Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

David Marx @digthatdata.bsky.social · 24m

they do cite this paper in the related work section. I think they are claiming that this new paper is more general than the earlier one. Both papers came out of google research but have no overlapping authors, which is weird to me. Doesn't really matter.

David Marx @digthatdata.bsky.social · 28m

Pretty sure this is the paper I had in mind (almost three years old now, so surely a lot has also built on it already as well) arxiv.org/abs/2212.07677

Transformers learn in-context by gradient descent

At present, the mechanisms of in-context learning in Transformers are not well understood and remain mostly an intuition. In this paper, we suggest that training Transformers on auto-regressive object...

arxiv.org

1 1

David Marx @digthatdata.bsky.social · 59m

meanwhile, republicans insist we don't even have enough money to fund critical infrastructure like FEMA.

Mark Chadbourn @chadbourn.bsky.social · 1h

News from the Authoritarians Club: the US Treasury has finalised a $20 billion currency swap with Argentina and directly bought Argentine pesos to help stabilise the country’s economy.

1 1

Reposted by David Marx

Olivia Messer @oliviamesser.bsky.social · 20h

I’m so damn spooked by this headline

www.reuters.com/legal/govern...

National Guard poised to enter Chicago as Trump calls for jailing Democratic leaders

13 120 520

David Marx @digthatdata.bsky.social · 3h

that might literally be all you need to do, I think you can probably just start adding content pages after

1

David Marx @digthatdata.bsky.social · 3h

it means create a github account, then visit github.com/jackyzha0/qu... and press this option in the dropdown on the far right

2 1

David Marx @digthatdata.bsky.social · 3h

adopt the perspective that you are training future PIs who will be supervising labs of semi-competent underlings whose work will require heavy scrutiny.

1 1

David Marx @digthatdata.bsky.social · 3h

you can do this fairly easily by just creating a github account and following the instructions here. Just add new *.md documents to the contents/ folder and your website will automatically update itself.

quartz.jzhao.xyz/setting-up-y...

Setting up your GitHub repository

First, make sure you have Quartz cloned and setup locally. Then, create a new repository on GitHub.com.

quartz.jzhao.xyz

1

David Marx @digthatdata.bsky.social · 3h

I thought we already knew ICL worked this way. Anyways, always happy to see corroborating evidence of stuff I thought was already well established.

Shahab Bakhtiari @shahabbakht.bsky.social · 3d

Interesting paper suggesting a mechanism for why in-context learning happens in LLMs.

They show that LLMs implicitly apply an internal low-rank weight update adjusted by the context. It’s cheap (due to the low-rank) but effective for adapting the model’s behavior.

#MLSky

arxiv.org/abs/2507.16003

Learning without training: The implicit dynamics of in-context learning

One of the most striking features of Large Language Models (LLM) is their ability to learn in context. Namely at inference time an LLM is able to learn new patterns without any additional weight updat...

arxiv.org

1 1 2

Reposted by David Marx

Renee DiResta @noupside.bsky.social · 3h

Good for him. More of this.

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/09/u...

Oklahoma’s Republican Governor Criticizes National Guard Deployment in Chicago

www.nytimes.com

9 49 270

David Marx @digthatdata.bsky.social · 3h

wasn't aware of this (or at least forgot if I was), thanks for the ray of light.

1 3

David Marx @digthatdata.bsky.social · 3h

s/ironic/sardonic/

1

David Marx @digthatdata.bsky.social · 3h

to be clear, that "quote" is ironic and not actually something that was said. I'm hyperbolizing the government's position that they could incite violence and then use that as a valid legal justification, which they *did* say

bsky.app/profile/jons...

Jon Seidel @jonseidel.bsky.social · 4h

Perry asks directly whether the feds started the alleged violence in Chicago.

She asks whether it matters if the inability to execute the law was "caused by the federal agents."

Hamilton: "No, your honor."

3 1 10

Reposted by David Marx

Tim Duffy @timfduffy.com · 5h

"In this book, I aim to convince you that the experts do not know, and you do not know, and society collectively does not and will not know, and all is fog."

Schwitzgebel's thesis is that AI consciousness is non-obvious, and clarity on the issue is not imminent. I've enjoyed what I've read so far.

Eric Schwitzgebel @eschwitz.bsky.social · 1d

New book in draft: AI and Consciousness [link in thread]
This book is a skeptical overview of the literature on AI and consciousness.
Anyone who emails me comments on the entire manuscript will be thanked in print and receive an appreciatively signed hard copy.

1 5 29

David Marx @digthatdata.bsky.social · 3h

I think there is at least a 30% chance trump will respond to the knowledge he's not getting it by invoking martial law.

1 6

David Marx @digthatdata.bsky.social · 3h

> Judge: "If an ICE agent walked in here, grabbed my fist and used it to punch my own face with it: would that qualify as violence against the judiciary by an illinois resident justifying martial law?"
> Hamilton: "Yes it would your honor."

1 1 15

Reposted by David Marx

Jon Seidel @jonseidel.bsky.social · 4h

Perry asks again whether, if the inability to execute the law is b/c of the feds' "own provocation, does that matter under the law?"

Hamilton: "No, if that were true, the fact still remains that we are seeing sustained violence against federal personnel and property in Illinois."

17 59 350

David Marx @digthatdata.bsky.social · 3h

wow.

DOJ lawyer just stated on the record that it is their position that the government can incite violence and then use that as legal justification to invoke martial law.

Jon Seidel @jonseidel.bsky.social · 4h

Perry asks directly whether the feds started the alleged violence in Chicago.

She asks whether it matters if the inability to execute the law was "caused by the federal agents."

