Thudfactor
@thudfactor.com
Full-time movie buff (https://www.filmhydra.com) with a web development day job (https://www.thudfactor.com). Optimized for Netscape Navigator.
Reposted by Thudfactor
“let’s make the user so frustrated with navigation that they give up and watch whatever shitty content we put immediately in front of them.”
is there a reason why every single paid streaming service UI has only gotten incredibly worse and less usable over time
November 30, 2025 at 8:31 AM
“let’s make the user so frustrated with navigation that they give up and watch whatever shitty content we put immediately in front of them.”
At some point the “recommendation” algos became more about what they want you to watch and less about what you want to watch, so they started hiding your watchlist under dozens of other promos.
is there a reason why every single paid streaming service UI has only gotten incredibly worse and less usable over time
November 30, 2025 at 7:35 AM
At some point the “recommendation” algos became more about what they want you to watch and less about what you want to watch, so they started hiding your watchlist under dozens of other promos.
Reposted by Thudfactor
Headline: "AI can replace 11.7% of workforce"
Actual study: Anthropic paid MIT to use a "labor simulation tool" that said 11.7% of TASKS could be done by AI
Actual study: Anthropic paid MIT to use a "labor simulation tool" that said 11.7% of TASKS could be done by AI
MIT study finds AI can already replace 11.7% of U.S. workforce
Artificial intelligence can already replace 11.7% of the U.S. labor market, across finance, health care and professional services, according to MIT's study.
www.cnbc.com
November 29, 2025 at 9:57 PM
Headline: "AI can replace 11.7% of workforce"
Actual study: Anthropic paid MIT to use a "labor simulation tool" that said 11.7% of TASKS could be done by AI
Actual study: Anthropic paid MIT to use a "labor simulation tool" that said 11.7% of TASKS could be done by AI
Reposted by Thudfactor
I managed to get my new Friday 10 posted just under the wire (local time)!
It's 10 lyrics at random from my shuffled music player. Get in the comments and identify the songs and artists! Let's do this --
It's 10 lyrics at random from my shuffled music player. Get in the comments and identify the songs and artists! Let's do this --
I don’t think you’re ready for this jelly
All of the answers have been posted for the last Friday 10 (which was actually 2 weeks ago -- whoops!), so you can check them out to see what the 9 that weren't guessed were! The one that was guessed ...
filmoptimist.blog
November 30, 2025 at 4:25 AM
I managed to get my new Friday 10 posted just under the wire (local time)!
It's 10 lyrics at random from my shuffled music player. Get in the comments and identify the songs and artists! Let's do this --
It's 10 lyrics at random from my shuffled music player. Get in the comments and identify the songs and artists! Let's do this --
Reposted by Thudfactor
I searched Google for Best Hair Bands and the AI assistant gave me this shit.
What a disservice to humanity
What a disservice to humanity
November 29, 2025 at 3:53 PM
I searched Google for Best Hair Bands and the AI assistant gave me this shit.
What a disservice to humanity
What a disservice to humanity
Reposted by Thudfactor
Saw a piece on the fragmentation of the internet and… I think that’s a good thing? Assuming we survive to tidal wave of AI slop, the internet was at its best when it was little islands of nerdiness.
Now we just need to get pop-pop off facebook
Now we just need to get pop-pop off facebook
November 29, 2025 at 2:22 PM
Saw a piece on the fragmentation of the internet and… I think that’s a good thing? Assuming we survive to tidal wave of AI slop, the internet was at its best when it was little islands of nerdiness.
Now we just need to get pop-pop off facebook
Now we just need to get pop-pop off facebook
Reposted by Thudfactor
Well, much later than usual but here's the set of lyrics to identify for this week! In honor of Black Friday I've given you a full 50% more!
thudfactor.com/lyrics/black...
#blog #music
thudfactor.com/lyrics/black...
#blog #music
Black Friday 10
I need a Veg-O-Matic! I need a Garden Weasel!
thudfactor.com
November 29, 2025 at 1:08 AM
Well, much later than usual but here's the set of lyrics to identify for this week! In honor of Black Friday I've given you a full 50% more!
thudfactor.com/lyrics/black...
#blog #music
thudfactor.com/lyrics/black...
#blog #music
Well, much later than usual but here's the set of lyrics to identify for this week! In honor of Black Friday I've given you a full 50% more!
thudfactor.com/lyrics/black...
#blog #music
thudfactor.com/lyrics/black...
