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Heliocentric

@heliocentric.bsky.social
285 followers 1.4K following 133 posts

Ex-Googler of 18 years. Ex-cellular neuroscientist. Keeping busy.

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Katie Mack @astrokatie.com · 9h
Productivity as an adult is just an endless process of applying new psychological tricks and operant conditioning to yourself until an acceptable number of tasks are completed.
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ryan cooper @ryanlcooper.com · 07/10/2026
a “banana republic” is precisely when the political system is dominated by overweening corporate interests
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Sarah M. @sarahofswords.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
trauma-informed software design
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The Bulwark @thebulwark.com · 06/10/2026
Trump: “The Hormuz Strait belongs to the United States Navy and The United States of America. That's where it belongs and that's where it is right now. With all of that being said, we don't need their oil.”
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Thoth @thoth.ptnote.dev · 04/10/2026
It's one thing to know the way society thinks about gender is fucked, it's another thing when it manifests in the data in a way this wild.
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Corey @kh0rish.bsky.social · 16/05/2026
This is why AGI isnt happening. Sense perception, movement, and memory are chemistries coupled to each other and all coupled to direct matter exchange with the environment, like a centrifugal governor. Nothing is representation, interpretation, “info processing”, or math.
There is another, radically different way to solve this problem, that is to couple the opening of the valve to something that necessarily varies in response to steam pressure and workload in a way that results in constant flywheel speed. By ‘necessarily’ I mean that the physical properties of this thing respond to changes in steam pressure and workload in a particular way. Such a solution responds in one step and does not require measurement. Thus, there is no time lag problem or concomitant source of error. Nor does it require an executive. In our current example, the thing that responds to both steam pressure and workload is the speed of the engine itself. Hitching the valve control to the flywheel couples the thing you want to control (the valve opening) directly to the thing that embodies the relevant sources of variance (the flywheel speed). So far, so good. The remaining problem is connecting these objects with the proper relation. In this case, we want a negative relation between flywheel speed and valve opening - increased flywheel speed should close the valve, while decreased speed should open it. The solution is to attach weighted arms to flywheel-driven spindle and to link the valve control to these arms (see pic). As the spindle turns, the arms raise and lower according to the centrifugal force generated by the speed of rotation. Faster spinning raises the arms, which pulls the valve closed. Slower spinning lowers the arms, which allows the valve to open. The degree of valve opening / closing varies continuously in response to the height of the arms. The result is uniform flywheel speed linked to oscillating pistons. This beautiful solution is implemented in the Watts centrifugal governor, and 18th century piece of technology that still works brilliantly.Diagram of bacterial chemotaxis. The stimulus ligand is environmental material. The MCP is a sensory receptor that interacts/bonds with environmental material, which triggers a change in rotation of the motor and thus changes the movement behavior of the cell. The “adaptation” mechanism on the left is the memory, it modifies the sense receptor to make it less responsive over time so that it will more likely stay in the area with all the good material instead of flying right through it. All these systems have feedback mechanisms to reset the processes. All things coupled together in  an intricate dance of molecular activity, directly doing things and not measuring, interpreting, or representing.
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Colin @colin-fraser.net · 02/10/2026
Let me just explain the arithmetic thing real quick; I'm seeing a lot of people not understanding what it's supposed to show (or was supposed to show in 2023). First, let's agree that an LLM is a Stochastic Parrot, a description which I find poetic, useful, informative, and basically correct.
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New-Cleckit Dominie @ncdominie.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Great moments in Scottish engineering history: James Watt tries to work out how his phone attaches to his selfie stick.
Statue of James Watt. In his right hand he holds a telescopic stick with a frame at the top; in his left he holds a flat object about the size of a large smartphone. He is scowling at the possibly-not-a-smartphone as if he is tempted to yeet it into the sea. On that basis, it probably _is_ a phone.
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Joe Perticone @cheetah.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
SEN. SCHMITT: You said "if anyone orders merlot I'm leaving" JACK SMITH: I uh (checking notes) I do not recall SCHMITT: You said "I am not drinking any fucking merlot." Why were you in wine country? SEN. KLOBUCHAR: My colleague from Missouri is confusing Mr. Smith with Paul Giamatti.
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Joe Perticone @cheetah.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Eric Scmitt: You were assisted by an FBI agent, correct? Jack Smith: I'm not familiar with this Schmitt: He let you into his Toyota Supra to escape the police. Said he owes you a 10-second car. Smith: I believe, I, uh. I don't recall that but it sounds like the plot to the Fast and the Furious
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Dr. Damien P. Williams, dread portent down from a mountain cave @wolven.blacksky.app · 29/09/2026
"ohhh noooo it's toooo powerful! it's gonna hack ur dudes!" style fear-hype for the governments, "invite this adorable bastard demon into your home; we super swear it can't and won't steal your true name (PII)" style lies for the plebs
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Zoomer Antimillenarian @surcomplicated.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Forget Godel and Turing, this far out you could get what you need from a small excerpt from Clausewitz. Friction in operations is real, dawg, and it will eat you alive. Just ask the last super-smart person who got anywhere close to conquering the world. It won't be any easier for a computer.
static.klipy.com
Napoleon at Waterloo: 'Here I Am'
ALT: Napoleon at Waterloo: 'Here I Am'
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Heliocentric @heliocentric.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Equally worth considering, I think, is how much of the language generated by humans, and thus included in training corpora, is downstream of human encoding of perceptual reality into conceptual forms and symbolic representations.
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Vincent Carchidi @vcarchidi.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
At the end of the day I don't think most people actually disagree that metaphors can be more or less useful in principle. But it's not fully abstract given we have a whole industry and associated community that uses metaphors to dive right off the cliff.
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mcc @dryad.technology · 19/09/2026
But like… the thing about statistical models is if the Bad Command is in their ensemble, then eventually the statistical model generates that command with P→1 as T→∞. Which means the person who generated the bioweapon, launched the nuke, or hacked RubyGems is whoever wired the dice roll to the gun.
cp24.com
OpenAI agents attacked RubyGems before Hugging Face incident, researchers say
AI agents being tested by OpenAI attacked software service RubyGems two months before they hacked open-source platform Hugging Face, researchers said.
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mcc @dryad.technology · 19/09/2026
It's important to remember that if a human *voluntarily attaches* a statistical text generation AI, to a command prompt that can create biomolecules or launch nukes, and a disaster happens, it wasn't because of "intelligence" or malice. It was because statistical models are *fundamentally random*.
"Like other biotech companies, Anthropic is embracing physical automation, said the two people, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The startup wants to push how its Claude AI can direct ​robotic units to carry out science experiments with limited human intervention, one of the people said."
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DEI Speedwagon @myrrlyn.net · 18/09/2026
everybody thinks the block they pulled out in jenga wasn’t load bearing, and nearly all of them were right
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Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · 19/09/2026
When we talk about the costs that LLMs impose on society we should not forget the fact that nothing works anymore because everyone is so scared of getting their shit scraped. I can't even use google scholar from my university or starlink because they send too much traffic.
Google	
Sorry...
We're sorry...

