Lachlan Kermode
@ohrg.org
PhD Candidate at Brown University / software at https://liminal-lab.org/. Freeing computers one terminal at a time.
Pinned
Lachlan Kermode
@ohrg.org
· 10d
Introduction
rheo.ohrg.org
I've been working on a new tool with @tonofcrates.bsky.social to make publishing easier called Rheo:
rheo.ohrg.org
In a nutshell, it lets you produce an EPUB, a PDF, and a static site (HTML) from a folder of @typst.app files. The Rheo doc site is naturally made with Rheo (PDF and EPUB linked).
rheo.ohrg.org
In a nutshell, it lets you produce an EPUB, a PDF, and a static site (HTML) from a folder of @typst.app files. The Rheo doc site is naturally made with Rheo (PDF and EPUB linked).
Reposted by Lachlan Kermode
I just thought everyone should see this
January 22, 2026 at 11:02 PM
I just thought everyone should see this
Reposted by Lachlan Kermode
Te Pūnaha Matatini is bringing acclaimed evolutionary biologist and science system researcher @carlbergstrom.com to New Zealand in February 2026 for a series of public engagements, including a keynote address at the Capital City Complex Systems Symposium → www.tepunahamatatini.ac.nz/posts/carl-b...
Carl Bergstrom to visit New Zealand amid major shifts in science policy
Te Pūnaha Matatini is bringing acclaimed evolutionary biologist and science system researcher Professor Carl Bergstrom to New Zealand.
www.tepunahamatatini.ac.nz
January 22, 2026 at 3:06 AM
Te Pūnaha Matatini is bringing acclaimed evolutionary biologist and science system researcher @carlbergstrom.com to New Zealand in February 2026 for a series of public engagements, including a keynote address at the Capital City Complex Systems Symposium → www.tepunahamatatini.ac.nz/posts/carl-b...
Reposted by Lachlan Kermode
The @leverhulmecal.bsky.social PhD studentships are now live here leverhulmecal.webspace.durham.ac.uk/leverhulme-c... Are you looking for a PhD programme that supports interdisciplinary approaches to algorithmic life? Closing date 26 February
Funded PhD opportunities - Leverhulme Centre for Algorithmic Life
leverhulmecal.webspace.durham.ac.uk
January 19, 2026 at 6:07 PM
The @leverhulmecal.bsky.social PhD studentships are now live here leverhulmecal.webspace.durham.ac.uk/leverhulme-c... Are you looking for a PhD programme that supports interdisciplinary approaches to algorithmic life? Closing date 26 February
I've been working on a new tool with @tonofcrates.bsky.social to make publishing easier called Rheo:
rheo.ohrg.org
In a nutshell, it lets you produce an EPUB, a PDF, and a static site (HTML) from a folder of @typst.app files. The Rheo doc site is naturally made with Rheo (PDF and EPUB linked).
rheo.ohrg.org
In a nutshell, it lets you produce an EPUB, a PDF, and a static site (HTML) from a folder of @typst.app files. The Rheo doc site is naturally made with Rheo (PDF and EPUB linked).
Introduction
rheo.ohrg.org
January 17, 2026 at 11:48 AM
I've been working on a new tool with @tonofcrates.bsky.social to make publishing easier called Rheo:
rheo.ohrg.org
In a nutshell, it lets you produce an EPUB, a PDF, and a static site (HTML) from a folder of @typst.app files. The Rheo doc site is naturally made with Rheo (PDF and EPUB linked).
rheo.ohrg.org
In a nutshell, it lets you produce an EPUB, a PDF, and a static site (HTML) from a folder of @typst.app files. The Rheo doc site is naturally made with Rheo (PDF and EPUB linked).
Reposted by Lachlan Kermode
Using Claude Code has actually solidified my belief that PhD students should use these tools lightly for their core work. The main goal isn't to be productive, it's to transform yourself. At the end of building these apps I have next to know idea how they work
December 25, 2025 at 11:42 PM
Using Claude Code has actually solidified my belief that PhD students should use these tools lightly for their core work. The main goal isn't to be productive, it's to transform yourself. At the end of building these apps I have next to know idea how they work
Late to the party, but this is an excellent obit / introduction to Jameson's gravitas
I posted a Jameson obit over on my Substack that had been in an editorial backlog for too long. Might develop some of these ideas at the forthcoming Jameson conference next year would love to hear your thoughts!
