Zachary Sellers
@zedsells.bsky.social
Sailor, teacher, analyst, mathematician, cyclist. These are aspirations if not accomplishments.
Reposted by Zachary Sellers
Worth a watch:
Head of Signal, Meredith Whittaker, on so-called "agentic AI" and the difference between how it's described in the marketing and what access and control it would actually require to work as advertised.
Head of Signal, Meredith Whittaker, on so-called "agentic AI" and the difference between how it's described in the marketing and what access and control it would actually require to work as advertised.
June 26, 2025 at 4:28 PM
Worth a watch:
Head of Signal, Meredith Whittaker, on so-called "agentic AI" and the difference between how it's described in the marketing and what access and control it would actually require to work as advertised.
Head of Signal, Meredith Whittaker, on so-called "agentic AI" and the difference between how it's described in the marketing and what access and control it would actually require to work as advertised.
@guygavrielkay.bsky.social I know you've mentioned before that you like to be told about copy editing things so they can be adjusted in future prints. Do you have a place I could send one?
June 5, 2025 at 12:00 AM
@guygavrielkay.bsky.social I know you've mentioned before that you like to be told about copy editing things so they can be adjusted in future prints. Do you have a place I could send one?
Reposted by Zachary Sellers
Reposted by Zachary Sellers
"Pictures are famous for their humanness, not for their pictureness."
Kurt Vonnegut discussion of art in his 1997 novel Timequake offers one explanation why people might find AI creations unsatisfying.
Kurt Vonnegut discussion of art in his 1997 novel Timequake offers one explanation why people might find AI creations unsatisfying.
April 12, 2025 at 10:25 AM
"Pictures are famous for their humanness, not for their pictureness."
Kurt Vonnegut discussion of art in his 1997 novel Timequake offers one explanation why people might find AI creations unsatisfying.
Kurt Vonnegut discussion of art in his 1997 novel Timequake offers one explanation why people might find AI creations unsatisfying.
Reposted by Zachary Sellers
Reposted by Zachary Sellers
The Dickin Medal is the highest award that can be issued to animals in British military service. Bearing the words "We Also Serve" it has been awarded 75 times since its creation in 1943.
Only one cat has ever received the award.
This is the story of Able Seacat Simon, of HMS Amethyst. 🧵 1/25
Only one cat has ever received the award.
This is the story of Able Seacat Simon, of HMS Amethyst. 🧵 1/25
August 6, 2024 at 12:36 PM
The Dickin Medal is the highest award that can be issued to animals in British military service. Bearing the words "We Also Serve" it has been awarded 75 times since its creation in 1943.
Only one cat has ever received the award.
This is the story of Able Seacat Simon, of HMS Amethyst. 🧵 1/25
Only one cat has ever received the award.
This is the story of Able Seacat Simon, of HMS Amethyst. 🧵 1/25
Taking down public data and removing websites en masse is the modern day equivalent of book burning.
February 2, 2025 at 5:01 PM
Taking down public data and removing websites en masse is the modern day equivalent of book burning.
Reposted by Zachary Sellers
Auschwitz was at the end of a long process. It did not start from gas chambers.
This hatred was gradually developed by humans. From ideas, words, stereotypes & prejudice through legal exclusion, dehumanization & escalating violence... to systematic and industrial murder.
Auschwitz took time.
This hatred was gradually developed by humans. From ideas, words, stereotypes & prejudice through legal exclusion, dehumanization & escalating violence... to systematic and industrial murder.
Auschwitz took time.
January 27, 2025 at 10:00 AM
Auschwitz was at the end of a long process. It did not start from gas chambers.
This hatred was gradually developed by humans. From ideas, words, stereotypes & prejudice through legal exclusion, dehumanization & escalating violence... to systematic and industrial murder.
Auschwitz took time.
This hatred was gradually developed by humans. From ideas, words, stereotypes & prejudice through legal exclusion, dehumanization & escalating violence... to systematic and industrial murder.
Auschwitz took time.
Reposted by Zachary Sellers
This is what's so baffling about so many suggestions for AI in the humanities classroom: they mistake the product for the point. Writing outlines and essays is important not because you need to make outlines and essays but because that's how you learn to think with/through complex ideas.
I'm sure many have said this before but I'm reading a student-facing document about how students might use AI in the classroom (if allowed) and one of the recs is: use AI to make an outline of your reading! But ISN'T MAKING THE OUTLINE how one actually learns?
December 11, 2024 at 10:43 PM
This is what's so baffling about so many suggestions for AI in the humanities classroom: they mistake the product for the point. Writing outlines and essays is important not because you need to make outlines and essays but because that's how you learn to think with/through complex ideas.