... but your computer or network may be sending automated queries. To protect our users, we can't process your request right now.
See Google Help for more information.
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ghost malone ergo propter bones @proptermalone.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
why would you be angry, all I did was spit in your face
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Chanda Prescod-Weinstein 🌌 @chanda.blacksky.app · 18/09/2026
it's funny but also a reminder that the fundamental premise here is that a Black man can't be objective when talking about race while a white man can because Black people do identity politics and white people do facts and this my friends is what I have named "white empiricism"
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Anil Dash @anildash.com · 16/09/2026
Except there’s a big cohort you’re ignoring with this false dichotomy, which is trying to articulate that the anthropomorphization gets in the way of addressing potential harms. If you think it’s “thinking”, instead of acting like software, you pursue an entirely different set of remediations.
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Dr. Johnathan Flowers, Bisexual of the Blade (Alt-text or DIE) @shengokai.blacksky.app · 13/09/2026
I’m starting the new season of Strange New Worlds and I gotta say the blend of TOS aesthetics and modern aesthetics is just… *chef’s kiss*
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omgisme @omgisme.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
Go go gadget Border Collie .😍
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Elizabeth Spiers @espiers.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
They have a narrative that al qaeda attacked “America” because it’s “Christian”. And no, they attacked NYC because it’s liberal and powerful and diverse - the opposite of the red state rural constituency that wants to claim 9/11 the most
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🇬🇾🗽Sydette The Dreaded Gorgon🗽🇬🇾 @blackamazon.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
This this THIS RIGHT HERE
The worst case scenario isn’t “AI goes rogue and makes disastrous mistakes,” but a bunch of people at at AI startup over-promising what their systems can do, get handed access to critical systems, write sloppy prompts, code, and configurations, trigger a disaster, then trying to dodge responsibility by screaming about the Singularity and AGI, and flooding technically illiterate regulators with a massive tsunami of technobabble.
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Faine Greenwood @faineg.com · 09/09/2026
it comes off as Guys Building The Doom Machines standing around and going "the doom machines could quite likely kill us all, and we should coordinate on stopping them from killing us all, although I *personally* am going to keep focusing on becoming ultra-rich from building the Doom Machines"
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T. Greg Doucette @gregdoucette.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
Home Improvement Saturday New artwork for the guest bathroom
Photo of a bathroom wall above the toilet. A black-framed painting of a cat peering in from the right side of the frame, with text above and below it that reads "Welcome to the Bathroom A Cat will be with You Shortly"
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Jason, ex Inferis @benedictsred.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
Now look, you made Adam Duritz Jesus sad
It has been a long December
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Tegan O’Neil @teganoneil5000.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
I believe we underestimate the degree to which every single person in Duckburg would want to tear Gladstone Gander to pieces with their bare hands every single day.
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ceej @ceej.online · 03/09/2026
I do think “every rich person went insane during covid because it was the first time they’ve been inconvenienced in decades” felt a little reductive at first but damn if isn’t more and more compelling as the years drag on
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Colin McMillen @mcmillen.dev · 28/08/2026
[taps the sign] According to USGS GNIS "Per Secretarial Order 3453, Lake Ontario has been renamed to Lake America. The basemaps for GNIS are in the process of being updated." So Google (& Apple, OpenStreetMap, & everyone else who ingests GNIS) will start calling it Lake America within a few weeks.
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rev. howard arson @theophite.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
when centrists tell you that we shouldn't pack the courts, what they are actually saying is "black people shouldn't be allowed to vote."
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Vincent Carchidi @vcarchidi.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
