To paraphrase: AI will become conscious because we will be duped into using the word "consciousness" to describe it. I eyerolled so hard I think I did myself an injury.

What a joy to read the words of present heroes about the music of heroes past.

Why can't this witch simply melt away into the sewer of history?

Avrana Kern has entered the chatroom. (h.t. @aptshadow.bsky.social's outstanding Children of Time series, of which I'm currently in the middle of book 3.)

Jack DeJohnette, just one of the deepest musicians ever, and a personal hero. Here is my obituary for NPR Music.

Today's soundtrack will heavily feature this blistering album, in remembrance of the master whose drumming underpins its energy, and whose foresight preserved the recording itself. RIP Master DeJohnette.

LOL

Well *this* weekend's cooking is going to be fun AF.

Unix fan, tweaked hex to get in-game resources, jazz musician, emacs/vi user, loves Scheme. Thomas Morgan may be my perfect spirit animal. I can't wait to hear his debut as a leader.

Lesson #\infty on shooting one's own foot:

Obed Calvaire is a legend. The Haitian repository of musical traditions is a deep, deep wellspring.

FFS you guys, this timeline broke Randall.

Sure, guardrails imposed by government are often flawed, but we've seen over and over again that unfettered capitalism will not police itself. I'll take the flawed guardrails and do my best to make them less flawed.

Thread

Not far into the early set at The Village Vanguard on Thursday night, I had a wildly irresponsible thought: at this moment, the Miguel Zenón Quartet might actually be the best band in the world.

Nate Smith's new album is all 🔥🥁🎵

This beer pub comes WITH ITS OWN CAT. Her name is Amber (I mean, obv.) Also, the glass on the counter (right above the laptop because LET'S TEMPT FATE) has a sign next to it that says "Amber's drink". This vacation is awesome.

How you know you married the right person: She makes a special map of places in Amsterdam that sell HATS and CHEESE ♥️.

Over on Whatever today, I write on the Pixel 10 Pro's "Pro-Res Zoom" and how that "AI"-generated zoom feature is not creating photos, but illustrations, some of which have not much to do with actual reality, and what that means for taking photos with the phone: whatever.scalzi.com/2025/08/29/p...

There is no better end to a week than new music released by Miguel Zenón.

If the look is cool with some of the most massive objects in the universe, then I don't feel that bad either. #ThanksScience

Sometimes one has to look to the masters for perfection in irreverence and rulebreaking. (Seen at the Asian Art Museum in SF as part of the exhibition on new Japanese clay forms)

I've made a conscious choice this year to disconnect from most of the internet and just consume books and music, and make things I love (music, food). It remains a good choice. These are books #41 & #42 YTD.

My response to almost every LinkedIn post on AI these days.

ZOMG

@scalzi.com what did you do?

OK, I don't think I've been this blown away by a saxophonist's sound since I first stumbled into a Miguel Zenón set at the Jazz Bakery in LA 25 years ago. She's incredible.

<taps the sign>

It's that time of the year. To the question "Does this manager model Google's values?" I really want to answer: "Fuck no. They're *wonderful*."

i think the worst thing that happened to RSS was people believing that Google Reader WAS RSS Google Reader died, RSS did not

We've had AI-awareness added to the job ladder for most engineering roles. As someone who often deals with C++ variadic generics, I can tell you that AI completely destroys one's productivity. I've seen it mangle the code to the point of needing a hard reset to the previous commit.

Spent an hour making a nice engraving of an excellent exercise from (every drummer's drummer) Dan Weiss. Now off to print and shed. #SundayAfternoonVibes

A beautiful essay on what it means (to an artist) to make art. I was happy to read something that I say often in discussions of "can AI make art", which is that the *intention* of the artist is paramount in whether or not something is meaningful to the receiver as "art".

Thought you might like to know. 😃

Bless Bill's little heart.

Re-post from 5 years ago — bonkersworld.net/presidential...

70% of the way through this, and I already think it's one of the most compelling books written about the rapacious industrialization of what ought to have been a beneficial technology. @karenhao.bsky.social has done an *outstanding* job. Highly recommended.

I never got to hear Geri Allen perform live. In fact, I only heard about her because folks like Jason Moran and Terri Lynn Carrington continually revisit and uplift her music in *their* performances. We need to talk about her music and contributions more. She's criminally underrated.

Technology often serves as an amplifier for both the good *and* the bad. Careful regulation tries to minimize the harms while retaining most of the good. Blanket bans on regulation are a recipe for disaster and grift.

Wooooo! Just dropped in my queue. @karenhao.bsky.social is awesome and I can't wait to devour this.

Oh great. So we still have a chance to alter this shitty timeline.

Ganavya has a new album out today. Her voice will never cease to be balm.

No, they aren't.

Yukichi is (and has been) my spirit animal forever.

Well this just dropped in my Libby queue. Can. Not. Wait to devour it. @alexhanna.bsky.social & @emilymbender.bsky.social are 🔥.

Implement a 100% tariff and ruin a movie. Six Men and Two Babies

1. The Arizona legislature passed three anti-trans bills... but they did not become law. That is because Governor Katie Hobbs has just vetoed all of them. They would have barred birth certificate updates and banned colleges from mentioning gender identity. Subscribe to support my journalism.

Dear Canada (But seriously, like actually thrilled)

With the improved resolution of tennis balls over electrons, scientists can finally observe down to Planck length. Unsurprisingly, everything down there is just made of… well, planks.