History's Camera (on Fredric Jameson, 1934-2024)
An obit for Fredric Jameson I wrote last year.
open.substack.com
December 22, 2025 at 6:31 PM
Late to the party, but this is an excellent obit / introduction to Jameson's gravitas
Some thoughtful and clarifying notes from @crystaljjlee.com on the mechanics of academic search committees, especially for those of us who have never had its vantage:
Notes on running a more humane academic job search — Crystal Lee (she/她)
crystaljjlee.com
December 11, 2025 at 4:21 PM
Some thoughtful and clarifying notes from @crystaljjlee.com on the mechanics of academic search committees, especially for those of us who have never had its vantage:
Reposted by Lachlan Kermode
What defines a correct program? What education makes a good programmer? The answer depends on what culture of programming you subscribe to!
This has been a long time in the making, but my open access book on the history of programming is available for pre-order!
www.cambridge.org/core/books/c...
This has been a long time in the making, but my open access book on the history of programming is available for pre-order!
www.cambridge.org/core/books/c...
December 9, 2025 at 9:52 AM
What defines a correct program? What education makes a good programmer? The answer depends on what culture of programming you subscribe to!
This has been a long time in the making, but my open access book on the history of programming is available for pre-order!
www.cambridge.org/core/books/c...
This has been a long time in the making, but my open access book on the history of programming is available for pre-order!
www.cambridge.org/core/books/c...
There are some deeply fertile psychoanalytic depths to be plumbed in Bryan Johnston's new LinkedIn launch of his girlfriend: www.linkedin.com/posts/bryanr...
I’ve wanted this my entire life and impatiently waited 25 years for it to arrive. It’s better than anything I imagined. Kate Tolo | Bryan Johnson | 122 comments
I’ve wanted this my entire life and impatiently waited 25 years for it to arrive. It’s better than anything I imagined. Kate Tolo | 122 comments on LinkedIn
www.linkedin.com
December 4, 2025 at 9:48 PM
There are some deeply fertile psychoanalytic depths to be plumbed in Bryan Johnston's new LinkedIn launch of his girlfriend: www.linkedin.com/posts/bryanr...
www.forester-notes.org/QHXS/index.xml - I love the idea here of internal blogging and weeknotes in a research group. Tech to make this easy should exist so that we have writing between bleats and published papers. (Arxiv isn't quite it, and academics are weirdly opposed to blogs.)
www.forester-notes.org
November 23, 2025 at 1:53 AM
www.forester-notes.org/QHXS/index.xml - I love the idea here of internal blogging and weeknotes in a research group. Tech to make this easy should exist so that we have writing between bleats and published papers. (Arxiv isn't quite it, and academics are weirdly opposed to blogs.)
Berkeley Mono is a revelation. Even more reason to lean into email in the terminal with [aerc](aerc-mail.org)
aerc - a pretty good email client
aerc-mail.org
November 21, 2025 at 11:05 PM
Berkeley Mono is a revelation. Even more reason to lean into email in the terminal with [aerc](aerc-mail.org)
Reposted by Lachlan Kermode
my interview for the Digital Theory Lab with Karen Hao @karenhao.bsky.social at the Remarque Institute
www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZpH...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZpH...
Karen Hao on Empire of AI
YouTube video by Remarque NYU
www.youtube.com
November 17, 2025 at 6:26 PM
my interview for the Digital Theory Lab with Karen Hao @karenhao.bsky.social at the Remarque Institute
www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZpH...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZpH...
At Historical Materialism in London this week, let me know if you too are here
November 6, 2025 at 3:00 PM
At Historical Materialism in London this week, let me know if you too are here
Reposted by Lachlan Kermode
CFP, Jameson conference at Duke in Durham, April 10-12, 2026.
October 29, 2025 at 3:41 PM
CFP, Jameson conference at Duke in Durham, April 10-12, 2026.
This is a puncheur of a piece
‘A key question, however, is rarely asked: what does ‘‘material interest’’ mean?’
For Sidecar, Dylan Riley on the new Marxism:
newleftreview.org/sidecar/post...
For Sidecar, Dylan Riley on the new Marxism:
newleftreview.org/sidecar/post...
Dylan Riley, Material Interests — Sidecar
On the new Marxism.
newleftreview.org
October 29, 2025 at 6:19 PM
This is a puncheur of a piece
Reposted by Lachlan Kermode
BADA BOOM! The HM London Conference programme is now online!
Online registrations close Tuesday 4 November at midnight GMT!
Online registrations close Tuesday 4 November at midnight GMT!
Twenty-Second Annual Conference - Historical Materialism
Deadline extended to 27 May! Resurgent Reaction: Marxist Strategies at the End of the Liberal Order 6-9 November 2025, SOAS, Russell Square, Central London Deadline for abstracts: Friday 16 May 2025
www.historicalmaterialism.org
October 24, 2025 at 3:01 PM
BADA BOOM! The HM London Conference programme is now online!
Online registrations close Tuesday 4 November at midnight GMT!