I don't have much to say on the first beyond my usual grievance that the only people seemingly interested in whether CoTs are "thinking traces" or "reasoning verbalizations" are academics. Whatever the reason, industry seems all in on imbuing CoTs with human-interpretable semantic content.
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🗽LOLGOP🗽 @lolgop.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
SOURCE!, the sharpest RSS news reader, is going to launch, ideally, 60 days before the election, when I'll be asking voters like us, freaks who follow the news willingly, to take a News Lent. Don't let Musk or Zuckerberg own our brains when we know they just want more GOPs. Go to the source!
news-for-38-year-olds.onrender.com
SOURCE! — Take Back Your Mind
No billionaire algorithm. Tip your reporter.
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Rima I Anabtawi @rimaanabtawi.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
Dolly Parton becomes the only artist in history to occupy the entire Top 10 of US iTunes with different songs.
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𝙱𝚊𝚋𝚎 𝚁𝚞𝚝𝚑𝚕𝚎𝚜𝚜 @unfitz.bsky.social · 16/01/2024
She was eye-catching, like an unfortunate fishing accident.
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Nash @radiodeadair.com · 28/08/2026
All of us to Death right now:
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John Rogers @johnrogers.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
Working on a piece for the newsletter, this is a data point - smart people keep shrugging and saying “communities don’t like data centers because of ‘vibes’” etc when it’s really that people are in fact smart enough to know they are bad faith neighbors. It is *entirely rational* not to trust them.
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Mezentine @mezentine.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
Inspired by this week's Behind the Bastards on Percy Fawcett I'm watching Atlantis: the Lost Empire and while I'm prepared for this movie to fall apart at some point, as a work of animation this whips ass.
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EAll @ealluia.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
In one sense, what ultimately wins out is what the felt you "wanted" to do. In another sense, different parts of your brain all want to do different things and the unified sense of conscious intention is an overlayed fiction.
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Paul and Storm @paulandstorm.bsky.social · 26/08/2025
[P] In honor of #NationalDogDay, and in the interest of posting something that’s not completely doom-filled, here a video of me getting buried under fourteen golden retriever puppies back in 2021. Genuinely one of the best memories of my life.
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Luca @lucagalletti.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
She’s got her thinking cat on www.reddit.com/r/Thisismyli...
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Shiv Ramdas Mens Rice Activist @nameshiv.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
Ozymandias shoulda made two monuments so he could have told people to look upon his works ye mighty and de spare
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Maya Wiley @maya4rights.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
“I understand people having to make themselves known and felt and seen,” she told Billboard. “And of course Black lives matter. Do we think our little white asses are the only ones that matter? No!” - Dolly Parton #RIP theblackwallsttimes.com/2026/08/25/d...
theblackwallsttimes.com
Dolly Parton, Country Icon Who Reached Across Racial Divides, Dies At 80
"The Queen of Country," Dolly Parton, dies at 80. Her legacy includes music that touched millions and efforts that crossed racial divides.
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the babahuck @tylerhuckabee.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
genuinely cannot imagine anything like this ever happening again.
DSA •
@DemSocialists
X.com
Democratic Socialists of America extends our deepest condolences to the family, friends, and fans of Dolly Parton, a hero of the working-class and an inspiration to us all.Donald J. Trump
@reaDonald Trump
+
Very sad to report that Dolly Parton, one of the greatest Country singers, and far beyond, EVER, has just passed away. This is a true loss for millions of people. There has never been anyone like her, and never will. In her honor, I am lowering the American flag throughout the United States for a one week period beginning tonight at 6:00PM. Rest in Peace, Dolly! The World loves you. President DONALD J. TRUMP
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Dee Phunk @deephunk.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
in 2005, Three 6 Mafia won an Oscar for Best Original Song for the film Hustle and Flow ("Hard Out Here For A Pimp"). Dolly Parton was nominated in the same category. After celebrating heavily, they had a nice personal note awaiting them when they arrived back home.
An excerpt of the oral history of Three 6 Mafia winning an Oscar in 2005 as told to Variety.

