ptom
@ptom.net
Happy technologist, physicist, and family man, with a penchant for VR and neuropsychology.
Author of https://workingfrom.space
Author of https://workingfrom.space
Reposted by ptom
Today is a good day to remember, and to say, that the #MeToo movement was right, and was righteous, and has been vindicated over and over again. There was no overreach. There was no excess. There was no they-went-too-far.
So much work remains to be done.
So much work remains to be done.
November 12, 2025 at 11:16 PM
Today is a good day to remember, and to say, that the #MeToo movement was right, and was righteous, and has been vindicated over and over again. There was no overreach. There was no excess. There was no they-went-too-far.
So much work remains to be done.
So much work remains to be done.
Reposted by ptom
Accountability
November 10, 2025 at 11:41 PM
Accountability
Reposted by ptom
Tradwife? More like RADwife!
November 6, 2025 at 7:00 PM
Tradwife? More like RADwife!
Reposted by ptom
From the Guardian.
Cartoonist Ella Baron.
Cartoonist Ella Baron.
November 6, 2025 at 12:26 AM
From the Guardian.
Cartoonist Ella Baron.
Cartoonist Ella Baron.
A really good look at basic human affordances for XR product design, where the bar is currently set (very low) and how often Galaxy XR still fails to clear it.
Plus some good stuff, but this is well informed and neither a hatchet job nor gushing with unearned praise.
Plus some good stuff, but this is well informed and neither a hatchet job nor gushing with unearned praise.
Alright, Galaxy XR review megathread, been drafting this for about a week now. tl;dr, a great upgrade option for QPro users, but has a lot of signs of engineers not being familiar with XR and/or rushing to release.
November 4, 2025 at 9:29 PM
A really good look at basic human affordances for XR product design, where the bar is currently set (very low) and how often Galaxy XR still fails to clear it.
Plus some good stuff, but this is well informed and neither a hatchet job nor gushing with unearned praise.
Plus some good stuff, but this is well informed and neither a hatchet job nor gushing with unearned praise.
Reposted by ptom
Reverse dust jacket done for the lovely author Emma Hamm for her upcoming book A Light So Blinding 💛
The book will be available for preorder on November 21st!
#art #illustration
The book will be available for preorder on November 21st!
#art #illustration
November 4, 2025 at 2:10 PM
Reverse dust jacket done for the lovely author Emma Hamm for her upcoming book A Light So Blinding 💛
The book will be available for preorder on November 21st!
#art #illustration
The book will be available for preorder on November 21st!
#art #illustration
Reposted by ptom
November 1, 2025 at 5:15 PM
Reposted by ptom
The Trump administration’s lawlessness cannot be ignored.
Period.
Period.
October 31, 2025 at 1:05 AM
The Trump administration’s lawlessness cannot be ignored.
Period.
Period.
Reposted by ptom
Travel sketchbook progress so far
October 31, 2025 at 1:20 AM
Travel sketchbook progress so far
Reposted by ptom
“The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.” Geore Orwell, 1984.
October 30, 2025 at 5:50 PM
“The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.” Geore Orwell, 1984.
I've been a registered bone marrow donor for years, but unfortunately never tapped for service. It's a simple and easy registration process, and can make an enormous difference to those in need.
Give blood even if you're not a widely compatible type; they can still use it!
Also: nice party theme!
Give blood even if you're not a widely compatible type; they can still use it!
Also: nice party theme!
Our campaign Halloween bash is tomorrow!!
Join us in the back lot of 7016 N Clark Street for candy, Chicago dogs, and bone marrow donor registration!! www.mobilize.us/katforillino...
Join us in the back lot of 7016 N Clark Street for candy, Chicago dogs, and bone marrow donor registration!! www.mobilize.us/katforillino...
October 30, 2025 at 7:55 PM
I've been a registered bone marrow donor for years, but unfortunately never tapped for service. It's a simple and easy registration process, and can make an enormous difference to those in need.
Give blood even if you're not a widely compatible type; they can still use it!
Also: nice party theme!
Give blood even if you're not a widely compatible type; they can still use it!
Also: nice party theme!
Reposted by ptom
Congressional candidate @katmabu.bsky.social, who was indicted today for protesting outside the Broadview ICE facility: "We've been punched, dragged, thrown, shot with pepper balls, tear gassed, rubber bullets from snipers on roofs going into local businesses windows."
October 30, 2025 at 12:47 AM
Congressional candidate @katmabu.bsky.social, who was indicted today for protesting outside the Broadview ICE facility: "We've been punched, dragged, thrown, shot with pepper balls, tear gassed, rubber bullets from snipers on roofs going into local businesses windows."
Reposted by ptom
I have been charged in a federal indictment sought by the Department of Justice.
This political prosecution is an attack on all of our First Amendment rights. I’m not backing down, and we’re going to win.
