Nick is the king of smart, genuinely helpful advice but “everyone who is bad tries to be wrong quickly rather than slowly” is an all-timer insight with tons of practical uses, I think.

I graduated from college 21 years ago and just got an email that some of my alumni identity accounts and privileges are being revoked and I dunno is this a marketing thing to remind people of their Alma mater when the school thinks their kids might be considering college?

A kid in a grey hoodie has their back to the camera. In front of them is a scrawny and recently-shorn tall brown sheep. She’s in a brown patch near green grass. There’s an electric fence Corning the foreground - she’s on the wrong side.

The sheep follows the teenager in a grey hoodie up a long path of green grass by the edge of the electric fence towards a White House. Some mostly-bare trees are visible on the left.

The sheep, now followed by a smaller black goat, follows the teenager through a fenced dog run with green grass and near a wooden deck. Her flock can be seen in the distance behind a couple of fences.

The sheep stands in a dim barn pen with plenty of hay on the ground and 3 or 4 other sheep plus the goat around her.

The goats have been walking through the fence so often they’ve worn their fuzzy fur off on a few spots, but confused old lady sheep goes to check the (literally) greener grasses on the far side & now the 12 year old wants to help me get it cleared. “Maybe.”

(I don't like the “haha a car could do it faster” responses either, and I think the actual technology and engineering marvel is very cool)

I *think* your thread suggests that if humanoid robots do get used in policing or military functions, that is more a sign that we militarize what can be, rather than an indication it’s the specific point of the humanoid robot. But I don’t think it’s unreasonable to see this as a precursor

I mean didn’t the robot dogs go from “haha look at the videos of people knocking them over” to “oh look they recover from people hitting them with random things” to “these are now mobile platforms being used to go places people can’t in war zones, but we promise we won’t put guns on them”?

Chariots of Fire, Princess Bride, Lord of the Rings.

1 yr ago I wrote a massive thread on @iea.org huge AI / energy report.

WELL it's one year later and they've released an update, but notably, there is no chatbot. Well....I'm going to read it anyway, and you're all going to get spammed with notes :)

that's means a NEW ULTRATHREAD 🧵

the use case for this is drone cops that can chase you where cars can't go, while the meat cops eat donuts and play it like a videogame

Seriously. Why is this diligent, thoughtful work of good governance just completely ignored in national political discourse?

It's not a rhetorical question. It has an answer. It traces back to actual people making actual decisions about your information environment.

"We could all stand to be weirder and to know less about each other"

However low your opinion of the Roberts Court, it should be lower.

John Roberts is and always has been Sam Alito with better PR

he has declared himself and his fellow republican justices the unelected rulers of America and they have wielded their power in favor of making Donald Trump of all people untouchable

the court as it exists today must be broken

long-winded shaggy-dog joke about how despite the Scooby Doo Crew unmasking and demystifying supposed supernatural phenomena when at the end of the day they travel in the company of a talking dog

the crisis of modernity

A flatscreen display on a "smart" water fountain, demanding to be reconnected to the internet.

In 1999, I was playing a decker in Shadowrun, and tried to distract a guard by hacking a water fountain to overflow, and my GM said "why would a water fountain be on the network? That's fucking stupid. No you can't try."

Well it's 2026 and I just want you to know, Phil, that I FUCKING CALLED IT!

Building Big Brother is expensive.

Also binary choices. I mean I don’t think that sitting in the presence of God promises me anything beyond this life, but I do think I’ve experienced a Grace that takes away fear, and I would like other people to have that. But part of my joy is that it’s so easy and universally accessible.

Actual literal LOL

It’s a telling indicator of media desensitization that the US government’s ongoing program of murder on the high seas—which according to the perpetrators has killed fourteen (14) people this week— is no longer a subject for much serious or sustained news coverage.

Since discussion of Just War Doctrine is popping up, a reminder that Quakers “utterly deny all outward wars and strife and fighting with outward weapons” in case you need a historically Christian church with that position. quaker.org.uk/documents/th...

Honestly the premise of the question presents a morally pretty awful universe and I’d rather live in this one than that one. What’s the point of grace and salvation if once given away it cannot be achieved?

I Played 'The Boys Are Back in Town' on a Bar Jukebox Until I Got Kicked Out The boys were back in town, but I was out of the bar, because they asked me to leave.

on the 50th anniversary of the release of The Boys Are Back in Town I'm morally obligated to share my favorite story of all time

As an aside, Quaker practice specifically calling out "huh, I am in the midst of a big decision that I'm not currently approaching in the right way, and I need additional support and clarity for this" is one of many reasons that I am clear it is right. Clearness Committees are good.

Not all that far behind are the adults who should know better putting less thought, discernment, and respect for others into both daily interactions and important decisions than I try to hold my kids to. The strong overlap between these two groups does simplify some things.

www.HAREI.ORG What is HAREI? HAREI Empowers Hillsborough County NH homeowners with the knowledge and skills to design, build, install, and operate renewable solar energy systems for their homes, contributing to a s...

Everywhere should have a version of this - rooftop solar via community barn raisings
www.harei.org

I’ve got a lot of opinions about the way people and society are fucked up right now, but I think today my deepest contempt is for anyone and everyone who feels that kids aren’t entitled and owed the respect and autonomy of their own decision-making that everyone is.

Dammit I have things to do today, other than reading this

I missed this announcement how?!

if you are somehow not aware, Kuzhali Manickavel is one of the best and weirdest writers of our age, and, without even having read it, I guarantee that her first novel will be incredible and renew your faith in the human capacity to art. Preorder instantly pls 👇🏾

Being “bad” at art is good, actually! My favorite excerpt from my appearance with @emilymbender.bsky.social on the @404media.co podcast with @samleecole.bsky.social in the episode “The Marketing Tricks of ‘Artificial Intelligence’”.

8 years ago, I told a story which changed my life forever. Shortly after, an old pal from college asked if he could turn it into a film.

So I am DELIGHTED TO ANNOUNCE that 'Me, Myself & Mary' is not only finished, but has been chosen to lead the Tribeca Festival's animated shorts roster this year.