Simon Batistoni
@simon.batistoni.net
Professional nerd for nearly a quarter-century. Dad, complete with dad jokes.
post a perfect album from the 90s that isn't nirvana, soundgarden, pearl jam, or alice in chains.
December 28, 2025 at 3:10 AM
post a perfect album from the 90s that isn't nirvana, soundgarden, pearl jam, or alice in chains.
Reposted by Simon Batistoni
most depressing billboard I have ever seen
December 27, 2025 at 2:06 AM
most depressing billboard I have ever seen
Reposted by Simon Batistoni
This is disgraceful. They should be at home with their families. Instead, Trump is forcing them to walk around in the cold for his fascist national security theater. DC is absolutely dead this time of year. There’s nobody here to “terrorize.” Just pathetic all around.
National Guard wearing Santa hats while patrolling in DC.
December 24, 2025 at 3:58 AM
This is disgraceful. They should be at home with their families. Instead, Trump is forcing them to walk around in the cold for his fascist national security theater. DC is absolutely dead this time of year. There’s nobody here to “terrorize.” Just pathetic all around.
Reposted by Simon Batistoni
Not now, haunted Victorian shoes
Mystery as hundreds of Victorian shoes wash up on Ogmore beach
Mystery as hundreds of Victorian shoes wash up on Ogmore beach
More than 400 leather hobnailed boots, thought to date back to the 19th Century, have been found.
www.bbc.com
December 23, 2025 at 3:29 PM
Not now, haunted Victorian shoes
Reposted by Simon Batistoni
The full spiked 60 Minutes CECOT package, clean & subtitled. 1/5
December 23, 2025 at 1:28 AM
The full spiked 60 Minutes CECOT package, clean & subtitled. 1/5
After a little optical sensor difficulty, I finally got my Reachy Mini up and running tonight, and—wow. It’s still a dimwit LLM that can’t do simple multiplication, but it’s striking how much more engaging it is dealing with an embodied chatbot. Like, scarily so?
huggingface.co/spaces/polle...
huggingface.co/spaces/polle...
Reachy Mini - a Hugging Face Space by pollen-robotics
Use Reachy Mini to interact with and learn from an open-source robot designed for human-robot interaction and creative coding. You can program its movements and expressions to create engaging exper...
huggingface.co
December 23, 2025 at 2:17 AM
After a little optical sensor difficulty, I finally got my Reachy Mini up and running tonight, and—wow. It’s still a dimwit LLM that can’t do simple multiplication, but it’s striking how much more engaging it is dealing with an embodied chatbot. Like, scarily so?
huggingface.co/spaces/polle...
huggingface.co/spaces/polle...
Reposted by Simon Batistoni
Bari Weiss is the logical endpoint of corporate media. This is what happens when people who hate journalism are in charge of it. The only way journalism works is when it’s independent from the power it’s supposed to hold to account, which means ownership can’t have anything to do with those in power
December 22, 2025 at 5:44 AM
Bari Weiss is the logical endpoint of corporate media. This is what happens when people who hate journalism are in charge of it. The only way journalism works is when it’s independent from the power it’s supposed to hold to account, which means ownership can’t have anything to do with those in power
Reposted by Simon Batistoni
please let “bugs bunnying” become the slang for manipulating an LLM into ignoring its guardrails, i have never seen a more succinct and evocative term for it
Highly amused by the stories of companies using agentic AI chatbots to run their internal company stores, only for their employees to immediately Bugs Bunny the chatbot into giving them free stuff www.aiweirdness.com/when-a-chatb...
When a chatbot runs your store
You may have heard of "agentic AI", which is basically the idea that you can hook up a large language model to controls that do real things. The controls might run internet searches, run commands to o...
www.aiweirdness.com
December 21, 2025 at 4:20 PM
please let “bugs bunnying” become the slang for manipulating an LLM into ignoring its guardrails, i have never seen a more succinct and evocative term for it
Reposted by Simon Batistoni
There’s an Arabic version of “every cloud has a silver lining” that translates to “no cows, no feeding them at dawn.” A Scots version is “today’s rain is tomorrow’s whisky.” And a Romanian phrase for looking on the bright side is un șut în fund, un pas înainte, or “a kick in the ass, a step forward”
December 21, 2025 at 3:58 PM
There’s an Arabic version of “every cloud has a silver lining” that translates to “no cows, no feeding them at dawn.” A Scots version is “today’s rain is tomorrow’s whisky.” And a Romanian phrase for looking on the bright side is un șut în fund, un pas înainte, or “a kick in the ass, a step forward”
Reposted by Simon Batistoni
Because Bari Weiss is an opportunistic political maneuverer, it probably doesn't get said clearly enough that she is also an astounding clod, in wildly over her head. The fact that she seems to have spiked this story without realizing this would happen tells you all you need to know about her.
December 22, 2025 at 3:47 AM
Because Bari Weiss is an opportunistic political maneuverer, it probably doesn't get said clearly enough that she is also an astounding clod, in wildly over her head. The fact that she seems to have spiked this story without realizing this would happen tells you all you need to know about her.
Reposted by Simon Batistoni
The work that scholars and researchers actually do is the work that people *think* AI is doing. You read all sorts of things. You make connections. You notice where the holes are — what *hasn’t* been observed, questioned, investigated. You synthesize it into something that has never existed before.
December 22, 2025 at 2:07 AM
The work that scholars and researchers actually do is the work that people *think* AI is doing. You read all sorts of things. You make connections. You notice where the holes are — what *hasn’t* been observed, questioned, investigated. You synthesize it into something that has never existed before.