This political prosecution is an attack on all of our First Amendment rights. I’m not backing down, and we’re going to win.
October 29, 2025 at 4:55 PM
I have been charged in a federal indictment sought by the Department of Justice.
This political prosecution is an attack on all of our First Amendment rights. I’m not backing down, and we’re going to win.
This political prosecution is an attack on all of our First Amendment rights. I’m not backing down, and we’re going to win.
"An official website of the United States Government. Here's how your know. ↓"
What an exceptional load of BS. It's so much shorter to tell the truth: "The administration is starving you to hold you hostage until the opposition lets us take away your healthcare."
What an exceptional load of BS. It's so much shorter to tell the truth: "The administration is starving you to hold you hostage until the opposition lets us take away your healthcare."
October 29, 2025 at 12:50 PM
"An official website of the United States Government. Here's how your know. ↓"
What an exceptional load of BS. It's so much shorter to tell the truth: "The administration is starving you to hold you hostage until the opposition lets us take away your healthcare."
What an exceptional load of BS. It's so much shorter to tell the truth: "The administration is starving you to hold you hostage until the opposition lets us take away your healthcare."
I love science.
Fascinating science: How disgraced researcher Andrew Wakefield launched the modern anti-vax movement by fraudulently manipulating data to reach fabricated conclusions, hoping he would make a lot of money. Instead, he put millions of children at risk. youtu.be/EXtANMp3wok
Wakefield's Smoking Gun
YouTube video by C0nc0rdance
youtu.be
October 28, 2025 at 11:50 PM
I love science.
Reposted by ptom
Reposted by ptom
Reposted by ptom
43 years ago today, readers the world over opened their newspapers and gazed upon cow tools for the first time. happy birthday cow tools. you look great.
October 28, 2025 at 12:23 PM
43 years ago today, readers the world over opened their newspapers and gazed upon cow tools for the first time. happy birthday cow tools. you look great.
Reposted by ptom
Ugh, it's even worse: "Project Firewall" is ALSO a blatantly racist attack on foreign workers under H-1B visas, despite the fact that almost all of this artwork is very blue-collar, and H-1B tend to be white-collar office jobs.
Hate is so ugly. How quickly they are trying to paint it on everything.
Hate is so ugly. How quickly they are trying to paint it on everything.
October 28, 2025 at 12:44 PM
Ugh, it's even worse: "Project Firewall" is ALSO a blatantly racist attack on foreign workers under H-1B visas, despite the fact that almost all of this artwork is very blue-collar, and H-1B tend to be white-collar office jobs.
Hate is so ugly. How quickly they are trying to paint it on everything.
Hate is so ugly. How quickly they are trying to paint it on everything.
Reposted by ptom
From a crewmember on yesterday's Teal 74 mission into now-Category 5 Hurricane #Melissa. As clear of an eye as you will see in the Atlantic basin.
October 27, 2025 at 4:11 PM
From a crewmember on yesterday's Teal 74 mission into now-Category 5 Hurricane #Melissa. As clear of an eye as you will see in the Atlantic basin.
Reposted by ptom
He's taking away healthcare for millions. He gets a thrill out of killing people on the open seas. He wants you to hate. Dwell on that – he wants you to hate. He's demanding our justice department pay him $230,000,000. He thinks he owns the country.
He is a clear and present danger.
He is a clear and present danger.
October 27, 2025 at 11:26 PM
He's taking away healthcare for millions. He gets a thrill out of killing people on the open seas. He wants you to hate. Dwell on that – he wants you to hate. He's demanding our justice department pay him $230,000,000. He thinks he owns the country.
He is a clear and present danger.
He is a clear and present danger.
Very concise and beautifully phrased. This is the thing to know about LLMs, and one reason their operation is so incredibly power hungry—probabilistic communication is grossly inefficient compared to actual understanding.
Human brains use just 12-20 Watts of energy, for comparison.
Human brains use just 12-20 Watts of energy, for comparison.
Chatbots — LLMs — do not know facts and are not designed to be able to accurately answer factual questions. They are designed to find and mimic patterns of words, probabilistically. When they’re “right” it’s because correct things are often written down, so those patterns are frequent. That’s all.
October 27, 2025 at 5:43 PM
Very concise and beautifully phrased. This is the thing to know about LLMs, and one reason their operation is so incredibly power hungry—probabilistic communication is grossly inefficient compared to actual understanding.
Human brains use just 12-20 Watts of energy, for comparison.
Human brains use just 12-20 Watts of energy, for comparison.
Reposted by ptom
reading slaughterhouse 5 for the first time and i was absolutely knocked senseless by this passage, which is so true and relevant that it feels like it was pulled from a history book
October 26, 2025 at 6:01 PM
reading slaughterhouse 5 for the first time and i was absolutely knocked senseless by this passage, which is so true and relevant that it feels like it was pulled from a history book