Rob Lion
@rnlion.bsky.social
Mechanical engineer building particle accelerators, formerly quantum computers. Technology and infrastructure history; reverse engineering. Cats. He/him.
Also @rnlion@Twitter and @[email protected]
Also @rnlion@Twitter and @[email protected]
Reposted by Rob Lion
Q+D, graphic design is my passion, etc etc
November 24, 2025 at 12:33 AM
Q+D, graphic design is my passion, etc etc
Reposted by Rob Lion
This is the funniest piece imaginable in the dull world of the otherwise sickly sycophantic tech review.
For real. Read it, even if you don’t give a rat’s ass about printers.
For real. Read it, even if you don’t give a rat’s ass about printers.
November 23, 2025 at 1:59 AM
This is the funniest piece imaginable in the dull world of the otherwise sickly sycophantic tech review.
For real. Read it, even if you don’t give a rat’s ass about printers.
For real. Read it, even if you don’t give a rat’s ass about printers.
Reposted by Rob Lion
Radiating network, just like you asked for, boss
(NB: This is a mix of existing rail routes, existing rail routes that would need upgrades for reliable passenger service, old routes that would need rails laid again, and a couple of totally new routes)
(NB: This is a mix of existing rail routes, existing rail routes that would need upgrades for reliable passenger service, old routes that would need rails laid again, and a couple of totally new routes)
November 10, 2025 at 7:11 PM
Radiating network, just like you asked for, boss
(NB: This is a mix of existing rail routes, existing rail routes that would need upgrades for reliable passenger service, old routes that would need rails laid again, and a couple of totally new routes)
(NB: This is a mix of existing rail routes, existing rail routes that would need upgrades for reliable passenger service, old routes that would need rails laid again, and a couple of totally new routes)
Reposted by Rob Lion
religious ONLY in respecting the day of rest
November 23, 2025 at 6:47 PM
religious ONLY in respecting the day of rest
Reposted by Rob Lion
This one's just a desperate shoplifter, better throw it back and give it time to grow into a henchman. maybe even a named lieutenant with a special move and a unique environmental effect!.
November 23, 2025 at 7:02 PM
This one's just a desperate shoplifter, better throw it back and give it time to grow into a henchman. maybe even a named lieutenant with a special move and a unique environmental effect!.
Reposted by Rob Lion
As a bookstore that sells pamphlets and magazines, the criminalization of such materials feels pretty close to home. So let's take a closer look at the materials the federal government is claiming tie readers to "antifa terrorism." We can pick out six titles in these grainy photos. 1/
November 6, 2025 at 4:36 PM
As a bookstore that sells pamphlets and magazines, the criminalization of such materials feels pretty close to home. So let's take a closer look at the materials the federal government is claiming tie readers to "antifa terrorism." We can pick out six titles in these grainy photos. 1/
Reposted by Rob Lion
If I’m understanding this correctly, X is owned by a white nationalist who pays poor people of color in developing countries to pretend to be working class white Americans to scare other white Americans into being afraid poor people of color from developing countries are going to ruin America?
November 23, 2025 at 7:30 PM
If I’m understanding this correctly, X is owned by a white nationalist who pays poor people of color in developing countries to pretend to be working class white Americans to scare other white Americans into being afraid poor people of color from developing countries are going to ruin America?
Reposted by Rob Lion
Here's the GVP page of Hayli Gubbi in Ethiopia: volcano.si.edu/volcano.cfm?.... Plume from the eruption can be seen in this Aqua/MODIS image cross the Red Sea to the Arabian Peninsula. #eruption #volcano
November 23, 2025 at 6:26 PM
Here's the GVP page of Hayli Gubbi in Ethiopia: volcano.si.edu/volcano.cfm?.... Plume from the eruption can be seen in this Aqua/MODIS image cross the Red Sea to the Arabian Peninsula. #eruption #volcano
Reposted by Rob Lion
KPOP Demon Hunters is a movie about the importance of effective public health communication in this essay I will...
November 23, 2025 at 1:36 PM
KPOP Demon Hunters is a movie about the importance of effective public health communication in this essay I will...
Reposted by Rob Lion
other free jokes "yeah astroturfing used to be 100% american made but much like the manufacturing industry it was eventually outsourced to cheap labor overseas.
we've tried to bring it back, there's a skills gap now and people don't know how to manufacture consent at home"
we've tried to bring it back, there's a skills gap now and people don't know how to manufacture consent at home"
November 23, 2025 at 8:54 PM
other free jokes "yeah astroturfing used to be 100% american made but much like the manufacturing industry it was eventually outsourced to cheap labor overseas.
we've tried to bring it back, there's a skills gap now and people don't know how to manufacture consent at home"
we've tried to bring it back, there's a skills gap now and people don't know how to manufacture consent at home"
Reposted by Rob Lion
We are told: the product now has Gemini. We added Rufus. You can talk to Bixby. We've integrated Alice. Chat with Poob. Log on to Poob right now. Poob has it for you. Poob has it for you. Poob has it for you.
⸻
We are never told "so what." Even the teams working on these products don't know anymore.
