Acilius
@acilius.bsky.social
Happy Christmas, if that's what you're into.
December 25, 2025 at 2:53 PM
Happy Christmas, if that's what you're into.
Reposted by Acilius
Doesn't inspire confidence that they couldn't find "thesaurus."
December 22, 2025 at 1:45 PM
Doesn't inspire confidence that they couldn't find "thesaurus."
Very important to remember, when you see people using accommodations for the disabled, that you are not the police and any attempts you make to enforce what you imagine to be the rules are likely to be bad for the people you want to help.
Damn it sure would be embarrassing for the writer of this if there were any medical conditions where people could walk but not for long distances
Travelers bemoan a rise of able-bodied passengers who game the system to skip the lines. on.wsj.com/3N6apva
December 19, 2025 at 5:44 PM
Very important to remember, when you see people using accommodations for the disabled, that you are not the police and any attempts you make to enforce what you imagine to be the rules are likely to be bad for the people you want to help.
Reposted by Acilius
He should have realized that when you share your password with that many people, one of them is bound to be an undercover password cop.
December 13, 2025 at 10:40 AM
He should have realized that when you share your password with that many people, one of them is bound to be an undercover password cop.
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I think if you're a man who's going to cover "Santa Baby," you need to just commit to the theme. Asking "Santa Buddy" for a yacht and a deed to a platinum mine is just delusional. You're lucky if your "buddy" will help you move.
November 30, 2025 at 11:54 PM
I think if you're a man who's going to cover "Santa Baby," you need to just commit to the theme. Asking "Santa Buddy" for a yacht and a deed to a platinum mine is just delusional. You're lucky if your "buddy" will help you move.
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Back in the 1950s, law schools apparently received inquiries (from potential applicants, I assume?) that sometimes included a lot of questions. Here, Dean Prosser of UC Berkeley imagines a reply.
jle.aals.org/home/vol10/i...
jle.aals.org/home/vol10/i...
November 9, 2025 at 7:49 PM
Back in the 1950s, law schools apparently received inquiries (from potential applicants, I assume?) that sometimes included a lot of questions. Here, Dean Prosser of UC Berkeley imagines a reply.
jle.aals.org/home/vol10/i...
jle.aals.org/home/vol10/i...
Reposted by Acilius
THOUGHT FOR THURSDAY
November 6, 2025 at 1:10 PM
THOUGHT FOR THURSDAY
What I've been doing online lately: losthunderlads.com/2025/11/05/a...
Among the nostalgists
When I was a kid in the 1970s, I would often hear my older brothers talking with each other and with my parents about Vietnam and Watergate. I would ask them to explain what those words meant, whic…
losthunderlads.com
November 5, 2025 at 10:53 PM
What I've been doing online lately: losthunderlads.com/2025/11/05/a...
Reposted by Acilius
When I was a small child, I thought "anti-Semitic" just meant "prejudiced," and I told my father he was "anti-Semitic against bunnies." I was very offended by how hard he laughed.
November 3, 2025 at 7:16 PM
When I was a small child, I thought "anti-Semitic" just meant "prejudiced," and I told my father he was "anti-Semitic against bunnies." I was very offended by how hard he laughed.
Reposted by Acilius
Why did Indiana University attack and cut its own student newspaper?
Well, in a twist of irony any English professor would call clichéd, it turns out IU did it because they were angry about the students' reporting on a FIRE report naming IU as the worst public university for free speech in the US.
Well, in a twist of irony any English professor would call clichéd, it turns out IU did it because they were angry about the students' reporting on a FIRE report naming IU as the worst public university for free speech in the US.
October 25, 2025 at 1:05 PM
Why did Indiana University attack and cut its own student newspaper?
Well, in a twist of irony any English professor would call clichéd, it turns out IU did it because they were angry about the students' reporting on a FIRE report naming IU as the worst public university for free speech in the US.
Well, in a twist of irony any English professor would call clichéd, it turns out IU did it because they were angry about the students' reporting on a FIRE report naming IU as the worst public university for free speech in the US.
Reposted by Acilius
It's weird seeing people argue about whether we should welcome or scold people who have just migrated here from Twitter because neither would have occurred to me naturally. I don't own the place. It would feel like welcoming people coming in to Target because I have been shopping there for hours
October 16, 2025 at 3:43 PM
It's weird seeing people argue about whether we should welcome or scold people who have just migrated here from Twitter because neither would have occurred to me naturally. I don't own the place. It would feel like welcoming people coming in to Target because I have been shopping there for hours
Explains a lot.