#blog #music
Black Friday 10
I need a Veg-O-Matic! I need a Garden Weasel!
thudfactor.com
November 29, 2025 at 1:08 AM
Well, much later than usual but here's the set of lyrics to identify for this week! In honor of Black Friday I've given you a full 50% more!
thudfactor.com/lyrics/black...
#blog #music
thudfactor.com/lyrics/black...
#blog #music
“I’m so over one-ended relationships“ says man who follows 200 people but is followed by 4500.
November 28, 2025 at 11:33 PM
“I’m so over one-ended relationships“ says man who follows 200 people but is followed by 4500.
Reposted by Thudfactor
I asked Glen if I can climb on the Pal’s hot dog and he said “You can do anything here if you are fast enough to not get caught” and I think that’s a better slogan instead of “A good place to live” 😂
November 28, 2025 at 11:21 PM
I asked Glen if I can climb on the Pal’s hot dog and he said “You can do anything here if you are fast enough to not get caught” and I think that’s a better slogan instead of “A good place to live” 😂
Miller says some cultures just can’t assimilate with western cultures, but he only thinks that because he’s an assho,e and no one wants to assimilate with assholes except other assholes.
a man in a police uniform is standing next to a group of men in white jumpsuits .
Alt: Scene from Spaceballs. Dark Helmet: “I knew it, I’m surrounded by assholes.”
media.tenor.com
November 28, 2025 at 3:37 PM
Miller says some cultures just can’t assimilate with western cultures, but he only thinks that because he’s an assho,e and no one wants to assimilate with assholes except other assholes.
Reposted by Thudfactor
Sharing some new reading materials while we all try to stave off a turkey-induced coma: jordanseiler.xyz/posts/2025-1...
It’s Thanksgiving, and I’m idling around my house waiting for bread dough to rise and the oven to preheat. So far this year I’ve published a blog post every month. But it strikes me that it’s November 27th and I’ve yet to put anything out for the month. It so happens to work out, because the smells involved in baking bread are oddly stimulating to the mind, and I’m in a mood to introspect. Unlike most of my posts, I’m writing, editing, and publishing this all on the same day, and it’s probably gonna show.
jordanseiler.xyz
November 27, 2025 at 9:25 PM
Sharing some new reading materials while we all try to stave off a turkey-induced coma: jordanseiler.xyz/posts/2025-1...
Reposted by Thudfactor
Saw someone discussing how modern films don’t have interesting lighting and put it down to factory conditions in production.
And of course my head popped up because the lighting in American films definitely got less interesting during the shift to the studio system in the 1920s.
And of course my head popped up because the lighting in American films definitely got less interesting during the shift to the studio system in the 1920s.
November 27, 2025 at 1:08 PM
Saw someone discussing how modern films don’t have interesting lighting and put it down to factory conditions in production.
And of course my head popped up because the lighting in American films definitely got less interesting during the shift to the studio system in the 1920s.
And of course my head popped up because the lighting in American films definitely got less interesting during the shift to the studio system in the 1920s.
Reposted by Thudfactor
Canada made weird tv shows because it was all being done with government funded art grant money so they fell in this wacky middle ground between “shoestring budget” and “no expectation to generate shareholder value” which is really the best way to make art
November 26, 2025 at 9:31 PM
Canada made weird tv shows because it was all being done with government funded art grant money so they fell in this wacky middle ground between “shoestring budget” and “no expectation to generate shareholder value” which is really the best way to make art
Reposted by Thudfactor
Y’all, you GOT to start coming to your doctor’s appointments - especially these days before holidays, if you can. Not today, because I’ve had too many cancellations in a row that I’m doing facemask/paperwork time, but like in December for SURE.
November 26, 2025 at 6:37 PM
Y’all, you GOT to start coming to your doctor’s appointments - especially these days before holidays, if you can. Not today, because I’ve had too many cancellations in a row that I’m doing facemask/paperwork time, but like in December for SURE.
Reposted by Thudfactor
Nice to see a Democrat outright defend the humanities and the arts rather than taking the right-wing assault on them at face value.
New York City helped my mother become the artist she is today. The next generation deserves a City Hall that lifts up tomorrow's artists as well.
November 26, 2025 at 5:46 PM
Nice to see a Democrat outright defend the humanities and the arts rather than taking the right-wing assault on them at face value.
“I have no problem with fat people, but” earns a block.
November 25, 2025 at 3:41 PM
“I have no problem with fat people, but” earns a block.
The political whiplash we’ve had since Reagan isn’t because we’re narrowly divided, it’s because people are struggling and they keep pushing buttons hoping something will happen.
