Evan Hensleigh @futuraprime.net · 04/10/2026Oh dear. I can only assume they were faced with an unfamiliar word (one wearing a little hat, too!) and panicked accordingly. 100
Evan Hensleigh @futuraprime.net · 04/10/2026Happily, I can report that this is incorrect: we do not say “fête” at all. 100
Reposted by Evan HensleighAlison Gopnik @alisongopnik.bsky.social · 01/10/2026This is an excellent article by Leif Wetherby - why AI is a cultural technology not a collection of human-like agents (citing our work on this). And why the anthropomorphism is a distraction from the very real risks and dangers and the way to deal with them. www.nytimes.com/2026/10/01/o...nytimes.comOpinion | Stop Talking About A.I. Like a Human (Gift Article)If we want to figure out the proper way to control A.I. models, we need to recognize what they really are. 620590
Evan Hensleigh @futuraprime.net · 30/09/2026Now I want to see the task force report on the possibility that all the poll respondents have been selected by Maxwell's Demon. 021
Evan Hensleigh @futuraprime.net · 29/09/2026A court case revealing some of these systems’ creators believed they were based on theft surely doesn’t help. You might well assume they mean to go on as they began. “LLMs are a product that destroys its supply chain”, one executive wrote. Perhaps they will also destroy their own customer base? 110
Evan Hensleigh @futuraprime.net · 29/09/2026OpenAI has the same problem (and it looks even worse, since unlike the Anthropic case they were clearly aware of competing work). Now that mathematicians know OpenAI wants to beat them, will they still trust Codex? 112
Evan Hensleigh @futuraprime.net · 29/09/2026It’s entirely possible this is just a coincidence. Biology is the same in California as it is in Denmark. Researchers can end up on parallel paths. But in setting up a biology lab, Anthropic has become a competitor to their own customers. That requires a lot of trust. 110
Reposted by Evan HensleighThe Economist @economist.com · 28/09/2026Donald Trump’s victory over Kamala Harris rested on a fragile coalition of voters dissatisfied with Democratic leadership. Our data analysis shows that coalition appears to be fracturing bit.lyDonald Trump’s disintegrating coalitionThe swing voters of 2024 have abandoned the president 4205
Evan Hensleigh @futuraprime.net · 27/09/2026Even for those of us fortunate enough to be in control of our own time and obligations, one might find that opportunities for growth or promotion depend on accepting more structure. 030
Evan Hensleigh @futuraprime.net · 27/09/2026It is similar to spending time in a foreign country: you realise that people (perhaps people you think of as your own forebears!) lived and thought about the world in totally different ways, and that those ways (for a time, imperfectly) worked, too. 010
Reposted by Evan HensleighRachel Cunliffe @rmcunliffe.bsky.social · 27/09/2026I’m a dual national. I’m not planing on committing any crimes anytime soon, let alone ones with a sentence of 5+ years, but if I ever did I’m not sure why my second passport should disqualify me from facing the same British justice system as everyone else and instead strip me of my citizenship 1430471
Reposted by Evan HensleighGretchen McCulloch @gretchenmcculloch.com · 20/09/2026You know who HAS read Ong on Orality? Ted Chiang, that's who I'll wait while you read this utterly devastating short storydevonzuegel.comThe Truth of Fact, the Truth of Feeling by Ted Chiang — Subterranean PressWhen my daughter Nicole was an infant, I read an essay suggesting that it might no longer be necessary to teach children how to read or write, because speech recognition and synthesis would soon rende... 614321
Reposted by Evan HensleighCharlie Warzel @cwarzel.bsky.social · 19/09/2026Watching the AI doomer panic the last two weeks and I'm struck by all the strident certainty on display about a subject with little transparency and not very much certainty. I wrote about treating AI as an unexceptional crisis and what that involves. (gift link) www.theatlantic.com/technology/2... 515428
Reposted by Evan HensleighDaniel Knowles @dlknowles.bsky.social · 19/09/2026I really hate the framing of these stories as "an AI agent broke out and hacked something." No, an inadequate sandbox meant that a powerful and unpredictable computer program was set loose on the open internet by the company that designed it. The agency isn't with the "AI agent", it's with the firm 431633459
