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Rick McAlexander

@rickmcalexander.bsky.social
67 followers 80 following 103 posts

Data Scientist.

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Rick McAlexander @rickmcalexander.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
They are not saying that, and that is why everyone is hating on you. I’m beginning to imagine this isn’t in good faith anymore.
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Rick McAlexander @rickmcalexander.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Not all tech workers are software developers.
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Rick McAlexander @rickmcalexander.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
I read it! I thought it was very very good. Just an insane time to live through, shit was crazy.
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Rick McAlexander @rickmcalexander.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
I highly recommend the audiobook for When Crack Was King. IIRC it is read by the author. It’s amazing
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Rick McAlexander @rickmcalexander.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Ha, bob is great!
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Rick McAlexander @rickmcalexander.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
I saw him open for cynic, when Sean reinert was still alive. Just an insane level of talent in that lineup
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Rick McAlexander @rickmcalexander.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
He’s like Jim Carrey on stage. His face moves so much.
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Rick McAlexander @rickmcalexander.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
People don’t like those either!!
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Rick McAlexander @rickmcalexander.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
Who cares? We’re talking about actually existing data centers, not some imagined ideal type shed of all it’s negative components.
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Rick McAlexander @rickmcalexander.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
What could this possibly mean. We have an instance of a thing (data center) that has the properties that people don't like about data centers (pollution, noise, taking up massive space, etc.), but that really has nothing to do with data centers because there are other things that are bad too?
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Rick McAlexander @rickmcalexander.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
I believe there's some econ work out there that shows that under some conditions, personalized prices that have no effect on the average price (since raise/lower cancel out) induces uncertainty which can create incentives for firms raise aggregate price levels.
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Rick McAlexander @rickmcalexander.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Thanks man. I wasn’t trying to be obtuse. Having multiple conversations on this so some wires may have gotten crossed. I appreciate the apology. I think we’re on the same team FWIW.
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Rick McAlexander @rickmcalexander.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
100%
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Rick McAlexander @rickmcalexander.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
Fun fact: the AI investment boom in that chart is a not the same thing as an LLM.
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Rick McAlexander @rickmcalexander.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
LLMs can't write novels or make music that is compelling, that's why LLMs won't be take jobs away from people who do those things well.
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Rick McAlexander @rickmcalexander.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
I'm not arguing against it. I'm saying, that there's tension in the argument that 1) LLMs are going to have massive disruptions to the economy and 2) LLMS are useless. This is why LLMs are going to have massive disruptions to some white collar work, because that is where LLMs are most useful.
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Rick McAlexander @rickmcalexander.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
Can you elaborate?
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Rick McAlexander @rickmcalexander.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
This is, of course, bad, and has no bearing on whether people find it useful.
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Rick McAlexander @rickmcalexander.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
What does this poss mean
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Rick McAlexander @rickmcalexander.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
I meant on the labor market/economy/how jobs are structured. The long term impact from these sticking around. i think we wouldnt see widespread impacts to software engineers if these would pure noise. Do you?
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Rick McAlexander @rickmcalexander.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
To be sure *impact on the economy and labor market.
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Rick McAlexander @rickmcalexander.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
I’m not disputing that in the least.
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Rick McAlexander @rickmcalexander.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
if every software engineer who worked with an LLM found them to be completely useless then the impact of LLMs would be lower.
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Rick McAlexander @rickmcalexander.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
if these ai generated fliers were indistinguishable from random blobs of color they would not steal labor from graphic designers
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Rick McAlexander @rickmcalexander.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
Like I think these AI generated flyers from every local take out place look like crap, but they are enabling strapped restaurants to make cheap flyers with little effort. Of course I’d rather then pay a graphic designer.
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Rick McAlexander @rickmcalexander.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
that may be true but also independent of whether for some people, in some contexts, LLMs solve some problems.
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Rick McAlexander @rickmcalexander.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
If LLMs aren’t useful then their impact will be pretty minimal. I have a hard time envisioning how LLMs will have the the negative impacts we are all seeing them have, and will continue to have, with them being completely useless
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Rick McAlexander @rickmcalexander.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
Holy hell I got tickets to see them at the church in Philly, which is inexplicably not sold out.
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Rick McAlexander @rickmcalexander.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
I know. Never thought anyone would pay attention at a scientific conference, let alone clapping.
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Rick McAlexander @rickmcalexander.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
Will keeps asserting that it is just as easy to own a home as it has been.
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Rick McAlexander @rickmcalexander.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
If someone making 170k is having a hard time buying a house in the neighborhood they grew up in, pray tell what does that mean for people making far less?
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Rick McAlexander @rickmcalexander.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
So your assertion is that housing is NOT less affordable than it used to be?
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Rick McAlexander @rickmcalexander.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
Hey Will question for ya, is housing way more unaffordable than it used to be? Is is harder for people with a median income to buy a house than it used to be? These are answerable questions.
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Rick McAlexander @rickmcalexander.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
Hi Will. This is called a metaphor. Its not literal.
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Rick McAlexander @rickmcalexander.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
"Over the last two decades, housing costs have been rising faster than incomes. More than 90 percent of Americans live in counties where median rents and house prices grew faster than median incomes from 2000 to 2020." home.treasury.gov/news/feature...
home.treasury.gov
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Rick McAlexander @rickmcalexander.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
What part do you disagree with?
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Rick McAlexander @rickmcalexander.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
ah bummer that he was a total creep and sex pest
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Rick McAlexander @rickmcalexander.bsky.social · 02/07/2026
yes a very radical position where 'all citizens are treated equal under the rule of law regardless of ethnicity of religion'
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Rick McAlexander @rickmcalexander.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
We did a Middlebury summer Arabic program together. He was a teen then and even then, his charisma was insane.
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Rick McAlexander @rickmcalexander.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
holy hell: Daniel Sanchez-Estrada was not at the protest, but was convicted of corruptly concealing a document or record after prosecutors said he moved leftwing zines and other materials at the request of Rueda, his wife...Sanchez-Estrada was sentenced to 30 years in prison on Tuesday
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Rick McAlexander @rickmcalexander.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
Thanks!
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Rick McAlexander @rickmcalexander.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
Curious how the process went for you? Did you write this and then pitch it to them? or pitch them the general idea first? I've got some notes of pieces I'd like to dust off and write and am just trying to figure this space out. Thanks!
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Rick McAlexander @rickmcalexander.bsky.social · 19/05/2026
My school district (in NJ) is having massive budget cuts. This is across the state. My town has 14k residents and health care costs for our school district increased by $1 million last year. Schools are closing, cuts are happening. When public services get cut that contributes to 'its a tough time'
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Rick McAlexander @rickmcalexander.bsky.social · 01/05/2026
Then what? Not vote for him if you're a Mainer? Vote for Collins instead?
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Rick McAlexander @rickmcalexander.bsky.social · 27/04/2026
*most of the time
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Rick McAlexander @rickmcalexander.bsky.social · 01/04/2026
The flip side of this is that they ask less interesting questions
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Rick McAlexander @rickmcalexander.bsky.social · 01/04/2026
Some do, some do t
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Rick McAlexander @rickmcalexander.bsky.social · 31/03/2026
Not sure we needed a new acronym here
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Rick McAlexander @rickmcalexander.bsky.social · 31/03/2026
Kim no Hirs Collective shout outs today?
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Rick McAlexander @rickmcalexander.bsky.social · 27/03/2026
The guy who founded this prize came to Perry World House, chatted with us postdocs, and told stupid offensive jokes. Perhaps worse, the weren’t even funny at all. Just a total asshole who fell into a pile of money.
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