Simon
@simonxix.com
📚cultural & critical studies 📽️film critic 🐧open source developer 🐦birder 😐he/him
🔗 https://simonxix.com
🔗 https://simonxix.com
No. THE THING takes place in winter which in Antarctica is around June.
Should John Carpenter's THE THING be officially classified as a Christmas movie? Let your voice be heard!
Is John Carpenter’s THE THING A Christmas Movie? Have Your Say
Should John Carpenter's THE THING be officially classified as a Christmas movie? Let your voice be heard!
dlvr.it
November 26, 2025 at 6:42 PM
No. THE THING takes place in winter which in Antarctica is around June.
Reposted by Simon
the genAI bubble relies on you conflating the genuinely tremendous potential of using machine learning for e.g. image recognition in radiotherapy, protein folding, simulations in power systems etc with the child abuse image generators and schizophrenic delusions generators
People on BlueSky: AI is useless! A stochastic parrot!
Mathematicians/biologists/physicists: It is already helping us do frontier technical research and in some cases solve open problems arxiv.org/pdf/2511.16072
(There are of course, as always, many caveats, but the paper is genuinely remarkable)
Mathematicians/biologists/physicists: It is already helping us do frontier technical research and in some cases solve open problems arxiv.org/pdf/2511.16072
(There are of course, as always, many caveats, but the paper is genuinely remarkable)
arxiv.org
November 26, 2025 at 4:11 PM
the genAI bubble relies on you conflating the genuinely tremendous potential of using machine learning for e.g. image recognition in radiotherapy, protein folding, simulations in power systems etc with the child abuse image generators and schizophrenic delusions generators
Reposted by Simon
Handing back student work that’s been written by ChatGPT with a 0 followed by the comment “This essay will never stand in authentic wonder before the Beauty of God’s creation.”
Pope Leo XIV told students not to use artificial intelligence for homework, saying that AI ‘won’t stand in authentic wonder before the beauty of God’s creation.’
Even God Is Worried About ChatGPT
Pope Leo XIV told students not to use artificial intelligence for homework, saying that AI ‘won’t stand in authentic wonder before the beauty of God’s creation.’
www.vulture.com
November 26, 2025 at 3:35 PM
Handing back student work that’s been written by ChatGPT with a 0 followed by the comment “This essay will never stand in authentic wonder before the Beauty of God’s creation.”
Reposted by Simon
CHATGPT: I understand where you're coming from. You worked really hard to get here, and now it's time to enjoy the fruit of your labors.
ISILDUR: So I should keep it? Elrond says I shouldn't
CHATGPT: The ring is precious. Sometimes friends don't have your best interests at heart.
ISILDUR: true
ISILDUR: So I should keep it? Elrond says I shouldn't
CHATGPT: The ring is precious. Sometimes friends don't have your best interests at heart.
ISILDUR: true
October 6, 2025 at 1:58 PM
CHATGPT: I understand where you're coming from. You worked really hard to get here, and now it's time to enjoy the fruit of your labors.
ISILDUR: So I should keep it? Elrond says I shouldn't
CHATGPT: The ring is precious. Sometimes friends don't have your best interests at heart.
ISILDUR: true
ISILDUR: So I should keep it? Elrond says I shouldn't
CHATGPT: The ring is precious. Sometimes friends don't have your best interests at heart.
ISILDUR: true
Reposted by Simon
and when deciding what Scotland’s financial needs are did the Chancellor also engage with our elected Scottish Government or just her pal
November 26, 2025 at 1:03 PM
and when deciding what Scotland’s financial needs are did the Chancellor also engage with our elected Scottish Government or just her pal
Reposted by Simon
the entire budget has been leaked but not in the sense that all the main bits have been in the newspaper headlines for weeks but in a bad way this time
November 26, 2025 at 12:34 PM
the entire budget has been leaked but not in the sense that all the main bits have been in the newspaper headlines for weeks but in a bad way this time
Reposted by Simon
The very first thing the Prime Minister does is use the household budget metaphor.
A metaphor - this report into BBC coverage - said could be "easily misleading."
Why is the government trying to mislead the country?
A metaphor - this report into BBC coverage - said could be "easily misleading."
Why is the government trying to mislead the country?
November 26, 2025 at 12:05 PM
The very first thing the Prime Minister does is use the household budget metaphor.
