TKarney
@pecunium.bsky.social
I write things (sporadically https://www.patreon.com/Pecunium) I make things (yarn, woven goods, minor woodworking). I take photographs (and teach photography).
I'm moderately polymathic (though maths are not my thing)
Welcome to my place
I'm moderately polymathic (though maths are not my thing)
Welcome to my place
Reposted by TKarney
At this point, I don't think there's any excuse for artists concerned about the fate of American democracy to accept or honor Kennedy Center bookings. But I do find it funny that one of the only interesting things on the spring schedule is Robert Ward's operatic adaptation of Miller's The Crucible.>
December 30, 2025 at 4:07 PM
At this point, I don't think there's any excuse for artists concerned about the fate of American democracy to accept or honor Kennedy Center bookings. But I do find it funny that one of the only interesting things on the spring schedule is Robert Ward's operatic adaptation of Miller's The Crucible.>
Reposted by TKarney
I've waited 3 years to make this post
December 30, 2025 at 3:14 PM
I've waited 3 years to make this post
No it isn’t.
We should pull the plug because it’s a waste if money, and a plagiarism machine meant to destroy jobs, but there is no reason to worry about sentience, much less sapience.
We should pull the plug because it’s a waste if money, and a plagiarism machine meant to destroy jobs, but there is no reason to worry about sentience, much less sapience.
AI showing signs of self-preservation and humans should be ready to pull plug, says pioneer
AI showing signs of self-preservation and humans should be ready to pull plug, says pioneer
Canadian computer scientist Yoshua Bengio warns against granting legal rights to cutting-edge technology
A pioneer of AI has criticised calls to grant the technology rights, warning that it was showing signs of self-preservation and humans should be prepared to pull the plug if needed.
Yoshua Bengio said giving legal status to cutting-edge AIs would be akin to giving citizenship to hostile extraterrestrials, amid fears that advances in the technology were far outpacing the ability to constrain them. Continue reading...
www.theguardian.com
December 30, 2025 at 6:43 PM
No it isn’t.
We should pull the plug because it’s a waste if money, and a plagiarism machine meant to destroy jobs, but there is no reason to worry about sentience, much less sapience.
We should pull the plug because it’s a waste if money, and a plagiarism machine meant to destroy jobs, but there is no reason to worry about sentience, much less sapience.
Russia says “there is not, and never has been any such country as Ukraine, or people as Ukrainians.”
That’s explicitly existential.
And they’ve committed atrocities, with intent: even if the numbers are lesser, e.g. stealing children and pretending they are in need of adoption.
That’s explicitly existential.
And they’ve committed atrocities, with intent: even if the numbers are lesser, e.g. stealing children and pretending they are in need of adoption.
What does an "existential war" imply? On the eastern front in ww2 maybe it was applicable, because the nazis really were seeking a campaign of extermination. You'd have to be incredibly naive and uncritical to think this is the case in the Donbass.
I dunno, man. I sort of feel like you SHOULD fight in your country’s existential defensive war.
Losing your voting rights seems like a pretty small price to pay in the light of history.
(As for class war, still waiting for the Russian proletariat to rise up and stop the war. lol)
Losing your voting rights seems like a pretty small price to pay in the light of history.
(As for class war, still waiting for the Russian proletariat to rise up and stop the war. lol)
December 30, 2025 at 6:40 PM
Russia says “there is not, and never has been any such country as Ukraine, or people as Ukrainians.”
That’s explicitly existential.
And they’ve committed atrocities, with intent: even if the numbers are lesser, e.g. stealing children and pretending they are in need of adoption.
That’s explicitly existential.
And they’ve committed atrocities, with intent: even if the numbers are lesser, e.g. stealing children and pretending they are in need of adoption.
Reposted by TKarney
Note Hess was still captured and convicted as the war criminal he was, not made a crucial ally against Hitler.
December 30, 2025 at 5:01 PM
Note Hess was still captured and convicted as the war criminal he was, not made a crucial ally against Hitler.
