Nate Angell
@xolotl.org
#communications & #community @nudgital.com. Wandering IQ. Raised by wolves. Friend to cheese. he/him. All posts #CCBY. Mastodon: https://social.coop/@xolotl
Pinned
Nate Angell
@xolotl.org
· Feb 13
Are We Tripping? The Mirage of AI Hallucinations
There is a deep disorder in the discourse of generative artificial intelligence, aka AI — or what I like to call sparkling intelligence, because everyone is using ✨✨✨ emojis and icons to signify AI. A...
xolotl.org
There's a deep disorder in the discourse of generative artificial intelligence: Read Are We Tripping? The Mirage of #AI Hallucinations from me and @annamillsoer.bsky.social to learn why you should replace the term "hallucination" with "mirage" in your discussions of AI: xolotl.org/are-we-tripp...
Reposted by Nate Angell
Just looked it up and there are books about both the history of dust and the history of sand (both of which sound fascinating IMO) and now I'm wondering what specific-item history books have NOT been written yet (but should be)
A Social History of Drinking Vessels? How Capybaras Changed the World?
A Social History of Drinking Vessels? How Capybaras Changed the World?
December 27, 2025 at 8:20 PM
Just looked it up and there are books about both the history of dust and the history of sand (both of which sound fascinating IMO) and now I'm wondering what specific-item history books have NOT been written yet (but should be)
A Social History of Drinking Vessels? How Capybaras Changed the World?
A Social History of Drinking Vessels? How Capybaras Changed the World?
Reposted by Nate Angell
Free to Use and Reuse: Public Domain Films from the National Film Registry
These public domain selections are part of an online collection.
These public domain selections are part of an online collection.
Free to Use and Reuse: Public Domain Films from the National Film Registry | Library of Congress Free to Use and Reuse | Library of Congress
The National Film Registry selects 25 films each year to showcase the range and diversity of American film heritage. These public domain selections are part of an online collection.
www.loc.gov
December 26, 2025 at 11:53 PM
Free to Use and Reuse: Public Domain Films from the National Film Registry
These public domain selections are part of an online collection.
These public domain selections are part of an online collection.
Reposted by Nate Angell
Yes. Taps sign.
The US is the only country in the United Nations that has failed to ratify the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The reason for this is straightforward. The US consistently fails to meet many of the standards for children’s rights set forth in the Convention.
The US is the only country in the United Nations that has failed to ratify the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The reason for this is straightforward. The US consistently fails to meet many of the standards for children’s rights set forth in the Convention.
December 20, 2025 at 4:02 AM
Yes. Taps sign.
The US is the only country in the United Nations that has failed to ratify the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The reason for this is straightforward. The US consistently fails to meet many of the standards for children’s rights set forth in the Convention.
The US is the only country in the United Nations that has failed to ratify the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The reason for this is straightforward. The US consistently fails to meet many of the standards for children’s rights set forth in the Convention.
Reposted by Nate Angell
It might be fun to do a friendly competition w PBOT. PBOT has $2million/year from PCEF to remove leaves.
Divide the city in half. What could a coalition of BikeLoud & nonprofits like Ground Score do with half that amount of money + teams of bike-powered leaf removers, volunteers and paid workers?
Divide the city in half. What could a coalition of BikeLoud & nonprofits like Ground Score do with half that amount of money + teams of bike-powered leaf removers, volunteers and paid workers?
December 13, 2025 at 9:58 AM
It might be fun to do a friendly competition w PBOT. PBOT has $2million/year from PCEF to remove leaves.
Divide the city in half. What could a coalition of BikeLoud & nonprofits like Ground Score do with half that amount of money + teams of bike-powered leaf removers, volunteers and paid workers?
Divide the city in half. What could a coalition of BikeLoud & nonprofits like Ground Score do with half that amount of money + teams of bike-powered leaf removers, volunteers and paid workers?
Reposted by Nate Angell
There are many reasons why you should want to read this paper, but one is that @muellerleile.bsky.social is one of the best political geographers with actual expertise in finance I know
I wrote a paper about Cryptofinance, and the ways the U.S. state has negotiated the consolidation of cryptocurrency trading in large platform firms. It traces the rise of FTX (Sam Bankman-Fried's firm) as it moves from Berkeley to Hong Kong to the Bahamas.
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
From cryptocurrency to cryptofinance: FTX, disintermediation and the US state
During the first decade of cryptocurrencies (2008–2017) there were few connections established between crypto and the conventional finance sector, but in the US in 2025 the integration of these two...
www.tandfonline.com
December 12, 2025 at 6:59 PM
There are many reasons why you should want to read this paper, but one is that @muellerleile.bsky.social is one of the best political geographers with actual expertise in finance I know
Reposted by Nate Angell
As this is getting attention: I maintain a collection of accessibility tools for developers (and you!). I'd love that to reach people, and I need help! No pressure.
