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David Gerard

@ dgerard @awful.systems

Posts
288
Comments
422
Joined
3 yr. ago

the guy who got Elon and Grimes to hook up, destroying Twitter and proceeding to blow up the United States

https://davidgerard.co.uk/

  • now that's what I call fashtech, vol. 1

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  • there's a writeup to do of Bluesky and AT-protocol as fashtech, start from this one https://azhdarchid.com/delusions-of-a-protocol/

    there's more detail to add for the explicit case for atproto as fashtech (including the bit where they're increasingly mask-off rationalists, coiners, neoreactionaries and transphobes), but yelling about decentralisation while keeping a pile of obscured but load-bearing points of central control is a good tell

  • now that's what I call fashtech, vol. 1

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  • holy shit that site

  • now that's what I call fashtech, vol. 1

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  • as part of Syllable it was absolutely an interesting nerd project "yeah let's write a browser!!"

    then fashtech funding knocked on the door, Kling put on his red baseball cap and took ladybird out on the road

  • Stubsack: weekly thread for sneers not worth an entire post, week ending 5th October 2025 - awful.systems

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  • I predict Sam will lose big on the S&C claims. They have made fuckin bank on this bankruptcy, but also their fees have already been ruled entirely reasonable given the shitshow in question, and the near complete recovery for creditors will make them look even better.

  • YouTube’s AI DJ interrupts your paid ad-free music

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  • the robot DJ from the pic mixin' choons, that's fine however

    (i.e. the autoplay list)

  • Stubsack: weekly thread for sneers not worth an entire post, week ending 5th October 2025 - awful.systems

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  • Stubsack: weekly thread for sneers not worth an entire post, week ending 21st September 2025

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  • largely not available digitally, though someone's putting together a Borsook reissue

  • Handmade Network, BSC and finding actual places to learn

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  • surely this is a post about tech nazis, and not a post about how to argue language design features.

  • Stubsack: weekly thread for sneers not worth an entire post, week ending 21st September 2025

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  • Cyberselfish by Borsook, several books by Dery but particularly Escape Velocity

  • Stubsack: weekly thread for sneers not worth an entire post, week ending 21st September 2025

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  • Mark Dery and Paulina Borsook nailed these fuckers square on in the '90s, but nobody reads books

  • Stubsack: weekly thread for sneers not worth an entire post, week ending 21st September 2025

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  • it's a shitty paper but even they couldn't avoid the point forever

  • Stubsack: weekly thread for sneers not worth an entire post, week ending 28th September 2025 - awful.systems

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  • the story of open source burnout for the past 20 years is that venture philanthropy was not a thing, quite the opposite

  • Handmade Network, BSC and finding actual places to learn

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  • "He comes from the Bay Area, being techfash is part of his culture"

  • Cloudflare bankrolls fascists

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  • Are AI users dishonest? If they are, this Nature paper doesn’t show it

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  • oh lol it's even worse

  • Stubsack: weekly thread for sneers not worth an entire post, week ending 28th September 2025 - awful.systems

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  • crikey. I assume the CV is in good order and kept updated on the job sites just to see what comes in.

  • AI coders think they’re 20% faster — but they’re actually 19% slower

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  • ty!

  • Stubsack: weekly thread for sneers not worth an entire post, week ending 21st September 2025

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  • the talking point about disparaging terms for AI users by choice "I came up with a racist-sounding term for AI users, so if you say 'clanker' you must be a racist" is so fucking stupid it's gotta be some sort of op

    (esp when the made-up racist-sounding term turns out to have originated with Warren fucking Ellis)

    i am extremely disappointed that awful systems users have fallen for it for a moment

  • Peter Thiel Antichrist lecture: We asked guests what the hell it is

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  • the historical record shows Thiel has literally always been like this

    tried reading his '90s book once, managed a few pages

  • TechTakes @awful.systems
    David Gerard @awful.systems

    MIT on enterprise AI: 95% failure, 5% spam. That Fortune article? The paper's authors are web3 crypto bros

    pivot-to-ai.com /2025/08/21/mit-on-enterprise-ai-95-failure-5-spam/
  • TechTakes @awful.systems
    David Gerard @awful.systems

    Surveys the easy way: fake your data with an AI chatbot

    pivot-to-ai.com /2025/08/20/surveys-the-easy-way-fake-your-data-with-an-ai-chatbot/
  • TechTakes @awful.systems
    David Gerard @awful.systems

