Aja Romano
@bookshop.bsky.social
Longtime culture writer, full-time fan. Formerly of Vox. Member, WGAE, ATCA. They/them or she/her, etc. http://ajaromano.com - I am NOT @bookshop.org lol.
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Aja Romano
@bookshop.bsky.social
· Sep 13
Omg i have video, FINALLY! that means you all get to enjoy my hyperfixation (that will apparently take like an hour to upload but idc we're doing this), what else
Wang Yibo, Like the Sunshine (1/5)
Wang Yibo, Like the Sunshine (1/5)
This thread underscores what I keep saying about trying to do any actual, practical work with gen AI. It doubles your workload, it doesn't reduce it. You have to go through and correct and proof EVERY "edit" or line of text it spits out. It's exhausting. Just save time and do the thing yourself!
Having worked a little with AI for a variety of things: editing the video podcast (AI can identify which camera shot has the talking person), YouTube SEO (AI can identify the right keywords for a given topic), and editing the podcast audio (AI can identify filler words and umms and ahhs)... I don't
I have grown to believe that excessive wealth does something to your brain that is analogous to a serious head injury
December 15, 2025 at 4:45 PM
This thread underscores what I keep saying about trying to do any actual, practical work with gen AI. It doubles your workload, it doesn't reduce it. You have to go through and correct and proof EVERY "edit" or line of text it spits out. It's exhausting. Just save time and do the thing yourself!
oh i loved The Sure Thing, i vividly remember the delight i felt watching it, and somehow i had totally forgotten it until you said this, and totally forgotten that Reiner directed it. But of course he did.
December 15, 2025 at 5:13 AM
oh i loved The Sure Thing, i vividly remember the delight i felt watching it, and somehow i had totally forgotten it until you said this, and totally forgotten that Reiner directed it. But of course he did.
This weekend has been relentless violence at an emotional and cultural scale it's difficult to process.
Stand up to extremism, demand gun control, take better, kinder care of yourselves and of each other, and fund the orgs that help you do all this. That's all I know.
Stand up to extremism, demand gun control, take better, kinder care of yourselves and of each other, and fund the orgs that help you do all this. That's all I know.
December 15, 2025 at 5:02 AM
This weekend has been relentless violence at an emotional and cultural scale it's difficult to process.
Stand up to extremism, demand gun control, take better, kinder care of yourselves and of each other, and fund the orgs that help you do all this. That's all I know.
Stand up to extremism, demand gun control, take better, kinder care of yourselves and of each other, and fund the orgs that help you do all this. That's all I know.
surely they can probably answer this question for you, or at least give you guidance based on your medical history?
December 14, 2025 at 6:55 AM
surely they can probably answer this question for you, or at least give you guidance based on your medical history?
it's also unclear 9/10 times what the work even *is* because absolutely everything is covered in layers of pointless jargon.
December 14, 2025 at 4:46 AM
it's also unclear 9/10 times what the work even *is* because absolutely everything is covered in layers of pointless jargon.
It's miserable, and seems so dysfunctional. Yet short of freelancing, hell, even freelancing, I'm not sure how to find the jobs I'm actually qualified for without going through the whole futile AI-filtered grind.
December 14, 2025 at 4:44 AM
It's miserable, and seems so dysfunctional. Yet short of freelancing, hell, even freelancing, I'm not sure how to find the jobs I'm actually qualified for without going through the whole futile AI-filtered grind.
I'm at the point in my job search where the job isn't even my goal — I just want a real human to read my resume. 😩
It's like I'm Carol in Pluribus but everyone else is an AI constantly suggesting I tweak my LinkedIn profile to match countless jobs a human would instantly see I'm overqualified for.
It's like I'm Carol in Pluribus but everyone else is an AI constantly suggesting I tweak my LinkedIn profile to match countless jobs a human would instantly see I'm overqualified for.
December 14, 2025 at 4:19 AM
I'm at the point in my job search where the job isn't even my goal — I just want a real human to read my resume. 😩
It's like I'm Carol in Pluribus but everyone else is an AI constantly suggesting I tweak my LinkedIn profile to match countless jobs a human would instantly see I'm overqualified for.
It's like I'm Carol in Pluribus but everyone else is an AI constantly suggesting I tweak my LinkedIn profile to match countless jobs a human would instantly see I'm overqualified for.
(yes I've complained about this repeatedly to @support.bsky.team. I have no idea why there's not more urgency in making such a powerful and necessary tool functional across both platforms.)
December 13, 2025 at 11:38 PM
(yes I've complained about this repeatedly to @support.bsky.team. I have no idea why there's not more urgency in making such a powerful and necessary tool functional across both platforms.)
the problem with this (I say this as someone who uses this tool religiously) is that it never, ever works across both the mobile app (Android) and desktop versions of Bluesky. So if you hide a post on one platform, then move onto the other, you see it again and have to hide it all over again.