September 25, 2025 at 12:55 PM
Explains a lot.
Reposted by Acilius
Reposted by Acilius
My blog, Dark Shadows Commentary, has a page called "Table of Contents and Episode Guide." That's one place to start reading it. There are others, all equally good. darkshadowscommentary.com/table-of-con...
Table of Contents and Episode Guide
I started this site as a collection of links to comments I’d made on other Dark Shadows themed sites, principally Danny Horn’s Dark Shadows Every Day and John and Christine Scoleri̵…
darkshadowscommentary.com
September 23, 2025 at 2:28 AM
My blog, Dark Shadows Commentary, has a page called "Table of Contents and Episode Guide." That's one place to start reading it. There are others, all equally good. darkshadowscommentary.com/table-of-con...
Reposted by Acilius
Crude Wisdom
United States, Census, 1870
United States, Census, 1870
September 22, 2025 at 11:48 AM
Crude Wisdom
United States, Census, 1870
United States, Census, 1870
Reposted by Acilius
The answer is always this map.
September 22, 2025 at 12:08 PM
The answer is always this map.
Reposted by Acilius
Sometimes it's nice to remember that even Marcus Aurelius was like "you don't have to comment on everything bro"
September 17, 2025 at 11:00 AM
Sometimes it's nice to remember that even Marcus Aurelius was like "you don't have to comment on everything bro"
Reposted by Acilius
New ship of Theseus just dropped, but now it has conscious thought
September 8, 2025 at 12:01 PM
New ship of Theseus just dropped, but now it has conscious thought
Reposted by Acilius
Been reading more Latin American history lately, and under Brazil's military dictatorship there were only two official parties, who were colloquially called the "Yes Party" and the "Yes, Sir Party," and I can't stop thinking of it in light of our current politics
August 26, 2025 at 3:04 PM
Been reading more Latin American history lately, and under Brazil's military dictatorship there were only two official parties, who were colloquially called the "Yes Party" and the "Yes, Sir Party," and I can't stop thinking of it in light of our current politics
Reposted by Acilius
So, I was recently trying to edit a photo of my kids and just remove the head of a woman that was sitting behind them. I tried using the "Remove" function in Lightroom. Since it now has "AI" built in, this is what it decided to do - replace her head with a creepy dude.
April 11, 2025 at 2:09 PM
So, I was recently trying to edit a photo of my kids and just remove the head of a woman that was sitting behind them. I tried using the "Remove" function in Lightroom. Since it now has "AI" built in, this is what it decided to do - replace her head with a creepy dude.
Reposted by Acilius
Illustration by N. Rozhkov for the Soviet magazine 'Tekhnika Molodezhi,' July 1968
August 26, 2025 at 6:30 PM
Illustration by N. Rozhkov for the Soviet magazine 'Tekhnika Molodezhi,' July 1968
Reposted by Acilius
Con artists are so much in the news these days that I wonder if understanding the practical limitations of a technology leads them to understand the cognitive limitations of the people who get excited about that technology, enabling them to conduct scams at their expense.
I think the point they're trying to make is that, in the future, knowing how to use a LLM may be a useful job skill. But the part they're likely missing is that knowing the weaknesses of LLMs rather than accepting their output uncritically is part of that.
August 8, 2025 at 1:37 PM
Con artists are so much in the news these days that I wonder if understanding the practical limitations of a technology leads them to understand the cognitive limitations of the people who get excited about that technology, enabling them to conduct scams at their expense.
Reposted by Acilius
My goto is to ask LLMs how many states have R in their name. They always fail. GPT 5 included Indiana, Illinois, and Texas in its list. It then asked me if I wanted an alphabetical highlighted map. Sure, why not.
August 8, 2025 at 12:40 AM
My goto is to ask LLMs how many states have R in their name. They always fail. GPT 5 included Indiana, Illinois, and Texas in its list. It then asked me if I wanted an alphabetical highlighted map. Sure, why not.
Screamer and Myrtle are very fond of my wife and her service dog.
And the cats
BTW, I asked for the list of 100 books, but they are working on it, so please don't flood their email address with requests. However, they seem to be happy to recommend books if you give them a topic. Their site is full of cool stuff, including signed copies by Joan Didion.
BTW, I asked for the list of 100 books, but they are working on it, so please don't flood their email address with requests. However, they seem to be happy to recommend books if you give them a topic. Their site is full of cool stuff, including signed copies by Joan Didion.
July 16, 2025 at 12:31 AM
Screamer and Myrtle are very fond of my wife and her service dog.