Vance Ricks
banner
ricksva.bsky.social
Vance Ricks
@ricksva.bsky.social
Philosophy/Comp. Sci. at Northeastern University in Boston

No relation to Frozone, Gervase Peterson, or Kevin Garnett
The "etc." in the subhead cracks me up.

"Grok has been reprogrammed to say Musk is better than everyone at everything, including blowjobs, piss drinking, playing quarterback, conquering Europe, etc."
November 21, 2025 at 5:09 PM
Try listening to these episodes in a row without getting a headache.

player.captivate.fm/episode/225c...
Through to Thriving: Protecting Our Privacy with Chris Gilliard
Quickly and easily listen to The Tech Policy Press Podcast for free!
player.captivate.fm
November 17, 2025 at 1:52 PM
Reposted by Vance Ricks
Invite David Perry to your campus to teach faculty and graduate students the nuts and bolts of writing for the general public.
November 7, 2025 at 12:47 AM
Reposted by Vance Ricks
⚠️ How are workers led movements against AI shaping climate action in the tech industry? Join us for a book presentation on worker led movements by Tamara Kneese (Data & Society) with Sana Ahmad (Weizenbaum-Institute). Register now: buff.ly/SnAZkHi @tamigraoh.bsky.social, @datasociety.bsky.social
November 11, 2025 at 11:12 AM
Reposted by Vance Ricks
Residents, businesses, food pantries to try to ensure nobody starves because of President Golden Ballroom (tried to list some resources; if you know of others, let me know)
www.universalhub.com/2025/residen...
#Boston #SNAP
October 30, 2025 at 8:04 PM
"The state of our surveillance dystopia is such that a major glasses retailer is advertising anti-facial recognition features as a selling point as if it was normal."

www.404media.co/zennis-anti-...
Zenni’s Anti-Facial Recognition Glasses are Eyewear for Our Paranoid Age
These anti-facial recognition glasses technically work, but won’t save you from our surveillance dystopia.
www.404media.co
October 28, 2025 at 8:39 PM
Reposted by Vance Ricks
My county has a median household income of $84,000 and just shy of 17% of people here rely on SNAP. Most people have no idea just how widespread the need for food assistance is.
October 26, 2025 at 12:31 PM
One of the protester's signs yesterday read, "Facism relies on silence", and I had to think really hard about whether to say something.
October 19, 2025 at 5:17 PM
Reposted by Vance Ricks
ALTMAN, 10 months ago: "I'm proud that we don't do sexbots to juice profits."

www.reddit.com/r/artificial...
From the artificial community on Reddit: Sam Altman, 10 months ago: I'm proud that we don't do sexbots to juice profits
Explore this post and more from the artificial community
www.reddit.com
October 16, 2025 at 12:29 PM
Reposted by Vance Ricks
Imagine studying a technology whose presence in the classroom is so detrimental to the development of writing and research skills (including even the will to know the sources behind claims!) that mitigating its effects becomes a central goal of course design, and concluding with tips on adopting it.
October 9, 2025 at 11:53 AM
(This webpage contains information about violence related to the Indian residential school system, which may be distressing to some readers.)

sencanada.ca/en/info-page...
Missing Records, Missing Children
Indian Residential School records still scarce: Senate report
sencanada.ca
October 8, 2025 at 7:21 PM
Reposted by Vance Ricks
We are thrilled to announce that our NEW Large Language Model will be released on 11.18.25.
October 1, 2025 at 2:38 PM
WeRobot 2026 - Robotics & AI Law Society - RAILS
ai-laws.org
September 27, 2025 at 3:49 PM
Reposted by Vance Ricks
OpenAI's VP for education recently said the company wanted to become "core infrastructure" for schools and universities. Any infrastructure, though, always depends on habituating users to its technical affordances - so I've been trying to track how it's doing that 🧵 www.nytimes.com/2025/06/07/t...
Welcome to Campus. Here’s Your ChatGPT.
www.nytimes.com
September 26, 2025 at 9:51 PM
Reposted by Vance Ricks
1/ A longtime Wired editor just wrote a mush-brained essay about how he totally missed the political rot of Silicon Valley (& still doesn't get it).

But in the late 1990s, a Wired journalist warned of a toxic ideology bubbling up from tech. Paulina Borsook has largely been erased. Let's change that
September 24, 2025 at 6:36 PM
Reposted by Vance Ricks
At a time of profound public confusion over vaccine policy and access, the City of Boston will host free vaccine clinics throughout the city through Dec. 15.
Boston opens free clinics to ease vaccine access - The Boston Globe
The clinics offer COVID, flu, and childhood immunizations.
trib.al
September 25, 2025 at 6:19 PM
Reposted by Vance Ricks
🟠 Orange Line closure: the MBTA has announced there will be no train service between Forest Hills and North Station this Saturday, September 27 through Sunday, September 28.

Use shuttle buses between Forest Hills and Back Bay. Use the Green Line between Copley and North Station. mbta.com/orangeline
September 22, 2025 at 6:20 PM