Again, if this thread is upsetting you and you'd rather it not pop up on your timeline, go to the top post in the thread, click/tap on the three dots at lower right, and choose "Hide this post for me"
December 13, 2025 at 11:38 PM
the problem with this (I say this as someone who uses this tool religiously) is that it never, ever works across both the mobile app (Android) and desktop versions of Bluesky. So if you hide a post on one platform, then move onto the other, you see it again and have to hide it all over again.
it's just that the optics are so skeevy and he seems motivated less by sudden onset ethics than petty glee at delivering her comeuppance.
it's an ESH episode of AITA.
it's an ESH episode of AITA.
December 12, 2025 at 6:46 PM
it's just that the optics are so skeevy and he seems motivated less by sudden onset ethics than petty glee at delivering her comeuppance.
it's an ESH episode of AITA.
it's an ESH episode of AITA.
smoke, smoke, sign of the devil, sign of the devil, city on fire, but it's just a winter sunset
December 11, 2025 at 11:06 PM
smoke, smoke, sign of the devil, sign of the devil, city on fire, but it's just a winter sunset
TIL my bestie Barbara Hambly wrote Star Trek tie-ins! will have to check them out
December 11, 2025 at 10:57 PM
TIL my bestie Barbara Hambly wrote Star Trek tie-ins! will have to check them out
John Ford, How Much For Just The Planet 🙏
December 11, 2025 at 10:08 PM
John Ford, How Much For Just The Planet 🙏
reading a cursed job application: mandating face-to-face interaction, in-person job attendance, and writers who "communicate with purpose and humanity"—all while insisting that their hires enthusiastically use gen AI.
Know what using gen AI won't help you do? COMMUNICATE WITH PURPOSE AND HUMANITY💀
Know what using gen AI won't help you do? COMMUNICATE WITH PURPOSE AND HUMANITY💀
December 11, 2025 at 10:07 PM
reading a cursed job application: mandating face-to-face interaction, in-person job attendance, and writers who "communicate with purpose and humanity"—all while insisting that their hires enthusiastically use gen AI.
Know what using gen AI won't help you do? COMMUNICATE WITH PURPOSE AND HUMANITY💀
Know what using gen AI won't help you do? COMMUNICATE WITH PURPOSE AND HUMANITY💀
Reposted by Aja Romano
in case anyone was wondering wtf happened to @thelouvreof.bsky.social/Louvre of Bluesky: the creator got doxxed, bsky did nothing, and they decided to go out in a blaze of glory
December 11, 2025 at 1:57 AM
in case anyone was wondering wtf happened to @thelouvreof.bsky.social/Louvre of Bluesky: the creator got doxxed, bsky did nothing, and they decided to go out in a blaze of glory
So yes, Taiwan is a self-governing independent democracy fighting to remain that way.
December 11, 2025 at 6:22 PM
So yes, Taiwan is a self-governing independent democracy fighting to remain that way.
Taiwan is fighting to preserve its autonomy and independence from MLC, so this toy is objectively incorrect
December 11, 2025 at 5:14 PM
Taiwan is fighting to preserve its autonomy and independence from MLC, so this toy is objectively incorrect
that's so cool ahhh
December 10, 2025 at 2:20 AM
that's so cool ahhh
I do wonder if more culiecues and serifs would help one cope with The Horrors or just add to the grotesquerie.
December 10, 2025 at 2:12 AM
I do wonder if more culiecues and serifs would help one cope with The Horrors or just add to the grotesquerie.
(also one thing Swindled makes clear is that perpetrators of this stuff ALWAYS do it again, so there's that.)
December 10, 2025 at 2:11 AM
(also one thing Swindled makes clear is that perpetrators of this stuff ALWAYS do it again, so there's that.)
this is why I was thinking using Swindled might be a better way in, because it's so entertaining in its own right while also being educational, and possibly you could all listen to unrelated episodes before just happening across ones closer to home? If you're out of ideas, it may be worth a shot.
December 10, 2025 at 2:09 AM
this is why I was thinking using Swindled might be a better way in, because it's so entertaining in its own right while also being educational, and possibly you could all listen to unrelated episodes before just happening across ones closer to home? If you're out of ideas, it may be worth a shot.
this sent me down a rabbit hole trying to find a more woke font than the boring Android default, but instead everything is just slightly absurdist.
December 10, 2025 at 2:07 AM
this sent me down a rabbit hole trying to find a more woke font than the boring Android default, but instead everything is just slightly absurdist.
can you have them listen to a few relevant episodes of Swindled (to help them accept that this kind of company exists and usually has a familiar pattern) and then try to re-have the conversation with them? 🙃 I'm so sorry. Scammers preying on an elderly relative is truly the stuff of nightmares.
December 10, 2025 at 1:50 AM
can you have them listen to a few relevant episodes of Swindled (to help them accept that this kind of company exists and usually has a familiar pattern) and then try to re-have the conversation with them? 🙃 I'm so sorry. Scammers preying on an elderly relative is truly the stuff of nightmares.