ersatzGrace
@ersatzgrace.bsky.social
IA/UXer, always thinking, often making. systems delight.
www.lenthic.com
www.smudgingthebinary.com
www.lenthic.com
www.smudgingthebinary.com
explain your username:
I like the way 'ersatz' feels when I say it. Yes, I also ran around singing/saying "Kwisatz Haderach" ad nauseam when I was a kid. Often with dance. >Nerd<
Others have sometimes commented on my grace, always about something I overthought to get there.
I like the way 'ersatz' feels when I say it. Yes, I also ran around singing/saying "Kwisatz Haderach" ad nauseam when I was a kid. Often with dance. >Nerd<
Others have sometimes commented on my grace, always about something I overthought to get there.
explain your username:
it's my actual name and it rules and i finally grew into it in my late teens and have been camping on 'dorian' everywhere i can since efnet
it's my actual name and it rules and i finally grew into it in my late teens and have been camping on 'dorian' everywhere i can since efnet
Explain your username:
i dwell in others' burrows. nothing to do with ants
i dwell in others' burrows. nothing to do with ants
December 25, 2025 at 11:23 AM
explain your username:
I like the way 'ersatz' feels when I say it. Yes, I also ran around singing/saying "Kwisatz Haderach" ad nauseam when I was a kid. Often with dance. >Nerd<
Others have sometimes commented on my grace, always about something I overthought to get there.
I like the way 'ersatz' feels when I say it. Yes, I also ran around singing/saying "Kwisatz Haderach" ad nauseam when I was a kid. Often with dance. >Nerd<
Others have sometimes commented on my grace, always about something I overthought to get there.
The administration is assuming that people are more focused on their family, and that time will have normalized this when people look around again.
I urge people to read Cadwalladr's piece and repost from her post. Remember: this is the person who broke the Cambridge Analytica scandal.
I urge people to read Cadwalladr's piece and repost from her post. Remember: this is the person who broke the Cambridge Analytica scandal.
NEW: last night, the US govt launched an assault on the ‘global censorship industrial complex’, aka European tech researchers/campaigners.
It’s a deeply chilling move & speaks as to why we need international solidarity more than ever.
open.substack.com/pub/broligar...
It’s a deeply chilling move & speaks as to why we need international solidarity more than ever.
open.substack.com/pub/broligar...
A message to America: we are not your enemy
Last night, the US launched an all-out assault on the "global censorship industrial complex", I respond with some deep breaths, solidarity and a vibey video (it's all I have)
open.substack.com
December 24, 2025 at 1:44 PM
The administration is assuming that people are more focused on their family, and that time will have normalized this when people look around again.
I urge people to read Cadwalladr's piece and repost from her post. Remember: this is the person who broke the Cambridge Analytica scandal.
I urge people to read Cadwalladr's piece and repost from her post. Remember: this is the person who broke the Cambridge Analytica scandal.
So, we have a taxonomy/meaning issue. It's not only the far right (ahem), but business. There are certain words in biz that have shifting meaning: UX, discovery, AI are top of mind. They basically become whatever a biz wants them to be to satisfy marketing to get that bandwagon effect, and are...
December 24, 2025 at 11:33 AM
So, we have a taxonomy/meaning issue. It's not only the far right (ahem), but business. There are certain words in biz that have shifting meaning: UX, discovery, AI are top of mind. They basically become whatever a biz wants them to be to satisfy marketing to get that bandwagon effect, and are...
Reposted by ersatzGrace
here's the 60 minutes cecot video part 1 of 5 - recorded/uploaded by and all credit to @jasonparis.bsky.social
I just reduced background noise, chopped the 14 minutes into 3 minute segments each compressed under 100 mb for bsky's limits, cropped and rotated a few degrees for easier viewing on here
I just reduced background noise, chopped the 14 minutes into 3 minute segments each compressed under 100 mb for bsky's limits, cropped and rotated a few degrees for easier viewing on here
December 22, 2025 at 10:58 PM
here's the 60 minutes cecot video part 1 of 5 - recorded/uploaded by and all credit to @jasonparis.bsky.social
I just reduced background noise, chopped the 14 minutes into 3 minute segments each compressed under 100 mb for bsky's limits, cropped and rotated a few degrees for easier viewing on here
I just reduced background noise, chopped the 14 minutes into 3 minute segments each compressed under 100 mb for bsky's limits, cropped and rotated a few degrees for easier viewing on here
Bully swears peace if you just do what he says.