If cavemen, on discovering fire, had applied it to everything they did—the way many are trying to force LLM systems now—human history would’ve been much shorter and way flamier.
December 22, 2025 at 10:10 AM
If cavemen, on discovering fire, had applied it to everything they did—the way many are trying to force LLM systems now—human history would’ve been much shorter and way flamier.
Was just reminded of the San Francisco Tamale Lady of yore, and it is deservedly righteous that she meets wikipedia’s standard for notability!
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virgini...
I had so many nights in SF circa-2008 that were vastly improved when Virginia showed up at the door of the bar
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virgini...
I had so many nights in SF circa-2008 that were vastly improved when Virginia showed up at the door of the bar
Virginia Ramos - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
December 21, 2025 at 3:22 PM
Was just reminded of the San Francisco Tamale Lady of yore, and it is deservedly righteous that she meets wikipedia’s standard for notability!
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virgini...
I had so many nights in SF circa-2008 that were vastly improved when Virginia showed up at the door of the bar
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virgini...
I had so many nights in SF circa-2008 that were vastly improved when Virginia showed up at the door of the bar
Reposted by Simon Batistoni
Congrats to Australia, this is really cool!
report.cervicalcancercontrol.org.au
report.cervicalcancercontrol.org.au
December 20, 2025 at 11:34 PM
Congrats to Australia, this is really cool!
report.cervicalcancercontrol.org.au
report.cervicalcancercontrol.org.au
Reposted by Simon Batistoni
I refuse to shut up about this: NYC started charging $9 to bring a car into our most transit-rich zone, the haters & trolls predicted doom, but traffic evaporated instantly and here’s Times Square tonite (even after the holiday tourists have left). For a better future, build transit & price driving!
January 11, 2025 at 1:29 AM
I refuse to shut up about this: NYC started charging $9 to bring a car into our most transit-rich zone, the haters & trolls predicted doom, but traffic evaporated instantly and here’s Times Square tonite (even after the holiday tourists have left). For a better future, build transit & price driving!
Reposted by Simon Batistoni
billionaire: i have 3 brains. in my skull
interviewer: incredible
interviewer: incredible
December 20, 2025 at 4:33 AM
billionaire: i have 3 brains. in my skull
interviewer: incredible
interviewer: incredible
Yay, @inmice.bsky.social is back!
AND WOULD THAT BE IN ANY PARTICULAR ANIMAL MODEL BY ANY CHANCE
IS THERE SOME IMPORTANT CONTEXT MISSING FROM YOUR HEADLINE PERHAPS
SAY IT WITH ME FOLKS
IS THERE SOME IMPORTANT CONTEXT MISSING FROM YOUR HEADLINE PERHAPS
SAY IT WITH ME FOLKS
December 20, 2025 at 1:46 PM
Yay, @inmice.bsky.social is back!
“Rachel Maddow just issued a dire warning on NBC” … apparently the Dems are now sending grift-spam texts through a time-portal from 2015
December 18, 2025 at 1:54 AM
“Rachel Maddow just issued a dire warning on NBC” … apparently the Dems are now sending grift-spam texts through a time-portal from 2015
Reposted by Simon Batistoni
Rob Reiner: I'm going to make a coming of age drama, a fantasy adventure story, a romantic comedy, a psychological horror and then a courtroom drama.
Us: Across your entire career?
Reiner: In a 6 year period.
Us: That sounds-
Reiner: -Each one will be arguably the best movie in that genre.
Us: Across your entire career?
Reiner: In a 6 year period.
Us: That sounds-
Reiner: -Each one will be arguably the best movie in that genre.
December 15, 2025 at 8:04 AM
Rob Reiner: I'm going to make a coming of age drama, a fantasy adventure story, a romantic comedy, a psychological horror and then a courtroom drama.
Us: Across your entire career?
Reiner: In a 6 year period.
Us: That sounds-
Reiner: -Each one will be arguably the best movie in that genre.
Us: Across your entire career?
Reiner: In a 6 year period.
Us: That sounds-
Reiner: -Each one will be arguably the best movie in that genre.
I’ve legitimately had to gun it in an emergency exactly once in 30 years (and probably 30,000 miles) of driving, to avoid a car that was careening across the freeway from behind me.
"But what if I have to gun it in an emergency?" is one of those knee-jerk responses which evaporates when you consider the number of times you've had to do that on a residential street, vs the number of times you've had to slam on the brakes.
My least popular (and most correct) view is that cars should be automatically limited to the local speed limit. Put the pedal to the floor and you still can't go over 25mph in a residential area.
(15 in Manhattan btw)
(15 in Manhattan btw)
December 14, 2025 at 12:50 AM
I’ve legitimately had to gun it in an emergency exactly once in 30 years (and probably 30,000 miles) of driving, to avoid a car that was careening across the freeway from behind me.
Reposted by Simon Batistoni
THEY DID THE MEME
THEY DID THE FUCKIN MEME
THEY DID THE FUCKIN MEME
December 13, 2025 at 8:09 PM
THEY DID THE MEME
THEY DID THE FUCKIN MEME
THEY DID THE FUCKIN MEME
Your annual reminder that the Time team realized years ago that "Person of the Year" gets way more engagement when people are pissed.
December 11, 2025 at 9:15 PM
Your annual reminder that the Time team realized years ago that "Person of the Year" gets way more engagement when people are pissed.
Nothing emphasizes that dogs are half-reprogrammed wolves more than an accidentally-dropped chicken bone
December 11, 2025 at 4:00 AM
Nothing emphasizes that dogs are half-reprogrammed wolves more than an accidentally-dropped chicken bone