Jason
@unsettlement.bsky.social
Recovering Academic.
Looking for virtuous signal in a world of vicious noise.
Looking for virtuous signal in a world of vicious noise.
Reposted by Jason
god damnit I just accidentally clicked on grok on a tweet and it ran automatically
June 17, 2025 at 7:40 PM
god damnit I just accidentally clicked on grok on a tweet and it ran automatically
This is gutting.
Pocket has been a crucial part of my strategy for digital sanity for so long, using it is a reflex.
I’d say something about looking for a Pocket alternative, but I still remember the heartbreak of Google Reader’s loss, and how that void didn’t fill.
Pocket has been a crucial part of my strategy for digital sanity for so long, using it is a reflex.
I’d say something about looking for a Pocket alternative, but I still remember the heartbreak of Google Reader’s loss, and how that void didn’t fill.
Pocket is Saying Goodbye: What You Need to Know | Pocket Help
More information about the end of support for Pocket.
support.mozilla.org
May 22, 2025 at 6:48 PM
This is gutting.
Pocket has been a crucial part of my strategy for digital sanity for so long, using it is a reflex.
I’d say something about looking for a Pocket alternative, but I still remember the heartbreak of Google Reader’s loss, and how that void didn’t fill.
Pocket has been a crucial part of my strategy for digital sanity for so long, using it is a reflex.
I’d say something about looking for a Pocket alternative, but I still remember the heartbreak of Google Reader’s loss, and how that void didn’t fill.
Reposted by Jason
Donald Trump‘s insane and inaccurate rant about the deaths of white South Africans renews questions about Biden’s mental state
May 22, 2025 at 12:42 PM
Donald Trump‘s insane and inaccurate rant about the deaths of white South Africans renews questions about Biden’s mental state
Reposted by Jason
White Afrikaners say the tombstones they erected were protest symbols. Tucker Carlson says they were headstones on mass graves. For busy United States presidents, it can be hard to know who to believe.
May 22, 2025 at 12:43 PM
White Afrikaners say the tombstones they erected were protest symbols. Tucker Carlson says they were headstones on mass graves. For busy United States presidents, it can be hard to know who to believe.
Reposted by Jason
Reposted by Jason
The new Pope seems to have the right enemies.
Prior to the conclave, Bannon warned that Prevost was "one of the most progressive" choices. Stay mad!
May 8, 2025 at 5:52 PM
The new Pope seems to have the right enemies.
Reposted by Jason
The most likely place one of the US scientists fired by a 19 year old will end up isn't in some other country's version of Princeton's Institute for Advanced Study, but like, McDonalds or Doordash.
The brain drain will be mostly into shitty gig jobs, not picking up that research elsewhere.
The brain drain will be mostly into shitty gig jobs, not picking up that research elsewhere.
A colleague who’s an astronomer in the USA just got this from LinkedIn in case anyone wants to know how things are going lately 🥴
🔭🧪
🔭🧪
May 6, 2025 at 2:41 AM
The most likely place one of the US scientists fired by a 19 year old will end up isn't in some other country's version of Princeton's Institute for Advanced Study, but like, McDonalds or Doordash.
The brain drain will be mostly into shitty gig jobs, not picking up that research elsewhere.
The brain drain will be mostly into shitty gig jobs, not picking up that research elsewhere.
That just looks like a Red Queen race with extra civilization-imperiling emissions…
May 2, 2025 at 3:06 PM
That just looks like a Red Queen race with extra civilization-imperiling emissions…
Reposted by Jason
Playmobil riot police. Lego border guards. Toy body scanners. Today’s playthings are training kids to accept surveillance and state control as normal parts of life.
www.codastory.com/surveillance...
www.codastory.com/surveillance...
Riot police, body scanners and social breakdown in toy town - Coda Story
An array of childhood playthings are normalizing the concepts of surveillance and state control for the youngest of minds
www.codastory.com
April 26, 2025 at 8:50 AM
Playmobil riot police. Lego border guards. Toy body scanners. Today’s playthings are training kids to accept surveillance and state control as normal parts of life.
www.codastory.com/surveillance...
www.codastory.com/surveillance...
