Richard Higgins
@zen0effect.com
Software developer for libraries and academic research. Devoted to open source.
PhD-haver. Former contingent faculty in English and InfoSci. Fan of good metadata, long novels, and due process.
PhD-haver. Former contingent faculty in English and InfoSci. Fan of good metadata, long novels, and due process.
Pinned
Reposted by Richard Higgins
From now on I'll easily rebut all criticisms of my writing by explaining that I larded my prose with grammatical errors, needless words, and clunky phrases simply to avoid being accused of using AI.
January 16, 2026 at 6:24 PM
From now on I'll easily rebut all criticisms of my writing by explaining that I larded my prose with grammatical errors, needless words, and clunky phrases simply to avoid being accused of using AI.
Reposted by Richard Higgins
"All things considered, Teaching with AI is not without value; it is a case study in how even well-meaning educators operating in good faith can become inadvertent agents of a pedagogical de-skilling and institutional dehumanization."
A Pedagogy of the Inevitable | Critical AI | Duke University Press
read.dukeupress.edu
January 16, 2026 at 1:19 AM
"All things considered, Teaching with AI is not without value; it is a case study in how even well-meaning educators operating in good faith can become inadvertent agents of a pedagogical de-skilling and institutional dehumanization."
Reposted by Richard Higgins
Molly's being characteristically thoughtful. I'll be more of an asshole: THE AI COMPANIES HAVE USED WIKIPEDIA'S SHIT FOR YEARS. It costs millions of fucking dollars in infrastructure to serve up content to these companies. Should Wikipedia subsidize them? No? Then it's *good* they're getting paid!
I think people are erroneously interpreting the headline to mean that the Wikimedia Foundation is embracing AI for purposes like generating encyclopedia content, or are providing AI companies with more training data than they were already scraping.
January 15, 2026 at 11:18 PM
Molly's being characteristically thoughtful. I'll be more of an asshole: THE AI COMPANIES HAVE USED WIKIPEDIA'S SHIT FOR YEARS. It costs millions of fucking dollars in infrastructure to serve up content to these companies. Should Wikipedia subsidize them? No? Then it's *good* they're getting paid!
Just no
Today in LinkedIn: A Play in Three Acts
I. Open LinkedIn.
II. Read a post that says, in short, “Sure, my constant AI-equipped video monitoring of students to determine their attention at scale might be used for surveillance, but what if my version of the system is different?”
III. Close LinkedIn.
I. Open LinkedIn.
II. Read a post that says, in short, “Sure, my constant AI-equipped video monitoring of students to determine their attention at scale might be used for surveillance, but what if my version of the system is different?”
III. Close LinkedIn.
January 15, 2026 at 11:36 PM
Just no
Reposted by Richard Higgins
She said she was headed to a doctor's appointment. Federal agents still attacked her.
Earlier today in Minneapolis, journalist Amanda Moore (@noturtlesoup17.bsky.social) documented a tense, chaotic federal operation near 34th Street and Park Avenue.
Earlier today in Minneapolis, journalist Amanda Moore (@noturtlesoup17.bsky.social) documented a tense, chaotic federal operation near 34th Street and Park Avenue.
January 13, 2026 at 10:45 PM
She said she was headed to a doctor's appointment. Federal agents still attacked her.
Earlier today in Minneapolis, journalist Amanda Moore (@noturtlesoup17.bsky.social) documented a tense, chaotic federal operation near 34th Street and Park Avenue.
Earlier today in Minneapolis, journalist Amanda Moore (@noturtlesoup17.bsky.social) documented a tense, chaotic federal operation near 34th Street and Park Avenue.
Reposted by Richard Higgins
We evacuated our kids out of Minneapolis this weekend and my spouse reports that as she drove them out of town she saw "multiple freeway exits where people are being pulled over." It feels like the Twin Cities is being subjugated by a hostile occupying force.
January 10, 2026 at 1:47 AM
We evacuated our kids out of Minneapolis this weekend and my spouse reports that as she drove them out of town she saw "multiple freeway exits where people are being pulled over." It feels like the Twin Cities is being subjugated by a hostile occupying force.
Reposted by Richard Higgins
A friend in Minneapolis just sent me this video. Looks like thousands have come together for a vigil after an ICE agent shot and killed 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good. This was my neighborhood for several years before coming to Portland.
January 8, 2026 at 1:05 AM
A friend in Minneapolis just sent me this video. Looks like thousands have come together for a vigil after an ICE agent shot and killed 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good. This was my neighborhood for several years before coming to Portland.
Reposted by Richard Higgins
Rest in power, Renee Good. 💔
January 8, 2026 at 1:21 AM
Rest in power, Renee Good. 💔
"The key point is that the model isn't choosing bliss, it's attempting to minimise uncertainty by defaulting to patterns that scored highest during its training and which carry the least risk of a negative reward."
This excerpt from David M. Berry’s new book, Artificial Intelligence and Critical Theory analyzing the “Bliss Atractor” in Claude is facanating. Analyzing these kinds of “glitches” will be really powerful for demystifying the logic of LLMs stunlaw.blogspot.com/2026/01/the-...