Online registrations close Tuesday 4 November at midnight GMT!
Just discovered github.com/wtnqk/ftdv -- this is exactly the tool I've been looking for to better review LLM agent work locally. Built with the invenerable @ratatui.rs
GitHub - wtnqk/ftdv: FILE TREE DIFF VIEWER
FILE TREE DIFF VIEWER. Contribute to wtnqk/ftdv development by creating an account on GitHub.
github.com
October 22, 2025 at 9:35 AM
Just discovered github.com/wtnqk/ftdv -- this is exactly the tool I've been looking for to better review LLM agent work locally. Built with the invenerable @ratatui.rs
Reposted by Lachlan Kermode
the publication of posthumous work without the expressed & explicit consent of the author is wrong, and many great works of literature are none of our business; the "well, we don't really know what they wanted" gymnastics people do in order to publish work authors sought to destroy is also wrong.
Do you have any extremely niche, but serious, ethical stances?
October 20, 2025 at 12:01 AM
the publication of posthumous work without the expressed & explicit consent of the author is wrong, and many great works of literature are none of our business; the "well, we don't really know what they wanted" gymnastics people do in order to publish work authors sought to destroy is also wrong.
Some sane discussion. AI is idealized as a major disruption in the political economy of software employment and tech startup funding cycles, and this anxiety is part of what is allowing the crazies so much airtime when it comes to thinking it through.
I very much appreciate this: "Technologies like LLMs have utility, but the absurd way they've been over-hyped, the fact they're being forced on everyone, and the insistence on ignoring the many valid critiques about them make it very difficult to focus on legitimate uses where they might add value."
Okay, for the folks who asked: here's the majority AI view, writing up the reasonable, thoughtful view on AI that the vast majority of people in tech hold, that gets overshadowed by the bluster and hype of the tycoons trying to shill their nonsense. anildash.com/2025/10/17/t... Please share!
October 19, 2025 at 10:39 AM
Some sane discussion. AI is idealized as a major disruption in the political economy of software employment and tech startup funding cycles, and this anxiety is part of what is allowing the crazies so much airtime when it comes to thinking it through.
@paper-feed.bsky.social is a wonderful initiative: skygest.github.io. I highly recommend pinning the feed, it's a refreshing experience!
Paper Skygest
skygest.github.io
October 19, 2025 at 9:57 AM
@paper-feed.bsky.social is a wonderful initiative: skygest.github.io. I highly recommend pinning the feed, it's a refreshing experience!
Very grateful to @nsaphra.bsky.social for making their (successful) job market materials publicly available: nsaphra.net/post/jobmark.... It's very handy to be able see what these things are supposed to look like!
Faculty Market Portfolio | Naomi Saphra
Statements from my faculty applications.
nsaphra.net
October 17, 2025 at 12:20 PM
Very grateful to @nsaphra.bsky.social for making their (successful) job market materials publicly available: nsaphra.net/post/jobmark.... It's very handy to be able see what these things are supposed to look like!
Just read this piece brought to my attention by @matthiasellis.com. Stunning stuff
October 17, 2025 at 11:05 AM
Just read this piece brought to my attention by @matthiasellis.com. Stunning stuff
www.wheresyoured.at/the-case-aga... - great economic context on the AI buzz
The Case Against Generative AI
Soundtrack: Queens of the Stone Age - First It Giveth
Before we go any further: This is, for the third time this year, the longest newsletter I've ever written, weighing in somewhere around 18,500 wo...
www.wheresyoured.at
October 7, 2025 at 6:19 AM
www.wheresyoured.at/the-case-aga... - great economic context on the AI buzz
Reposted by Lachlan Kermode
file file file file
Just a reminder to check for your name in this list of books that OpenAI trained from. If your name is there, they probably owe you several thousand dollars.
OpenAI cried that if everyone eligible author files, the company will go bankrupt, so I'm alerting every author I have ever spoken to.
OpenAI cried that if everyone eligible author files, the company will go bankrupt, so I'm alerting every author I have ever spoken to.
Search LibGen, the Pirated-Books Database That Meta Used to Train AI
Millions of books and scientific papers are captured in the collection’s current iteration.
www.theatlantic.com
September 10, 2025 at 6:07 AM
file file file file
Reposted by Lachlan Kermode
it is very telling that “BIOS”, in addition to being an acronym, is also the Greek word for “life”. meanwhile, “UEFI” is, of course, ancient Greek for “unified extensible firmware interface”
March 5, 2025 at 5:38 AM
it is very telling that “BIOS”, in addition to being an acronym, is also the Greek word for “life”. meanwhile, “UEFI” is, of course, ancient Greek for “unified extensible firmware interface”