Peter Swimm
@peterswimm.com
Founder @toilville
https://www.toilville.com/
https://www.toilville.com/
Reposted by Peter Swimm
You might have heard about NPS. For those of you who don't, I'll briefly explain over the loud groans and boos from the rest of the audience.
NPS is this thing.
Everything about it is stupid but we're going to focus on one way in which it is stupid: it is a trailing indicator.
NPS is this thing.
Everything about it is stupid but we're going to focus on one way in which it is stupid: it is a trailing indicator.
May 30, 2025 at 3:41 PM
You might have heard about NPS. For those of you who don't, I'll briefly explain over the loud groans and boos from the rest of the audience.
NPS is this thing.
Everything about it is stupid but we're going to focus on one way in which it is stupid: it is a trailing indicator.
NPS is this thing.
Everything about it is stupid but we're going to focus on one way in which it is stupid: it is a trailing indicator.
Reposted by Peter Swimm
It is very hard to overstate the evil of the fossil fuel industry.
When people finally do figure it out, it may be too late to undo the damage.
When people finally do figure it out, it may be too late to undo the damage.
U.N. climate talks fizzle out 10 years after Paris accord
Nearly 200 countries at the U.N. climate summit reached a deal that didn’t include a road map to curtail use of fossil fuels, the main driver of climate change.
www.washingtonpost.com
November 23, 2025 at 2:14 PM
It is very hard to overstate the evil of the fossil fuel industry.
When people finally do figure it out, it may be too late to undo the damage.
When people finally do figure it out, it may be too late to undo the damage.
Reposted by Peter Swimm
“Until its A.I. can accomplish some incredible feat — say, generating a cure for cancer — success is partly defined by turning ChatGPT into a lucrative business. That means continually increasing how many people use and pay for it.”
What OpenAI Did When ChatGPT Users Lost Touch With Reality
www.nytimes.com
November 23, 2025 at 12:27 PM
“Until its A.I. can accomplish some incredible feat — say, generating a cure for cancer — success is partly defined by turning ChatGPT into a lucrative business. That means continually increasing how many people use and pay for it.”
Reposted by Peter Swimm
I think the shortest version of why LLMs are an anti education technology is that education is fundamentally about making shared context to understand ourselves, each other, and the world
And by design LLMs destroy shared context
And by design LLMs destroy shared context
November 23, 2025 at 12:57 PM
I think the shortest version of why LLMs are an anti education technology is that education is fundamentally about making shared context to understand ourselves, each other, and the world
And by design LLMs destroy shared context
And by design LLMs destroy shared context
Reposted by Peter Swimm
Reposted by Peter Swimm
what’s funny (it’s not funny) is how many indie journalists, who—with next to none of the infrastructure propping up the zz’s of the business—not only report incisively on political power but do so without leaving years of embarrassing receipts about their relationships with subjects and sources
November 22, 2025 at 4:42 PM
what’s funny (it’s not funny) is how many indie journalists, who—with next to none of the infrastructure propping up the zz’s of the business—not only report incisively on political power but do so without leaving years of embarrassing receipts about their relationships with subjects and sources
Reposted by Peter Swimm
I spoke with people role-playing ICE raids in video games to help educate people on their rights and what to do in real-life situations. Tonight, they're holding an event in Fortnite www.wired.com/story/activi...
November 21, 2025 at 10:16 PM
I spoke with people role-playing ICE raids in video games to help educate people on their rights and what to do in real-life situations. Tonight, they're holding an event in Fortnite www.wired.com/story/activi...
Reposted by Peter Swimm
I've been trying to express exactly this discomfort with modern interface design and especially LLM design and this lady nailed it back in *1993*
("A Small Matter of Programming", Bonnie A. Nardi)
("A Small Matter of Programming", Bonnie A. Nardi)
November 13, 2025 at 3:31 AM
I've been trying to express exactly this discomfort with modern interface design and especially LLM design and this lady nailed it back in *1993*
("A Small Matter of Programming", Bonnie A. Nardi)
("A Small Matter of Programming", Bonnie A. Nardi)
Reposted by Peter Swimm
Srsly, as an academic: this field cites Schmidhuber & LeCun the way biologists cite Darwin. They think they're inventing intelligence from first principles. But their lingo is pidgin cog neuro, they can't define intelligence, & their "theories" are software engineering
dl.acm.org/doi/full/10....
dl.acm.org/doi/full/10....
