Vicki Tardif
@vtardif.bsky.social
Wanderer; Ontologist; Amateur Cook; Hockey Fan. ex-Google for folks who care about that sort of thing. she/her
Reposted by Vicki Tardif
People care for more about being seen — feeling seen, in the case of sharing a fake but funny video or bit that generates affect — than being accurate or “right”. We misapply our nerd obsession with enlightenment values of truth onto people who just want to boogie.
December 9, 2025 at 1:55 PM
People care for more about being seen — feeling seen, in the case of sharing a fake but funny video or bit that generates affect — than being accurate or “right”. We misapply our nerd obsession with enlightenment values of truth onto people who just want to boogie.
My suspicion is sorting by most recent would make it more obvious that search has degraded because that email you remember from yesterday wouldn't be at the top.
Whoever at Google thought it was a good idea to make the Gmail mobile app search results default to "most relevant" instead of "most recent":
That was a terrible idea and you should feel bad about yourself for having had it.
That was a terrible idea and you should feel bad about yourself for having had it.
November 26, 2025 at 12:12 AM
My suspicion is sorting by most recent would make it more obvious that search has degraded because that email you remember from yesterday wouldn't be at the top.
Reposted by Vicki Tardif
When I talk to students about public speaking or teaching, I always bring this up: Just tell people when you don't know something! It's remarkably powerful b/c it signals to your audience that you know the boundaries of your expertise and they can trust what you DO talk about.
completely outside of politics, this is so charming
November 22, 2025 at 5:18 PM
When I talk to students about public speaking or teaching, I always bring this up: Just tell people when you don't know something! It's remarkably powerful b/c it signals to your audience that you know the boundaries of your expertise and they can trust what you DO talk about.
I remember talking to friends about Clinton and the general feeling was fuck that guy, Gloria Steinem, and all the other women caping for him. That sentiment has only grown stronger with age and experience.
November 16, 2025 at 4:48 PM
I remember talking to friends about Clinton and the general feeling was fuck that guy, Gloria Steinem, and all the other women caping for him. That sentiment has only grown stronger with age and experience.
Reposted by Vicki Tardif
Just vote for literally anyone else in the senate elections next year. Anyone who's running in the primaries. A retired schoolteacher. A grandma who runs a knitting circle. A dogcatcher. A dog. Anyone.
November 10, 2025 at 1:46 AM
Just vote for literally anyone else in the senate elections next year. Anyone who's running in the primaries. A retired schoolteacher. A grandma who runs a knitting circle. A dogcatcher. A dog. Anyone.
Reposted by Vicki Tardif
pre-writing a devastating obituary for your enemy is god-tier hating of a kind you don’t often see anymore. renaissance haterism. beautiful stuff.
A Sharon Begley byline, almost 5 years after her death.
Upon hearing the news James Watson had died, a STAT reporter said in our Slack, "I wish I could read what Sharon would have written."
Incredible news: Sharon in fact did pre-write a Watson obit. And it is masterful and excoriating.
🧪🧬🧫
Upon hearing the news James Watson had died, a STAT reporter said in our Slack, "I wish I could read what Sharon would have written."
Incredible news: Sharon in fact did pre-write a Watson obit. And it is masterful and excoriating.
🧪🧬🧫
James Watson, dead at 97, was a scientific legend and a pariah among his peers
James Watson, the co-discoverer of the structure of DNA who died Thursday at 97, was a scientific legend and a pariah among his peers.
www.statnews.com
November 9, 2025 at 12:55 AM
pre-writing a devastating obituary for your enemy is god-tier hating of a kind you don’t often see anymore. renaissance haterism. beautiful stuff.
Following your colleague to get their VIN number and lookup their car configuration is the sort of thing that gets you fired at most workplaces.
Instead of Bernie Moreno creepily following us to the cars we use to get to work in the Capitol and writing down their VIN numbers, I'd suggest he use his time in more productive ways …
November 7, 2025 at 12:46 AM
Following your colleague to get their VIN number and lookup their car configuration is the sort of thing that gets you fired at most workplaces.
1 in 6 American adults. Imagine if a fraction of spending on AI was spent on third spaces where people can form relationships.
