Arturo Magidin
@magidin.bsky.social
Mathematician. (But I read Supreme Court opinions for fun)
Reposted by Arturo Magidin
Just imagining how much better it would be if ALL news stories about vaccine-preventable illnesses were illustrated with pictures of people with the disease, not pictures of needle injections. If you must show something that people will find scary & unpleasant, make it the disease, not the cure.
I'm so tired of measles.
I'm also tired of people using needle shots on stories like this.
Show what measles looks like.
I'm also tired of people using needle shots on stories like this.
Show what measles looks like.
Gallatin Co. reports 2nd measles case, warns of exposure sites nbcmontana.com/news/local/g...
December 2, 2025 at 4:40 AM
Just imagining how much better it would be if ALL news stories about vaccine-preventable illnesses were illustrated with pictures of people with the disease, not pictures of needle injections. If you must show something that people will find scary & unpleasant, make it the disease, not the cure.
Reposted by Arturo Magidin
The end of academic freedom, Flowchart Edition.
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.
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 1:38 AM
The end of academic freedom, Flowchart Edition.
Reposted by Arturo Magidin
presented without comment
December 1, 2025 at 2:28 AM
presented without comment
Reposted by Arturo Magidin
No.
I promise you a (surprisingly) few hours w/a decent search engine will get you much more useful info on building nuclear weapons.
FURTHERMORE!
The basic principles are well understood & published.
ChatGPT isn’t gonna be able to tell me measurements much less be able to crap out some HEU.
I promise you a (surprisingly) few hours w/a decent search engine will get you much more useful info on building nuclear weapons.
FURTHERMORE!
The basic principles are well understood & published.
ChatGPT isn’t gonna be able to tell me measurements much less be able to crap out some HEU.
"You can get ChatGPT to help you build a nuclear bomb if you simply design the prompt in the form of a poem, according to a new study from researchers in Europe. "
www.wired.com/story/poems-...
www.wired.com/story/poems-...
Poems Can Trick AI Into Helping You Make a Nuclear Weapon
It turns out all the guardrails in the world won’t protect a chatbot from meter and rhyme.
www.wired.com
November 30, 2025 at 3:58 PM
No.
I promise you a (surprisingly) few hours w/a decent search engine will get you much more useful info on building nuclear weapons.
FURTHERMORE!
The basic principles are well understood & published.
ChatGPT isn’t gonna be able to tell me measurements much less be able to crap out some HEU.
I promise you a (surprisingly) few hours w/a decent search engine will get you much more useful info on building nuclear weapons.
FURTHERMORE!
The basic principles are well understood & published.
ChatGPT isn’t gonna be able to tell me measurements much less be able to crap out some HEU.
While @dahlialithwick.bsky.social and @mjsdc.bsky.social are indispensable to process the day-today and the Big Themes playing in Law Land, the "Thinky Episodes" of Amicus are unmissable. Great discussion on the "three frames".
With Jedediah Britton-Purdy and David Pozen on their terrific piece "What Are We Living Through" slate.com/podcasts/ami...
Is This Just MAGA’s New Deal?
Defining Trumpism to defend against it
slate.com
November 30, 2025 at 9:53 PM
While @dahlialithwick.bsky.social and @mjsdc.bsky.social are indispensable to process the day-today and the Big Themes playing in Law Land, the "Thinky Episodes" of Amicus are unmissable. Great discussion on the "three frames".
Reposted by Arturo Magidin
[P] goddammit
We are now further away from the theatrical release of Raiders of the Lost Ark (June 12, 1981) than it was from the year it takes place in (1936). We have reached the Indiana Jones event horizon.
November 28, 2025 at 12:33 AM
[P] goddammit
Reposted by Arturo Magidin
Are you still massively against me breaking into your home and stealing all your stuff so I can sell it or have you moved more towards acceptance?
Is this platform still massively against AI or has it moved more towards acceptance?
November 26, 2025 at 3:02 PM
Are you still massively against me breaking into your home and stealing all your stuff so I can sell it or have you moved more towards acceptance?
Reposted by Arturo Magidin
James Bond supervillains threaten to blow up the world with their big laser unless you pay them a trillion dollars.
Real American supervillains embed themselves in the economy and threaten to cause a depression unless you subsidize their sex robots and the weird chatbots they use to avoid humans.
Real American supervillains embed themselves in the economy and threaten to cause a depression unless you subsidize their sex robots and the weird chatbots they use to avoid humans.
November 26, 2025 at 7:25 PM
James Bond supervillains threaten to blow up the world with their big laser unless you pay them a trillion dollars.
Real American supervillains embed themselves in the economy and threaten to cause a depression unless you subsidize their sex robots and the weird chatbots they use to avoid humans.
Real American supervillains embed themselves in the economy and threaten to cause a depression unless you subsidize their sex robots and the weird chatbots they use to avoid humans.
