iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Hilary Mason

Matt Novak @paleofuture.bsky.social · 13h

The White House accord on AI that was signed by all the big tech oligarchs today misspells United States as “Unites States.”

Document signed by Trump, Sundar Pichai
Google
Dario Amodei
Anthropic
Mark Zuckerberg
Meta

Greg Brockman
OpenAl

Elon Musk
XAI

Jensen Huang
nvidia

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Hilary Mason @hilarymason.com · 27/09/2026

There is nothing inevitable about today's GenAI companies or market or product design or power dynamics. It's based on decisions, made implicitly and explicitly, by people. To imagine a better way we must realize how arbitrary all of this is. And who it serves.

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Hilary Mason @hilarymason.com · 26/09/2026

Overnight I trained a Jev-like model to output probability distributions over a set of 40 emoji, which runs in RAM at ~150ms per query. This was super easy and cost ~$10. It works pretty well on a weak training set, and with a day or two of work I could make this sing.

A terminal showing the output of the emoji jev-like model:

We launched the project!
🎉 0.41 👏 0.23 🔥 0.15 ✨ 0.08 💪 0.07
valence 3.92/4 intensity 1.98/4 | 154 ms

My cat is so cute and hates me right now
😂 0.15 😏 0.13 🥹 0.12 ✨ 0.06 😆 0.05
valence 2.34/4 intensity 1.85/4 | 140 ms

you stand in front of the dragon, triumphant
✨ 0.27 🔥 0.17 🎉 0.16 😍 0.09 😮 0.06
valence 3.65/4 intensity 2.19/4 | 144 ms

why would you do this with emoji anyway?
🤔 0.54 😏 0.17 🙄 0.06 😐 0.04 🧐 0.03
valence 1.86/4 intensity 1.30/4 | 138 ms

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Hilary Mason @hilarymason.com · 24/09/2026

we put a bit of world-building magic on our homepage today hiddendoor.co

A screenshot of hiddendoor.co, showing a web page where you can Imagine A World Where.... and the example text says "the moon keeps secrets" but you can come type anything you want

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Hilary Mason @hilarymason.com · 24/09/2026

It definitely felt that way!

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Hilary Mason @hilarymason.com · 17/09/2026

Yesterday I flew LAS->NYC, noticed a white woman at the lounge with a sticker like the "I voted!" stickers but it said "I like ICE". Then she and her husband pushed aside wheelchairs to "preboard", announcing they were in first class Then they were rude to the flight attendants. The worst people.

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Hilary Mason @hilarymason.com · 16/09/2026

If we held people personally and criminally liable for the "autonomous" actions of the AI systems they create and deploy, I bet the risky behavior would evaporate overnight.

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Hilary Mason @hilarymason.com · 15/09/2026

It seems like there's a wave of cool advent calendar design (LEGO! jams! puzzles!), but do any companies make a version that isn't anchored on Christmas?

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Hilary Mason @hilarymason.com · 10/09/2026

This is well-said, and the heart of this conflict is what drives status in any professional role, and how that ties into professional identity.

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Hilary Mason @hilarymason.com · 08/09/2026

AI products are basically just software, but now it has moods.

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Reposted by Hilary Mason

Blaine @blaine.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

I'm pretty excited about this: we're launching a ヽ(^O^)ノ paid ⎝(^O^)ヽ virtual residency at New_ Public for folks with big ideas for making the internet a better place. Got a big idea? 💡✅ Care about people and communities? 💖✅ Please apply and share! newpublic.org/eir

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Hilary Mason @hilarymason.com · 19/08/2026

This thread helped me understand that the outrage about Anthropic's watermarking is the confluence of a lack of understanding of how LLMs (or any statistical language model) works and general angst at the current economics.

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Hilary Mason @hilarymason.com · 17/08/2026

Excellent work from 404. Respect for books is such a basic value that signals so many things about people.

