Amy Isikoff Newell
@amynewell.bsky.social
hope from despair. Forest Witch. Baba Yaga type. Crazy. Artist, Aspiring Activist, Recovering Engineering Leader. bipolar, bisexual, and bitchy AF she/they 🏳️🌈
www.amywriteswords.com
www.amynewell.com
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Amy Isikoff Newell
@amynewell.bsky.social
· Jan 21
Amy Writes Words | Amy Isikoff Newell | Substack
"Amusing at best": I write about software engineering, tech, management, politics, bipolar disorder, mental illness, disability, queerness, gender, books, poetry, fashion, boots, and photography. Also...
amywriteswords.com
new followers! Hello! I'm not on on here much, so I want you to know you can subscribe to my newsletter at amywriteswords.com
2 awesome things about it:
1. arrives irregularly, def not every week, only when I have something to say
2. I like when ppl pay/share/like but I don't hound you for it
2 awesome things about it:
1. arrives irregularly, def not every week, only when I have something to say
2. I like when ppl pay/share/like but I don't hound you for it
Reposted by Amy Isikoff Newell
It’s blowing my mind that schools, universities, public services would run headlong into this. We spent 15 years documenting black boxes. This is a black box in a black hole!
I don't understand how anyone can watch how blatantly Grok is manipulated to answer the way ownership desires it to and then act like the other LLM chatbots couldn't possibly be similarly but less obviously compromised to produce responses in whatever way corporate interests and priorities dictate.
November 23, 2025 at 11:16 PM
It’s blowing my mind that schools, universities, public services would run headlong into this. We spent 15 years documenting black boxes. This is a black box in a black hole!
Reposted by Amy Isikoff Newell
We’re offering free vaccine clinics in Boston. Vaccines are safe, effective, and protect against serious illness. Getting vaccinated keeps you healthy and helps protect your family, friends, and community.
Find upcoming vaccine clinics at boston.gov/vaccine-clinics.
Find upcoming vaccine clinics at boston.gov/vaccine-clinics.
Free Vaccine Clinics in Boston
Everyone ages six months and older is encouraged to get the updated flu and COVID-19 vaccines. Pregnant parents, babies, and older adults should consult their health care professional about RSV vaccin...
boston.gov
November 20, 2025 at 10:06 PM
We’re offering free vaccine clinics in Boston. Vaccines are safe, effective, and protect against serious illness. Getting vaccinated keeps you healthy and helps protect your family, friends, and community.
Find upcoming vaccine clinics at boston.gov/vaccine-clinics.
Find upcoming vaccine clinics at boston.gov/vaccine-clinics.
Reposted by Amy Isikoff Newell
November 23, 2025 at 9:42 AM
so i'm watching wicked for the first time, and, uh, are they gonna bang?
November 22, 2025 at 11:38 PM
so i'm watching wicked for the first time, and, uh, are they gonna bang?
I'll just be over here singing "Like A Prayer" over and over to blot out the other thing.
November 22, 2025 at 10:07 PM
I'll just be over here singing "Like A Prayer" over and over to blot out the other thing.
Reposted by Amy Isikoff Newell
It’s widely known (and, I think, pretty uncontroversial) that learning requires effort — specifically, if you don’t have to work at getting the knowledge, it won’t stick.
Even if an LLM could be trusted to give you correct information 100% of the time, it would be an inferior method of learning it.
Even if an LLM could be trusted to give you correct information 100% of the time, it would be an inferior method of learning it.
Relying on ChatGPT to teach you about a topic leaves you with shallower knowledge than Googling and reading about it, according to new research that compared what more than 10,000 people knew after using one method or the other.
Shared by @gizmodo.com: buff.ly/yAAHtHq
Shared by @gizmodo.com: buff.ly/yAAHtHq
November 21, 2025 at 12:49 PM
It’s widely known (and, I think, pretty uncontroversial) that learning requires effort — specifically, if you don’t have to work at getting the knowledge, it won’t stick.
