Joshua Zimmerman
@thejewberwocky.bsky.social
I don't even fucking know anymore. I guess I do tech when I'm employed, I'm Jewish and my body hates me.
Proudly wearing my I Voted sticker around the house so my cats can't judge me thinking I haven't voted yet.
August 11, 2026 at 3:37 PM
Proudly wearing my I Voted sticker around the house so my cats can't judge me thinking I haven't voted yet.
If you're trying to convince me that LLMs are ethical, you may want to try not using language from the notably less than ethical crypto movement for starters.
August 10, 2026 at 2:02 PM
If you're trying to convince me that LLMs are ethical, you may want to try not using language from the notably less than ethical crypto movement for starters.
Reposted by Joshua Zimmerman
My rejection of "AI" has always been an ethical one, not a capabilities one. It's freeing, because I have no need to scramble to keep up every time there's a point release of a model. It doesn't matter how "good" at whatever they claim to be able to do the models are (also they're still ass lol).
Molly Crabapple (mollycrabapple on Instagram) explains why AI is corporate theft
Cc @sven.blacksky.app
Cc @sven.blacksky.app
August 8, 2026 at 5:13 PM
My rejection of "AI" has always been an ethical one, not a capabilities one. It's freeing, because I have no need to scramble to keep up every time there's a point release of a model. It doesn't matter how "good" at whatever they claim to be able to do the models are (also they're still ass lol).
Reposted by Joshua Zimmerman
As a reminder, in 2020, more than 60 people accused Warren Ellis of grooming and sexual impropriety, coming together to create the website somanyofus.com.
In its most recent update, in 2023, the site posted: "To the best of our knowledge, Warren Ellis took none of the steps we hoped he would."
In its most recent update, in 2023, the site posted: "To the best of our knowledge, Warren Ellis took none of the steps we hoped he would."
August 5, 2026 at 4:45 PM
As a reminder, in 2020, more than 60 people accused Warren Ellis of grooming and sexual impropriety, coming together to create the website somanyofus.com.
In its most recent update, in 2023, the site posted: "To the best of our knowledge, Warren Ellis took none of the steps we hoped he would."
In its most recent update, in 2023, the site posted: "To the best of our knowledge, Warren Ellis took none of the steps we hoped he would."
Reposted by Joshua Zimmerman
For me, LLMs are clearly powerful machines, but everything about their construction and deployment in society by the people constructing them appears oriented around achieving a political project that deeply conflicts with my values or a vision of a future I want to live in and dont have a choice in
This is what is driving me nuts. So many posters around here keep haw-hawing about R’s in strawberry and clearly have NO idea that these are extremely powerful machines *already* that we have not yet figured out how to utilize fully. If we stopped development today, they’d still be astonishing
Can I just say this stuff panics the shit out of me? I didn't think Artist was a career at risk, but a year ago mathematicians felt safe. I just don't understand acting like it's not happening. You have people insisting these models can't do things *in principle* they've already demonstrated.
August 1, 2026 at 3:52 PM
For me, LLMs are clearly powerful machines, but everything about their construction and deployment in society by the people constructing them appears oriented around achieving a political project that deeply conflicts with my values or a vision of a future I want to live in and dont have a choice in
Reposted by Joshua Zimmerman
at some point, you have to accept that the company you keep reflects on your own character. to me, Matz and everyone who remains on the Rails core team are so obviously complicit in DHH remaining platformed and relevant and it's laughable to suggest otherwise
July 29, 2026 at 9:56 PM
at some point, you have to accept that the company you keep reflects on your own character. to me, Matz and everyone who remains on the Rails core team are so obviously complicit in DHH remaining platformed and relevant and it's laughable to suggest otherwise
Reposted by Joshua Zimmerman
I don't think people understand how thin the line between "deportation" and "extermination" really is - not just in Europe, but everywhere the topic comes up.
Many people feel comfortable with the idea of deportation because it obscures the underlying violence that is necessarily implied.
Many people feel comfortable with the idea of deportation because it obscures the underlying violence that is necessarily implied.
And to spell it out: when DHH says "deport Romani people", those are people who are citizens of the country they live in. Where would they be deported to?
When the Nazis ran into this same question, they created extermination camps.
bsky.app/profile/anil...
When the Nazis ran into this same question, they created extermination camps.
bsky.app/profile/anil...
Just in case you still use any Basecamp products, DHH is crashing out about his AI product gently pointing out that it’s bad for him to have extermination fantasies about the Roma people.
July 27, 2026 at 9:13 PM
I don't think people understand how thin the line between "deportation" and "extermination" really is - not just in Europe, but everywhere the topic comes up.
Many people feel comfortable with the idea of deportation because it obscures the underlying violence that is necessarily implied.
