Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Fred Vogelstein

crazystupidtech.com @crazystupidtech.com · 13d

Are you in the mood for a 6000-word interview about AI, Robotics, and get a lowdown on the hype and reality of the two of the hottest tech trends? Well, we have you covered in this chat with @rodneyabrooks.bsky.social (Also, please sign up for our newsletter) crazystupidtech.com/2025/09/29/i...

iRobot Founder: Don’t Believe The (AI & Robotics) Hype!

Rodney Brooks, co-founder of three robotic companies and an AI guru has a pragmatic and honest opinions about the state of AI and Robotics. An interview!

crazystupidtech.com

2 5

Fred Vogelstein @fvogelstein.bsky.social · 9d

Means that $100 to someone worth $1 million is $50 million to Elon. Let that sink in.
www.forbes.com/sites/mattdu...

Elon Musk Just Became The First Person Ever Worth $500 Billion

Musk is now half-way to becoming the first ever trillionaire.

www.forbes.com

1 2

Fred Vogelstein @fvogelstein.bsky.social · 13d

Only other team I can think of was 69 Mets and they were only 9.5 games out in mid August. In those days no wild card. You won’t division or you went home

1

Fred Vogelstein @fvogelstein.bsky.social · 17d

Whether you know a lot or nothing about Silicon Valley, this is a must read piece by my friend and former Wired bud Steven levy @stevenjayl. He has seen the evolution of tech from its beginnings. He knows everyone. Few have as powerful a lens. It’s just seminal. www.wired.com/story/silico...

I Thought I Knew Silicon Valley. I Was Wrong

Tech got what it wanted by electing Trump. A year later, it looks more like a suicide pact.

www.wired.com

1 8 21

Fred Vogelstein @fvogelstein.bsky.social · 23d

Can someone explain why a traditional network tv broadcast license - and therefore the opinion of the FCC - is remotely meaningful in a world where virtually zero content is consumed that way and where virtually zero eyeballs consume it that way? Is there truly no workaround to this 80 yr old tech?

3 4

Reposted by Fred Vogelstein

James Gleick @around.com · 25d

There was no “ideology,” leftist or otherwise. What if he was just a kid in love, who saw a man spreading hatred that endangered the person he loved. And he broke.

1 4 10

Fred Vogelstein @fvogelstein.bsky.social · 25d

If I’m NYT I actually countersue for harassment.Trump knows this is a ridiculous lawsuit.But he also knows that after the coverage sane washes it, he has an extra tool to hammer the NYT credibility, esp if courts don’t dismiss immediately.They must. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Why has Trump filed a $15bn lawsuit against the New York Times?

President has accused paper of trying to damage his ‘business, personal and political reputation’

www.theguardian.com

3

Reposted by Fred Vogelstein

The Writers Grotto @thewritersgrotto.bsky.social · 27d

September's Reading & Meeting features Yeva Johnson, Brandy Collins, Audrey Ferber and Nate Olivarez-Giles reading from their works in progress. Emcee Christl Rikka-Perkins will lead a Q&A about their work and writing process.

3 6

Reposted by Fred Vogelstein

Will Oremus @willoremus.com · 29d

Techmeme turns 20 today. This is a @techmeme.com appreciation post.

In a time of personalized feeds, fragmented audiences and endless noise, an old-school, hand-curated (with input from algorithms) landing page that collates the day's most noteworthy tech news is a godsend. www.techmeme.com

Techmeme

Top news and commentary for technology's leaders, from all around the web.

www.techmeme.com

2 4 31

Fred Vogelstein @fvogelstein.bsky.social · Sep 12

Here’s the piece @gaberivera.bsky.social refers to in his note. crazystupidtech.com/2025/09/08/a...

Gabe Rivera's 20-year-old headline site, Techmeme, has never been hotter.

Journalism is getting battered now. But thanks to the AI boom, Gabe Rivera's 20-year-old headline site Techmeme has never been hotter. Media companies should take notes.

crazystupidtech.com

1 4

Fred Vogelstein @fvogelstein.bsky.social · Sep 11

I get that Trump’s cuts killed the new decal program. Disagree w it. But why does that mean existing ev owners get hammered re car pool lanes? Doesn’t cost state a dime to let them continue and there are half a million of them. www.latimes.com/california/s...

California electric-vehicle drivers will lose carpool lane privileges

A program allowing motorists with a Clean Air Vehicle decal to drive solo in carpool lanes is ending after it was not extended by the federal government, according to the California Department of Moto...

www.latimes.com

2

Fred Vogelstein @fvogelstein.bsky.social · Sep 10

I am @fvogelstein and I approve this message. Heh

OM @om.co · Sep 10

Congratulations to @techmeme.com founder @gaberivera.bsky.social for celebrating two decades as “conversation” king of tech. My partner in writing adventures, @fvogelstein.bsky.social has a great story about tech.memorandum on @crazystupidtech.com crazystupidtech.com/2025/09/08/a...

1 6

Fred Vogelstein @fvogelstein.bsky.social · Sep 10

Obama’s election in 2008,much as it pains me to say it.Lit a fire of resentment and prejudice building since 1980s when US manuf stopped supporting single earner middle class families wo college degree. Watching tech bros become billionaires while you lost your house sunk the hook. Want to be wrong.

