Toby Driscoll
@not-all-math.bsky.social
Father, math professor, and several other kinds of nerd.
Reposted by Toby Driscoll
It really could not be more clear from Google’s publicly available policies that Grok should have been banned yesterday. And yet, it remains in the Play Store.
Apps like Grok are explicitly banned under Google’s rules—why is it still in the Play Store?
Google describes apps exactly like Grok and says they are banned from Google Play.
arstechnica.com
January 13, 2026 at 5:01 PM
It really could not be more clear from Google’s publicly available policies that Grok should have been banned yesterday. And yet, it remains in the Play Store.
Reposted by Toby Driscoll
I'm glad to see this pressure on Google and Apple. If any other company was running an active CSAM generator in public you better believe it would have been removed from their app stores by now www.wired.com/story/x-grok...
Why Are Grok and X Still Available in App Stores?
Elon Musk’s chatbot has been used to generate thousands of sexualized images of adults and apparent minors. Apple and Google have removed other “nudify” apps—but continue to host X and Grok.
www.wired.com
January 8, 2026 at 9:58 PM
I'm glad to see this pressure on Google and Apple. If any other company was running an active CSAM generator in public you better believe it would have been removed from their app stores by now www.wired.com/story/x-grok...
“I was woke BEFORE it was cool.” —Plato
January 8, 2026 at 4:44 PM
“I was woke BEFORE it was cool.” —Plato
Join me in giving to the Food Bank today!
December 29, 2025 at 4:35 PM
Join me in giving to the Food Bank today!
If AI is truly dependent on writing grading rubrics, the future is even dumber than I thought.
AI companies are spending billions hiring humans to produce training data. @haydenfield.bsky.social and I wrote about the explosion in new vendors and what it means for the future of AI development.
Who’s making the most money in AI? It’s not who you think
The fastest growing companies in the world aren’t AI companies, but the startups that supply them with warm bodies.
www.theverge.com
December 15, 2025 at 5:20 PM
If AI is truly dependent on writing grading rubrics, the future is even dumber than I thought.
I have full confidence that the USA will hold itself to the same high standard it applied to its enemies. /s
December 1, 2025 at 10:57 PM
I have full confidence that the USA will hold itself to the same high standard it applied to its enemies. /s
Reposted by Toby Driscoll
It remains insane to me that DOGE was treated at the time as an impressive shock and awe accomplishment - “you can’t deny he’s getting stuff done!” - and then instantly memory holed by the press once if became clear it was a total failure by every possible standard including Musk’s own
Difficult to overstate how profound a failure DOGE was. Spending in FY2025 was not only than in FY2024 – but higher than it was projected to be when Trump first took office.*
The little bit of spending DOGE cut has already killed hundreds of thousands and will eventually lead to millions of deaths.
The little bit of spending DOGE cut has already killed hundreds of thousands and will eventually lead to millions of deaths.
Bye bye, “DOGE”.
It no longer exists as a “centralized entity”, according to the Office of Personnel Management.
@reuters.com
www.reuters.com/world/us/dog...
It no longer exists as a “centralized entity”, according to the Office of Personnel Management.
@reuters.com
www.reuters.com/world/us/dog...
November 23, 2025 at 3:52 PM
It remains insane to me that DOGE was treated at the time as an impressive shock and awe accomplishment - “you can’t deny he’s getting stuff done!” - and then instantly memory holed by the press once if became clear it was a total failure by every possible standard including Musk’s own
Reposted by Toby Driscoll
In @nytopinion.nytimes.com
“What if you could save someone in West Africa from developing river blindness, caused by a parasite that can destroy the optic nerve, for 75 cents? Or keep a child from dying of hunger in Sudan’s civil war and famine for $14 a week?” Nicholas Kristof writes.
“What if you could save someone in West Africa from developing river blindness, caused by a parasite that can destroy the optic nerve, for 75 cents? Or keep a child from dying of hunger in Sudan’s civil war and famine for $14 a week?” Nicholas Kristof writes.
Opinion | Donate This Holiday Season: Nicholas Kristof Needs Your Help
Each dollar you donate through my holiday guide will generate $4 to nonprofits that are making our world a better place.
nyti.ms
November 23, 2025 at 4:10 PM
In @nytopinion.nytimes.com
“What if you could save someone in West Africa from developing river blindness, caused by a parasite that can destroy the optic nerve, for 75 cents? Or keep a child from dying of hunger in Sudan’s civil war and famine for $14 a week?” Nicholas Kristof writes.
