Roy Steves
@roysteves.bsky.social
Co-Founder and CEO of StatBid, a search marketing agency for Ecommerce companies. Founder of Poolaroo, a pool supplies retail site, where we are redesigning how Ecommerce operations works in 2025 and on.
Is it just me, or was the ChatGPT Year in Review profoundly tone-deaf?
I've deleted all of my chats out of my account, and am so glad I'm building a local agent on Claude's API. I can't guarantee they'll be better in the long run, but OpenAI is going full Facebook WAY earlier than I'd hoped.
I've deleted all of my chats out of my account, and am so glad I'm building a local agent on Claude's API. I can't guarantee they'll be better in the long run, but OpenAI is going full Facebook WAY earlier than I'd hoped.
a cartoon character wearing a hat and a bow tie says " it 's a bad look man "
ALT: a cartoon character wearing a hat and a bow tie says " it 's a bad look man "
media.tenor.com
December 24, 2025 at 5:06 PM
Is it just me, or was the ChatGPT Year in Review profoundly tone-deaf?
I've deleted all of my chats out of my account, and am so glad I'm building a local agent on Claude's API. I can't guarantee they'll be better in the long run, but OpenAI is going full Facebook WAY earlier than I'd hoped.
I've deleted all of my chats out of my account, and am so glad I'm building a local agent on Claude's API. I can't guarantee they'll be better in the long run, but OpenAI is going full Facebook WAY earlier than I'd hoped.
Just saw SparkToro referenced by Sabine Hossenfelder, and my world just got a LOT smaller. 🤩
December 15, 2025 at 12:48 AM
Just saw SparkToro referenced by Sabine Hossenfelder, and my world just got a LOT smaller. 🤩
Reposted by Roy Steves
![Comic. Panels up to the 10-year point are grayed out. New panels since the Ten Years comic, which chronicles the first ten years of PERSON 1's journey with cancer: (1) [two people in bed] PERSON 1 (woman): One more chapter? PERSON 2 (man): Don’t we both have to get up early? PERSON 1: Nnnnnggggh PERSON 2: Sure, good point. (2) [many people wearing masks, walking while looking at graphs on their phones] (3) [birds landing on people] PERSON 2 in beanie and scarf: Hah! They like *my* seeds best. PERSON 1 in scarf holding phone with a bird sitting on it: Wait, how do I take a picture of this one? (4) [two people rowing boats with tree landscape] (5) [Person 1 carries overflowing stack of things to Person 2 in bed] PERSON 1: I brought you honey lemon tea, more pillows, a cinnamon roll, Tylenol, another blanket, a– PERSON 2: It was just Appendicitis, I’m really– PERSON 1: *It is my turn to take care of you and I am going to do it right!* (6) [Two people in car] (7) [still in car) PERSON 1: Oh my god. PERSON 2: Oh my god. (8) [car driving] PERSON 1: Pull over! PERSON 2: I am! (9) [both people get out of car] (10) [Large colored panel of aurora borealis over water with both people looking on] (11) [Person 1 sits against tree while Person 2 lies on the ground] PERSON 1: Fifteen years. No sign of the cancer. (12) I *am* having some weird symptoms. Joint pain. Fatigue. I think I’m losing my close-up vision. PERSON 2: Yeah. Me too. (13) PERSON 2: I think we’re getting old. (14) PERSON 1: I guess that’s okay. PERSON 2: It’s all I wanted.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:cz73r7iyiqn26upot4jtjdhk/bafkreihwhjblp5lyiwp63ouar7ocfea7evmckytoeo7rkfuoo4gw5rnrra@jpeg)
November 26, 2025 at 10:32 PM
Had a great trade show this week. So many followups to work through next week, but Poolaroo has a lot of momentum from this trip! #ecommerce #onlineretail
October 25, 2025 at 5:34 PM
Had a great trade show this week. So many followups to work through next week, but Poolaroo has a lot of momentum from this trip! #ecommerce #onlineretail
If you're using generative AI to make "UGC," I'm sorry, but we aren't going to be friends.
I'm a huge fan of AI tools, but honesty still counts, and that's just deception. 🙄
I'm a huge fan of AI tools, but honesty still counts, and that's just deception. 🙄
October 15, 2025 at 12:12 AM
If you're using generative AI to make "UGC," I'm sorry, but we aren't going to be friends.
