Crista 🔶
@tagide.com
Professor at UC Irvine, among other things. This is my personal account, not the University’s.
I like light and clarity.
I like light and clarity.
A short photographic report of the highlight of my summer: Eira Velha, a white field blend made from a centennial vineyard.
October 2, 2026 at 10:04 AM
A short photographic report of the highlight of my summer: Eira Velha, a white field blend made from a centennial vineyard.
Coming back to the tech/academic world after a summer in the wine world, like: wtf, 60,000 ICLR submissions?!? This is irretrievably broken, time for another glass 🍷
October 2, 2026 at 9:54 AM
Coming back to the tech/academic world after a summer in the wine world, like: wtf, 60,000 ICLR submissions?!? This is irretrievably broken, time for another glass 🍷
I dived head-on in transformers and ended up in... anti-unification!
July 29, 2026 at 3:16 PM
I dived head-on in transformers and ended up in... anti-unification!
Not the biggest fan of Spain right now, but I'm glad they won this year in this place.
Trump tried to celebrate with Spain and FIFA President Gianni had to run across the players stage and drag him out of frame.
Can it get more embarrassing?
Can it get more embarrassing?
July 20, 2026 at 10:48 AM
Not the biggest fan of Spain right now, but I'm glad they won this year in this place.
Some things get better with age
July 14, 2026 at 5:57 PM
Some things get better with age
I’m not a Mac person but using this as a home server is a different story… mini but mighty!
July 3, 2026 at 4:37 PM
I’m not a Mac person but using this as a home server is a different story… mini but mighty!
One frustrating thing about the tech world is how close we are to being able to decentralize everything, but, somehow, that never materializing. Companies keep wanting to centralize products and services, and people keep falling into those traps.
July 3, 2026 at 10:04 AM
One frustrating thing about the tech world is how close we are to being able to decentralize everything, but, somehow, that never materializing. Companies keep wanting to centralize products and services, and people keep falling into those traps.
My own infra: VPS at Hetzner with a 5T storage box ($18/month) , gitea, Mac Mini ($850) at the winery with Gemma3 12b, VPN on all my devices. Ready to roll LLM agents.
July 3, 2026 at 9:48 AM
My own infra: VPS at Hetzner with a 5T storage box ($18/month) , gitea, Mac Mini ($850) at the winery with Gemma3 12b, VPN on all my devices. Ready to roll LLM agents.
That's a wrap, sort of. Today I am officially Emerita Professor. The most rewarding thing was being part of so many young people's bootstrap -- I gained close to 25 children, and they will be in my heart forever! 💖 The group pic here is my latest crop.
On to lots of more coding but back to basics!
On to lots of more coding but back to basics!
July 1, 2026 at 10:50 AM
That's a wrap, sort of. Today I am officially Emerita Professor. The most rewarding thing was being part of so many young people's bootstrap -- I gained close to 25 children, and they will be in my heart forever! 💖 The group pic here is my latest crop.
On to lots of more coding but back to basics!
On to lots of more coding but back to basics!
Self-producing solar energy and storage is very disruptive. Imagine being an energy company used to ppl needing your electricity/gas, and then ppl needing only 1% of that. No wonder there's a war on the decentralization of solar. They aren't going to let that happen without a fight.
They may win.
They may win.
June 30, 2026 at 7:07 AM
Self-producing solar energy and storage is very disruptive. Imagine being an energy company used to ppl needing your electricity/gas, and then ppl needing only 1% of that. No wonder there's a war on the decentralization of solar. They aren't going to let that happen without a fight.
They may win.
They may win.
Apparently, we now run a hotel for barn swallows. Unfortunately, they don't know how to use the bathroom... 💩
June 29, 2026 at 2:45 PM
Apparently, we now run a hotel for barn swallows. Unfortunately, they don't know how to use the bathroom... 💩
To ppl in Central/Northern Europe:
20 years ago, Portugal became much hotter than it was 40 years ago. There was no A/C almost anywhere. Slowly but surely, people started installing A/C. Energy bills went up. Then people started installing solar panels.
Heat => sun, so let the sun cool you.
20 years ago, Portugal became much hotter than it was 40 years ago. There was no A/C almost anywhere. Slowly but surely, people started installing A/C. Energy bills went up. Then people started installing solar panels.
Heat => sun, so let the sun cool you.
June 29, 2026 at 1:40 PM
To ppl in Central/Northern Europe:
20 years ago, Portugal became much hotter than it was 40 years ago. There was no A/C almost anywhere. Slowly but surely, people started installing A/C. Energy bills went up. Then people started installing solar panels.
Heat => sun, so let the sun cool you.
20 years ago, Portugal became much hotter than it was 40 years ago. There was no A/C almost anywhere. Slowly but surely, people started installing A/C. Energy bills went up. Then people started installing solar panels.
Heat => sun, so let the sun cool you.
Am I really going to buy a Beelink mini to code up an administrative assistant for Quinta das Queimas? Yes, yes I am. Local model, low power, harness-first generation-last.
Do I have a gazillion other things to do this summer? Also yes.
Was this my idea of retirement from UCI? Definitely yes.
Do I have a gazillion other things to do this summer? Also yes.
Was this my idea of retirement from UCI? Definitely yes.
June 28, 2026 at 8:00 AM
Am I really going to buy a Beelink mini to code up an administrative assistant for Quinta das Queimas? Yes, yes I am. Local model, low power, harness-first generation-last.
Do I have a gazillion other things to do this summer? Also yes.
Was this my idea of retirement from UCI? Definitely yes.
Do I have a gazillion other things to do this summer? Also yes.
Was this my idea of retirement from UCI? Definitely yes.
I'm old enough to remember when GenAI was going to "solve" customer service. I guess that didn't happen yet?
June 23, 2026 at 8:55 PM
I'm old enough to remember when GenAI was going to "solve" customer service. I guess that didn't happen yet?
In Anthropic's own words: "persistent returns to expertise." Ppl shoving GenAI down students' throats need to stop right now.
www.anthropic.com/research/cla...
www.anthropic.com/research/cla...
Agentic coding and persistent returns to expertise
Anthropic is an AI safety and research company that's working to build reliable, interpretable, and steerable AI systems.
www.anthropic.com
June 18, 2026 at 1:55 AM
In Anthropic's own words: "persistent returns to expertise." Ppl shoving GenAI down students' throats need to stop right now.
www.anthropic.com/research/cla...
www.anthropic.com/research/cla...
I hope that some students somewhere will sue some of these universities that are pushing AI down students’ throats, for dereliction of duty
At the end of the term I asked my college creative wriing students to submit anonymous thoughts on AI. No real surprises: Mood ranges from resignation to despair, capitulation from embittered erosion of standards to total, feelings of betrayal from deep to furious. 1/
June 16, 2026 at 7:26 PM
I hope that some students somewhere will sue some of these universities that are pushing AI down students’ throats, for dereliction of duty
Reposted by Crista 🔶
At the end of the term I asked my college creative wriing students to submit anonymous thoughts on AI. No real surprises: Mood ranges from resignation to despair, capitulation from embittered erosion of standards to total, feelings of betrayal from deep to furious. 1/
June 16, 2026 at 3:50 PM
At the end of the term I asked my college creative wriing students to submit anonymous thoughts on AI. No real surprises: Mood ranges from resignation to despair, capitulation from embittered erosion of standards to total, feelings of betrayal from deep to furious. 1/
