Margarita Nafpaktitis

AAAAAAAAAAH

AAAAAAHHHHHHHHH

one insidious thing about gen AI is it's not just causing us to mistrust dodgy images, it's also making us mistrust images that look perfectly normal. this is gaslighting in a very literal sense bc the technology is undermining the trust we have in our own ability to perceive reality!

*Would* drink too many of those!

steering wide of the debate, just here to say that “reverse-slurps” is perfection

A poem woke me up.

Happy Thanksgiving—from Alexander Voloshin and me—to all immigrants acquiring new tastes this year! No one knows better the importance of celebrating despite it all.

How my grandmother, who only learned a few words of English, loved “Turkey Day”…

@pauldrybooks.bsky.social

The Writing Is on the Wall for Handwriting Recognition One of the hardest problems in digital humanities has finally been solved

New issue of my newsletter: "The Writing Is on the Wall for Handwriting Recognition" — One of the hardest problems in digital humanities has finally been solved, and it's a good use of AI newsletter.dancohen.org/archive/the-...

Ouroboros? Ourobusos? Ouroborbus?

I am married to you, and know for 100% certain you would *never* wear sweatpants and flipflops on a plane. Even though @drgitlin.bsky.social is absolutely correct.

@jamellebouie.net has *been* saying this!

AAAAAAAAAAAAHH

At last, a good answer to Malcolm Forbes’s semi-rhetorical question: “I mean, what can you DO with $25 million?”

Ha!

Wide awake over here!

“Well, Zoron … is this a close enough look for you?”

“Well, Zoron … is this a close enough look for you?”

Your syllabus is a thing of beauty (aesthetically, but also curricularly)! Thank you for sharing!

Since we live in a culture that worships merch, I've always wondered why there are no specific lawn decorations for Thanksgiving. Very occasionally a blow up turkey. Nothing else. Until now when I present my new idea for making millions:

In defense of the em-dash I don't use AI in my writing. Ever. But the em-dash? Always.

Save the em-dash! open.substack.com/pub/mariakon...

A still from Boyz n the Hood featuring Regina King playing the role of Shalika.

Post a movie where you are from. (Rode the school bus with Regina King!)

Still on that journey…

Moe’s will get you every time!

Herakles the Archer cast, by Émile-Antoine Bourdelle, 1909, 📸 by @schmidtyphoto

An illustration of a pear tree with bright green leaves. There is a spider on a web between the branches and a caterpillar at the bottom, next to a fallen leaf.

Illustration of a branch from an apple tree with several ripe apples, lush green leaves, and a small owl perched on one of the branches. A butterfly flutters at the upper right corner.

An illustration of a small tree with bright red fruit. Perched on a branch is a small bird. There is a caterpillar on the stem.

A fruity find! 🍎

This practical guide to fruit varieties, now known as The Tradescant’s Orchard, was made for gardeners, not as fine art.

Later bound by Elias Ashmole, it joined Oxford with his collections and moved to the Bodleian in 1860.

Shelfmark: MS. Ashmole 1461

OpenAI Tries to Shift Responsibility to Users OpenAI is trying to shift the blame for bad legal and medical advice from its chatbot away from the company and onto users. We agree that no chatbot should be used for medical or legal advice.

Its near "super intelligence" "replacing professionals" in the PR rounds, then once everyone is convinced and uses them for legal and medical advice, following the deceptive marketing, they slip it in the terms of service that you shouldn't do that.

buttondown.com/maiht3k/arch...

„When donkeys fly!”

treasure chest, trombone, avalanche, bigfoot, bulging face, bust up cloud, orca

Happy Unicode 17.0 Day!

Includes seven new emoji that are rolling out on your phones and computers in the coming year:

treasure chest, trombone, avalanche, big foot, bulging face, fight cloud, orca

@jenniferdaniel.bsky.social has the lowdown:
jenniferdaniel.substack.com/p/tomorrows-...

Screen cap of the summary provided by the author in his article: „Technologies like LLMs have utility, but the absurd way they’ve been over-hyped, the fact that they’re being forced on everyone, and the insistence on ignoring the many valid critiques about them make it very difficult to focus on legitimate uses where they might have value.”

Handy, bolded summary of @anildash.com‘s "The Majority AI View” — but do read the whole blog post! It’s succinct, based on conversations with tech experts, and will restore your sanity.

The Majority AI View - Anil Dash A blog about making culture. Since 1999.

Okay, for the folks who asked: here's the majority AI view, writing up the reasonable, thoughtful view on AI that the vast majority of people in tech hold, that gets overshadowed by the bluster and hype of the tycoons trying to shill their nonsense. anildash.com/2025/10/17/t... Please share!

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