Reposted by TKarney
I hate these charts so much because they imply chatgpt is comparable to the internet or phones
You could create the same graphic for full screen pop-up advertising on websites and make them look like ultra-rapid technology adoption when really they were just baked unavoidably into the internet
You could create the same graphic for full screen pop-up advertising on websites and make them look like ultra-rapid technology adoption when really they were just baked unavoidably into the internet
In 2025, AI became pervasive in American life and the economy, with ChatGPT surging in adoption much faster than any other major technology in memory. @nytopinion.nytimes.com
December 30, 2025 at 7:38 AM
I hate these charts so much because they imply chatgpt is comparable to the internet or phones
You could create the same graphic for full screen pop-up advertising on websites and make them look like ultra-rapid technology adoption when really they were just baked unavoidably into the internet
You could create the same graphic for full screen pop-up advertising on websites and make them look like ultra-rapid technology adoption when really they were just baked unavoidably into the internet
Reposted by TKarney
This is going to catch me flack: it's what people who don't know what good writing is think is good writing, and without understanding what makes writing good.
I think a lot of people who don't often write (or who just don't care) understand how easy it is to spot "AI" text once you've been exposed to it. It's gotten to the point that I can look at a piece of "AI" writing and tell if it was written by ChatGPT or some other LLM. They have "house styles."
December 30, 2025 at 5:32 PM
This is going to catch me flack: it's what people who don't know what good writing is think is good writing, and without understanding what makes writing good.
Reposted by TKarney
Having worked in book and comic stores since I was 19, I felt every one of these signs deep in my soul. Solidarity with Manager-san.
December 30, 2025 at 5:44 PM
Having worked in book and comic stores since I was 19, I felt every one of these signs deep in my soul. Solidarity with Manager-san.
Reposted by TKarney
Whenever we're out of this shit the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau should be built into an absolutely nightmare bureaucratic goliath. Increase the original funding by a million times and hire thousands of staffers trying to fuck shit up for business.
December 30, 2025 at 4:31 PM
Whenever we're out of this shit the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau should be built into an absolutely nightmare bureaucratic goliath. Increase the original funding by a million times and hire thousands of staffers trying to fuck shit up for business.
Reposted by TKarney
If you ever want to make someone from another industrialized country look at you as if you've gone mad, explain to them that you can be fired for being sick. I was. This was pre-pandemic. I had strep and a doctor's note.
I was fired for absenteeism.
I was fired for absenteeism.
December 30, 2025 at 5:51 PM
If you ever want to make someone from another industrialized country look at you as if you've gone mad, explain to them that you can be fired for being sick. I was. This was pre-pandemic. I had strep and a doctor's note.
I was fired for absenteeism.
I was fired for absenteeism.
Reposted by TKarney
one of my first tasks in my first job was redoing the monitoring on cdn software written by a "super dev" who rigged all his checks to claim it always has 1ms latency
December 30, 2025 at 4:55 PM
one of my first tasks in my first job was redoing the monitoring on cdn software written by a "super dev" who rigged all his checks to claim it always has 1ms latency
Reposted by TKarney
Most of my professional work in tech was *undoing* the work of self-styled “super devs” who has been allowed to run free because the businesses that employed us realized these guys had made a fucking mess of everything and they needed systems that worked in an understandable and maintainable way.
imo software engineering will revolve around the super devs who are able to knock out entire sprints of work in a day or two when they need to.
critically though:
1) I do not think there are enough of these devs
2) no idea how you train more of these if you don't gain skills from pre-llm coding
critically though:
1) I do not think there are enough of these devs
2) no idea how you train more of these if you don't gain skills from pre-llm coding
December 30, 2025 at 4:52 PM
Most of my professional work in tech was *undoing* the work of self-styled “super devs” who has been allowed to run free because the businesses that employed us realized these guys had made a fucking mess of everything and they needed systems that worked in an understandable and maintainable way.
Reposted by TKarney
In this case, the complaining student sent an email to OU to institute the complaint against Ms. Curth while cc'ing overtly political actors, such as disgraced former Oklahoma Superintendent Ryan Walters, who is known for his virulent anti-LGBTQ positions.