Scorpion vows no more stinging if frog treats him with respect.
December 20, 2025 at 1:13 PM
Bully swears peace if you just do what he says.
We have to care about information.
AI is not funny, or time-saving, or the next do-or-die service.
It's poisoning information. It's sundering our confidence and creating psychosis. It's clearing the path for people to abdicate responsibility.
It's setting us up for failure on a massive scale.
AI is not funny, or time-saving, or the next do-or-die service.
It's poisoning information. It's sundering our confidence and creating psychosis. It's clearing the path for people to abdicate responsibility.
It's setting us up for failure on a massive scale.
Closing out my year with a journal editor shocker 🧵
Checking new manuscripts today I reviewed a paper attributing 2 papers to me I did not write. A daft thing for an author to do of course. But intrigued I web searched up one of the titles and that's when it got real weird...
Checking new manuscripts today I reviewed a paper attributing 2 papers to me I did not write. A daft thing for an author to do of course. But intrigued I web searched up one of the titles and that's when it got real weird...
December 20, 2025 at 11:24 AM
We have to care about information.
AI is not funny, or time-saving, or the next do-or-die service.
It's poisoning information. It's sundering our confidence and creating psychosis. It's clearing the path for people to abdicate responsibility.
It's setting us up for failure on a massive scale.
AI is not funny, or time-saving, or the next do-or-die service.
It's poisoning information. It's sundering our confidence and creating psychosis. It's clearing the path for people to abdicate responsibility.
It's setting us up for failure on a massive scale.
Reposted by ersatzGrace
So we don't have a reasonable expectation of privacy in our data because it is "common knowledge" that tech companies harvest and sell our data. But tech companies can only do so because we have sheltered them from any data regulation that might stifle innovation. /1
therecord.media/google-searc...
therecord.media/google-searc...
Pa. high court rules that police can access Google searches without a warrant
In a decision that only affects Pennsylvanians but could have privacy implications elsewhere, the state's Supreme Court ruled that police did not need a warrant to access a rape suspect's Google searc...
therecord.media
December 19, 2025 at 3:07 PM
So we don't have a reasonable expectation of privacy in our data because it is "common knowledge" that tech companies harvest and sell our data. But tech companies can only do so because we have sheltered them from any data regulation that might stifle innovation. /1
therecord.media/google-searc...
therecord.media/google-searc...
Reposted by ersatzGrace
"This promise of an AI future, is really just a collective anxiety that wealthy people have about how well they're gonna be able to control us in the future."
- @tressiemcphd.bsky.social with an absolute mic drop moment about AI bullshit.
Incredible words.
Listen to all of it!
- @tressiemcphd.bsky.social with an absolute mic drop moment about AI bullshit.
Incredible words.
Listen to all of it!
December 19, 2025 at 12:24 PM
"This promise of an AI future, is really just a collective anxiety that wealthy people have about how well they're gonna be able to control us in the future."
- @tressiemcphd.bsky.social with an absolute mic drop moment about AI bullshit.
Incredible words.
Listen to all of it!
- @tressiemcphd.bsky.social with an absolute mic drop moment about AI bullshit.
Incredible words.
Listen to all of it!
So, the vanguard idea of capitalism is that we get to specialize, to sit and grow our understanding and knowledge in one particular area, and then sell what we've learned. It might be a product, or a process, or artifacts after a process.
December 19, 2025 at 12:11 PM
So, the vanguard idea of capitalism is that we get to specialize, to sit and grow our understanding and knowledge in one particular area, and then sell what we've learned. It might be a product, or a process, or artifacts after a process.
LLM's provide the simplest, easiest way yet devised to abdicate responsibility while sounding like understanding and fixing are happening.
December 18, 2025 at 4:04 PM
LLM's provide the simplest, easiest way yet devised to abdicate responsibility while sounding like understanding and fixing are happening.
"LLM's provide the simplest, easiest way yet devised to abdicate responsibility while pulling the wool over people's eyes. I won't add to that externalized stress, not even to strangers."
