Language & Translations” in Settings. 🙅🏻♀️
Reposted by James Truitt
Missed this 3 days ago, but we're thrilled this is out.
@ruthahnert.bsky.social @danielwilson.bsky.social & I wrote this after 6 years of collaboration + discussions about
- what "data" and "digitization" mean [in History]
- what we need to do to ensure data is findable & accessible
@ruthahnert.bsky.social @danielwilson.bsky.social & I wrote this after 6 years of collaboration + discussions about
- what "data" and "digitization" mean [in History]
- what we need to do to ensure data is findable & accessible
New in Transactions: 'Show Me the Data: New Practices for Historical Sources', by @ruthahnert.bsky.social, Katherine McDonough & @danielwilson.bsky.social: bit.ly/460nrkM
As the ecosystem of historical research data expands, how do we keep control of source materials, esp digital? #Skystorians 1/2
As the ecosystem of historical research data expands, how do we keep control of source materials, esp digital? #Skystorians 1/2
February 16, 2026 at 11:12 PM
Missed this 3 days ago, but we're thrilled this is out.
@ruthahnert.bsky.social @danielwilson.bsky.social & I wrote this after 6 years of collaboration + discussions about
- what "data" and "digitization" mean [in History]
- what we need to do to ensure data is findable & accessible
@ruthahnert.bsky.social @danielwilson.bsky.social & I wrote this after 6 years of collaboration + discussions about
- what "data" and "digitization" mean [in History]
- what we need to do to ensure data is findable & accessible
Reposted by James Truitt
While MLPS was a victory, moral and tangibly, for ICE resisters, don't call it 'a retreat.' The dystopia is just getting started
Thousands of new agents. 150 new offices in every state. And the nationwide gulag archipelago. The fight has just begun
My new column www.inquirer.com/opinion/ice-...
Thousands of new agents. 150 new offices in every state. And the nationwide gulag archipelago. The fight has just begun
My new column www.inquirer.com/opinion/ice-...
No, ICE isn’t ‘retreating.’ It’s loading up to invade your town. | Will Bunch
A much-hyped ICE pullback from Minneapolis is a blip in a looming nationwide surge of arrests, concentration camps.
www.inquirer.com
February 15, 2026 at 6:25 PM
While MLPS was a victory, moral and tangibly, for ICE resisters, don't call it 'a retreat.' The dystopia is just getting started
Thousands of new agents. 150 new offices in every state. And the nationwide gulag archipelago. The fight has just begun
My new column www.inquirer.com/opinion/ice-...
Thousands of new agents. 150 new offices in every state. And the nationwide gulag archipelago. The fight has just begun
My new column www.inquirer.com/opinion/ice-...
Reposted by James Truitt
Librarians could have the Cat Judge. I envision a surly grey tabby in a wig and pince-nez.
When @chelseaphillips.bsky.social first told me about this years ago I started dreaming up what identity-obscuring on-theme costumes one could use for other fields…
I propose to make universal the old policy of the Blackfriars conference at the American Shakespeare Center:
If you do not end your paper on time, you will be forced to exit, pursued by a bear. Literally, a bear will come take your paper from you.
If you do not end your paper on time, you will be forced to exit, pursued by a bear. Literally, a bear will come take your paper from you.
February 16, 2026 at 2:06 AM
Librarians could have the Cat Judge. I envision a surly grey tabby in a wig and pince-nez.
Reposted by James Truitt
OpenAI ”acknowledged in its own research that LLMs will always produce hallucinations due to fundamental mathematical constraints that cannot be solved through better engineering, marking a significant admission from one of the AI industry’s leading companies.”
You can’t trust chatbots.
You can’t trust chatbots.
OpenAI admits AI hallucinations are mathematically inevitable, not just engineering flaws
In a landmark study, OpenAI researchers reveal that large language models will always produce plausible but false outputs, even with perfect data, due to fundamental statistical and computational limi...
www.computerworld.com
February 15, 2026 at 8:25 PM
OpenAI ”acknowledged in its own research that LLMs will always produce hallucinations due to fundamental mathematical constraints that cannot be solved through better engineering, marking a significant admission from one of the AI industry’s leading companies.”
You can’t trust chatbots.
You can’t trust chatbots.
Reposted by James Truitt
douglas adams was our most accurate futurist
We are at an airport restaurant. A robot just drove up to us with our food, said, "Hi! Here I am!" and then drove away with our food.
February 15, 2026 at 10:10 PM
douglas adams was our most accurate futurist
Reposted by James Truitt
Not me thinking totally differently about eagle iconography because of this (though I bet Mr. Douglass would have appreciated the repurposing of the Emancipation-commemorative Statue of Liberty as a beacon of welcoming).
From Frederick Douglass's 1867 "Composite Nation" speech, a defense of Chinese migration to the United States at a time when anti-Chinese sentiment was intensifying.
teachingamericanhistory.org/document/our...
teachingamericanhistory.org/document/our...
February 16, 2026 at 12:57 AM
Not me thinking totally differently about eagle iconography because of this (though I bet Mr. Douglass would have appreciated the repurposing of the Emancipation-commemorative Statue of Liberty as a beacon of welcoming).
Reposted by James Truitt
Azdoufal, demon lord of roombas
February 15, 2026 at 7:31 AM
Azdoufal, demon lord of roombas
Reposted by James Truitt
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 https://simonwillison.net/2026/Feb/15/cognitive-debt/
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
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 https://simonwillison.net/2026/Feb/15/cognitive-debt/
Reposted by James Truitt
The wonderful thing about Tyggers
Is Tyggers are burning bright
Their tops are made out of rubber
In the forest of the night
What bouncy, trouncy, flouncy, pouncy,
Immortal hand or eye
Did frame the most wonderful thing about Tyggers,
Their fearful symmetry!