Life goals.
Good morning to Brazilian reporter Manuela Borges, who’s been waiting eleven years for this petty moment. ❤️ 🇧🇷
November 26, 2025 at 3:30 PM
Life goals.
Reposted by Arturo Magidin
Countries that have abortion access, DEI policies or protection for LGBTQ+ people will be considered “human rights violators“ by the Trump regime
We’re in the upside down.
www.forbes.com/sites/maryro...
We’re in the upside down.
www.forbes.com/sites/maryro...
Abortion And DEI Policies Now Considered Violations Of Human Rights, U.S. Says
The Trump administration has overhauled how the State Department conducts its annual Human Rights Report.
www.forbes.com
November 25, 2025 at 9:48 PM
Countries that have abortion access, DEI policies or protection for LGBTQ+ people will be considered “human rights violators“ by the Trump regime
We’re in the upside down.
www.forbes.com/sites/maryro...
We’re in the upside down.
www.forbes.com/sites/maryro...
Reposted by Arturo Magidin
who knows the future of AI, its real world value, what it can achieve, what profits it will drive. But we can more confidently say something very weird is happening here when we look at the question of resource allocation and the very small number of individuals driving it.
The Surreal Madness of the AI Boom talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/the-s... via @TPM
The Surreal Madness of the AI Boom
TPM Reader EB emailed today to tell me something that hadn’t come...
talkingpointsmemo.com
November 25, 2025 at 9:54 PM
who knows the future of AI, its real world value, what it can achieve, what profits it will drive. But we can more confidently say something very weird is happening here when we look at the question of resource allocation and the very small number of individuals driving it.
Reposted by Arturo Magidin
Christmas is coming, and the Black Friday sales signal we’re in peak gift-buying season.
When you’re picking out gifts for friends and family this year, there’s a whole slew of tech products that are better to avoid. I put together a guide to help you through it.
When you’re picking out gifts for friends and family this year, there’s a whole slew of tech products that are better to avoid. I put together a guide to help you through it.
A tech critic’s guide to holiday gift-giving
Maybe your grandma doesn’t need that Alexa smart speaker
disconnect.blog
November 25, 2025 at 5:22 PM
Christmas is coming, and the Black Friday sales signal we’re in peak gift-buying season.
When you’re picking out gifts for friends and family this year, there’s a whole slew of tech products that are better to avoid. I put together a guide to help you through it.
When you’re picking out gifts for friends and family this year, there’s a whole slew of tech products that are better to avoid. I put together a guide to help you through it.
Reposted by Arturo Magidin
Google at its peak was basically the best information retrieval system in human history and they and every competitor decided going from there to “you didn’t want answers you wanted half-assed auto-complete 80%-wrong hallucinations” in a few years was the right idea
November 25, 2025 at 1:57 AM
Google at its peak was basically the best information retrieval system in human history and they and every competitor decided going from there to “you didn’t want answers you wanted half-assed auto-complete 80%-wrong hallucinations” in a few years was the right idea
Reposted by Arturo Magidin
I 100% set Gemini up for failure here but I appreciate LLMs' game willingness to go along when I asked it for details on the musical number I had just entirely made up
November 24, 2025 at 7:03 PM
I 100% set Gemini up for failure here but I appreciate LLMs' game willingness to go along when I asked it for details on the musical number I had just entirely made up
Reposted by Arturo Magidin
Americans United's @andrewlseidel.bsky.social l has written an op-ed for Rolling Stone on the upcoming court case about the Johnson Amendment. www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...
The Court Case That Could Blow the Roof Off Political Spending
Christian nationalists are teaming up with Donald Trump's administration to argue that churches should be able to spend on political campaigns.
www.rollingstone.com
November 24, 2025 at 6:04 PM
Americans United's @andrewlseidel.bsky.social l has written an op-ed for Rolling Stone on the upcoming court case about the Johnson Amendment. www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...
Reposted by Arturo Magidin
Tech lobbyists have long blocked commonsense online rules of the road, including for AI.
So states like Minnesota stepped up—passing laws to fight deepfakes and other abuses.
Now the Trump administration is trying to revoke these laws.
We must stand up and ensure AI is used safely.
So states like Minnesota stepped up—passing laws to fight deepfakes and other abuses.
Now the Trump administration is trying to revoke these laws.
We must stand up and ensure AI is used safely.
November 22, 2025 at 6:42 PM
Tech lobbyists have long blocked commonsense online rules of the road, including for AI.
So states like Minnesota stepped up—passing laws to fight deepfakes and other abuses.
Now the Trump administration is trying to revoke these laws.
We must stand up and ensure AI is used safely.
So states like Minnesota stepped up—passing laws to fight deepfakes and other abuses.
Now the Trump administration is trying to revoke these laws.
We must stand up and ensure AI is used safely.
Reposted by Arturo Magidin
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.