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Hilary Mason @hilarymason.com · 12/08/2026

Has anyone curated a static download of the good bits of Wikipedia/YouTube/etc. for being able to learn or explore new things offline? We could call it "The Good Place".

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Reposted by Hilary Mason

tallestdude @coreyc.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

Happy Zero Cool Day to all who celebrate #hackers

Screenshot of the scene in the movie "Hackers" about Zero Cool crashing 1507 systems on Aug 10, 1988

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Hilary Mason @hilarymason.com · 02/08/2026

So much AI journalism feels like gaslighting if you know anything about machine learning pre-2020. Come. On.

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Reposted by Hilary Mason

Lindsay Beyerstein @beyerstein.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

I can't stress enough what a crisis this is. Trump's own intelligence agencies concluded that Iran attacked Minnesota's critical infrastructure and Trump is saying that it's Minnesota's own fault and denying it was Iran. The federal government won't defend blue states in a literal war.

nytimes.com

U.S. Sees Iran as Likely Behind Cyberattack on Minnesota Water Systems (Gift Article)

Investigators cautioned that the assessment was preliminary. There were no indications that any water supply had been rendered unsafe to drink.

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Hilary Mason @hilarymason.com · 31/07/2026

There are smart people working at these companies, and yet they keep launching deeply ill-considered products. It's such an obviously bad idea if you think about it for even a second. I'm fascinated by this.

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Hilary Mason @hilarymason.com · 30/07/2026

I have a headache today and I finally understand dark mode.

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Hilary Mason @hilarymason.com · 24/07/2026

Help me bluesky — What’s the easiest way for me, a plant dummy, to grow these herbs at home? I love cooking with fresh herbs and hate not trusting my produce.

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Hilary Mason @hilarymason.com · 10/07/2026

I miss being able to Google my more interesting typos to see how many people also made them

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Hilary Mason @hilarymason.com · 09/07/2026

Is opening a fire hydrant and playing in the street a specifically NYC thing? Or an American city thing? This is a genuine question, I am talking to a friend from the UK who has no context for it. :)

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Hilary Mason @hilarymason.com · 25/06/2026

I love our team @hiddendoor.co and we're all big readers -- we had so much fun sharing our favorite queer book recommendations and I hope y'all love them, too!

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Hilary Mason @hilarymason.com · 18/06/2026

It feels like no matter what I've accomplished in my career, my current most valuable talent is that if you locked me in a desert cave with a computer and some GPUs I could Iron Man the shit out of that and emerge with a functional LLM using just what's in my own head. And that's really funny.

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Reposted by Hilary Mason

Brent Toderian @brenttoderian.bsky.social · 14/06/2026

If walking costs you $1, we all pay $0.01. If biking costs you $1, we all pay $0.08. If bussing costs you $1, we all pay $1.50. If driving costs you $1, we all pay $9.20. Via study that still underestimates climate cost. This isn’t about choice. It’s about who pays for your choice. #citymakingmath

Detailed math as referenced in the post on “how much does your commute cost or save society?” Source is Discourse Media.

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Reposted by Hilary Mason

Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg @theradr.bsky.social · 07/06/2026

As Archbishop Tutu said about apartheid with regards to the Truth and Reconciliation hearings: "Those who claimed they did not know cannot very well say so now. They know.” Except we have internet. We have social media. People know now. We know. We cannot claim otherwise.

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Hilary Mason @hilarymason.com · 07/06/2026

I’m really having trouble imagining anyone at any point in history saying the word “knickerbocker” with a straight face, it just has such a funny mouthfeel

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Reposted by Hilary Mason

Evan Greer @evangreer.bsky.social · 05/06/2026

BREAKING: the Massachusetts House just passed one of the best data privacy bills in the country. It includes a total ban on the sale of precise location data and includes a private right of action allowing people to sue Big Tech over data abuses. HUGE WIN! But there’s more work to do 🧵

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Reposted by Hilary Mason

Mike Masnick @masnick.com · 03/06/2026

I spent more time on this piece than almost anything else I've written in the last year. Building a better, more decentralized internet is an inherent necessity if you want a functioning democracy. I hope people find it a useful encapsulation of where we're at. www.liberalism.org/p/enshittifi...

liberalism.org

Enshittification, Despotification, and the Open Internet

It’s not about whether technology is inherently good or bad, liberating or oppressive. Architecture shapes incentives; incentives shape outcomes.

