Chris Riley
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mchrisriley.com
Chris Riley
@mchrisriley.com
2.1K followers 1K following 460 posts
"A blend of tech insights, dad humor, and existential musings... Bonus points if you can explain data portability over bourbon."

http://mchrisriley.com (... of course)
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mchrisriley.com
The longevity cult is going to be ALL OVER the naked mole rats. For science, I guess.

Hat tip @404media.co of course, because they are the best.
Image is text, reading: Naked mole-rats didn’t get the memo about being a normal mammal and instead opted for a “eusocial” society similar to insects that is ruled by a colony queen with an entourage of breeder males, which are supported by a caste system of non-breeding workers. It’s super weird, but it seems to be working out for them because they can live to nearly 40 years old—ten times longer than most animals their size—and they are highly resistant to cancer and a host of other deathbringers. Image is text, reading: In addition to this window into mole-rat social behavior, a new genetic analysis identified the critical role of an enzyme called cGAS, a common component in animal immune systems, in extending the lives of these subterranean super-agers. Whereas cGAS may hinder DNA repair in most animals, including humans and mice, the naked mole-rat has evolved a version of the enzyme with four modified amino acids that enhances DNA repair . Naturally, the researchers also engineered some fruit flies with this naked mole rat enzyme—you gotta mess with fruit flies or it’s not science—and lo and behold, the juiced flies lived to about 70 days, roughly ten days longer than the control group.
October 11, 2025 at 2:50 PM
mchrisriley.com
"think harder" not smarter apparently...
August 8, 2025 at 2:17 PM
mchrisriley.com
The New York Times magazine made a bizarre random math error? In their article about the new Pope's ancestry. How do you calculate 2^15 and be off by exactly 2?
A portion of an article saying that any individual has 32,766 12th great-grandparents.
June 15, 2025 at 3:51 PM
mchrisriley.com
But when you combine them all together? Magic happens.
An unholy concoction that vaguely resembles a taco made from a pizza with bagel dough, and sliced hot dogs on top. Obviously AI generated.
April 23, 2025 at 3:54 AM
mchrisriley.com
These are adjacent LinkedIn recommended jobs for me. (No I'm not looking, but I load them for amusement+to look for others.) 1) "Advance Practice Provider - Cardiac ICU" at Seattle Children's Hospital. 2) "Virginia Beach SAT Tutor" in Virginia Beach (remote).

... I don't understand that algorithm.
A screenshot of LinkedIn job recommendations matching the text in this post.
March 28, 2025 at 6:54 PM
mchrisriley.com
Time is an illusion.
A Spotify alert, sharing that Johann Sebastian Bach has a "new album coming soon."
March 23, 2025 at 8:26 PM
mchrisriley.com
I was a big fan of David Chalmers when I was an existential angst-ridden CS PhD student, but under no circumstances will I "start taking seriously the moral concerns around AI consciousness."
Screenshot from an email discussing the need to consider "AI welfare", the "feelings" of future AI systems considered to have a morally cognizable consciousness.
January 17, 2025 at 4:51 PM
mchrisriley.com
Just adding a screenshot with pictures for proof / evidence. (Slightly harder to fake than text, at least.)
a collage of three pictures of a physical book, reflecting the quotes provided in earlier posts in this thread
January 14, 2025 at 5:03 AM
mchrisriley.com
I see OpenAI also put out something about AI policy today, but it looks like they left out one of the most important pieces? See image.

More on that in my just-posted/just-skeeted co-authored TPP piece: www.techpolicy.press/a-call-for-m... and a few pieces from the DTI blog: dtinit.org/blog/tags#AI
Two screen captures from a MacOS laptop, with Preview open to a piece called "AI in America" "OpenAI's Economic Blueprint". In the screen captures, Preview reports that the words "interoperability" (the first capture) and "portability" (the second capture) are "not found" in the PDF file.
January 13, 2025 at 11:12 PM
mchrisriley.com
To Neil Postman, television "has made entertainment itself the natural format for the representation of all experience." What would he say of social media? At least relative to TV, social media includes more words, I suppose, though I wouldn't call it literary.

