Doug Winter
@doug.winter.cx
CTO & part-time systems thinker.
Husband of @rowan68.bsky.social.
Husband of @rowan68.bsky.social.
Why would you choose to buy this?
December 4, 2025 at 7:32 AM
Why would you choose to buy this?
Reposted by Doug Winter
This Pluribus ad on a fridge caused a schizophrenic woman named Carol to be hospitalized.
December 4, 2025 at 3:08 AM
This Pluribus ad on a fridge caused a schizophrenic woman named Carol to be hospitalized.
Reposted by Doug Winter
One of those things you learn about and then dont know what to do with
‘If you aren’t lying, you aren’t flying.’ Airline pilots hide mental health struggles
Aviation operates under stricter standards than other industries. Dozens of commercial airline pilots tell Reuters they are reluctant to disclose mental health issues — even minor or treatable ones — ...
www.reuters.com
December 4, 2025 at 1:55 AM
One of those things you learn about and then dont know what to do with
Reposted by Doug Winter
Conrad tested this and I think Where Winds Meet is the worst game in the world.
December 3, 2025 at 1:19 AM
Conrad tested this and I think Where Winds Meet is the worst game in the world.
I can't actually think of a science fiction book with this particular Torment Nexus, but I feel like there must be one.
The co-founder of Kalshi says: " The long-term vision is to financialize everything and create a tradable asset out of any difference in opinion."
December 4, 2025 at 6:19 AM
I can't actually think of a science fiction book with this particular Torment Nexus, but I feel like there must be one.
Reposted by Doug Winter
Reposted by Doug Winter
something you need to understand about Internet of Things devices is that with rare exceptions they use bottom of the barrel security practices and are lying to you about them
NEW: Your "end-to-end encrypted" poop pictures taken by this $599 (+ subscription) smart toilet camera are actually not end-to-end encrypted.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
techcrunch.com/2025/12/03/e...
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
techcrunch.com/2025/12/03/e...
‘End-to-end encrypted’ smart toilet camera is not actually end-to-end encrypted | TechCrunch
Kohler, the makers of a smart toilet camera, can access customers' data stored on its servers, and can use customers’ bowl pictures to train AI.
techcrunch.com
December 4, 2025 at 3:48 AM
something you need to understand about Internet of Things devices is that with rare exceptions they use bottom of the barrel security practices and are lying to you about them
He is absolutely right that prediction markets are a disaster for manipulation, and therefore no good for prediction.
Betting on someone's death is illegal though, at least in the UK (unless you have an insurable interest in them).
Betting on someone's death is illegal though, at least in the UK (unless you have an insurable interest in them).
The reason this ends in tragedy is that financialized news is the most convenient tool for fraud in human history. There’s a not a single newsworthy topic that’s possible to bet on that isn’t also possible to manipulate or insider trade.
Watch what happens when we start betting on celebrity deaths.
Watch what happens when we start betting on celebrity deaths.
Wtf are we doing?
"CNN partners with Kalshi to integrate prediction markets into its global newsroom. The first major news network to embrace Kalshi prediction markets."
"CNN partners with Kalshi to integrate prediction markets into its global newsroom. The first major news network to embrace Kalshi prediction markets."
December 4, 2025 at 5:42 AM
He is absolutely right that prediction markets are a disaster for manipulation, and therefore no good for prediction.
Betting on someone's death is illegal though, at least in the UK (unless you have an insurable interest in them).
Betting on someone's death is illegal though, at least in the UK (unless you have an insurable interest in them).
Strategic genius. How to get no credit for keeping your promises, whilst remaining entirely constrained by them.
December 2, 2025 at 7:35 AM
Strategic genius. How to get no credit for keeping your promises, whilst remaining entirely constrained by them.
Podcast hosts: unless your podcast is called "just a whole hour of whimsy" maybe try and keep the whimsy down a bit?
December 2, 2025 at 7:29 AM
Podcast hosts: unless your podcast is called "just a whole hour of whimsy" maybe try and keep the whimsy down a bit?
Reposted by Doug Winter
I think it is insanely bad for the world that the President posts this onto his personal social media website and nothing happens .normanrockwellstandingman.jpg
December 2, 2025 at 5:10 AM
I think it is insanely bad for the world that the President posts this onto his personal social media website and nothing happens .normanrockwellstandingman.jpg
Reposted by Doug Winter
Every sentence here is even crazier than the last.
December 2, 2025 at 1:48 AM
Every sentence here is even crazier than the last.
It is one of the depressing things about our work that the end result is always people, somewhere, being made redundant.
You have to believe in the system, that this is ultimately emancipatory in some larger sense.
But maybe it isn't.
You have to believe in the system, that this is ultimately emancipatory in some larger sense.
But maybe it isn't.
the field of software engineering is fundamentally about doing things with a computer that you would previously have to do with a pen and paper, or taking things already done by a human with a computer and doing them with no human.
what we do is express the death urge of the concept of labor
what we do is express the death urge of the concept of labor
it's ironic, because artists seem absolutely enraged and terrified that AI is helping coders replace them, but from what I see, the more apparent and profitable applications have actually involved non-technical folks having the ability to take engineers' work away from them
December 1, 2025 at 8:51 PM
It is one of the depressing things about our work that the end result is always people, somewhere, being made redundant.
You have to believe in the system, that this is ultimately emancipatory in some larger sense.
But maybe it isn't.
You have to believe in the system, that this is ultimately emancipatory in some larger sense.
But maybe it isn't.
Their reasoning is totally plausible from a systems perspective, and this might well cause all sorts of second-order problems nobody realises are connected.
