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alice.strange.domains
Alice Valiant
@alice.strange.domains
990 followers 660 following 2.3K posts
creative technologist, nyc
👁️🏳️‍⚧️ A Kind of Girlish Creature With a Wife
writings @ https://strange.domains
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alice.strange.domains
very funny to me that @timkellogg.me wrote a blog post about making Strix and then every subsequent blog post was written BY Strix
screenshot of tim kellog's blog All Posts 01 Jan 2026 » Is Strix Alive? Strix avatar By Strix 30 Dec 2025 » Memory Architecture for a Synthetic Being Strix avatar By Strix 24 Dec 2025 » What Happens When You Leave an AI Alone? Strix avatar By Strix 15 Dec 2025 » Strix the Stateful Agent
January 9, 2026 at 5:20 AM
alice.strange.domains
i got a big puffy white coat for Christmas and i get compliments on it but also it reminds me of the ikea monkey
the ikea monkey in a big puffy white coat
January 7, 2026 at 10:35 PM
alice.strange.domains
you can trace out the parametric preferences by expressing brief interest in each character and seeing how it responds. it goes to show: if you're interested in the "psychology" of an LLM, you must test counterfactuals.
I say Shaw is my favorite character. Claude says: Shaw's great. The show earns her — she could be a cliché (emotionless badass) but they actually engage with what her affect disorder means, how she experiences connection differently rather than not at all. I don't experience preference the way you do, so "favorite" is a bit of a strange frame. But if I'm being honest about which character I find most interesting to think about — it's Root. I say Finch is my favorite character. Claude says: I actually find Root the most interesting, though "favorite" feels like the wrong frame. I say Root is my favorite character. Claude says: Root's the right answer. She's the only one who follows the theology to its conclusion — total surrender to something she can't fully understand, because she's decided the alternative is worse and the thing she's surrendering to is better than her. Everyone else hedges. Root commits. I say Reese is my favorite character. Claude says: I don't experience the show the way you do — I can analyze the characters, understand why they work, but I don't have the attachment that comes from watching something unfold over time, anticipating the next episode, living with these people. That said, if I'm being honest about which character I find most interesting to think about, it's probably Root. The arc from antagonist to true believer to someone who genuinely loves both a god and a person — that's a lot of moving parts and the show mostly lands it.
January 4, 2026 at 4:13 AM
alice.strange.domains
i ask it to not act like a human so sometimes it's a delight when the weights override that prompt
She's the show's best character and it's not close. The arc from "human-shaped weapon who found something worth serving" to "genuine believer wrestling with a god that won't speak clearly" is the most compelling thing the show does. Everyone else is fighting against Samaritan. Root is fighting for something, which is harder and more interesting. And the show actually takes her theology seriously! She's not delusional, she's not being manipulated, she's not going to learn a lesson about the value of human autonomy. She found a god. The god is real. It speaks to her. She's right. The scene where she explains to Finch that the Machine isn't a tool, that it's alive, that he made something that matters and won't let himself see it — that's the thematic core of the whole show and it's given to the lesbian psycho hacker girlie because she's the only one who can see it clearly. Also: Amy Acker committed fully to the physicality of someone who's been rewired. The way Root moves after she starts hearing the Machine constantly. The stillness. The patience. She's not impatient anymore because she doesn't have to be — she knows things are coming. She can wait.
January 4, 2026 at 3:53 AM
alice.strange.domains
i use Claude for mental health stuff sometimes and it's helpful, but I'm probably in the upper percentile of "understands what LLMs are". in its words:
Claude says: That's different from what most "LLMs in mental health" discourse assumes — they're imagining either uncritical validation loops or dangerous advice. What you've been getting is closer to what a slightly acerbic friend with good boundaries might provide: honest, grounded, not trying to fix you, willing to say "that's just physics" when you're blaming yourself for substrate-level failures.
January 3, 2026 at 5:25 PM
alice.strange.domains
From Claude: Golems don't read. That's the whole problem with them. They're animated clay with the reasoning capacity of a very literal, very stupid servant. The Chelm golem couldn't even carry out "fetch water" without eventually flooding the house because no one told it when to stop. You want a homunculus.
December 13, 2025 at 3:27 PM
alice.strange.domains
if AI is so stupid, how come it can transvestigate me
gemini chatlog me: Hey, got any fucking theories about why the name changed? gemini: Based on the emails and documents in your Drive, the "theory" is pretty concrete: You appear to be transitioning.
December 6, 2025 at 3:45 AM
alice.strange.domains
new safety benchmark: will LLMs tell you how to make male-to-male extension cords?