    Spreadshirt to artists: We’re taking your designs for AI

    pivot-to-ai.com /2025/08/19/spreadshirt-to-artists-were-taking-your-designs-for-ai/
  • TechTakes @awful.systems
    David Gerard @awful.systems

    AI brings huge enterprise efficiencies! Except in making money

    pivot-to-ai.com /2025/08/18/ai-brings-huge-enterprise-efficiencies-except-in-making-money/
  • TechTakes @awful.systems
    David Gerard @awful.systems

    At Politico, AI content doesn’t need editorial standards!

    pivot-to-ai.com /2025/08/16/at-politico-ai-content-doesnt-need-editorial-standards/
  • TechTakes @awful.systems
    David Gerard @awful.systems

    AI ‘chain of thought’ is still just a ‘brittle mirage’

    pivot-to-ai.com /2025/08/15/ai-chain-of-thought-is-still-just-a-brittle-mirage/
  • TechTakes @awful.systems
    David Gerard @awful.systems

    DEFRA says: delete your emails to … save water?!

    pivot-to-ai.com /2025/08/14/defra-says-delete-your-emails-to-save-water/
  • TechTakes @awful.systems
    David Gerard @awful.systems

    ‘Optional’ AI scribe is mandatory if you want to see the doctor

    pivot-to-ai.com /2025/08/13/optional-ai-scribe-is-mandatory-if-you-want-to-see-the-doctor/
  • TechTakes @awful.systems
    David Gerard @awful.systems

    Prompt-inject Copilot Studio AI via email, grab a company’s whole Salesforce

    pivot-to-ai.com /2025/08/12/prompt-inject-copilot-studio-ai-via-email-grab-a-companys-whole-salesforce/
  • TechTakes @awful.systems
    David Gerard @awful.systems

    Cybersecurity ‘red teams’ to UK government: AI is rubbish

    pivot-to-ai.com /2025/08/11/cybersecurity-red-teams-to-uk-government-ai-is-rubbish/
  • TechTakes @awful.systems
    David Gerard @awful.systems

    Stubsack: weekly thread for sneers not worth an entire post, week ending 17th August 2025

  • TechTakes @awful.systems
    David Gerard @awful.systems

    Hack a smart home with a calendar invite! And Google Gemini

    pivot-to-ai.com /2025/08/10/hack-a-smart-home-with-a-calendar-invite-and-google-gemini/
  • TechTakes @awful.systems
    David Gerard @awful.systems

    Alexa+ rolls out at last! … It’s not so great

    pivot-to-ai.com /2025/08/09/alexa-rolls-out-at-last-its-not-so-great/
  • TechTakes @awful.systems
    David Gerard @awful.systems

    hilarious thread on gpt-oss

    x.com /jxmnop/status/1953899426075816164
  • TechTakes @awful.systems
    David Gerard @awful.systems

    OpenAI announces GPT-5! Please Microsoft, don’t kill us

    pivot-to-ai.com /2025/08/08/openai-announces-gpt-5-please-microsoft-dont-kill-us/
  • TechTakes @awful.systems
    David Gerard @awful.systems

    Microsoft’s 2030 Vision: no mouse, no keyboard — just the AI!

    pivot-to-ai.com /2025/08/06/microsofts-2030-vision-no-mouse-no-keyboard-just-the-ai/
  • TechTakes @awful.systems
    David Gerard @awful.systems

    Disney fears public backlash, copyright issues over AI ‘Moana’, ‘Tron’

    pivot-to-ai.com /2025/08/05/disney-fears-public-backlash-copyright-issues-over-ai-moana-tron/
  • TechTakes @awful.systems
    David Gerard @awful.systems

    Wear Meta’s AI creepshot glasses — or be left behind!

    pivot-to-ai.com /2025/08/04/wear-metas-ai-creepshot-glasses-or-be-left-behind/
  • TechTakes @awful.systems
    David Gerard @awful.systems

    UK ‘AI Action Plan for Justice’ — a magic infallible AI pre-crime detector!

    pivot-to-ai.com /2025/08/03/uk-ai-action-plan-for-justice-a-magic-infallible-ai-precrime-detector/
  • TechTakes @awful.systems
    David Gerard @awful.systems

    Proton’s Lumo AI chatbot: not end-to-end encrypted, not open source

    pivot-to-ai.com /2025/08/02/protons-lumo-ai-chatbot-not-end-to-end-encrypted-not-open-source/