samthecoy
@samthecoy.bsky.social
Software professional in the UK. Esperu!
He/him 🏳️🌈
He/him 🏳️🌈
Had to use OnePlus customer service for the first time today, and it's pretty bad. Have a 16 month-old phone whose battery has just completely died, and the only option on offer is to not have a phone for about 2 weeks while it's sorted 😦
January 19, 2026 at 1:53 PM
Had to use OnePlus customer service for the first time today, and it's pretty bad. Have a 16 month-old phone whose battery has just completely died, and the only option on offer is to not have a phone for about 2 weeks while it's sorted 😦
Reposted by samthecoy
Like, I often hear "plagiarism machine that's killing the planet" but I'm very convinced that the copyright panic is actually *harming* artists far more than helping them. Strengthening Disney and Getty's IP rights in the name of "protecting artists" is a very bad thing, I think!
January 6, 2026 at 7:52 PM
Like, I often hear "plagiarism machine that's killing the planet" but I'm very convinced that the copyright panic is actually *harming* artists far more than helping them. Strengthening Disney and Getty's IP rights in the name of "protecting artists" is a very bad thing, I think!
Reposted by samthecoy
In a strange position where I think there are massive, massive social harms to the proliferation of AI (misinfo, deepfakes, predatory 'companions', surveillance, labour rights) but also feel the mainstream arguments against it range from unconvincing (water) to actively harmful (copyright; "soul")
January 6, 2026 at 7:52 PM
In a strange position where I think there are massive, massive social harms to the proliferation of AI (misinfo, deepfakes, predatory 'companions', surveillance, labour rights) but also feel the mainstream arguments against it range from unconvincing (water) to actively harmful (copyright; "soul")
broke: secret santa
woke: egret santa, where you mysteriously gift herons
woke: egret santa, where you mysteriously gift herons
December 12, 2025 at 10:54 PM
broke: secret santa
woke: egret santa, where you mysteriously gift herons
woke: egret santa, where you mysteriously gift herons
Sainsbury's appear to be catering to people who want to buy a Christmas card but don't know when Christmas is‽
December 6, 2025 at 8:55 PM
Sainsbury's appear to be catering to people who want to buy a Christmas card but don't know when Christmas is‽
Reposted by samthecoy
If you're trying to ditch NYT Games, which you should be since their games singlehandedly prop up the entire dogshit rag financially, you should switch to Puzzmo. An annual sub is 50% off today for a crazy $19 and as a bonus doesn't enable the genocides of Palestinians and trans people
Puzzmo — The (new) place for thoughtful puzzles.
Re-imagined mainstays like the daily Crossword Puzzle, modern classics like Really Bad Chess and SpellTower, and even a few brand new puzzles.
www.puzzmo.com
December 2, 2025 at 8:46 PM
If you're trying to ditch NYT Games, which you should be since their games singlehandedly prop up the entire dogshit rag financially, you should switch to Puzzmo. An annual sub is 50% off today for a crazy $19 and as a bonus doesn't enable the genocides of Palestinians and trans people
I find it very funny when prompting image models that the negative prompt is always something like "bad anatomy, extra fingers, low resolution", etc. may as well be "don't mess this up, idiot"
November 19, 2025 at 3:57 PM
I find it very funny when prompting image models that the negative prompt is always something like "bad anatomy, extra fingers, low resolution", etc. may as well be "don't mess this up, idiot"
such an own that "BBC Good Food" and "BBC Food" are separate sites
November 9, 2025 at 1:31 PM
such an own that "BBC Good Food" and "BBC Food" are separate sites
Reposted by samthecoy
Part of the reason why I’m so insistent about folks understanding AI capabilities is that they’re here to stay and we need to start thinking about what to do in such a world. Putting the genie back in the bottle is a pleasant fantasy that delays serious reckoning
November 9, 2025 at 5:29 AM
Part of the reason why I’m so insistent about folks understanding AI capabilities is that they’re here to stay and we need to start thinking about what to do in such a world. Putting the genie back in the bottle is a pleasant fantasy that delays serious reckoning
Reposted by samthecoy
New favourite example of structural ambiguity
November 5, 2025 at 4:54 AM
New favourite example of structural ambiguity
just saw an advert describe Real Madrid as "the most successful Spanish football club in the world" which is a fascinating way to phrase that
October 28, 2025 at 8:58 PM
just saw an advert describe Real Madrid as "the most successful Spanish football club in the world" which is a fascinating way to phrase that
Reposted by samthecoy
This is how many conspiracy theories work, by exploiting real anger from legitimate grievances (often downstream from complex,
unjust systems) and redirecting it onto scapegoats through simplified “conspiracy” narratives.
unjust systems) and redirecting it onto scapegoats through simplified “conspiracy” narratives.
Been thinking about how MAHA in its current articulation is a movement that allows them to harness people's real and justified anger at things like the betrayals of healthcare and insurance and turn it on scientists as scapegoats, by using conspiracy theories
October 22, 2025 at 7:46 PM
This is how many conspiracy theories work, by exploiting real anger from legitimate grievances (often downstream from complex,
unjust systems) and redirecting it onto scapegoats through simplified “conspiracy” narratives.
unjust systems) and redirecting it onto scapegoats through simplified “conspiracy” narratives.
I think about the fact that potatoes have only been in Europe for a few hundred years, at least 3 times a week.