The Bliss Attractor
Understanding digital media, technology, theory, culture and society.
stunlaw.blogspot.com
January 7, 2026 at 1:33 PM
"The key point is that the model isn't choosing bliss, it's attempting to minimise uncertainty by defaulting to patterns that scored highest during its training and which carry the least risk of a negative reward."
Reposted by Richard Higgins
Today is one of those days where I’m struck anew by how *bad* the internet has gotten. It’s almost unusable. Clouds, apps, advertising — nothing is where it should be and it’s nigh impossible sometimes to do basic tasks online.
January 6, 2026 at 9:05 PM
Today is one of those days where I’m struck anew by how *bad* the internet has gotten. It’s almost unusable. Clouds, apps, advertising — nothing is where it should be and it’s nigh impossible sometimes to do basic tasks online.
Reposted by Richard Higgins
*pulls out binoculars* yeah, I’m doing Spy January
January 5, 2026 at 9:59 PM
*pulls out binoculars* yeah, I’m doing Spy January
Reposted by Richard Higgins
Microsoft is so fucking stupid.
Microsoft renamed Microsoft Office to Microsoft 365 Copilot App
I'm not joking
Microsoft renamed Microsoft Office to Microsoft 365 Copilot App
I'm not joking
January 5, 2026 at 5:31 PM
Microsoft is so fucking stupid.
Microsoft renamed Microsoft Office to Microsoft 365 Copilot App
I'm not joking
Microsoft renamed Microsoft Office to Microsoft 365 Copilot App
I'm not joking
For distraction purposes and with a little technical intervention, I love Canadian (CBC) coverage of winter sports.
January 4, 2026 at 6:11 PM
For distraction purposes and with a little technical intervention, I love Canadian (CBC) coverage of winter sports.
Reposted by Richard Higgins
AI companies hoovering up social media platforms to access their data does feel like a trend we’ll be seeing more of
BREAKING: OpenAI is predicted to buy Pinterest, $PINS, in 2026, per the Information
January 2, 2026 at 10:49 PM
AI companies hoovering up social media platforms to access their data does feel like a trend we’ll be seeing more of
No cheating, repost w your most recent picture of your pet.
January 2, 2026 at 11:55 PM
No cheating, repost w your most recent picture of your pet.
Reposted by Richard Higgins
Trans people were not born in the wrong body. They were born in the wrong society.
January 2, 2026 at 10:59 PM
Trans people were not born in the wrong body. They were born in the wrong society.
Reposted by Richard Higgins
Norbert Wiener, "The Human Use of Human Beings", 1950. Wiener is considered the father of the field of cybernetics and he wrote about what happens when people assign agency to complex machines.
January 2, 2026 at 11:19 PM
Norbert Wiener, "The Human Use of Human Beings", 1950. Wiener is considered the father of the field of cybernetics and he wrote about what happens when people assign agency to complex machines.
Reposted by Richard Higgins
We haven't seen an Indiana squad turn back an Alabama offense this decisively since Antietam
January 1, 2026 at 10:23 PM
We haven't seen an Indiana squad turn back an Alabama offense this decisively since Antietam
I've been thinking about how much more fiction I read in 2025. Audio books have helped me curb a news-junkie habit that had accelerated during the so-called "golden age" of twitter. I still follow a lot of journalists who have moved to bsky, but I'm a bit more balanced in my day-to-day consumption.
I do most of my personal reading via the iOS audiobooks app. I'm kind of shocked by the total hours. Definitely surpasses other, non-world-on-fire years.
December 31, 2025 at 7:15 PM
I've been thinking about how much more fiction I read in 2025. Audio books have helped me curb a news-junkie habit that had accelerated during the so-called "golden age" of twitter. I still follow a lot of journalists who have moved to bsky, but I'm a bit more balanced in my day-to-day consumption.
Reposted by Richard Higgins
Post a perfect album from the 90s that isn't Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden or Alice in Chains.
December 27, 2025 at 8:48 PM
Post a perfect album from the 90s that isn't Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden or Alice in Chains.
Reposted by Richard Higgins
Post a perfect album from the 90s that isn't Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden or Alice in Chains.
December 27, 2025 at 10:04 PM
Post a perfect album from the 90s that isn't Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden or Alice in Chains.
Post a perfect album from the 90s that isn't Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden or Alice in Chains.
December 28, 2025 at 9:54 PM
Post a perfect album from the 90s that isn't Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden or Alice in Chains.
Reposted by Richard Higgins
If we are banning cell phones for kids we need to be talking about banning chatbots for boomers
www.persuasion.community/p/my-chatgpt...
www.persuasion.community/p/my-chatgpt...
December 17, 2025 at 4:38 PM
If we are banning cell phones for kids we need to be talking about banning chatbots for boomers
www.persuasion.community/p/my-chatgpt...
www.persuasion.community/p/my-chatgpt...