Tristan Olson
@tristanolson.bsky.social
Author and occasional poster of funny things.
www.tristanolsonbooks.com
www.tristanolsonbooks.com
Pinned
Reposted by Tristan Olson
“The left is missing out on AI!” YEP. Most of us want to miss out! If it ever proves its actual usefulness to our actual lives, stops plagiarizing, and is no longer an environmental disaster, maybe we revisit. Burden of proof is on the industry. So far they’ve done the opposite of that!
February 18, 2026 at 5:22 AM
“The left is missing out on AI!” YEP. Most of us want to miss out! If it ever proves its actual usefulness to our actual lives, stops plagiarizing, and is no longer an environmental disaster, maybe we revisit. Burden of proof is on the industry. So far they’ve done the opposite of that!
Reposted by Tristan Olson
Sorry to get radical but I don’t think it’s my job or yours to embrace, accept, understand - and certainly not to use - the thing being sold to us as AI. I don’t like any part of it, so I won’t. I’m missing out? Good, that’s what I want. You’re worried about me missing out? That’s fuckin weird, man.
February 18, 2026 at 5:13 AM
Sorry to get radical but I don’t think it’s my job or yours to embrace, accept, understand - and certainly not to use - the thing being sold to us as AI. I don’t like any part of it, so I won’t. I’m missing out? Good, that’s what I want. You’re worried about me missing out? That’s fuckin weird, man.
Reposted by Tristan Olson
im not falling for ‘you can’t just scold gen AI hobbyists’ like ive fallen for so many ‘be diplomatic and patient with idiots’es before. no. if they can’t live without this machine that’s trying to put me out of a job theyre dumb as a box of hair. like they’re clearly not worried about offending ME!
February 18, 2026 at 2:36 AM
im not falling for ‘you can’t just scold gen AI hobbyists’ like ive fallen for so many ‘be diplomatic and patient with idiots’es before. no. if they can’t live without this machine that’s trying to put me out of a job theyre dumb as a box of hair. like they’re clearly not worried about offending ME!
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I know I shouldn’t be surprised that there’s tens of thousands of dollars on offer to people with the worst (or NO) ideas for movies, while people with GOOD ideas get nothing. There is nothing in the history of Hollywood to justify my naive surprise.
AI filmmaking is completely unserious.
You've got people with $30k begging the internet for ideas by next week because they have nothing of their own to say, it's just slop for the sake of slop. Embarrassing state of affairs.
You've got people with $30k begging the internet for ideas by next week because they have nothing of their own to say, it's just slop for the sake of slop. Embarrassing state of affairs.
February 18, 2026 at 2:38 AM
I know I shouldn’t be surprised that there’s tens of thousands of dollars on offer to people with the worst (or NO) ideas for movies, while people with GOOD ideas get nothing. There is nothing in the history of Hollywood to justify my naive surprise.
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This is the tech that will get me excited
February 17, 2026 at 11:58 PM
This is the tech that will get me excited
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The AI bubble RAM crisis is caused for non-existent problems by non-existent money for a non-existent infrastructure to meet non-existent demand to make non-existent business and will utterly destroy real business based on real demand and real infrastructure built with real money for real problems.
I understand framing the AI bubble RAM supply crisis in terms of stuff like video game consoles because nerds can conceptualize that but the framing does really undersell the sheer magnitude of how it's going to fuck up everything that even touches a computer.
February 16, 2026 at 9:54 PM
The AI bubble RAM crisis is caused for non-existent problems by non-existent money for a non-existent infrastructure to meet non-existent demand to make non-existent business and will utterly destroy real business based on real demand and real infrastructure built with real money for real problems.
Reposted by Tristan Olson
Breaking: Tragedy at the Winter Olympics
February 7, 2026 at 3:39 PM
Breaking: Tragedy at the Winter Olympics
Reposted by Tristan Olson
Alpha School, an “AI-powered private school” that heavily relies on AI to teach students and can cost up to $65,000 a year, is AI-generating faulty lesson plans that internal documentation finds. @evystadium.bsky.social has more.
Scoop by @emanuelmaiberg.bsky.social: www.404media.co/students-are...
Scoop by @emanuelmaiberg.bsky.social: www.404media.co/students-are...
February 17, 2026 at 5:39 PM
Alpha School, an “AI-powered private school” that heavily relies on AI to teach students and can cost up to $65,000 a year, is AI-generating faulty lesson plans that internal documentation finds. @evystadium.bsky.social has more.
