Yan Basque
@yanbasque.com
Writer, artist and musician. Queer. Critic of technology. Grad student (Information Studies at McGill). (He/him)
https://linktr.ee/yanbasque
https://linktr.ee/yanbasque
Literally the stupidest thing I've read all year. (It's by Matt Stoller.)
November 25, 2025 at 1:11 AM
Literally the stupidest thing I've read all year. (It's by Matt Stoller.)
A sample of some do the stuff I got at Expozine today.
November 15, 2025 at 11:39 PM
A sample of some do the stuff I got at Expozine today.
Two of these were absolute trash.
letterboxd.com/greatvowelsh...
#letterboxdfriday #lastfourwatched #filmsky
letterboxd.com/greatvowelsh...
#letterboxdfriday #lastfourwatched #filmsky
November 8, 2025 at 3:32 AM
Two of these were absolute trash.
letterboxd.com/greatvowelsh...
#letterboxdfriday #lastfourwatched #filmsky
letterboxd.com/greatvowelsh...
#letterboxdfriday #lastfourwatched #filmsky
My god. Two songs in and I just know this is the album of the year.
November 7, 2025 at 3:13 PM
My god. Two songs in and I just know this is the album of the year.
What I managed to watch last month. Not bad considering grad school is eating all my time.
November 2, 2025 at 1:50 AM
What I managed to watch last month. Not bad considering grad school is eating all my time.
I live in a province where for no reason that I can think of flu vaccines are free but COVID vaccines cost $180. I hate it.
October 31, 2025 at 12:01 AM
I live in a province where for no reason that I can think of flu vaccines are free but COVID vaccines cost $180. I hate it.
Had to do a skills matrix for my career development plan. This helped put a few things into focus for me. It's remarkable that three of the most relevant skills for my previous career are below the line of what I enjoy doing. No wonder I burnt out!
October 30, 2025 at 2:30 PM
Had to do a skills matrix for my career development plan. This helped put a few things into focus for me. It's remarkable that three of the most relevant skills for my previous career are below the line of what I enjoy doing. No wonder I burnt out!
Guess someone realized spending so much energy defending a nazi wasn't such a good look after all.
October 30, 2025 at 11:28 AM
Guess someone realized spending so much energy defending a nazi wasn't such a good look after all.
Sometimes I check ratings on AllMusic out of morbid curiosity and this is wild. This four-album stretch from Janet is one of the most successful and acclaimed runs in the history of R&B. 2.5 stars for The Velvet Rope is insane to me. (The ratings on the right are user ratings.)
October 26, 2025 at 3:06 PM
Sometimes I check ratings on AllMusic out of morbid curiosity and this is wild. This four-album stretch from Janet is one of the most successful and acclaimed runs in the history of R&B. 2.5 stars for The Velvet Rope is insane to me. (The ratings on the right are user ratings.)
Today I got a used copy of Janet’s masterpiece, The Velvet Rope 😍
October 24, 2025 at 11:20 PM
Today I got a used copy of Janet’s masterpiece, The Velvet Rope 😍
People just use words and have no idea what they mean. Citing your own work is common and normal when you are building on previous work you’ve done. Research doesn’t happen in a vacuum. What a clown.
October 10, 2025 at 2:44 PM
People just use words and have no idea what they mean. Citing your own work is common and normal when you are building on previous work you’ve done. Research doesn’t happen in a vacuum. What a clown.
My Zotero annotations are idiosyncratic at best.
October 6, 2025 at 3:35 PM
My Zotero annotations are idiosyncratic at best.
Noticed a growing trend of people calling criticism of AI "bigotry."
This is basically just "I'm not a eugenicist, you're a eugenicist!" Classic rhetorical tactic of the right ("aren't the anti-racists the real racists?" etc.)
For context, the author of this post is an engineer at Buesky.
This is basically just "I'm not a eugenicist, you're a eugenicist!" Classic rhetorical tactic of the right ("aren't the anti-racists the real racists?" etc.)
For context, the author of this post is an engineer at Buesky.
October 5, 2025 at 2:00 PM
Noticed a growing trend of people calling criticism of AI "bigotry."
This is basically just "I'm not a eugenicist, you're a eugenicist!" Classic rhetorical tactic of the right ("aren't the anti-racists the real racists?" etc.)
For context, the author of this post is an engineer at Buesky.
This is basically just "I'm not a eugenicist, you're a eugenicist!" Classic rhetorical tactic of the right ("aren't the anti-racists the real racists?" etc.)
For context, the author of this post is an engineer at Buesky.
What the hell does that mean?
October 2, 2025 at 5:02 AM
What the hell does that mean?
Here's a perfect example of what I was talking about the other day. The reply is needlessly confrontational and adds nothing of value to the original post. What they meant to say was: "I share your sentiment." But instead it was expressed as a correction.
September 13, 2025 at 1:22 AM
Here's a perfect example of what I was talking about the other day. The reply is needlessly confrontational and adds nothing of value to the original post. What they meant to say was: "I share your sentiment." But instead it was expressed as a correction.
Ezra Klein is such a hack. I’m not clicking on any NYT links but that headline is just insane.
September 11, 2025 at 12:49 PM
Ezra Klein is such a hack. I’m not clicking on any NYT links but that headline is just insane.
Week 1 of grad school. Doing readings for my Intro to Information Studies class and this part almost made me cry. I feel seen! My entire (previous) career, I have felt stuck in between specialties, with managers recognizing my talent but struggling to find the right fit for me. This feels so right!
August 27, 2025 at 5:14 PM
Week 1 of grad school. Doing readings for my Intro to Information Studies class and this part almost made me cry. I feel seen! My entire (previous) career, I have felt stuck in between specialties, with managers recognizing my talent but struggling to find the right fit for me. This feels so right!
I don't believe this happened. It's not the AI part that is fishy, but the part about an English professor asking students to write an essay about what they're excited about on day 1. No college professor is going to waste their time with this shit. People are just making shit up on social media.
August 23, 2025 at 12:34 AM
I don't believe this happened. It's not the AI part that is fishy, but the part about an English professor asking students to write an essay about what they're excited about on day 1. No college professor is going to waste their time with this shit. People are just making shit up on social media.
The language in these automated emails from Google Maps sounds unhinged. A review I wrote months ago has 2 likes and they're making it sound like I deserve a noble prize for my contribution to society.
August 20, 2025 at 1:43 AM
The language in these automated emails from Google Maps sounds unhinged. A review I wrote months ago has 2 likes and they're making it sound like I deserve a noble prize for my contribution to society.
Been getting this screen a lot @letterboxd.social
August 18, 2025 at 2:59 PM
Been getting this screen a lot @letterboxd.social
The so-called "decolonially trained AI" (which they also describe as "anti-extractive") is literally powered by ChatGPT, so they are just throwing words around. Anyone who has read @karenhao.bsky.social's Empire of AI knows that these claims are bogus.
August 16, 2025 at 9:59 PM
The so-called "decolonially trained AI" (which they also describe as "anti-extractive") is literally powered by ChatGPT, so they are just throwing words around. Anyone who has read @karenhao.bsky.social's Empire of AI knows that these claims are bogus.
This super short interview is packed with great insights. It also mentions a book from 1972 (!) called Databanks in Free Society, which I wasn't familiar with and which is now blowing my mind a little. What it describes sounds incredibly familiar!
July 26, 2025 at 12:59 PM
This super short interview is packed with great insights. It also mentions a book from 1972 (!) called Databanks in Free Society, which I wasn't familiar with and which is now blowing my mind a little. What it describes sounds incredibly familiar!
