Fabrizio Guido

Pixies formed 40 years ago this month when Kim Deal answered Black Francis’ ad in ‘The Boston Phoenix.’ She arrived at the audition without a bass since she’d never played one before. Guitarist Joey Santiago picked “pixies” from a dictionary, suggesting Pixies In Panoply as their name. #tbt

Summing up 2025 part 2

Summing up 2025 part 1

Does anyone else feel like there's a deep level on which they simply don't *get* nationalism? Like whenever I hear nationalist arguments or complaints, I keep waiting for the part where they explain why whatever they're talking about is supposed to be a bad (or good) thing, and...

One way to understand Isaac Newton is that numerologists had been trying to predict the natural world for thousands of years, and he was the first to get it right.

It's insane how old I am. This can't be right. I remember being a child. I remember my first day of school.

YouTube video by Hank Green The Hardest Problem Evolution Ever Solved

Youtube guy posts good content youtu.be/On2V_L9jwS4?...

Kind of interesting: I thought the thing where the word "capitalism" is so vague it can mean anything from consumerism cronyism to the right to own private property was relatively recent, but here's Chesterton complaining about it in 1927

The subcategorization/tropefication of popular fiction has been very bad in general, both for authors and readers.

4-panel vertical comic. (1) 100 Years Ago [two people standing next to bicycle with small car nearby] PERSON 1: It’s too dangerous riding a bike with these cars around. I should get a car, too. (2) 50 Years Ago [two people between smaller car and bigger car] PERSON 2 with short hair: Small cars are less safe in collisions with larger vehicles, so I should get a bigger one. (3) Today [two people between big car and even bigger car] PERSON 1: Everyone has huge SUVs now. If I don’t get the biggest one, I’m putting my family at risk. (4) Soon [two people next to large armored car with spiked clubs attached] PERSON 2: If I don’t install more whirling spike clubs, I’ll be destroyed by all the other drivers who...

Car Size

xkcd.com/3167/

This is sort of a heartening result: It suggests a lot of people we tend to dismiss as hopelessly beyond reasoning with aren’t necessarily; it just takes an inhuman tolerance for politely engaging with nonsense.

worth applying to politics as well. when you're criticizing an action people take "taking the better action next time" is only one of the alternatives people will consider, and worth remembering that "not bothering at all" is another.

C.S. Lewis responding to a letter from an American schoolgirl asking him for some writing advice.

(Worth reading? ✅️)

Jomba Jomba de Mahotella Queens en Apple Music Canción · 2025 · Duración 4:42

More fun, lively stuff: music.apple.com/uy/album/jom...

If you die at Oktoberfest you die in real life.

YouTube video by Big Thief Big Thief - Happy With You (Official Lyric Video)

Didn't click immediately, but it's pretty much as good as anything they've ever done: youtu.be/AxaN-jFAtIw?...

YouTube video by JensLekmanVEVO Jens Lekman - Candy From A Stranger (Official Video)

Also good, as usual: youtu.be/xCAAPCqXB5g?...

YouTube video by GEESE - Topic Taxes

Another good one, and I really like this band: youtu.be/fV5BBjOUw_c?...

One of the worst features of social media is that it tends to collapse people's sense of ethico-political wrongness into their sense of socio-aesthetic cringe. This must be resisted at all costs.

The main goal for most influencers now is for you to buy into the idea that if you buy whatever they're selling, you too will become an influencer. It's much easier than ever having to sell anything of value.

YouTube video by SabrinaCarpenterVEVO Sabrina Carpenter - Manchild (Official Video)

Now, the best US #1 in quite a while: youtu.be/aSugSGCC12I?...

The press, in general, publicizes what the director says he's doing, and afterward the reviewers tend to review his intentions rather than what's on the screen. (1994)

Literally begging you to post about Just Some Stuff. We will see the news I absolutely promise. Twenty people will repost the same exact thing about the news. Only you can post about a turtle you saw

Tricky Questions Allo Darlin' · Tricky Questions · Song · 2025

Once more: open.spotify.com/track/58rAHT...

I think in part the higher education funding crisis and the LLM-teaching crisis actually strike at the same problem, which is that education doesn't work without a broad, society-wide sense that the *actual content* of education - not the credential - is valuable.

The Van Pelt Parties Patterson Hood, Wednesday · Exploding Trees & Airplane Screams · Canción · 2025

Yet again: open.spotify.com/intl-es/trac...

Once they find and patch the mistaken line of code "𝚒𝚏(𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚍() < 𝟶.𝟹) { 𝙷𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚞𝚌𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚎() }" in a common library used by all LLMs, the AI revolution will go through the roof.

Nostalgia's Lie

Another one: open.spotify.com/track/10MJWo...

Two Models for Agentic AI | by Daron Acemoglu - Project Syndicate Daron Acemoglu sees a technological crossroads ahead – and argues that one path should not be taken.

Much of what humans do is not about computation or collecting inputs to make optimal decisions; rather, it is about discovery – an experience that will become increasingly rare if all decisions are delegated to an AI agent, notes @dacemoglumit.bsky.social.

The Giver Chappell Roan · The Giver · Song · 2025

Anyway, here a good 2025 song:
open.spotify.com/track/5xHgo5...