There are many terrifying things happening right now, but let’s not forget about this spectacularly dumb thing that is also, somehow, continuing.

I’ve been meaning to reread this for a while, and I’m glad I finally got to it. It’s fifteen years old now and feels it sometimes (not necessarily in a bad way), but it’s a fun read.

I appreciate Doctorow’s use of MMOs as a metaphor for economics, and even if I’m not economically savvy enough to follow all the details or evaluate their accuracy, it’s a lot of fun to read about “Great Recession, but a heist carried out by unionized workers.”

What a terrible time we’re living in. Good for these clergy, and let us all remember that they aren’t even seeing the worst of the inhumanity currently so popular.

Just heard a podcast ad where Amazon tries to claim that shopping from them is supporting small businesses, and it made me want to barf.

There’s a lot I like in this book: the call for urgency; its focus on bottom-up movements; echoes of Ellul, Graeber, and other authors I’ve appreciated. It feels like an example of the prophetic voice, and I hope to keep it in mind in the years to come.

I’m not an economist or an environmental expert, so I feel inadequate in my ability to thoroughly review it. I wish it were easier to translate those lofty ideals into daily action, though maybe part of the point is that there are no easy answers to this.

What. The. Hell.

Nick Fuentes is bad news, and I’m glad some in the GOP are recognizing that.

Good interview, and yet another thing reminding me that I need to read my copy of the book!

No surprises here but still worth bookmarking.

Honest question: Is Grokipedia a wiki? Or just Grok output?

Easy to dunk on Grokipedia, but this article gets at some ideas that I think are particularly important. If I had more time for blogging this semester, I’d write something up on Ellul’s image vs. word dichotomy and how it aligns with Koebler’s thoughts here.

Some good observations worth bookmarking.

Technology, efficiency, and growing public and private power—this has Ellul written all over it. Gift link.

Who could possibly have anticipated this?

Finally got this book, so I guess I need to read it now.

Not sure if I agree with everything here, but it’s important reflection.

Booooooo. That Wikipedia is being mined by AI scrapers and negatively affected by AI search is such a perfect encapsulation of my concerns about generative AI.

I probably ought to rate this book higher. Even if I’m not terribly interested in psalmic structure and how it applies to the Book of Alma, there are some fascinating readings of familiar characters and stories in this book. In particular, Turley’s reading of Ammonihah and “fire and brimstone” has really impacted me, and I want to spend more time with it.

In fact, that’s ultimately what keeps me from rating the book higher. I’m powering through this series and more often skimming than reading. I don’t regret that if it’s the price I pay for finally making my way through all twelve volumes, but it does mean it’s hard to truly evaluate some of these books.

The Onion is truly one of the media outlets we need most during these times.

Some good (scary) observations in here—not least speculation on what xAI’s version of Sora would look like.

Look, maybe this is a genuine misstep on OpenAI’s part, but it still feels to me like the company started with the guardrails off so that it could use this kind of user backlash to push the Overton Window in conversations with rightsholders.

Also, remember that we small potatoes rightsholders will never be able to have our voices heard like Disney or Nintendo.

Something feels off here. An AI CEO who claims they genuinely didn’t anticipate copyright and deepfake concerns is either dumb or playing dumb. I can’t help but suspect the latter, which is arguably worse, since it suggests an effort to shift the discourse before complaints come in.

Oh là là, comme il a beaucoup exigé ce livre ! Ça fait des mois que j’essaie de le lire, et les écrits d’Ellul ont souvent dépassé ma capacité de comprendre le français philosophique.

Je pardonne beaucoup à ce livre pour trois raisons. D’abord, c’est surtout un brouillon, n’ayant jamais été publié, et ce qui était surtout pénible aurait sans doute été corrigé lors d’une vraie édition du livre. Deuxièmement, il y a beaucoup de pépites d’or là-dedans, même s’il faut beaucoup creuser pour les atteindre. Enfin, malgré mes plaintes, j’aime beaucoup la façon dont ce livre joint les deux grands thèmes de l’écriture d’Ellul lors de son vivant.

This is a good article; it would be easy to just roll eyes at Cruz, but this goes further in explaining how Wikipedia actually works.

Just bookmarking everything I read on Sora for future grumpiness.

Wish I’d made more of a stink about Lexington adopting Flock cameras. It’s a creepy-as-hell technology, and we need to get rid of them.