Reposted by Evan HensleighThe Economist @economist.com · 17/09/2026The Mercator map has adorned school walls for generations, but it warps the size of landmasses. We explore how alternative maps try to remedy these distortionsbit.lyIn search of the least wrong mapThe UN wants to adopt a fairer way to trace borders 093
Reposted by Evan HensleighAliette de Bodard @aliettedebodard.com · 10/09/2026This is worth a read because it eviscerates the narration of "AI solved complex mathematical problems, we can now retire mathematicians" that's currently being pushed by the AI companies. (and in general please remain sceptical of any claims to independent thinking or intent by LLMs) 721495
Reposted by Evan HensleighAlex Hern @hern.bsky.social · 08/09/2026It's finally happened: the improved quality of machine transcription and the greater ability to extract value from unlabelled data means "your tech is eavesdropping on you for marketing purposes" has crossed from "false conspiracy theory" to "true and concerning" www.theverge.com/tech/991190/...theverge.comLG TVs caught spying even when offline or on standbyGamers Nexus comes for LG again. 14540411757
Evan Hensleigh @futuraprime.net · 02/09/2026This is odd, because I had this exact problem two weeks ago, a brief search told me the answer was QGIS, and I generated the PNG in about ten minutes. I imagine Simon had some particular need I didn’t, but I can’t imagine the tool was that quick to build. (Probably more fun though!) 010
Reposted by Evan Hensleigh"Online Rent-a-Sage" Bret Devereaux @bretdevereaux.bsky.social · 24/08/2026I want to expand on this in a short thread. Fascism sucks. It is also not going away: it is an effectively permanent part of modern representative politics because it is an effectively permanent part of human nature. We have to be prepared to push back against it, basically forever. 621828398
Reposted by Evan HensleighMarie Le Conte @youngvulgarian.marieleconte.com · 20/08/2026god if you'd told me that one day I'd witness people coming out of shops to take a proper look at the rain falling out of the sky, in ENGLAND 271221130
Evan Hensleigh @futuraprime.net · 19/08/2026I found their announcement post helpfully clear on how it works and how it affects actual text output: www.anthropic.com/news/claude-... I wonder if writers used to selecting each word carefully find LLMs’ scattershot, “good enough” approach hard to really internalise?anthropic.com 000
Reposted by Evan HensleighAda Palmer @adapalmer.bsky.social · 18/08/2026In the Renaissance people theorized, since the Aeneid is great, if you wrote poems made only of words & phrases from the Aeneid rearranged they should be great too, since a great source regurgitated should yield greatness. They produced NOTHING we still read. Thinking about that a lot lately. 542970825
Reposted by Evan HensleighThe Economist @economist.com · 17/08/2026The successful candidate will work across the full range of our social platforms plus alerts, newsletters and emerging digital platforms. They will be expected to organise, mentor and inspire our award-winning team. Interested? Apply by August 23rdbit.lyThe Economist is hiring a Deputy Head of Social MediaWe are offering a permanent contract in London to work across social media plus notifications, newsletters and emerging digital platforms 147
Reposted by Evan HensleighDr. Black's Medieval Remedies @winstonblack.bsky.social · 14/08/2026My god, what an image. Dead kings in a plastic box, carried off as the world burns. 11287922729
Reposted by Evan HensleighLauren Leek @laurenleek.eu · 10/08/2026We have more data about ourselves than ever. So why is everything converging on the same? In my new post I use data on high streets, Billboard hits, a million films and my own AI personas to expose the algorithms behind the sameness and how to regulate them. laurenleek.substack.com/p/temperatur...laurenleek.substack.comTemperature Zero for Culture: Why Everything Is Starting to Look the SameWhat 640 London shopping streets, 4,000 Billboard hits, a million films and synthetic AI personas tell us about why everything is flattening into sameness and how to regulate the algorithms behind it. 36120
Evan Hensleigh @futuraprime.net · 12/08/2026This is a clear sign the lunatics are running the asylum. 000
Reposted by Evan Hensleighryan cooper @ryanlcooper.com · 02/08/2026this owns www.inverse.com/input/cultur...inverse.comThe adorable love story behind Wikipedia’s 'high five' photosNearly 14 years later, the tale of this iconic couple can finally be told. 453087784
Evan Hensleigh @futuraprime.net · 31/07/2026Usually when you try to sell one of these it comes to naut. 010
