oliverlibaw.bsky.social
Currently: FuriosaAI, an AI silicon startup.
Formerly: Meta AI blog managing editor. Editor at Yahoo & Veoh (don't ask). Reporter at Mexico City Times (RIP), ABC News.
Long ago: philosophy at Cambridge University & Pomona College.
Also: AI hobbyist.
32 posts
74 followers
387 following
Getting Started
Active Commenter
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heynow.... if people are going to start having reasonable and pleasant interactions on social media, it's gonna lure me into posting more often.
and that can't be a good idea, can it???
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And while I'm foolishly sharing opinions on social media...
I think the argument is more "to prevail, we have to persuade people who have different (perhaps not awesome) values and sensibilities" than "let's all just pander and appease racists."
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I think this is an important, very painful fact.
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just wait....
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In this cursed year of 2025, I think us parents of youngish kids would be wise not to discuss on social media what doofy "do you think that means our kid will grow up to be ___?" games we play with our partners.
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I do feel slightly soothed after reading them.
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I think the AI Snake Oil guys are right that a big part of the problem is that the term "AI" is way too mushy and broad. (like "vehicle" for cars, bikes, trains, cruise ships.)
Another big part of the problem is bad faith and/or ax-to-grind folks who like to yell online.
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Zach Lowe is back! That's actual, non-horrible, genuinely good news! I just got actual, genuinely good news from looking at social media!!
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always leads to valuable insights...
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Riders on the storm drain….
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This counts as a Very Uplifting and Inspiring Story About Working in Journalism in the Year 2024. (My own journalism and post-journalism path has been more shambolic!)
I've always enjoyed your writing, Tim. Glad you've landed someplace you like.
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this was such a great podcast episode! It's got me fired about thinking of interesting ways to use AI in data journalism.
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This is lovely, Sean.
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this is amazing! will you release the code?
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This is such a good piece. Thank you for writing it.
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thx! just ordered it. My 10-year-old son got hooked after reading TCOM.
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3. Franchising opportunities are available.
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2. In the interests of full disclosure, the device is not foolproof and has incorrectly identified me as a squirrel at least twice. I was squirted and did not like it.
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3 final points:
1. When I post this silly thing on Twitter, I will feel slightly sad that it only gets 3 likes. But here on BlueSky I revel in my obscurity. Ignore me, online world!
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Apparently BlueSky hasn't gotten around to enabling gifs yet. Otherwise I'd show you some slow motion clips of the Squirrel Squirter in action.
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The Squirrel Squirter is, objectively speaking, a technological marvel.
Allow me to spew some technical details at you:
Raspberry Pi 4 + Arducam 3 camera + modified Cyclone Motorized Water Blaster + EfficientDet0 model fine-tuned on pics of squirrels, Fred, and Fred's brother, George
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Keen-eyed observers may notice that the video shows the Squirrel Squirter unleashing its watery fury on Fred the Cat, rather than a squirrel.
This is because I've found it tricky to do an on-demand demo with squirrels. So basically just pretend Fred is a squirrel for the purpose of this demo.
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That was just a warm-up Stupid Take That You Shouldn't Share With Strangers on Social Media.... I'm working on some better ones. Stay tuned.
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"The Phantom Menace" was good, overall. The flaws are substantial (Jar Jar, the weird vaguely racist voices of the Trade Federation). But the story genuinely builds on the original series and adds some quality characters.
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OK, since this is the fourth tweet in a thread posted by someone with zero followers, let's say some controversial things that will never come back to haunt me....
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He shuffled off this mortal coil in 2022. Great cat. Really excelled at relaxing. An exemplar of how to thrive during a grim political chapter in our nation's history.
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Here, for example, is a photo of our cat, Meep Meep: