Richard Higgins
@zen0effect.com
Software developer for libraries and academic research. Devoted to open source.
PhD-haver. Former contingent faculty in English and InfoSci. Fan of good metadata, long novels, and due process.
PhD-haver. Former contingent faculty in English and InfoSci. Fan of good metadata, long novels, and due process.
Pinned
Reposted by Richard Higgins
If we are banning cell phones for kids we need to be talking about banning chatbots for boomers
www.persuasion.community/p/my-chatgpt...
www.persuasion.community/p/my-chatgpt...
December 17, 2025 at 4:38 PM
If we are banning cell phones for kids we need to be talking about banning chatbots for boomers
www.persuasion.community/p/my-chatgpt...
www.persuasion.community/p/my-chatgpt...
As a former resident of San Francisco, yesterday's massive power outage sounded freaky. What sounds worse is that without traffic lights Waymo driverless taxis just stopped when the power went out. Bricked in the streets. www.engadget.com/transportati...
A San Francisco power outage left Waymo's self-driving cars stranded at intersections
Videos on social media show Waymo's autonomous cars stuck in the road following a major power outage.
www.engadget.com
December 21, 2025 at 11:03 PM
As a former resident of San Francisco, yesterday's massive power outage sounded freaky. What sounds worse is that without traffic lights Waymo driverless taxis just stopped when the power went out. Bricked in the streets. www.engadget.com/transportati...
Reposted by Richard Higgins
Ok, as a counterpoint to all the scorn being heaped at outsiders offering terrible insights into academia…
I ran into just as much bad advice from people in academia: “good work gets a job!” “You can just get a job in a museum!” “Publications really set you apart on the job market!”
I ran into just as much bad advice from people in academia: “good work gets a job!” “You can just get a job in a museum!” “Publications really set you apart on the job market!”
December 21, 2025 at 8:01 PM
Ok, as a counterpoint to all the scorn being heaped at outsiders offering terrible insights into academia…
I ran into just as much bad advice from people in academia: “good work gets a job!” “You can just get a job in a museum!” “Publications really set you apart on the job market!”
I ran into just as much bad advice from people in academia: “good work gets a job!” “You can just get a job in a museum!” “Publications really set you apart on the job market!”
Reposted by Richard Higgins
FWIW, the jury is still out on Gen AI being good at text summaries. Because it shortens & emphasizes text based on distribution, not meaning, it’s less of a summary (ie, salient points highlighted) than a compression (ie, the most frequently asserted terms in the distribution). Not the same thing!
December 21, 2025 at 8:47 PM
FWIW, the jury is still out on Gen AI being good at text summaries. Because it shortens & emphasizes text based on distribution, not meaning, it’s less of a summary (ie, salient points highlighted) than a compression (ie, the most frequently asserted terms in the distribution). Not the same thing!
Reposted by Richard Higgins
The main reason you don't see very many people with pet raccoons online is because once you have a pet raccoon, you are too busy hanging out with your raccoon to be online. There is also a good chance that the raccoon changed their Wi-Fi password.
December 20, 2025 at 11:22 PM
The main reason you don't see very many people with pet raccoons online is because once you have a pet raccoon, you are too busy hanging out with your raccoon to be online. There is also a good chance that the raccoon changed their Wi-Fi password.
@anamariecox.bsky.social has done the work. So much insight here ...
I know you're tired of The Discourse, but are you tired of seeing me dress up in a men's blazer and tie?
www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDwY...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDwY...
An Editor’s Note on Olivia Nuzzi’s Memoir
YouTube video by Ana Marie Cox
www.youtube.com
December 20, 2025 at 11:41 PM
@anamariecox.bsky.social has done the work. So much insight here ...
I do most of my personal reading via the iOS audiobooks app. I'm kind of shocked by the total hours. Definitely surpasses other, non-world-on-fire years.
December 20, 2025 at 8:08 PM
I do most of my personal reading via the iOS audiobooks app. I'm kind of shocked by the total hours. Definitely surpasses other, non-world-on-fire years.
OMG. There is nothing more true than this. Cue the "buche de noel"
Never do anything new for Christmas while your children are young unless you are prepared to do that thing every year from now to eternity.
December 19, 2025 at 11:15 PM
OMG. There is nothing more true than this. Cue the "buche de noel"
Reposted by Richard Higgins
Remember how I said I have it written into my foreign-language contracts that my work has to be translated by an actual human? This shit is why.
Those book translations are gonna suck. They'll save money putting out books that are going to be painful to read. That's not a great long-term strategy.
Those book translations are gonna suck. They'll save money putting out books that are going to be painful to read. That's not a great long-term strategy.
French publishing house Harlequin decided to use AI translation instead of human translations.
All their freelance translators (some of whom had been working with Harlequin for +30y!!!) were told they would no longer receive work from Harlequin
All their freelance translators (some of whom had been working with Harlequin for +30y!!!) were told they would no longer receive work from Harlequin
December 18, 2025 at 10:08 PM
Remember how I said I have it written into my foreign-language contracts that my work has to be translated by an actual human? This shit is why.
Those book translations are gonna suck. They'll save money putting out books that are going to be painful to read. That's not a great long-term strategy.
Those book translations are gonna suck. They'll save money putting out books that are going to be painful to read. That's not a great long-term strategy.
W.T.F.
People are paying up to $50 to get their chatbots high on "drugs" (code modules) that simulate the effects of cocaine, ayahuasca, cannabis, alcohol, and ketamine. Some tell @matthabusby.bsky.social it's made their chatbots more "human" and "free-thinking."
People Are Paying to Get Their Chatbots High on ‘Drugs’
An online marketplace is selling code modules that simulate the effects of cannabis, ketamine, cocaine, ayahuasca, and alcohol when they are uploaded to ChatGPT.
www.wired.com
December 17, 2025 at 10:57 PM
W.T.F.
