Writing on the Web since '94. New thing: https://xitter.cf/t.co/C71819d0Lj. Books: Say Everything, Dreaming in Code. Formerly: Axios, Salon, etc. Not here much these days.

Berkeley CA
Joined March 2007
It could certainly be a DDOS attack. But DDOS looks a lot like "many people trying to view content from a server that lacks enough capacity to serve that volume of people."
3
1
12
2,219
Scott Rosenberg retweeted
If you’re in the Bay Area and you still have power, charge your phone.
5
5
1
37
9,097
OpenAI's drama looks like the result of a culture clash on the nonprofit board over its mission. Nonprofit boards aren't like other boards! They're responsible for a mission, not for maximizing shareholder value. My analysis at @axios axios.com/2023/11/18/sam-alt…
1
6
2
10
3,805
I did it, I wrote in @axios about how the revelation that the Expensify Lounge was really an experiment in "back to work" psychology should make us all feel like lab rats. axios.com/2023/10/26/expensi…
1
7
14
20,382
Thrilled to share the news that @meganmorrone will be joining @axios starting next week as technology editor, working with me and our intrepid tech coverage team
15
7
3
148
75,665
This will be a very exciting book to read. Congrats. (No, no relation)
cannot believe i finally get to say this but.... i'm WRITING A BOOK!!!!! about the history of fandom!!!!!!! for @wwnorton!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 🥰‼️💓🙌🤩❣️🔥🥲💞😳
2
1,248
This is one important insight and fear I share. I don't worry for myself because I will never stop writing. I worry that the practice of writing-as-thinking will diminish and fade as fewer people *need* to do it.
One gnawing worry I have about the rise of LLMs is that, for me, writing IS thinking. One reason I spend so much time writing my newsletter each week is I haven't figured out a better way to think about AI than to sit down and write about it regularly.
2
1
9
1,921
"Turning us all into paper clips" is the trope of choice for describing runaway super-AI over-optimization that could destroy humanity. Also: A previous generation's colossal chatbot flop took the form of ... a talking paper clip. Coincidence???
1
477
A "tappable web presentation" short-story-let serves as the framing narrative for a new album produced by the two-guys-and-AI group Cotton Modules (@robinsloan and @agentsdelfuturo). I highly recommend you take the few minutes to read-click through it ooo.ghostbows.ooo/story/
1
652
Kinda knew that my blog and everyone else's was part of the general AI training data pool but it was epiphanic to see it confirmed in the amazing work from WaPo's @nitashatiku and colleagues. I wrote about the experience in my latest @axios axios.com/2023/04/24/ai-chat…
8
54
8
128
51,381
This is a perfectly reasonable story nytimes.com/2023/04/15/busin… and yet: "Faking it" is never over in Silicon Valley, it just goes into hiding for a while, then re-emerges in the next boom. Live long enough, you see these cycles repeat. Beware all "end of" narratives.
1
1
4
486
Welcome Ryan to @Axios and the Login team!
I'm making a move: from April 24 I'll be Global Tech Correspondent @axios You'll see me work a lot with the fab @inafried @scottros. DMs open - hit me up with all your tips and thoughts. axios.com/press-past-release…
3
805
Scott Rosenberg retweeted
Started re-reading Dreaming in Code by @scottros last night. Was so interesting to me when it was a new book, but it’s just as good now that software development has evolved for another 15+ years. #computerhistory #SoftwareDeveloper @mkapor @andyhertzfeld
1
4
632
Scott Rosenberg retweeted
I'll say again what I will doubtless be saying a million times in the coming years: Algorithmic feeds have pushed content creators to conform to the acceptable aesthetic and cultural average; A.I. generation will just automatically produce that average from the start
16
158
38
784
171,342
Scott Rosenberg retweeted
Here's the cover of my upcoming book! After 19 years of writing about them, I've seen how metaverse platforms can transform lives for good & bad. And have stories to share for the next 20. Plz consider pre-ordering: Amazon: amazon.com/Making-Metaverse-… B&N: barnesandnoble.com/w/making-…
8
29
2
108
15,741
Empires are crumbling; what should we build in the ruins? Must-read Robin Sloan missive: "It is 2003 again. Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram haven’t been invented yet … except, it’s also 2023, and they have, so you can learn from their rise and ruin." robinsloan.com/lab/new-avenu…
4
Scott Rosenberg retweeted
🤖 I seriously don’t understand people being shocked by “how much chatGPT knows.” It contains a slightly-compressed database of all the text OpenAI could get their hands on. Of course it “knows” what your python function does; it’s got the whole of StackExchange.
27
22
7
430
Scott Rosenberg retweeted
"Hours after Elon Musk took control of Twitter in late October, the Trust and Safety team responsible for combating hate speech on the site received an urgent directive: Bring back the Babylon Bee." An inside look at Musk's approach to content moderation: washingtonpost.com/technolog…
20
104
34
300