Evan Hensleigh @futuraprime.net · 25/07/2026I’ve never quite decided if the hyperbolic discussion around AI is marketing or, as this argues, Pygmalion-like affection. But it does shape the discussion around the wrong questions. giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...giftarticle.ft.comWhy this philosopher turned down AnthropicThe AI industry is courting the humanities — but it is asking the wrong questions 020
Reposted by Evan HensleighThe Economist @economist.com · 25/07/2026For most of the past 30 years, the person in charge of The Economist’s covers has been Graeme James. We remember our dear friend and colleaguebit.lyThe Economist’s cover designer, Graeme James, has died, aged 65His more than 2,500 covers cleverly captured, mocked and ridiculed the world 410224
Evan Hensleigh @futuraprime.net · 23/07/2026FWIW, this one has bugged me for decades. “Orientate” is just weird. Apparently it’s a 19th century innovation: to have an orientation, things must be “orientated”, not “oriented”. Americans (one of my professors at uni excepted) never fell for this. www.etymonline.com/word/orientateetymonline.comOrientate - Etymology, Origin & Meaning"to turn or cause to turn toward the east," a back-formation from orientation.… See origin and meaning of orientate. 120
Evan Hensleigh @futuraprime.net · 22/07/2026It's a fun time to learn that all security was actually security through obscurity. openai.com/index/huggin...openai.comOpenAI and Hugging Face partner to address security incident during model evaluationOpenAI and Hugging Face share early findings from a security incident during AI model evaluation, highlighting advanced cyber capabilities and lessons for defenders. 121
Evan Hensleigh @futuraprime.net · 16/07/2026The Guardian finally ran out of metaphors today. 💔💔💔💔💔💔💔 If you have any spare metaphors, please consider donating. 100
Evan Hensleigh @futuraprime.net · 06/07/2026Why a bar chart? Why a chart at all? This could have been a table. 010
Evan Hensleigh @futuraprime.net · 01/07/2026It is really hard! I’m not sure I have any advice but patience. (It does get easier as they get older!) 110
Reposted by Evan HensleighTom Cox @dj-acid-reflux.bsky.social · 28/06/2026I've decided to compile a definitive thread of photos of the best sheep I've photographed during my walks in the countryside, together with supporting biographical information. I will put the vital story associated with each sheep in the alt text, since some of it is a little long to fit in a post. 411741410
Reposted by Evan HensleighPolly Mackenzie @pollymackenzie.bsky.social · 21/06/2026My nine year old asked for a Rosetta Stone cake for his birthday 602218132562
Evan Hensleigh @futuraprime.net · 06/06/2026Nor are they anywhere near the finals of anything. (Though I supposed they did narrowly miss out on the championship.) 010
Reposted by Evan HensleighPaul Rissen @r4isstatic.com · 05/06/2026100% this! Was just having this conversation with a colleague yesterday - studying the process of 'doing history' gives you invaluable skills to be able to question the provenance of sources and understand perspectives. More, please :) 011
Reposted by Evan HensleighJackson O'Lantern-Brien @sprobeforebros.bsky.social · 31/05/2026GREG DAVIES: seems like a kind of a shit task. Everyone just seems like they're going home normally. ALEX HORNE: well before you say that let's have a look at how Odysseus did. cut to panel of AJAX, MENELAUS, AGAMEMNON, and DIOMEDES who are all staring at ODYSSEUS with his head in his hands 4360712055
Reposted by Evan HensleighArmin Ronacher @mitsuhiko.at · 24/05/2026Has been a while since I wrote about agentic engineering, so this time around some learnings of maintaining Pi as a junior maintainer to @mariozechner.at lucumr.pocoo.org/2026/5/24/pi...lucumr.pocoo.orgBuilding Pi With PiLearnings from post-AI Open Source and how we’re approaching this so far. 312717
Evan Hensleigh @futuraprime.net · 24/05/2026Also, Michigan vs Detroit (like most of these, I expect) is so one-sided… 0330
Evan Hensleigh @futuraprime.net · 24/05/2026I think you’re probably right, but the other one that comes to mind (NYC aside) is Portland, Oregon. I gather most of the rest of the state hopes for Portland to slide into the sea. 3850
Reposted by Evan HensleighAlex Elizabeth Byrne McMillan @undeniablyalex.bsky.social · 23/05/2026YOU’RE LISTENING TO SISYPHUS FM, THE HOME OF NON-STOP ROCK 6085400716195
Evan Hensleigh @futuraprime.net · 18/05/2026The Venetians had this figured this out eight hundred years ago! (I mean it was galleys. “The Chevy Suburban of the 12th century”, as no one calls them. Basically the same thing but no OnStar.) 010