Bonus link because there’s a few adjacent things: dr.eamer.dev/bluesky. The key one is 👇
Thanks for caring about accessibility ❤️
Bonus link because there’s a few adjacent things: dr.eamer.dev/bluesky. The key one is 👇
Thanks for caring about accessibility ❤️
Awesome Accessibility — Luke Steuber
A comprehensive accessibility resource and testing platform by Luke Steuber, featuring tools, guidelines, and best practices for creating inclusive digital experiences.
dr.eamer.dev
December 12, 2025 at 7:20 PM
As this is getting attention: I maintain a collection of accessibility tools for developers (and you!). I'd love that to reach people, and I need help! No pressure.
Bonus link because there’s a few adjacent things: dr.eamer.dev/bluesky. The key one is 👇
Thanks for caring about accessibility ❤️
Bonus link because there’s a few adjacent things: dr.eamer.dev/bluesky. The key one is 👇
Thanks for caring about accessibility ❤️
@semaphoria.bsky.social OK now I’m confused 🤣
December 13, 2025 at 8:21 AM
@semaphoria.bsky.social OK now I’m confused 🤣
Reposted by Nate Angell
The internet runs on creators, and creators depend on their fans. But that relationship has always been locked inside platforms who didn't build it and don't deserve to own it. We're taking the first step in changing that with a new experiment: ATProtoFans 🧵
👋 Hello, Bluesky! We're ATProtoFans, a new way to support creators you love.
How it works: you make a one-time payment, and both you and the creator get a permanent, verifiable record stored in your ATProtocol accounts.
atprotofans.com
How it works: you make a one-time payment, and both you and the creator get a permanent, verifiable record stored in your ATProtocol accounts.
atprotofans.com
ATProtoFans - Support Your Favorite Creators
Decentralized supporter attestation service for the ATProtocol ecosystem. Support creators with cryptographically verifiable relationships.
atprotofans.com
December 10, 2025 at 8:50 PM
The internet runs on creators, and creators depend on their fans. But that relationship has always been locked inside platforms who didn't build it and don't deserve to own it. We're taking the first step in changing that with a new experiment: ATProtoFans 🧵
Reposted by Nate Angell
I love learning better and more precise wording. This afternoon's discovery is from Anna Mills and Nate Angell, and their paper I missed from February.
"Using mirage instead of hallucination enables us to stop anthropomorphizing AI and see the incongruities it generates for what they really are."
"Using mirage instead of hallucination enables us to stop anthropomorphizing AI and see the incongruities it generates for what they really are."
Are We Tripping? The Mirage of AI Hallucinations
There is a deep disorder in the discourse of generative artificial intelligence (AI). When AI seems to make things up or distort reality — adding extra fingers
papers.ssrn.com
December 8, 2025 at 5:43 PM
I love learning better and more precise wording. This afternoon's discovery is from Anna Mills and Nate Angell, and their paper I missed from February.
"Using mirage instead of hallucination enables us to stop anthropomorphizing AI and see the incongruities it generates for what they really are."
"Using mirage instead of hallucination enables us to stop anthropomorphizing AI and see the incongruities it generates for what they really are."
Our two souls therefore, which are one,
Though I must go, endure not yet
A breach, but an expansion,
Like gold to airy thinness beat.
— John Donne, A Valediction Forbidding Mourning
Though I must go, endure not yet
A breach, but an expansion,
Like gold to airy thinness beat.
— John Donne, A Valediction Forbidding Mourning
Which lines of poetry live rent-free in your head?
December 8, 2025 at 3:55 AM
Our two souls therefore, which are one,
Though I must go, endure not yet
A breach, but an expansion,
Like gold to airy thinness beat.
— John Donne, A Valediction Forbidding Mourning
Though I must go, endure not yet
A breach, but an expansion,
Like gold to airy thinness beat.
— John Donne, A Valediction Forbidding Mourning
Reposted by Nate Angell
I published this book four years ago, drawing together a decade+ of writing. At the time I noted on Reddit that some SV types took the title as a challenge: "not *yet*; if we can just perfect the model, we'll have full-on automated luxury libertarian urbanism!"
A City Is Not a Computer
A bold reassessment of "smart cities" that reveals what is lost when we conceive of our urban spaces as computers
press.princeton.edu
December 7, 2025 at 11:04 PM
I published this book four years ago, drawing together a decade+ of writing. At the time I noted on Reddit that some SV types took the title as a challenge: "not *yet*; if we can just perfect the model, we'll have full-on automated luxury libertarian urbanism!"
