So much AI journalism feels like gaslighting if you know anything about machine learning pre-2020. Come. On.

Shannon Vallor@shannonvallor.bsky.social · 4d ago

This is so frustrating to read from The New Yorker. Reward hacking *long* predates LLMs. The Coast Runners paper on reward hacking (in reinforcement learning, pre-LLMs) is 10 years old! Reward hacking is not new, and not a sign of a breakthrough intelligence, much less sentience. Did AI write this?

I can't stress enough what a crisis this is. Trump's own intelligence agencies concluded that Iran attacked Minnesota's critical infrastructure and Trump is saying that it's Minnesota's own fault and denying it was Iran. The federal government won't defend blue states in a literal war.

U.S. Sees Iran as Likely Behind Cyberattack on Minnesota Water Systems (Gift Article)

Investigators cautioned that the assessment was preliminary. There were no indications that any water supply had been rendered unsafe to drink.

nytimes.com

There are smart people working at these companies, and yet they keep launching deeply ill-considered products. It's such an obviously bad idea if you think about it for even a second. I'm fascinated by this.

Joseph Cox@josephcox.bsky.social · 5d ago

Update: Google just sent me a statement saying it is “rolling back” this AI feature that let anyone make completely bullshit satellite images. Comes after our demos of the tool and those from OSINT researchers. One of the worst AI tools I’ve ever seen bsky.app/profile/jose...

I have a headache today and I finally understand dark mode.

Help me bluesky — What’s the easiest way for me, a plant dummy, to grow these herbs at home? I love cooking with fresh herbs and hate not trusting my produce.

Dr. Lucky Tran@luckytran.com · 2w ago

I miss being able to Google my more interesting typos to see how many people also made them

Is opening a fire hydrant and playing in the street a specifically NYC thing? Or an American city thing? This is a genuine question, I am talking to a friend from the UK who has no context for it. :)

I love our team @hiddendoor.co and we're all big readers -- we had so much fun sharing our favorite queer book recommendations and I hope y'all love them, too!

Hidden Door@hiddendoor.co · last mo.

HOW IS YOUR TBR PILE? Looking for some new books to read? Well!  In honor of pride month, our team has put together a list of queer book reccs. And when you buy our faves from Bookshop.org during their anti-Prime-day sale, you'll get FREE SHIPPING (through the 26th)!

It feels like no matter what I've accomplished in my career, my current most valuable talent is that if you locked me in a desert cave with a computer and some GPUs I could Iron Man the shit out of that and emerge with a functional LLM using just what's in my own head. And that's really funny.

If walking costs you $1, we all pay $0.01. If biking costs you $1, we all pay $0.08. If bussing costs you $1, we all pay $1.50. If driving costs you $1, we all pay $9.20. Via study that still underestimates climate cost. This isn’t about choice. It’s about who pays for your choice. #citymakingmath

Boss move.

Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani@mayor.nyc.gov · 2mo ago

When James Dolan cancels the watch party outside MSG, we bring the watch party to you. Thanks to the @nba.com, Knicks Game 4 is now playing on dozens of LinkNYC screens across our city. LGK.

As Archbishop Tutu said about apartheid with regards to the Truth and Reconciliation hearings: "Those who claimed they did not know cannot very well say so now. They know.” Except we have internet. We have social media. People know now. We know. We cannot claim otherwise.

Strautz1@strautz1.bsky.social · 2mo ago

I’m really having trouble imagining anyone at any point in history saying the word “knickerbocker” with a straight face, it just has such a funny mouthfeel

BREAKING: the Massachusetts House just passed one of the best data privacy bills in the country. It includes a total ban on the sale of precise location data and includes a private right of action allowing people to sue Big Tech over data abuses. HUGE WIN! But there’s more work to do 🧵

This is really cool. I've been super into strandbeests since I discovered the Gakken kit (which was many, many years ago): www.japantrendshop.com/theo-jansen-...

Theo Jansen Mini Strandbeest Model by Gakken

Theo Jansen Mini Strandbeest Model by Gakken - Discover the wonders of Dutch kinetic sculptor Theo Jansen with this new model kit from Gakken and their Otona no Kagaku (Adult Science) series. The Mini...

japantrendshop.com

Amit Sheen@amitsheen.bsky.social · 2mo ago

👣 CSS Strandbeest This one took a while... Somewhere along the way, this stopped being a CSS experiment and became a trigonometry exercise. 😅 But if there was ever a way to find out what CSS trig functions can do, Jansen's linkage is probably it. 🔗 Live on @codepen.io: codepen.io/editor/amit_...