Reposted by Zachary Sellers
Why is Tokyo so fashionable? Some theories. 🧵
November 27, 2024 at 6:43 AM
Why is Tokyo so fashionable? Some theories. 🧵
Reposted by Zachary Sellers
This cardigan is called Teams. Every square is a meeting that could have been an email. It’s actually Teams Mk II as its predecessor had a bad experience with the washing machine.
#knitting 🧶
#knitting 🧶
November 21, 2024 at 6:57 PM
This cardigan is called Teams. Every square is a meeting that could have been an email. It’s actually Teams Mk II as its predecessor had a bad experience with the washing machine.
#knitting 🧶
#knitting 🧶
I am insulted, five times over, for all of mathematics, that the Bee does not accept quintic.
November 10, 2024 at 7:46 PM
I am insulted, five times over, for all of mathematics, that the Bee does not accept quintic.
@guygavrielkay.bsky.social just read, on your recommendation from some years ago, The English Understand Wool. Truly excellent.
November 9, 2024 at 6:31 PM
@guygavrielkay.bsky.social just read, on your recommendation from some years ago, The English Understand Wool. Truly excellent.
I've cut the cord on Twitter, so just blue skies ahead for me.
November 6, 2024 at 9:24 PM
I've cut the cord on Twitter, so just blue skies ahead for me.
There are many routes to happiness in life; experiencing sunsets like these is one of them.
June 22, 2024 at 12:27 AM
There are many routes to happiness in life; experiencing sunsets like these is one of them.
An interesting article on aging and brain development.
File under:
"Every breathless article about Biden's age is grounded in prejudice, not reality."
www.cbc.ca/radio/the-do...
File under:
"Every breathless article about Biden's age is grounded in prejudice, not reality."
www.cbc.ca/radio/the-do...
February 26, 2024 at 1:12 AM
An interesting article on aging and brain development.
File under:
"Every breathless article about Biden's age is grounded in prejudice, not reality."
www.cbc.ca/radio/the-do...
File under:
"Every breathless article about Biden's age is grounded in prejudice, not reality."
www.cbc.ca/radio/the-do...
A new year's resolution of sorts to redouble my efforts in learning German. 19 days in, and Busuu tells me I'm at A2, which is a bit of a line in the sand. But one I'm happy to cross. B2 by June, that's the target.
January 20, 2024 at 1:20 AM
A new year's resolution of sorts to redouble my efforts in learning German. 19 days in, and Busuu tells me I'm at A2, which is a bit of a line in the sand. But one I'm happy to cross. B2 by June, that's the target.
Reposted by Zachary Sellers
You'd expect us sweeps to have a special sense of where soot sprites dwell, but children and cats have it too. Course, children want to be friends with them, cats want to catch them. You need a sweep if you want to make effective treaty with them. – Joe Corner, Master Sweep #VOH
January 16, 2024 at 7:24 PM
You'd expect us sweeps to have a special sense of where soot sprites dwell, but children and cats have it too. Course, children want to be friends with them, cats want to catch them. You need a sweep if you want to make effective treaty with them. – Joe Corner, Master Sweep #VOH
Starlink beaming data direct from Orion
January 7, 2024 at 2:34 AM
Starlink beaming data direct from Orion
New way to be influenced by ads: I'm much more supportive of companies whose ads I can easily skip. Hidden buttons, pop-ups - the ads have the opposite of the intended purpose.
December 8, 2023 at 12:27 PM
New way to be influenced by ads: I'm much more supportive of companies whose ads I can easily skip. Hidden buttons, pop-ups - the ads have the opposite of the intended purpose.
Rather infuriating.
‘Routine’ forgery? Alleged woodlot theft raises suspicions about forestry industry practices www.halifaxexaminer.ca/subscribers-... by Jennifer Henderson
'Routine' forgery? Alleged woodlot theft raises suspicions about forestry industry practices - Halif...
In April of 2022, Harry Lamey heard a radio ad for a logging contractor who was interested in cutting timber on private woodlots. It caught his interest. Over the years, the Lameys had occasionally re...
www.halifaxexaminer.ca
November 29, 2023 at 4:52 PM
Rather infuriating.
Customer at bakery “Is this gluten free?”
Baker “No it costs money”
Baker “No it costs money”
November 22, 2023 at 8:01 PM
Customer at bakery “Is this gluten free?”
Baker “No it costs money”
Baker “No it costs money”
"Our own flaws infuriate us in other people" (T. Kingfisher, Nettle and Bone).
To me, that seems like a helpful metric for self-improvement.
To me, that seems like a helpful metric for self-improvement.
October 16, 2023 at 12:45 AM
"Our own flaws infuriate us in other people" (T. Kingfisher, Nettle and Bone).
To me, that seems like a helpful metric for self-improvement.
To me, that seems like a helpful metric for self-improvement.
Taskmaster is a pretty fun show. Also, great ideas for icebreakers.
October 1, 2023 at 1:24 AM
Taskmaster is a pretty fun show. Also, great ideas for icebreakers.