Sol Werthan
@solwerthan.bsky.social
Pushing buttons and pulling levers to publish the Slate homepage
Reposted by Sol Werthan
The same bit from the other end. My school made me take science classes, as part of being a well rounded student, and I loved it all so much I switched from pre-law to engineering. Very few 18 year olds know what they want, or understand the options. The "consumer" model is anti-person.
This is actually a good example of why the customer model is wrong.
I wouldn't have chosen poetry writing, but UNC made me take a class. And it absolutely made me become a much better writer, with an eye to concision and an ear now trained to the rhythm of words. I'm a better historian as a result.
I wouldn't have chosen poetry writing, but UNC made me take a class. And it absolutely made me become a much better writer, with an eye to concision and an ear now trained to the rhythm of words. I'm a better historian as a result.
If you are providing me with an education that is low utility in the world then it’s a disservice. My composition class spent four weeks on poetry. I’m sorry, but that only would’ve been useful if I wanted to be a poet. I don’t need to know iambic pentameter in order to be a victim advocate.
December 9, 2025 at 7:43 PM
The same bit from the other end. My school made me take science classes, as part of being a well rounded student, and I loved it all so much I switched from pre-law to engineering. Very few 18 year olds know what they want, or understand the options. The "consumer" model is anti-person.
Reposted by Sol Werthan
One of my new arguments against AI is that even if it was a good tool, human beings are not in a place to be able to use it without harm. We don't live in ideal world where this benefits mankind. We live in this world where it benefits the rich and fucks the rest of us.
OBVIOUSLY do not use AI, at all. AT ALL, for anything. I don’t wanna hear about the theoretical good version, it’s not what they’re pushing on us. The absolute worst people in the world have gone all in on this shit, and it needs to be starved out as much as possible. AI: not even once!
Sec. Hegseth rolled out the U.S. military’s new AI platform, GenAi.Mil, with a link to an empty website. trib.al/tbCJAkT
Predictably, the platform can’t actually be accessed from external networks, but the wonky rollout triggered eyerolls across the internet.
Predictably, the platform can’t actually be accessed from external networks, but the wonky rollout triggered eyerolls across the internet.
December 9, 2025 at 10:26 PM
One of my new arguments against AI is that even if it was a good tool, human beings are not in a place to be able to use it without harm. We don't live in ideal world where this benefits mankind. We live in this world where it benefits the rich and fucks the rest of us.
Reposted by Sol Werthan
You know why these glowing stories about innovative austerity by university administration pisses off all the faculty? All of them? It's not because it's about firing faculty--you've clearly never been to a faculty meeting if you think there's solidarity internally! It's actually much simpler!
December 9, 2025 at 4:55 PM
You know why these glowing stories about innovative austerity by university administration pisses off all the faculty? All of them? It's not because it's about firing faculty--you've clearly never been to a faculty meeting if you think there's solidarity internally! It's actually much simpler!
Reposted by Sol Werthan
Self-hate is an important part of any creative process, but it doesn't work if there's no self to hate!
One of the many reasons AI can't produce good writing is it can't hate its own writing. It can't think to itself "Maybe I'm illiterate" during the writing process. And that's essential
December 9, 2025 at 11:09 PM
Self-hate is an important part of any creative process, but it doesn't work if there's no self to hate!
Reposted by Sol Werthan
💯
public libraries can play a role in popular resistance to the reduction of culture to bitstreams, but it’s important to remember that public libraries have a mandate to develop their collections, and that means regular weeding. this is why resource sharing (i.e. ILL) is essential. 📚
public libraries can play a role in popular resistance to the reduction of culture to bitstreams, but it’s important to remember that public libraries have a mandate to develop their collections, and that means regular weeding. this is why resource sharing (i.e. ILL) is essential. 📚
Most public libraries are culling their physical media because it doesn’t circulate. If you want libraries to hold something, you need to check it out. Public libraries can’t just be warehouses for physical media you might want someday. Use it or lose it.
When we talk about physical media, we are often only taking about personal collections but a big part of shunning the current digital ecosystem is supporting your local library. Not just for print books and periodicals but for movies, games and other medias too. Get. A. Library. Card.
