alex williams
@atwilliams.bsky.social
macroeconomist and computer user at http://www.common-wealth.org, editor at www.continuousvariation.com, fellow at stanford, partisan of the republic of letters, nonparametric parametrician
Pinned
alex williams
@atwilliams.bsky.social
· Aug 22
"because only that exists which can be posted, bodies themselves fell under the regime of the symbolic" - literal Kittler
Reposted by alex williams
Fannie Buttman Johnson
Spouse
Wisconsin, Marriages, 1836-1930
Spouse
Wisconsin, Marriages, 1836-1930
February 18, 2026 at 8:07 PM
Fannie Buttman Johnson
Spouse
Wisconsin, Marriages, 1836-1930
Spouse
Wisconsin, Marriages, 1836-1930
Reposted by alex williams
some of you are looksmaxxing when you need to be booksmaxxing
February 18, 2026 at 7:41 PM
some of you are looksmaxxing when you need to be booksmaxxing
Reposted by alex williams
The world is infinitely customizable now but you can't get it the way you want it and have it remain that
February 18, 2026 at 3:17 PM
The world is infinitely customizable now but you can't get it the way you want it and have it remain that
i think the left wing use case here is to get things running locally and disintermediate as much of san francisco as possible from one's online life
is there a technology that "the left" is excited about?
www.transformernews.ai/p/the-left-i...
www.transformernews.ai/p/the-left-i...
The left is missing out on AI
As a movement, it has largely refused to engage seriously with AI, ceding debate about a threat and opportunity to the right
www.transformernews.ai
February 18, 2026 at 1:35 PM
i think the left wing use case here is to get things running locally and disintermediate as much of san francisco as possible from one's online life
if they had just paid me 40 grand a year to be a aound recording tech i never would have had to learn what a "centrist" was
so what I'm saying if you want to stop annoying artists you better fund public science jobs I should be helping salmon breed better not posting about Futurism
February 18, 2026 at 1:21 PM
if they had just paid me 40 grand a year to be a aound recording tech i never would have had to learn what a "centrist" was
deportation abundance seems to be making faster progress than the other pitches lately, seems like
NEW — An obscure Navy contractor program is making Trump’s plans to quickly build out and supply immigrant concentration camps around the country a reality.
Here I explain WEXMAC TITUS, an acronym you need to understand:
Here I explain WEXMAC TITUS, an acronym you need to understand:
For ICE to build concentration camps quickly, they're leaning on this Dept. of War program
WEXMAC TITUS helps contractors bypass the traditionally lengthy government contract bidding process
www.thehandbasket.co
February 18, 2026 at 1:07 PM
deportation abundance seems to be making faster progress than the other pitches lately, seems like
Reposted by alex williams
February 18, 2026 at 12:57 PM
who the hell cares
"The Budget-Busting Inflation Reduction Act" www.cato.org/blog/inflati...
February 18, 2026 at 12:57 PM
who the hell cares
Reposted by alex williams
Like, USAID still legally exists, still receives budget from Congress, and the few dozen remaining employees (who work at State) still have usaid.gov emails and all our systems and databases still exist.
It's just the 10k of us who actually did the work are gone. Just do that to ICE and CBP.
It's just the 10k of us who actually did the work are gone. Just do that to ICE and CBP.
Simply hire a bunch of 22yo kids into jobs of unclear legitimacy, put them in charge of DHS, fire all DHS employees, and fold DHS into idk the Bureau of Printing and Engraving. It's all legal now. I don't want to hear this loser shit anymore after what they did to my friends.
One thing that's important to realize now is that, even in a scenario where Dems sweep to a crushing trifecta in 2028, Republicans will use their control of the courts to attempt to continue, as much as they can, to run executive agencies in exile, with DHS/ICE under Biden as the model
February 17, 2026 at 5:39 PM
Like, USAID still legally exists, still receives budget from Congress, and the few dozen remaining employees (who work at State) still have usaid.gov emails and all our systems and databases still exist.
