Nils
@nilswrote.bsky.social
Ordinary person. Gadfly. Not a soldier, but a scout in pursuit of truth.
We can build something worthwhile even amid challenges. Human Scale > Institutional Scale. 🌱
🌲🇩🇪 🇺🇸 🇺🇦
https://nils.blog/
We can build something worthwhile even amid challenges. Human Scale > Institutional Scale. 🌱
🌲🇩🇪 🇺🇸 🇺🇦
https://nils.blog/
Pinned
Nils
@nilswrote.bsky.social
· Mar 21
Sunshine Patriots
Decadence, Values and What We'll Pay for Them
nils.blog
If American colonists had acted as complacent and navel-gazing as Americans do today, America would still be a British colony.
Audible algorithm is absolutely flooded by fantasy schlock.
Do people really listen to these?
Do people really listen to these?
May 24, 2025 at 10:26 AM
Audible algorithm is absolutely flooded by fantasy schlock.
Do people really listen to these?
Do people really listen to these?
Lemon socialism for corporations but free market capitalism for you.
Boeing Gets Lifeline in Pentagon Deal to Build Most Expensive Jet Fighter Ever
The contract guarantees a profit for Boeing through the development phase, unlike its past defense deals.
www.wsj.com
March 25, 2025 at 5:18 PM
Lemon socialism for corporations but free market capitalism for you.
What happens when we outsource our thinking and values to the crowd? Without a personal philosophy, we default to social conformity and expedience. It makes life easier— at the cost of implicitly consenting to terrible ideas.
A code
Develop a personal code to navigate life's complexities: resist social manipulation, cultivate independent thinking, and chart your own course beyond mainstream influences.
nils.blog
March 23, 2025 at 3:23 PM
What happens when we outsource our thinking and values to the crowd? Without a personal philosophy, we default to social conformity and expedience. It makes life easier— at the cost of implicitly consenting to terrible ideas.
Reposted by Nils
Cloudflare is now offering a feature called “AI labyrinth” where it serves a series of AI generated pages to AI crawlers that ignore robots.txt directives.
They’re essentially serving AI slop to AI crawlers that are training off of a website’s content without permission.
Deliciously devious. 😈
They’re essentially serving AI slop to AI crawlers that are training off of a website’s content without permission.
Deliciously devious. 😈
Cloudflare turns AI against itself with endless maze of irrelevant facts
New approach punishes AI companies that ignore “no crawl” directives.
arstechnica.com
March 22, 2025 at 11:12 PM
Cloudflare is now offering a feature called “AI labyrinth” where it serves a series of AI generated pages to AI crawlers that ignore robots.txt directives.
They’re essentially serving AI slop to AI crawlers that are training off of a website’s content without permission.
Deliciously devious. 😈
They’re essentially serving AI slop to AI crawlers that are training off of a website’s content without permission.
Deliciously devious. 😈
Reposted by Nils
Reposted by Nils
got into this a bit on the forthcoming neonliberalism with bret devereaux: "absolute power" is a fantasy that has never existed, because for even dictators to make lasting change... requires buy-in from multiple levels of society!
AUTHORITARIAN REGIMES NEED TO BE POPULAR. IT'S VERY IMPORTANT.
And before you idiots say "blah blah we won't have real elections," get fucked. One hallmark of competitive authoritarian regimes is their guys start popular and stay popular. Imagine if Modi, Duterte, Bukele, Orban, or any of the rest had been underwater on the *economy* in under 100 days.
March 21, 2025 at 2:15 AM
got into this a bit on the forthcoming neonliberalism with bret devereaux: "absolute power" is a fantasy that has never existed, because for even dictators to make lasting change... requires buy-in from multiple levels of society!
If American colonists had acted as complacent and navel-gazing as Americans do today, America would still be a British colony.
Sunshine Patriots
Decadence, Values and What We'll Pay for Them
nils.blog
March 21, 2025 at 12:47 PM
If American colonists had acted as complacent and navel-gazing as Americans do today, America would still be a British colony.
Reposted by Nils
It’s hilarious in hindsight that it was a huge scandal that Hilary checked her work email from a personal computer server instead of a work one.
It wouldn’t crack top ten of any given day of this administration. 🤣
It wouldn’t crack top ten of any given day of this administration. 🤣
March 21, 2025 at 2:00 AM
It’s hilarious in hindsight that it was a huge scandal that Hilary checked her work email from a personal computer server instead of a work one.
It wouldn’t crack top ten of any given day of this administration. 🤣
It wouldn’t crack top ten of any given day of this administration. 🤣
If you need to put a door dash meal on a pay later plan, you should reeeaaaallyyyy reconsider your life choices.
March 21, 2025 at 12:26 PM
If you need to put a door dash meal on a pay later plan, you should reeeaaaallyyyy reconsider your life choices.