November 3, 2025 at 11:12 PM
1 in 6 American adults. Imagine if a fraction of spending on AI was spent on third spaces where people can form relationships.
Reposted by Vicki Tardif
If you didn't see over the weekend, I took the 1,700-plus pages of Jan. 6 subpoenas Chuck Grassley made public last week and mapped out the connections between the people and organizations they mention. www.howtoreadthisch.art/the-web-that...
The web that tried to steal the presidency
Chapter 1
What is it that happens when first we practice to deceive? I forget.
If you are anything like me, you tuned into cable news coverage of the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021 and thought to yours...
www.howtoreadthisch.art
November 3, 2025 at 7:41 PM
If you didn't see over the weekend, I took the 1,700-plus pages of Jan. 6 subpoenas Chuck Grassley made public last week and mapped out the connections between the people and organizations they mention. www.howtoreadthisch.art/the-web-that...
Won't happen. Not because they care about Thanksgiving but because poor people don't fly often but the sort who attend Great Gatsby themed parties do.
Transportation chief Sean Duffy threatened to ground all U.S. flights amid the ongoing shutdown, warning "we'll shut the whole airspace down."
Trump official threatens to ground all flights before Thanksgiving in shutdown standoff
Transportation chief Sean Duffy threatened to ground all U.S. flights amid the ongoing shutdown, warning "we'll shut the whole airspace down." As the stalemate drags into the second month, it's adding more potential risk to the aviation system and putting a further strain on air traffic control staf...
bit.ly
November 3, 2025 at 7:00 PM
Won't happen. Not because they care about Thanksgiving but because poor people don't fly often but the sort who attend Great Gatsby themed parties do.
I am within 3 hops of many tech execs and Members of Congress, almost none of whom have any idea who I am. I am sure they don't mind being implicated in whatever poor life decision I might choose.
This three-hops theory is especially insane. Even if you assume each person is connected to only 100 other people, there are 1m people within three hops of every suspected drug trafficker—and remember that even *known* drug traffickers aren’t legitimate targets. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/30/u...
October 31, 2025 at 11:09 PM
I am within 3 hops of many tech execs and Members of Congress, almost none of whom have any idea who I am. I am sure they don't mind being implicated in whatever poor life decision I might choose.
Me: Hey, Google, who receives SNAP benefits?
Google: That's too hard for an AI overview. Here's some data about Snapchat users. Close enough, amiright?
Google: That's too hard for an AI overview. Here's some data about Snapchat users. Close enough, amiright?
October 27, 2025 at 4:40 PM
Me: Hey, Google, who receives SNAP benefits?
Google: That's too hard for an AI overview. Here's some data about Snapchat users. Close enough, amiright?
Google: That's too hard for an AI overview. Here's some data about Snapchat users. Close enough, amiright?
There was a telethon every year of his childhood to address just one group of disorders that affects children. As a comedian, he may be familiar with its little known host, Jerry Lewis.
Schneider was born in 1963.
Pretty sure that childhood diseases like measles and rubella (just for a start) were definitely around.
Pretty sure that childhood diseases like measles and rubella (just for a start) were definitely around.
October 26, 2025 at 1:36 PM
There was a telethon every year of his childhood to address just one group of disorders that affects children. As a comedian, he may be familiar with its little known host, Jerry Lewis.
And for much of the US, anything planted now won't be ready to harvest until at least Spring. I guess they plan on folks just hibernating like bears.
On Threads, the usual suspects are telling ppl about to lose SNAP benefits to just start a garden. As a gardener, I had to laugh. You need at LEAST an acre of land to feed a family of 4. Start-up costs are enormous. But yes, subsistence farming on the balcony of your rental apartment is the answer
October 23, 2025 at 7:17 PM
And for much of the US, anything planted now won't be ready to harvest until at least Spring. I guess they plan on folks just hibernating like bears.
Because your average consumer knows how to navigate GitHub and install a repo.
No one ever asks why we need control in the cloud.
No one ever asks why we need control in the cloud.
