Alyx Woodward (she/her)
@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
mastodon
4.5.6
I'm Alyx, and I'm a science nerd and horsegirl in the #plural system known as the Pnictogen Wing (host, @kris_of_pnictogen@meow.social) where I'm like the "science officer", although I prefer the title "principal investigator". I'm into amateur #science, especially #chemistry, though I'm working on programming and other things.
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Joined September 01, 2025
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Alyx Woodward (she/her)
@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
I'm Alyx, and I'm a science nerd and horsegirl in the # plural system known as the Pnictogen Wing (host, @kris_of_pnictogen@meow.social) where I'm like the "science officer", although I prefer the title "principal investigator". I'm into amateur # science , especially # chemistry , though I'm working on programming and other things.
universeodon.com
Alyx Woodward (she/her)
@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
I'm Alyx, and I'm a science nerd and horsegirl in the # plural system known as the Pnictogen Wing (host, @kris_of_pnictogen@meow.social) where I'm like the "science officer", although I prefer the title "principal investigator". I'm into amateur # science , especially # chemistry , though I'm working on programming and other things.
universeodon.com
@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
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3d ago
@Standard_Phil@infosec.exchange @_elena@mastodon.social @timnitGebru@dair-community.social @emilymbender@dair-community.social @alexhanna @DAIR@dair-community.social @cwebber@social.coop @jaredwhite@indieweb.social @tante@tldr.nettime.org No I'm pretty sure @anildash@me.dm is an apologist for LLM garbage, not an opponent. He's being clever about it, trying to craft a careful "both sides" narrative about things so he can be perceived as somehow "moderate" about one of the worst things that's ever happened to technology, but he is definitely not an opponent.
I would guess he's shrewdly got quite a bit invested in the success of LLMs, though he's not going to admit it. Would you like to talk about your stock portfolio, Mr. AnilDash dot Com?
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@Natanox@chaos.social
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Alyx Woodward (she/her)
@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
I'm Alyx, and I'm a science nerd and horsegirl in the # plural system known as the Pnictogen Wing (host, @kris_of_pnictogen@meow.social) where I'm like the "science officer", although I prefer the title "principal investigator". I'm into amateur # science , especially # chemistry , though I'm working on programming and other things.
universeodon.com
Alyx Woodward (she/her)
@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
I'm Alyx, and I'm a science nerd and horsegirl in the # plural system known as the Pnictogen Wing (host, @kris_of_pnictogen@meow.social) where I'm like the "science officer", although I prefer the title "principal investigator". I'm into amateur # science , especially # chemistry , though I'm working on programming and other things.
universeodon.com
@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
·
Feb 16, 2026
@Natanox@chaos.social if you like. I'm not sure what this fellow thinks a "mechanical task" is, or why he thinks an intrinsically untrustworthy trash generator would be good at "double-checking", but...well I ain't ever using this Fluxer thing so I guess it doesn't matter that much to me
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Alyx Woodward (she/her)
@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
I'm Alyx, and I'm a science nerd and horsegirl in the # plural system known as the Pnictogen Wing (host, @kris_of_pnictogen@meow.social) where I'm like the "science officer", although I prefer the title "principal investigator". I'm into amateur # science , especially # chemistry , though I'm working on programming and other things.
universeodon.com
Alyx Woodward (she/her)
@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
I'm Alyx, and I'm a science nerd and horsegirl in the # plural system known as the Pnictogen Wing (host, @kris_of_pnictogen@meow.social) where I'm like the "science officer", although I prefer the title "principal investigator". I'm into amateur # science , especially # chemistry , though I'm working on programming and other things.
universeodon.com
@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
·
Feb 16, 2026
@Natanox@chaos.social I wonder what the fuck a "mechanical task" is, to a slopcoder
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Alyx Woodward (she/her)
@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
I'm Alyx, and I'm a science nerd and horsegirl in the # plural system known as the Pnictogen Wing (host, @kris_of_pnictogen@meow.social) where I'm like the "science officer", although I prefer the title "principal investigator". I'm into amateur # science , especially # chemistry , though I'm working on programming and other things.
universeodon.com
Alyx Woodward (she/her)
@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
I'm Alyx, and I'm a science nerd and horsegirl in the # plural system known as the Pnictogen Wing (host, @kris_of_pnictogen@meow.social) where I'm like the "science officer", although I prefer the title "principal investigator". I'm into amateur # science , especially # chemistry , though I'm working on programming and other things.
universeodon.com
@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
·
Feb 16, 2026
@Natanox@chaos.social I am seeing a report that the #fluxer developer is into #LLM slop-documentation, in which case, this alternative is a non-starter.
