Ivan Monteiro
@ivanmonteiro.bsky.social
I help build long-term value Products.
Ex: Meltwater ▪︎ posts on society, culture, politics, product management + sky photos & the occasional memery ▪︎ views my own except where noted
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ivan-cm
https://ivan-monteiro.medium.com/
Ex: Meltwater ▪︎ posts on society, culture, politics, product management + sky photos & the occasional memery ▪︎ views my own except where noted
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ivan-cm
https://ivan-monteiro.medium.com/
Reposted by Ivan Monteiro
What this means after intense lobbying by German car makers is that due to economies of scale they’ll produce only high end internal combustion cars which means rich people get to carry on polluting, so that’s nice www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
EU waters down plans to end new petrol and diesel car sales by 2035
Carmakers, particularly in Germany, have lobbied heavily for concessions to the planned rules.
www.bbc.co.uk
December 17, 2025 at 9:14 PM
What this means after intense lobbying by German car makers is that due to economies of scale they’ll produce only high end internal combustion cars which means rich people get to carry on polluting, so that’s nice www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Reposted by Ivan Monteiro
A new study of the last 50 years of US pop music shows “a significant increase in stress-related language, alongside declines in positive sentiment and lyrical complexity.”
Societal crises disrupt long-term increases in stress, negativity, and simplicity in US Billboard song lyrics from 1973 to 2023 - Scientific Reports
Scientific Reports - Societal crises disrupt long-term increases in stress, negativity, and simplicity in US Billboard song lyrics from 1973 to 2023
www.nature.com
December 13, 2025 at 12:32 AM
A new study of the last 50 years of US pop music shows “a significant increase in stress-related language, alongside declines in positive sentiment and lyrical complexity.”
Reposted by Ivan Monteiro
People keep wondering why they're going after Venezuela. It's because they want to do regime change and control its oil, then use a big tract of land there to keep a tax free "network state" that looks like Dubai but operates like Rhodesia. They are saying this out loud! Believe them!
December 10, 2025 at 6:57 PM
People keep wondering why they're going after Venezuela. It's because they want to do regime change and control its oil, then use a big tract of land there to keep a tax free "network state" that looks like Dubai but operates like Rhodesia. They are saying this out loud! Believe them!
Taking techno-feudalism one step further
“Just because it’s stupid doesn’t mean it won’t inherit the Earth.” www.ft.com/content/b127...
Tech elites are starting their own for-profit cities
They want to escape from regulation and ‘failing’ democracy — but are they more opportunistic than libertarian?
www.ft.com
December 8, 2025 at 7:03 AM
Taking techno-feudalism one step further
Reposted by Ivan Monteiro
TIL about a memorial ceremony in Iceland in 2019 to mark the end of a glacier, changing the place name from Okjökull to Ok (jökull = glacier). Uncompromising wording on the bronze plaque:
"This is to acknowledge that we know what is happening and what needs to be done. Only you know if we did it".
"This is to acknowledge that we know what is happening and what needs to be done. Only you know if we did it".
December 7, 2025 at 5:17 PM
TIL about a memorial ceremony in Iceland in 2019 to mark the end of a glacier, changing the place name from Okjökull to Ok (jökull = glacier). Uncompromising wording on the bronze plaque:
"This is to acknowledge that we know what is happening and what needs to be done. Only you know if we did it".
"This is to acknowledge that we know what is happening and what needs to be done. Only you know if we did it".
Reposted by Ivan Monteiro
Our collective task is not to save tech but to save us, our world.
The resonant computing manifesto is too focused on means and not on ends. And that's basically the core issue. The belief in technological determinism.
The resonant computing manifesto is too focused on means and not on ends. And that's basically the core issue. The belief in technological determinism.
December 6, 2025 at 8:48 PM
Our collective task is not to save tech but to save us, our world.
The resonant computing manifesto is too focused on means and not on ends. And that's basically the core issue. The belief in technological determinism.
The resonant computing manifesto is too focused on means and not on ends. And that's basically the core issue. The belief in technological determinism.