December 7, 2025 at 3:26 PM
💯
public libraries can play a role in popular resistance to the reduction of culture to bitstreams, but it’s important to remember that public libraries have a mandate to develop their collections, and that means regular weeding. this is why resource sharing (i.e. ILL) is essential. 📚
public libraries can play a role in popular resistance to the reduction of culture to bitstreams, but it’s important to remember that public libraries have a mandate to develop their collections, and that means regular weeding. this is why resource sharing (i.e. ILL) is essential. 📚
Reposted by Sol Werthan
when its definitely not a hostage situation
November 25, 2025 at 4:19 PM
when its definitely not a hostage situation
Reposted by Sol Werthan
Journalist challenge: Use “Machine Learning” when you mean machine learning and “LLM” when you mean LLM. Ditch “AI” as a catch-all term, it’s not useful for readers and it helps companies trying to confuse the public by obscuring the roles played by different technologies. 🧪
November 22, 2025 at 4:50 PM
Journalist challenge: Use “Machine Learning” when you mean machine learning and “LLM” when you mean LLM. Ditch “AI” as a catch-all term, it’s not useful for readers and it helps companies trying to confuse the public by obscuring the roles played by different technologies. 🧪
Reposted by Sol Werthan
I used to handle interlibrary loans for a public library. ILL is a magnificent expression of the idea that readers deserve books, and books deserve readers. It’s libraries everywhere pooling their resources for the benefit of everyone.
Killing IMLS could have killed ILL.
This is great news. 📚
Killing IMLS could have killed ILL.
This is great news. 📚
Court permanently blocks Trump's executive order to dismantle federal agency for America's libraries IMLS
librarytechnology.org/pr/31973
librarytechnology.org/pr/31973
Court permanently blocks Trump's executive order to dismantle federal agency for America's libraries
Press Release: Court permanently blocks Trump's executive order to dismantle federal agency for America's libraries. The U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island struck down the Trump Adm...
librarytechnology.org
November 22, 2025 at 3:23 PM
I used to handle interlibrary loans for a public library. ILL is a magnificent expression of the idea that readers deserve books, and books deserve readers. It’s libraries everywhere pooling their resources for the benefit of everyone.
Killing IMLS could have killed ILL.
This is great news. 📚
Killing IMLS could have killed ILL.
This is great news. 📚
Reposted by Sol Werthan
Mainly though if you didn't want your users to freak out over rumors that you're secretly stealing and misusing their personal data, your entire sector should have played the past two years and also the past two decades differently
I do want Google computers to read my email and skim out the obvious spam; I didn't need Google computers reading my email to spam me with Google's own redundant and/or out-of-date alerts about package deliveries on top of the emails that already told me that information
Seems like that Gmail thing isn't true but maybe there's a lesson here about what happens when you keep turning new features on by default and you make it difficult or impossible to turn them off, and also what happens when you lump useful machine learning in with forced slop under the "AI" label
November 22, 2025 at 3:39 PM
Mainly though if you didn't want your users to freak out over rumors that you're secretly stealing and misusing their personal data, your entire sector should have played the past two years and also the past two decades differently
Reposted by Sol Werthan
Seems like that Gmail thing isn't true but maybe there's a lesson here about what happens when you keep turning new features on by default and you make it difficult or impossible to turn them off, and also what happens when you lump useful machine learning in with forced slop under the "AI" label
November 22, 2025 at 3:24 PM
Seems like that Gmail thing isn't true but maybe there's a lesson here about what happens when you keep turning new features on by default and you make it difficult or impossible to turn them off, and also what happens when you lump useful machine learning in with forced slop under the "AI" label
Reposted by Sol Werthan
Some exciting news: 404 Media just won a grant via Muckrock to investigate book bans and educational censorship in the U.S. The plan is to file hundreds of public records requests around the country and to report on and archive all the documents for public use:
www.404media.co/help-us-inve...
www.404media.co/help-us-inve...
Help Us Investigate Book Bans and Educational Censorship Around America
404 Media has gotten a grant to unearth public records about systematic censorship of books, schools, and libraries in the U.S.
www.404media.co
October 9, 2025 at 2:37 PM
Some exciting news: 404 Media just won a grant via Muckrock to investigate book bans and educational censorship in the U.S. The plan is to file hundreds of public records requests around the country and to report on and archive all the documents for public use:
www.404media.co/help-us-inve...
www.404media.co/help-us-inve...