This book was my 101 introduction to stoicism and the passage here was to me, a really profound insight into people; when people do ill it’s rarely out of malice but a lack of wisdom. #booksky
March 20, 2025 at 12:10 PM
This book was my 101 introduction to stoicism and the passage here was to me, a really profound insight into people; when people do ill it’s rarely out of malice but a lack of wisdom. #booksky
Thanks for the heads up.
Fired FTC commissioner warns of the ‘corrupting influence of billionaires’
Alvaro Bedoya says that corrupting influence isn’t limited to one party.
www.theverge.com
March 20, 2025 at 12:10 AM
Thanks for the heads up.
Reposted by Nils
I was listening to Scott Galloway yesterday and he said something that stuck with me: rich people’s rights are portable. In other words, even if they are angry about Trump’s actions, rich people are not going to help the rest of us because their own rights are protected by their money. (1/)
March 19, 2025 at 12:15 PM
I was listening to Scott Galloway yesterday and he said something that stuck with me: rich people’s rights are portable. In other words, even if they are angry about Trump’s actions, rich people are not going to help the rest of us because their own rights are protected by their money. (1/)
Ordered a copy of dune imperium uprising;
I have high hopes.
I have high hopes.
March 18, 2025 at 11:03 PM
Ordered a copy of dune imperium uprising;
I have high hopes.
I have high hopes.
Reposted by Nils
One of the most elite Ukrainian units accepting foreign volunteers has received “a massive spike” of applications, according to a source involved in recruiting, who said that “a significant amount of guys expressing outrage and shock over what has been happening with the shift in American policy.”
‘I can’t sit and watch it’ – US volunteers join Ukrainian army after Trump’s sharp policy turn
Editor’s note: Soldiers interviewed for this article are identified only by their first name, callsign, or nickname due to security reasons.
William, a 25-year-old U.S. Army veteran, has come to Ukra...
kyivindependent.com
March 18, 2025 at 2:11 PM
One of the most elite Ukrainian units accepting foreign volunteers has received “a massive spike” of applications, according to a source involved in recruiting, who said that “a significant amount of guys expressing outrage and shock over what has been happening with the shift in American policy.”
Mos maiorum was the unwritten ethical code that formed the moral and social foundation of ancient Roman society. Rooted in tradition rather than formal legislation, it governed behavior across private, political, and religious spheres. #booksky
March 18, 2025 at 11:51 AM
Mos maiorum was the unwritten ethical code that formed the moral and social foundation of ancient Roman society. Rooted in tradition rather than formal legislation, it governed behavior across private, political, and religious spheres. #booksky
Reposted by Nils
I think someone whose full time job is content creation is far more vulnerable to audience capture than someone who does it as a hobby or part time…the actual economics for your average content creator isn’t as lucrative as one might think
“Show me the incentives and I’ll show you the outcome.”
Influencers make content to appeal to audiences and to algorithms.
Views on clickbait topics are higher. Feedback from both audience and analytics encourages them to make more.
Audience capture is real. The money and clout are, too.
Influencers make content to appeal to audiences and to algorithms.
Views on clickbait topics are higher. Feedback from both audience and analytics encourages them to make more.
Audience capture is real. The money and clout are, too.
March 16, 2025 at 6:22 PM
I think someone whose full time job is content creation is far more vulnerable to audience capture than someone who does it as a hobby or part time…the actual economics for your average content creator isn’t as lucrative as one might think
Seems like Apple would be better off partnering with anthropic at this point than trying to build their own.
March 17, 2025 at 2:41 PM
Seems like Apple would be better off partnering with anthropic at this point than trying to build their own.
Whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad with power.
March 16, 2025 at 8:03 PM
Whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad with power.
Where did all the rational people go?
March 16, 2025 at 12:46 PM
Where did all the rational people go?
Reposted by Nils
"There are two things worse than death. One is to lose your freedom and the other is to lose your honor." - General MacArthur
March 15, 2025 at 8:31 PM
"There are two things worse than death. One is to lose your freedom and the other is to lose your honor." - General MacArthur
Reposted by Nils
In fact, the United States's "global reputation" collapsed two decades ago, as a result of Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib, and the Iraq War.
But Brooks is right that it has now also collapsed with the one group that still admired it: North Atlantic liberal elites. www.nytimes.com/2025/03/13/o...
But Brooks is right that it has now also collapsed with the one group that still admired it: North Atlantic liberal elites. www.nytimes.com/2025/03/13/o...
Opinion | It Isn’t Just Trump. America’s Whole Reputation Is Shot.
What happens when a superpower goes rogue.
www.nytimes.com
March 15, 2025 at 10:55 AM
In fact, the United States's "global reputation" collapsed two decades ago, as a result of Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib, and the Iraq War.
But Brooks is right that it has now also collapsed with the one group that still admired it: North Atlantic liberal elites. www.nytimes.com/2025/03/13/o...
But Brooks is right that it has now also collapsed with the one group that still admired it: North Atlantic liberal elites. www.nytimes.com/2025/03/13/o...