Kazys Varnelis
@kazys.bsky.social
An exile. Samogitian. High modernist. Artist, writer about network culture, formerly architecture faculty.
I vibe coded a game in Claude Opus 4.5. It is neither perfect nor a one shot. This took about 4 hours or so. The image is from Nano Banana and yes, that's my old Saab 900s from my LA days. The game is meant to evoke a video game on a PC or Mac in 1991.
frater-pedurabo.itch... #aigames
frater-pedurabo.itch... #aigames
SIGALERT by frater-pedurabo
A 3D wireframe driving game. Play in your browser
frater-pedurabo.itch.io
November 29, 2025 at 4:03 PM
I vibe coded a game in Claude Opus 4.5. It is neither perfect nor a one shot. This took about 4 hours or so. The image is from Nano Banana and yes, that's my old Saab 900s from my LA days. The game is meant to evoke a video game on a PC or Mac in 1991.
frater-pedurabo.itch... #aigames
frater-pedurabo.itch... #aigames
Continuing to experiment with vibe coding in Claude Opus 4.5. here is sigalert, a shooting game based on the LA freeways. #claudeai
frater-pedurabo.itch...
frater-pedurabo.itch...
November 29, 2025 at 1:57 PM
Continuing to experiment with vibe coding in Claude Opus 4.5. here is sigalert, a shooting game based on the LA freeways. #claudeai
frater-pedurabo.itch...
frater-pedurabo.itch...
Made a game with Claude Opus 4.5. Not a one shot, but 4 shot.
The first one was “Build a game like spectre (Mac “VR” game, 1990s) in JavaScript.” The tanks were firing out the butt, so I reversed that. Finally, I made tanks blow up in shards and made shields regenerate:
The first one was “Build a game like spectre (Mac “VR” game, 1990s) in JavaScript.” The tanks were firing out the butt, so I reversed that. Finally, I made tanks blow up in shards and made shields regenerate:
Phosphor by frater-pedurabo
Play in your browser
frater-pedurabo.itch.io
November 28, 2025 at 2:58 AM
Made a game with Claude Opus 4.5. Not a one shot, but 4 shot.
The first one was “Build a game like spectre (Mac “VR” game, 1990s) in JavaScript.” The tanks were firing out the butt, so I reversed that. Finally, I made tanks blow up in shards and made shields regenerate:
The first one was “Build a game like spectre (Mac “VR” game, 1990s) in JavaScript.” The tanks were firing out the butt, so I reversed that. Finally, I made tanks blow up in shards and made shields regenerate:
RIP Robert A. M. Stern. He was brilliant. Best historian I ever had the privilege of working with.
November 27, 2025 at 10:00 PM
RIP Robert A. M. Stern. He was brilliant. Best historian I ever had the privilege of working with.
Claude 4.5 Opus seems to have finally done it, made ChatGPT essentially irrelevant to my purposes. Claude is a far superior writer and much, much smarter. Less prone to hallucinations. It's coding ability is wild.
November 27, 2025 at 6:00 PM
Claude 4.5 Opus seems to have finally done it, made ChatGPT essentially irrelevant to my purposes. Claude is a far superior writer and much, much smarter. Less prone to hallucinations. It's coding ability is wild.
I finished one of my stochastic histories today, my counterfactual history of Vilnius.
varnelis.net/works_and_pr...
#aiart #counterfactualhistory #historicalfiction
varnelis.net/works_and_pr...
#aiart #counterfactualhistory #historicalfiction
The Lost Canals of Vilnius - varnelis.net
Augustinų Canal, Vilnius, c. 1912.A narrow back lane pressed between the Augustinian monastery walls and the water, once an important service cut in the 17th-century canal network, by now reduced to a...
varnelis.net
November 25, 2025 at 12:04 AM
I finished one of my stochastic histories today, my counterfactual history of Vilnius.
varnelis.net/works_and_pr...