November 25, 2025 at 7:55 AM
The political whiplash we’ve had since Reagan isn’t because we’re narrowly divided, it’s because people are struggling and they keep pushing buttons hoping something will happen.
Reposted by Thudfactor
I am super-pro-public transit, and use it way more than the average American, but I live near a light rail station with very, very stable and predictable scheduling, and even then I would not use it for many things I use a car for because the cost of transit is time.
i wonder how much of Americans' views on driving vs. transit would change if they had to pay for gas/insurance/etc every time they turned on the engine
"i'm not paying $5 to take the train to work twice a day when i can just drive" is a genuine opinion held by so many people
"i'm not paying $5 to take the train to work twice a day when i can just drive" is a genuine opinion held by so many people
November 24, 2025 at 1:55 AM
I am super-pro-public transit, and use it way more than the average American, but I live near a light rail station with very, very stable and predictable scheduling, and even then I would not use it for many things I use a car for because the cost of transit is time.
One of the great frustrations of my consulting career was working hard to keep page bundle size low, then Turing it over to a client who immediately loaded it up with beacons and other ad tech, massively swelling the page weight. And then complaining to us that the site was slow.
How broken is today's frontend culture?
A friend points out that the median *mobile* page is now larger than a copy of DOOM (2.6 MiB vs. 2.48 MiB), the 75th percentile page is more than 2 DOOMs, and the P90 mobile page is 4.5x the size of DOOM:
httparchive.org/reports/page...
A friend points out that the median *mobile* page is now larger than a copy of DOOM (2.6 MiB vs. 2.48 MiB), the 75th percentile page is more than 2 DOOMs, and the P90 mobile page is 4.5x the size of DOOM:
httparchive.org/reports/page...
HTTP Archive: Page Weight
This report tracks the size and quantity of many popular web page resources. Sizes represent the number of bytes sent over the network, which may be compressed.
httparchive.org
November 24, 2025 at 5:56 AM
One of the great frustrations of my consulting career was working hard to keep page bundle size low, then Turing it over to a client who immediately loaded it up with beacons and other ad tech, massively swelling the page weight. And then complaining to us that the site was slow.
Reposted by Thudfactor
Regarding the em dash as an AI tell...
I am against AI witchhunts unless done by experts (99.9999% of us are not, including me) because it quickly turns stupid.
I was accused of using AI to generate this footage for 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA (1916) because "they couldn't film underwater then"
I am against AI witchhunts unless done by experts (99.9999% of us are not, including me) because it quickly turns stupid.
I was accused of using AI to generate this footage for 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA (1916) because "they couldn't film underwater then"
November 23, 2025 at 3:03 PM
Regarding the em dash as an AI tell...
I am against AI witchhunts unless done by experts (99.9999% of us are not, including me) because it quickly turns stupid.
I was accused of using AI to generate this footage for 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA (1916) because "they couldn't film underwater then"
I am against AI witchhunts unless done by experts (99.9999% of us are not, including me) because it quickly turns stupid.
I was accused of using AI to generate this footage for 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA (1916) because "they couldn't film underwater then"
Reposted by Thudfactor
I’m having that thing where you log on to social and everyone is reacting to the new thing but the reactions are vague, aghast, angry enough that you’re struggling to figure out exactly what the new thing is. German must have a word for this.
November 22, 2025 at 1:30 PM
I’m having that thing where you log on to social and everyone is reacting to the new thing but the reactions are vague, aghast, angry enough that you’re struggling to figure out exactly what the new thing is. German must have a word for this.
Reposted by Thudfactor
who is following you dorks that you feel the need to repeatedly post that mtg is not on the side of the angels. it feels like spending a lot of time telling people not to eat hams they find on the ground
November 22, 2025 at 2:16 AM
who is following you dorks that you feel the need to repeatedly post that mtg is not on the side of the angels. it feels like spending a lot of time telling people not to eat hams they find on the ground
The Friday Guess Ten is on hiatus this week as I monkey with commenting and hosting.
November 21, 2025 at 7:29 PM
The Friday Guess Ten is on hiatus this week as I monkey with commenting and hosting.
The big tent only has a flap to the right.
Trump is filling his government with Nazis, consolidating authoritarian power, and eroding democracy at every chance.
And yet these 86 House Democrats voted for a right-wing messaging amendment to say that the real authoritarians are the socialists.
Pathetic.
And yet these 86 House Democrats voted for a right-wing messaging amendment to say that the real authoritarians are the socialists.
Pathetic.
November 21, 2025 at 5:57 PM
The big tent only has a flap to the right.