Many people feel comfortable with the idea of deportation because it obscures the underlying violence that is necessarily implied.
The best time for groups like Rails Core and Ruby Central to be distancing themselves from DHH was fucking years ago at this point. The next best time, as always, is today. The fact that they're not doing so tells people who is and isn't welcome in the Ruby and Rails communities.
Just in case you still use any Basecamp products, DHH is crashing out about his AI product gently pointing out that it’s bad for him to have extermination fantasies about the Roma people.
July 27, 2026 at 1:32 PM
The best time for groups like Rails Core and Ruby Central to be distancing themselves from DHH was fucking years ago at this point. The next best time, as always, is today. The fact that they're not doing so tells people who is and isn't welcome in the Ruby and Rails communities.
Reposted by Joshua Zimmerman
This stage of the AI push reminds me of peak cryptocurrency, which was supposed to change everything.
I was never afraid of blockchain the technology, I was afraid of the people behind it, and their vision for the future.
I was never afraid of blockchain the technology, I was afraid of the people behind it, and their vision for the future.
July 20, 2026 at 10:18 PM
This stage of the AI push reminds me of peak cryptocurrency, which was supposed to change everything.
I was never afraid of blockchain the technology, I was afraid of the people behind it, and their vision for the future.
I was never afraid of blockchain the technology, I was afraid of the people behind it, and their vision for the future.
I think a lot about how the devops movement shifted as we attempted to "sell it" and a lot of it are concepts like this that got elided for "metric line go up".
"You have to go slow to go fast."
(Yet another DevOps-y concept I don't see much reference to anymore...)
(Yet another DevOps-y concept I don't see much reference to anymore...)
July 15, 2026 at 7:34 PM
I think a lot about how the devops movement shifted as we attempted to "sell it" and a lot of it are concepts like this that got elided for "metric line go up".
Reposted by Joshua Zimmerman
Google has spent decades mining my data and yet still can't figure out that the Play Store sending me push notification ads to use AI isn't effective for me.
May 19, 2026 at 5:33 PM
Google has spent decades mining my data and yet still can't figure out that the Play Store sending me push notification ads to use AI isn't effective for me.
Reposted by Joshua Zimmerman
everyone else who still regularly masks in public can hear you making fun of that person and that sucks, actually
plenty of other things to make fun of people about
plenty of other things to make fun of people about
April 26, 2026 at 5:30 PM
everyone else who still regularly masks in public can hear you making fun of that person and that sucks, actually
plenty of other things to make fun of people about
plenty of other things to make fun of people about
Reposted by Joshua Zimmerman
yes! and otherwise well-meaning people are parroting “ai is here to stay” and not seeing how unnecessarily threatening that pattern of speaking is
If I were trying to sell AI to the public I would be saying “it’s a useful way to write code faster and automate some tedious tasks that couldn’t be automated well before” and instead they’re running with “get on board or get left behind” and “we WILL eliminate your job.”
April 24, 2026 at 1:17 PM
yes! and otherwise well-meaning people are parroting “ai is here to stay” and not seeing how unnecessarily threatening that pattern of speaking is
Reposted by Joshua Zimmerman
the thing about our current moment is that yes, the anti-AI and anti-big tech people are getting very reactive nowadays - but have you seen what they’re *reacting* to?
Extremely normal and fine for a company to put this in a public statement
April 19, 2026 at 12:58 PM
the thing about our current moment is that yes, the anti-AI and anti-big tech people are getting very reactive nowadays - but have you seen what they’re *reacting* to?
Reposted by Joshua Zimmerman
The #1 browser user on my newsletter site this month is FacebookBot, an agent specifically designed to steal data for LLM model training.
Anyway, this is why I do subscribers-only content.
I hate this shit so much.
Anyway, this is why I do subscribers-only content.
I hate this shit so much.
April 11, 2026 at 8:43 PM
The #1 browser user on my newsletter site this month is FacebookBot, an agent specifically designed to steal data for LLM model training.
Anyway, this is why I do subscribers-only content.
I hate this shit so much.
Anyway, this is why I do subscribers-only content.
I hate this shit so much.
Reposted by Joshua Zimmerman
You have more in common with the people of Iran than you do with anyone in this administration, any member of the technocracy, anyone who is profiting from this war, or any billionaire. When you see Iranians forming human chains outside key infrastructure sites, you should feel a sense of kinship.
April 7, 2026 at 8:53 PM
You have more in common with the people of Iran than you do with anyone in this administration, any member of the technocracy, anyone who is profiting from this war, or any billionaire. When you see Iranians forming human chains outside key infrastructure sites, you should feel a sense of kinship.