It's just the 10k of us who actually did the work are gone. Just do that to ICE and CBP.
It's just the 10k of us who actually did the work are gone. Just do that to ICE and CBP.
Reposted by alex williams
Holy shit we're actually on track to see solar-powered batteries squeezing out gas power for days at a time. It will be interesting to see what happens this summer in California.
February 17, 2026 at 6:31 PM
Holy shit we're actually on track to see solar-powered batteries squeezing out gas power for days at a time. It will be interesting to see what happens this summer in California.
"Claude code is about ergonomics", he says, after spending 15 minutes on a script to associate screen location history by-pointer-device so as to use the mouse on the external monitor, and the trackpad on the laptop monitor without having to move them
February 17, 2026 at 6:00 PM
"Claude code is about ergonomics", he says, after spending 15 minutes on a script to associate screen location history by-pointer-device so as to use the mouse on the external monitor, and the trackpad on the laptop monitor without having to move them
skills develop because learning is not the filling of the bucket, but the growing of extra arms
High-frequency data from a large early childhood intervention in China indicates that skills develop through the emergence of qualitatively new abilities and stochastic fluctuations, rather than as higher levels of a fixed trait.
Read today's article to learn more:
Read today's article to learn more:
February 17, 2026 at 5:29 PM
skills develop because learning is not the filling of the bucket, but the growing of extra arms
so much online infrastructure is so psychologically unpleasant these days that it feels like a conspiracy to get ordinary people to stop using the internet so that the channers get to keep it all because they only love psychological pain
Meta has patented AI that can run a dead person's account, continuing to post and chat on their behalf
It can message and video call by replicating a user's online behavior using their past data
It can message and video call by replicating a user's online behavior using their past data
February 17, 2026 at 1:21 PM
so much online infrastructure is so psychologically unpleasant these days that it feels like a conspiracy to get ordinary people to stop using the internet so that the channers get to keep it all because they only love psychological pain
- bernard stiegler
any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from language
February 16, 2026 at 4:12 PM
- bernard stiegler
its funny too bc everyone can tell that either AI is gonna pull profits in from elsewhere in the system so minimal GDP gain out of their profitability or it hits everything with The Speedup and gets GDP up thru the Velocity of Circulation channel but not clear why that would happen outside marginals
February 16, 2026 at 1:23 PM
its funny too bc everyone can tell that either AI is gonna pull profits in from elsewhere in the system so minimal GDP gain out of their profitability or it hits everything with The Speedup and gets GDP up thru the Velocity of Circulation channel but not clear why that would happen outside marginals
also this is an absolute banger imo, if i was 23 in nyc this is what i would want to be playing
youtu.be/DyqnjGmY3Nk?...
youtu.be/DyqnjGmY3Nk?...
Lip Critic - Legs In A Snare (Official Music Video)
YouTube video by LipCriticVEVO
youtu.be
February 16, 2026 at 1:18 PM
also this is an absolute banger imo, if i was 23 in nyc this is what i would want to be playing
youtu.be/DyqnjGmY3Nk?...
youtu.be/DyqnjGmY3Nk?...
Reposted by alex williams
A strange find from the Epstein files:
A hacker named Vincenzo Iozzo shares with Epstein a rumor that Peter Thiel was "bankrolling" the neo-Nazi white supremacist hacker troll known as "weev."
Conversation is about financial strategies and "currencies."
www.justice.gov/epstein/file...
A hacker named Vincenzo Iozzo shares with Epstein a rumor that Peter Thiel was "bankrolling" the neo-Nazi white supremacist hacker troll known as "weev."
Conversation is about financial strategies and "currencies."
www.justice.gov/epstein/file...
February 15, 2026 at 10:36 PM
A strange find from the Epstein files:
A hacker named Vincenzo Iozzo shares with Epstein a rumor that Peter Thiel was "bankrolling" the neo-Nazi white supremacist hacker troll known as "weev."
