John Baxindine

John Baxindine

@jbax.bsky.social

Old-school note scribbler and ivory tickler • www.jbax.net

1.4K followers470 following584 posts

Introduce yourself as what almost killed you. Hi, I'm the car that a three-year-old boy backed into traffic on a busy road at rush hour. (I got the car into accessory mode, then neutral, and it started down the hill by itself. I pounded on the brake but I wasn't heavy enough to depress the pedal.)

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John Baxindine reposted

What AI (LLM) boosters don't understand is that the use cases for LLMs are centered around people who know how to think, how to learn and how to say "I don't know". ChatGPT's public release in late 2022 was carcinogenic to thought

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John Baxindine reposted

Replying to @nathantankus.bsky.social

Humans not engaging in reasoned deliberation and who are relatively unskilled at critical thinking aren't proof against all humans having these innate capacities. We can't let Big Tech convince us otherwise. Literally, human life surviving this century depends on it.

John Baxindine reposted

It seems like there are ever greater reasons to write, and an ever diminishing reading public. A greater need for patience and deliberation, but only the appetite for furious cacophonies. And everywhere little princelings ruling over shattered, empty lands.

John Baxindine reposted

I’m opening a movie theater in which I show recently released films that I ripped from the internet but the studios are welcome to opt out if they wish.

Exclusive: OpenAI is planning to release a new version of its Sora video generator, which creates videos featuring copyrighted material unless copyright holders opt out of having their work appear.

I walked out of Mee Noodle Shop on 9th Avenue in the pouring rain and turned to walk south, falling into step alongside a woman who was eating extremely wet pizza as she walked. It was Jane Lynch. I think I made a joke about paying extra for rain-topped pizza.

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"As it happens, Columbia was founded in 1754 as King’s College. An imprudent choice now could result in the school becoming the de facto fief of an aspiring angry king." Let's make it trend: #ColumbiaCollegeofNoKing www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/...

theatlantic.comA Warning for Columbia UniversitySurrendering to the Trump administration’s $400 million ransom demand would be a disaster for higher education and for the United States.

John Baxindine reposted

Sharing letter w/4 Columbia colleagues @pagefortna.bsky.social @vickymurillo.bsky.social Allison Carnegie & Turku Isiksel in which we speak only for ourselves, imagining how we would respond to the govt. This is *not* an official university statement. Grateful to @dandrezner.bsky.social for posting.

This is one of my favorite "public" historical documents. Quite a few of my German ancestors lived in Philadelphia in 1776; this was surely the Declaration they read.

I support Somali-Americans@adamrothman.bsky.social

Since the president has signed an EO making English the official language of the United States, here is the first non-English copy of the Declaration of Independence, printed in German just days after July 4, 1776. We have always been multilingual. cdm16274.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/coll...

John Baxindine reposted

But then I sigh, and, with a piece of scripture, Tell them that God bids us do good for evil: And thus I clothe my naked villainy With odd old ends stol’n forth of holy writ, And seem a saint, when most I play the devil.

John Baxindine reposted

Trump and Musk have thrown a grenade into the national security apparatus and eventually it will go off. New piece w/ @jimgoldgeier.bsky.social @foreignaffairs.com on the trust bomb hitting the invisible systems that make US foreign policy run. www.foreignaffairs.com/united-state...

foreignaffairs.comDoes DOGE Pose a National Security Risk?Uncertainty about access and authority will worry allies and tempt adversaries.

John Baxindine reposted

A new JWST deep field. All the eight-sided features are local stars in the Milky Way. Everything else is a galaxy. EVERYTHING ELSE IS A GALAXY.

Optimist: the glass is half full Pessimist: the glass is half empty Musician: <runs wet finger over edge of glass to create a sound> It's a quarter-step sharp. <pours out a tiny amount>

Health Nerd@gidmk.bsky.social

Optimist: the cup is half full Pessimist: the cup is half empty Epidemiologist: the water in the cup has evidence of legionella, you need to clean your cooling system.

John Baxindine reposted

A lovely #Roman sculpture of four adorable little puppies, all curled up asleep together! It was found in #Pompeii, probably more than 2000 years ago - AncientBlueSky

...and shit pay for (and treatment of) musicians. Not that anyone cares about that.

The New York Times@nytimes.com

The Justice Dept. sued Live Nation Entertainment, the owner of Ticketmaster, asking a court to break up the company over claims it has an illegal monopoly in live entertainment. The tactics, the U.S. argues, have resulted in higher prices for consumers. nyti.ms/3WSK6eL

The only work by Natalie Zemon Davis that I have read is The Return of Martin Guerre. It is a masterpiece not only of historical interpretation but of concision. (Naturally, the musical version removed everything that was interesting about the true story.)

Matt Gabriele@profgabriele.com

new piece from me & @lollardfish.bsky.social on the passing of Natalie Zemon Davis today. may her memory be a blessing. medievalsky 🗃️ modernmedieval.substack.com/p/natalie-ze...

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