Wait a min. Fragile as compared to what? I have cds, dvds, hard drives, records, and wax cylinders that lie in ruin while my noble cassette plays on…
On this week’s episode of The Big Interview podcast, the philanthropist offers her insights on billionaire donors, kids on phones, and the importance of women’s health care.
Melinda French Gates on Secrets: ‘Live a Truthful Life, Then You Don’t Have Any’
On this week’s episode of The Big Interview podcast, the philanthropist offers her insights on billionaire donors, kids on phones, and the importance of women’s health care.
wrd.cm
December 7, 2025 at 9:22 PM
Wait a min. Fragile as compared to what? I have cds, dvds, hard drives, records, and wax cylinders that lie in ruin while my noble cassette plays on…
Great recap of what happened with AI in 2025, from slandering machines as “clankers” to the arc of the AI hype cycle and everything in-between. Read it 👇
I’ve summed up and contextualized all of these critical AI pieces & more in one place — “From AGI to Workslop: What I Read About AI in 2025.” mail.cyberneticforests.com/what-i-read-...
December 7, 2025 at 6:46 PM
Great recap of what happened with AI in 2025, from slandering machines as “clankers” to the arc of the AI hype cycle and everything in-between. Read it 👇
Reposted by Nate Angell
A landmark study on the safety of glyphosate, the active ingredient in the controversial herbicide Roundup, has been formally retracted by its publisher, raising new concerns about the chemical’s potential dangers.
The Trump administration, meanwhile, aims to shield its manufacturer from lawsuits.
The Trump administration, meanwhile, aims to shield its manufacturer from lawsuits.
Science journal retracts widely cited study that claimed Roundup is safe
The Trump administration, meanwhile, aims to shield its manufacturer from lawsuits.
www.motherjones.com
December 6, 2025 at 8:00 PM
A landmark study on the safety of glyphosate, the active ingredient in the controversial herbicide Roundup, has been formally retracted by its publisher, raising new concerns about the chemical’s potential dangers.
The Trump administration, meanwhile, aims to shield its manufacturer from lawsuits.
The Trump administration, meanwhile, aims to shield its manufacturer from lawsuits.
Reposted by Nate Angell
Action Alert!
Join No More Freeways in demanding that the Oregon Transportation Commission vote to redirect Rose Quarter Freeway Expansion funding to serve ODOT's myriad other needs.
Testimony due by Tuesday - RT and help us spread the word!
www.nomorefreewayspdx.com/option3
Join No More Freeways in demanding that the Oregon Transportation Commission vote to redirect Rose Quarter Freeway Expansion funding to serve ODOT's myriad other needs.
Testimony due by Tuesday - RT and help us spread the word!
www.nomorefreewayspdx.com/option3
December 7, 2025 at 2:46 AM
Action Alert!
Join No More Freeways in demanding that the Oregon Transportation Commission vote to redirect Rose Quarter Freeway Expansion funding to serve ODOT's myriad other needs.
Testimony due by Tuesday - RT and help us spread the word!
www.nomorefreewayspdx.com/option3
Join No More Freeways in demanding that the Oregon Transportation Commission vote to redirect Rose Quarter Freeway Expansion funding to serve ODOT's myriad other needs.
Testimony due by Tuesday - RT and help us spread the word!
www.nomorefreewayspdx.com/option3
Reposted by Nate Angell
I cannot evangelize enough for @zotero.org for citation management. It's a game changer. If you're a student, and you're writing a paper right now, and you're NOT using Zotero, I ask you...why? Why are you making things harder than they need to be?
a woman is sitting at a desk with her arms outstretched in front of a map on the wall .
ALT: a woman is sitting at a desk with her arms outstretched in front of a map on the wall .
media.tenor.com
December 6, 2025 at 9:41 PM
I cannot evangelize enough for @zotero.org for citation management. It's a game changer. If you're a student, and you're writing a paper right now, and you're NOT using Zotero, I ask you...why? Why are you making things harder than they need to be?
Great application of Gramsci’s idea of hegemony to the way LLMs are being deployed from @ethanz.bsky.social, and maybe also ways of thinking about what counter-hegemony looks like in a world with AI 👇
I gave a new talk on AI, cultural hegemony and the importance of the digital survival of "small" languages online this past Tuesday at University of Copenhagen. Notes and partial slides now online: ethanzuckerman.com/2025/12/05/g...