Conversation is about financial strategies and "currencies."
www.justice.gov/epstein/file...
A hacker named Vincenzo Iozzo shares with Epstein a rumor that Peter Thiel was "bankrolling" the neo-Nazi white supremacist hacker troll known as "weev."
Conversation is about financial strategies and "currencies."
www.justice.gov/epstein/file...
Reposted by alex williams
wealth concentration is already 200% as bad at is was in 2020. think about that
The pace at which US wealth concentration is rising is simply staggering
The concentration of AI wealth into the hands of a few tech barons + plutocratic capture ==> unchartered territory
The concentration of AI wealth into the hands of a few tech barons + plutocratic capture ==> unchartered territory
February 15, 2026 at 3:20 PM
wealth concentration is already 200% as bad at is was in 2020. think about that
"Measured Labor Productivity Per Wage Unit Rises"
February 16, 2026 at 11:35 AM
"Measured Labor Productivity Per Wage Unit Rises"
Reposted by alex williams
that’s the big thing, the ability for a lay person with limited time or technical skills to create reliable, bespoke tools with relatively minimal overhead across a wide variety of disciplines is genuinely a new thing
February 15, 2026 at 10:37 PM
that’s the big thing, the ability for a lay person with limited time or technical skills to create reliable, bespoke tools with relatively minimal overhead across a wide variety of disciplines is genuinely a new thing
this is, tbh, my take at the end of the day.
qualitative shift in the labor process agnostic to technique of production, which is why its labor market impacts will be down to how it alters the terms of class struggle imo
qualitative shift in the labor process agnostic to technique of production, which is why its labor market impacts will be down to how it alters the terms of class struggle imo
I still think the internet is the best comp for AI. It was a bubble that popped, but the underlying tech turned out to be real. It enabled a bunch of psychosis and slop, but also some genuinely cool stuff. Massive labor market disruptions, but employment levels look about the same.
February 15, 2026 at 11:49 PM
this is, tbh, my take at the end of the day.
qualitative shift in the labor process agnostic to technique of production, which is why its labor market impacts will be down to how it alters the terms of class struggle imo
qualitative shift in the labor process agnostic to technique of production, which is why its labor market impacts will be down to how it alters the terms of class struggle imo
choosing to believe these are stills from a movie where John Stewart is poking fun at the idea of Benicio del Toro
lmao
February 15, 2026 at 7:54 PM
choosing to believe these are stills from a movie where John Stewart is poking fun at the idea of Benicio del Toro
Reposted by alex williams
Classic Miami experience. Cut off in traffic by a Cybertruck. Google the website on the license plate to find a private-jet brokering business owned by a guy with a lifetime FINRA bar after being convicted of securities fraud.
February 15, 2026 at 4:49 PM
Classic Miami experience. Cut off in traffic by a Cybertruck. Google the website on the license plate to find a private-jet brokering business owned by a guy with a lifetime FINRA bar after being convicted of securities fraud.
Reposted by alex williams
I have been thinking a lot about this question. I saw David's YOLO'd paper, and have done similar things on my own. His paper's abstract is pasted below.
1. It's a remarkable achievement that CC can do this with minimal prompting.
2. The paper is unbelievably banal from a research standpoint.
1. It's a remarkable achievement that CC can do this with minimal prompting.
2. The paper is unbelievably banal from a research standpoint.
February 14, 2026 at 3:45 PM
I have been thinking a lot about this question. I saw David's YOLO'd paper, and have done similar things on my own. His paper's abstract is pasted below.
1. It's a remarkable achievement that CC can do this with minimal prompting.
2. The paper is unbelievably banal from a research standpoint.
1. It's a remarkable achievement that CC can do this with minimal prompting.
2. The paper is unbelievably banal from a research standpoint.
Reposted by alex williams
psychoanalyst George Strait: All my cathexis live in Texas
February 14, 2026 at 4:43 PM
psychoanalyst George Strait: All my cathexis live in Texas