Eyes on this story, both for the implications on the LLM sector and for the company’s approach to publicity after they were effectively targeted by bad actors.
Microposts
How the networking technology sector is changed by the introduction of AI.
Wednesday, November 12, 2025 →
Bookmarking this 404 media podcast specifically because it discusses how librarians are navigating the rise of AI.
Why Tim Berners-Lee still believes in the web | The Verge
You want to have control of your own destiny. We call it digital sovereignty. In the old days, the early days of the web, anybody used to be able to make a website. So that feeling of sovereignty as an individual being enabled and being a peer with all the other people on the web, that is what we are still fighting for, and in fact, we need to rebuild.
“Writing is a practical skill—particularly since most of our online communication is text-based to begin with. …Done well, it means you’re contributing signal, instead of noise.”
More on rhetorical velocity and the art of the remix. As Lawrence Lessig says, “Remix is how we as humans live and everyone within our society engages in this act of creativity.”
Big news in ecommerce: TikTok Shop is now bigger than ebay.
Writing for the public in an age of anxiety: “This article identifies five topoi of this new rhetorical landscape—presence, persistence, permeability, promiscuity, and power—describing the anxieties and affordances they present for student writers, the dispositions toward writing they foster, and the challenges and opportunities they pose for composition. This framework provides a critical vocabulary for compositionists seeking to help those who negotiate emerging networked publics.”
On virtuous cycles: “Culture is the core of the virtuous cycle, in which shared principles guide you toward collective goals.”
I met a friend for dinner, we had a time, and as she left she mentioned her long-time book club and how much everyone hated their latest read. What was it? I asked. She said, “Have you heard of ‘The Heart in Winter’?” 😭
Yet another playlist added to my playlists page.
Why emphasis on literacy, writing, reading and the canon is always politically prescient. Also why the cyborg’s mark remains one of my favorite metaphors.
I miss Twitter because I’m full of big opinions and inappropriate one-liners. Anyway, here’s an analysis from WIRED on the implications of this month’s AWS outage.
Very much enjoying the Netflix series “Dark Winds,” based on the series of novels by Tony Hillerman. Not only does the storytelling slap, but it’s visually beautiful, with sweeping Southwest vistas and a fleet of classic vehicles that look so good in widescreen.
Wisconsin Watch profiled the Pulaski News, the newspaper of record in a ~3500 person village in northeast Wisconsin, run by high school students.
France is taking the “not now, sweetie, mommy is cyberbullying the mayor” meme to new legal arenas.
On prompt injections: Because AI chatbots are trained to be helpful and to understand context, jailbreakers are able to engineer scenarios where the AI believes ignoring its usual ethical guidelines is appropriate. Is it currently possible to safeguard LLMs from injection attacks at scale?
What made blogging different? Reflections on 25 years of digital media.
Out: SEO; In: GEO.
“LOLgislation,” or how memes become policy, and posting becomes praxis.
For many years, “shitposting” has been a staple of internet culture in which individuals riff on the moment using nonsense and irony, derailing threads for fun. In today’s influencer-driven attention economy, however, shitposting as a practice is now a meaningful comms and engagement strategy.
A difficult number for so many reasons.
The next big trend in AI that I’m watching is platform integration. First company to produce the interoperability required for a united platform experience wins.
RIP D’Angelo. And a good occasion to reread this excellent 2012 profile discussing fame, religion, and how his status as a sex symbol in his youth negatively impacted D’Angelo’s self-esteem - and ultimately his career.
What happens to college towns after they’re hit by the so-called enrollment cliff?
Choco Taco is back: the business and engineering behind the revival of a retro treat.
Thursday, September 25, 2025 →
From Propublica, on how publicly-funded private school vouchers are funding a segregation academy dynamic.
Thursday, September 25, 2025 →
Saving for later: The story of DOGE, as told by federal workers.
A lovely story about the restoration of prairie land undertaken by the nuns of Holy Wisdom, just outside of Madison, WI.