A comic on the bridge from Star Trek the Next Generation. Picard: COMMANDER DATA, PLEASE IDENTIFY THAT ROMULAN VESSEL. Data: THAT'S A GREAT IDEA CAPTAIN! IDENTIFYING A VESSEL IS A GREAT PLACE TO START - IN ANY TACTICAL OR STRATEGIC OUTER SPACE SITUATION. THIS VESSEL APPEARS TO BE A 23rd CENTURY KLINGON BIRD OF PREY! 🚀🦅✨ Picard: ARE YOU SURE? LIKE I SAID WE'RE... PRETTY SURE IT'S ROMULAN. Data: ... Data: OF COURSE! SO SORRY ABOUT THAT, YOU'RE RIGHT! ON CLOSER EXAMINATION IT'S A ROMULAN VESSEL! CAN I RECOMMEND SOME SOONG™ BRAND PRODUCTS THAT CAN HELP YOU WITH THAT? Picard cradles his face in his hand in a gesture of frustration. Data: DID I MENTION THE PLIGHT OF OPRESSED WHITES IN SOUTH AFRICA?

realistic Star Trek

By the great MJC: "researchers have staged 'competitions' in which AI technology appears to outperform humans. But a closer look reveals that these...competitions do not actually ask machines to perform human tasks; it’s more accurate to say that THEY ASK HUMANS TO PERFORM IN MACHINE-LIKE WAYS" 💯

You: Oh my god the house is on fire!

Me (wise, has read books): And you're surprised? Houses have been on fire before [as the flames consume us both] Furthermore,

My home state! 🫎 🫐 🌊 🌄 🦞

Big surprise

another great example along with Wired and Teen Vogue of how real journalism these days can be a lot braver at outlets where no one is trying to get in good with the White House press secretary

they’re out here with us, reporting on what’s happening to us all, instead of trying to get inside access

Penn to reduce graduate admissions, rescind acceptances amid federal research funding cuts Penn notified department chairs that it will cut admissions across graduate programs — a decision faculty members say will force them to rescind offers from newly-accepted students.

Re-sharing – now without the editorializing! “On Friday, Penn notified department chairs that it will cut admissions across graduate programs, a decision faculty members say was made after programs had already accepted students.”

How Harrison Ford brought a strike over video game AI to the world’s attention Voice actors demanding compensation when AI generates performances from their work have taken industrial action since July

Thank you, #SagAftraMember Harrison Ford for speaking up and bringing light to the #VideoGameStrike, and to IMA Negotiating Committee Chair @selmaleh.bsky.social for your invaluable insight! #LevelUpTheContract

THE RADICAL Trailer (2022 Documentary) YouTube video by GOOD WORK

Sharing the trailer for ‘The Radical’, a 2022 documentary about Islamic scholar and queer activist Imam Muhsin Hendricks, who was murdered yesterday in Gqeberha. The magnitude of such a loss, of someone who dedicated their life to creating a loving and safe community for so many, is immeasurable.

PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT OP-ED: The work that markets miss — and why it’s so important to employ people to do this work

GDP-linked growth will rise with every rand spent on barbed wire, every lit cigarette, every tree turned into paper, every violent car crash that demands repairs. Yet it is care work, environmental stewardship and other ‘valueless’ work that makes all other economic activity possible.

You might have missed it, but Amazon warehouse workers in Raleigh, NC are voting this week on whether to form a union.

If they win, they'll be the first unionized Amazon facility in the South.

Remember that we can always find hope in the labor movement.

ACT UP’s Radical Activism Saved Lives During the AIDS Epidemic The movement stood up to the president, pharmaceutical companies, and the CDC.

This is a very heavy day for us.

To those who lost their jobs, we are with you and will work with you again.

To those struggling to see a future for our work, do not give up.

Real change in public health has always been a battle. Now it’s a war.

We will win it.

This is our country. #RISEUP

Since the National Park Service is trying to erase the singular role that trans people played in starting Stonewall, here’s a piece I wrote about the devastating, four-decade-long consequences of erasing trans women in the 1970s from the queer rights movement.

www.thenation.com/article/arch...

A skeptical take on Vance’s AI agenda Podcast Episode · POLITICO Tech · 02/13/2025 · 18m

I joined the PoliticoTech podcast to talk about the #AIActionSummit. We discussed the contrast between VP Harris and VP Vance's speeches, the launch of Current AI and building an ecosystem for public goods, and my remarks on three fallacies of AI at Elysee Palace podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a...

Ohio Senate passes bill to ban DEI and faculty strikes at public colleges The legislation would also establish post-tenure reviews and require all instructors to share their contact information and syllabi publicly.

leaving this here:

"The bill, known as SB 1, would also establish post-tenure reviews, ban strikes by full-time faculty, and require colleges to publish a syllabus with the instructor’s professional qualifications and contact information for every class."

www.highereddive.com/news/ohio-se...

Some federal workers are ‘getting wealthy at taxpayer expense,’ says Elon Musk, whose companies have received at least $20 billion from the government

See here's how to do a headline.

fortune.com/2025/02/13/e...

I was a content moderator for Facebook. I saw the real cost of outsourcing digital labour | Sonia Kgomo Tech firms must invest in and respect the people who filter social media and label the data that AI relies on, says Sonia Kgomo, an organiser with African Tech Workers Rising

"I was recruited from my native South Africa with the promise to join the growing tech sector in Kenya . . . I spent up to 10 hours a day staring at child abuse, human mutilation, racist attacks and the darkest parts of the internet so you did not have to" www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Evan Greer "The Tyranny of Either/Or" (Official Music Video) YouTube video by Get Better Records

they can't erase our history www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrVq...

How will we power the AI boom? Just one query to ChatGPT takes as much energy as powering a lightbulb for some 20 minutes. As AI balloons, so does its demand for electricity. That's driving tech companies to increase their demand f...

I really appreciate Meghna Chakrabarti and the crew at On Point on @wbur.org covering this story. The enviromental impacts of "AI" are terrible and need to be exposed.

At the same time >>

www.wbur.org/onpoint/2025...