Jen Buchan
@jenbuchan.bsky.social
I'll figure out what I want to say about myself someday. Don't put it down, put it away.
Reposted by Jen Buchan
Remember that every newsletter involves me learning about something new about something I kind of knew about, and this has now turned into “NVIDIA Isn’t Enron - So What Is It?” - my first big free newsletter since September, a guide to whatever the hell is going on with this god damn company
![Anyway, Lucent really fucked up big time. In 1998 it signed a $2 billion “equipment and finance agreement” with telecommunications company Winstar, which promised to bring in “$100 million in new business over the next five years” and build a giant wireless broadband network, along with expanding Winstar’s optical networking. In December 1999, WIRED would say that Winstar’s “small white dish antennas…[heralded] a new era and new mind-set in telecommunications,” and included this awesome quote about Lucent from CEO and founder Will Rouhana:
On one level we are a customer and they are a supplier. On another level they are a financier and we are a borrower. On yet another level they are providing services around the world to accelerate our development. They also want to use our service, and have guaranteed $100 million in business.
Fuck yeah!](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:qc6xzgctorfsm35w6i3vdebx/bafkreifk5hhjtxq4xziq5drtistjsduo4eebqteau4oj2qyhardr3bbcsa@jpeg)
December 1, 2025 at 9:49 PM
Remember that every newsletter involves me learning about something new about something I kind of knew about, and this has now turned into “NVIDIA Isn’t Enron - So What Is It?” - my first big free newsletter since September, a guide to whatever the hell is going on with this god damn company
Reposted by Jen Buchan
Just an absolutely gutting essay by Tatiana Schlossberg, a writer, mother of two young children, and cousin of RFK Jr who is dying of leukemia.
www.newyorker.com/culture/the-...
www.newyorker.com/culture/the-...
November 22, 2025 at 4:09 PM
Just an absolutely gutting essay by Tatiana Schlossberg, a writer, mother of two young children, and cousin of RFK Jr who is dying of leukemia.
www.newyorker.com/culture/the-...
www.newyorker.com/culture/the-...
Reposted by Jen Buchan
the world: idk about this AI slop. we should maybe not do that
the sweatiest guy you've ever seen: you don't understand. it's inevitable. it's coming to kill us. we have to make more
the sweatiest guy you've ever seen: you don't understand. it's inevitable. it's coming to kill us. we have to make more
October 10, 2025 at 4:44 AM
the world: idk about this AI slop. we should maybe not do that
the sweatiest guy you've ever seen: you don't understand. it's inevitable. it's coming to kill us. we have to make more
the sweatiest guy you've ever seen: you don't understand. it's inevitable. it's coming to kill us. we have to make more
Reposted by Jen Buchan
My intrusive thought while watching TRON: ARES was: why don’t we see movies about AI harming humans the way it is actually harming humans?
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/09/m...
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/09/m...
‘Tron: Ares’ Review: Who Needs Logic When You Have Neon?
www.nytimes.com
October 9, 2025 at 11:41 AM
My intrusive thought while watching TRON: ARES was: why don’t we see movies about AI harming humans the way it is actually harming humans?
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/09/m...
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/09/m...
Reposted by Jen Buchan
NEW — Video posted to social media shows Unraveled Press co-founder Steve Held being detained by federal agents outside the Broadview immigration facility earlier this evening.
A collection of Chicago newsrooms is calling for his immediate release.
thetriibe.com/2025/09/chic...
A collection of Chicago newsrooms is calling for his immediate release.
thetriibe.com/2025/09/chic...
Chicago journalist detained while covering protest outside Broadview immigration facility • The TRiiBE
Video posted to social media shows Unraveled Press co-founder Steve Held being detained by federal agents earlier this evening.
thetriibe.com
September 28, 2025 at 3:11 AM
NEW — Video posted to social media shows Unraveled Press co-founder Steve Held being detained by federal agents outside the Broadview immigration facility earlier this evening.
A collection of Chicago newsrooms is calling for his immediate release.
thetriibe.com/2025/09/chic...
A collection of Chicago newsrooms is calling for his immediate release.
thetriibe.com/2025/09/chic...
Reposted by Jen Buchan
this is gaslighting, plain and simple. No, it's not the worker producing workslop, it's the fucking AI!
Research: low productivity gains from AI may stem from employees using AI to produce "workslop", or low-effort, passable work that creates more work for others (Harvard Business Review)
Main Link | Techmeme Permalink
Main Link | Techmeme Permalink
September 23, 2025 at 4:23 PM
this is gaslighting, plain and simple. No, it's not the worker producing workslop, it's the fucking AI!