Good story on the Knicks' subway entrance, the city's current spirit animal. www.fastcompany.com/91553148/kni...

The perfect Knicks orange? It’s actually carrot

Pantone was a bust, so two MTA employees found a perfect color match in the most New York way possible: at a 24-hour hardware store.

fastcompany.com

I spent more time on this piece than almost anything else I've written in the last year. Building a better, more decentralized internet is an inherent necessity if you want a functioning democracy. I hope people find it a useful encapsulation of where we're at. www.liberalism.org/p/enshittifi...

Enshittification, Despotification, and the Open Internet

It’s not about whether technology is inherently good or bad, liberating or oppressive. Architecture shapes incentives; incentives shape outcomes.

liberalism.org

This is a _hilarious_ self-own.

Joseph Cox@josephcox.bsky.social · 2mo ago

This is absolutely nuts: hackers are hijacking high-profile Instagram accounts by simply asking Meta's AI chatbot to change the email on the account. Meta's AI does it, hacker gets password reset code, they're in. A staggering security issue www.404media.co/hackers-simp...

Good morning, Brooklyn, it’s sidewalk chalk season and the kids are awesome.

A beautiful graduation speech. I hope the students took heart.

Gasper Begus@begus.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Here's a commencement speech that didn't get booed at when AI was mentioned. begus.substack.com/p/no-paths-j...

Using Altas, I've been working with @marylowd.bsky.social to turn her Otters In Space books into a playable RPG. Soon you will be able to visit an otter space station, join a lovable crew of otter space pirates, and find out where all the missing tuna has gone!

Hilary Mason@hilarymason.com · 2mo ago

We launched Atlas, a new experience that lets anyone with an idea for a story world make it a playable narrative RPG in as little as 5-15 minutes. Are you a daydreamer, forever DM, writer, or just full of weird ideas? Atlas is for you! Check it out today at hiddendoor.co/create

We launched Atlas, a new experience that lets anyone with an idea for a story world make it a playable narrative RPG in as little as 5-15 minutes. Are you a daydreamer, forever DM, writer, or just full of weird ideas? Atlas is for you! Check it out today at hiddendoor.co/create

Hidden Door@hiddendoor.co · 3mo ago

You can create your own interactive worlds in Hidden Door, starting...now. Meet Atlas, our new studio for worldbuilders. Play with your friends, engage with your fans, and join our revenue share to earn money from your playable world. Happy playing!

This is so well-written.

Kate Violette@kateviolette.com · 3mo ago

Finally have a link to the essay I reference in my thread! Thanks @jenka.bsky.social for digging it up!

The 2007 Shake Shack webcam, all grown up.

Ethan@ethanrosenthal.com · 3mo ago

this is wild damnlines.com

Hey Slack, what "AI abilities"? What are these features for? Why do I want them? How much are you going to try to charge me for these unnamed capabilities that I probably won't use? I am a customer and I have questions.

You're about to see headlines saying abortion pills can't be shipped. THAT IS NOT TRUE You can still get abortion pills by mail to all fifty states. Some providers will switch to miso-only, some will ship both mife & miso. I got into all of this when the federal court ruling first dropped:

The Biggest Attack on Abortion Since the End of Roe

A federal court wants to end mifepristone by mail—it's not happening

jessica.substack.com

All of New York state, not just the city, and also applies to anyone with a kid under 6

Glockymolo🥑@bblanco718.bsky.social · 3mo ago

NOTICE: Do you have an elderly or disabled neighbor in NYC? Be a good neighbor and let them know about the free air conditioner program. If they earn $3473 or less a month, NYC will cover the costs of an A/C. Remember…last summer we had 95 degree weather. Look out for them

Hey NYC! Please tell me we have already given this Bryant Park Lawnmower Roomba a cute & clever name. Patience & Lawnitude? Croton Clipper? Grassbuster? Help me out, New York. We need some (gender neutral) Dad Joke energy.

ICYMI, @hilarymason.com spoke at dev/ai/nyc! You can catch up on the @automattic.com YouTube channel to see our live demo (including a sneak preview of a brand-new platform for story creators) and hear Hilary's conversation with @jesse.blog. Watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5l1Pukl7Eo