Is Tyggers are burning bright
Their tops are made out of rubber
In the forest of the night
What bouncy, trouncy, flouncy, pouncy,
Immortal hand or eye
Did frame the most wonderful thing about Tyggers,
Their fearful symmetry!
February 4, 2026 at 2:14 AM
The wonderful thing about Tyggers
Is Tyggers are burning bright
Their tops are made out of rubber
In the forest of the night
What bouncy, trouncy, flouncy, pouncy,
Immortal hand or eye
Did frame the most wonderful thing about Tyggers,
Their fearful symmetry!
Is Tyggers are burning bright
Their tops are made out of rubber
In the forest of the night
What bouncy, trouncy, flouncy, pouncy,
Immortal hand or eye
Did frame the most wonderful thing about Tyggers,
Their fearful symmetry!
Reposted by James Truitt
Striking, isn’t it, that every AI assistant with a human name has a female one right up until they invent one that’s there to help you code, and it is Claude
February 15, 2026 at 5:29 PM
Striking, isn’t it, that every AI assistant with a human name has a female one right up until they invent one that’s there to help you code, and it is Claude
Reposted by James Truitt
rubio’s invocation of “western civilization” — defined here as racial and religious chauvinism, if not outright supremacy — is a rejection of the more egalitarian and universalistic notions that came out of america’s two revolutions.
February 15, 2026 at 1:17 AM
rubio’s invocation of “western civilization” — defined here as racial and religious chauvinism, if not outright supremacy — is a rejection of the more egalitarian and universalistic notions that came out of america’s two revolutions.
Reposted by James Truitt
why is there anti-homeless architecture in pokemon
February 15, 2026 at 12:51 AM
why is there anti-homeless architecture in pokemon
Reposted by James Truitt
Become ungovernable
February 14, 2026 at 10:12 PM
Become ungovernable
Reposted by James Truitt
My employer, Univ. Colorado will pay OpenAI $2M/year under the banner of “equity”. That’s 54 full scholarships / year. Plus, our IT will be able to read our chatGPT logs, and our chats can be requested under public records law. No thanks. Surveillance is not equity
www.axios.com/local/boulde...
www.axios.com/local/boulde...
CU signs $2M OpenAI deal for ChatGPT access
Students and faculty will gain access to ChatGPT Edu starting in March under a three-year deal.
www.axios.com
February 13, 2026 at 11:36 PM
My employer, Univ. Colorado will pay OpenAI $2M/year under the banner of “equity”. That’s 54 full scholarships / year. Plus, our IT will be able to read our chatGPT logs, and our chats can be requested under public records law. No thanks. Surveillance is not equity
www.axios.com/local/boulde...
www.axios.com/local/boulde...
Reposted by James Truitt
Reposted by James Truitt
this website is a machine for surfacing extremely rarefied internecine beef from toxic friend groups and you need to be able to recognize when it's happening and avert your gaze
February 13, 2026 at 5:13 AM
this website is a machine for surfacing extremely rarefied internecine beef from toxic friend groups and you need to be able to recognize when it's happening and avert your gaze
Reposted by James Truitt
On ransomware and under-funded GLAMs: 'At no point was the British Library particularly negligent or unprepared. Instead, it was hindered by vulnerabilities shared by the majority of cultural institutions. ...the attack [is] a warning to the whole sector.' informationsecuritybuzz.com/the-cyberatt...
The Cyberattack That Exposed The Fragility Of Digital Heritage
Saturday 28 October 2023 is a date that will live long in the memory of staff at the British Library. As they arrived for work that day, they encountered
informationsecuritybuzz.com
February 13, 2026 at 5:20 PM
On ransomware and under-funded GLAMs: 'At no point was the British Library particularly negligent or unprepared. Instead, it was hindered by vulnerabilities shared by the majority of cultural institutions. ...the attack [is] a warning to the whole sector.' informationsecuritybuzz.com/the-cyberatt...
Reposted by James Truitt
It’s unreasonably important to me that people know JewBelong isn’t some big org, it’s just Archie Gottesman, a hugely shitty racist rich white woman who used to make billboards for her daddy’s company and pivoted to vomiting her bullshit racist crybullying onto them in the name of “antisemitism”
This is the pet project of one rich AF Jewish nepo baby white lady who lives on the upper east side and claims to speak for all Jews and throws her money around to control the messaging and it is a fucking nightmare
February 13, 2026 at 7:44 PM
It’s unreasonably important to me that people know JewBelong isn’t some big org, it’s just Archie Gottesman, a hugely shitty racist rich white woman who used to make billboards for her daddy’s company and pivoted to vomiting her bullshit racist crybullying onto them in the name of “antisemitism”
Reposted by James Truitt
Academic: Torment Nexus Studies provides us with tools which help us to recognize & deconstruct the implications of the Torment Nexus imaginary having been always already operationalized & implemented in society.
Tech CEO: *furiously scribbling notes* always… implement… torment nexus… in… society…
Tech CEO: *furiously scribbling notes* always… implement… torment nexus… in… society…
June 14, 2024 at 2:54 PM
Academic: Torment Nexus Studies provides us with tools which help us to recognize & deconstruct the implications of the Torment Nexus imaginary having been always already operationalized & implemented in society.
Tech CEO: *furiously scribbling notes* always… implement… torment nexus… in… society…
Tech CEO: *furiously scribbling notes* always… implement… torment nexus… in… society…