Reposted by Ivan Monteiro
A timeline of Earth’s average temperature since the last ice age. Spoiler alert: It’s definitely getting warmer. And it’s happening increasingly, scarily fast. xkcd.com/1732/
Earth Temperature Timeline
xkcd.com
December 5, 2025 at 3:58 PM
A timeline of Earth’s average temperature since the last ice age. Spoiler alert: It’s definitely getting warmer. And it’s happening increasingly, scarily fast. xkcd.com/1732/
Reposted by Ivan Monteiro
The USPS posting a NINE BILLION DOLLAR LOSS!!! sounds terrible. Certainly worse than if you said "USPS costs thirty dollars per person per year" even though that means the same thing and more accurately describes a government service
December 5, 2025 at 1:31 PM
The USPS posting a NINE BILLION DOLLAR LOSS!!! sounds terrible. Certainly worse than if you said "USPS costs thirty dollars per person per year" even though that means the same thing and more accurately describes a government service
Reposted by Ivan Monteiro
I'm no purist when it comes to participating in things we all know are bad. I try to reduce my harm but I'm an honest hypocrite.
I won't judge you for still using Spotify, just try this rad alternative. I'm listening to music from Dar es Salaam. Where will you listen to? radio.garden/listen/furah...
I won't judge you for still using Spotify, just try this rad alternative. I'm listening to music from Dar es Salaam. Where will you listen to? radio.garden/listen/furah...
Explore live radio by rotating the globe
Explore live radio by rotating the globe.
radio.garden
December 4, 2025 at 5:06 PM
I'm no purist when it comes to participating in things we all know are bad. I try to reduce my harm but I'm an honest hypocrite.
I won't judge you for still using Spotify, just try this rad alternative. I'm listening to music from Dar es Salaam. Where will you listen to? radio.garden/listen/furah...
I won't judge you for still using Spotify, just try this rad alternative. I'm listening to music from Dar es Salaam. Where will you listen to? radio.garden/listen/furah...
When a great steak comes out I get really excited. But more than half the steaks get sent back by the customer. Now I run 10 microwaves in parallel cooking ten steaks. 1/10 will most likely be good. I had to upgrade my electrical system and nowI have a small nuclear reactor in the parking lot.
🤣
🤣
Ha! This is brilliant :-)
"One of my chefs mentioned that if they could cook the steak on the grill they could get it right the first time. This is not an acceptable attitude in the microwave era."
www.colincornaby.me/2025/08/in-t...
"One of my chefs mentioned that if they could cook the steak on the grill they could get it right the first time. This is not an acceptable attitude in the microwave era."
www.colincornaby.me/2025/08/in-t...
In the Future All Food Will Be Cooked in a Microwave, and if You Can’t Deal With That Then You Need to Get Out of the Kitchen
Update 8/8/2025 – I wrote this the day before a certain post by a popular developer services company. I’ve seen some comments this is a rebuttal – it wasn’t meant to be! But…
www.colincornaby.me
December 4, 2025 at 10:06 AM
When a great steak comes out I get really excited. But more than half the steaks get sent back by the customer. Now I run 10 microwaves in parallel cooking ten steaks. 1/10 will most likely be good. I had to upgrade my electrical system and nowI have a small nuclear reactor in the parking lot.
🤣
🤣
Reposted by Ivan Monteiro
New Office Snitch Alert! 🙄
Starting tomorrow, Microsoft Teams will be rolling out its new feature which can track your location using the office Wi-Fi.
Will this make knowing whose in office or surveillance easier? We say both.
More: www.tomsguide.com/computing/of...
Starting tomorrow, Microsoft Teams will be rolling out its new feature which can track your location using the office Wi-Fi.
Will this make knowing whose in office or surveillance easier? We say both.
More: www.tomsguide.com/computing/of...
November 30, 2025 at 9:26 AM
New Office Snitch Alert! 🙄
Starting tomorrow, Microsoft Teams will be rolling out its new feature which can track your location using the office Wi-Fi.
Will this make knowing whose in office or surveillance easier? We say both.
More: www.tomsguide.com/computing/of...
Starting tomorrow, Microsoft Teams will be rolling out its new feature which can track your location using the office Wi-Fi.
Will this make knowing whose in office or surveillance easier? We say both.
More: www.tomsguide.com/computing/of...
Reposted by Ivan Monteiro
AI-Enabled Teddy Bear Pulled From Shelves For Giving Advice On BDSM, Where To Find Knives https://theonion.com/ai-enabled-teddy-bear-pulled-from-shelves-for-giving-advice-on-bdsm-where-to-find-knives/
November 25, 2025 at 7:30 PM
AI-Enabled Teddy Bear Pulled From Shelves For Giving Advice On BDSM, Where To Find Knives https://theonion.com/ai-enabled-teddy-bear-pulled-from-shelves-for-giving-advice-on-bdsm-where-to-find-knives/
"The self-proclaimed techno-utopians in Silicon Valley... have enabled this ruin. They’ve traded reality for profit and prioritized technologies that aren’t just soulless and amoral, but inhuman in the most literal sense of the word."