Reposted by Jen Buchan
ACOG reaffirms that acetaminophen is safe for managing pain and fever during pregnancy. No reputable studies support suggestions like those in HHS’s recent announcement linking acetaminophen use in pregnancy to autism; in fact, high-quality studies show no such risk. https://bit.ly/47Wxc59
September 22, 2025 at 9:24 PM
ACOG reaffirms that acetaminophen is safe for managing pain and fever during pregnancy. No reputable studies support suggestions like those in HHS’s recent announcement linking acetaminophen use in pregnancy to autism; in fact, high-quality studies show no such risk. https://bit.ly/47Wxc59
Reposted by Jen Buchan
WPSU is set to be the first in the country to go dark after the Trump administration stripped away federal funding for NPR and PBS.
“The news devastated me, it devastated all the employees,” said Jeff Hughes, WPSU’s former program director.
“The news devastated me, it devastated all the employees,” said Jeff Hughes, WPSU’s former program director.
‘Never would have imagined it’: Pennsylvania NPR station set to be first to shutter following Trump’s cuts
WPSU, which has been broadcasting out of Penn State since 1953, will shut down following federal cuts to public media organizations
www.inquirer.com
September 17, 2025 at 12:28 PM
WPSU is set to be the first in the country to go dark after the Trump administration stripped away federal funding for NPR and PBS.
“The news devastated me, it devastated all the employees,” said Jeff Hughes, WPSU’s former program director.
“The news devastated me, it devastated all the employees,” said Jeff Hughes, WPSU’s former program director.
“'We’ve gotten collectively worse at punishing companies we do business with,' he said. . . In other words, he said, companies feel emboldened to treat us however they want."
“That’s called good training,' Tenumah said. 'What you’re hearing is a human successfully smoothed into a corporate algorithm, conditioned to prioritize policy over people. If you leave humans in their natural state, they start to care about people. . .'” www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
That Dropped Call With Customer Service? It Was on Purpose.
Endless wait times and excessive procedural fuss—it’s all part of a tactic called “sludge.”
www.theatlantic.com
July 2, 2025 at 4:02 PM
“'We’ve gotten collectively worse at punishing companies we do business with,' he said. . . In other words, he said, companies feel emboldened to treat us however they want."
“That’s called good training,' Tenumah said. 'What you’re hearing is a human successfully smoothed into a corporate algorithm, conditioned to prioritize policy over people. If you leave humans in their natural state, they start to care about people. . .'” www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
That Dropped Call With Customer Service? It Was on Purpose.
Endless wait times and excessive procedural fuss—it’s all part of a tactic called “sludge.”
www.theatlantic.com
July 2, 2025 at 4:00 PM
“That’s called good training,' Tenumah said. 'What you’re hearing is a human successfully smoothed into a corporate algorithm, conditioned to prioritize policy over people. If you leave humans in their natural state, they start to care about people. . .'” www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
Reposted by Jen Buchan
if you need a laugh amidst the horrors, please click through to see who this man is confidently lecturing about Signal
They will, likely be timing up with Anthropic's Claude or Perplexity, but its coming. The engineers have already began laying out the ground work for such support.
June 17, 2025 at 6:12 PM
if you need a laugh amidst the horrors, please click through to see who this man is confidently lecturing about Signal
Reposted by Jen Buchan
Live video of a CEO putting A.I. technology to good use at his high-pressure job
June 17, 2025 at 11:17 AM
Live video of a CEO putting A.I. technology to good use at his high-pressure job
Reposted by Jen Buchan
NEW: Palantir threatened to call police on @wired.com reporter @carolinehaskins.bsky.social and kicked out other journalists from a recent conference following reports of the data analytics firm's work with the Trump administration. @carolinehaskins.bsky.social reports www.wired.com/story/palant...
Palantir Is Going on Defense
Palantir threatened to call police on a WIRED reporter and kicked out other journalists from a recent conference following reports of the data analytics firm's work with the Trump administration.
www.wired.com
June 5, 2025 at 7:23 PM
NEW: Palantir threatened to call police on @wired.com reporter @carolinehaskins.bsky.social and kicked out other journalists from a recent conference following reports of the data analytics firm's work with the Trump administration. @carolinehaskins.bsky.social reports www.wired.com/story/palant...
Reposted by Jen Buchan
my takeaway from this feature is that in a functioning political system there would be televised congressional hearings over the fact that one of the most influential people in the white house is a total maniac www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
Curtis Yarvin’s Plot Against America
The reactionary blogger’s call for a monarch to rule the country once seemed like a joke. Now the right is ready to bend the knee.
www.newyorker.com
June 2, 2025 at 5:36 PM
my takeaway from this feature is that in a functioning political system there would be televised congressional hearings over the fact that one of the most influential people in the white house is a total maniac www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
Reposted by Jen Buchan
These episodes of White Mirror sound terrible. www.latimes.com/entertainmen...
May 22, 2025 at 10:28 AM
These episodes of White Mirror sound terrible. www.latimes.com/entertainmen...
Reposted by Jen Buchan
Excellent news!
I'm writing a book!
"The Nerd Reich: Silicon Valley Fascism and the War on Democracy" will expose how an extreme tech fascist ideology emerged from San Francisco to threaten the world.