Even if an LLM could be trusted to give you correct information 100% of the time, it would be an inferior method of learning it.
Even if an LLM could be trusted to give you correct information 100% of the time, it would be an inferior method of learning it.
this is deeply f*cked up. Our students need civic literacy, literacy literacy, research skills, a grounding in science and the scientific method, art, music, etc. They don't need this trash.
Feeling queasy now I've learned that Google is not only now offering Gemini ambassador certificates to teachers but also awarding students and *children* to be corporate AI mascots. Coercive normalization of commercialized digital education. blog.google/outreach-ini...
November 22, 2025 at 8:40 PM
this is deeply f*cked up. Our students need civic literacy, literacy literacy, research skills, a grounding in science and the scientific method, art, music, etc. They don't need this trash.
great news for libraries!
NEWS: Libraries WIN in federal court!
A judge in RI issued a permanent injunction stopping the Administration from dismantling the Institute of Museum & Library Services and nullifying all actions taken to do so.
Read the ruling: storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us... (More to come from ALA)
A judge in RI issued a permanent injunction stopping the Administration from dismantling the Institute of Museum & Library Services and nullifying all actions taken to do so.
Read the ruling: storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us... (More to come from ALA)
November 21, 2025 at 11:33 PM
great news for libraries!
Okay I bought it before it went on sale, bc i had a calendar reminder set for it, but you can get it on sale! I'm extremely excited to get my hands on this book.
a Friday surprise! my beloved book, Other Networks: A Radical Technology Sourcebook, is now officially back in print AND ON SALE! #othernetworks if you know folks who have been trying to track down a copy, I'd love it if you'd repost shop.mexicansummer.com/merch/495898...
Lori Emerson - Other Networks: A Radical Technology Sourcebook. Mexican Summer & Anthology.
Buy Other Networks: A Radical Technology Sourcebook by Lori Emerson on Mexican Summer & Anthology.
shop.mexicansummer.com
November 21, 2025 at 11:27 PM
Okay I bought it before it went on sale, bc i had a calendar reminder set for it, but you can get it on sale! I'm extremely excited to get my hands on this book.
Reposted by Amy Isikoff Newell
Keep this in mind when people claim cars mean business — closing Central #Madrid to cars over holidays resulted in a 9.5% boost in retail spending on its main shopping street: STUDY.
There was also a 71% drop in air pollution.
Via @carltonreid.com in @forbes.com. #citymakingmath #citiesforpeople
There was also a 71% drop in air pollution.
Via @carltonreid.com in @forbes.com. #citymakingmath #citiesforpeople
Closing Central Madrid To Cars Resulted In 9.5% Boost To Retail Spending, Finds Bank Analysis
City of Madrid significantly boosted the takings of its shops and restaurants last Christmas by banning cars from the CBD, finds an analysis by Spain's second largest bank.
www.forbes.com
November 20, 2025 at 6:21 AM
Keep this in mind when people claim cars mean business — closing Central #Madrid to cars over holidays resulted in a 9.5% boost in retail spending on its main shopping street: STUDY.
There was also a 71% drop in air pollution.
Via @carltonreid.com in @forbes.com. #citymakingmath #citiesforpeople
There was also a 71% drop in air pollution.
Via @carltonreid.com in @forbes.com. #citymakingmath #citiesforpeople
Reposted by Amy Isikoff Newell
Time to look into your settings, folks.
Gmail can read your emails and attachments to train its AI, unless you opt out
A new Gmail update may allow Google to use your private messages and attachments for AI training. Here's how to turn it off.
www.malwarebytes.com
November 21, 2025 at 12:00 PM
Time to look into your settings, folks.
