Judith Allen

So... the head of a department at one of the 'big' AI companies can't prevent this from happening with careful prompting...

... but regular folks are "risking being left behind" if they don't fully embrace that same technology now?

So much that’s good in this, but clipped out this in particular. Yes, yes, yes: it’s a losers’ ideology, demonstrably, historically so. It’s stupid and pointless and wearying, and, as he says, it ends up eating itself. It’s who it takes with it on the way down the shitter that’s the tragedy.

FFS, iPhone. When I type “well” I do NOT need or want you to immediately ‘correct’ it to “we’ll” the moment I tap the space bar.

It was the first word in the sentence. Even Word used to wait for a little more context before putting its blue squiggles all over the place.

Would you like to share your data with us?

No? Well how about these 846 vendors who say they have a legitimate interest in that data?

— every website.

1950s print ad. A toddler has a finger raised. Text reads “Just one question, Mom… Can you afford not to smoke Marlboro?”

Why do you continue to advertise for them?

This one’s been in use since at least the 1950s.

I love technology that’s useful or fun.

I have no desire to embrace a fad piece of code that’s unreliable bullshit.

I regularly see people wondering how it's possible that there are so many musicians and writers and film makers and artists from a tiny nation like Iceland.

And the answer is really simple: State funding for art education and artists. I literally get a salary from the government to write books.

If they’re stuck at THIS stage, the rest is going to be a nightmare for them.

They clearly aren’t going to know what they want the ai to spit back out at them. Or why what they’re getting isn’t working.

And for 30k total budget I don’t imagine anyone’s going to be inclined to tell them.

Labour leadership: “Yes, but without FPTP, we won’t have that slim chance of winning alone in 2029 and may end up having to form a coalition with… urgh… the Greens! Or the Lib Dems! Or maybe BOTH!”

Labour members/voters/CLPs: “We’re… OK with that, actually.”

Labour leadership: “QUIET, YOU!”

HI. We see you’ve previously disabled automatic updates, so we’ve gone and switched that back on for you.

Obviously that was a mistake. Who doesn’t want constant increasingly-vibe-coded updates for their essential hardware that’s definitely going to break some important (to you) software?

Congrats on the speedrun.

Whilst a full evaluation requires use stats - some people do drink many hot beverages throughout the day, and desiring a fresh mug untainted by the previous flavourings is understandable; I would still say that that is a lot of mugs.

Paging r/menwritingwomen

Every day Mamdani comes out and is like "hey guys, I turned off the orphan-crushing machine. Literally just had to flip a switch. Took less than 5 minutes."

After decades of dem leadership pissing and moaning and fundraising about how complex an issue it is and how difficult the process is etc

Dem leadership for generations: no you fool, you infant. It is a process. It takes time and political capital and expertise, it's-

Mamdani, dusting off his hands: fixed it

Dem leadership: what do you mean you fixed it

Mamdani: Just had to unplug it.

Every software company right now:

“We’re so excited for our upcoming AI features!”

“JUST RELEASED: v11, with our exciting new AI features”

“Check out our guides on how to use our exciting new AI features”

“Um… we see you haven’t used our new AI features yet?”

I never forgave them for that time c. 2018 they switched the default track select from single track to EVERY track - and took away the ability to select multiple individual tracks. Because holding two modifier keys wasn’t allowed?

They seem to neither know nor care how often people repeat tasks.

The Times, 30th January 2026: "All 2.4m of Britain’s creative workers are at risk — and we know why. A new report into the impact of AI on the creative sector makes for apocalyptic reading. The government must act now." Source: https://archive.is/hvRv2

"The UK creative industries — which contributed £125 billion to the economy in 2024 and supported 2.4 million jobs — are being destroyed by an AI sector that, whatever its long-term potential, contributed just £11 billion in the same year and supported only 85,000 jobs."

archive.is/hvRv2

This is from Darren Aronofsky’s AI content startup, and separate from it being narratively incoherent and rhythmically off, it is absolutely fucking bonkers how lifeless motion pictures are without actors OR even animators to breathe life into performances. These are corpses.

I agree that people should be given AI training.