⸻
We are never told "so what." Even the teams working on these products don't know anymore.
When teams don't understand their own product
A usable product starts with the conceptual model, but designers have "optimized" that work out of the profession. It's time to bring it back.
productpicnic.beehiiv.com
November 23, 2025 at 10:00 PM
We are told: the product now has Gemini. We added Rufus. You can talk to Bixby. We've integrated Alice. Chat with Poob. Log on to Poob right now. Poob has it for you. Poob has it for you. Poob has it for you.
⸻
We are never told "so what." Even the teams working on these products don't know anymore.
⸻
We are never told "so what." Even the teams working on these products don't know anymore.
Reposted by Rob Lion
Also goes back to @fasterandworse.com's point about how the more products make explicit claims about what they are for, the more they are accountable for doing that thing well. The ambiguity around what AI is supposed to be & do is a deliberate attempt to evade that accountability.
November 23, 2025 at 9:01 PM
Also goes back to @fasterandworse.com's point about how the more products make explicit claims about what they are for, the more they are accountable for doing that thing well. The ambiguity around what AI is supposed to be & do is a deliberate attempt to evade that accountability.
Reposted by Rob Lion
A big chunk of today's newsletter is about the importance of naming, and I wasn't going to touch on AI but this is such a good point that now I have to.
Every product is like "chat with our new AI, Schneepy!" because if they had to list what Schneepy was actually for, you wouldn't give a shit.
Every product is like "chat with our new AI, Schneepy!" because if they had to list what Schneepy was actually for, you wouldn't give a shit.
y'know, if tech companies weren't so fired up to call every single thing "AI" it would be a lot easier to distinguish "ML spam filter that is well-sandboxed and tuned on your emails" from "giant context and IP-eroding foundation model that makes people paranoid and unhappy"
since the "google is now training gemini on your email contents" thing keeps bumping around here: it's _not happening_. I say this not to defend google but because I know a lot of people that have broken their filtering and made their lives much more annoying from sheer misinformation.
November 23, 2025 at 8:57 PM
A big chunk of today's newsletter is about the importance of naming, and I wasn't going to touch on AI but this is such a good point that now I have to.
Every product is like "chat with our new AI, Schneepy!" because if they had to list what Schneepy was actually for, you wouldn't give a shit.
Every product is like "chat with our new AI, Schneepy!" because if they had to list what Schneepy was actually for, you wouldn't give a shit.
Reposted by Rob Lion
Twitter accounts are based in Russia. BlueSky accounts are based in homes with, frankly, too many books, plants, obsolete cables, and pieces of rustic pottery, that could do with a bit of a tidying up, to be honest.
November 23, 2025 at 8:29 PM
Twitter accounts are based in Russia. BlueSky accounts are based in homes with, frankly, too many books, plants, obsolete cables, and pieces of rustic pottery, that could do with a bit of a tidying up, to be honest.
Reposted by Rob Lion
There was a brief but weird trend at my high school of girls wearing lizards as earrings. Like. Live, unharmed, wild lizards. You just catch one and pick it up and wave a finger a bit and then hold it to your earlobe and they’ll bite and dangle all day. I do not recommend this but. it was a thing
The alligator lizard promptly bit the shit out of my finger.
November 23, 2025 at 8:21 PM
There was a brief but weird trend at my high school of girls wearing lizards as earrings. Like. Live, unharmed, wild lizards. You just catch one and pick it up and wave a finger a bit and then hold it to your earlobe and they’ll bite and dangle all day. I do not recommend this but. it was a thing
Reposted by Rob Lion
Wikipedians yearn for the legitimacy of a professionally curated encyclopedia but few of them know what that actually means and have instead invented a cosplay version of it
November 23, 2025 at 9:17 PM
Wikipedians yearn for the legitimacy of a professionally curated encyclopedia but few of them know what that actually means and have instead invented a cosplay version of it
Reposted by Rob Lion
and as a result, "it might be possible to explain it with XYZ" gets transformed by a game of telephone into "it was conclusively shown that XYZ"
and this is the kind of shit that Wikipedia considers more authoritative than the primary source
and this is the kind of shit that Wikipedia considers more authoritative than the primary source
November 23, 2025 at 9:13 PM
and as a result, "it might be possible to explain it with XYZ" gets transformed by a game of telephone into "it was conclusively shown that XYZ"
and this is the kind of shit that Wikipedia considers more authoritative than the primary source
and this is the kind of shit that Wikipedia considers more authoritative than the primary source
Reposted by Rob Lion
and what suffices on Wikipedia as a secondary source? literally anything. Wikipedians happily accept blog posts, tweets, fuckin' whatever
as long as the statement was made for the first time _off_ Wikipedia, it's fine
so you can avoid this whacko requirement with a tweet lol
as long as the statement was made for the first time _off_ Wikipedia, it's fine
so you can avoid this whacko requirement with a tweet lol
November 23, 2025 at 8:28 PM
and what suffices on Wikipedia as a secondary source? literally anything. Wikipedians happily accept blog posts, tweets, fuckin' whatever
as long as the statement was made for the first time _off_ Wikipedia, it's fine
so you can avoid this whacko requirement with a tweet lol
as long as the statement was made for the first time _off_ Wikipedia, it's fine
so you can avoid this whacko requirement with a tweet lol
Reposted by Rob Lion
if lacking a secondary source makes a claim dubious, then secondary sources themselves cannot have secondary sources, only primary sources, so by Wikipedia's standard, citing a secondary sources meanings citing a source who's claim is itself dubious
November 23, 2025 at 8:26 PM
if lacking a secondary source makes a claim dubious, then secondary sources themselves cannot have secondary sources, only primary sources, so by Wikipedia's standard, citing a secondary sources meanings citing a source who's claim is itself dubious
Reposted by Rob Lion
We cannot forget this or let this go. Just because it’s “gone” doesn’t mean:
1. Some of the people are still embedded in the govt in places with data access, and those people didn’t always go through proper background checks.
