nick
LightNews LightNews
caveatruptur.bsky.social
nick
@caveatruptur.bsky.social
1.1K followers 1.2K following 950 posts
antimonopolist
Posts Replies Media Videos
caveatruptur.bsky.social
hey girl
a simple matrix multiplication example
November 8, 2025 at 7:39 PM
caveatruptur.bsky.social
when i was a kid the malls had stores full of robots that actually worked
vintage photo of a store with dishwashers and ranges on display, and a person viewing the merchandise
November 8, 2025 at 12:56 AM
caveatruptur.bsky.social
It still boils down to exactly what Brooks argued in No Silver Bullet in 1986. Essential complexity is irreducible and accounts for the bulk of software engineering time.

And I've yet to see anyone argue otherwise.
No Silver Bullet —Essence and Accident in Software Engineering Frederick P. Brooks, Jr. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill There is no single development, in either technology or management technique, which by itself promises even one order-of-magnitude improvement within a decade in productivity, in reliability, in simplicity. Abstract1 All software construction involves essential tasks, the fashioning of the complex conceptual structures that compose the abstract software entity, and accidental tasks, the representation of these abstract entities in programming languages and the mapping of these onto machine languages within space and speed constraints. Most of the big past gains in software productivity have come from removing artificial barriers that have made the accidental tasks inordinately hard, such as severe hardware constraints, awkward programming languages, lack of machine time. How much of what software engineers now do is still devoted to the accidental, as opposed to the essential? Unless it is more than 9/10 of all effort, shrinking all the accidental activities to zero time will not give an order of magnitude improvement. Therefore it appears that the time has come to address the essential parts of the software task, those concerned with fashioning abstract conceptual structures of great complexity. I suggest: • • • • Exploiting the mass market to avoid constructing what can be bought. Using rapid prototyping as part of a planned iteration in establishing software requirements. Growing software organically, adding more and more function to systems as they are run, used, and tested. Identifying and developing the great conceptual designers of the rising generation
October 15, 2025 at 1:03 AM
caveatruptur.bsky.social
klarna is even offering "margin loans" at 0% interest lol. you could buy gold/silver bars, buy GLD/IAU/SLV puts to protect them and sell bars when payments come due, pocket the difference.