There is no AI in here
And I truly mean zero. I've done what I can to block AI scraping, build my own graphics, and write every word...often three or three dozen times. 😂 The information architecture is my own (better be, s...
www.smudgingthebinary.com
December 18, 2025 at 3:03 PM
"LLM's provide the simplest, easiest way yet devised to abdicate responsibility while pulling the wool over people's eyes. I won't add to that externalized stress, not even to strangers."
Reposted by ersatzGrace
"You love the chaos of a human mind trying to explain itself to another human mind."
"When a machine tells you your soul is inefficient, it takes a long time to stop believing it."
This is a deeply beautiful story.
"When a machine tells you your soul is inefficient, it takes a long time to stop believing it."
This is a deeply beautiful story.
December 18, 2025 at 1:05 PM
"You love the chaos of a human mind trying to explain itself to another human mind."
"When a machine tells you your soul is inefficient, it takes a long time to stop believing it."
This is a deeply beautiful story.
"When a machine tells you your soul is inefficient, it takes a long time to stop believing it."
This is a deeply beautiful story.
We have to care about information. No matter the consequence, no matter the pressures put in place: we have to care.
www.smudgingthebinary.com/we-have-to-c...
www.smudgingthebinary.com/we-have-to-c...
We have to care about information
We're hitting a very scary point in information.
We have to care about information. Not caring is tantamount to giving up – of saying that nothing matters enough about anything. Narrative is living f...
www.smudgingthebinary.com
December 15, 2025 at 3:01 PM
We have to care about information. No matter the consequence, no matter the pressures put in place: we have to care.
www.smudgingthebinary.com/we-have-to-c...
www.smudgingthebinary.com/we-have-to-c...
how many other people chase learning curves because they want that sweet, sweet systems thinking?
December 13, 2025 at 12:04 PM
how many other people chase learning curves because they want that sweet, sweet systems thinking?
Reposted by ersatzGrace
1. For at least 10 years, Pepsi has conspired with Walmart to force up grocery prices. That’s the shocking evidence made public today in an unsealed FTC lawsuit. The suit was abandoned in May by the Trump FTC just before it was to be un-redacted. We went to court to get it unsealed & won.
December 12, 2025 at 5:30 PM
1. For at least 10 years, Pepsi has conspired with Walmart to force up grocery prices. That’s the shocking evidence made public today in an unsealed FTC lawsuit. The suit was abandoned in May by the Trump FTC just before it was to be un-redacted. We went to court to get it unsealed & won.
I dream of a society where we're more likely to decide, "eh, live and let live" for differences instead of trying to make them suffer and/or die.
December 10, 2025 at 12:20 PM
I dream of a society where we're more likely to decide, "eh, live and let live" for differences instead of trying to make them suffer and/or die.
It is somewhat alarming "still need to eat" is becoming so prevalent as the phrase for affordability -- like all the other corners have been cut, this is the next thing to go.
Are we tired of wealth disparity yet?
Are we tired of wealth disparity yet?
December 9, 2025 at 1:52 PM
It is somewhat alarming "still need to eat" is becoming so prevalent as the phrase for affordability -- like all the other corners have been cut, this is the next thing to go.
Are we tired of wealth disparity yet?
Are we tired of wealth disparity yet?
Reposted by ersatzGrace
HOLD UP. Trump wants his business buddies to takeover CNN because he doesn’t like the network’s fact based news coverage? That is some straight up North Korea dictator bullsh*t. We should all be appalled & doing everything we can to stop Trump & the Ellison’s from another state tv takeover.
If you think Paramount is just trying to buy Warner Brothers so Ellison can stop CNN from criticizing Trump… you’re right!
www.wsj.com/business/med...
www.wsj.com/business/med...
December 9, 2025 at 4:50 AM
HOLD UP. Trump wants his business buddies to takeover CNN because he doesn’t like the network’s fact based news coverage? That is some straight up North Korea dictator bullsh*t. We should all be appalled & doing everything we can to stop Trump & the Ellison’s from another state tv takeover.