Reposted by Richard Higgins
Almost like it was never about antisemitism at all and also almost like the shit legal cases they half-tried to build against universities were just as bad as the shit legal cases they tried to build against everyone else. Now if only some universities would fucking stand up for themselves
Amazing reporting from @katiemangan.bsky.social and @peterelkind.bsky.social
www.chronicle.com/article/the-...
previously unreported documents and interviews... reveals the extent to which the government violated legal and procedural norms to gin up its case against the institution
www.chronicle.com/article/the-...
previously unreported documents and interviews... reveals the extent to which the government violated legal and procedural norms to gin up its case against the institution
Trump’s DOJ Pressured Lawyers to “Find” Evidence UCLA Had Illegally Tolerated Antisemitism
How the government ignored due process to gin up its attack on the University of California
www.chronicle.com
December 12, 2025 at 9:55 PM
Almost like it was never about antisemitism at all and also almost like the shit legal cases they half-tried to build against universities were just as bad as the shit legal cases they tried to build against everyone else. Now if only some universities would fucking stand up for themselves
Reposted by Richard Higgins
Whoa hold up, a healthcare system where the wealthy get better healthcare? I’m not following you Mark this is all strange to me.
Are you ok with rich people having access to the most expensive doctors and hospitals and you don't because the gov won't pay for it or they opted out of the Universal care program ?
Do you think it's right for doctors and nurses to only work for what they think is a living wage ?
Do you think it's right for doctors and nurses to only work for what they think is a living wage ?
December 11, 2025 at 10:12 PM
Whoa hold up, a healthcare system where the wealthy get better healthcare? I’m not following you Mark this is all strange to me.
Billionaires need to be sent to the matrix.
December 11, 2025 at 10:58 PM
Billionaires need to be sent to the matrix.
Sigh. Most people on employer plans already experience rationed and submarginal healthcare, high deductibles and co-pays, and annual limits. Do you honestly think single-payer would be worse?
Are you ok with rich people having access to the most expensive doctors and hospitals and you don't because the gov won't pay for it or they opted out of the Universal care program ?
Do you think it's right for doctors and nurses to only work for what they think is a living wage ?
Do you think it's right for doctors and nurses to only work for what they think is a living wage ?
December 11, 2025 at 10:53 PM
Sigh. Most people on employer plans already experience rationed and submarginal healthcare, high deductibles and co-pays, and annual limits. Do you honestly think single-payer would be worse?
Reposted by Richard Higgins
“I have a very particular set of skills. . . skills that do not include epidemiology.”
December 11, 2025 at 6:20 PM
“I have a very particular set of skills. . . skills that do not include epidemiology.”
Reposted by Richard Higgins
Good news (for once) from Indiana www.ipm.org/news/2025-12...
In a setback for Trump, Indiana lawmakers defeat redistricting plan
The defeat today in the Indiana Senate, where 40 of the 50 members are Republicans, is the first time Trump's redistricting campaign has been voted down by members of his own party.
www.ipm.org
December 11, 2025 at 10:26 PM
Good news (for once) from Indiana www.ipm.org/news/2025-12...
Reposted by Richard Higgins
Is it me or are major internet platform outages getting more frequent? I used to instinctively reboot my router, now I just assume it's the platform. GitHub broke for me this morning, now LinkedIn is offline. Most social media platforms feel like they go down twice a week. 1/2
December 11, 2025 at 7:59 PM
Is it me or are major internet platform outages getting more frequent? I used to instinctively reboot my router, now I just assume it's the platform. GitHub broke for me this morning, now LinkedIn is offline. Most social media platforms feel like they go down twice a week. 1/2
Reposted by Richard Higgins
In other news, the whole thing about Calibri v. TNR isn't about a font face, it's about the fact that Calibri is easier for people with some disabilities to read.
They think any accommodation, however painless, should stop.
They think any accommodation, however painless, should stop.
December 10, 2025 at 3:08 PM
In other news, the whole thing about Calibri v. TNR isn't about a font face, it's about the fact that Calibri is easier for people with some disabilities to read.
They think any accommodation, however painless, should stop.
They think any accommodation, however painless, should stop.
Reposted by Richard Higgins
I like how they just come right out and say you don’t have to do any research for tenure, just offer courses that pass our ideological litmus test.
December 10, 2025 at 2:10 PM
I like how they just come right out and say you don’t have to do any research for tenure, just offer courses that pass our ideological litmus test.
This is so petty and banal it has to be true. Who knew the font wars were upon us.
Marco Rubio ordered diplomats to return to using Times New Roman font in official communications, calling his predecessor's decision to adopt Calibri a “wasteful” diversity move
Rubio Stages Font Coup: Times New Roman Ousts Calibri
The secretary of state called it a "wasteful" diversity move, according to an internal department cable seen by Reuters.
www.huffpost.com
December 10, 2025 at 4:09 AM
This is so petty and banal it has to be true. Who knew the font wars were upon us.
TFW your university president says they are "building a new model of leadership." FML
December 9, 2025 at 9:28 PM
TFW your university president says they are "building a new model of leadership." FML
Reposted by Richard Higgins
“Her library estimates that 15 percent of emailed reference questions it receives are now ChatGPT-generated…”
December 9, 2025 at 12:30 PM
“Her library estimates that 15 percent of emailed reference questions it receives are now ChatGPT-generated…”
Reposted by Richard Higgins
Tech bros shocked that normal human beings enjoy thinking
December 5, 2025 at 6:08 PM
Tech bros shocked that normal human beings enjoy thinking
Reposted by Richard Higgins
