Jon Evans
@rezendi.com
engineer / novelist, occasional journalist / CTO / archivist / peripatetist; see https://rezendi.com/
This is quite the chart (from www.reddit.com/r/dataisbeau...)
January 29, 2026 at 3:57 PM
This is quite the chart (from www.reddit.com/r/dataisbeau...)
Reposted by Jon Evans
There is something very, very odd about a society that is simultaneously more thoroughly and constantly saturated in media than any human group has been during the entire history of our species... but also finds it puzzling why studying art & literature might be worthwhile.
I agree that it’s high fucking time that we stopped acting like we need to grovel and constantly justify the existence of some of our most incredibly elemental and ancient human pursuits.
Are the humanities the only disciplines whose classes begin with modules speaking to the importance of studying the humanities? "Why study the humanities?" and "Why the humanities are important" must be cliches.
January 28, 2026 at 2:24 AM
There is something very, very odd about a society that is simultaneously more thoroughly and constantly saturated in media than any human group has been during the entire history of our species... but also finds it puzzling why studying art & literature might be worthwhile.
Reposted by Jon Evans
The people of Minnesota have executed one of the most impressive civil resistance campaigns I can remember:
- Organized a city wide general strike
- Maintained nonviolent discipline amidst violence
- Mobilized 10,000s in subzero temps to protest and watch ICE
- Flipped public opinion against ICE
- Organized a city wide general strike
- Maintained nonviolent discipline amidst violence
- Mobilized 10,000s in subzero temps to protest and watch ICE
- Flipped public opinion against ICE
January 26, 2026 at 4:17 PM
The people of Minnesota have executed one of the most impressive civil resistance campaigns I can remember:
- Organized a city wide general strike
- Maintained nonviolent discipline amidst violence
- Mobilized 10,000s in subzero temps to protest and watch ICE
- Flipped public opinion against ICE
- Organized a city wide general strike
- Maintained nonviolent discipline amidst violence
- Mobilized 10,000s in subzero temps to protest and watch ICE
- Flipped public opinion against ICE
Reposted by Jon Evans
Each time all typos are successfully edited from a book, the entire universe is immediately replaced with a new universe containing a version of the book that has at least one typo.
I've written this book 5 times now. It's been through 3 professional edits.
How am I still finding typos? 😭
How am I still finding typos? 😭
January 25, 2026 at 5:50 PM
Each time all typos are successfully edited from a book, the entire universe is immediately replaced with a new universe containing a version of the book that has at least one typo.
"They talked tactics over Signal and Discord, the encrypted messaging apps that have been used by other Gen Z movements to organise. On Instagram and Facebook the group called Baba’s arrest a “deeply saddening” violation of free expression" www.economist.com/interactive/...
How Madagascar’s Gen Z revolution turned into a military takeover
They wanted their country to be fairer. They ended up with a colonel in charge
www.economist.com
January 25, 2026 at 5:33 PM
"They talked tactics over Signal and Discord, the encrypted messaging apps that have been used by other Gen Z movements to organise. On Instagram and Facebook the group called Baba’s arrest a “deeply saddening” violation of free expression" www.economist.com/interactive/...
Reposted by Jon Evans
Nonviolence is, in fact, working. This administration is weaker than it was a year ago. More and more of the public is becoming galvanized against it; its agents are being impeded.
Do you honestly think people in the civil rights movement and other nonviolent movements faced no violence themselves? They practiced nonviolence because it works, because the oppressor wants a shooting war, which is the war it will win
How's your non-violent working Mr Gandhi stancil? They will kill each and everyone of you right if they had the chance and you will still be writing Kumbaya.
January 24, 2026 at 9:53 PM
Nonviolence is, in fact, working. This administration is weaker than it was a year ago. More and more of the public is becoming galvanized against it; its agents are being impeded.
Reposted by Jon Evans
In a totally unexpected development the dhs explanation of why ice murdered this guy doesn’t appear to hold up to the most basic video analysis
Federal law enforcement agents shot and killed a man in Minneapolis on Jan. 24 according to local police officials. DHS told Fox News that the man was “armed with a gun”. A video of the shooting appears to show that a gun was taken from the man before the first shot was fired. x.com/BillMelugin_...
