Luke
@nightcruller.bsky.social
Grumpy civic technologist. We'll get through this, but we don't have to be stoic about it.
Also on Mastodon: wandering.shop/@luke
Also on Mastodon: wandering.shop/@luke
Reposted by Luke
This, by the way, is one of the places the political push for "public syllabi" goes: Even more people who literally do not understand what they're trying to evaluate almost certainly using LLM's to ask "is this stuff transgender or DEI" & then making administrative decisions based on that output.
1. Texas A&M has banned a philosophy teacher from teaching Plato because it has "gender ideology" in it.
The banning stems from excerpts from Plato’s Aristophanes’ Myth of the Split Humans and Diotima’s Ladder of Love.
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The banning stems from excerpts from Plato’s Aristophanes’ Myth of the Split Humans and Diotima’s Ladder of Love.
Subscribe to support our journalism.
Texas A&M Bans Philosophy Prof. From Teaching Plato Because of "Gender Ideology"
“Silencing 2,500-year-old ideas from one of the world’s most influential thinkers betrays the mission of higher education.”
www.erininthemorning.com
January 10, 2026 at 3:18 PM
This, by the way, is one of the places the political push for "public syllabi" goes: Even more people who literally do not understand what they're trying to evaluate almost certainly using LLM's to ask "is this stuff transgender or DEI" & then making administrative decisions based on that output.
Reposted by Luke
Here’s a comment for the people who are upset that MN hasn’t charged Jonathan Ross already:
If you just Leeeroy Jenkins this shit you will lose and you will empower fascism and murder.
It is indescribably hard to prosecute cops for murder. It is even hard when the murder is ON VIDEO.
/1
If you just Leeeroy Jenkins this shit you will lose and you will empower fascism and murder.
It is indescribably hard to prosecute cops for murder. It is even hard when the murder is ON VIDEO.
/1
January 9, 2026 at 6:42 PM
Here’s a comment for the people who are upset that MN hasn’t charged Jonathan Ross already:
If you just Leeeroy Jenkins this shit you will lose and you will empower fascism and murder.
It is indescribably hard to prosecute cops for murder. It is even hard when the murder is ON VIDEO.
/1
If you just Leeeroy Jenkins this shit you will lose and you will empower fascism and murder.
It is indescribably hard to prosecute cops for murder. It is even hard when the murder is ON VIDEO.
/1
Reposted by Luke
Just under the wire
January 1, 2026 at 1:47 AM
Just under the wire
Reposted by Luke
IRS: You owe us taxes.
Americans: How much?
IRS: Figure it out yourself.
Americans: So I can pay how much I want?
IRS: No. We know exactly how much you owe us but you have to figure it out yourself.
Americans: What if I guess wrong?
IRS: Jail.
Americans: How much?
IRS: Figure it out yourself.
Americans: So I can pay how much I want?
IRS: No. We know exactly how much you owe us but you have to figure it out yourself.
Americans: What if I guess wrong?
IRS: Jail.
December 31, 2025 at 2:50 AM
IRS: You owe us taxes.
Americans: How much?
IRS: Figure it out yourself.
Americans: So I can pay how much I want?
IRS: No. We know exactly how much you owe us but you have to figure it out yourself.
Americans: What if I guess wrong?
IRS: Jail.
Americans: How much?
IRS: Figure it out yourself.
Americans: So I can pay how much I want?
IRS: No. We know exactly how much you owe us but you have to figure it out yourself.
Americans: What if I guess wrong?
IRS: Jail.
Reposted by Luke
A fun exercise:
Any time someone is talking about the benefits of AI and how amazing it is for humanity, imagine they are your aunt and uncle who got into Amway really hard and stealth-turned your baby shower into a pitch meeting. Ignore the product. Just...watch the sales pitch through that lens.
Any time someone is talking about the benefits of AI and how amazing it is for humanity, imagine they are your aunt and uncle who got into Amway really hard and stealth-turned your baby shower into a pitch meeting. Ignore the product. Just...watch the sales pitch through that lens.
December 30, 2025 at 10:11 PM
A fun exercise:
Any time someone is talking about the benefits of AI and how amazing it is for humanity, imagine they are your aunt and uncle who got into Amway really hard and stealth-turned your baby shower into a pitch meeting. Ignore the product. Just...watch the sales pitch through that lens.
Any time someone is talking about the benefits of AI and how amazing it is for humanity, imagine they are your aunt and uncle who got into Amway really hard and stealth-turned your baby shower into a pitch meeting. Ignore the product. Just...watch the sales pitch through that lens.