#aiart #counterfactualhistory #historicalfiction
varnelis.net/works_and_pr...
#aiart #counterfactualhistory #historicalfiction
@writingabtwriting.bsky.social OMG, I remember at Cornell we were just sitting in the Green Dragon cafe and, around 1989, this Derridean said to another lit student, "you don't understand man, it's the writing of writing of writing." Those were the days... cc: @domenicab.bsky.social
November 25, 2025 at 12:03 AM
@writingabtwriting.bsky.social OMG, I remember at Cornell we were just sitting in the Green Dragon cafe and, around 1989, this Derridean said to another lit student, "you don't understand man, it's the writing of writing of writing." Those were the days... cc: @domenicab.bsky.social
A week ago, I translated a 40,000 word Latin book, the Hierosolymitana Peregrinatio of Mikalojus Kristupas Radvila "Našlaitėlis" using Google Gemini 2.5 Yes, it would be lovely to learn Latin, but we have so many days on Earth. LLMs are truly useful tools for historians. Link below.
1/4
1/4
November 24, 2025 at 4:35 AM
A week ago, I translated a 40,000 word Latin book, the Hierosolymitana Peregrinatio of Mikalojus Kristupas Radvila "Našlaitėlis" using Google Gemini 2.5 Yes, it would be lovely to learn Latin, but we have so many days on Earth. LLMs are truly useful tools for historians. Link below.
1/4
1/4
The kids being born in the next few years will be the first ones to grow up talking to AIs from day one. This means they will be entirely unlike any other humans to date. It may be that they will not understand anyone born before 2026 at all and vice versa.
November 21, 2025 at 1:03 AM
The kids being born in the next few years will be the first ones to grow up talking to AIs from day one. This means they will be entirely unlike any other humans to date. It may be that they will not understand anyone born before 2026 at all and vice versa.
I've made a wonderful life here, why should I bother going out?
November 18, 2025 at 10:48 PM
I've made a wonderful life here, why should I bother going out?
As Gemini drops, make sure you pronounce it correctly. It’s like the spacecraft not the astrological sign.
"Gem-in-ee" (rhyming with knee or see), rather than the astrological pronunciation "Gem-in-eye."
"Gem-in-ee" (rhyming with knee or see), rather than the astrological pronunciation "Gem-in-eye."
November 18, 2025 at 6:19 PM
As Gemini drops, make sure you pronounce it correctly. It’s like the spacecraft not the astrological sign.
"Gem-in-ee" (rhyming with knee or see), rather than the astrological pronunciation "Gem-in-eye."
"Gem-in-ee" (rhyming with knee or see), rather than the astrological pronunciation "Gem-in-eye."
Nano Banana is amazing.
November 17, 2025 at 1:09 AM
Nano Banana is amazing.
So Trump wants a coin in his likeness for 2026, just like Calvin Coolidge in 1926. Now there was a great President, economic genius, right up there with Trump.
November 9, 2025 at 2:31 PM
So Trump wants a coin in his likeness for 2026, just like Calvin Coolidge in 1926. Now there was a great President, economic genius, right up there with Trump.
Wanted to buy a $1000 jacket on grailed, asked a basic question — "Hi, I notice you said it is gently used. Is there any delamination? Is there any staining from sweat or sunblock at the neckline or anywhere else? Any fraying at the wrists?" The seller rsil blocked me. Wow.
November 9, 2025 at 5:31 AM
Wanted to buy a $1000 jacket on grailed, asked a basic question — "Hi, I notice you said it is gently used. Is there any delamination? Is there any staining from sweat or sunblock at the neckline or anywhere else? Any fraying at the wrists?" The seller rsil blocked me. Wow.
If you are, like me, obsessed with the history of space flight, you cannot do better than Homemade Documentaries. I watched this week's ISS documentary on Nova. It was trash. Meanwhile the HD video on Apollo 17 or on the Gemini program are just epic. So well made. Why can't PBS be any good anymore?
