James Grimmelmann | Lightnews

James Grimmelmann @jtlg.bsky.social · 14h

I generally go with things that are so big as to be inescapable (Barbenheimer), old enough to be universally known (The Matrix), or things that I I know most of them won’t get without some Googling and I’m fine with that (Little Shop of Horrors)

James Grimmelmann @jtlg.bsky.social · 15h

Bad content drives out good.

www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

AI Slop Recipes Are Taking Over the Internet — And Thanksgiving Dinner

Food bloggers see traffic dip as home cooks turn to AI, inspired by impossible pictures

www.bloomberg.com

James Grimmelmann @jtlg.bsky.social · 20h

I listened to The Division Bell again for the first time in many years, and for better and for worse, it sounds exactly like you'd expect from an album recorded on an opulent 1911 houseboat converted into a state-of-the-art studio: meticulous arrangements, impeccable production, god-awful prosody.

Francis Wilkinson @franciswilkinson.bsky.social · 20h

John Roberts has secured his place in history alongside Al Capone and Bernard Madoff. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/25/o...

Opinion | Why Trump Won’t Face Prosecution This Time Around

www.nytimes.com

James Grimmelmann @jtlg.bsky.social · 20h

Andrew Odlyzko in 2020, and newly relevant again today: “An Undertaking of Great Advantage, But Nobody to Know What It Is” was “apocryphal, but … only a slight embellishment of some documented cases.”

www-users.cse.umn.edu/~odlyzko/doc...

www-users.cse.umn.edu

James Grimmelmann @jtlg.bsky.social · 1d

Every law professor ever.

James Grimmelmann @jtlg.bsky.social · 1d

See if you can spot the control questions and answer them “correctly.”

James Grimmelmann @jtlg.bsky.social · 1d

It’s hard for me to see how the organization can make the agreement confidential as against someone who declines to sign it and doesn’t already have an NDA in place with them.

James Grimmelmann @jtlg.bsky.social · 2d

Exactly. There are companies that I think blur this line much much more than Valve does here.

James Grimmelmann @jtlg.bsky.social · 2d

I think the idea of this prong the reverse: *players* invest based on an expectation of profit based on *Valve’s* efforts. (If I were pushing back on the argument I would say that the expectation isn’t reasonable in this gaming context.)

James Grimmelmann @jtlg.bsky.social · 4d

"No, this isn't a pediatric dental practice, this is a pedantic dental practice, as it clearly says on our website. Now, if you could tell me which tooth you're concerned about, using the ISO 3950 numbering system, we can proceed."

Jason Scott @textfiles.com · 5d

Happy Amazing News Day

opensource.microsoft.com/blog/2025/11...

James Grimmelmann @jtlg.bsky.social · 5d

Wittgenstein on writing: "Its object would be attained if there were one person who read it with understanding and to whom it afforded pleasure."

Hazel Anneke Dixon @hazelxd.bsky.social · 6d

Saw a post today that advised writers to stop writing as if a human will read it and start writing for an LLM that will be summarising.

As someone who really enjoyed trying to develop a peculiar but readable authorial voice, I find this incredibly depressing.

Kieran Healy @kjhealy.co · 5d

Leaning in to “Let’s just be assholes” ithacavoice.org/2025/11/feds...

Feds tell county to cease naturalization ceremonies - The Ithaca Voice

ITHACA, N.Y. — Tompkins County officials received a directive from federal immigration officials to cease all local naturalization ceremonies. Naturalization ceremonies are typically held throughout t...

ithacavoice.org

James Grimmelmann @jtlg.bsky.social · 6d

Schacht was just looping the d in mail fraud when Jim Troeltsch's pseudo-radio program, backed by its eustacian-crumpling operatic soundtrack, came over West House's E.T.A.-intercom speaker up over the classroom clock.

James Grimmelmann @jtlg.bsky.social · 6d

Fae licenses are open but non-free. They come with the most amazing and consequential conditions, and no remedial opportunity to cure violations.

James Grimmelmann @jtlg.bsky.social · 6d

If terms of service become binding on you when your regular browser transmits a specific HTTP message to a server, I don't see how you can get around that rule just because your browser has AI in it. In agency law terms, the AI browser has ostensible authority to bind you.

Brad Heath @bradheath.bsky.social · 6d

If Comet or one of the other AI browsers checks "I agree" on one of those click-wrap agreements, is there still a contract?

Brad Heath @bradheath.bsky.social · 6d

If Comet or one of the other AI browsers checks "I agree" on one of those click-wrap agreements, is there still a contract?

James Grimmelmann @jtlg.bsky.social · 6d

Recast a movie with the same actors playing their other famous characters.

Bram Stoker’s Dracula with …

Gary Oldman playing Dracula as Jackson Lamb
Winona Ryder playing Mina as Veronica Sawyer
Anthony Hopkins playing Van Helsing as Hannibal Lecter
Keanu Reeves playing Jonathan as Ted Logan

Hazel Anneke Dixon @hazelxd.bsky.social · 6d

Saw a post today that advised writers to stop writing as if a human will read it and start writing for an LLM that will be summarising.

As someone who really enjoyed trying to develop a peculiar but readable authorial voice, I find this incredibly depressing.

James Grimmelmann @jtlg.bsky.social · 6d

Bad content drives out the Good Word.

Anthony Oliveira @meakoopa.bsky.social · Jul 9

AI slop now making up saccharine Bible verses that do not exist

HOLY BIBLE
Holy Bible ©
@Holy_Bible1
Follow
Matthew 18:19
MATTHEW 18:19
"He prayed for her, she prayed for him and God smiled knowing that their names are already written next to each other."

James Grimmelmann @jtlg.bsky.social · 7d

I participated in a train station intercept survey.

James Grimmelmann @jtlg.bsky.social · 7d

a lesson, but not the only one

James Grimmelmann @jtlg.bsky.social · 7d

If this is like Cornell’s research ethics system, you may need to specify that you are lodging a “complaint” of “research misconduct” (the term of art under federal regulations). This makes it extremely hard for them to sweep it under the rug, because it triggers the obligation to investigate.

James Grimmelmann @jtlg.bsky.social · 7d

Call their advisor.

Naomi Clark (@metasynthie) 暗悪直美 @halfrobot.com · 8d

(eulogistically)
Tass Times... in Tonetown. Are you Ultratone? Or a total tourist?

Amy Hoy @amyhoy.bsky.social · 8d

why would i hate people for being of a different race, ethnicity, sexuality or gender than me when i can instead hate SHITTY SOFTWARE and the LAZY SHITASSES WHO MAKE IT

James Grimmelmann @jtlg.bsky.social · 8d

Bad content drives out good.

Casey Newton @caseynewton.bsky.social · 8d

Stereogum says Google's switch to AI Overviews reduced its ad revenue by *70 percent* www.theverge.com/entertainmen...

Stereogum soldiers on in the era of streaming and AI

Stereogum Founder Scott Lapatine on the importance of independent media in the age of AI slop and algorithms.

www.theverge.com

Casey Newton @caseynewton.bsky.social · 8d

Stereogum says Google's switch to AI Overviews reduced its ad revenue by *70 percent* www.theverge.com/entertainmen...

Stereogum soldiers on in the era of streaming and AI

Stereogum Founder Scott Lapatine on the importance of independent media in the age of AI slop and algorithms.

www.theverge.com

James Grimmelmann @jtlg.bsky.social · 11d

I’ve done this, but (a) can I undo the updates Crossref already made, and (b) can I go upstream to tell Crossref to stop pushing OSF updates to my profile while allowing others?

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