Now pile industrial amounts of fake AI slop on top of it.
Now pile industrial amounts of fake AI slop on top of it.
I wrote about the fake account blowup on X this weekend. A genuine post-truth nightmare and proof that these companies have polluted their platforms so thoroughly and traded reality for profit that they've undermined the very idea of what the internet is supposed to be.
That MAGA Account Might Be a Troll From Pakistan
How X blew up its own platform with a new location feature
www.theatlantic.com
November 25, 2025 at 6:35 AM
"The self-proclaimed techno-utopians in Silicon Valley... have enabled this ruin. They’ve traded reality for profit and prioritized technologies that aren’t just soulless and amoral, but inhuman in the most literal sense of the word."
Now pile industrial amounts of fake AI slop on top of it.
Now pile industrial amounts of fake AI slop on top of it.
As I walk through the valley of the shadow of death
I take a look at my life and realize there's nothin' left
'Cause I've been blastin' and laughin' so long that
Even my mama thinks that my mind is gone
I take a look at my life and realize there's nothin' left
'Cause I've been blastin' and laughin' so long that
Even my mama thinks that my mind is gone
Roll, roll, roll, roll
To thrill my soul
You got to beep-a-gunk-a-chucha
Honk-konk-konk-kadanta
Each-ya-puna-ney-cha
Bap-pa-lula-ni-chao
Pao-pati-cha
Ni-saong-kong
ALLL-RIIIGHT
To thrill my soul
You got to beep-a-gunk-a-chucha
Honk-konk-konk-kadanta
Each-ya-puna-ney-cha
Bap-pa-lula-ni-chao
Pao-pati-cha
Ni-saong-kong
ALLL-RIIIGHT
November 23, 2025 at 6:03 AM
As I walk through the valley of the shadow of death
I take a look at my life and realize there's nothin' left
'Cause I've been blastin' and laughin' so long that
Even my mama thinks that my mind is gone
I take a look at my life and realize there's nothin' left
'Cause I've been blastin' and laughin' so long that
Even my mama thinks that my mind is gone
Reposted by Ivan Monteiro
What if color harmonies were a continuum? Not fixed rules, and you could glide through them just by interpolating?
November 22, 2025 at 12:15 AM
What if color harmonies were a continuum? Not fixed rules, and you could glide through them just by interpolating?
"I ❤️ my job. Great salary, clear path to promotion, supply of cold brew in the office. & even though my job requires me to commit sociopathic acts of evil that directly contribute to making the world a measurably worse place from Mo-Fr, from am-pm, outside work, I’m actually a really good person."
I Work For an Evil Company, but Outside Work, I’m Actually a Really Good Person
I love my job. I make a great salary, there’s a clear path to promotion, and a never-ending supply of cold brew in the office. And even though my j...
www.mcsweeneys.net
November 21, 2025 at 6:17 AM
"I ❤️ my job. Great salary, clear path to promotion, supply of cold brew in the office. & even though my job requires me to commit sociopathic acts of evil that directly contribute to making the world a measurably worse place from Mo-Fr, from am-pm, outside work, I’m actually a really good person."
Reposted by Ivan Monteiro
NEW: Welcome to the Great AI Bubble. Yes, it’s here. And yes, it’s going to burst.
It’s also got way more in common with the Epstein scandal than you really want to know.
open.substack.com/pub/broligar...
It’s also got way more in common with the Epstein scandal than you really want to know.
open.substack.com/pub/broligar...
The Great AI Bubble
Yes, it's a bubble. And yes, it's going to burst.
open.substack.com
November 16, 2025 at 11:35 AM
NEW: Welcome to the Great AI Bubble. Yes, it’s here. And yes, it’s going to burst.
It’s also got way more in common with the Epstein scandal than you really want to know.
open.substack.com/pub/broligar...
It’s also got way more in common with the Epstein scandal than you really want to know.
open.substack.com/pub/broligar...
Reposted by Ivan Monteiro
This a big deal: "China’s carbon dioxide emissions have been flat or falling for 18 months"
China's economy has grown by ~5% in the last year, so this comprehensively debunks the idea (again) that emissions are tied to growth. So yes, faster progress needed, but this is how you turn the corner.
China's economy has grown by ~5% in the last year, so this comprehensively debunks the idea (again) that emissions are tied to growth. So yes, faster progress needed, but this is how you turn the corner.