Gramsci's Nightmare: AI, Platform Power and the Automation of Cultural Hegemony - Ethan Zuckerman
Large language models lock values into place, making it hard to challenge the cultural hegemony of a particular form of western culture
ethanzuckerman.com
December 6, 2025 at 5:33 PM
Great application of Gramsci’s idea of hegemony to the way LLMs are being deployed from @ethanz.bsky.social, and maybe also ways of thinking about what counter-hegemony looks like in a world with AI 👇
Reposted by Nate Angell
1. Some good news at last. This week’s column is about the amazing thing a couple of us stumbled into three years ago, which we’ve now developed into a global research programme. It doesn’t change everything, of course, but it could help change quite a lot. + 🧵 www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Over a pint in Oxford, we may have stumbled upon the holy grail of agriculture | George Monbiot
I knew that a revolution in our understanding of soil could change the world. Then came a eureka moment – and the birth of the Earth Rover Program, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot
www.theguardian.com
December 5, 2025 at 6:55 AM
1. Some good news at last. This week’s column is about the amazing thing a couple of us stumbled into three years ago, which we’ve now developed into a global research programme. It doesn’t change everything, of course, but it could help change quite a lot. + 🧵 www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Reposted by Nate Angell
We all want our OSS projects to be sustainable, healthy, and successful, and having good governance influences project success more than many people realize.
fastwonderblog.com/2025/12/03/g...
fastwonderblog.com/2025/12/03/g...
Good Governance for Open Source Projects | Fast Wonder
fastwonderblog.com
December 3, 2025 at 9:29 AM
We all want our OSS projects to be sustainable, healthy, and successful, and having good governance influences project success more than many people realize.
fastwonderblog.com/2025/12/03/g...
fastwonderblog.com/2025/12/03/g...
Reposted by Nate Angell
Made an interactive to explore state- and month-level data on ICE arrests. www.pbump.net/o/a-quick-an...
December 5, 2025 at 4:26 AM
Made an interactive to explore state- and month-level data on ICE arrests. www.pbump.net/o/a-quick-an...
Reposted by Nate Angell
Milestone alert: We're celebrating our first anniversary today! In just one year, we went from an idea on a blog post to sending 8.6 *million* users 23.5 *billion* posts across thousands of feeds created by thousands of brilliant, creative people who are working together to create a better internet.
November 22, 2025 at 7:59 PM
Milestone alert: We're celebrating our first anniversary today! In just one year, we went from an idea on a blog post to sending 8.6 *million* users 23.5 *billion* posts across thousands of feeds created by thousands of brilliant, creative people who are working together to create a better internet.
Tell me you have not read Charlotte's Web without telling me you have not read Charlotte's Web:
"Operation Charlotte's Web" = the name of the current immigration "enforcement action" in North Carolina
"Operation Charlotte's Web" = the name of the current immigration "enforcement action" in North Carolina
November 22, 2025 at 1:53 AM
Tell me you have not read Charlotte's Web without telling me you have not read Charlotte's Web:
"Operation Charlotte's Web" = the name of the current immigration "enforcement action" in North Carolina
"Operation Charlotte's Web" = the name of the current immigration "enforcement action" in North Carolina
Reposted by Nate Angell
Tackling AGI and human literacy at the pointy end of a semester convening 100s of undergrads has hollowed me out. The essay below got my optimism flowing again - no small thing 🪴
“Without human literacy, you might assume that words and their order are all that matter.” I happened on this @eryk.bsky.social post from way back in August and love the move to put human literacies up against AI literacies. mail.cyberneticforests.com/human-litera...
a man in a suit and bow tie asks how did i get here
Alt: Clip from the Talking Heads music video for Once In A Lifetime, showing David Byrne in a suit and bow tie on his knees asking to the heavens with open arms: “How did i get here?”
media.tenor.com
November 17, 2025 at 8:20 AM
Tackling AGI and human literacy at the pointy end of a semester convening 100s of undergrads has hollowed me out. The essay below got my optimism flowing again - no small thing 🪴
Reposted by Nate Angell
Hoping this helps our colleagues across the industry
November 5, 2025 at 1:01 PM
Hoping this helps our colleagues across the industry
“Without human literacy, you might assume that words and their order are all that matter.” I happened on this @eryk.bsky.social post from way back in August and love the move to put human literacies up against AI literacies. mail.cyberneticforests.com/human-litera...
a man in a suit and bow tie asks how did i get here
Alt: Clip from the Talking Heads music video for Once In A Lifetime, showing David Byrne in a suit and bow tie on his knees asking to the heavens with open arms: “How did i get here?”
media.tenor.com
November 15, 2025 at 9:22 PM
“Without human literacy, you might assume that words and their order are all that matter.” I happened on this @eryk.bsky.social post from way back in August and love the move to put human literacies up against AI literacies. mail.cyberneticforests.com/human-litera...