I'm a huge fan of AI tools, but honesty still counts, and that's just deception. 🙄
I'm a huge fan of AI tools, but honesty still counts, and that's just deception. 🙄
I'm betting that behind-the-scenes content helps establish trust and credibility in a world of AI slop. I'll be editing it into content that actually goes on the site, and this is the kind of thing my competitors would never do. ;)
#shopify #productphotography #timelapse #ecommerce | Roy Steves 🌌
So, as part of my transparency and authenticity approach to Poolaroo, we took a timelapse of the photography process (stills for a motor, then a 360 for a pump), and I plan to add some music, do a lit...
www.linkedin.com
October 14, 2025 at 12:29 AM
I'm betting that behind-the-scenes content helps establish trust and credibility in a world of AI slop. I'll be editing it into content that actually goes on the site, and this is the kind of thing my competitors would never do. ;)
So I had just wrapped up shooting the video for a new piece I'd researched, when OpenAI dropped the Instant Checkout announcement, which I couldn't NOT address.
www.statbid.com/blog/corpora...
While I really had a lot of fun with this, and came to a few "ah ha!" moments, I'll narrow future scope
www.statbid.com/blog/corpora...
While I really had a lot of fun with this, and came to a few "ah ha!" moments, I'll narrow future scope
Corporate Giants and Ecommerce - StatBid
As I was surveying the articles and sources I intended to use to assemble this report, I realized that understanding this ecosystem means tracking the...
www.statbid.com
October 6, 2025 at 4:51 PM
So I had just wrapped up shooting the video for a new piece I'd researched, when OpenAI dropped the Instant Checkout announcement, which I couldn't NOT address.
www.statbid.com/blog/corpora...
While I really had a lot of fun with this, and came to a few "ah ha!" moments, I'll narrow future scope
www.statbid.com/blog/corpora...
While I really had a lot of fun with this, and came to a few "ah ha!" moments, I'll narrow future scope
Heh, of course OpenAI would drop the Instant Checkout news the same day I was recording 12 gigs of video for my next post...
Back to the drawing board. 😅
Back to the drawing board. 😅
September 30, 2025 at 7:11 PM
Heh, of course OpenAI would drop the Instant Checkout news the same day I was recording 12 gigs of video for my next post...
Back to the drawing board. 😅
Back to the drawing board. 😅
Reposted by Roy Steves
I stand with PBS.
I stand with NPR.
I stand with Stephen Colbert.
I stand with Jimmy Kimmel.
I stand with the First Amendment.
PERIOD.*
*Also #ReleaseTheEPSTEIN_Files
I stand with NPR.
I stand with Stephen Colbert.
I stand with Jimmy Kimmel.
I stand with the First Amendment.
PERIOD.*
*Also #ReleaseTheEPSTEIN_Files
September 18, 2025 at 6:40 PM
I stand with PBS.
I stand with NPR.
I stand with Stephen Colbert.
I stand with Jimmy Kimmel.
I stand with the First Amendment.
PERIOD.*
*Also #ReleaseTheEPSTEIN_Files
I stand with NPR.
I stand with Stephen Colbert.
I stand with Jimmy Kimmel.
I stand with the First Amendment.
PERIOD.*
*Also #ReleaseTheEPSTEIN_Files
This is a long form version of what Adam Savage describes as having "a perspective" to share. I think it's a good razor for separation of AI-assisted creation and slop.
Kurt Vonnegut’s definition of what makes something “art” is one of my favorites I’ve seen - from a letter to his brother in 1995.
August 15, 2025 at 7:15 PM
This is a long form version of what Adam Savage describes as having "a perspective" to share. I think it's a good razor for separation of AI-assisted creation and slop.
So, AI assisted art is absolutely a complex topic, but the position that it's entirely invalid because someone who uses that tool can't do it without the tool is a dead end. Just wait till those gate keepers hear about synthesizers...
Besides, playing with AI has TAUGHT me so much...
Besides, playing with AI has TAUGHT me so much...
August 2, 2025 at 10:35 PM
So, AI assisted art is absolutely a complex topic, but the position that it's entirely invalid because someone who uses that tool can't do it without the tool is a dead end. Just wait till those gate keepers hear about synthesizers...
Besides, playing with AI has TAUGHT me so much...
Besides, playing with AI has TAUGHT me so much...
Windows 11 is so shit, I'm going back to Mac asap.
It's been a few years, but if I can't get my Ubuntu laptop to stop serving calendar notifications I don't want, and Windows can't disable the firewall hard enough to get to GOOGLE...
Then I guess MacOS is the least bad option, again. Pity.
It's been a few years, but if I can't get my Ubuntu laptop to stop serving calendar notifications I don't want, and Windows can't disable the firewall hard enough to get to GOOGLE...
Then I guess MacOS is the least bad option, again. Pity.