They should be taught how to identify it, and what the risks (both direct and indirect) are. As part of a wider media literacy and scam awareness agenda.

Even on the pretense of “AI is the inevitable future”, this should come first.

YouTube video by ceilingsoldier Dime Bar Commercial [Armadillos] (Starring Harry Enfield) - 1995, UK

ARMADILLOS (Dime Bar).

youtu.be/bqeGxMgVOHI

A reminder to the news media: “conflicting accounts” is what you say BEFORE the incontrovertible video evidence appears. After that, your job is to ask why one side is lying, not to repeat the lie and pretend no one knows the truth.

(It relates to stuff that started to happen in the wake of/ because of my father’s death, which does lend weight… and a certain amount of sense-of-injustice in the lack of response… what I’m saying is, an email has now been sent)

Thanks, brain.

2am was definitely the best time to get really worked up about an email that was never replied to 18 months ago.

My laptop has fully stopped telling me when it’s going to spend 10 minutes updating when I want it to shut down.

I have taken to leaving 5% battery on it when I shut down, to discourage this.

Fully expecting mid-work forced updates in retaliation.

YouTube video by theMusicofmyLife1 DAVID BOWIE - ROCK'N'ROLL SUICIDE - LIVE TOKYO 1990

Favourite Bowie song, you say?

Today it’s this.

Over the years there have been many. Some are inextricably linked to certain times in my life, some have come into favour as my own experiences have shaped my life.

Tomorrow could be anything.

youtu.be/YnoyiVZUxUk?...

SFWA is trying to manufacture consent for chatbots again

you know what to do

www.sfwa.org/sfwa-survey-...

Surely the real Christmas miracle is that Netflix didn’t cancel a series before it got an ending?

“Home.” There really ought to be several different words for that, one for the place and one for the people, because after enough years a person’s relationship to their town becomes more and more like a marriage. Both are held together by stories of what we have in common, the little things no one else knows about, the private jokes that only we think are funny, and that very particular laugh that you only laugh for me. Falling in love with a place and falling in love with a person are related adventures. At first we run around street corners giggling and explore every inch of each other’s skin, over the years we get to know every cobblestone and strand of hair and snore, and the waters of time soften our passion into unfailing love, and in the end the eyes we wake up next to and the horizon outside our window are the same thing: home. So there ought to be two words for that, one for the home which can carry you through your darkest moments, and one for the home which binds you. Because sometimes we stay in towns and marriages simply because we would otherwise have no story. We have too much in common. We think no one else would be able to understand us.

Fredrik Backman - The Winners

After I heard Rose utter that comment, I made it a point each day to be extra kind and thoughtful around her. “How are you, Rose? So nice to see you today. What a treat it was to hear you play last night. Hope you have a great show tonight!” Knowing she dissed me only made me more attentive, as thoughtful as I could be, forcing her to interact with the fakest, nicest version of myself possible, as all the while I was thinking, Uh-oh! Look who’s here! Get ready to enjoy the idiot, lady, ’cause he’s comin’ to see ya! I made it my personal mission not to let a day go by that she could escape talking to me, my own mild version of Chinese water torture.

This clown had accidentally stumbled into the high life, courtesy of his talented older brother, Noel Gallagher. Noel was the one-man hit factory and true genius behind Oasis, writing all of their great, classic tunes. He had been friendly and respectful, treating both our band and crew with common courtesy. The limelight of popularity Liam basked in had evidently uncaged a monster, one without teeth or claws, but a small, irritating monster nonetheless. Success looked to have unleashed his inherent narcissism, his look-at-me-ism, his transparent deep-rooted insecurity. But what the fuck did I know? He had probably been a lowlife cocksucker his entire life. Maybe he’d been a bedwetter, shit his pants at school, or been cut from football squad as a youngster and never gotten over it. I couldn’t believe someone hadn’t beaten, knifed, or shot him to death by now, such was the reckless, witless, and despotic nature of his insufferable facade. Where I was from, a person wouldn’t last a week behaving as he did. One day, they’d simply disappear, their mangled body discovered years later, haphazardly tossed into a shallow grave somewhere deep in the woods.

Mark Lanegan - Sing Backwards and Weep