Reposted by Jason
As you can see, this 53-year-old’s fake badge is numbered 69420
We have reached levels of cringe previously thought unattainable
April 29, 2025 at 1:57 AM
As you can see, this 53-year-old’s fake badge is numbered 69420
Reposted by Jason
Imagine sucking so much that countries where you’re not on the ballot vote against you
April 29, 2025 at 2:34 AM
Imagine sucking so much that countries where you’re not on the ballot vote against you
Reposted by Jason
Forget Canada — I don't think I've ever seen a poll shift this dramatic in *any* modern democracy. One of the most remarkable elections of my lifetime.
It's really hard to overstate how hugely favored conservatives were up until two months ago.
Here's the graph of Canadian polling between March 2023 and March 2025. (Reminder: blue is conservative.)
Those are months and months of 20+ point leads for Tories.
Here's the graph of Canadian polling between March 2023 and March 2025. (Reminder: blue is conservative.)
Those are months and months of 20+ point leads for Tories.
April 29, 2025 at 2:52 AM
Forget Canada — I don't think I've ever seen a poll shift this dramatic in *any* modern democracy. One of the most remarkable elections of my lifetime.
Reposted by Jason
Hitler has been bad for free speech. The woke Weimarians were worse.
April 27, 2025 at 9:35 AM
Hitler has been bad for free speech. The woke Weimarians were worse.
Reposted by Jason
If you wanted people to be less hostile to "AI" then you should have had a different group of liars trying to push it than the ones behind the metaverse, crypto, driverless cars, NFTs etc.
"Sorry but we're only so gullible!"
"Sorry but we're only so gullible!"
April 26, 2025 at 8:22 PM
If you wanted people to be less hostile to "AI" then you should have had a different group of liars trying to push it than the ones behind the metaverse, crypto, driverless cars, NFTs etc.
"Sorry but we're only so gullible!"
"Sorry but we're only so gullible!"
Reposted by Jason
"Google’s AI Overviews now reach more than 1.5 billion people every month" is factually true but leaves out the true story. It's not that people _want_ false AI summaries, it's just that a monopolist can do whatever.
Google’s AI Overviews in Search now have “1.5 billion users per month,” CEO Sundar Pichai said in a statement as part of Alphabet’s Q1 2025 earnings. The company’s revenues hit $90.2 billion for the quarter. | The Verge
That’s a lot of overviews.
www.theverge.com
April 25, 2025 at 10:14 AM
"Google’s AI Overviews now reach more than 1.5 billion people every month" is factually true but leaves out the true story. It's not that people _want_ false AI summaries, it's just that a monopolist can do whatever.
Reposted by Jason
Dude.
Vatican officials are asking visitors not to take selfies with the late Pope Francis as he lies in state inside St. Peter’s Basilica: cnn.it/4iydqhZ
Vatican asks visitors not to take selfies with late pope | CNN
Vatican officials are asking visitors not to take selfies with the late Pope Francis as he lies in state inside St. Peter’s Basilica, telling them to put their phones away as they passed by the coffin...
cnn.it
April 25, 2025 at 12:04 PM
Dude.
Reposted by Jason
Google is what happens when a system forgets why it was built but remembers how.
April 23, 2025 at 6:57 AM
Google is what happens when a system forgets why it was built but remembers how.
