ACTupper
@actupper.bsky.social
Artist who burns metal for science. Co-creator of @KamikazeComic.bsky.social
He/Him
He/Him
Pinned
ACTupper
@actupper.bsky.social
· Jan 19
Hi Bsky! I'm Alan, and I do a bunch of different stuff.
I'm a digital artist that co-creates @kamikazecomic.bsky.social , a backyard tinkerer, and seasonal lobster-boat goon.
I also run Comics.Town on the Mastodon Fediverse, a home for indie comic creators!
#introduction
I'm a digital artist that co-creates @kamikazecomic.bsky.social , a backyard tinkerer, and seasonal lobster-boat goon.
I also run Comics.Town on the Mastodon Fediverse, a home for indie comic creators!
#introduction
New rule: If you start a war or order a strike without Congressional approval, you personally have to foot the bill for ALL the costs.
The word "Congress" is no where to be found in this NYT piece. The reporters/editors don't seem to care I guess and oh BTW ...
this "would be at least the seventh American military attack in another country in the past year, and his second on Iran."
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/18/u...
this "would be at least the seventh American military attack in another country in the past year, and his second on Iran."
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/18/u...
February 19, 2026 at 3:36 AM
New rule: If you start a war or order a strike without Congressional approval, you personally have to foot the bill for ALL the costs.
Reposted by ACTupper
For comparison, we spend $118 million for all geothermal energy R&D for the whole country.
In honor of DHS spokesliar Tricia McLaughlin's resignation, let's revisit how her husband's company won a $220 million no-bid contract to run a stupid propaganda campaign featuring her boss, Kristi Noem, bashing immigrants while sitting on a horse in front of Mt. Rushmore.
Firm Tied to Kristi Noem Secretly Got Money From $220 Million DHS Ad Contracts
The company is run by the husband of Noem’s chief DHS spokesperson and has personal and business ties to Noem and her aides. DHS invoked the “emergency” at the border to skirt competitive bidding rule...
www.propublica.org
February 19, 2026 at 3:28 AM
For comparison, we spend $118 million for all geothermal energy R&D for the whole country.
Reposted by ACTupper
This is a truly horrifying memo. It says that the policy of the US government will now be to proactively seek out and arrest likely tens of thousands of refugees who entered legally under Biden and subject them to detention, where they will be interrogated about their status.
February 19, 2026 at 2:12 AM
This is a truly horrifying memo. It says that the policy of the US government will now be to proactively seek out and arrest likely tens of thousands of refugees who entered legally under Biden and subject them to detention, where they will be interrogated about their status.
Reposted by ACTupper
This thread shows a deliberate defunding of U.S. science, engineering, social science, innovation, and education excellence. It’s a U.S. national security, competitiveness, and economic disaster.
NSF Update
Funding curve overall. A little bit of progress in the past week, but only a little bit.
Now by Directorate...
1/11
Funding curve overall. A little bit of progress in the past week, but only a little bit.
Now by Directorate...
1/11
February 19, 2026 at 2:37 AM
This thread shows a deliberate defunding of U.S. science, engineering, social science, innovation, and education excellence. It’s a U.S. national security, competitiveness, and economic disaster.
Reposted by ACTupper
I regularly see people wondering how it's possible that there are so many musicians and writers and film makers and artists from a tiny nation like Iceland.
And the answer is really simple: State funding for art education and artists. I literally get a salary from the government to write books.
And the answer is really simple: State funding for art education and artists. I literally get a salary from the government to write books.
I’m constantly astounded at the sheer level of artistic production coming out of Iceland. Novels, movies, music. Amazing.
February 18, 2026 at 2:23 PM
I regularly see people wondering how it's possible that there are so many musicians and writers and film makers and artists from a tiny nation like Iceland.
And the answer is really simple: State funding for art education and artists. I literally get a salary from the government to write books.
And the answer is really simple: State funding for art education and artists. I literally get a salary from the government to write books.
Reposted by ACTupper
These numbers demand a complete rethinking of immigration in this country and accountability for the terrorism of DHS/CBP/ICE.
Aesthetic reforms are just not enough.
Aesthetic reforms are just not enough.
Trump is very underwater on immigration.
There is no reason for Dems to cave on ICE funding.
www.reuters.com/world/us/tru...
There is no reason for Dems to cave on ICE funding.
www.reuters.com/world/us/tru...
February 18, 2026 at 1:08 PM
These numbers demand a complete rethinking of immigration in this country and accountability for the terrorism of DHS/CBP/ICE.
Aesthetic reforms are just not enough.