Reposted by Sol Werthan
Lol. This is "I support the 1st Amendment for speech I agree with" which means "I do not support the 1st Amendment or free speech."
September 19, 2025 at 12:30 AM
Lol. This is "I support the 1st Amendment for speech I agree with" which means "I do not support the 1st Amendment or free speech."
Reposted by Sol Werthan
The story is not what Kimmel said but what others won’t say now for fear of state retribution. Authoritarian countries thrive on self censorship.
September 18, 2025 at 8:12 AM
The story is not what Kimmel said but what others won’t say now for fear of state retribution. Authoritarian countries thrive on self censorship.
Reposted by Sol Werthan
LINK ROT: 38% webpages that existed in 2013 were no longer available 10 years later.
Even among pages that existed in 2021, 22% no longer accessible just two years later. This is often because individual page was deleted or removed on otherwise functional website.
Many implications for knowledge 🧪
Even among pages that existed in 2021, 22% no longer accessible just two years later. This is often because individual page was deleted or removed on otherwise functional website.
Many implications for knowledge 🧪
September 14, 2025 at 11:19 PM
LINK ROT: 38% webpages that existed in 2013 were no longer available 10 years later.
Even among pages that existed in 2021, 22% no longer accessible just two years later. This is often because individual page was deleted or removed on otherwise functional website.
Many implications for knowledge 🧪
Even among pages that existed in 2021, 22% no longer accessible just two years later. This is often because individual page was deleted or removed on otherwise functional website.
Many implications for knowledge 🧪
Reposted by Sol Werthan
My job now is to go school to school, university to university trying to help them sort through the challenge of teaching in a world with AI and the first thing I recommend to improve the teaching of writing is cut the number of students per instructor in half. No one is going to do that, though.
I understand why people in education say they're turning to this technology because they have too much to do and they think it can ease the burden, but this is not an AI problem. It's a labor problem that the AI is only going to make worse over time.
August 28, 2025 at 8:28 PM
My job now is to go school to school, university to university trying to help them sort through the challenge of teaching in a world with AI and the first thing I recommend to improve the teaching of writing is cut the number of students per instructor in half. No one is going to do that, though.
Reposted by Sol Werthan
A great example of life after cars.
Before (2024) / After (2025) the pedestrianization and greening of Rue Saint-Victor in the 5th arrondissement of Paris, a case where traditional cobblestones were laid in place of asphalt.
July 26, 2025 at 5:41 PM
A great example of life after cars.
Reposted by Sol Werthan
Setting aside the ethical and environmental concerns of AI, I'm really offended by a bunch of elite dudes telling us our minds aren't good enough when they've had to steal everything human minds have created to create their pretend mind and it doesn't even work right!
July 26, 2025 at 5:30 PM
Setting aside the ethical and environmental concerns of AI, I'm really offended by a bunch of elite dudes telling us our minds aren't good enough when they've had to steal everything human minds have created to create their pretend mind and it doesn't even work right!
Reposted by Sol Werthan
Increasingly convinced the main damage cell phones have done to creativity isn't decreased attention spans or what not but the elimination of productive boredom. Inspiration comes from the mind filling the void inside. Hard to make art when you're constantly silencing the silence with "content."
July 22, 2025 at 12:45 PM
Increasingly convinced the main damage cell phones have done to creativity isn't decreased attention spans or what not but the elimination of productive boredom. Inspiration comes from the mind filling the void inside. Hard to make art when you're constantly silencing the silence with "content."
Reposted by Sol Werthan
Learning enough to know "how to learn more" on your own is one of the most important and rewarding skills to have as a scientist and scholar. A joy and a gift
I am grateful to the universe for always being something that I can return to
And to my younger self who did the incredibly hard work of making sure that I would know enough of the language to always be able to teach myself more
The gift of a lifetime, really.
And to my younger self who did the incredibly hard work of making sure that I would know enough of the language to always be able to teach myself more
The gift of a lifetime, really.