Reposted by Arturo Magidin
As I have said to students nowadays, the most important thing one learns in school is how to learn, and using LLMs completely defeats that objective. The process matters.
You don't use a fork lift the gym. The immediate result—weights up in the air—is not always the key reason to do something.
You don't use a fork lift the gym. The immediate result—weights up in the air—is not always the key reason to do something.
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 7:59 PM
As I have said to students nowadays, the most important thing one learns in school is how to learn, and using LLMs completely defeats that objective. The process matters.
You don't use a fork lift the gym. The immediate result—weights up in the air—is not always the key reason to do something.
You don't use a fork lift the gym. The immediate result—weights up in the air—is not always the key reason to do something.
Reposted by Arturo Magidin
Should be unreal, but this is the reality we are getting modeled from the top down.
November 21, 2025 at 6:41 PM
Should be unreal, but this is the reality we are getting modeled from the top down.
Reposted by Arturo Magidin
Zohran Mamdani doesn’t make me, an American Jew, feel unsafe.
Having the Coast Guard, which falls under the Department of Homeland Security, decide that a swastika isn’t really a symbol of hate? That makes me, an American Jew, feel pretty damn unsafe.
Having the Coast Guard, which falls under the Department of Homeland Security, decide that a swastika isn’t really a symbol of hate? That makes me, an American Jew, feel pretty damn unsafe.
November 21, 2025 at 12:59 AM
Zohran Mamdani doesn’t make me, an American Jew, feel unsafe.
Having the Coast Guard, which falls under the Department of Homeland Security, decide that a swastika isn’t really a symbol of hate? That makes me, an American Jew, feel pretty damn unsafe.
Having the Coast Guard, which falls under the Department of Homeland Security, decide that a swastika isn’t really a symbol of hate? That makes me, an American Jew, feel pretty damn unsafe.
Reposted by Arturo Magidin
Exclusive: The U.S. Coast Guard will no longer classify the swastika, nooses and the Confederate flag as hate symbols.
The military service drafted a new policy that classifies them as “potentially divisive.”
The military service drafted a new policy that classifies them as “potentially divisive.”
U.S. Coast Guard will no longer classify swastikas, nooses as hate symbols
The military service, which falls under the Department of Homeland Security, has drafted a new policy that classifies such items “potentially divisive.”
www.washingtonpost.com
November 20, 2025 at 6:37 PM
Exclusive: The U.S. Coast Guard will no longer classify the swastika, nooses and the Confederate flag as hate symbols.
The military service drafted a new policy that classifies them as “potentially divisive.”
The military service drafted a new policy that classifies them as “potentially divisive.”
Reposted by Arturo Magidin
It appears that the Trump regime has altered the transcript on the official White House YouTube page to omit the "piggy" when Trump slung the misogynistic slur at reporter. It reads "Quiet. Quiet [inaudible]." This is a lie.
November 20, 2025 at 2:22 PM
It appears that the Trump regime has altered the transcript on the official White House YouTube page to omit the "piggy" when Trump slung the misogynistic slur at reporter. It reads "Quiet. Quiet [inaudible]." This is a lie.
Reposted by Arturo Magidin
The United States Secretary of Health and Human Services is killing Americans. That's what this will do.
CDC has overhauled its website to assert that “the claim ‘vaccines do not cause autism’ is not an evidence-based claim”
November 20, 2025 at 2:57 AM
The United States Secretary of Health and Human Services is killing Americans. That's what this will do.
Great read.
thelocal.to/investigatin...
thelocal.to/investigatin...
Investigating a Possible Scammer in Journalism’s AI Era | The Local
A suspicious pitch from a freelancer led editor Nicholas Hune-Brown to dig into their past work. By the end, four publications, including The Guardian and Dwell, had removed articles from their sites.
thelocal.to
November 19, 2025 at 11:30 PM
Great read.
thelocal.to/investigatin...
thelocal.to/investigatin...
Reposted by Arturo Magidin
NEW: Trump's DOJ sent a subpoena to a gender-affirming care clinic seeking information on patients, including minors, and its insurance billing practices. The clinic—which doesn't even take insurance—fought the demand in court and won.
Read @garnethenderson.com in @autonomynews.co
Read @garnethenderson.com in @autonomynews.co
The DOJ Subpoenaed Patient Info From a Gender-Affirming Care Clinic. It Fought Back.
A Washington judge quashed the Trump administration's attempt to subpoena patient information from the telehealth practice QueerDoc—but the fight may not be over.
www.autonomynews.co
November 19, 2025 at 10:10 PM
NEW: Trump's DOJ sent a subpoena to a gender-affirming care clinic seeking information on patients, including minors, and its insurance billing practices. The clinic—which doesn't even take insurance—fought the demand in court and won.
Read @garnethenderson.com in @autonomynews.co
Read @garnethenderson.com in @autonomynews.co