(this is absolutely not financial advice)
screenshot of 1 kilo silver bar on jm bullion website with klarna 0% interest offer.
October 14, 2025 at 2:55 AM
caveatruptur.bsky.social
Wild that one internet money will still buy you 28 ounces of pure gold. 1.75 pounds of it. 0,8 kilos
Stock chart showing the price of a bitcoin divided by the price of an ounce of gold.
October 11, 2025 at 5:43 PM
caveatruptur.bsky.social
or a lululemon
image of a lululemon cash wrap made from osb plywood
October 11, 2025 at 2:53 PM
caveatruptur.bsky.social
I went heavy into silver when the gold/silver ratio was over 100, then went heavy into gold when it hit the bottom of the channel.
October 8, 2025 at 8:07 AM
caveatruptur.bsky.social
fun to watch it go parabolic on the log chart
October 8, 2025 at 7:53 AM
caveatruptur.bsky.social
Most near-expiration option chains aren't even opening strikes over 10% up, and puts are still extremely cheap to hedge against a big selloff.
October 8, 2025 at 7:53 AM
caveatruptur.bsky.social
This is all because the dollar, and nearly all currencies, are rapidly devaluing. Gold will be over $25k before the decade is over. They're trying to inflate away the debt which will absolutely devastate the working class.
October 8, 2025 at 7:53 AM
caveatruptur.bsky.social
And this says it was just in 6 months. Smuggled in as bowling balls.
$4,000,000 DOPE SMUGGLED IN BY WORLD-WIDE RING- 1,850 Pounds in Bowling Out-. .fit—Gold, Convicted in Differ-ent Case, Is Quizzed. The story of how Ave as, of "bowling halls and tenpins" imported here from Germany ostensibly for reshipment to Japan turned into 1,250 pounds of cocaine and heroin was told yesterday by Assistant United States Attorney Sliver. He st. Id this was but one of the opera-Mlle of an alleged international n►reotic ring which smuggled drugs valued at more than $4,000,000 Into this country between February and August fast year. Silver made his disclosure after Federal Judi& Winslow in Man-hattan peremptorily set Monday for the trial of three men, one a former New York policeman, indicted for conspiracy to smuggle drugs. The men are John C. 'Weller, of 9 Ira ct., Sheepshead Buy, William Va•. chuda, alias William Fog of 812 E, 73d st., Manhatan, and Charles Wdbber, alias William J. Kern, alit. Charles Cook, who gave no address. Vachuda was a policeman in this city for eight years until June, 1922. On June 12 last, according to Silver, the narcotics, invoiced as howling balls and tenpins, were landed from the White Star liner Arabic and were to have been taken to Pler 4, Brooklyn, for reshipment to Japan. Truck Trailed by °Moors. The truck was trailed and the plot was discovered when its contents Were unloaded at 87 Walker st., Manhattan. The top floor of this loft building was the headquarters of the ring, according to Silver. It had been planned to substitute cases of real bowling balls here and con-tinue with the truck to the Brooklyn pier. With Samuel Gold, 62, of 85 For-sythe at., remanded until Jan. 81, for sentencing on his conviction late yesterday for violation of the Harri-son Anti-Narcotic Drug Aot, the Fed-eral authorities began "working on him" today in an effort to obtain the "top figure" in the dope peddling ring, of which, was charged, he was the broker, or middle man. Ills arrest in a tenement at 21 Atlantic ave., on Nov. 8, last,…
October 3, 2025 at 12:22 AM
caveatruptur.bsky.social
$4 million in 1927 money would be $75 million today. Holy hell, where is all this money????
$4,000,000 DRUG TRIAL ON MONDAY Several months of secret inves-tigation by federal men has result-ed in the disclosure of a supposed international dope ring, according to Assistant United States Attor-ney Edward S. Silver. The ring is said to have smuggled drugs valued at $4,000,000 in the last year, Sil-ver declared yesterday. Three men, indicted for conspiracy, will be Placed on trial Monday. They are: William Vachuda of 312 East 73d st., Charles Webber, no address, and John C. Veller of 9 Ira ct., Sheepshead Bay. Clipping from: Daily News (New York, New York) · Fri, Jan 28, 1927 · Page 199
October 3, 2025 at 12:20 AM
caveatruptur.bsky.social
the man who "invented the dope racket". how about that.
October 2, 2025 at 5:37 AM
caveatruptur.bsky.social
welp, here's my great grandfather and great uncle
clipping of front page of Daily News (New York, New York) · Tue, Oct 14, 1930 · Page 51, showing photographs of two men, in reference to the killing of Jack "Legs" Diamond's bodyguard.
October 2, 2025 at 5:24 AM
caveatruptur.bsky.social
Nurse Likes Kisses; Insane.
Nurse Likes Kisses; Insane. YONKERS (N.Y.) December 14 - Miss March Kirschon, a nurse, who had a mania for kissing men, has been committed to the State hospital for the insane.
October 2, 2025 at 5:18 AM
caveatruptur.bsky.social
International visitor arrivals to the US were down 8.9% in July 2025 compared to July 2024.
July 2025 Total International Travel Volume to and from the United States In July 2025, international visitor arrivals to the United States totaled 6,275,257, a decrease of 8.9 percent compared to July 2024 Outbound travel departures from the United States by U.S. citizens totaled 11,765,102 in July 2025, an increase of 4.6 percent compared to July 2024
September 30, 2025 at 3:06 AM
caveatruptur.bsky.social
It turns out my mom only recently discovered this and no one in my family knew any of this.

And it gets even wilder because it turns out my mom's grandmother was a "denizen of the San Francisco underworld, and who is known among her associates as the "Panama Kid".