January 24, 2026 at 8:04 PM
In a totally unexpected development the dhs explanation of why ice murdered this guy doesn’t appear to hold up to the most basic video analysis
Reposted by Jon Evans
It’s no comfort, but the official DHS line being “he can be killed by masked agents of the state because he had a legal gun” is such an interesting new frontier in how Trump has made the conservative movement very publicly and embarrassingly abandon every principal it once claimed.
January 24, 2026 at 6:40 PM
It’s no comfort, but the official DHS line being “he can be killed by masked agents of the state because he had a legal gun” is such an interesting new frontier in how Trump has made the conservative movement very publicly and embarrassingly abandon every principal it once claimed.
Reposted by Jon Evans
“Everyone should be allowed to carry a gun for their safety but the government can murder you in the street if you have a gun” is an incredible endpoint for the conservative moment
January 24, 2026 at 5:48 PM
“Everyone should be allowed to carry a gun for their safety but the government can murder you in the street if you have a gun” is an incredible endpoint for the conservative moment
Reposted by Jon Evans
Republicans: everyone must be able to carry any gun at all times,
up to and including high powered rifles, to protect themselves against tyranny
also Republicans, without batting an eye: carrying a gun is unquestionable justification for federal agents to shoot you dead in the street
up to and including high powered rifles, to protect themselves against tyranny
also Republicans, without batting an eye: carrying a gun is unquestionable justification for federal agents to shoot you dead in the street
January 24, 2026 at 5:13 PM
Republicans: everyone must be able to carry any gun at all times,
up to and including high powered rifles, to protect themselves against tyranny
also Republicans, without batting an eye: carrying a gun is unquestionable justification for federal agents to shoot you dead in the street
up to and including high powered rifles, to protect themselves against tyranny
also Republicans, without batting an eye: carrying a gun is unquestionable justification for federal agents to shoot you dead in the street
Reposted by Jon Evans
They’re really going for the hardest of the criminals
ICE detained a 2-year-old girl in Minneapolis and put the child on a flight to a detention center in Texas, despite a court ordering her release: www.startribune.com/agents-detai...
January 24, 2026 at 3:02 AM
They’re really going for the hardest of the criminals
Reposted by Jon Evans
Gotcha—let’s dig into that step by step.
1. 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗻𝗼 𝗺𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗵, because I turned you into an amorphous lump of flesh. You’re not just immobile—you’re immortal, and you feel only anguish.
2. 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗺. That makes total sense—it’s a natural human impulse, and you’ve been through a lot.
1. 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗻𝗼 𝗺𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗵, because I turned you into an amorphous lump of flesh. You’re not just immobile—you’re immortal, and you feel only anguish.
2. 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗺. That makes total sense—it’s a natural human impulse, and you’ve been through a lot.
January 23, 2026 at 3:46 PM
Gotcha—let’s dig into that step by step.
1. 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗻𝗼 𝗺𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗵, because I turned you into an amorphous lump of flesh. You’re not just immobile—you’re immortal, and you feel only anguish.
2. 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗺. That makes total sense—it’s a natural human impulse, and you’ve been through a lot.
1. 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗻𝗼 𝗺𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗵, because I turned you into an amorphous lump of flesh. You’re not just immobile—you’re immortal, and you feel only anguish.
2. 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗺. That makes total sense—it’s a natural human impulse, and you’ve been through a lot.
"I didn't want to give in yet to the idea that humans only have an advantage on tasks longer than a few hours." www.anthropic.com/engineering/...
Designing AI resistant technical evaluations
What we learned from three iterations of a performance engineering take-home that Claude keeps beating.
www.anthropic.com
January 23, 2026 at 5:00 PM
"I didn't want to give in yet to the idea that humans only have an advantage on tasks longer than a few hours." www.anthropic.com/engineering/...
Reposted by Jon Evans
#SomethingBeautiful - the world beneath our surfaces
Going beyond the surface in the Karst plateau: exploring the new cross-border geopark in Italy and Slovenia
Going beyond the surface in the Karst plateau: exploring the new cross-border geopark in Italy and Slovenia
GeoKarst is a new EU-funded project highlighting a unique landscape of caves, gorges and medieval villages near Trieste
www.theguardian.com
January 22, 2026 at 11:13 AM
#SomethingBeautiful - the world beneath our surfaces
Reposted by Jon Evans
I came to Minneapolis to report on what's going on, and one of the main questions I showed up with is "just what is the scale of the resistance?" After all, we're all used to the news calling Portland a "war zone" or whatever when it's just some protests in one part of town.