November 21, 2025 at 6:01 PM
Srsly, as an academic: this field cites Schmidhuber & LeCun the way biologists cite Darwin. They think they're inventing intelligence from first principles. But their lingo is pidgin cog neuro, they can't define intelligence, & their "theories" are software engineering
dl.acm.org/doi/full/10....
dl.acm.org/doi/full/10....
Reposted by Peter Swimm
I felt like I was losing my mind watching this person's remarks and had to write about how disgusting they are.
Sarah Hurwitz Profanes the Holocaust
Holocaust education has worked too well for the Obama speechwriter, since when she rationalizes Israel's genocide, "I sound obscene." Maybe sit with that, Sarah
www.forever-wars.com
November 21, 2025 at 9:50 PM
I felt like I was losing my mind watching this person's remarks and had to write about how disgusting they are.
Reposted by Peter Swimm
Reposted by Peter Swimm
hive-mind, know of any research/academic work that has detailed the various ways social media/large platforms have made audits/critical investigation of these platforms practically impossible. exuberant API fees, access only to partial data even when you can pay fee, retaliation again auditors, etc
November 21, 2025 at 2:13 PM
hive-mind, know of any research/academic work that has detailed the various ways social media/large platforms have made audits/critical investigation of these platforms practically impossible. exuberant API fees, access only to partial data even when you can pay fee, retaliation again auditors, etc
Reposted by Peter Swimm
You ever just sit down and realize that the rise of 21st century fascism is capital's answer to climate change?
November 21, 2025 at 9:25 AM
You ever just sit down and realize that the rise of 21st century fascism is capital's answer to climate change?
Reposted by Peter Swimm
Is the Open AI strategy in (saying they’ll) spend $1.5 trillion with revenues (not profits) 1/100 of that sum simply to become too big to fail?
If so, Altman et al. seem to be executing a business plan that assumes they get the rents whilst the American taxpayer covers the outsized costs…
If so, Altman et al. seem to be executing a business plan that assumes they get the rents whilst the American taxpayer covers the outsized costs…
November 21, 2025 at 4:05 AM
Is the Open AI strategy in (saying they’ll) spend $1.5 trillion with revenues (not profits) 1/100 of that sum simply to become too big to fail?
If so, Altman et al. seem to be executing a business plan that assumes they get the rents whilst the American taxpayer covers the outsized costs…
If so, Altman et al. seem to be executing a business plan that assumes they get the rents whilst the American taxpayer covers the outsized costs…
Reposted by Peter Swimm
AI has entered elections, whether institutions are ready or not, writes Alberto Fernández Gibaja. He argues for a shared framework to guide when and how AI should be used in electoral processes, helping authorities strengthen resilience and protect democratic trust.
Why Electoral Authorities Need an AI Framework | TechPolicy.Press
Alberto Fernandez Gibaja discusses how electoral authorities worldwide view the challenge of AI in elections and recommendations for governance.
www.techpolicy.press
November 20, 2025 at 2:30 PM
AI has entered elections, whether institutions are ready or not, writes Alberto Fernández Gibaja. He argues for a shared framework to guide when and how AI should be used in electoral processes, helping authorities strengthen resilience and protect democratic trust.
Reposted by Peter Swimm
What about living in a world where her bullshit is rewarded is fun or good or interesting exactly
November 20, 2025 at 1:47 PM
What about living in a world where her bullshit is rewarded is fun or good or interesting exactly
Reposted by Peter Swimm
Rob Manfred's ineptitude cost MLB a billion bucks in ESPN money, to make up for it he's selling off MLB dot TV to ESPN, and now he's claiming that makes up for it? What if he had NOT fucked up and lost a billion dollars and STILL sold MLB dot TV? Would that not have been better?