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Hilary Mason @hilarymason.com · 01/06/2026

This is a _hilarious_ self-own.

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Hilary Mason @hilarymason.com · 01/06/2026

Good morning, Brooklyn, it’s sidewalk chalk season and the kids are awesome.

Chalk letters on the sidewalk that spell SPRED JOY

Bubble chalk letters that spell You Are Loved

Chalk on the sidewalk that says “I hope you have a great day”

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Hilary Mason @hilarymason.com · 31/05/2026

A beautiful graduation speech. I hope the students took heart.

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Reposted by Hilary Mason

Daniel Lowd @dlowd.com · 23/05/2026

Using Altas, I've been working with @marylowd.bsky.social to turn her Otters In Space books into a playable RPG. Soon you will be able to visit an otter space station, join a lovable crew of otter space pirates, and find out where all the missing tuna has gone!

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Hilary Mason @hilarymason.com · 22/05/2026

We launched Atlas, a new experience that lets anyone with an idea for a story world make it a playable narrative RPG in as little as 5-15 minutes. Are you a daydreamer, forever DM, writer, or just full of weird ideas? Atlas is for you! Check it out today at hiddendoor.co/create

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Hilary Mason @hilarymason.com · 15/05/2026

The 2007 Shake Shack webcam, all grown up.

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Hilary Mason @hilarymason.com · 15/05/2026

Hey Slack, what "AI abilities"? What are these features for? Why do I want them? How much are you going to try to charge me for these unnamed capabilities that I probably won't use? I am a customer and I have questions.

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Reposted by Hilary Mason

Jessica Valenti @jessicavalenti.bsky.social · 14/05/2026

You're about to see headlines saying abortion pills can't be shipped. THAT IS NOT TRUE You can still get abortion pills by mail to all fifty states. Some providers will switch to miso-only, some will ship both mife & miso. I got into all of this when the federal court ruling first dropped:

jessica.substack.com

The Biggest Attack on Abortion Since the End of Roe

A federal court wants to end mifepristone by mail—it's not happening

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Reposted by Hilary Mason

Ash @regisphone.bsky.social · 11/05/2026

All of New York state, not just the city, and also applies to anyone with a kid under 6

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Hilary Mason @hilarymason.com · 02/05/2026

Hey NYC! Please tell me we have already given this Bryant Park Lawnmower Roomba a cute & clever name. Patience & Lawnitude? Croton Clipper? Grassbuster? Help me out, New York. We need some (gender neutral) Dad Joke energy.

A large amount of lawn with a robot lawnmower in the background and a few pigeons nearby. Behind the lawn are a bunch of people enjoying the park. The buildings of 40th St are visible behind the park.

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Reposted by Hilary Mason

Hidden Door @hiddendoor.co · 01/05/2026

ICYMI, @hilarymason.com spoke at dev/ai/nyc! You can catch up on the @automattic.com YouTube channel to see our live demo (including a sneak preview of a brand-new platform for story creators) and hear Hilary's conversation with @jesse.blog. Watch here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5l1Pukl7Eo

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Hilary Mason @hilarymason.com · 27/04/2026

If I have never quite liked rhubarb, what are some recipes or dishes I should try this season? I want to like it!

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Hilary Mason @hilarymason.com · 23/04/2026

Pretty sure I'm officially an Old Man now, I had a pack of trail mix as a snack and actually liked it.

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