“What if you could save someone in West Africa from developing river blindness, caused by a parasite that can destroy the optic nerve, for 75 cents? Or keep a child from dying of hunger in Sudan’s civil war and famine for $14 a week?” Nicholas Kristof writes.
Reposted by Toby Driscoll
“It’s horrifying, it’s embarrassing, it’s scary, it’s heartbreaking—it’s all of those things."
@kieraevebutler.bsky.social spoke with five CDC staffers on Thursday and Friday to gauge their reactions to the announcement.
@kieraevebutler.bsky.social spoke with five CDC staffers on Thursday and Friday to gauge their reactions to the announcement.
“Embarrassing” and “horrifying”: CDC workers describe the new vaccines and autism page
"The best way I can put it is it feels like we're on a hijacked airplane."
www.motherjones.com
November 22, 2025 at 4:00 AM
“It’s horrifying, it’s embarrassing, it’s scary, it’s heartbreaking—it’s all of those things."
@kieraevebutler.bsky.social spoke with five CDC staffers on Thursday and Friday to gauge their reactions to the announcement.
@kieraevebutler.bsky.social spoke with five CDC staffers on Thursday and Friday to gauge their reactions to the announcement.
Reposted by Toby Driscoll
Elon Musk moments before spending a billion dollars to reprogram Grok
November 21, 2025 at 5:48 PM
Elon Musk moments before spending a billion dollars to reprogram Grok
Reposted by Toby Driscoll
The CDC website has been lobotomized. Where it once presented the decades of evidence debunking the false claims of a link between vaccines and autism, that has now been replaced with junk science.
November 20, 2025 at 6:23 PM
The CDC website has been lobotomized. Where it once presented the decades of evidence debunking the false claims of a link between vaccines and autism, that has now been replaced with junk science.
Reposted by Toby Driscoll
it's like the Galbraith line about the French Revolution, except the surrender here was about 1 percent of what Jacques Necker asked of the French nobility bsky.app/profile/ryan...
"People of privilege will almost always risk total destruction rather than surrender any part of their privilege." youtu.be/KGSID_Uyw7w...
The Age of Uncertainty Episode 1 - The Prophets and Promise of Classical Capitalism
YouTube video by sveinbjornt
youtu.be
November 17, 2025 at 2:53 PM
it's like the Galbraith line about the French Revolution, except the surrender here was about 1 percent of what Jacques Necker asked of the French nobility bsky.app/profile/ryan...
Reposted by Toby Driscoll
For about 60 years, the Democrats have been a center-left party. Both sides by now ought to understand that they need each other.
Did the off-year elections settle the Democrats’ big debate?
It'd better have.
www.motherjones.com
November 11, 2025 at 12:00 AM
For about 60 years, the Democrats have been a center-left party. Both sides by now ought to understand that they need each other.
Reposted by Toby Driscoll
40 years ago we’d have congressional hearings falsely accusing metal bands of putting backwards messages in their songs that told kids to kill themselves & now we have a planet-killing chatbot that’s all like “bet you won’t commit suicide chickenshit bitch” & the government is like here’s $5 billion
November 8, 2025 at 4:23 AM
40 years ago we’d have congressional hearings falsely accusing metal bands of putting backwards messages in their songs that told kids to kill themselves & now we have a planet-killing chatbot that’s all like “bet you won’t commit suicide chickenshit bitch” & the government is like here’s $5 billion
Good riddance.
November 7, 2025 at 11:38 PM
Good riddance.
Reposted by Toby Driscoll
In 2021, we published a series of portraits and interviews with people shot in the eye during the George Floyd protests.
One of them, Soren Stevenson, just won his race for Minneapolis City Council.
One of them, Soren Stevenson, just won his race for Minneapolis City Council.
The Shot in the Eye Squad
After losing a retina to "less lethal" police munitions during a George Floyd protest, I decided to start a club.
www.motherjones.com
November 5, 2025 at 2:05 PM
In 2021, we published a series of portraits and interviews with people shot in the eye during the George Floyd protests.