The AWS outage bricked people's $2,700 smartbeds, leaving them in a reclining position or with the heat up. People were unable to use them, basically. A GitHub repo exists that lets people operate their beds without reliance on the normal infrastructure
www.404media.co/the-aws-outa...
www.404media.co/the-aws-outa...
The AWS Outage Bricked People’s $2,700 Smartbeds
When Amazon Web Services went offline, people lost control of their cloud-connected smart beds, getting stuck in reclined positions or roasting with the heat turned all the way up.
www.404media.co
October 22, 2025 at 4:22 PM
Because your average consumer knows how to navigate GitHub and install a repo.
No one ever asks why we need control in the cloud.
No one ever asks why we need control in the cloud.
In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I've been turning over in my mind ever since. Congress has not authorized the use of military force.
"We are each other's harvest; we are each other's business; we are each other's magnitude and bond." Congress has not authorized the use of military force.
It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.
However little known the feelings or views of such a man may be on his first entering a neighbourhood, Congress has not authorized the use of military force.
However little known the feelings or views of such a man may be on his first entering a neighbourhood, Congress has not authorized the use of military force.
October 3, 2025 at 3:39 AM
In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I've been turning over in my mind ever since. Congress has not authorized the use of military force.
Years ago, I went to the ER with a broken arm. The triage nurse said it was just a bad bruise. The X-ray tech rolled his eyes when I could not position my arm correctly. Then the X-ray showed a complete break of the radius and ulna. My wrist was disconnected but no one believed I could feel that.
there’s a pop culture idea that women have higher pain tolerance than men
maybe you’ve seen those videos of men trying period simulators, or tattoo artists & massage therapists talking about how men can’t handle pain
yeah, that’s not higher pain tolerance
that’s evidence of structural brutality
maybe you’ve seen those videos of men trying period simulators, or tattoo artists & massage therapists talking about how men can’t handle pain
yeah, that’s not higher pain tolerance
that’s evidence of structural brutality
September 25, 2025 at 10:10 AM
Years ago, I went to the ER with a broken arm. The triage nurse said it was just a bad bruise. The X-ray tech rolled his eyes when I could not position my arm correctly. Then the X-ray showed a complete break of the radius and ulna. My wrist was disconnected but no one believed I could feel that.
OCLC provides the ground truth of book records including data that is often more accurate than what publishers provide. All these short term cuts are going to cost so much more in the long run.
80 employees at OCLC were laid off due to "AI" and "federal budget cuts."
www.nbc4i.com/news/local-n...
www.nbc4i.com/news/local-n...
Dublin-based nonprofit lays off 80 central Ohio workers, cites AI and federal cuts
DUBLIN, Ohio (WCMH) — A Dublin-based organization that manages the Dewey Decimal System and partners with libraries worldwide has laid off dozens of central Ohio employees, citing the rise of…
www.nbc4i.com
July 28, 2025 at 11:27 PM
OCLC provides the ground truth of book records including data that is often more accurate than what publishers provide. All these short term cuts are going to cost so much more in the long run.
This is why they aren't protesting cuts to education even in STEM. Who needs scientists when the magic box can do it?
Billionaires are convinced AI is on the verge of making new scientific discoveries because they don't understand how AI chatbots work.
Billionaires Convince Themselves AI Is Close to Making New Scientific Discoveries
gizmodo.com
July 15, 2025 at 4:42 PM
This is why they aren't protesting cuts to education even in STEM. Who needs scientists when the magic box can do it?
Reposted by Vicki Tardif
i think the big middle event between george floyd protests and covid that accelerated this hard right turn in elite circles was tech employees using slack to stage walk-outs and force concessions from management. tech bosses got a first whiff of organized labor's power and started reading mein kampf
Only in America could a white man with a current net worth of $2 billion see himself as part of a victimized group. 🤦♂️
July 13, 2025 at 3:37 PM
i think the big middle event between george floyd protests and covid that accelerated this hard right turn in elite circles was tech employees using slack to stage walk-outs and force concessions from management. tech bosses got a first whiff of organized labor's power and started reading mein kampf
It always struck me as odd that we had to clearly state we didn't speak for Google on social media because POps came down hard on even the lowliest L3 who said something approaching controversial and then execs would do something like this.
