Hi, it's me again. I'm reposting this today because a whole lot of people who saw this yesterday told me they appreciated it. Know this: I believe in you. If you need permission to have some quiet space for yourself, here it is. <3

Prometheus stole fire from the gods to give to the people. Techbros, through AI, are stealing fire from the people and using it to warm themselves. What precious fucking irony that is.

Non-industry compromised scientists keep saying these models don't become safe, no matter what, but people keep thinking just because the concept of guardrails is mentioned it must work. By definition, it doesn't. This is not something open to discussion, unless you're a paid shill.

This. And I'm fed up with it. I got rid of a most of my subscriptions, and I'm going to get rid of Windows and Office in the near future too. The only digital stuff I will keep are services that are not predatory, such as Steam, Bandcamp, etc.

Hi. It's me. I'm here to gently ask if you've been giving yourself grace? Patience? Self-care? You've got this. You are enough, and you deserve all the good things.

We have to defeat fascism and build a better nation at the same time. Anyone talking about only one or the other isn’t going to succeed at either.

Trying to measure coding productivity is, and always will be, a fool's errand. Why? Because I can go for a walk then take a shower and have an idea, then write a single line of code that fixes everything I was working on. Immense productivity, but by most metrics I didn't do anything at all.

Picard aesthetics tip: Reading on a screen is fine, but there's nothing like an old bound volume of literature.

My latest cartoon for @theguardian.com books pages.

Her er prøvetryk af mine nye bog. Det er rim om og tegninger af monstre som verden aldrig har set før, og de er alle sammen lavet i samarbejde med børn som tegner-Mads og jeg har optrådt for. Og tro mig, børn finder på noget weird shit.

We can’t demand struggling workers shoulder the cost of climate change while people like Charles Koch swim in their billions. We need to harness the wealth in America to invest in our future.

Thank you to the Boxford Democratic Town Committee for hosting the candidates for the Massachusetts 6th District! It was great to meet so many passionate folks and share my vision for how technology can help all of us instead of just making a couple of billionaires even richer.

Just finished rereading The Little Prince. In English this time… The message is as simple as it is clear: “You can only see clearly with your heart. What is essential is invisible.”

All I'm saying is, if you're someone who has to go to tons of meetings, you should set "meetings" just for yourself, to book time for getting things done

Some of the candidates in my race still think that the elections will happen, Trump will leave and suddenly everything is going to go back to “normal”. I know that fixing this totalitarian mess is going to require truth, reconciliation and consequences.

Picard culinary tip: Tea, Earl Grey, hot.

Hear hear

Starbucks workers are on strike! As a former barista and union member, I am in enthusiastic support. A “corporation” is more than just the investors and board and CEO. When we stand together, we remind the gold-holders who does the actual work.

Me: What development methodology do you use? X: We don’t follow an agile framework. Instead we practice OKRs. Me: Oh, well, that’s refreshing! Mind to share your OKRs? X: Sure. Here they are. Me: Ugh 😳 … well, that’s not quite how it is supposed to be 😬

With that difference that when people tell they practice OKRs I still give them the benefit of the doubt. With Continuous Integration I’m fairly past that.

Thank you Wakefield Democratic Town Committee for hosting me tonight! The community came together to hear from candidates, support wakefieldfoodpantry.org and celebrate Tuesday’s elections with cider and cookies!

Jeffery Epstein documented his blackmail of Donald Trump. Now the question is, what did Trump give him in exchange?

I am very comfortable with my lack of gender. Partially it’s just because I’ve been like this for decades. But it is also an act of faith. My religion teaches that my experience of gender is holy and sanctified. To deny my experience would move away from the sacred. www.uua.org/pressroom/pr...

Kom nu !

OKRs is like Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery. Everybody says they do it. But in reality don’t🤷

There was a lot of gossip. Not because they were both very old, and famous. Not only because both used the same pronouns. Mostly because they were different species. How do they do it? "Like everybody else," the heir to the Elven throne said. The dragon smiled. "With love, care, and enthusiasm."

I wonder if AI companies understand the damage they are doing by rolling out AI customer service bots. Many people’s first interaction with “AI” is seeing service get worse. Even people who aren’t concerned about their jobs are now worried about what it will do to customer service.