Grateful to @carolineeisenmann.bsky.social and @avidreaderpress.bsky.social for believing in this book
¡Orale!
"The Nerd Reich: Silicon Valley Fascism and the War on Democracy" will expose how an extreme tech fascist ideology emerged from San Francisco to threaten the world.
Grateful to @carolineeisenmann.bsky.social and @avidreaderpress.bsky.social for believing in this book
¡Orale!
April 17, 2025 at 4:29 PM
Excellent news!
Reposted by Jen Buchan
Hi, I'm the guy who used to oversee the federal government's agency IT telecommunications contracts. This is extremely bad. There is absolutely no need for this. Not only is it a huge security exposure, but the simplest explanation for this is that it is meant to be a security exposure.
Elon Musk’s Starlink Expands Across White House Complex
Trump administration officials said the company donated the internet service, saying the gift had been vetted by the lawyer overseeing ethics issues in the White House Counsel’s Office.
www.nytimes.com
March 18, 2025 at 2:53 AM
Hi, I'm the guy who used to oversee the federal government's agency IT telecommunications contracts. This is extremely bad. There is absolutely no need for this. Not only is it a huge security exposure, but the simplest explanation for this is that it is meant to be a security exposure.
Reposted by Jen Buchan
Aloy's story is about fighting back against the apocalyptic effects of hubristic tech CEOs whose greed and short sightedness destroyed civilization
Sony is exploring AI-power characters for their PlayStation games
A video of an AI version of Aloy in #HorizonForbiddenWest has leaked
(via verge)
A video of an AI version of Aloy in #HorizonForbiddenWest has leaked
(via verge)
March 10, 2025 at 8:51 PM
Aloy's story is about fighting back against the apocalyptic effects of hubristic tech CEOs whose greed and short sightedness destroyed civilization
Reposted by Jen Buchan
There is no "AI Revolution" - this a repetitious public relations campaign for one company that accidentally timed the launch of ChatGPT with a period of deep desperation in big tech. This is a group delusion that will potentially torch our economy. www.wheresyoured.at/wheres-the-m...
February 24, 2025 at 5:37 PM
There is no "AI Revolution" - this a repetitious public relations campaign for one company that accidentally timed the launch of ChatGPT with a period of deep desperation in big tech. This is a group delusion that will potentially torch our economy. www.wheresyoured.at/wheres-the-m...
Reposted by Jen Buchan
OpenAI and Anthropic are not real companies — they are freeloaders living on venture-backed welfare for an indeterminate amount of time because the entire tech industry has agreed to rally around the world’s most unprofitable software. It's a disgrace.
www.wheresyoured.at/wheres-the-m...
www.wheresyoured.at/wheres-the-m...
February 24, 2025 at 5:37 PM
OpenAI and Anthropic are not real companies — they are freeloaders living on venture-backed welfare for an indeterminate amount of time because the entire tech industry has agreed to rally around the world’s most unprofitable software. It's a disgrace.
www.wheresyoured.at/wheres-the-m...
www.wheresyoured.at/wheres-the-m...
Reposted by Jen Buchan
I will say to the people who are excited about the AI bubble popping: if i am correct (nothing I say is financial advice) it will ravage the markets in a way that will hurt just about everybody. It won't just hit tech. Satya Nadella, Sundar Pichai and Mark Zuckerberg must be held responsible.
February 24, 2025 at 10:36 PM
I will say to the people who are excited about the AI bubble popping: if i am correct (nothing I say is financial advice) it will ravage the markets in a way that will hurt just about everybody. It won't just hit tech. Satya Nadella, Sundar Pichai and Mark Zuckerberg must be held responsible.
Reposted by Jen Buchan
For those who’ve been lucky enough to escape knowing about it, you shouldn’t watch it but you should know that the official White House Twitter account now posts shit like this www.cnbc.com/amp/2025/02/...
White House posts video of immigrants in shackles, calls deportation footage 'ASMR'
President Donald Trump has made the crackdown on undocumented immigrants living in the United States a priority for his second term in the White House.
www.cnbc.com
February 19, 2025 at 2:50 PM
For those who’ve been lucky enough to escape knowing about it, you shouldn’t watch it but you should know that the official White House Twitter account now posts shit like this www.cnbc.com/amp/2025/02/...
Reposted by Jen Buchan
Trump has a small handful of music and musicals that he likes. But he almost never talks about art. One exception is when Errol Morris interviewed him about Citizen Kane. Trump suggests that the main problem facing Charles Foster Kane is that he needs a different wife. youtu.be/aeQOJZ-QzBk?...
February 13, 2025 at 8:06 PM
Trump has a small handful of music and musicals that he likes. But he almost never talks about art. One exception is when Errol Morris interviewed him about Citizen Kane. Trump suggests that the main problem facing Charles Foster Kane is that he needs a different wife. youtu.be/aeQOJZ-QzBk?...
Reposted by Jen Buchan