June 22, 2025 at 4:03 PM
Learning enough to know "how to learn more" on your own is one of the most important and rewarding skills to have as a scientist and scholar. A joy and a gift
Reposted by Sol Werthan
What was Los Angeles like pre-freeway? 🚙🚕🚗
Recently digitized, a detailed hand-drawn created by "the only woman map publisher in the country" lets us time-travel to 1927, before the widespread adoption of automobiles: gty.art/4kvZs1l
Recently digitized, a detailed hand-drawn created by "the only woman map publisher in the country" lets us time-travel to 1927, before the widespread adoption of automobiles: gty.art/4kvZs1l
May 24, 2025 at 4:26 PM
What was Los Angeles like pre-freeway? 🚙🚕🚗
Recently digitized, a detailed hand-drawn created by "the only woman map publisher in the country" lets us time-travel to 1927, before the widespread adoption of automobiles: gty.art/4kvZs1l
Recently digitized, a detailed hand-drawn created by "the only woman map publisher in the country" lets us time-travel to 1927, before the widespread adoption of automobiles: gty.art/4kvZs1l
Reposted by Sol Werthan
It genuinely feels like the last decade has been less about "using tech to solve user problems" and more "using tech to extract sellable information" which is... just not what tech is *for.*
It's the rot that is "businesses exist to maximize shareholder profits" fully hollowing out innovation.
It's the rot that is "businesses exist to maximize shareholder profits" fully hollowing out innovation.
I fucking love gadgets. I like new things. I set up a gadget savings account ten years ago to restrict myself on gadget purchases because I am a gadget loving freak.
Pretty amazing for the tech industry to make someone like me into a tech dethusiast in a matter of five years.
Pretty amazing for the tech industry to make someone like me into a tech dethusiast in a matter of five years.
May 23, 2025 at 11:51 PM
It genuinely feels like the last decade has been less about "using tech to solve user problems" and more "using tech to extract sellable information" which is... just not what tech is *for.*
It's the rot that is "businesses exist to maximize shareholder profits" fully hollowing out innovation.
It's the rot that is "businesses exist to maximize shareholder profits" fully hollowing out innovation.
Reposted by Sol Werthan
The number of journalist in this piece who draw the line at “letting AI do the writing” but are fine with “letting AI do the thinking” makes me want to walk into the ocean.
This is how you lose your edge — and the war on our industry as executives try to replace us.
This is how you lose your edge — and the war on our industry as executives try to replace us.
How We’re Using AI
The rapid development of AI is already changing how journalists operate. Reporters, editors, executives, and others across the news industry share their advice on how to engage—and where to draw the l...
www.cjr.org
May 13, 2025 at 9:59 PM
The number of journalist in this piece who draw the line at “letting AI do the writing” but are fine with “letting AI do the thinking” makes me want to walk into the ocean.
This is how you lose your edge — and the war on our industry as executives try to replace us.
This is how you lose your edge — and the war on our industry as executives try to replace us.
Reposted by Sol Werthan
Look, I hope these students see what they’re saying and start to try to think through the problems they are given in school without ChatGPT.
But the neoliberal capture of universities and systematic defunding of schools is just as much to blame for this as the students decision to use it.
But the neoliberal capture of universities and systematic defunding of schools is just as much to blame for this as the students decision to use it.
May 14, 2025 at 12:16 AM
Look, I hope these students see what they’re saying and start to try to think through the problems they are given in school without ChatGPT.
But the neoliberal capture of universities and systematic defunding of schools is just as much to blame for this as the students decision to use it.
But the neoliberal capture of universities and systematic defunding of schools is just as much to blame for this as the students decision to use it.
Reposted by Sol Werthan
Carla Hayden was president of the @amlibraryassoc.bsky.social when ours was one of few organized voices opposed to the USA PATRIOT Act.
Librarians have been fired all across the federal government, gutting not just ours but the world’s intellectual infrastructure. Devastating.
Librarians have been fired all across the federal government, gutting not just ours but the world’s intellectual infrastructure. Devastating.
May 9, 2025 at 12:14 PM
Carla Hayden was president of the @amlibraryassoc.bsky.social when ours was one of few organized voices opposed to the USA PATRIOT Act.
Librarians have been fired all across the federal government, gutting not just ours but the world’s intellectual infrastructure. Devastating.
Librarians have been fired all across the federal government, gutting not just ours but the world’s intellectual infrastructure. Devastating.