Nothing like a bad keynote (no coherent train of thought, missing the target audience, bad AI images) to make me feel less nervous about messing up my talk tomorrow 😅 #qstag2025

At a time when only Barbara Lee voted against the Afghanistan war and Democrats didn’t show up to our protests, Howard Dean covinced me that I belonged in the Democratic Party. www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8DbyhQC/ bethfordemocracy.com

I know what happens when people have to pay for our own healthcare. Until 2014, most insurance plans didn't cover trans healthcare. People waited years, scrimping & saving. Others never got the care they needed. With our care covered by insurance, costs didn't rise: they fell.

We appreciate and support @sbworkersunited.org!

Today Middleton turned out in the bitter cold to honor our veterans. Congress has a responsibility to those who serve. By letting Presidents launch wars on a whim, Congress is ignoring that responsibility. I will take the duties of the office seriously instead of passing the buck.

The Democratic establishment has chosen the candidate they want to put in the Massachusetts 6th District. He’s moving from DC to run and bringing big money with him. You can help us fight for better than a generic politician with a platform written by polls: secure.actblue.com/donate/bab-b...

My latest @newscientist.com cartoon. p.s. my new book of science cartoons 'Physics for Cats' is out now! Order from your local bookshop or online: www.tomgauld.com

Har på sistone hamnat i två diskussioner om dejting där grundargumentet varit "Kvinnor har så höga krav". Bittra män som hävdar att de inte kan leva upp till omöjliga standarder samtidigt som kvinnor säger "Vi får inte ens the bare minimum." För att vara tydlig. Inte alla män. Absolut.

Picard happiness tip: Spend as much time as you can with your soulmate, as I have done with Gandalf.

My books cartoon for this week’s @theguardian.com

From the article: “In a story of theft and security lapses, “Fedora Man” is a gentler counterpoint — a teenager who believes art, style and a good mystery belong to ordinary life. One photo turned him into a symbol. Meeting him confirms he is, reassuringly, real.”

Part of the reason I think there isn’t as much pressure around stopping ChatGPT re: suicide/psychosis as compared to stuff like Panera Lemonade is because people are inclined to blame it on mental illness versus the tech, a kind of victim-blaming mentality that fits neatly into just world fallacy

Good stuff from J.B., as usual. https://mastodon.social/@jbrains/115510006502342418

Free community college will be free to billionaires the same way a tote bag is free to someone who donates $200 to the PTA. We are all in this society together. Politicians should act like it.

Picard management tip: When a policy is doing more harm than good, you must examine and revise that policy. It may require simplification, or it may require greater sophistication. Either way, you must change it.

As Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi knew her shit, didn't take any shit, and had her shit together. Mike Johnson, on the other hand, is full of shit, doesn't do shit, and is scared shitless of Trump.

Hej DR Nyheder var vi ikke enige om at stoppe med at bruge ordet "sex" i sager der handler om overgreb? For det første er det gerningspersonens perspektiv at kalde overgreb for sex For det andet kan man ikke sigtes/dømmes for sex Læs: everydaysexismproject.dk/retningslinj... #mediertagansvar

You can support Starbucks workers by signing the No Contract, No Coffee pledge here: starbucksworkersunited.controlshift.app/petitions/no... If Starbucks doesn’t get its act together, I’ll see some of you on the picket lines!

sorry it's just that none of us are used to people with principles so everything feels new and shocking

The McDonaldization of Friendship. Excellent metaphor being brought up by Lianne Potter @oredev.org about the dangers of AI "friends". It's fast, convenient, readily available and if you do it too often it will be bad for your health!

I am disappointed by Dick Cheney’s death. I had hoped to get to Congress in time to hold him accountable.

The Republican candidate in Virginia ran non-stop anti-trans ads. Then she lost by double digits 💁 Being out and visible is more important to me than ever. I won’t let them turn us into imaginary creatures in some scary fairytale. We are people’s friends, families, coworkers, and Congress members.

One of the cartoons from my new book 'Physics for Cats'. In good bookshops now and online in English, French, German and Spanish editions. I am in Spain this week launching the book - come along! www.tomgauld.com