1

Fred Vogelstein @fvogelstein.bsky.social · Sep 9

I wasn’t the first Techmeme reader, but pretty close. I saw it for the first time sometime in late 2005 or early 2006. Been hooked ever since. Perhaps the lesson here is that “Change is good. But more often than not, less is more. “

Techmeme @techmeme.com · Sep 9

A profile of Techmeme, which turns 20 this week yet oddly works and looks as it did in 2005, as its executive-heavy readership expands amid the AI boom (Fred Vogelstein/Crazy Stupid Tech)

Main Link | Techmeme Permalink

2

Reposted by Fred Vogelstein

Techmeme @techmeme.com · Sep 9

A profile of Techmeme, which turns 20 this week yet oddly works and looks as it did in 2005, as its executive-heavy readership expands amid the AI boom (Fred Vogelstein/Crazy Stupid Tech)

Main Link | Techmeme Permalink

4 22

Reposted by Fred Vogelstein

Cynthia Brumfield @metacurity.com · Sep 9

Unbelievable that the @gaberivera.bsky.social has been doing @techmeme.com for 20 years. When I started Metacurity, I told Gabe I was going to model it on Techmeme, and he said Go for it.

Great shout-out to Gabe from @fvogelstein.bsky.social
crazystupidtech.com/2025/09/08/a...

Gabe Rivera's 20-year-old headline site, Techmeme, has never been hotter.

Journalism is getting battered now. But thanks to the AI boom, Gabe Rivera's 20-year-old headline site Techmeme has never been hotter. Media companies should take notes.

crazystupidtech.com

1 6

Fred Vogelstein @fvogelstein.bsky.social · Sep 8

Say this everywhere, every day.It’s partly why the democratic response to what’s going on has been so lame.Its leaders are using muskets against an enemy with machine guns.Newsom gets it.AOC gets it. But the old comms rules no longer apply when your enemy has an audience comparable to a TV network.

1 4

Fred Vogelstein @fvogelstein.bsky.social · Sep 8

Should be called the “Whites only in America” case. I’m the kid of immigrants. This makes me sick to my stomach. If this stands after full argument, it’ll be up there w Korematsu and Dred Scott in the worst of all time for SCOTUS. Astonishing.
www.nytimes.com/live/2025/09...

Trump Administration Live Updates: Supreme Court Lifts Restrictions on Immigration Stops in L.A.

www.nytimes.com

Fred Vogelstein @fvogelstein.bsky.social · Sep 6

If i’m OpeAI, i’m about to team up with Microsoft to offer publishers $$ to crawl their sites in exchange for blocking Google’s crawlers. These are two cos who have wanted to kick Google for years, and now, for a little $$, would get to hammer them. www.theguardian.com/media/2025/s...

‘Existential crisis’: how Google’s shift to AI has upended the online news model

Media sites are taking action on several fronts as traffic referrals dry up and AI companies plunder their content

www.theguardian.com

1

Fred Vogelstein @fvogelstein.bsky.social · Sep 2

If you were a kid in high school right now paying attention the national affairs, starting to think about making your own way in the world as an adult, how could you avoid concluding that the only people who tell the truth are suckers. That’s just really scary. I really hope I’m wrong about that.

1 3

Fred Vogelstein @fvogelstein.bsky.social · Aug 31

Spent 90mins w @eastdakota.com. He’s trying to force Google,then rest of AI oligarchs to pay publishers to crawl content.Would revolutionize the web.I bet he succeeds.Cloudflare has mucho leverage.Atrust cops have Google on the ropes.Latest from Crazy Stupid Tech. crazystupidtech.com/2025/08/30/c...

Cloudflare's Matthew Prince has a plan to get Google and the AI oliigarchs to pay for your content even though many are used to getting it for free. He might have enough leverage to make them.

AI chatbots are blowing up the 30-year economic relationship publishers have had with search engines. Many think this will kill the web if not addressed. Google needs to change first. It's resisting. ...

crazystupidtech.com

1 1

Fred Vogelstein @fvogelstein.bsky.social · Aug 30

Saw heds,photos.Saw quotes from Hannity and Psaki.The news coverage is important.But it also feels like performance art.What if we just said to the NRA crowd,“You win.And now you own this issue.”?That gives them no one to fight. It’s radical. But what we’ve done for last, uh, 30 yrs isn’t working.

Fred Vogelstein @fvogelstein.bsky.social · Aug 30

Realized something depressing this am.I haven’t read a single story about the shootings in Minneapolis.My brain no longer registers mass shootings as news, but as something we Americans have decided is just part of everyday life. Every other approach I’ve taken to this issue has failed. Thoughts?

1 2

Fred Vogelstein @fvogelstein.bsky.social · Aug 26

Mike Semel wanted to be a journalist so he could cover sports - the Knicks, I think. He finally gets his wish. Few deserve it more. www.nytco.com/press/mike-s...

The Athletic’s New Editorial Director for Standards and Editorial Quality | The New York Times Company

www.nytco.com

Fred Vogelstein @fvogelstein.bsky.social · Aug 12

Crazy. Even if Harvard settles, what’s to stop Trump from later reneging or cutting research to all universities as new policy. Then Harvard has taken it up the ass for nothing. Only way this works is if money promised is in escrow somehow. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/11/u...

Harvard and White House Move Toward Potential Landmark Settlement

www.nytimes.com

1 5