I need to know everything!
The man in the case is Oscar Kirshon, said to be a daring professional burglar, for whom the police have been searching for the past two weeks. The woman is known as Lillie Kirshon or Lillie Jackson, whom the police say is a denizen of the San Francisco underworld, and who is known among her associates as the "Panama Kid".
September 30, 2025 at 12:28 AM
caveatruptur.bsky.social
Ok, maybe he was a rat and led to the bust of the largest transnational drug ring in America and was busted with $500k worth of drugs (in 1917 money, would be 12 MILLION DOLLARS today), but holy shit this is quite a revelation. How in the world have I never googled him? He's everywhere.
As an example of these shared narconarratives of deviance, consider the following. In the United States, the passage of the Harrison Act in 1914 led to a crackdown on drug trafficking and traffickers. Some of these busts demonstrated that women were heavily involved in drug trafficking. In 1917, the Los Angeles Times reported that police had dismantled the largest transnational drug smuggling ring operating in the United States for viola-tion of the Harrison Act.58 Police had earlier arrested Oscar Kirshon and Max Singer, two smugglers in New York City, who turned state informants by offering evidence. Their testimony led to the dismantling of what was claimed to be one of the most lucrative dope rings on the east and west coasts.59 That million-dollar-a-year (2012: $18,072,000) bicoastal enterprise moved heroin and opium from Canada and Mexico into California. With cooperation from the New York smugglers turned informants, authorities in California reported that they had taken into custody Charles Cohn, Louis Bernzaft, Max Steiner, Joseph Smith, Sam Levy, Alexander Gladstone, Max Silverstein, and Mrs. Eva Silverstein. During a raid of the Silversteins' apartment, police discovered $60,000 (2012: $1,084,000) worth of mor-phine and heroin. The police reported that the drugs originated in both Canada and Mexico. The arrest of Eva Silverstein—the lone woman—gar-nered major media attention, and she was labeled the "queen" of the ring." The Los Angeles Times reproduced only her image, and not those of her
September 28, 2025 at 5:27 AM
caveatruptur.bsky.social
Oh, well here's an example job right here that's been changed by AI. Jensen Huang, the CEO of the company that's gained 3 TRILLION DOLLARS IN MARKET SHARE BECAUSE OF THESE VERY LIES.

His job has changed. The guy who owns the shovel monopoly during the gold rush. I bet it has.
What they’re saying As AI becomes more central to business operations, tech companies are redefining what productivity means. Tech CEOs and thought leaders have been outspoken this year about how AI is reshaping their sector with the unambiguous message that at least some jobs are being fundamentally displaced. There is still a debate about whether they are being eliminated for good. Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg said AI could be ready this year to “effectively be a sort of mid-level engineer,” capable of writing code. Andy Jassy said Amazon “will need fewer people doing some of the jobs that are being done today,” while Ford’s Jim Farley and Anthropic’s Dario Amodei separately predicted that AI is set to displace essentially half of all white-collar positions. It’s not all doomsday predictions. Bill Gates see an era of “free intelligence” coming as AI will become capable of handling most tasks. Nvidia’s Jensen Huang said AI will “change everyone’s job — it’s changed mine.” The thousands of tech workers that have been laid off so far in 2025 are watching and waiting.
September 28, 2025 at 12:25 AM
caveatruptur.bsky.social
The claim here is that by freeing capital to make wild bets on a mythical technology that has proven none of its claims, they're actually "hiring the next workforce". What bullshit.

Zuck: "AI could be ready this year to “effectively be a sort of mid-level engineer”

could
effectively
sort-of
What they’re saying As AI becomes more central to business operations, tech companies are redefining what productivity means. Tech CEOs and thought leaders have been outspoken this year about how AI is reshaping their sector with the unambiguous message that at least some jobs are being fundamentally displaced. There is still a debate about whether they are being eliminated for good. Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg said AI could be ready this year to “effectively be a sort of mid-level engineer,” capable of writing code. Andy Jassy said Amazon “will need fewer people doing some of the jobs that are being done today,” while Ford’s Jim Farley and Anthropic’s Dario Amodei separately predicted that AI is set to displace essentially half of all white-collar positions. It’s not all doomsday predictions. Bill Gates see an era of “free intelligence” coming as AI will become capable of handling most tasks. Nvidia’s Jensen Huang said AI will “change everyone’s job — it’s changed mine.” The thousands of tech workers that have been laid off so far in 2025 are watching and waiting.
September 28, 2025 at 12:25 AM
caveatruptur.bsky.social
Another Fortune article titled "Tech layoffs 2025: How Microsoft, Google, and Meta are plotting for the AI era".