Reposted by Luke
Maybe, if you're not actually in university classrooms, teaching students in the age of gAI, perhaps you might want to stop and listen when people actually in those classrooms raise concerns about what they are seeing; and not just dismiss us as luddites, or boomers, or cruel profs playing cops
December 28, 2025 at 1:56 PM
Maybe, if you're not actually in university classrooms, teaching students in the age of gAI, perhaps you might want to stop and listen when people actually in those classrooms raise concerns about what they are seeing; and not just dismiss us as luddites, or boomers, or cruel profs playing cops
How many times am I allowed to press the button
December 29, 2025 at 1:07 AM
How many times am I allowed to press the button
Reposted by Luke
As a society, I think we should decide how we will ritually sacrifice and disperse the wealth of our first trillionaire. Now is the time to do that, to give us the runway to sort out the plan.
December 27, 2025 at 4:45 PM
As a society, I think we should decide how we will ritually sacrifice and disperse the wealth of our first trillionaire. Now is the time to do that, to give us the runway to sort out the plan.
Reposted by Luke
Game boss: "I AM GUN GUY, THE GUY WHO SHOOTS THINGS WITH A GUN!"
*Defeats Gun Guy*
Gun Guy: "I...only...killed...because I was...sad." *dies*
Dude gamers: "This is the deepest story ever. No other art could tell a story like this. I am changed by this experience."
*Defeats Gun Guy*
Gun Guy: "I...only...killed...because I was...sad." *dies*
Dude gamers: "This is the deepest story ever. No other art could tell a story like this. I am changed by this experience."
December 25, 2025 at 6:37 PM
Game boss: "I AM GUN GUY, THE GUY WHO SHOOTS THINGS WITH A GUN!"
*Defeats Gun Guy*
Gun Guy: "I...only...killed...because I was...sad." *dies*
Dude gamers: "This is the deepest story ever. No other art could tell a story like this. I am changed by this experience."
*Defeats Gun Guy*
Gun Guy: "I...only...killed...because I was...sad." *dies*
Dude gamers: "This is the deepest story ever. No other art could tell a story like this. I am changed by this experience."
My company, continuing to send me more swag
December 24, 2025 at 7:24 PM
My company, continuing to send me more swag
Reposted by Luke
The New York Times is doomed to asymptotically get closer to Getting It but never actually Get It. It's Zeno's paradox but for Upton Sinclair's "it is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends upon his not understanding it."
December 23, 2025 at 5:44 PM
The New York Times is doomed to asymptotically get closer to Getting It but never actually Get It. It's Zeno's paradox but for Upton Sinclair's "it is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends upon his not understanding it."
Reposted by Luke
love that software developers are advertising AI functionality in every single app now and it's up to you to try to figure out if they mean "this has spellcheck" or "everything you create in this app will sync in real-time to sam altman's personal laptop" or something in between
December 23, 2025 at 3:04 PM
love that software developers are advertising AI functionality in every single app now and it's up to you to try to figure out if they mean "this has spellcheck" or "everything you create in this app will sync in real-time to sam altman's personal laptop" or something in between
Reposted by Luke
Wtf even is a "market". Astrology for men who tuck in their shirts. Nobody has a job that's not nuanced slavery or can buy AAA video games but the lines going up. Get real. Grow up. *Pateu!* I spit on the market and it's forces.
December 20, 2025 at 3:10 PM
Wtf even is a "market". Astrology for men who tuck in their shirts. Nobody has a job that's not nuanced slavery or can buy AAA video games but the lines going up. Get real. Grow up. *Pateu!* I spit on the market and it's forces.
Oh thank fuck it isn't just me. Things resonate with people!
new thing people have been doing lately that bugs me: saying "i dont resonate with that" instead of "that didn't resonate with me"
December 20, 2025 at 5:41 PM
Oh thank fuck it isn't just me. Things resonate with people!
Reposted by Luke
December 16, 2025 at 9:38 PM
Reposted by Luke
Tomorrow, the House of Representatives will vote on a bill that bans gender-affirming medical care for any transgender person under 18, and threatens any medical professional providing this care to youth with 10 years in prison.
Tell Congress to protect trans youth and vote NO.
Tell Congress to protect trans youth and vote NO.
Protect Trans Care Now
As wave after wave of extreme measures to criminalize and strip trans people of rights and safety continue, tell Congress to act.
action.aclu.org
December 16, 2025 at 8:16 PM
Tomorrow, the House of Representatives will vote on a bill that bans gender-affirming medical care for any transgender person under 18, and threatens any medical professional providing this care to youth with 10 years in prison.
Tell Congress to protect trans youth and vote NO.
Tell Congress to protect trans youth and vote NO.
Reposted by Luke
Firefox's killer feature is that it's not chromium. That's the pull. Nothing to do with tab grouping or UI design.
When your userbase is made of people who don't want bullshit, you are taking a risk with every new feature, especially the ultimate bullshit feature of AI.