One of them, Soren Stevenson, just won his race for Minneapolis City Council.
One of them, Soren Stevenson, just won his race for Minneapolis City Council.
Reposted by Toby Driscoll
Hugely important academic paper repository arXiv says it will no longer accept Computer Science papers that are still under review due to the wave of AI-generated ones it has received. This will radically change preprint and open access scientific research
www.404media.co/arxiv-change...
www.404media.co/arxiv-change...
arXiv Changes Rules After Getting Spammed With AI-Generated 'Research' Papers
Cornell University’s academic paper repository will no longer accept Computer Science papers still under review.
www.404media.co
November 3, 2025 at 5:18 PM
Hugely important academic paper repository arXiv says it will no longer accept Computer Science papers that are still under review due to the wave of AI-generated ones it has received. This will radically change preprint and open access scientific research
www.404media.co/arxiv-change...
www.404media.co/arxiv-change...
Tech is amazing. I can be turned down by potential referees all over the world in the blink of an eye!
October 28, 2025 at 7:52 PM
Tech is amazing. I can be turned down by potential referees all over the world in the blink of an eye!
Lots of Boston drivers evidently have an Emotional Support Horn.
October 25, 2025 at 10:31 PM
Lots of Boston drivers evidently have an Emotional Support Horn.
“A generation ago, board members typically had ties to the institution — they were largely alumni and people who lived in the local community. Today, Finkelstein said, many trustees are business executives with no ties whatsoever to the institution.”
At a time when many colleges are laying off workers to close budget gaps, college presidents’ pay keeps rising. A new Chronicle analysis breaks down the numbers.
Your College President Makes Six Times as Much as You
Meanwhile, faculty pay hasn’t kept pace with inflation.
chroni.cl
October 24, 2025 at 5:39 PM
“A generation ago, board members typically had ties to the institution — they were largely alumni and people who lived in the local community. Today, Finkelstein said, many trustees are business executives with no ties whatsoever to the institution.”
Reposted by Toby Driscoll
“It’s too late for preventative antifascism. I think we’re in a new era.”
After death threats for his work on antifascism, a Rutgers University professor fled the United States.
The latest from @schuylermitchell.bsky.social:
After death threats for his work on antifascism, a Rutgers University professor fled the United States.
The latest from @schuylermitchell.bsky.social:
He studies fascism. Is he now living through it?
After death threats for his work on antifascism, a Rutgers University professor fled the United States. "It's too late for preventative antifascism," he said. "I think we're in a new era."
www.motherjones.com
October 14, 2025 at 3:08 PM
“It’s too late for preventative antifascism. I think we’re in a new era.”
After death threats for his work on antifascism, a Rutgers University professor fled the United States.
The latest from @schuylermitchell.bsky.social:
After death threats for his work on antifascism, a Rutgers University professor fled the United States.
The latest from @schuylermitchell.bsky.social:
Let those job creators create!
The Biden-era FCC previously rejected complaints from ISPs that listing every fee they created would be too difficult a task.
ISPs created so many fees that FCC will kill requirement to list them all
ISPs complained about Biden-era rule, said listing every fee was too hard.
arstechnica.com
October 9, 2025 at 4:45 PM
Let those job creators create!
Reposted by Toby Driscoll
"Under Biden, America was at least going to get a piece of the high-tech industries of the future. Trump is just handing them all to China on a silver platter, destroying the next generation of jobs for MAGA regions, while also taking their health insurance and hospitals."
Donald Trump to Trump Country: Drop Dead
The president told MAGA voters exactly what he was going to do in 2024. Now he is doing it.
prospect.org
October 9, 2025 at 2:31 PM
"Under Biden, America was at least going to get a piece of the high-tech industries of the future. Trump is just handing them all to China on a silver platter, destroying the next generation of jobs for MAGA regions, while also taking their health insurance and hospitals."
Reposted by Toby Driscoll
Weaponized gratitude is a key tool in the abuser's toolkit. The goal is to convince the victim that they owe the abuser so much, they should feel guilty for wanting to complain.
October 4, 2025 at 3:54 PM
Weaponized gratitude is a key tool in the abuser's toolkit. The goal is to convince the victim that they owe the abuser so much, they should feel guilty for wanting to complain.