Shannon Vallor

thank you I would have done that wrong

Reposting for no particular reason, except that I want to carve it into this century’s forehead

No, I’m pretty sure it’s you doing that shit. So: why are you?

I think AI wrote the paragraph and Roose didn’t even think to question it

my response to this woeful NYT bot-addled misreading of Cormac McCarthy:

Also got to give my first talk from the new book in progress - and now I am even more excited to write when I get home. If Puffin will let me.

Wrapping up a wonderful time at CEU with a conference organised by @timcrane.bsky.social on historical & philosophical foundations of AI. I was giddy at being able to talk with historians of computing (@nescioquid.bsky.social, Thomas Haigh, Amira Moeding) for days! Philosophers need this more often.

Long-time buddies Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols were out for a pleasant van drive in Oklahoma when, all of a sudden, their lives would change.

1. Are you currently using an AI tool for work-related tasks or projects? * Yes * No, but I would like to (PLEASE SKIP TO QUESTION 7)

My employer asks me to complete a survey on AI usage for which this is the first question (required):

Amazon holds engineering meeting following AI-related outages Ecommerce giant says there has been a ‘trend of incidents’ linked to ‘Gen-AI assisted changes’

Amazon holds engineering meeting following AI-related outages ft.trib.al/p0X3Dtw

Current and former Block workers say AI can’t do their jobs after Jack Dorsey’s mass layoffs: ‘You can’t really AI that’ The CEO said he cut the company’s workforce by 4,000 people – almost in half – because of gains in AI productivity

“There’s a distinction between what’s technically possible and just – pardon my French – whatever CEO bullshit will happen based on their own interpretation of how AI works”
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

We did try to warn them but

‘democracy dies in strawberry matcha, or something’

I am ashamed that I laughed at this but then it’s the only possible human response to this being our reality

a man really wrote the words “devising ever more intricate beverages, we knock one more chunk from society's foundation.”

and they put it in the newspaper.

I am sure there are toxic David Lynch fans out there but in general I feel like it’s a pretty good and interesting fandom because we argue about whether or not an entire movie is about a line Lynch read in the Upanishads or if he just really likes bunny rabbits and wanted more rabbits

oh shit

“62 percent of the respondents are using AI to make “most decisions.” A whopping 140 of the moguls reported second-guessing their own ideas when they conflicted with AI’s recommendations, while 46 percent said they now rely on advice from AI more than that of their own business colleagues”

Outraged Jesus painting with *Forgiveness Stops* caption

An LLM does not need to pull a trigger or automate a missile to serve the cause of war. It can work to make obscene violence feel justified and rational — to give you the illusion that you have “thought the matter through.” 🧵

I think this is about the temperature but honestly it works for decades as well

Study Finds That Execs Are Outsourcing Their Thinking to AI The same class of business executives who heaped AI onto us by the shovelfull aren't immune to its effects.

Outsourcing their what now?

Will die mad about The Peripheral.

Also Freaks and Geeks but that was a jewel that didn’t even need an ending

TheCybersmith @thecybersmith.bsk... • 1d • Joined May '23 Birth of a Nation is a misunderstood film, IMO, depiction is not endorsement, and DW Griffith's contributions to cinematography shouldn't be overshadowed by the fact that some people decided to interpret his film as supporting controversial political agendas. O1 cartoon dog gf @jazzpomegranate.c... • 1d • Joined Jul '23 @ Bard @2 Cleric have you seen it? 0312 17 •~... TheCybersmith @thecybersmith.bsk... • 3h • Joined May '23 Wait, I just found some clips online. That's... look, I'll take Griffith at his word that he wasn't trying to seem borderline-fanatically bigoted, but really man; this could have used a second draft. 03

■ TheCybersmith @thecybersmith.bsk... • 3h • Joined May '23 Oh, fuck. 0 4 91104日日. TheCybersmith @thecybersmith.bsk... • 3h • Joined May '23 Yes, I can see why people thought he was promoting intolerance here. • 1 TheCybersmith @thecybersmith.bsk... • 3h • Joined May '23 Was it just impossible to find mixed-race extras back then? All of these half-breed northern soldiers are played by white actors in makeup!

目 TheCybersmith @thecybersmith.bsk... • 2h • Joined May '23 Huh. The film's treatment of Lincoln is surprisingly sympathetic. I think I can see what Griffith was going for, but some of the choices he made really detract from the more nuanced ideas he wanted to put across (why do the black characters speak like that?) 031 04 TheCybersmith @thecybersmith.bsky.social • Joined May '23 THAT'S NOT A TRIAL! THAT@S JUST MURDER WITH EXTRA STEPS! 3:07 PM • Mar 8, 2026

friends, I have brought you a gift

The joys of nerd trading (sharing your favorite obscure music, books, whatever) are among the cheapest and most enduring forms of social happiness

given enough rope to hang us all

Because my beloved anthropologist friend is no longer here I have to trust you folks (I might regret this) as I cull my titanic reading stack: The Dawn of Everything. Yay or nay? Worth the time or no?

a man with a ring on his finger says fair in sign language Alt: Stefan (Bill Hader) from SNL says ‘Fair’

I am an unapologetic Dunkin junkie, and when in Boston/NYC I freely choose it over fancy pastries and espresso. But the European franchise here is serving brown rainwater runoff and cardboard. Maybe it’s a coordinated campaign to punish traveling Americans, to which I say

I just tried a Dunkin’ Donuts in Vienna. I’m sorry God. Please don’t punish me further.

that feels alarmingly near to the scenario my family still calls The Clam Dip Incident

I would eat twelve crab rangoons before taking one bite of either. That said I am not exactly over the moon about the idea of eating twelve crab rangoons