After near-billion-dollar blunder, MLB's Rob Manfred puts on rally cap with new TV deals
www.nytimes.com
November 19, 2025 at 8:03 PM
Rob Manfred's ineptitude cost MLB a billion bucks in ESPN money, to make up for it he's selling off MLB dot TV to ESPN, and now he's claiming that makes up for it? What if he had NOT fucked up and lost a billion dollars and STILL sold MLB dot TV? Would that not have been better?
Reposted by Peter Swimm
If I was a software company, I would:
1. Think long and hard about whether I truly needed any AI integration; not give in to FOMO and isomorphism, and
2. Make any AI integration opt IN
1. Think long and hard about whether I truly needed any AI integration; not give in to FOMO and isomorphism, and
2. Make any AI integration opt IN
Not satisfied with just destroying their own brand goodwill, OS companies are now using AI to try to destroy the good names of the apps users install. (Scrivener taking out adds to explain how it has no AI but Apple adds some anyway.)
November 19, 2025 at 8:40 PM
If I was a software company, I would:
1. Think long and hard about whether I truly needed any AI integration; not give in to FOMO and isomorphism, and
2. Make any AI integration opt IN
1. Think long and hard about whether I truly needed any AI integration; not give in to FOMO and isomorphism, and
2. Make any AI integration opt IN
Reposted by Peter Swimm
It is indescribably sad that, if you exploit “essentially all music files of reasonable quality that are accessible on the open Internet” without paying the musicians behind them - and create a model that can compete with those musicians - this is how you are rewarded
November 19, 2025 at 3:06 PM
It is indescribably sad that, if you exploit “essentially all music files of reasonable quality that are accessible on the open Internet” without paying the musicians behind them - and create a model that can compete with those musicians - this is how you are rewarded
Reposted by Peter Swimm
Our investigation into Irish Department of Justice use of chatbots. The department hides behind disclaimers while deploying misleading chatbots.
@iccl.bsky.social @abeba.bsky.social @johnnyryan.bsky.social
www.iccl.ie/news/irish-d...
@iccl.bsky.social @abeba.bsky.social @johnnyryan.bsky.social
www.iccl.ie/news/irish-d...
Department of Justice chatbots mislead people seeking information
Irish Department of Justice internalises the AI hype and takes no responsibility for misleading chatbots.
www.iccl.ie
November 19, 2025 at 11:14 AM
Our investigation into Irish Department of Justice use of chatbots. The department hides behind disclaimers while deploying misleading chatbots.
@iccl.bsky.social @abeba.bsky.social @johnnyryan.bsky.social
www.iccl.ie/news/irish-d...
@iccl.bsky.social @abeba.bsky.social @johnnyryan.bsky.social
www.iccl.ie/news/irish-d...
Reposted by Peter Swimm
During a tech bubble you don't need to make sure that whatever you're selling "is working", you just need a minimum viable demo and a herd of panicking investors afraid of losing out.
It was like this in 1998/99.
It was like this in 1998/99.
November 19, 2025 at 10:06 AM
During a tech bubble you don't need to make sure that whatever you're selling "is working", you just need a minimum viable demo and a herd of panicking investors afraid of losing out.
It was like this in 1998/99.
It was like this in 1998/99.
Reposted by Peter Swimm
Twenty four years ago I worked on a live-action episode of Spongebob where Patchy the Pirate felt betrayed by SB, so he threw a roomful of SB posters and merch away. This is a parallel to MAGA becoming increasingly disillusioned.
November 19, 2025 at 1:38 AM
Twenty four years ago I worked on a live-action episode of Spongebob where Patchy the Pirate felt betrayed by SB, so he threw a roomful of SB posters and merch away. This is a parallel to MAGA becoming increasingly disillusioned.
Reposted by Peter Swimm
A dungeon synth album to cope with an age without magic: aftermath.site/dungeon-synth-...
November 18, 2025 at 3:00 PM
A dungeon synth album to cope with an age without magic: aftermath.site/dungeon-synth-...
Reposted by Peter Swimm
November 17, 2025 at 5:12 PM
twitter is down because someone posted all the files
November 18, 2025 at 1:51 PM
twitter is down because someone posted all the files