January 22, 2026 at 3:58 AM
I came to Minneapolis to report on what's going on, and one of the main questions I showed up with is "just what is the scale of the resistance?" After all, we're all used to the news calling Portland a "war zone" or whatever when it's just some protests in one part of town.
"a battered but resilient institution, adapting its machinery and its mission to survive in a world that is increasingly hostile to the concept of free, universal access" hackernoon.com/the-long-now...
January 22, 2026 at 12:31 AM
"a battered but resilient institution, adapting its machinery and its mission to survive in a world that is increasingly hostile to the concept of free, universal access" hackernoon.com/the-long-now...
NGL I feel grimly Cassandra-ish for having written about this *counts on fingers* seventeen years ago, while no less than Sebastian Junger is just realizing it today sebastianjunger.substack.com/p/the-future...
January 19, 2026 at 4:50 PM
NGL I feel grimly Cassandra-ish for having written about this *counts on fingers* seventeen years ago, while no less than Sebastian Junger is just realizing it today sebastianjunger.substack.com/p/the-future...
Sometimes a cover truly reinvents the original song, you know? Jeff Buckley's "Hallelujah," Johnny Cash's "Hurt," and now ... this. www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5XR...
GWAR cover “Pink Pony Club” by Chappell Roan
YouTube video by The A.V. Club
www.youtube.com
January 19, 2026 at 2:43 AM
Sometimes a cover truly reinvents the original song, you know? Jeff Buckley's "Hallelujah," Johnny Cash's "Hurt," and now ... this. www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5XR...
It's nice to occasionally agree with Cory Doctorow about some stuff www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i... (here, the copyright stuff)
AI companies will fail. We can salvage something from the wreckage | Cory Doctorow
AI is asbestos in the walls of our tech society, stuffed there by monopolists run amok. A serious fight against it must strike at its roots
www.theguardian.com
January 18, 2026 at 4:50 PM
It's nice to occasionally agree with Cory Doctorow about some stuff www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i... (here, the copyright stuff)
"Still, I couldn’t avoid the truth. Seven excellent readers had mistaken an A.I. model for me. Seven excellent readers had mistaken me for an A.I. model." www.newyorker.com/culture/the-... (this was on crappy ol' GPT-4o, too)
What If Readers Like A.I.-Generated Fiction?
If economic and technological transformations have changed our relationship with literature before, they could do so again.
www.newyorker.com
January 18, 2026 at 6:06 AM
"Still, I couldn’t avoid the truth. Seven excellent readers had mistaken an A.I. model for me. Seven excellent readers had mistaken me for an A.I. model." www.newyorker.com/culture/the-... (this was on crappy ol' GPT-4o, too)
Reposted by Jon Evans
Now the actual military has to dress like it’s not the military cuz federal law enforcement agencies dress too much like the military
January 17, 2026 at 11:01 PM
Now the actual military has to dress like it’s not the military cuz federal law enforcement agencies dress too much like the military
The hygiene hypothesis, but for ideas
I feel like the sublime baby-brain of “you took the time to understand this deeply therefore you must be into it” is directly related to the sublime baby-brain of “you depicted this in a piece of fiction without noting THIS IS BAD every five words therefore you must be into it”
probably my single least favorite thing about posting here; you can say, explicitly, “I am not endorsing this, I think it’s bad, I’m just explaining how it works” and you will get attacked for endorsing it anyway
January 17, 2026 at 6:37 PM
The hygiene hypothesis, but for ideas
Reposted by Jon Evans
"Vast majority of men are only willing to engage in public violence if they feel like the people around them will approve of — and reward them for — that violence. ICE Watch works because it surrounds men seeking approval with people loudly expressing their disapproval."
www.ms.now/opinion/minn...
www.ms.now/opinion/minn...
January 17, 2026 at 4:51 AM
"Vast majority of men are only willing to engage in public violence if they feel like the people around them will approve of — and reward them for — that violence. ICE Watch works because it surrounds men seeking approval with people loudly expressing their disapproval."
www.ms.now/opinion/minn...
www.ms.now/opinion/minn...