Aesthetic reforms are just not enough.
Reposted by ACTupper
I can’t believe you lefty Luddites hate tech so much that you embrace mRNA vaccines, heat pumps, electric bikes, hybrid work, renewable power (and awesome advancements in storage), space telescopes, and hot/cold running water but reject the planet destroying plagiarism enrich the worst people bots!
February 18, 2026 at 1:07 PM
I can’t believe you lefty Luddites hate tech so much that you embrace mRNA vaccines, heat pumps, electric bikes, hybrid work, renewable power (and awesome advancements in storage), space telescopes, and hot/cold running water but reject the planet destroying plagiarism enrich the worst people bots!
Reposted by ACTupper
I wrote about the Evelyn Normielib ass judges out here ruling that the Trump administration must be cleansed with constitutional fire
ballsandstrikes.org/ethics-accou...
ballsandstrikes.org/ethics-accou...
Federal Judges Can Barely Conceal Their Disgust For the Trump Administration’s Lawlessness
When federal judges are appending Bible verses to their signature blocks, that is generally a sign that democracy is not in a good place.
ballsandstrikes.org
February 17, 2026 at 5:55 PM
I wrote about the Evelyn Normielib ass judges out here ruling that the Trump administration must be cleansed with constitutional fire
ballsandstrikes.org/ethics-accou...
ballsandstrikes.org/ethics-accou...
Reposted by ACTupper
SO MUCH this whole thread and this in particular:
February 16, 2026 at 4:09 PM
SO MUCH this whole thread and this in particular:
Reposted by ACTupper
So people demand "AI" sycophancy, refuse to interact w/ *less* sycophantic "AI", & then get increasingly ill-disposed toward interacting w/ other human beings, preferring, again, an "AI" system that is actively locking them into a loop of skills dependency, bias confirmation, & hostility.
SEEMS BAD
SEEMS BAD
October 24, 2025 at 2:53 PM
So people demand "AI" sycophancy, refuse to interact w/ *less* sycophantic "AI", & then get increasingly ill-disposed toward interacting w/ other human beings, preferring, again, an "AI" system that is actively locking them into a loop of skills dependency, bias confirmation, & hostility.
SEEMS BAD
SEEMS BAD
Reposted by ACTupper
Still thinking about this quote.
"Our standing rule is: If one of us brings up using GenAI in any of our work, then it's safe to assume we've been assimilated by The Thing and should be burned alive by Kurt Russell," said a game design consultant in the US.
Over 50% of game developers now think generative AI is bad for the industry, a dramatic increase from just 2 years ago: 'I'd rather quit the industry than use generative AI'
The latest GDC survey also found that managers are more likely to use generative AI than their employees.
www.pcgamer.com
February 16, 2026 at 1:37 AM
Still thinking about this quote.
Reposted by ACTupper
Someone has sure already made this observation but the fact they can convert all those empty warehouses into prison camps means they could have converted them into housing, community centers, job training centers or, hell, libraries or schools all along. It’s always a matter of will not resources.
February 15, 2026 at 5:30 PM
Someone has sure already made this observation but the fact they can convert all those empty warehouses into prison camps means they could have converted them into housing, community centers, job training centers or, hell, libraries or schools all along. It’s always a matter of will not resources.
Reposted by ACTupper
Oregon joins a slew of states looking at Climate Superfund legislation:
www.eenews.net/articles/ore...
www.eenews.net/articles/ore...
Oregon Democrats call for climate superfund
Legislators say they need it to help pay for wildfires. Vermont and New York already have passed climate superfund laws.
www.eenews.net
February 16, 2026 at 3:56 AM
Oregon joins a slew of states looking at Climate Superfund legislation:
www.eenews.net/articles/ore...
www.eenews.net/articles/ore...
Reposted by ACTupper
We sure don’t allow AI slop—and it shows in our fantastic reporting and writing. Follow @mississippifreepress.org and other real journalism on this list.
Today is a good day to follow news outlets that explicitly disallow Generative AI slop:
go.bsky.app/8cn1XfT
go.bsky.app/8cn1XfT
February 16, 2026 at 4:09 AM
We sure don’t allow AI slop—and it shows in our fantastic reporting and writing. Follow @mississippifreepress.org and other real journalism on this list.
Reposted by ACTupper
Reposted by ACTupper
This is something we should think about across all writing intensive fields. Even if you're using the AI to turn notes into drafts, you are offloading the kinds of creative and epistemic decisions that drive the organization of your writing to a machine.