December 30, 2025 at 4:36 PM
In this case, the complaining student sent an email to OU to institute the complaint against Ms. Curth while cc'ing overtly political actors, such as disgraced former Oklahoma Superintendent Ryan Walters, who is known for his virulent anti-LGBTQ positions.
Reposted by TKarney
It was amazing to write with @ehayot.bsky.social & each of us put our stank into every part of this essay.
I have no memory of how we drafted it in October, but when we came back to it a couple weeks ago, I felt this paragraph in my bones.
I have no memory of how we drafted it in October, but when we came back to it a couple weeks ago, I felt this paragraph in my bones.
December 30, 2025 at 1:36 AM
It was amazing to write with @ehayot.bsky.social & each of us put our stank into every part of this essay.
I have no memory of how we drafted it in October, but when we came back to it a couple weeks ago, I felt this paragraph in my bones.
I have no memory of how we drafted it in October, but when we came back to it a couple weeks ago, I felt this paragraph in my bones.
Reposted by TKarney
I think this is right. Both that the Trump-MAGA effort at power consolidation is failing and also that its failure isn't the end of the matter.
Beyond it there is a need to come up with a new political formulation which provides folks with an attractive vision of how we can move forward.
Beyond it there is a need to come up with a new political formulation which provides folks with an attractive vision of how we can move forward.
The past year has been terrifying. Really, the past two—I lost a lot of sleep in 2024 over the promises of the Trump campaign, promises they immediately sought to make good on. But at the end of the first year of his would-be dictatorship, I am calling it: we are going to win.
We Are Going to Win
Trump's revolution will fail, but we still have a long and painful road ahead of us.
www.liberalcurrents.com
December 30, 2025 at 4:37 PM
I think this is right. Both that the Trump-MAGA effort at power consolidation is failing and also that its failure isn't the end of the matter.
Beyond it there is a need to come up with a new political formulation which provides folks with an attractive vision of how we can move forward.
Beyond it there is a need to come up with a new political formulation which provides folks with an attractive vision of how we can move forward.
Reposted by TKarney
Fun fact: TNT was originally synthesised for use as a dyestuff, and it was nearly three decades before anybody discovered its explosive potential.
Can you imagine staring at the smoking crater where your vat of yellow dye was, wondering what the fuck just happened?
Can you imagine staring at the smoking crater where your vat of yellow dye was, wondering what the fuck just happened?
Munitions worker very carefully and very gently fills a shell. From clip Reel 8 of IWM 580, released #OTD Dec 29 1915. Note the powder in air, TNT poisoning caused skin to turn yellow and was fatal in about 100 cases. Link to partial list of victims below en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...
December 30, 2025 at 10:51 AM
Fun fact: TNT was originally synthesised for use as a dyestuff, and it was nearly three decades before anybody discovered its explosive potential.
Can you imagine staring at the smoking crater where your vat of yellow dye was, wondering what the fuck just happened?
Can you imagine staring at the smoking crater where your vat of yellow dye was, wondering what the fuck just happened?
harder to store/fence than maple syrup
December 30, 2025 at 4:38 PM
harder to store/fence than maple syrup
This is true, but conflates being against Trump with being pro-democracy.
FDR didn't think Stalin shared any of his values, but he was willing to work with him (in a limited way) because they had a shared aim... getting rid of Hitler.
So no, it's not reasonable to let MTG into the tent.
FDR didn't think Stalin shared any of his values, but he was willing to work with him (in a limited way) because they had a shared aim... getting rid of Hitler.
So no, it's not reasonable to let MTG into the tent.
The pro-democracy movement needs to include factions which we disagree with vehemently on all other matters.
That’s the point of a pro-democracy movement—we aren’t aligned on the direction of our society, but we all agree we should have a right to contest it freely and fairly.
That’s the point of a pro-democracy movement—we aren’t aligned on the direction of our society, but we all agree we should have a right to contest it freely and fairly.
December 30, 2025 at 4:34 PM
This is true, but conflates being against Trump with being pro-democracy.
FDR didn't think Stalin shared any of his values, but he was willing to work with him (in a limited way) because they had a shared aim... getting rid of Hitler.
So no, it's not reasonable to let MTG into the tent.