When your userbase is made of people who don't want bullshit, you are taking a risk with every new feature, especially the ultimate bullshit feature of AI.
> Enzor-DeMeo spent 2025 racing to make Firefox a more compelling product, adding things like tab groups, while also trying to figure out how the browser should integrate with AI.
It doesn't have to be compelling! It's for accessing compelling stuff!
blog.mozilla.org/en/mozilla/l...
It doesn't have to be compelling! It's for accessing compelling stuff!
blog.mozilla.org/en/mozilla/l...
Mozilla’s next chapter: Building the world’s most trusted software company | The Mozilla Blog
Today, I step into the role of CEO of Mozilla Corporation. It is a privilege to lead an organization with a long history of standing up for people and buil
blog.mozilla.org
December 16, 2025 at 8:49 PM
Firefox's killer feature is that it's not chromium. That's the pull. Nothing to do with tab grouping or UI design.
When your userbase is made of people who don't want bullshit, you are taking a risk with every new feature, especially the ultimate bullshit feature of AI.
When your userbase is made of people who don't want bullshit, you are taking a risk with every new feature, especially the ultimate bullshit feature of AI.
Reposted by Luke
Here are the 28 Dem Senators who voted to advance the first federal ban on trans athletes & a federal definition of sex that would make trans & intersex people non-existent: Angela Alsobrooks (MD), Tammy Baldwin (WI), Richard Blumenthal (CT), Lisa Blunt Rochester (DE), Chris Coons (DE), ->
By a vote of 76-23, S 1071 passes the motion to proceed to the motion to concur. Won't know who voted for this until the roll call is uploaded, but safe to say it passed with the support of at least 24 members of the Democratic caucus. (Rand Paul probably voted nay and Steve Daines has been absent).
December 11, 2025 at 8:25 PM
Here are the 28 Dem Senators who voted to advance the first federal ban on trans athletes & a federal definition of sex that would make trans & intersex people non-existent: Angela Alsobrooks (MD), Tammy Baldwin (WI), Richard Blumenthal (CT), Lisa Blunt Rochester (DE), Chris Coons (DE), ->
Reposted by Luke
One of the things I love about the Internet Archive is that they are the last website that manages to make a broken and constantly degrading user experience feel mysterious and exciting.
December 12, 2025 at 7:04 AM
One of the things I love about the Internet Archive is that they are the last website that manages to make a broken and constantly degrading user experience feel mysterious and exciting.
Ah, I get it now! Generative AI is simply Rule 34 compliance software.
December 12, 2025 at 5:08 PM
Ah, I get it now! Generative AI is simply Rule 34 compliance software.
Reposted by Luke
Today in “Dudes Rock”:
A dude playing Dire Straits’s “Sultans of Swing” guitar solo on…a recorder.
A dude playing Dire Straits’s “Sultans of Swing” guitar solo on…a recorder.
December 12, 2025 at 12:50 AM
Today in “Dudes Rock”:
A dude playing Dire Straits’s “Sultans of Swing” guitar solo on…a recorder.
A dude playing Dire Straits’s “Sultans of Swing” guitar solo on…a recorder.
Reposted by Luke
Sam Altman: hey I made a machine that stole literally all your stuff in order to make CSAM of your child actors, sometimes it encourages people to kill themselves
Disney: Holy shit here's a billion dollars
Altman: the machine loses more than that each week but thank you. Soon it will become god.
Disney: Holy shit here's a billion dollars
Altman: the machine loses more than that each week but thank you. Soon it will become god.
December 12, 2025 at 10:27 AM
Sam Altman: hey I made a machine that stole literally all your stuff in order to make CSAM of your child actors, sometimes it encourages people to kill themselves
Disney: Holy shit here's a billion dollars
Altman: the machine loses more than that each week but thank you. Soon it will become god.
Disney: Holy shit here's a billion dollars
Altman: the machine loses more than that each week but thank you. Soon it will become god.
Reposted by Luke
'Let it Snow' with all the positive lines removed
December 11, 2025 at 9:33 PM
'Let it Snow' with all the positive lines removed
Reposted by Luke
A Pulitzer for whoever chose the photo on this one
It's a whole new world for Mickey, Simba, Stitch and more as Disney brings hundreds of its characters to Sora, the short-form video platform from OpenAI, as part of a three-year licensing agreement. n.pr/44ph9KC
Billion-dollar OpenAI deal allows users to make content with Disney characters
It's a whole new world for Mickey, Simba, Stitch and more as Disney brings hundreds of its characters to Sora, the short-form video platform from OpenAI, as part of a three-year licensing agreement.
n.pr
December 11, 2025 at 11:52 PM
A Pulitzer for whoever chose the photo on this one