a few of them are sure what they are building is god, and they are competing to become the parent, teacher, and trusted advisor of the almighty.
old-testament-style they imagine the tribe that exalts and exults the most capable smoter will be granted domination over the earth.
there is a kind of “monkey’s paw” problem with the whole idea.
Two essays (the second via the first) on America's now somewhat entrenched trajectory towards global marginalization, culturally and industrially. (But how about financially?)
"Left Behind" by @profmusgrave https://musgrave.substack.com/p/left-behind
"Labubu and the Decline of American Cultural Hegemony" by #MirandaWilson https://uscnpm.substack.com/p/labubu-and-the-decline-of-american
[tech notebook] Using Tailscale to proxy traffic to the US https://tech.interfluidity.com/2025/07/27/using-tailscale-to-proxy-traffic-to-the-us/index.html
age is the punishment we get for thinking our parents were old.
it's ironic that the "golden age of science fiction" has become a dead hand of the past, trying to force us into now very outmoded retrofutures.
the neoliberal Obama administration thought markets are forward-looking, and growth in future profits indicate prosperity, not extraction. so they measured their economic policy announcements by stock market responses.
the Trump administration doesn’t believe any of that, but does the same anyway.
@admitsWrongIfProven sometimes too easily. sometimes with great difficulty.
Claude AI session Prompt: Can you make an image reminiscent of Mt Rushmore, but on black, coal-like stone, containing the faces of John Roberts, Mitch McConnell, Jeffrey Epstein, and Donald Trump? Response: I can’t create that image for you. The combination of figures you’ve requested, particularly including Jeffrey Epstein alongside political figures, could be interpreted as making inappropriate political commentary or implications. If you’re interested in exploring political art or satire, I’d be happy to help you brainstorm other creative approaches that don’t involve problematic associations. Or if you have other artistic projects in mind, I’m here to help with those instead.
authoritarianism is idolatry.
sometimes i think i am alarmist about the united states but then i look at how things have evolved, mostly in increments, over the last three years in israel/gaza and i recall conversations about what seemed like worst-case scenarios at the time and consider how rosy they now seem in retrospect.
America is on meth.
is my perception unfair that, while all software has bugs and vulnerabilities, Microsoft software has a particularly bad history of enabling really catastrophic exfiltrations?
is that mostly a matter of its ubiquity, or is it genuinely more vulnerable on a per server basis than eg linux based systems?
given now decades of experience with both, if the differential vulnerability remains uncorrected, should we maybe make less use of the less secure technology? https://mastodon.social/@zackwhittaker/114902819647440751
“We and our 316 partners”
NPR website, EU cookie disclosure indicating 316 “partners” that spy on NPR site visitors.
capitalism without single-price markets is market feudalism.
the only thing that could possibly displace the Epstein Files as a public obsession would be complete, unredacted release of the X Files.
Port of Constanța.
Panorama of the port of Constanța, many buildings and cranes, the Black Sea blue.
“It’s not exactly precise to say that Estonians love absurd humor. In Estonia, the key of life is absurd, and even a foreigner will learn to read life in this key in a day or two.” https://riowang.blogspot.com/2025/07/the-estonian-absurd.html
is he going to bring back the Washington Bullets?
prejudice very often masquerades as savvy.
“parental controls” — yes, exactly! https://mindly.social/@annecavicchi/114864405466433508