2. The damage doesn’t go away when the entity goes away.
1. Some of the people are still embedded in the govt in places with data access, and those people didn’t always go through proper background checks.
2. The damage doesn’t go away when the entity goes away.
DOGE was created for data theft and infrastructure dismantling and it wildly succeeded on both counts within the first few weeks of its existence. It will take a generation to rebuild what it destroyed and the breach of data is unprecedented.
Bye bye, “DOGE”.
It no longer exists as a “centralized entity”, according to the Office of Personnel Management.
@reuters.com
www.reuters.com/world/us/dog...
It no longer exists as a “centralized entity”, according to the Office of Personnel Management.
@reuters.com
www.reuters.com/world/us/dog...
November 23, 2025 at 5:23 PM
We cannot forget this or let this go. Just because it’s “gone” doesn’t mean:
1. Some of the people are still embedded in the govt in places with data access, and those people didn’t always go through proper background checks.
2. The damage doesn’t go away when the entity goes away.
1. Some of the people are still embedded in the govt in places with data access, and those people didn’t always go through proper background checks.
2. The damage doesn’t go away when the entity goes away.
Reposted by Rob Lion
The “google is using your email to train AI” debacle is imo most instructively seen as tracer dye for multiple failures: many people are instinctively skeptical of tech companies now; and many outlets that should have had experts able to cogently weigh in and go “wait a minute” simply don’t anymore.
November 23, 2025 at 6:54 AM
The “google is using your email to train AI” debacle is imo most instructively seen as tracer dye for multiple failures: many people are instinctively skeptical of tech companies now; and many outlets that should have had experts able to cogently weigh in and go “wait a minute” simply don’t anymore.
Reposted by Rob Lion
The entire debate about whether Democrats should moderate or focus on economic vs identity issues is moot if the media is just going to report that they're doing SJW Shit irregardless
November 23, 2025 at 4:09 PM
The entire debate about whether Democrats should moderate or focus on economic vs identity issues is moot if the media is just going to report that they're doing SJW Shit irregardless
Reposted by Rob Lion
they restored all the piers and completely replaced the suspension cables with modern ones but they had to specifically adapt the tension in them so that the bridge still shakes. 10/10 conservation work, no notes
November 23, 2025 at 2:50 PM
they restored all the piers and completely replaced the suspension cables with modern ones but they had to specifically adapt the tension in them so that the bridge still shakes. 10/10 conservation work, no notes
Reposted by Rob Lion
An FBI guy is going to almost immediately get wrapped up in his own drone fiber optic cables and fall over, like Elmer Fudd being bamboozled by Bugs Bunny
And I mean, on that basis alone, i almost support this
And I mean, on that basis alone, i almost support this
November 23, 2025 at 2:03 PM
An FBI guy is going to almost immediately get wrapped up in his own drone fiber optic cables and fall over, like Elmer Fudd being bamboozled by Bugs Bunny
And I mean, on that basis alone, i almost support this
And I mean, on that basis alone, i almost support this
Reposted by Rob Lion
The FBI requesting fiber-optic drones is incredibly dumb and also very funny
Yall think your threat model is “jamming with electronic warfare weapons” and not “your barely-trained pilot wraps your way over-priced American made fiber optic drone cable around a Chick-Fil-A drive through sign??”
Yall think your threat model is “jamming with electronic warfare weapons” and not “your barely-trained pilot wraps your way over-priced American made fiber optic drone cable around a Chick-Fil-A drive through sign??”
FBI Wants To Add Fiber Optic Drones To Its Arsenal
Fiber-optic-controlled drones, ubiquitous on the battlefield in Ukraine, could be headed to the FBI's armory.
www.twz.com
November 23, 2025 at 1:58 PM
The FBI requesting fiber-optic drones is incredibly dumb and also very funny
Yall think your threat model is “jamming with electronic warfare weapons” and not “your barely-trained pilot wraps your way over-priced American made fiber optic drone cable around a Chick-Fil-A drive through sign??”
Yall think your threat model is “jamming with electronic warfare weapons” and not “your barely-trained pilot wraps your way over-priced American made fiber optic drone cable around a Chick-Fil-A drive through sign??”