It's my Roman Empire.
It's my Roman Empire.
October 22, 2025 at 8:05 PM
I think about the fact that potatoes have only been in Europe for a few hundred years, at least 3 times a week.
It's my Roman Empire.
It's my Roman Empire.
Reposted by samthecoy
"doxxing" was named after the first person doxed, Robert Dox, 4520 Jacobs Ave, Belview, MN
October 21, 2025 at 9:28 PM
"doxxing" was named after the first person doxed, Robert Dox, 4520 Jacobs Ave, Belview, MN
Reposted by samthecoy
"journalist" should be a protected title, like "engineer". that if you misrepresent things, you lose your practice
Do you have any extremely niche, but serious, ethical stances?
October 19, 2025 at 1:43 PM
"journalist" should be a protected title, like "engineer". that if you misrepresent things, you lose your practice
if you think about it, shuffleboard is an anagram of "huffleboards"
October 3, 2025 at 8:43 PM
if you think about it, shuffleboard is an anagram of "huffleboards"
Reposted by samthecoy
tbt the time a drunk was trying to insult one of the bouncers on the high street and got the devastating response "oh look, someone who doesn't matter has said something that isn't true". I often think about this when not replying to tweets
October 2, 2025 at 12:20 AM
tbt the time a drunk was trying to insult one of the bouncers on the high street and got the devastating response "oh look, someone who doesn't matter has said something that isn't true". I often think about this when not replying to tweets
Cryptic crosswords are such a quaintly british pastime.
October 1, 2025 at 7:00 PM
Cryptic crosswords are such a quaintly british pastime.
The Paper is pretty good! I can definitely see it developing into a worthy successor to The Office (US) in time.
September 25, 2025 at 9:00 PM
The Paper is pretty good! I can definitely see it developing into a worthy successor to The Office (US) in time.
tailscale is sooooo good
September 20, 2025 at 9:23 PM
tailscale is sooooo good
I think tarot and astrology obviously have no predictive power and it's a bad idea to treat them like they do…
…but I think they can maybe be useful, in a similar way to Oblique Strategies. Having a "random seed", encouraging you to think about different aspects of your life, might be beneficial.
…but I think they can maybe be useful, in a similar way to Oblique Strategies. Having a "random seed", encouraging you to think about different aspects of your life, might be beneficial.
August 25, 2025 at 8:22 PM
I think tarot and astrology obviously have no predictive power and it's a bad idea to treat them like they do…
…but I think they can maybe be useful, in a similar way to Oblique Strategies. Having a "random seed", encouraging you to think about different aspects of your life, might be beneficial.
…but I think they can maybe be useful, in a similar way to Oblique Strategies. Having a "random seed", encouraging you to think about different aspects of your life, might be beneficial.
If I was at itch, I don't think I'd have the resilience to keep running the site in the face of some of the stuff people are writing in their replies.
I've been off Big Internet for a while before joining here; I forgot some people could be so persistently abusive. It's really not on.
I've been off Big Internet for a while before joining here; I forgot some people could be so persistently abusive. It's really not on.
August 14, 2025 at 5:57 PM
If I was at itch, I don't think I'd have the resilience to keep running the site in the face of some of the stuff people are writing in their replies.
I've been off Big Internet for a while before joining here; I forgot some people could be so persistently abusive. It's really not on.
I've been off Big Internet for a while before joining here; I forgot some people could be so persistently abusive. It's really not on.
This is pretty cool! It's one of those things I always idly wonder about when I'm doing it, so it's nice to have an answer😃
pudding.cool/2025/08/onio...
pudding.cool/2025/08/onio...
Dicing an Onion, the Mathematically Optimal Way
There is more than one way to dice an onion…
pudding.cool
August 14, 2025 at 5:29 PM
This is pretty cool! It's one of those things I always idly wonder about when I'm doing it, so it's nice to have an answer😃
pudding.cool/2025/08/onio...
pudding.cool/2025/08/onio...
whenever you have text highlighted in IntelliJ and you press ", it's surrounded with quotes.
every text field everywhere should support this, but sadly basically none of them do
every text field everywhere should support this, but sadly basically none of them do
August 12, 2025 at 5:35 PM
whenever you have text highlighted in IntelliJ and you press ", it's surrounded with quotes.
every text field everywhere should support this, but sadly basically none of them do
every text field everywhere should support this, but sadly basically none of them do
Whenever a politician or huckster warns against "trusting the experts", they are usually implying that instead you should just put your trust in them, a single non-expert with ulterior motives and a track record of being wrong.
1. "'Trusting the experts is not a feature of either a science or democracy," Kennedy said."
It's literally a vital feature of both science and of representative democracy.
I've written a fair bit about trust in expertise as a vital mechanism in the collective epistemology of science.
It's literally a vital feature of both science and of representative democracy.
I've written a fair bit about trust in expertise as a vital mechanism in the collective epistemology of science.
RFK Jr. in interview with Scripps News: ‘Trusting the experts is not science’
HHS Secretary RFK Jr. sat down with Scripps News for a wide-ranging interview, discussing mRNA vaccine funding policy changes and a recent shooting at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
www.scrippsnews.com
August 12, 2025 at 5:20 PM
Whenever a politician or huckster warns against "trusting the experts", they are usually implying that instead you should just put your trust in them, a single non-expert with ulterior motives and a track record of being wrong.