Rail regulator U-turns on Manchester to London 'ghost train' service
Rail regulator U-turns on Manchester to London 'ghost train' service
The rail regulator has reversed a decision that would have prevented passengers from taking an early morning "ghost train" service between Manchester Piccadilly and London Euston.
news.sky.com
December 1, 2025 at 8:04 PM
Their reasoning is totally plausible from a systems perspective, and this might well cause all sorts of second-order problems nobody realises are connected.
The annual budget for University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust is £2.6bn.
£4bn really isn't a lot of headroom for a whole country.
£4bn really isn't a lot of headroom for a whole country.
The closest an angry politico has ever come to doing me harm is when someone, while I was sipping on a glass of water on a panel, said "four billion might not be a lot of money to a middle class person like you". Damn near drowned choking with laughter.
Look you lot at the FT clearly don’t understand, if you gave me £4bn personally that would be a lot of money. Hold on, I’m getting some new information that the population of the U.K. might be bigger than 1
December 1, 2025 at 4:09 PM
The annual budget for University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust is £2.6bn.
£4bn really isn't a lot of headroom for a whole country.
£4bn really isn't a lot of headroom for a whole country.
Reposted by Doug Winter
it is absolutely unbelievable how complaining about water has somehow obliterated every real harm
December 1, 2025 at 1:29 AM
it is absolutely unbelievable how complaining about water has somehow obliterated every real harm
Reposted by Doug Winter
Mind-blowingly cool use of AI
“Altogether, these findings are leading us to an extraordinary conclusion: Whales may possess a communication system more intricate than our own, one that possibly predates human language by tens of millions of years.”
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/23/o...
“Altogether, these findings are leading us to an extraordinary conclusion: Whales may possess a communication system more intricate than our own, one that possibly predates human language by tens of millions of years.”
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/23/o...
Opinion | I’m a Marine Biologist. This Is How I Talk to Whales.
www.nytimes.com
November 30, 2025 at 8:58 PM
Mind-blowingly cool use of AI
“Altogether, these findings are leading us to an extraordinary conclusion: Whales may possess a communication system more intricate than our own, one that possibly predates human language by tens of millions of years.”
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/23/o...
“Altogether, these findings are leading us to an extraordinary conclusion: Whales may possess a communication system more intricate than our own, one that possibly predates human language by tens of millions of years.”
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/23/o...
Reposted by Doug Winter
had the intrusive thought that 30 years from now we’re going to have VC funds and military startups named after harry potter stuff and it’s going to be even more annoying than hobbit stuff
December 1, 2025 at 2:52 AM
had the intrusive thought that 30 years from now we’re going to have VC funds and military startups named after harry potter stuff and it’s going to be even more annoying than hobbit stuff
I said basically this to someone I know who is constantly engaged in bitter social media arguments and he looked at me like I was mad.
My position was fundamentally selfish, he said. Correcting error where he found it was a social good, that he performed for the good of everyone.
My position was fundamentally selfish, he said. Correcting error where he found it was a social good, that he performed for the good of everyone.
The most precious commodity you have is your attention. You don’t have to waste it on poor-faith debates or arguments with strangers if you don’t think they’ll be productive. You can prioritize the things that matter to you and make your life richer.
December 1, 2025 at 7:30 AM
I said basically this to someone I know who is constantly engaged in bitter social media arguments and he looked at me like I was mad.
My position was fundamentally selfish, he said. Correcting error where he found it was a social good, that he performed for the good of everyone.
My position was fundamentally selfish, he said. Correcting error where he found it was a social good, that he performed for the good of everyone.
Reposted by Doug Winter
Don't Panic: Britain is not broken. The UK can do better, but we shouldn't be too gloomy about things. If you look at the stats, there's a lot to be happy with (including how happy we are): adamcorlett.com/2025/11/30/d...
Don’t Panic: Britain is not broken – adamcorlett.com
adamcorlett.com
November 30, 2025 at 9:05 PM
Don't Panic: Britain is not broken. The UK can do better, but we shouldn't be too gloomy about things. If you look at the stats, there's a lot to be happy with (including how happy we are): adamcorlett.com/2025/11/30/d...
To be fair the "black hole" thing was bullshit from the beginning and they leaned into it for political reasons. You reap what you sow.
This is no longer a serious country. Journalists and politicians screaming about the 'impression' Reeves gave and how black is a black hole rather than the failure to reform tax and welfare to make the economy work.
November 30, 2025 at 6:57 PM
To be fair the "black hole" thing was bullshit from the beginning and they leaned into it for political reasons. You reap what you sow.
What do judges make of this stuff?
When this criminal was jailed, the judge told David Gentile and America: ‘This is a warning to would-be fraudsters that seeking to get rich by taking advantage of investors gets you only a one-way ticket to jail.’ I guess not
November 30, 2025 at 6:17 PM
What do judges make of this stuff?
Reposted by Doug Winter
Everyone has absolutely lost their minds.
November 30, 2025 at 12:25 PM
Everyone has absolutely lost their minds.
Reposted by Doug Winter
Two very different things worth reading in parallel on the tortured future of AI and democracy. Daron Acemoğlu on Mamdani and worker-powered AI on.ft.com/3XmuL5s and Matthew D'Ancona on Nick Land's right-wing technospiritualism www.thenewworld.co.uk/matthew-danc...
November 30, 2025 at 9:16 AM
Two very different things worth reading in parallel on the tortured future of AI and democracy. Daron Acemoğlu on Mamdani and worker-powered AI on.ft.com/3XmuL5s and Matthew D'Ancona on Nick Land's right-wing technospiritualism www.thenewworld.co.uk/matthew-danc...