Yearly reminder that you CAN just become a different person, you're not as imprisoned in your life as you think. You can just be the one who dresses nice or exercises or reads a lot, or whatever. You can just start doing it, some people might make fun of you but they don't really care.

It's Christmas Eve, so I'm reposting my favorite "Peanuts" strip, from December 24, 1967, published during the depths of the Vietnam War, also informed by Schulz's own memories of being away from home over Xmas during World War II.

Neither is herpes, but I’ll keep doing my work without either.

Bordel de merde! This will not go well.

Imagine getting pulled over by the police and having to explain this

“No simplicity of mind, no obscurity of station, can escape the universal duty of questioning all that we believe” -W. Clifford

For when Fudgie the Whale is unavailable!

A rather succinct example of the difference between science and blind faith

"One of the most difficult things about depression is realizing you've become accustomed to it." -Byron

This one hit too close to home. Cancer took my wife after 10 years. xkcd.com/3172/

101 yrs ago today, in the NY Times, Edwin Hubble revealed that "spiral nebulae" were in fact distant galaxies separate from the Milky Way – revolutionizing our understanding of the size & scale of the cosmos, an existential reframing of the prevailing view that the Milky Way was the entire universe.

Generative AI is founded on the belief that if you process vast quantities of sows' ears at extremely high speed, you can make them into silk purses.

It is hard to read this piece without imagining oneself as @wiglet1981.bsky.social

Apparently Grok has been taught to deify Musk

A characteristically educational thread from Prof Nichols. While we may be seeing an unprecedented upsurge in authoritarianism, we are still a long way off from genuine fascism. Let's not dilute/distort the word from its actual meaning.

My philosophical evolution in 6 steps: Sartre Spinoza Hume Kant Hofstadter Dennett Keith Frankish

Meanwhile, my employer is now basing some of my yearly bonus on how much I incorporate AI into my daily work.

How many trillions of dollars have been invested into this technology so far?

I actually found this thread reassuring. My adult children and many of my friends speak in such apocalyptic terms these days. Sometimes we all need to step back and have some perspective.

Good article on the history of autism by a cultural anthropologist. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/24/o...

This would be so helpful!

As one of the commenters put it, it's Searle's Chinese Room But Worse!

Intelligence depends on more than cognitive horsepower. It requires cognitive flexibility. The faster the world evolves, the greater the cost of rigidity. Stubbornness is a path to getting trapped in the past. The future belongs to those with the courage to change their minds.

It's National Dog Day. Time to share the saddest scene in the history of television. youtu.be/0WBbKSFhw9A

Had the pleasure yesterday of meeting @johndelancie.bsky.social, actor and noted champion of secular humanism. One of the nicest celebrities I’ve met!

I honestly can’t believe there are still any AI skeptics out there. This tech is obviously revolutionary

This is the single best piece I've read on "replacing coders with AI," it fully dispells the myth from the perspective of a software engineer and does so in a calm, reasonable way. colton.dev/blog/curing-...

Some morning it is not easy to get out of bed

Excellent thread on historical analogies

We live in an America governed by Trump. But we do not have to accept that we live in Trump’s America. My latest for @theatlantic.com Daily: www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/...

Palanquin carried by pangolins.

I enjoyed watching their lute videos, reading their posts on philosophy and religion. When they shared their diagnosis, I encouraged them to stay positive. I told of my late wife who, after being given < 2 yrs with cancer, survived for 10. Wanted them to keep hope. Sincerest condolences to you.

If a Large Language Model (LLM) - a workhorse of AI - sees something repeated a lot, it considers it truth. It cannot tell the difference between a novel and a work of non-fiction. The politicians are out of their minds swallowing the hype of the tech companies and letting this technology run riot

"...[LLMs] are unconcerned with truth because they have no concept of it..." Excellent essay of the state of Generative AI and its dangers

Your frequent reminder a human brain is superior to AI and can be powered by a cheeseburger.

Yes, he is usually right. Disturbingly prescient lately, too.

First act of Glengarry Glen Ross just ended after 30 minutes. Thought the norm for plays was longer first act, shorter second? Odenkirk is excellent. Culkin, not so much. McKean good, although he doesn’t have many lines so far.

Easter truce between dog and cat this past weekend

A very old Soviet joke, from an especially dark time: Foxes are fleeing the USSR in droves. Q: Why are you running away? Fox: The Soviets passed a new law that they’re going to arrest all camels. Q: But you’re foxes! Fox: Yeah, why don’t *you* try proving to the NKVD that you’re not a camel.

“Sleep is good, death is better; but of course, the best thing would to have never been born at all.” Heinrich Heine. I think he was talking about Trump.

Time spent with baby koala on your hand chewing on a eucalyptus leaf is never wasted

Sadly, it’s a good time to once again share this amazing infographic that we ran at @science.org more than 7 years ago 🧪 #IDsky www.science.org/content/arti...

The latest crazy just proves what we all know. They are discussing everything on Signal to avoid any discovery or FOIA or archival laws. So illegal but here we are.

"But I go on this great republican principle, that the people will have virtue and intelligence to select men of virtue and wisdom. Is there no virtue among us? If there be not, we are in a wretched situation." -Madison

Promising research on a vaccine that would remain effective against SAVS-CoV-2 even after it mutates into new variants