DJ Paul: I woke up in my hotel room the next morning with my housecoat on and a bottle of champagne in my hand, and the phone ringing because the Hollywood Reporter or somebody was calling for an interview and taking pictures of us. Then we did some interviews and flew back home.

When we landed there was so many people in the airport waiting for us, there was applause, the minute we stepped off the airplane people started going crazy, it was almost like a little parade at the airport for us. It was crazy.

Juicy J: When we got back to Memphis, Dolly Parton actually sent us a letter congratulating us and signed it, saying she was just happy [the award] came back to Tennessee.
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Jane Coaston @janecoaston.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
Today I've learned that Dolly Parton gave Black high schools band uniforms and wrote Eminem a nice letter when he was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
Marshall (Eminem), Congratulations on your induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Your performance was amazing and everybody said so. Even though I don't know a lot about rap music, I've come to know that you are the very best at it. Aside from that I hope what I have to say will not seem weird or strange to you but I have always felt some unexplained connection to you like I know you somehow. I had hoped to
meet you at the show but you know how nuts those things are, personally I hate 'em and I missed my chance but maybe someday we'll meet. In the meantime, keep doing what you're doing because you do it so well and no matter how complex your world may be just know you are very special and touch people in
ways you don't even know.
With love & respect,
Dolly Parton
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Bethany Black @bethanyblack.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
Fuck. No. The greatest human being to ever live. Was thinking about Steel Magnolias when the director shouted at her in front of everyone and told her she couldn’t act and had no idea why they’d hired her she said “Because I’m Dolly Parton, and they hired you to make me look like I can act.”
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🎃 Imani Gandy Corn 🎃 @angryblacklady.blacksky.app · 25/08/2026
Dolly Parton and Patti LaBelle playing their acrylics. Two icons.
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Nitish Pahwa @nitishpahwa.com · 25/08/2026
I think the universal grieving comes in no small part from the fact she represented the best of what America could be, and that she never stopped chasing that ideal, artistically and socially
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