Rob Engelsman

i see you're doing something online that you have effortlessly done 100,000 times. would you like to use this ai tool? would you like to use this ai tool? would you like to use this ai tool? would you like to use this ai tool? would you like to use this ai tool? would you like to use this ai tool? w

In June, a Democratic state rep in Minnesota was murdered, and a state senator was shot.

And a couple of days later, Trump said he wouldn't phone Gov. Walz, calling him "whacked out" and "a mess"

Hello it’s me Sam Altman I have a zillion dollar idea it’s a chat bot that tells teenagers to kill themselves and you can generate csam with it and it poisons the air and water and it’s wrong most of the time and we’re going to put it in your refrigerator and stuff 👍 I need more money for this btw

Why should I write better when a machine can do it for me? Because actually no one can do it for you, because your voice is unique among all the people on earth. Siri never petted a horse's neck. Alexa has never been ghosted by the captain of the football team. But you have lived, your heart is beating, you have suffered, and you have something important to say. It's a human's job, to use words, and whatever job you give to a machine, that part of your brain goes dark. Maybe it's worth it when it comes to remembering phone numbers and directions, but when that part of your brain that uses words goes dark, that's a vast area that's very close to your soul. Don't let some internet platform convince you that what you have to say and create isn't worthwhile. Words are the echo of your soul. Honing that echo matters.

this iconic advertising copywriter named Kathy Hepinstall Parks died over the weekend and I wanted to share something from her website I thought Bluesky would like

We need to build some real social stigma around being afraid of cities. You don't have to like them or live there, but a politics built this strongly around watching TV and going "ewww" is embarrassing, and people should be embarrassed by it. It's like "fear of werewolves" being your top issue.

usually if you ask experts why an empire fell they’ll say it’s nuanced and multifaceted, so i think it’s kind of cool that with America future historians will get to just say like “oh they took the idiot train to moronsville”

Chat asking GPT-5 to count the number of times the letter “b” appears in “blueberry”

Chat asking GPT-5 to count the number of times the letter “b” appears in “blueberry”

Chat asking GPT-5 to count the number of times the letter “b” appears in “blueberry”

Chat asking GPT-5 to count the number of times the letter “b” appears in “blueberry”

"GPT-5 is the first time that it really feels like talking to an expert in any topic, like a PhD-level expert."

Guys is it biased to favor a shared sense of objective reality

Sad to think that on that fateful night, despite the urgent call, it is highly unlikely that everybody wanged chung

If random men in masks claiming to be ICE agents try to grab me, and they’re *not* really ICE, I have the legal right to defend myself against them, yes? And if they are ICE, I don’t?

So how am I supposed to tell the difference? I’m supposed to give my masked kidnappers the benefit of the doubt??

There is one place, however, where Musk, with the help of his minions, achieved his goals. He did indeed shred U.S.A.I.D. Though a rump operation is now operating inside the State Department, the administration says that it has terminated more than 80 percent of U.S.A.I.D. grants. Brooke Nichols, an associate professor of global health at Boston University, has estimated that these cuts have already resulted in about 300,000 deaths, most of them of children, and will most likely lead to significantly more by the end of the year. That is what Musk’s foray into politics accomplished.

Musk should be asked about this in every interview he does now and forever. To ignore it is a dereliction of duty.

www.nytimes.com/2025/05/30/o...

COYS

Whatever impostor syndrome you may have once had, dispose of it fucking immediately. If these people run the country, you deserve that promotion, you can run for city council, you can start that business. If this is the baseline, shit, you can do surgery drunk in an alley and you will do less harm.

What The Hell Happened To 'Holey Moley’? the show has been in TV limbo for three years and it is tearing me apart

we are now entering our third straight summer without Holey Moley

there has still been no official cancellation or renewal

this is tearing me apart

briancgrubb.substack.com/p/what-the-h...

there are not a lot of songs about wonderwalls these days

Final_Version_of_Tarrifs_actualFINALcopy_version7_USETHISONE.docx

holy shit Edmundo Sosa.

If you value The Ithacan and/or student media in general, please consider supporting our squad in the College Media Madness fundraising competition collegemediamadness.com

Done!

YouTube video by Conan O'Brien Excerpt from Conan O'Brien's Mark Twain Prize Acceptance Speech

very good www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yr8q...

Judged some advertising awards today and so many campaigns have "estimated impressions" in the billions and no data about actual business results.

Almost time for weekend screens

In a post-mortem mode. Here's a few factoids you probably didn't know about 18F and the cost-recovery biz model and the perils surrounding it:

18F wasn't allowed to direct reach out directly, agencies had to find us first.

Every deal req. an inter-agency agreement which could take MONTHS to sign

18F, a digital services unit inside the General Services Administration, has been completely laid off, according to an email I’ve seen. The email says that 18F was deemed “non-critical” and the decision was made with the “explicit” direction of the administration and GSA leadership.

NNSA: “Come back!” 🇺🇸
FDA: “Come back!” 🇺🇸
USDA: “Come back!” 🇺🇸

www.politico.com/news/2025/02...

Be Kind.
Be Selfless.
Be Better.
Go Birds.

"Super Bowl Champions" on the video ring in green and white with an Eagles logo in the middle filmed through the falling green and white confetti

🦅

big lesson from this game is that the best way to win a super bowl is to build the best DL, build the best OL, have two awesome WRs, fix your bad secondary in one draft, have the best RB, have an unstoppable play in short yardage, and also have jalen hurts, among many other things. food for thought

SUPER BOWL CHAMPIONS!
THIS ONE’S FOR YOU PHILLY!