Vlad K.
banner
porcupunk.bsky.social
Vlad K.
@porcupunk.bsky.social
Wandering (ex-Soviet) Jew

Content (architecture and ecosystems) product manager, xennial, anti-fascist, neurodivergent, cPTSD, OCD, disabled, luddite.

pfp by Eduardo Robledo.
Pinned
Decolonize Russia
Reposted by Vlad K.
If the NYT and WaPo reviews were murders, @scaachi.bsky.social’s Slate piece is straight out of the Saw franchise.
Olivia Nuzzi’s Much-Hyped Book Was Always Going to Be Self-Serving. It’s So Much Worse Than That.
God, everyone sucks so much in American Canto.
slate.com
December 3, 2025 at 2:29 AM
Reposted by Vlad K.
This will end well 😩

New report from @ainowinstitute.bsky.social, written by Dr. Sofia Guerra @heidykhlaaf.bsky.social.

Link: ainowinstitute.org/publications...
December 3, 2025 at 1:10 AM
Not the main reason for why our higher education is in shambles, but certainly a significant contributing factor.
This year, universities are giving $228 million to football coaches who failed at coaching football so that they won't coach football anymore.
December 2, 2025 at 10:58 PM
December 2, 2025 at 9:13 PM
Now I'm Christmas ready. 🎄
December 2, 2025 at 8:20 PM
Been two minutes...
Someone though outta take a look at www2.census.gov
December 2, 2025 at 7:21 PM
Brezhnev would literally blush at such "flattery."
Kristi Noem: "Sir, you made it through hurricane season without a hurricane. You kept the hurricanes away. We appreciate that."
December 2, 2025 at 6:18 PM
Reposted by Vlad K.
The fact that a *healthcare company* expects a woman who just delivered a baby at TWENTY-SIX WEEKS to work from the L&D ward on her laptop is a great illustration of why we have such shit maternal and infant mortality.

These people are cruel AND crazy.

www.usatoday.com/story/life/h...
December 2, 2025 at 5:31 PM
Matt Gaetz and Laura Loomer representing the 4th Estate at the Pentagon briefing is all one needs to know to understand where we are today as a society...
moments after Matt Gaetz asks a question at the Pentagon press briefing, Laura Loomer gets her turn
December 2, 2025 at 4:33 PM
The very first submitted proposal I've reviewed today is written by... you guessed it, AI.
a bald man wearing glasses is sitting in front of a wall and says `` i can 't '' .
Alt: a bald man wearing glasses is sitting in front of a wall and says `` i can 't '' .
media.tenor.com
December 2, 2025 at 4:02 PM
"... take away language from a large language model, and you are left with literally nothing at all."

Something that entirely too many people are either not able or not willing to accept.
Some folks were unable to access this essay last week, but happily The Verge graciously agreed to let me republish it on my Substack. You can find it there along with some new takes on critiques of my argument.

buildcognitiveresonance.substack.com/p/large-lang...
December 2, 2025 at 3:02 PM
Someone has been reading Soviet realism sci fi (Belyaev, early Strugatskie, etc.) I see?
“In a decade, Pichai said that it'll be normal to build extraterrestrial data centers”.

And he’s definitely not the only one speaking about the *necessity* of data centers in space. Apparently the planet is not big enough for their scaling “laws”.

www.businessinsider.com/google-proje...
Sundar Pichai says Google will start building data centers in space, powered by the sun, in 2027
Google announced Project Suncatcher earlier this month. CEO Sundar Pichai now says it could begin building data centers in space as soon as 2027.
www.businessinsider.com
December 2, 2025 at 2:34 PM
Very telling that I needed a second to figure out whether this is the US or the UK.

The Anglophone world is not okay.
December 2, 2025 at 2:32 PM
The Soviet style censorship in action.
TX Tech has a flow chat for guidance on what can be taught in the university system. Two things:
1. Very little content seems to be permitted. This is partisan control of the curriculum.
2. I would not enjoy teaching under these conditions, but I really would not want to be a Chair or Dean.
December 2, 2025 at 2:14 PM
I feel bad for Ken but the bear is ❤️
The bear that moved into a home’s crawlspace more than a week ago in Altadena is not budging: despite numerous attempts by the homeowners to keep him out, the animal is staying put.
Unbearable living situation: Bear under Altadena home showing no signs of leaving
“I feel nervous all the time,” homeowner Ken Johnson said. “I’m always looking over my shoulder to see if he’s coming out.”
nbcnews.to
December 2, 2025 at 2:10 PM
So it took me the entire day but it has got to be James Hong.

Not even going to bother with the list. Not enough characters.
This is a Bill Simmons game, but you’re stranded on a desert island. You can only have one actor’s filmography. You get it all, including cameos. But just the one performer.

I’m taking Cate Blanchett: Talented Mr. Ripley, LOTR, Life Aquatic, Black Bag, Tár, Ponyo, Hot Fuzz, Eyes Wide Shut, Thor
December 2, 2025 at 12:59 AM
Next thing y'all going to tell me that Eyes Wide Shut is not a Christmas movie!
a man wearing a gold and white mask with rhinestones
Alt: a man wearing a gold and white mask with rhinestones
media.tenor.com
December 2, 2025 at 12:56 AM
Costco, the modem day Robin Hood?
December 1, 2025 at 11:25 PM
When back in 2017 I mentioned that one day people like me may end up losing their citizenship I was called an alarmist and a doomer. Yet here we are.
Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, just introduced a bill to ban Americans from holding dual citizenship. The bill says that to “preserve the integrity of national citizenship, allegiance to the United States must be undivided.” It’s called the Exclusive Citizenship Act.
December 1, 2025 at 11:20 PM
Well, I'm glad I'm always prepared....
December 1, 2025 at 9:39 PM
"Huh? What does that even mean?"

This is what happens when you end up in a niche role. Most people do not even understand the concept of structured writing, much less content or information architecture.
What’s the worst question someone can ask after you tell them your profession? For linguists, it’s definitely “how many languages do you speak?”, but I’m curious what else is happening to the rest of y’all out there?!
December 1, 2025 at 1:56 PM
Good morning from the City of Brotherly Love.

#Philly #photography #Philadelphia
December 1, 2025 at 1:17 PM
Reposted by Vlad K.
Only 2% of @wikipedia.org users support. I am one. As a professor in 2006, I hated it; thought my students would get wrong info. Instead, I found it a great starting point for them & me, plus *rigorously* corrected. Now it’s one of few places not skewed by misinformation. Low as $2.75 a month. Give!
December 1, 2025 at 12:52 PM
WTF did I just read?
December 1, 2025 at 12:37 PM
Ms. Alcohol is not amused that tomorrow is Monday.

Neither am I.
December 1, 2025 at 2:08 AM