Nate Ledbetter
@nhledbetter.bsky.social
ABD, Princeton, East Asian Studies. Instructor, Asian History, Rider University. Perpetually writing my dissertation (warfare in 16th C. Kyushu, Japan). He/Him/あいつ/"That Nagashino Guy." At some point I'll start posting useful stuff here. Maybe.
Pinned
Since I've got double the followers from a week ago, guess it's time for an intro thread. A post per topic I habitually post about:
I'm a PhD candidate at Princeton, very slowly working on a dissertation on 16th C. warfare in southern Japan (centered around the Shimazu family). 1/
I'm a PhD candidate at Princeton, very slowly working on a dissertation on 16th C. warfare in southern Japan (centered around the Shimazu family). 1/
Reposted by Nate Ledbetter
Poor form to send out non-select emails for job applications on Thanksgiving..
Maybe talk to somebody in your HR department....
Or stop using AI to do things humans should be doing...
Tells me everything I needed to know about working at your organization.
Maybe talk to somebody in your HR department....
Or stop using AI to do things humans should be doing...
Tells me everything I needed to know about working at your organization.
November 28, 2025 at 12:14 AM
Poor form to send out non-select emails for job applications on Thanksgiving..
Maybe talk to somebody in your HR department....
Or stop using AI to do things humans should be doing...
Tells me everything I needed to know about working at your organization.
Maybe talk to somebody in your HR department....
Or stop using AI to do things humans should be doing...
Tells me everything I needed to know about working at your organization.
Reposted by Nate Ledbetter
Possibly my most correct piece ever
The Drone and AI Delusion
What Defense VC Firms Get Wrong about Military Evolutions and War
secretaryrofdefenserock.substack.com
November 28, 2025 at 12:17 AM
Possibly my most correct piece ever
Reposted by Nate Ledbetter
Maybe don’t name a thing for a sword that breaks, I dunno
US defense firm Anduril faces setbacks from drone crashes, including in a recent Air Force test, reported here for the first time reut.rs/3XFSBtb
November 27, 2025 at 10:28 PM
Maybe don’t name a thing for a sword that breaks, I dunno
Post something random or you’ll have an awful December
November 27, 2025 at 10:24 PM
Post something random or you’ll have an awful December
Not today, satan.
People on BlueSky: AI is useless! A stochastic parrot!
Mathematicians/biologists/physicists: It is already helping us do frontier technical research and in some cases solve open problems arxiv.org/pdf/2511.16072
(There are of course, as always, many caveats, but the paper is genuinely remarkable)
Mathematicians/biologists/physicists: It is already helping us do frontier technical research and in some cases solve open problems arxiv.org/pdf/2511.16072
(There are of course, as always, many caveats, but the paper is genuinely remarkable)
arxiv.org
November 27, 2025 at 6:33 PM
Not today, satan.
Lord, I have seen what you've done for others...
Just told Twitter Lane's going to the Falcons, be blessed everyone
November 27, 2025 at 6:30 PM
Lord, I have seen what you've done for others...
Reposted by Nate Ledbetter
Reminder that while you do not have to go out of your way to start a political fight with members of your family over Thanksgiving, nor are you under obligation to put up with any of their shit just to be ‘nice’.
November 27, 2025 at 5:13 PM
Reminder that while you do not have to go out of your way to start a political fight with members of your family over Thanksgiving, nor are you under obligation to put up with any of their shit just to be ‘nice’.
Reposted by Nate Ledbetter
Today, I’m thankful for you, dear reader and tolerator. I’m also thankful for DMX, providing an appropriate anthem for today’s festivities.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwrr...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwrr...
DMX - Party Up (Up in Here) [Lyrics]
YouTube video by Real Hip Hop Lyrics
www.youtube.com
November 27, 2025 at 3:49 PM
Today, I’m thankful for you, dear reader and tolerator. I’m also thankful for DMX, providing an appropriate anthem for today’s festivities.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwrr...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwrr...
Reposted by Nate Ledbetter
Warm Thanksgiving greetings to all of the Notre Dame family!