This is the real source, the one that's been laundered by a chain of links:

“This isn’t about AI replacing humans yet—it’s about restructuring to fund AI initiatives.”
Financial strategy and restructuring Industry experts like Deedy Das of Menlo Ventures argue that the layoffs are less about AI replacing workers and more about freeing up capital for AI investments. Tech commentator Wes Roth echoed the sentiment: “This isn’t about AI replacing humans yet—it’s about restructuring to fund AI initiatives.” Microsoft’s approach is mirrored across the sector, with companies including Amazon flattening management layers and prioritizing technical roles over administrative ones.
September 28, 2025 at 12:25 AM
caveatruptur.bsky.social
The Fortune article titled "Silicon Valley’s graying workforce" claims "they’re cutting employees at the bottom rungs in favor of automation. Entry-level jobs have also dwindled because of AI agents, and stalling promotions across many agencies looking to do more with less." That link?
Schulman points to a few reasons why tech company workforces are getting older and locking Gen Z out of jobs. One is that big companies—like Salesforce, Meta, and Microsoft—are becoming a lot more efficient thanks to the advent of AI. And despite their soaring trillion-dollar profits, they’re cutting employees at the bottom rungs in favor of automation. Entry-level jobs have also dwindled because of AI agents, and stalling promotions across many agencies looking to do more with less. Once technology companies weed out junior roles, occupied by Gen Zers, their workforces are bound to rise in age. And experts tell Fortune that spells a lot of trouble for innovation and long-term business stability.
September 28, 2025 at 12:25 AM
caveatruptur.bsky.social
It links to another bullshit "LinkedIn News" article with the title "Gen Z loses out to AI automation". Let's follow the link. This article links to a Fortune article, and the only claim is only that tech firms are employing younger people, with no reason given. The Fortune article??
Gen Z loses out to AI automation Megan McDonough Megan McDonough Megan McDonough News Editor at LinkedIn | Ex-Washington Post & Edelman Published Sep 8, 2025 + Follow Entry level roles are being eliminated due to artificial intelligence automation, disproportionately impacting Gen Z workers and disrupting traditional career pipelines, Fortune reports, citing Pave data. The share of 21- to 25-year-olds employed at large public tech firms has been halved since 2023, dropping from 15% to 6.7%. Private tech companies are also experiencing the crunch, with Gen Z representation slipping from 9.3% to 6.8%. Meanwhile, the average employee age in public tech has creeped up five years, from 34.3 years to 39.4 years, with millennials dominating the sector.
September 28, 2025 at 12:25 AM
caveatruptur.bsky.social
he might want to ask his treasury secretary!
Scott Bessent | U.S. Department of the Treasury U.S. Department of the Treasury (.gov) https://home.treasury.gov › general-information › officials Jan 28, 2025 — Bessent was the Chief Investment Officer of Soros Fund Management. Mr. Bessent was an adjunct professor at Yale University, where he taught ...
September 27, 2025 at 5:27 AM
caveatruptur.bsky.social
jeffrey esptein (the financier) was also in favor of this.
For them, Epstein represented money, access and a champion. For Epstein, who left college without a degree, they offered bonafides, advice and a willingness to confer on topics both universal and esoteric, including sex and beauty, disease and genetics, and the life of the mind. Epstein was also interested in artificial intelligence—and in emails with a computer scientist, sent right before reporting to jail, he even weighed a “Manhattan Project” for AI.
September 26, 2025 at 10:30 PM