Scoop by @emanuelmaiberg.bsky.social: www.404media.co/students-are...
Scoop by @emanuelmaiberg.bsky.social: www.404media.co/students-are...
Reposted by Tristan Olson
Gavin Newsom hates poor people.
“While pandering to business elites, Newsom has slashed budgets to assist the poor and near-poor with healthcare, housing and food - in a state where seven million live under the official poverty line and child poverty rates are the highest in the nation.“
“While pandering to business elites, Newsom has slashed budgets to assist the poor and near-poor with healthcare, housing and food - in a state where seven million live under the official poverty line and child poverty rates are the highest in the nation.“
February 17, 2026 at 5:17 PM
Gavin Newsom hates poor people.
“While pandering to business elites, Newsom has slashed budgets to assist the poor and near-poor with healthcare, housing and food - in a state where seven million live under the official poverty line and child poverty rates are the highest in the nation.“
“While pandering to business elites, Newsom has slashed budgets to assist the poor and near-poor with healthcare, housing and food - in a state where seven million live under the official poverty line and child poverty rates are the highest in the nation.“
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This is @glutelord.bsky.social and he's completely fucking correct. The fundamental tension at the heart of all incel culture is that these guys HATE women and refuse to appeal to them but desperately want to get laid anyway, and this contradiction can only really be resolved through violence
February 17, 2026 at 3:38 PM
This is @glutelord.bsky.social and he's completely fucking correct. The fundamental tension at the heart of all incel culture is that these guys HATE women and refuse to appeal to them but desperately want to get laid anyway, and this contradiction can only really be resolved through violence
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jesse jackson was constantly played as a punchline on 90s late-night TV to the point that i didn't understand his history of activism and serious left-leaning political platform until i was much older. i have to think, to some degree, that was on purpose.
February 17, 2026 at 3:40 PM
jesse jackson was constantly played as a punchline on 90s late-night TV to the point that i didn't understand his history of activism and serious left-leaning political platform until i was much older. i have to think, to some degree, that was on purpose.
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Me as a child: it must be very hard to become a CEO and be very hard work once you get the job
Guy obviously on drugs speaking at a conference: the next five years of the economy should be about a dream I had where a dog spoke to me
Guy obviously on drugs speaking at a conference: the next five years of the economy should be about a dream I had where a dog spoke to me
February 16, 2026 at 1:58 PM
Me as a child: it must be very hard to become a CEO and be very hard work once you get the job
Guy obviously on drugs speaking at a conference: the next five years of the economy should be about a dream I had where a dog spoke to me
Guy obviously on drugs speaking at a conference: the next five years of the economy should be about a dream I had where a dog spoke to me
Reposted by Tristan Olson
I think people usually call this going back to normal, you know, when they kill and kidnap nonwhite people and no one writes pop songs about it.
There is no drawdown. There is no retreat. ICE is just redistributing their assets to better avoid accountability.
The same day DHS announced the surge would end in Minnesota, ICE activity increased in small towns
The less densely populated areas outside the Twin Cities make it harder for protesters and observers to organize.
www.theverge.com
February 17, 2026 at 4:36 PM
I think people usually call this going back to normal, you know, when they kill and kidnap nonwhite people and no one writes pop songs about it.
Reposted by Tristan Olson
as a Gen-Xer, I reluctantly agree. We have some good 'uns, but our bullies and bigots are the ones voting for Trump in the largest numbers of any generation.
Yes, I'm being hyperbolic, but it really does seem like Millennials fell into the sweet spot of not having as much of he boomer bigotry rub off on us as compared to Gen-X and also not having our childhood brains fried by algorithms and clickbait.
February 17, 2026 at 3:52 PM
as a Gen-Xer, I reluctantly agree. We have some good 'uns, but our bullies and bigots are the ones voting for Trump in the largest numbers of any generation.
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Thomas Paine proposed a progressive tax on wealth, with the top tax rate being 100%. It's an idea that's as American as Apple Pie. www.ms.now/opinion/msnb...
February 16, 2026 at 10:18 PM
Thomas Paine proposed a progressive tax on wealth, with the top tax rate being 100%. It's an idea that's as American as Apple Pie. www.ms.now/opinion/msnb...