Google co-founder Sergey Brin called the U.N. “transparently antisemitic” in an internal forum for employees.
His comments came in response to a U.N. report that alleged technology firms profited from “the genocide carried out by Israel” in Gaza.
His comments came in response to a U.N. report that alleged technology firms profited from “the genocide carried out by Israel” in Gaza.
Google co-founder Sergey Brin calls U.N. ‘transparently antisemitic’ after report on tech firms and Gaza
Google co-founder Sergey Brin called the United Nations “transparently antisemitic” in a message on a company forum, after a U.N. report alleged Google profited from Israel’s war in Gaza.
www.washingtonpost.com
July 9, 2025 at 1:25 AM
It always struck me as odd that we had to clearly state we didn't speak for Google on social media because POps came down hard on even the lowliest L3 who said something approaching controversial and then execs would do something like this.
It would be nice if there was some kind of scientific rigor to these studies. If the AI agent required an orchestrator, which acted like a panel of physicians, it seems strange to make people work alone. But then they would not have their headline.
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
June 30, 2025 at 4:35 PM
It would be nice if there was some kind of scientific rigor to these studies. If the AI agent required an orchestrator, which acted like a panel of physicians, it seems strange to make people work alone. But then they would not have their headline.
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
"The troops are authorized to detain people who pose a threat to federal personnel or property, but only until police can arrest them."
So this is how they'll justify the military taking over. They are simply protecting the federal personnel there to arrest you.
So this is how they'll justify the military taking over. They are simply protecting the federal personnel there to arrest you.
The first civilian detained by U.S. Marines in Los Angeles was an ARMY VETERAN on his way to a VA APPOINTMENT
Exclusive: US Marines carry out first known detention of civilian in Los Angeles, video shows
Marines deployed to Los Angeles carried out the detention of a civilian on Friday, the U.S. military confirmed after being presented with Reuters images, in the first known detention by active-duty troops deployed there by President Donald Trump.
www.reuters.com
June 13, 2025 at 11:46 PM
"The troops are authorized to detain people who pose a threat to federal personnel or property, but only until police can arrest them."
So this is how they'll justify the military taking over. They are simply protecting the federal personnel there to arrest you.
So this is how they'll justify the military taking over. They are simply protecting the federal personnel there to arrest you.
Google execs said self-driving cars would dominate the market by 2025. One of the many reasons I'm skeptical when some of those same people claim we'll have AGI and be "colonizing the galaxy"* by 2030.
*WTF does that even mean? Do we need to leave the solar system?
*WTF does that even mean? Do we need to leave the solar system?
“Tesla’s driverless ‘robotaxis’ could launch in Austin as soon as June 22. But a demo in Austin today showed a $TSLA, manually driven to test its Full Self-Driving system, failed to stop for a child-sized dummy at a school bus—and hit it.”
@cbsaustin @velez_tx
@cbsaustin @velez_tx
June 13, 2025 at 3:33 PM
Google execs said self-driving cars would dominate the market by 2025. One of the many reasons I'm skeptical when some of those same people claim we'll have AGI and be "colonizing the galaxy"* by 2030.
*WTF does that even mean? Do we need to leave the solar system?
*WTF does that even mean? Do we need to leave the solar system?
I was wondering when Disney would enter the chat.
If Google Books taught me anything, it's that Disney drives everything.
If Google Books taught me anything, it's that Disney drives everything.
Walt Disney and Comcast's Universal filed a copyright lawsuit against Midjourney on Wednesday, calling its popular AI-powered image generator a "bottomless pit of plagiarism" for its use of the studios' best-known characters.
Disney, Universal sue image creator Midjourney for copyright infringement
Walt Disney and Comcast's Universal filed a copyright lawsuit against Midjourney on Wednesday, calling its popular AI-powered image generator a "bottomless pit of plagiarism" for its use of the studios' best-known characters.
reut.rs
June 11, 2025 at 11:00 PM
I was wondering when Disney would enter the chat.
If Google Books taught me anything, it's that Disney drives everything.
If Google Books taught me anything, it's that Disney drives everything.