We're so thankful for all of you 🦃
We're so thankful for all of you 🦃
November 27, 2025 at 3:55 PM
Warm Thanksgiving greetings to all of the Notre Dame family!
We're so thankful for all of you 🦃
We're so thankful for all of you 🦃
The fun of deployment holidays.
In Afghanistan in 2010 all the KBR contractors in the dining facility were from somewhere like Bangladesh and they had zero understanding of what Thanksgiving was about but they tried. We had an ice sculpture of a whale and a cake decorated to look like a beach with palm trees. It was very festive.
November 27, 2025 at 3:54 PM
The fun of deployment holidays.
Reposted by Nate Ledbetter
I don't know Simon's general views on AI so I don't want to assume this statement sees this split neutrally, but with the context above it this statement is just "if you have possessions the cons of robbery outweigh the pros for you, but if you are a thief the pros outweigh the cons"
Which
Yeah
Which
Yeah
I think that may be the core division here: if you are an author or an artist the cons of generative AI very likely outweigh the pros for you
If you are a software developer the opposite is true
If you are a software developer the opposite is true
November 26, 2025 at 6:14 PM
I don't know Simon's general views on AI so I don't want to assume this statement sees this split neutrally, but with the context above it this statement is just "if you have possessions the cons of robbery outweigh the pros for you, but if you are a thief the pros outweigh the cons"
Which
Yeah
Which
Yeah
Tenchu: Stealth Assassins
November 26, 2025 at 4:26 PM
Tenchu: Stealth Assassins
Especially since none of the development or marketing of LLMs is done in good faith.
I don’t owe LLMs good faith.
Wow 80% bad-faith responses, and people lecturing the creator of Flask here and the creator of Django/datasette in the comments on why AI is useless for software engineering...
November 26, 2025 at 4:00 PM
Especially since none of the development or marketing of LLMs is done in good faith.
Reposted by Nate Ledbetter
I truly need "AI Won't Stand in Authentic Wonder" swag sold in the Vatican gift shop. Also, I will need it on a tote and shirt.
Pope Leo XIV told students not to use artificial intelligence for homework, saying that AI ‘won’t stand in authentic wonder before the beauty of God’s creation.’
Even God Is Worried About ChatGPT
Pope Leo XIV told students not to use artificial intelligence for homework, saying that AI ‘won’t stand in authentic wonder before the beauty of God’s creation.’
www.vulture.com
November 26, 2025 at 3:57 PM
I truly need "AI Won't Stand in Authentic Wonder" swag sold in the Vatican gift shop. Also, I will need it on a tote and shirt.
Has it stopped making shit up?
Has it stopped being a plagiarism machine?
Are the developers crediting and compensating the artists and authors whose work they dump into it?
Did the companies involved stop marketing it to students as a way to cheat?
No? Then no.
Has it stopped being a plagiarism machine?
Are the developers crediting and compensating the artists and authors whose work they dump into it?
Did the companies involved stop marketing it to students as a way to cheat?
No? Then no.
Is this platform still massively against AI or has it moved more towards acceptance?
November 26, 2025 at 3:59 PM
Has it stopped making shit up?
Has it stopped being a plagiarism machine?
Are the developers crediting and compensating the artists and authors whose work they dump into it?
Did the companies involved stop marketing it to students as a way to cheat?
No? Then no.
Has it stopped being a plagiarism machine?
Are the developers crediting and compensating the artists and authors whose work they dump into it?
Did the companies involved stop marketing it to students as a way to cheat?
No? Then no.
Reposted by Nate Ledbetter
The mascot for Kyushu University's sports teams is the "Palooka" and I just thought all of you should know this.
November 26, 2025 at 3:44 PM
The mascot for Kyushu University's sports teams is the "Palooka" and I just thought all of you should know this.
Reposted by Nate Ledbetter
one of the coolest things about ChatGPT is how you can actually just never use it. you can fill your whole entire life with simply not once using it. it's incredible.
November 25, 2025 at 4:15 PM
one of the coolest things about ChatGPT is how you can actually just never use it. you can fill your whole entire life with simply not once using it. it's incredible.