FDR didn't think Stalin shared any of his values, but he was willing to work with him (in a limited way) because they had a shared aim... getting rid of Hitler.
So no, it's not reasonable to let MTG into the tent.
Reposted by TKarney
Incidentally, if "migrants should have fewer rights" is stage one, then "dual citizens have divided loyalties" is almost invariably stage two of every historical example of mass oppression. Usually followed by second/third-generation migrants or full citizens of a particular minority being targeted.
December 29, 2025 at 10:11 AM
Incidentally, if "migrants should have fewer rights" is stage one, then "dual citizens have divided loyalties" is almost invariably stage two of every historical example of mass oppression. Usually followed by second/third-generation migrants or full citizens of a particular minority being targeted.
Reposted by TKarney
Ask this question and its follow-up. Like Begum before him, Alaa el-Fattah is being used as a crowbar to shift reasonable people - even some progressives - into a space of thinking that full citizenship, if granted recently or dual, is retroactively conditional or attracts a lower class of rights.
December 29, 2025 at 10:03 AM
Ask this question and its follow-up. Like Begum before him, Alaa el-Fattah is being used as a crowbar to shift reasonable people - even some progressives - into a space of thinking that full citizenship, if granted recently or dual, is retroactively conditional or attracts a lower class of rights.
I guess I'm either the Gunner's Mate, or a Midshipman (with very good prospects) in the Age of Sail British Navy.
(was a non-fic book about a Mutiny/Non-Mutiny the Admiralty didn't want to talk about)
(was a non-fic book about a Mutiny/Non-Mutiny the Admiralty didn't want to talk about)
Well, now I'm an English professor...
December 29, 2025 at 8:33 PM
I guess I'm either the Gunner's Mate, or a Midshipman (with very good prospects) in the Age of Sail British Navy.
(was a non-fic book about a Mutiny/Non-Mutiny the Admiralty didn't want to talk about)
(was a non-fic book about a Mutiny/Non-Mutiny the Admiralty didn't want to talk about)
Reposted by TKarney
"You shouldn't make art for the money" buddy I'll take it one step further and say we shouldn't have to labor for capital at all but in the meantime pay an artist
December 11, 2025 at 7:02 PM
"You shouldn't make art for the money" buddy I'll take it one step further and say we shouldn't have to labor for capital at all but in the meantime pay an artist
Reposted by TKarney
'gig work has declined from the 1990s to now' seems counterintuitive, but I think one cause is that there was a *bunch* of gig work in the 1990s that has now largely disappeared, been automated, or gone overseas.
Inspired by @besttrousers.bsky.social, I tried to figure out how many gig workers there are
kevinonthemargin.com/the-great-gi...
kevinonthemargin.com/the-great-gi...
The Great Gig Worker Debate - kevinonthemargin.com
In which I boldly try to answer the question: how many gig workers are there?
kevinonthemargin.com
December 28, 2025 at 10:09 PM
'gig work has declined from the 1990s to now' seems counterintuitive, but I think one cause is that there was a *bunch* of gig work in the 1990s that has now largely disappeared, been automated, or gone overseas.
Reposted by TKarney
So, if I'm reading this correctly, recent USPS reforms are making it logistically impossible for the agency to postmark all letters on the date received, and services that rely on postmarks to prove deadline adherence shouldn't do so anymore.
Important US Postal Service change regarding postmarks and deadlines. Effective Dec 24, mail may receive a postmark several days after it has been received.
www.currentfederaltaxdevelopments.com/blog/2025/12...
www.currentfederaltaxdevelopments.com/blog/2025/12...
USPS Changes to Postmark Date System Taking Effect December 24, 2025 — Current Federal Tax Developments
Summary of the Final Rule The United States Postal Service (USPS) has adopted a final rule ( FR Doc. 2025-20740 ) adding Section 6 08.11, "Postmarks and Postal Possession," to the Domestic Mail Manu...
www.currentfederaltaxdevelopments.com
December 29, 2025 at 7:29 PM
So, if I'm reading this correctly, recent USPS reforms are making it logistically impossible for the agency to postmark all letters on the date received, and services that rely on postmarks to prove deadline adherence shouldn't do so anymore.