Reposted by Amy Isikoff Newell
Cheers to the person who leaked the initial changes www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
In reversal, Coast Guard again classifies swastikas, nooses as hate symbols
The new order came hours after The Post reported the service would instead classify such symbols as “potentially divisive” under guidelines set for release next month.
www.washingtonpost.com
November 21, 2025 at 1:46 PM
Cheers to the person who leaked the initial changes www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
I have never been more proud to be a poet
Looks like LLMs are *very* vulnerable to attack via poetic allusion: "curated poetic prompts yielded high attack-success rates (ASR), with some providers exceeding 90% ..."
https://arxiv.org/html/2511.15304v1
https://arxiv.org/html/2511.15304v1
November 21, 2025 at 2:38 PM
I have never been more proud to be a poet
I wrote an email to Alan Garber about this. You can too! president at Harvard dot edu.
Per CNN, Elizabeth Warren is calling on Harvard to cut ties with Larry Summers after Jeffrey Epstein's emails released last week by House Dems featured Summers making sexist comments + asking for Epstein’s romantic advice.
November 17, 2025 at 7:18 PM
I wrote an email to Alan Garber about this. You can too! president at Harvard dot edu.
I will now report on all the dinners I make as if I'm writing a Times cooking headline.
"This tangy one-pot pasta dish can be made entirely from pantry staples and bodega arugula, because who wants to grocery shop when it's pitch black at 4pm? "
"This tangy one-pot pasta dish can be made entirely from pantry staples and bodega arugula, because who wants to grocery shop when it's pitch black at 4pm? "
November 14, 2025 at 11:36 PM
I will now report on all the dinners I make as if I'm writing a Times cooking headline.
"This tangy one-pot pasta dish can be made entirely from pantry staples and bodega arugula, because who wants to grocery shop when it's pitch black at 4pm? "
"This tangy one-pot pasta dish can be made entirely from pantry staples and bodega arugula, because who wants to grocery shop when it's pitch black at 4pm? "
After you read this mcsweeney's about IT HAPPENING, read my post about what happened in Spain when IT HAPPENED to Franco.
www.amywriteswords.com/p/all-the-ca...
www.amywriteswords.com/p/all-the-ca...
November 14, 2025 at 1:51 PM
After you read this mcsweeney's about IT HAPPENING, read my post about what happened in Spain when IT HAPPENED to Franco.
www.amywriteswords.com/p/all-the-ca...
www.amywriteswords.com/p/all-the-ca...
You love to see it, Malden!
Love to see community action against this AI nonsense! neighborhoodview.org/2025/11/13/d...
November 14, 2025 at 1:37 PM
You love to see it, Malden!
today's bsky wordle clue:
DO NOT REPEAT THIS INSIGHT
DO NOT REPEAT THIS INSIGHT
November 12, 2025 at 6:04 PM
today's bsky wordle clue:
DO NOT REPEAT THIS INSIGHT
DO NOT REPEAT THIS INSIGHT
Yes this is What I keep trying to tell people!
Re-upping this essay I wrote about sunsets last year
www.amywriteswords.com/p/how-to-wat...
Re-upping this essay I wrote about sunsets last year
www.amywriteswords.com/p/how-to-wat...
November 12, 2025 at 4:44 AM
Yes this is What I keep trying to tell people!
Re-upping this essay I wrote about sunsets last year
www.amywriteswords.com/p/how-to-wat...
Re-upping this essay I wrote about sunsets last year
www.amywriteswords.com/p/how-to-wat...
In Boston area watching the northern lights also caught what looked like a large meteor flashing green in the west around 10 or so @universalhub.com
November 12, 2025 at 3:41 AM
In Boston area watching the northern lights also caught what looked like a large meteor flashing green in the west around 10 or so @universalhub.com
I suppose it is better than nothing, but "ai companions" should be flat-out illegal. they are a bad product that has nothing but negative personal and social impact, and they are built on top of theft, exploitation, and environmental degradation.
November 12, 2025 at 12:15 AM
I suppose it is better than nothing, but "ai companions" should be flat-out illegal. they are a bad product that has nothing but negative personal and social impact, and they are built on top of theft, exploitation, and environmental degradation.