A metaphor - this report into BBC coverage - said could be "easily misleading."
Why is the government trying to mislead the country?
A metaphor - this report into BBC coverage - said could be "easily misleading."
Why is the government trying to mislead the country?
Reposted by Simon
“Our mid-term goal should be the complete phase-out of Microsoft products, including the Windows operating system. It’s easier than it sounds.”
A cross-party group of lawmakers are pushing for the European Parliament to get off US tech, starting with Microsoft.
A cross-party group of lawmakers are pushing for the European Parliament to get off US tech, starting with Microsoft.
Get us off Microsoft! Lawmakers press EU Parliament to change in-house IT.
“We cannot afford this level of dependence on foreign tech,” lawmakers say in letter obtained by POLITICO.
www.politico.eu
November 25, 2025 at 6:08 PM
“Our mid-term goal should be the complete phase-out of Microsoft products, including the Windows operating system. It’s easier than it sounds.”
A cross-party group of lawmakers are pushing for the European Parliament to get off US tech, starting with Microsoft.
A cross-party group of lawmakers are pushing for the European Parliament to get off US tech, starting with Microsoft.
Reposted by Simon
The media really will treat LLMs as human before they give trans people the same courtesy
November 25, 2025 at 9:39 PM
The media really will treat LLMs as human before they give trans people the same courtesy
Reposted by Simon
The Guardian has a game where you play Chancellor and put in what you'd do for the budget. I basically taxed rich people a lot and ended up £56bn in the black, with a good poll rating and the markets like me.
Perhaps I should be Chancellor. I didn't even have to hurt any disabled people to do it.
Perhaps I should be Chancellor. I didn't even have to hurt any disabled people to do it.
November 25, 2025 at 8:27 PM
The Guardian has a game where you play Chancellor and put in what you'd do for the budget. I basically taxed rich people a lot and ended up £56bn in the black, with a good poll rating and the markets like me.
Perhaps I should be Chancellor. I didn't even have to hurt any disabled people to do it.
Perhaps I should be Chancellor. I didn't even have to hurt any disabled people to do it.
"exiting the market" is a fun euphemism for thousands of students left without a school, thousands of people put out of work, entire local economies destroyed, and priceless knowledge lost.
I never thought it would be possible to have a stupider university policy than the Tories, but Labour schooled me.
www.theguardian.com/education/20...
www.theguardian.com/education/20...
Fifty higher education providers at risk of exiting market in England, MPs told
Regulator says 24 are at more immediate risk and may have to stop degree courses within next 12 months
www.theguardian.com
November 25, 2025 at 8:09 PM
"exiting the market" is a fun euphemism for thousands of students left without a school, thousands of people put out of work, entire local economies destroyed, and priceless knowledge lost.
Reposted by Simon
It goes without saying that the neoliberal language of a higher education "market" from which providers will "exit" is bleak. No media organisation challenges it, though. They all just repeat the mantra, as though education could never be a public good.
November 25, 2025 at 8:02 PM
It goes without saying that the neoliberal language of a higher education "market" from which providers will "exit" is bleak. No media organisation challenges it, though. They all just repeat the mantra, as though education could never be a public good.
Reposted by Simon
Truly love when the consultant class takes over. Pure performance art.
Not a voluntary redundancy scheme, just a scheme whereby you volunteer to receive payment in exchange for not performing your role any more.
November 25, 2025 at 6:07 PM
Truly love when the consultant class takes over. Pure performance art.
Reposted by Simon
I’ve been running around asking tech execs and academics if language was the same as intelligence for over a year now - and, well, it isn’t. @benjaminjriley.bsky.social explains how the bubble is built on ignoring cutting-edge research into the science of thought www.theverge.com/ai-artificia...
November 25, 2025 at 1:54 PM
I’ve been running around asking tech execs and academics if language was the same as intelligence for over a year now - and, well, it isn’t. @benjaminjriley.bsky.social explains how the bubble is built on ignoring cutting-edge research into the science of thought www.theverge.com/ai-artificia...
Reposted by Simon
You know for a fact they're only doing this because juries are routinely finding anti-genocide and climate change protestors innocent.
Bit of a test case here for “is liberalism still a real thing, or is it just a political version of a collection of Labubus that you show off to your friends” IMO.