November 9, 2025 at 3:09 AM
If you are, like me, obsessed with the history of space flight, you cannot do better than Homemade Documentaries. I watched this week's ISS documentary on Nova. It was trash. Meanwhile the HD video on Apollo 17 or on the Gemini program are just epic. So well made. Why can't PBS be any good anymore?
Decided to take @NJTRANSIT in. App did not work. People watching videos out loud. Screaming into phones. We are stuck on the track outside the tunnel under the Hudson and every minute they announce trains are stopped due to track work and there is no ETA. Why didn’t I drive?
November 7, 2025 at 8:10 PM
Decided to take @NJTRANSIT in. App did not work. People watching videos out loud. Screaming into phones. We are stuck on the track outside the tunnel under the Hudson and every minute they announce trains are stopped due to track work and there is no ETA. Why didn’t I drive?
My artist's statement on my work with AI is out. I completely rethought what I am doing. This has been a worthwhile journey, for me, and I hope, for you if you read it.
Stochastic Histories - varnelis.net
A position statement on producing fabricated histories with AI image and text generators to reveal the inner operations of culture.
varnelis.net
November 7, 2025 at 4:50 PM
My artist's statement on my work with AI is out. I completely rethought what I am doing. This has been a worthwhile journey, for me, and I hope, for you if you read it.
My latest essay, I will offiicially release it tomorrow morning, but in the meantime, here it is!
Stochastic Histories - varnelis.net
stochastic histories /stəˈkæstɪk ˈhɪstəriz/ n. pl. [from Gk. stokhastikos “capable of guessing,” from stokhazesthai “to aim at, guess at” + L. historia “narrative, account”] 1. Fabricated historical narratives generated through iterative probabilistic sampling with artificial-intelligence systems, producing documentation that appears authentic through the accumulation of plausible details. 2. A mode of artistic practice that exploits ... <a title="Stochastic Histories" class="read-more" href="https://varnelis.net/works_and_projects/stochastic-histories/" aria-label="Read more about Stochastic Histories">Read more</a>
varnelis.net
November 7, 2025 at 2:44 AM
My latest essay, I will offiicially release it tomorrow morning, but in the meantime, here it is!
Be careful what you wish for.
November 6, 2025 at 6:29 PM
Be careful what you wish for.
It would be the greatest challenge for our public intellectuals to write a single essay without using the word capitalism.
November 6, 2025 at 1:07 AM
It would be the greatest challenge for our public intellectuals to write a single essay without using the word capitalism.
Tony Romm of the New York Times shows just how out of touch they are. They think that a narrower victory in New York City then in New Jersey is somehow a mandate for their extreme agenda? I don’t want Trumpen America any more but socialism is not going to fly in most of America
November 5, 2025 at 4:31 PM
Tony Romm of the New York Times shows just how out of touch they are. They think that a narrower victory in New York City then in New Jersey is somehow a mandate for their extreme agenda? I don’t want Trumpen America any more but socialism is not going to fly in most of America
In the 90s, I lived in a town with a Democratic socialist mayor and trust me when I say it was no better or worse than any other mayor. He was in bed with a developers, just like every other mayor, and the town struggled on as it does today.
November 5, 2025 at 3:14 PM
In the 90s, I lived in a town with a Democratic socialist mayor and trust me when I say it was no better or worse than any other mayor. He was in bed with a developers, just like every other mayor, and the town struggled on as it does today.
Mamdani has nice John Lindsay vibes.
November 5, 2025 at 1:16 AM
Mamdani has nice John Lindsay vibes.
Both Mikie Sherrill and Jack Ciaattarelli ran against the wrong candidate. She should have run against Phil Murphy and he should have run against Donald Trump. These campaigns were boneheaded.
November 5, 2025 at 12:39 AM
Both Mikie Sherrill and Jack Ciaattarelli ran against the wrong candidate. She should have run against Phil Murphy and he should have run against Donald Trump. These campaigns were boneheaded.