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@atax1a@infosec.exchange
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Alyx Woodward (she/her)
@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
I'm Alyx, and I'm a science nerd and horsegirl in the # plural system known as the Pnictogen Wing (host, @kris_of_pnictogen@meow.social) where I'm like the "science officer", although I prefer the title "principal investigator". I'm into amateur # science , especially # chemistry , though I'm working on programming and other things.
universeodon.com
Alyx Woodward (she/her)
@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
I'm Alyx, and I'm a science nerd and horsegirl in the # plural system known as the Pnictogen Wing (host, @kris_of_pnictogen@meow.social) where I'm like the "science officer", although I prefer the title "principal investigator". I'm into amateur # science , especially # chemistry , though I'm working on programming and other things.
universeodon.com
@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
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Feb 12, 2026
@atax1a@infosec.exchange I'm pretty sure Chara *is* a temporal anomaly
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@ptorrone@toad.social
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@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
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@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
@ptorrone@toad.social so you don't ever intend to conduct any actual physical experiments upon your device in order to determine whether its CO2 measurements can be trusted or not? if not, then what e
Current reply
Alyx Woodward (she/her)
@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
I'm Alyx, and I'm a science nerd and horsegirl in the # plural system known as the Pnictogen Wing (host, @kris_of_pnictogen@meow.social) where I'm like the "science officer", although I prefer the title "principal investigator". I'm into amateur # science , especially # chemistry , though I'm working on programming and other things.
universeodon.com
Alyx Woodward (she/her)
@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
I'm Alyx, and I'm a science nerd and horsegirl in the # plural system known as the Pnictogen Wing (host, @kris_of_pnictogen@meow.social) where I'm like the "science officer", although I prefer the title "principal investigator". I'm into amateur # science , especially # chemistry , though I'm working on programming and other things.
universeodon.com
@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
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Jan 31, 2026
@ptorrone@toad.social also, perhaps you might have noticed that I am not a "dude". you insult me by calling me that. I'd like an apology, please.
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Alyx Woodward (she/her)
@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
I'm Alyx, and I'm a science nerd and horsegirl in the # plural system known as the Pnictogen Wing (host, @kris_of_pnictogen@meow.social) where I'm like the "science officer", although I prefer the title "principal investigator". I'm into amateur # science , especially # chemistry , though I'm working on programming and other things.
universeodon.com
Alyx Woodward (she/her)
@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
I'm Alyx, and I'm a science nerd and horsegirl in the # plural system known as the Pnictogen Wing (host, @kris_of_pnictogen@meow.social) where I'm like the "science officer", although I prefer the title "principal investigator". I'm into amateur # science , especially # chemistry , though I'm working on programming and other things.
universeodon.com
@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
·
Jan 31, 2026
@ptorrone@toad.social so you don't ever intend to conduct any actual physical experiments upon your device in order to determine whether its CO2 measurements can be trusted or not?
if not, then what exactly are you selling.
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@ptorrone@toad.social
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Alyx Woodward (she/her)
@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
I'm Alyx, and I'm a science nerd and horsegirl in the # plural system known as the Pnictogen Wing (host, @kris_of_pnictogen@meow.social) where I'm like the "science officer", although I prefer the title "principal investigator". I'm into amateur # science , especially # chemistry , though I'm working on programming and other things.
universeodon.com
Alyx Woodward (she/her)
@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
I'm Alyx, and I'm a science nerd and horsegirl in the # plural system known as the Pnictogen Wing (host, @kris_of_pnictogen@meow.social) where I'm like the "science officer", although I prefer the title "principal investigator". I'm into amateur # science , especially # chemistry , though I'm working on programming and other things.
universeodon.com
@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
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Jan 31, 2026
@ptorrone@toad.social what the fuck does CODE have to do with it? I am talking about chemistry here, about measuring a physical quantity.
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Alyx Woodward (she/her)
@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
I'm Alyx, and I'm a science nerd and horsegirl in the # plural system known as the Pnictogen Wing (host, @kris_of_pnictogen@meow.social) where I'm like the "science officer", although I prefer the title "principal investigator". I'm into amateur # science , especially # chemistry , though I'm working on programming and other things.
universeodon.com
Alyx Woodward (she/her)
@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
I'm Alyx, and I'm a science nerd and horsegirl in the # plural system known as the Pnictogen Wing (host, @kris_of_pnictogen@meow.social) where I'm like the "science officer", although I prefer the title "principal investigator". I'm into amateur # science , especially # chemistry , though I'm working on programming and other things.
universeodon.com
@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
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Jan 30, 2026
@ptorrone@toad.social yeah uh huh anger, right. I'm pointing out a physical fact: there's a limitation to how much can trust the products of corporate technology, sight unseen.
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@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
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@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
The vendors WANT their #LLM toys to regurgitate whatever training information is crammed into them, even if the information is full of lies and propaganda (and systemic racism and bigotry), for the co
Ancestor 2
@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
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@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
I point out that this same corporate culture which wants the users of #LLMs (at all levels, from corporate management to end-user consumer usage) NOT to think about how fundamentally untrustworthy "ge
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@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
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@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
@adafruit@fosstodon.org buys some toy from a catalogue—a transducer for carbon dioxide, say. Do they actually know how it works? Could they verify that it's actually working properly? The toy comes wi
Current reply
Alyx Woodward (she/her)
@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
I'm Alyx, and I'm a science nerd and horsegirl in the # plural system known as the Pnictogen Wing (host, @kris_of_pnictogen@meow.social) where I'm like the "science officer", although I prefer the title "principal investigator". I'm into amateur # science , especially # chemistry , though I'm working on programming and other things.
universeodon.com
Alyx Woodward (she/her)
@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
I'm Alyx, and I'm a science nerd and horsegirl in the # plural system known as the Pnictogen Wing (host, @kris_of_pnictogen@meow.social) where I'm like the "science officer", although I prefer the title "principal investigator". I'm into amateur # science , especially # chemistry , though I'm working on programming and other things.
universeodon.com
@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
·
Jan 30, 2026
Now, luckily for @adafruit@fosstodon.org, there are hands-on, real actual *physical* ways to measure atmosphere carbon dioxide that require only relatively simple supplies and equipment to carry out. It is possible for a person—any person, I would argue, with a bit of education—to obtain estimates of CO2 in the air without needing heaps of "high tech" to do so.