June 27, 2025 at 10:45 PM
Windows 11 is so shit, I'm going back to Mac asap.
It's been a few years, but if I can't get my Ubuntu laptop to stop serving calendar notifications I don't want, and Windows can't disable the firewall hard enough to get to GOOGLE...
Then I guess MacOS is the least bad option, again. Pity.
It's been a few years, but if I can't get my Ubuntu laptop to stop serving calendar notifications I don't want, and Windows can't disable the firewall hard enough to get to GOOGLE...
Then I guess MacOS is the least bad option, again. Pity.
AI-assisted art is both spooky, and really fun for amateurs like me. For example, I wrote most of the lyrics, but couldn't sing or play it in any timeline of the multiverse.
And yet, now this is a thing that exists, and I'm actually quite pleased with the result (3.5 hours of work, after all!)
And yet, now this is a thing that exists, and I'm actually quite pleased with the result (3.5 hours of work, after all!)
Unforgivable Betrayal (song)
YouTube video by Roy Steves
youtu.be
June 9, 2025 at 8:12 PM
AI-assisted art is both spooky, and really fun for amateurs like me. For example, I wrote most of the lyrics, but couldn't sing or play it in any timeline of the multiverse.
And yet, now this is a thing that exists, and I'm actually quite pleased with the result (3.5 hours of work, after all!)
And yet, now this is a thing that exists, and I'm actually quite pleased with the result (3.5 hours of work, after all!)
Reposted by Roy Steves
When one of the friendly strays decides to hop on your lap. :3
June 6, 2025 at 12:26 AM
When one of the friendly strays decides to hop on your lap. :3
Well, it's heavy on the "minimum" in MVP, but...
Poolaroo is live!
Poolaroo is live!
#shopify #ecommerce #poolsupplies | Poolaroo
It's a small catalog, to start, but...
🚀🚀🚀 https://poolaroo.com/
#shopify #ecommerce #poolsupplies
www.linkedin.com
June 5, 2025 at 8:54 PM
Well, it's heavy on the "minimum" in MVP, but...
Poolaroo is live!
Poolaroo is live!
Reposted by Roy Steves
On the left, the lie.
On the right, reality.
On the right, reality.
May 28, 2025 at 8:52 PM
On the left, the lie.
On the right, reality.
On the right, reality.
Heading into San Francisco with a good friend and his dad for a day-long book-binding class.
Excited to try something completely new, and with excellent company.
Excited to try something completely new, and with excellent company.
May 25, 2025 at 3:13 PM
Heading into San Francisco with a good friend and his dad for a day-long book-binding class.
Excited to try something completely new, and with excellent company.
Excited to try something completely new, and with excellent company.
I may be late to the party, but does Oz remind anyone else of the Sheriff in Men in Tights?
a man with a beard is holding a sword and wearing a black jacket
ALT: a man with a beard is holding a sword and wearing a black jacket
media.tenor.com
May 17, 2025 at 12:24 AM
I may be late to the party, but does Oz remind anyone else of the Sheriff in Men in Tights?
This pub restroom is a crash course on color theory, with the shadows.
May 14, 2025 at 2:33 AM
This pub restroom is a crash course on color theory, with the shadows.
Reposted by Roy Steves
OpenAI has just announced a new shopping experience in ChatGPT 👀 Looking forward to test it and compare vs current Google product/merchant related results 👇
Will this accelerate the release a Google Shopping assistant?
Will this accelerate the release a Google Shopping assistant?
April 28, 2025 at 10:55 PM
OpenAI has just announced a new shopping experience in ChatGPT 👀 Looking forward to test it and compare vs current Google product/merchant related results 👇
Will this accelerate the release a Google Shopping assistant?
Will this accelerate the release a Google Shopping assistant?
Prediction:
In less than 3 years, a major appliance brand will be based on something like "Low-tech, high quality."
Not everything needs to be computer, my glitchy washing machine not least of all.
In less than 3 years, a major appliance brand will be based on something like "Low-tech, high quality."
Not everything needs to be computer, my glitchy washing machine not least of all.
a cartoon character with a purple arm and legs
ALT: a cartoon character with a purple arm and legs
media.tenor.com
April 26, 2025 at 10:52 PM
Prediction:
In less than 3 years, a major appliance brand will be based on something like "Low-tech, high quality."
Not everything needs to be computer, my glitchy washing machine not least of all.
In less than 3 years, a major appliance brand will be based on something like "Low-tech, high quality."
Not everything needs to be computer, my glitchy washing machine not least of all.
12 times in theater. A handful since then, too.
April 26, 2025 at 10:48 PM
12 times in theater. A handful since then, too.