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Tonight’s dumb napkin cartoon…
February 16, 2026 at 11:52 PM
Tonight’s dumb napkin cartoon…
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Laughing at this because it literally says at the bottom that it’s not from the Black Panthers, it’s from the New American movement, one of the ancestors of the DSA. It’s not wrong, but I think some people think the Black Panthers are just anything they agree with.
February 16, 2026 at 11:56 PM
Laughing at this because it literally says at the bottom that it’s not from the Black Panthers, it’s from the New American movement, one of the ancestors of the DSA. It’s not wrong, but I think some people think the Black Panthers are just anything they agree with.
Reposted by Tristan Olson
They want to scare people out of posting ICE-critical content, because they know these posts are turning even their supporters against them. But the better option is to take a page out of their playbook and flood the zone.
Posting about ICE on Instagram is now enough to get you an “administrative subpoena.” 👀
@nytimes.com #$META
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/13/t...
@nytimes.com #$META
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/13/t...
February 16, 2026 at 1:49 PM
They want to scare people out of posting ICE-critical content, because they know these posts are turning even their supporters against them. But the better option is to take a page out of their playbook and flood the zone.
Reposted by Tristan Olson
Have you ever once seen the New York Times quote Trump like this?
February 16, 2026 at 6:24 PM
Have you ever once seen the New York Times quote Trump like this?
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Her combination of youth, economic populism, and social progressivism is a perfect contrast to Trump.
TNR's poll of Democratic voters released last week indicates they may be hungry for a progressive candidate in a way that they weren’t six years ago... trib.al/Qfx6y77
TNR's poll of Democratic voters released last week indicates they may be hungry for a progressive candidate in a way that they weren’t six years ago... trib.al/Qfx6y77
February 16, 2026 at 6:15 PM
Her combination of youth, economic populism, and social progressivism is a perfect contrast to Trump.
TNR's poll of Democratic voters released last week indicates they may be hungry for a progressive candidate in a way that they weren’t six years ago... trib.al/Qfx6y77
TNR's poll of Democratic voters released last week indicates they may be hungry for a progressive candidate in a way that they weren’t six years ago... trib.al/Qfx6y77
Reposted by Tristan Olson
The rewriting of history of artists being elitist gatekeepers who won't share their magic with the common folks who work in ai app development (and make more money than any of us fucking up the planet) is disgusting.
Art is and always was for the working class. Ai is for dudes who can't boil water
Art is and always was for the working class. Ai is for dudes who can't boil water
What do we think about the assertion in this meme? I know, we think it's asinine, but I'm looking for specific arguments as to why it's asinine.
February 16, 2026 at 5:47 PM
The rewriting of history of artists being elitist gatekeepers who won't share their magic with the common folks who work in ai app development (and make more money than any of us fucking up the planet) is disgusting.
Art is and always was for the working class. Ai is for dudes who can't boil water
Art is and always was for the working class. Ai is for dudes who can't boil water
Reposted by Tristan Olson
SO MUCH this whole thread and this in particular:
February 16, 2026 at 4:09 PM
SO MUCH this whole thread and this in particular:
Reposted by Tristan Olson
Democrats should get behind a voter ID law that only goes into effect when 99.9% of the eligible population has a valid ID and automatically pauses when the number falls below that. The fact that Republicans would never accept this would make clear what the real point of voter ID laws is.
February 16, 2026 at 4:39 PM
Democrats should get behind a voter ID law that only goes into effect when 99.9% of the eligible population has a valid ID and automatically pauses when the number falls below that. The fact that Republicans would never accept this would make clear what the real point of voter ID laws is.
Reposted by Tristan Olson
Remember when Roe was settled law? Remember when birthright citizenship was just an unquestioned feature of the 14th amendment? Remember when states and localities regulated guns all the time because of course the 2nd amendment wasn’t about individual self-defense?
February 16, 2026 at 4:25 AM
Remember when Roe was settled law? Remember when birthright citizenship was just an unquestioned feature of the 14th amendment? Remember when states and localities regulated guns all the time because of course the 2nd amendment wasn’t about individual self-defense?
Reposted by Tristan Olson
One of the hardest things to wrap one’s mind around is that these dudes can write this shit utterly convinced that they’re not having an emotion.
I’ve seen this person get retweeted by MAGA influencers like Benny Johnson. He’s not kidding. This is a real political goal he is pursuing. He has 425,000 followers on Facebook.
February 16, 2026 at 4:42 AM
One of the hardest things to wrap one’s mind around is that these dudes can write this shit utterly convinced that they’re not having an emotion.