The baby: *gives up on pooping after several times of straining and crying*
Me, a scholar of talmud, to the baby: You are not obligated to finish the work, but neither are you allowed to desist from it
Me, a scholar of talmud, to the baby: You are not obligated to finish the work, but neither are you allowed to desist from it
March 21, 2026 at 12:16 AM
The baby: *gives up on pooping after several times of straining and crying*
Me, a scholar of talmud, to the baby: You are not obligated to finish the work, but neither are you allowed to desist from it
Me, a scholar of talmud, to the baby: You are not obligated to finish the work, but neither are you allowed to desist from it
Reposted by Joshua Zimmerman
I felt this to my marrow.
A major failing of restorative justice when it's taken out of its original context (which is as an alternative to carceral systems) is that abusers often have way more energy to spend on staying in communities that enable them than victims have for staying in communities where they're not safe.
For restorative justice to work:
- It must be truly voluntary for the survivor—which means there must be other options available too.
- The perpetrator must confess.
- There must be recognition of the power imbalance between victim and perpetrator. It is not just a fancy mediation session.
- It must be truly voluntary for the survivor—which means there must be other options available too.
- The perpetrator must confess.
- There must be recognition of the power imbalance between victim and perpetrator. It is not just a fancy mediation session.
March 20, 2026 at 6:14 PM
I felt this to my marrow.
The world is terrible and on fire, but at least snuggling with my 2 week old daughter is pretty great.
March 14, 2026 at 1:23 PM
The world is terrible and on fire, but at least snuggling with my 2 week old daughter is pretty great.
When my 4 year old left for school this morning, he told us that we were farmers and our house was a farm and that we had to take care of the animals while he was gone. So I shipped the pretend cows off to the meat processing plant, but now my wife tells me we are a dairy farm. What do I do?
March 11, 2026 at 4:19 PM
When my 4 year old left for school this morning, he told us that we were farmers and our house was a farm and that we had to take care of the animals while he was gone. So I shipped the pretend cows off to the meat processing plant, but now my wife tells me we are a dairy farm. What do I do?
Reposted by Joshua Zimmerman
Jack Dorsey renamed the company to Block because he thought blockchains would be the future, in case you were wondering what his track record of predicting long-term tech trends is
Block, the company behind Square, Cash App and Afterpay, is cutting its staff by 40%. The reason: “intelligence tools,” according to a letter to shareholders by co-founder Jack Dorsey.
Block lays off nearly half its staff because of AI. Its CEO said most companies will do the same | CNN Business
Block, the company behind Square, Cash App and Afterpay, is cutting its staff by 40%. The reason: “intelligence tools,” according to a letter to shareholders by co-founder Jack Dorsey.
www.cnn.com
February 27, 2026 at 5:26 PM
Jack Dorsey renamed the company to Block because he thought blockchains would be the future, in case you were wondering what his track record of predicting long-term tech trends is
Reposted by Joshua Zimmerman
Dispatches from MN: it's getting really hard, guys. The media has left, the donations are drying up, and ICE is still here kidnapping people. It's hard not to be resentful that other people have the option of setting this aside for.other things.
February 25, 2026 at 1:26 PM
Dispatches from MN: it's getting really hard, guys. The media has left, the donations are drying up, and ICE is still here kidnapping people. It's hard not to be resentful that other people have the option of setting this aside for.other things.
"At scale" is one of my least favorite phrases in tech. Everyone wants to think they're at scale and the phrase is ambiguous enough to make everyone think advice about something "at scale" applies to them. Most of the time its like "your k8s cluster has 20 nodes this doesn't apply to you."
February 25, 2026 at 8:17 PM
"At scale" is one of my least favorite phrases in tech. Everyone wants to think they're at scale and the phrase is ambiguous enough to make everyone think advice about something "at scale" applies to them. Most of the time its like "your k8s cluster has 20 nodes this doesn't apply to you."
Reposted by Joshua Zimmerman
AI SREs are framed as nameless job automation; Coding Assistants as named partners.
The framing used to create these products reveals a lot about how the builders and buyers perceive these roles. I also write about the challenges and risks of picking self-limiting analogies in building systems.
The framing used to create these products reveals a lot about how the builders and buyers perceive these roles. I also write about the challenges and risks of picking self-limiting analogies in building systems.
The Picture They Paint of You
Musings on the way we frame Coding Assistants, AI SREs, and what this communicates in terms of how these roles are perceived.
ferd.ca
February 23, 2026 at 5:09 PM
AI SREs are framed as nameless job automation; Coding Assistants as named partners.
The framing used to create these products reveals a lot about how the builders and buyers perceive these roles. I also write about the challenges and risks of picking self-limiting analogies in building systems.
The framing used to create these products reveals a lot about how the builders and buyers perceive these roles. I also write about the challenges and risks of picking self-limiting analogies in building systems.