Hamilton: "No, your honor."

Reposted by David Marx

Jon Seidel @jonseidel.bsky.social · 4h

Perry: "The president has made statements that could arguably be interpreted as stating that he believes elected state officials are impeding his ability to execute the law, is that a fair characterization?"

Hamilton: "Yes."

1 27 210

David Marx @digthatdata.bsky.social · 3h

Assuming the country hasn't been completely torn to shreds by the time the democrats have had a chance to return to power, I haven't heard any proposals for how we deal with the fact that "trump appointed judge" functionally equates to "decides matters of law pretextually and in bad faith."

1 1

David Marx @digthatdata.bsky.social · 4h

fuck yeah

Chris Geidner @chrisgeidner.bsky.social · 4h

BREAKING: Federal judge issues a TRO in the Northern District of Illinois (including Chicago and the Broadview ICE facility), providing protections for protesters and journalists covering the protests.

storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

Some of the key elements:

1. It is hereby ORDERED that Defendants,' their officers, agents, assigns, and all
persons acting in concert with them (hereafter referred to as "Federal Agents"), are temporarily ENJOINED in this judicial district from:
Dispersing, arresting, threatening to arrest, threatening or using physical
force against any person whom they know or reasonably should know is a Journalist, unless
Defendants have probable cause to believe that the individual has committed a crime.
Defendants may order a Journalist to change location to avoid disrupting law enforcement,
' President Trump, one of the named Defendants, is not included in this Order.
1
Case: 1:25-cv-12173 Document #: 42 Filed: 10/09/25 Page 2 of 6 PagelD #:836
as long as the Journalist has an objectively reasonable time to comply and an objectively
reasonable opportunity to report and observe;

b. Issuing a crowd dispersal order requiring any person to leave a public place
that they lawfully have a right to be, unless dispersal is justified by exigent circumstances as defined by Department of Homeland Security Use of Force Policy (updated Feb. 6,
2023), Sections III.F and XII.E;
С.
For purposes of this Order, a crowd dispersal order is a lawful command
given by a Federal Agent for all persons to leave a designated area when three or more persons are committing acts of disorderly conduct that are likely to cause substantial harm in the immediate vicinity;
d. Using riot control weapons including kinetic impact projectiles (KIPs), Compressed Air Launchers (e.g., PIS and FN303), Oleoresin Capsicum (OC) Spray, CS gas, CN gas, or other chemical irritants, 40 mm Munitions Launchers, less-lethal shotguns,
Less-Lethal Specialty Impact-Chemical Munitions (LLSI-CM), Controlled Noise and Light Distraction Devices (CNLDDs), Electronic Control Weapons (ECWs) - on members of the press, protesters, or religious practitioners who are not posing an immediate threat to the safety of a law enforcement officer or others;

To facilitate the Defendants' identification of Journalists protected under
this Order, the following are examples of indicia of being a Journalist: visual identification as a member of the press, such as by carrying a professional press pass, badge or credentials; wearing distinctive clothing or patches that identify the wearer as a member of the press; or carrying professional gear such as professional photographic or videography
equipment. Other indicia of being a Journalist under this Order include that the person is standing off to the side of a protest, not engaging in chanting, sign holding, shouting slogans, or otherwise protesting, and documenting protest activities, although these are not
requirements. These indicia are illustrative, and a person need not exhibit every indicium
to be considered a Journalist under this Order. Defendants shall not be liable for unintentional violations of this Order in the case of an individual who does not wear a press pass, badge, or other official press credential, professional gear, or distinctive clothing that identifies the person as a member of the press.

It is further ORDERED that all Federal Agents, excepting those who do not wear a
uniform or other distinguishing clothing or equipment in the regular performance of their official
4
Case: 1:25-cv-12173 Document #: 42 Filed: 10/09/25 Page 5 of 6 PagelD #:839
duties or are engaged in undercover operations in the regular performance of their official duties, must have visible identification (for which a unique recognizable alphanumeric identifier sequence
will suffice) affixed to their uniforms or helmets and prominently displayed, including when
wearing riot gear.

1 2

David Marx @digthatdata.bsky.social · 4h

I really hate this timeline.

1

David Marx @digthatdata.bsky.social · 4h

Agree. This is 100% what the democrats should be focusing on, and if they honed in on this with the laser-like focus they've demonstrated on the healthcare talking points, issues like healthcare will necessarily be carried along with it.

The republicans have no ground to stand on here.

Adam Keiper @adamkeiper.com · 4h

"For Democrats, this particular moment of cartoonish graft presents a huge opportunity to unify around an anti-corruption platform.…Their agenda must meet the moment and include game-changing initiatives that let voters know they recognize corruption is pervasive."
www.thebulwark.com/p/anti-corru...

How Anti-Corruption Can Be a Winning Issue for Democrats

It’s a powerful, unifying theme—and it’s tied to the crisis of democracy under Trump.

www.thebulwark.com

1

Reposted by David Marx

Dana R. Fisher (aka the Apocalyptic Optimist) @fisherdanar.bsky.social · 4h

Hey hivemind: Can anyone recommend a closed-ended survey question/batter of questions that asks about media diets and sources of news that has been fielded in a national survey

a man in a suit and tie is standing in front of a blackboard with the words " anyone ? anyone ? "

ALT: a man in a suit and tie is standing in front of a blackboard with the words " anyone ? anyone ? "

media.tenor.com

2 1 2

David Marx @digthatdata.bsky.social · 4h

The problem the democrats need to figure out isn't how to make their ideas/message more relevant to conservative voters, but how to get that message to them uncorrupted.

1 20