Reposted by Nate Ledbetter
Calvin gets it twice
I ever see that smug fucker Martin Luther its on sight
November 26, 2025 at 3:04 AM
Calvin gets it twice
Reposted by Nate Ledbetter
It’s sad that “soldiers shouldn’t commit crimes” is a brave position for a Republican to take.
November 25, 2025 at 11:48 PM
It’s sad that “soldiers shouldn’t commit crimes” is a brave position for a Republican to take.
"Defunct" as in no longer exists but I'd like it to: Rider University. Last played in 1951. Go Broncs.
"Defunct" as in "not and FBS winner":
Princeton ditches the other Ivies, moves to FBS, and unleashes the NIL money cannon.
"Defunct" as in "not and FBS winner":
Princeton ditches the other Ivies, moves to FBS, and unleashes the NIL money cannon.
If you could see any defunct college football team return, who would it be?
I might be cooking up something and need your help!
I might be cooking up something and need your help!
November 25, 2025 at 11:30 PM
"Defunct" as in no longer exists but I'd like it to: Rider University. Last played in 1951. Go Broncs.
"Defunct" as in "not and FBS winner":
Princeton ditches the other Ivies, moves to FBS, and unleashes the NIL money cannon.
"Defunct" as in "not and FBS winner":
Princeton ditches the other Ivies, moves to FBS, and unleashes the NIL money cannon.
There all wrong, the answer is Honolulu.
No, I did not stutter and say "Waikiki," so spare me your stories from your vacation and why you'd get "island fever.". You were not in the Honolulu people actually live in.
And Maui or the Big Island might be better, but the question says "city."
No, I did not stutter and say "Waikiki," so spare me your stories from your vacation and why you'd get "island fever.". You were not in the Honolulu people actually live in.
And Maui or the Big Island might be better, but the question says "city."
Sorry folks, city is full, moose outside shoulda told ya.
(just kidding but this shocked me)
(just kidding but this shocked me)
November 25, 2025 at 8:57 PM
There all wrong, the answer is Honolulu.
No, I did not stutter and say "Waikiki," so spare me your stories from your vacation and why you'd get "island fever.". You were not in the Honolulu people actually live in.
And Maui or the Big Island might be better, but the question says "city."
No, I did not stutter and say "Waikiki," so spare me your stories from your vacation and why you'd get "island fever.". You were not in the Honolulu people actually live in.
And Maui or the Big Island might be better, but the question says "city."
CONGRATS!
OMG look what was on my doorstep! i haven’t seen the print version yet, but it’s prettier than i expected!!
November 25, 2025 at 8:20 PM
CONGRATS!
Amen. If you do not want your students to use LLMs or your admin to push LLMs, you cannot then use them yourself.
Don’t do this! It just encourages administrators to push LLM use, and convinces students that their use of generative AI is legitimate.
About 25 percent of faculty members have used AI to save time in creating more engaging in-class activities or generating quizzes and other assessments. Yet talking about AI use is taboo in some quarters. https://chroni.cl/4rjLxQp
November 25, 2025 at 8:19 PM
Amen. If you do not want your students to use LLMs or your admin to push LLMs, you cannot then use them yourself.
Using an older cellphone instead of a new one every year is not "device hoarding"
"device hoarding" would be buying 10,000 new cellphones I would never use each new release, preventing others from access.
By not buying new phones each time, I'm doing the opposite. More are available for others.
"device hoarding" would be buying 10,000 new cellphones I would never use each new release, preventing others from access.
By not buying new phones each time, I'm doing the opposite. More are available for others.
From the people who brought you planned obsolescence and annual styling, "not shopping" has been rebranded as "device hoarding"
stupid young people, stop buying a new phone every year if you don't want to be broke. wait no, not like that.
November 25, 2025 at 8:17 PM
Using an older cellphone instead of a new one every year is not "device hoarding"
"device hoarding" would be buying 10,000 new cellphones I would never use each new release, preventing others from access.
By not buying new phones each time, I'm doing the opposite. More are available for others.
"device hoarding" would be buying 10,000 new cellphones I would never use each new release, preventing others from access.
By not buying new phones each time, I'm doing the opposite. More are available for others.