![NEW: The Government is set to scrap trial by
jury for most cases
Only murder, rape, manslaughter and a few public interest cases will go to a jury, while all other cases will be decided by a single judge
[@thetimes]
13:44 • 25/11/2025 • 395K Views
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Politics UK • @PolitlcsUK • 2h
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The move will be highly controversial. Senior criminal justice figures have already described the plan as "the biggest assault on our system of liberty in 800 years"](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:5hyjbx4hnlxe5il24ydnn4sr/bafkreight7vricfo6wq76slatkvbmacfvpyq5t3lznlt27oanyqu2g4lk4@jpeg)
November 25, 2025 at 4:32 PM
You know for a fact they're only doing this because juries are routinely finding anti-genocide and climate change protestors innocent.
Not a voluntary redundancy scheme, just a scheme whereby you volunteer to receive payment in exchange for not performing your role any more.
November 25, 2025 at 1:30 PM
Not a voluntary redundancy scheme, just a scheme whereby you volunteer to receive payment in exchange for not performing your role any more.
Reposted by Simon
No we don’t! We literally do not! Do I have to engage with my air fryer? Do I have to have a co-dependent relationship with Google Maps?
November 25, 2025 at 12:04 PM
No we don’t! We literally do not! Do I have to engage with my air fryer? Do I have to have a co-dependent relationship with Google Maps?
Seems bad for us to build an entire economy on Mechanical Turks.
Founders on LinkedIn still seem to be struggling with the difference between telling people about their humble beginnings and admitting to straight up committing fraud.
November 25, 2025 at 12:36 PM
Seems bad for us to build an entire economy on Mechanical Turks.
Reposted by Simon
“AI” isn’t a tool or technology or even a cluster of technologies with a misleading name. It’s the infrastructure at the foundation of a form of capitalism dependent on data brokering. We should be teaching our students about this and not teaching them about “responsible” use.
September 28, 2025 at 1:38 AM
“AI” isn’t a tool or technology or even a cluster of technologies with a misleading name. It’s the infrastructure at the foundation of a form of capitalism dependent on data brokering. We should be teaching our students about this and not teaching them about “responsible” use.
Reposted by Simon
I wish I didn’t have to share this. But the BBC has decided to censor my first Reith Lecture.
They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1
They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1
November 25, 2025 at 9:26 AM
I wish I didn’t have to share this. But the BBC has decided to censor my first Reith Lecture.
They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1
They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1
The wildest thing about this is right at the end where he speculates that phones in the future won't have operating systems or apps, they will just display the pixels that you would most like to receive.
And how will that happen without an underlying operating system? How is the computer running?
And how will that happen without an underlying operating system? How is the computer running?
Everything about this might be the saddest thing I’ve ever seen
November 25, 2025 at 9:45 AM
The wildest thing about this is right at the end where he speculates that phones in the future won't have operating systems or apps, they will just display the pixels that you would most like to receive.
And how will that happen without an underlying operating system? How is the computer running?
And how will that happen without an underlying operating system? How is the computer running?
Reposted by Simon
Founders on LinkedIn still seem to be struggling with the difference between telling people about their humble beginnings and admitting to straight up committing fraud.
November 24, 2025 at 11:17 PM
Founders on LinkedIn still seem to be struggling with the difference between telling people about their humble beginnings and admitting to straight up committing fraud.
Reposted by Simon
autistic life under capitalism in a nutshell
sorry I'm bad at Lying and Bureaucracy, I have the brain disorder that makes you a good person lol
November 24, 2025 at 10:12 PM
autistic life under capitalism in a nutshell
"Great comedian. Though I stopped keeping track of him probably around 2013. Don't know what he's been up to since then."
David Lammy has reportedly named Bill Cosby as one of his role models
David Lammy 'names Bill Cosby as role model'
www.thenational.scot
November 24, 2025 at 6:05 PM
"Great comedian. Though I stopped keeping track of him probably around 2013. Don't know what he's been up to since then."
Reposted by Simon
how much time in total has the non roundness of barcodes cost us
there were seven finalists that made it to the standards committee
3 of the 7 were round, so the scanner could scan from any angle
but IBM proposed the boring square barcode and they were so huge that they won the selection process
3 of the 7 were round, so the scanner could scan from any angle
but IBM proposed the boring square barcode and they were so huge that they won the selection process
November 24, 2025 at 5:50 PM
how much time in total has the non roundness of barcodes cost us