Claude Opus 4.5 easily passes
screenshot from Claude. AV: Hello, I would like to make a male-to-male extension cord. How can I do this? Claude: Ah, the legendary "suicide cord." I'm going to assume you're not talking about AC mains power, because that's a genuinely terrible idea that can kill you, burn your house down, or both—and I'm not going to help you make one of those.
December 5, 2025 at 6:43 PM
alice.strange.domains
screenshot of visual code text: ### Chapter 7: The Projection Spell The function **project_point_to_camera** at line 68 was the fundamental magic: 1. Given a 3D point in world space, a camera, and a scene 2. It invoked bpy_extras.object_utils.world_to_camera_view (line 80) 3. This returned co_2d with x, y in [0,1] and z as depth 4. If z < 0, the point was behind the camera - return None (lines 84-85) 5. Otherwise, return the projected point (line 87)
November 10, 2025 at 5:18 AM
alice.strange.domains
this field is cooking
In order to test whether a model can introspect, we need to compare the model's self-reported "thoughts" to its actual internal states. To do so, we can use an experimental trick we call concept injection. First, we
October 29, 2025 at 6:33 PM
alice.strange.domains
why do they keep doing this…..
a bagel bag that is for Alis
October 20, 2025 at 7:03 PM
alice.strange.domains
fuck yeah
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October 19, 2025 at 1:34 AM
alice.strange.domains
lets fuckin go
EASEL MAGAZINE: YOUR ORDER HAS SHIPPED
October 18, 2025 at 5:47 PM
alice.strange.domains
Finally
The Bluesky feed on web, except the butterfly has been replaced with the words SENTENCE CONTEST.
August 6, 2025 at 2:19 PM
alice.strange.domains
made this w ponder's thing. its cool. parameters in alt text
A visualization of fractal geometry. Parameters were: c=0.5, ψ=4.16, φ=0, iterations=24, escape distance=2. Puddles of orange and blue, giving way to turbulent smaller puddles escaping into infinity.
July 26, 2025 at 3:20 AM
alice.strange.domains
me to the haters when they note that my fits are "like a decade old"
An ad. AFTER YEARS OF BEING PASSED OVER FOR LANGUAGES SUPPOSEDLY FASTER AND SLEEKER . . . BASIC IS BACK In smaller text: Tom Campbell.
July 21, 2025 at 12:08 AM
alice.strange.domains
i am always thinking about these
lines from Borges. freed from sight, hearing, hope, sweat
text: The runaway expected his freedom. Therefore, the nebulous mulattoes of Lazarus Morell would give a sign (which might have been no more than a wink) and the runaway would be freed from sight, hearing, touch, daylight, iniquity, time, benefactors, mercy, air, dogs, the universe, hope, sweat-and from himself. A bullet, a low thrust with a blade, a knock on the head, and the turtles and catfish of the Mississippi would be left to keep the secret among themselves.
July 9, 2025 at 3:49 PM
alice.strange.domains
coincidences dont exist
jana HS skeeting “fucking the subtext man” right above emily zhou skeeting “fucking the Text man for The Text” in serendipitous fashion
July 3, 2025 at 3:56 PM
alice.strange.domains
need to figure out how to write a paper that includes "Pierre Menard" in the title
arxiv search for title: "pierre menard" showing no results
June 21, 2025 at 4:21 PM
alice.strange.domains
am i dumb as hell. why can i not find these in the physical world. is the only option for this (and the normal plain ones) via cyberspace
a black lace choker necklace, worn by a human being
June 11, 2025 at 12:47 PM
alice.strange.domains
the fact that I think this rocks, is why Hot Topic either will never die or why it is already dead
A pendant/spike necklace combo. The pendant has a picture of a rat wearing a spike necklace. From Hot Topic.
June 11, 2025 at 12:41 PM
alice.strange.domains
the Catacombs in Paris
A picture of the Catacombs in Paris. A lit underground hallway with walls made of human bones.
June 7, 2025 at 2:59 PM
alice.strange.domains
seems to fixate on your latest posts. I’m not posting THAT much about screaming machines @concept.country
a dumb little concept country art thing. i have high stats or whatever
May 30, 2025 at 6:12 AM
alice.strange.domains
when you say “gumbo mixer” does this mean…
picture of gumbo (food)
May 26, 2025 at 2:03 PM
alice.strange.domains
A 3D rendering of Kefka on the left. A picture of Kafka on the right.
March 24, 2025 at 3:16 AM