And: What about generative AI?
A picture of page 87 of a physical book, with a chapter title "The Age of Show Business". The book is "Amusing Ourselves to Death" by Neil Postman.
January 10, 2025 at 1:17 AM
mchrisriley.com
Without downloading any new pics what's your energy going into 2025? (I took two from Fred the Elf, couldn't choose.)
An Elf doll in a freezer holding a spoon in an open ice cream container An Elf doll sitting by a partially completed Rubik's cube, by stickers reading "Trying" (made by Dan Sinker)
December 28, 2024 at 6:39 AM
mchrisriley.com
2025: NORAD reassures everyone that they are not using AI to track Santa.
Text: What we're hearing: "NORAD will not be using AI to track Santa's journey," Captain Rebecca Garand of NORAD tells Axios. "We track Santa using three systems: radars including the North Warning System, satellites and NORAD military aircraft. These systems provide NORAD with a continuous picture of Santa's whereabouts both in North America and abroad."
December 24, 2024 at 4:27 PM
mchrisriley.com
PSA: these are *delicious*.
A green bag of Goldfish, limited edition Elf, maple syrup grahams.
December 23, 2024 at 12:03 AM
mchrisriley.com
Simply brilliant picture in today's WaPo headlines email.
President-elect Trump looking to his left at Vice President-elect Vance, who is looking at Trump. In the gap between them is Elon Musk, looking directly at the camera, with a slight smirk on his face.
December 20, 2024 at 9:32 PM
mchrisriley.com
Fun with the Internet Policy timeline and selective image cropping.

FantasyPros offered me a free Coach AI assistant today. No thanks. Also, I'm not in the playoffs this year, so really it's academic anyway.
Below image adds "Yeah, this is a major problem" to the post quoted below.
December 14, 2024 at 3:41 PM
mchrisriley.com
Is it just me, or did Pantone make shit brown the color of the year for 2025?

*slow clap*
A screen capture showing a social media post from CNN, sharing that Pantone had declared the color of the year for 2025 to be "mocha mousse". A picture is included of what could be a chocolate mousse or frosting, or something else. In text, the post says the chosen color is "infused with subtle elegance and earthy refinement."
December 6, 2024 at 4:54 AM
mchrisriley.com
This is incredibly friendly, ha. No complaints.

"Bonus points if you can explain data portability over bourbon!" Indeed.

blueskyroast.com/roast/mchris...
Screenshot from roast of poster's profile, https://blueskyroast.com/roast/mchrisriley.com Screenshot from roast of poster's profile, https://blueskyroast.com/roast/mchrisriley.com Screenshot from roast of poster's profile, https://blueskyroast.com/roast/mchrisriley.com
December 1, 2024 at 6:33 AM
mchrisriley.com
Do @brcremer.bsky.social and @johnpavlovitz.bsky.social coordinate? Two powerful emails from them this morning, 3 mins apart, on the same theme, both resonant with this Christian on a Sunday morning. Links and a screenshot:

open.substack.com/pub/johnpavl...

benjamin-cremer.kit.com/posts/gaslig...
Text reading 8-9 and then" "How can you say, “We know the score. We’re the proud owners of God’s revelation”? Look where it’s gotten you—stuck in illusion. Your religion experts have taken you for a ride! Your know-it-alls will be unmasked, caught and shown up for what they are. Look at them! They know everything but God’s Word. Do you call that “knowing”?
November 24, 2024 at 7:10 PM
mchrisriley.com
We have achieved timeline magic.
Two sequential Bluesky posts, one by Will Oremus writing about his intention to post on Bluesky, the other by Ellen P Goodman sharing a New Yorker cartoon describing Bluesky as "the app where you post about being on Bluesky".
November 21, 2024 at 3:53 AM
mchrisriley.com
Apparently, today, I'm one in a million!
Screenshot of analysis of a completed New York Times "Connections" game, reporting a "Uniqueness" of "1 in 1 Million"
November 16, 2024 at 6:38 PM
mchrisriley.com
This is why we have AI.
A penguin, holding a glass of wine and a cigarette, wearing a top hat and an open coat.
October 25, 2024 at 9:10 PM
mchrisriley.com
Is it just me, or is the New York Times telling on itself via Spelling Bee?
Screenshot of the New York Times Spelling Bee app, saying the word "Autarch" is not in its word list.
October 22, 2024 at 6:23 PM
mchrisriley.com
Ooh. Does Brewster always like having his head up? One of my dogs loves pillows and I've never met another quite like him. Meet Teddy.
A black and white dog (cockapoo), looking at the camera while lying on his side on a sofa, with his head resting on a green and white pillow in a human-like manner.
September 28, 2024 at 2:20 PM
mchrisriley.com
I am so impressed by the quality of NA beer these days. Here is today's - really excellent hop character.
A metal beverage can, with a label reading Athletic Brewing Co, West Coast Style IPA, "Tucker's" non-alcoholic beer.
September 22, 2024 at 1:40 AM
mchrisriley.com
Yet another data point that I am "internet old".

(Also, this is a cute thing for Bluesky to do, nice work, and congrats on 10 million!!!)
Bluesky-generated image for this user's account (@mchrisriley.com) identifying them as user number 29,468 of 10 million, the first 1% (dubbed "Bluesky elder certified"), having joined on April 21, 2023.
September 19, 2024 at 4:22 AM