Reposted by Jason
Biological Sex is chromosomes, hormones, gametes, gonads, a whole load of epigenetic stuff, various organs like breasts etc
The only reason transphobes go on and on about chromosomes is because they are the only part you can't change with transition, not because they're important. They aren't
The only reason transphobes go on and on about chromosomes is because they are the only part you can't change with transition, not because they're important. They aren't
March 7, 2025 at 11:31 AM
Biological Sex is chromosomes, hormones, gametes, gonads, a whole load of epigenetic stuff, various organs like breasts etc
The only reason transphobes go on and on about chromosomes is because they are the only part you can't change with transition, not because they're important. They aren't
The only reason transphobes go on and on about chromosomes is because they are the only part you can't change with transition, not because they're important. They aren't
Since I’m 40s enough to be thinking about the value of smart watches/wearables for picking up on irregular heart rhythms and falls (yes, I know it’s hyperbole, but only a bit), I’ve been looking at wearables wondering why nobody is using the form factor Kim Stanley Robinson thought would be obvious
April 23, 2025 at 6:54 AM
Since I’m 40s enough to be thinking about the value of smart watches/wearables for picking up on irregular heart rhythms and falls (yes, I know it’s hyperbole, but only a bit), I’ve been looking at wearables wondering why nobody is using the form factor Kim Stanley Robinson thought would be obvious
Here’s how I see culture being passed down in front of my eyes.
My daughter asks if I can help her find “That song from the Daffy and Porky movie. The one about the end of the world.”
This is her introduction to R.E.M.
Now she’s reading the lyrics onscreen while listening (enviable), then I lay…
My daughter asks if I can help her find “That song from the Daffy and Porky movie. The one about the end of the world.”
This is her introduction to R.E.M.
Now she’s reading the lyrics onscreen while listening (enviable), then I lay…
April 23, 2025 at 6:40 AM
Here’s how I see culture being passed down in front of my eyes.
My daughter asks if I can help her find “That song from the Daffy and Porky movie. The one about the end of the world.”
This is her introduction to R.E.M.
Now she’s reading the lyrics onscreen while listening (enviable), then I lay…
My daughter asks if I can help her find “That song from the Daffy and Porky movie. The one about the end of the world.”
This is her introduction to R.E.M.
Now she’s reading the lyrics onscreen while listening (enviable), then I lay…
I joined Bluesky [and then, 7-9 months later, got active] to keep informed about things that matter to me in the world and… well that worked too well, because now it’s mostly a live scroll of the horrors as the persist.
As with most media, that’s valuable and exhausting, so I haven’t posted much.
As with most media, that’s valuable and exhausting, so I haven’t posted much.
April 23, 2025 at 6:28 AM
I joined Bluesky [and then, 7-9 months later, got active] to keep informed about things that matter to me in the world and… well that worked too well, because now it’s mostly a live scroll of the horrors as the persist.
As with most media, that’s valuable and exhausting, so I haven’t posted much.
As with most media, that’s valuable and exhausting, so I haven’t posted much.
Reposted by Jason
It’s International Haiku Poetry Day today apparently so here are a few haiku with which to start the day.
April 17, 2025 at 8:49 AM
It’s International Haiku Poetry Day today apparently so here are a few haiku with which to start the day.
Reposted by Jason
A plank of wood is practically worthless to me, I should get it for free. And the next plank is too. As is the next. I’m just gonna take it, and you shouldn’t object.
Now, pay me for this house I built. Actually, have the government subsidize my house building. And you better praise me for it too.
Now, pay me for this house I built. Actually, have the government subsidize my house building. And you better praise me for it too.
April 17, 2025 at 11:44 AM
A plank of wood is practically worthless to me, I should get it for free. And the next plank is too. As is the next. I’m just gonna take it, and you shouldn’t object.
Now, pay me for this house I built. Actually, have the government subsidize my house building. And you better praise me for it too.
Now, pay me for this house I built. Actually, have the government subsidize my house building. And you better praise me for it too.
Reposted by Jason
Things are not going well: The EU issues US-bound staff with burner phones and barebones laptops over spying fears. This precaution used to only apply to visits to places like China and North Korea. www.ft.com/content/20d0...
April 14, 2025 at 1:11 PM
Things are not going well: The EU issues US-bound staff with burner phones and barebones laptops over spying fears. This precaution used to only apply to visits to places like China and North Korea. www.ft.com/content/20d0...