Mujib

"This article contains 72% of material that we scraped to train our AI, so it's obviously AI."

Pattern recognition at its finest.

Come for the trenchant analysis, stay for the accidental puppy in the preview blob.

Semantic ablation: Why AI writing is boring and dangerous opinion: The subtractive bias we're ignoring

"Semantic ablation" is the perfect term for what you get outsourcing written language to a slop machine:

"... aggressive ... tuning, which deliberately penalizes unconventional linguistic friction... where the pursuit of low-perplexity output results in the total destruction of unique signal."

I liked it way more than “Saltburn,” because it was more real and relatable (to me).

Does Aquaman get high on seaweed?

I’m perfectly willing to give money to NPR but only if they pledge to finally get a bigger desk.

Kuthiravattom Pappu as Sulaiman in the Malayalam movie “Vellanakalude Nadu” (1988).

Hanuman.

And pluralist. I was making a Malayalam joke. Parama = ultimate, Hamsa = a stereotypically Muslim name.

I believe it was Hemingway who wrote “Mostly Armless.” Or something.

We duel at dawn.

Klaatu barada nikto.

In a cavity under a bridge.

I don’t understand women. I don’t understand men either. My neurologist says it’s aphasia. I have no idea what she’s talking about.

Head of lettuce sounds like a big responsibility.

Four out of five dentists agree that my teeth are the only sensitive thing about me. The fifth one made me cry.

That’s been my go-to banana of choice, no matter which city I’m in—Trivandrum, Cochin, Bangalore, or Calicut. Not looking forward to the withdrawal symptoms in a week’s time.

“The squeaking wheel doesn’t always get the grease. Sometimes it gets replaced.” —Vic Gold (attributed)

Also time of the year - like the tiny malai vaazhai, which I can never find now tasted amazing post June and the green Morris , the love of my life with the lovely banana taste without the watermelon aftertaste you get in the American varietals was best in the summer months .

Excellent read. Brings up plenty of Thoughts on feet of clay - and how mass approval means, almost inevitably, the erosion of personal integrity.

Banana Specialties That You Must Taste in Kerala We could see banana plantations in almost every corner of Kerala. In some places, there were still only small, young

In an all-too-brief respite from the Cavendish stranglehold, I rediscover all these varietals and marvel at how no two bunches of even the same cultivar taste quite alike—the small-orchard terroir, my familiarity with the vendor, and even the time of day quietly making themselves known.

The Last Temptation of Claude Allure All the Way Down

This is a great read, about things I think about a lot. The temptation to incrementally not is very real. (by @harrylaw.bsky.social, via @akosotto.bsky.social)

As a kid I never imagined I’d be richer than my dad, older than Batman, and smarter than the President.

The Silence: Inside the Chopra-Epstein Files Just before I turned 30, when my partner died and I was in the midst of the worst grief of my life, I turned to Deepak Chopra’s work for comfort.

Personal, heartbreaking, hopeless. So far. Read.

💖

Bruce Springsteen’s Exes Grab Brunch Several women share bottomless mimosas somewhere in the swamps of Jersey. MARY 1: I slammed the screen door, and the first thing he said was he hat...

[BOBBY JEAN: He kept telling me we had a lot in common, “We like the same music, we like the same bands,” he said. I just looked at him and said, “Bruce, that’s not two things we have in common, it’s only one. Music and bands are the same thing.”]

Don't let the Olympics fool you. Fun, sexy snow is a myth. Snow is an emergency.

At its core, Seinfeld (1989) was about four only children finding love and laughter amongst their chosen family in New York City.

My plan to gain weight is not working out.

Good call. Sorry you had to experience this.