I T S M E J E R E M Y

Linkblog

This is a series of links that I've found interesting or informative. My ideas are shaped by the ideas that I've picked up along the way, so I'm gathering them to share and (mostly) for me to reference later so I can remember that one thing that articulated that one idea so well.

The Frontend Treadmill — I saw part of this thread quoted on Mastodon, and I find it to be pretty insightful into the landscape of frontend design, and how messy it feels now. I mostly work on backend projects myself, but all of the JS frameworks scare me away from more complex things. I …
Facebook Is the "Zombie Internet" — Actual research on some of the fake Facebook posts that get circulated on one of the other 5 sites posting screenshots of each other. Those posts are the ones that have something bizarre, like a Jesus made of shrimp, with dozens or hundreds of likes and comments.
I Will Fucking Piledrive You If You Mention AI Again — Ludicity — Pretty much speaks for itself. A favorite quote: "You either need to be on the absolute cutting-edge and producing novel research, or you should be doing exactly what you were doing five years ago with minor concessions to incorporating LLMs. Anything in the middle ground does not make any sense …
A Link Blog in the Year 2024 — I saw this linked from Simon Willson's Weblog, and that's where I got the terminology for this kind of thing. Seeing that other people do this sort of thing feels like it gives me permission to do the same.
AI took their jobs. Now they get paid to make it sound human — A bleak and informative look a the effects of AI in copyrighting. I found this quote from the CTO of Undetectable AI, which is trying to make it harder to detect AI content, interesting: "When the automobile was first introduced in an era of horses and carts, people reacted like …
A Brief History & Ethos of the Digital Garden — This is all about the idea of a "digital garden" as opposed to blogging — micro or otherwise — or other forms of being and producing content and ideas online. I thought that it would be only for people who make their living by having ideas, but here I am, kind of …
Claudia Jones, the Longue Durée of McCarthyism, and the Threat of US Fascism — I read this article in "For Antifascist Futures", and it's probably my favorite piece from the collection. It's an exploration of what preceded McCarthyism, what happened after, and how it fits into broader trends of leftist organizing in the US. In particular, through the example of Claudia Jones, it talks …
We can have a different web — Great article about the promise of the web and how big sites keep people in. The most poignant metaphor is of the big sites as these giant buildings in this vast, empty expanse of fertile soil that try really hard to keep people inside and not tilling their own plot …
Plagiarism and You(Tube) - YouTube — Iconic video essay on how disinformation spreads through video content, with specific and intense takedowns. I feel like the main difference in how I experience media online is that I'm more likely to notice and appreciate when people cite their sources. If someone's pointing to a bunch of different sources …
The Internet Is a Series of Webs — This piece has an overview of some concrete steps one can take to "rewild" the web (a la ), especially as a content creator, even more especially as a creator of text content. I really appreciate links like this (it's why I'm doing a linkblog on a really minimal site), but …
These Are the Tools Open Source Researchers Say They Need — This is somewhat disheartening, seeing what tools people who do research online in the vein of Bellingcat (who do a lot of verification of military action from photos and Google maps to describe events) prefer to use, and what problems they have with tools. But at the same time, it's …
This Page is Designed to Last: A Manifesto for Preserving Content on the Web — Some good principles for building websites. I'd like to see more software built to make this kind of web more accessible to people who aren't going to code all of their own stuff, like I might. People put convenience over principle all the time, so why not try to make …
why is all furniture the same now? - YouTube — Online retail sucks. This is a smart video essay about why, with plenty of references.
Why Is There an AI Hype? — This piece articulates some good takes around AI, and in particular the discourse about AI, which is different from the actual technical capabilities. In particular, the discussion around labor relations baked into the AI discussion.