Thinking about the many decisions that get made when you turn your notes into a draft and what that looks like when the bot is making all of those decisions, even if you get the "final say" after the decisions have been made. www.cleveland.com/news/2026/02...
February 16, 2026 at 4:52 AM
This is something we should think about across all writing intensive fields. Even if you're using the AI to turn notes into drafts, you are offloading the kinds of creative and epistemic decisions that drive the organization of your writing to a machine.
Reposted by ACTupper
"due to fundamental mathematical constraints that cannot be solved through better engineering" <- a lot of linguistic gymnastics to say that "hallucinations" are a feature, not a bug
OpenAI ”acknowledged in its own research that LLMs will always produce hallucinations due to fundamental mathematical constraints that cannot be solved through better engineering, marking a significant admission from one of the AI industry’s leading companies.”
You can’t trust chatbots.
You can’t trust chatbots.
OpenAI admits AI hallucinations are mathematically inevitable, not just engineering flaws
In a landmark study, OpenAI researchers reveal that large language models will always produce plausible but false outputs, even with perfect data, due to fundamental statistical and computational limi...
www.computerworld.com
February 16, 2026 at 12:04 AM
"due to fundamental mathematical constraints that cannot be solved through better engineering" <- a lot of linguistic gymnastics to say that "hallucinations" are a feature, not a bug
Reposted by ACTupper
JFC, cut that shit in half and you’ve eradicated hunger, provided healthcare for all and made education free for all Americans. What the fuck are we doing?
February 15, 2026 at 12:52 PM
JFC, cut that shit in half and you’ve eradicated hunger, provided healthcare for all and made education free for all Americans. What the fuck are we doing?
Reposted by ACTupper
SF is such a cooked place. The Mission used to be home to a massive Latine diaspora. And now it's filled with people who speak like this.
Token Anxiety
i think i mostly echo this for myself. with so much that can be done, i often feel like i *should* be doing something, always
i think i mostly echo this for myself. with so much that can be done, i often feel like i *should* be doing something, always
February 16, 2026 at 1:30 AM
SF is such a cooked place. The Mission used to be home to a massive Latine diaspora. And now it's filled with people who speak like this.
Reposted by ACTupper
Something incredible is happening in Spain
February 15, 2026 at 12:20 PM
Something incredible is happening in Spain
Reposted by ACTupper
The AI bros (who clearly don't understand AI) in the comments are hilarious. "ask stupid questions, get stupid answers". LLMs have no concept of how intelligent a question is, and they certainly were not designed to deliberately give stupid responses if they deem your question too stupid. 1/?
It’s so funny to think about the fact that there’s people out there deferring every life decision to this
February 14, 2026 at 7:55 PM
The AI bros (who clearly don't understand AI) in the comments are hilarious. "ask stupid questions, get stupid answers". LLMs have no concept of how intelligent a question is, and they certainly were not designed to deliberately give stupid responses if they deem your question too stupid. 1/?
Reposted by ACTupper
LLMs do not understand, will not understand, and cannot ever understand information. It's a glorified search engine combined with auto-compete, and you should treat it as such. No matter how much LLM companies try to tell you their machines can think or reason, they cannot and will not.
12/12
12/12
February 14, 2026 at 7:55 PM
LLMs do not understand, will not understand, and cannot ever understand information. It's a glorified search engine combined with auto-compete, and you should treat it as such. No matter how much LLM companies try to tell you their machines can think or reason, they cannot and will not.
12/12
12/12
Display an album that was important to you when you were nineteen.
February 15, 2026 at 1:11 PM
Display an album that was important to you when you were nineteen.
Reposted by ACTupper
How many times, in how many contexts, in how many ways am I going to have to say that this is what "AI" does— what it fundamentally *is*— before it sinks in? That all Bullshit engines do is statistically correlate training data & inputs via their weights to produce outputs you are likely to accept…
February 15, 2026 at 3:57 AM
How many times, in how many contexts, in how many ways am I going to have to say that this is what "AI" does— what it fundamentally *is*— before it sinks in? That all Bullshit engines do is statistically correlate training data & inputs via their weights to produce outputs you are likely to accept…
Reposted by ACTupper
Here's an example of the reaction I'm describing here, and I appreciate something this particular poster makes clear: They neither understand nor respect boundaries. There's no policing happening here, just my own decisions about who I will have a conversation with.
February 14, 2026 at 4:37 PM
Here's an example of the reaction I'm describing here, and I appreciate something this particular poster makes clear: They neither understand nor respect boundaries. There's no policing happening here, just my own decisions about who I will have a conversation with.