So let's also work to normalize what we currently think is the status quo:
* survival is not a grudge match
* your actions are the ONLY signal of badness
* you have options even beyond the multiple choice, AND society matters so you can't expect everyone else to do what you say; live and let live
* survival is not a grudge match
* your actions are the ONLY signal of badness
* you have options even beyond the multiple choice, AND society matters so you can't expect everyone else to do what you say; live and let live
What started out as an extreme viewpoint that a relatively small (but vocal) group of people espoused became institutionalized over the course of a couple years. Kids adapt quickly. So, after a few years of it being what was approved in primary/middle school, kids went along with it.
December 9, 2025 at 11:42 AM
So let's also work to normalize what we currently think is the status quo:
* survival is not a grudge match
* your actions are the ONLY signal of badness
* you have options even beyond the multiple choice, AND society matters so you can't expect everyone else to do what you say; live and let live
* survival is not a grudge match
* your actions are the ONLY signal of badness
* you have options even beyond the multiple choice, AND society matters so you can't expect everyone else to do what you say; live and let live
Reposted by ersatzGrace
More than 200 environmental groups want Congress to halt development of new data centers in the U.S., citing energy and water consumption: www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
More than 200 environmental groups demand halt to new US datacenters
Exclusive: Congress urged to act against energy-hungry facilities blamed for increasing bills and worsening climate crisis
www.theguardian.com
December 8, 2025 at 9:53 PM
More than 200 environmental groups want Congress to halt development of new data centers in the U.S., citing energy and water consumption: www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
The replacement phrase for "walked uphill! both ways!" just might be "it worked! reliably and repeatedly!"
December 8, 2025 at 6:32 PM
The replacement phrase for "walked uphill! both ways!" just might be "it worked! reliably and repeatedly!"
Wrote my understanding of the floor/ceiling because I want to be able to share and refer to it more easily. 😉
Broadly the same as the post here from a couple days ago.
Broadly the same as the post here from a couple days ago.
Economic floors and ceilings
We need to have both if we intend to have a democracy.
Think about the economy like water: it flows and spreads to fill the nooks.
The below breaks, percents, and distribution is per the 1Q 2025 FRE...
www.smudgingthebinary.com
December 4, 2025 at 2:51 PM
Wrote my understanding of the floor/ceiling because I want to be able to share and refer to it more easily. 😉
Broadly the same as the post here from a couple days ago.
Broadly the same as the post here from a couple days ago.
what if we rebrand genAI/LLM's as 'chaos engines'?
genAI is getting on my nerves*. LLM's are too easy to "oops, meant ML's". And it *is* a chaos engine, shoving data into a black box, shaking it, and releasing whatever statistical thing makes it through, hallucinations and all.
genAI is getting on my nerves*. LLM's are too easy to "oops, meant ML's". And it *is* a chaos engine, shoving data into a black box, shaking it, and releasing whatever statistical thing makes it through, hallucinations and all.
December 3, 2025 at 3:22 PM
what if we rebrand genAI/LLM's as 'chaos engines'?
genAI is getting on my nerves*. LLM's are too easy to "oops, meant ML's". And it *is* a chaos engine, shoving data into a black box, shaking it, and releasing whatever statistical thing makes it through, hallucinations and all.
genAI is getting on my nerves*. LLM's are too easy to "oops, meant ML's". And it *is* a chaos engine, shoving data into a black box, shaking it, and releasing whatever statistical thing makes it through, hallucinations and all.
Been thinking about marketing, and as per my norm brought in my info lens. Turns out it highlights much of what I'm worried about in general with information right now.
Open access on LI (www.linkedin.com/posts/angmad...)
or behind free membership. It's a bit of logic, and I tier for that. 🙃
Open access on LI (www.linkedin.com/posts/angmad...)
or behind free membership. It's a bit of logic, and I tier for that. 🙃
Marketing through the lens of information spread
www.smudgingthebinary.com
December 2, 2025 at 4:51 PM
Been thinking about marketing, and as per my norm brought in my info lens. Turns out it highlights much of what I'm worried about in general with information right now.
Open access on LI (www.linkedin.com/posts/angmad...)
or behind free membership. It's a bit of logic, and I tier for that. 🙃
Open access on LI (www.linkedin.com/posts/angmad...)
or behind free membership. It's a bit of logic, and I tier for that. 🙃