China’s CO2 emissions have been flat or falling for past 18 months, analysis finds
World’s biggest polluter on track to hit peak emissions target early but miss goal for cutting carbon intensity
www.theguardian.com
November 11, 2025 at 9:20 AM
This a big deal: "China’s carbon dioxide emissions have been flat or falling for 18 months"
China's economy has grown by ~5% in the last year, so this comprehensively debunks the idea (again) that emissions are tied to growth. So yes, faster progress needed, but this is how you turn the corner.
China's economy has grown by ~5% in the last year, so this comprehensively debunks the idea (again) that emissions are tied to growth. So yes, faster progress needed, but this is how you turn the corner.
Reposted by Ivan Monteiro
Happy There Is A Circulatory System Walking Through The Kitchen Day to all who celebrate.
November 10, 2025 at 10:54 AM
Happy There Is A Circulatory System Walking Through The Kitchen Day to all who celebrate.
Ostensibly, the goal would be to develop commercial nuclear reactors to power those massive data centers they want for project stargate. But I just cannot help getting some "vibe-bombing" energy out of the whole thing.
Trump Administration Providing Weapons Grade Plutonium to Sam Altman
The White House is providing plutonium to Sam Altman's Oklo, one of four US companies chosen to test experimental reactor designs.
futurism.com
October 27, 2025 at 7:49 PM
Ostensibly, the goal would be to develop commercial nuclear reactors to power those massive data centers they want for project stargate. But I just cannot help getting some "vibe-bombing" energy out of the whole thing.
Back in June, Melon Husk said: "We'll use Grok 3.5... to rewrite the entire corpus of human knowledge, adding missing information and deleting errors. Then retrain on that. Far too much garbage in any foundation model trained on uncorrected data."
The goal is editorial control of reality.
The goal is editorial control of reality.
October 26, 2025 at 7:31 PM
Back in June, Melon Husk said: "We'll use Grok 3.5... to rewrite the entire corpus of human knowledge, adding missing information and deleting errors. Then retrain on that. Far too much garbage in any foundation model trained on uncorrected data."
The goal is editorial control of reality.
The goal is editorial control of reality.
"...as a tech worker, I’ve seen first-hand people’s propensity to believe in things they don’t understand, perhaps specifically because they don’t understand them."
Remember Sterling's corolary of Clarke's3rd law? "Any sufficiently advanced garbage is indistinguishable from magic."
Remember Sterling's corolary of Clarke's3rd law? "Any sufficiently advanced garbage is indistinguishable from magic."
"the money is made by making investors believe, not that the product will work, but that individuals and society as a whole can be made to also believe, if they put enough money behind the idea, that a certain type of future is inevitable"
www.theguardian.com/books/2025/o...
www.theguardian.com/books/2025/o...
Tech bros need the world to believe their hype. Here’s an idea – let’s just ignore them | Pip Finkemeyer
Social media didn’t live up to its promises. So why do we think artificial intelligence will be any better?
www.theguardian.com
October 20, 2025 at 5:42 PM
"...as a tech worker, I’ve seen first-hand people’s propensity to believe in things they don’t understand, perhaps specifically because they don’t understand them."
Remember Sterling's corolary of Clarke's3rd law? "Any sufficiently advanced garbage is indistinguishable from magic."
Remember Sterling's corolary of Clarke's3rd law? "Any sufficiently advanced garbage is indistinguishable from magic."
Reposted by Ivan Monteiro
This remains the funniest way to hear about an internet outage, though.
October 20, 2025 at 8:41 AM
This remains the funniest way to hear about an internet outage, though.
Reposted by Ivan Monteiro
it is my pleasure to report they are indeed mad as fuck on the other site over being blocked and ignored. keep up the excellent work everyone
October 18, 2025 at 12:26 PM
it is my pleasure to report they are indeed mad as fuck on the other site over being blocked and ignored. keep up the excellent work everyone
Reposted by Ivan Monteiro
A helpful explanation of why LLM performance degrades rapidly with increasing context size, and why the *effective* maximum context size is orders of magnitude smaller than the one they sold you.
www.ashisharora.ai/post/the-hid...
www.ashisharora.ai/post/the-hid...
The Hidden Science Behind LLM Token Limits (And How Million-Token Models Actually Work)
Introduction"Why can't I just paste my entire company's documentation into ChatGPT?"If I had a dollar for every time I've heard this question in my two years as a Generative AI consultant, I could pro...
www.ashisharora.ai
October 18, 2025 at 9:52 AM
A helpful explanation of why LLM performance degrades rapidly with increasing context size, and why the *effective* maximum context size is orders of magnitude smaller than the one they sold you.
www.ashisharora.ai/post/the-hid...
www.ashisharora.ai/post/the-hid...