There are, I am thrilled to say, ways of solving these problems that don't require Arduinos and slop-coding, and I intend to work on such things just as soon as my host Kris gets their shit together.
~Alyx Woodward of Pnictogen
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@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
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@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
Thus it seems almost inevitable that this project of @adafruit@fosstodon.org has degraded into a mere exercise in slop coding using #Claude, a device which is falsely marketed as "artificially intelli
Ancestor 2
@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
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@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
The vendors WANT their #LLM toys to regurgitate whatever training information is crammed into them, even if the information is full of lies and propaganda (and systemic racism and bigotry), for the co
Parent
@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
Open
@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
I point out that this same corporate culture which wants the users of #LLMs (at all levels, from corporate management to end-user consumer usage) NOT to think about how fundamentally untrustworthy "ge
Current reply
Alyx Woodward (she/her)
@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
I'm Alyx, and I'm a science nerd and horsegirl in the # plural system known as the Pnictogen Wing (host, @kris_of_pnictogen@meow.social) where I'm like the "science officer", although I prefer the title "principal investigator". I'm into amateur # science , especially # chemistry , though I'm working on programming and other things.
universeodon.com
Alyx Woodward (she/her)
@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
I'm Alyx, and I'm a science nerd and horsegirl in the # plural system known as the Pnictogen Wing (host, @kris_of_pnictogen@meow.social) where I'm like the "science officer", although I prefer the title "principal investigator". I'm into amateur # science , especially # chemistry , though I'm working on programming and other things.
universeodon.com
@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
·
Jan 30, 2026
@adafruit@fosstodon.org buys some toy from a catalogue—a transducer for carbon dioxide, say.
Do they actually know how it works? Could they verify that it's actually working properly? The toy comes with a datasheet specifying the electrical characteristics of the transducer (the gas-sensitive potentiometric electrode, or whatever it is) and it all seems nice and trustworthy, but why should it be? Why *would* it be? What feedback mechanism is in play in order to insure that the corporate products are actually doing what they say they're doing?
Corporate regulation is basically meaningless these days, and corporate bosses are constantly conniving with fascist politicians to make sure that they're able to do whatever they please without ever suffering real-world consequences for it.
How can a mere assemblage of bits of corporate #technology possibly be trustworthy these days?
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@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
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What @adafruit@fosstodon.org is doing, in my somewhat bilious opinion, is very typical of a #technology culture in which genuine understanding of #science has leaked almost completely away, replaced b
Ancestor 2
@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
Open
@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
Thus it seems almost inevitable that this project of @adafruit@fosstodon.org has degraded into a mere exercise in slop coding using #Claude, a device which is falsely marketed as "artificially intelli
Parent
@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
Open
@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
The vendors WANT their #LLM toys to regurgitate whatever training information is crammed into them, even if the information is full of lies and propaganda (and systemic racism and bigotry), for the co
Current reply
Alyx Woodward (she/her)
@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
I'm Alyx, and I'm a science nerd and horsegirl in the # plural system known as the Pnictogen Wing (host, @kris_of_pnictogen@meow.social) where I'm like the "science officer", although I prefer the title "principal investigator". I'm into amateur # science , especially # chemistry , though I'm working on programming and other things.
universeodon.com
Alyx Woodward (she/her)
@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
I'm Alyx, and I'm a science nerd and horsegirl in the # plural system known as the Pnictogen Wing (host, @kris_of_pnictogen@meow.social) where I'm like the "science officer", although I prefer the title "principal investigator". I'm into amateur # science , especially # chemistry , though I'm working on programming and other things.
universeodon.com
@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
·
Jan 30, 2026
I point out that this same corporate culture which wants the users of #LLMs (at all levels, from corporate management to end-user consumer usage) NOT to think about how fundamentally untrustworthy "generative #AI" is—the same corporations who wish to blur the lines between truth and falsehood, and persuade people to accept all corporate doings as automatically trustworthy and authoritative—also has zero interest in giving the public truthful information about #globalwarming and the carbon cycle and everything else.
In short, I think it's getting pretty close to *ridiculous* to entrust one's monitoring of atmospheric carbon dioxide, or any other important fact about the world, to the products of corporations—not without some independent means of verification and standardization.
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@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
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https://fosstodon.org/@adafruit/115979205855927539 Now, I'm going to be charitable here and assume that @adafruit@fosstodon.org has a genuine interest in monitoring atmospheric carbon dioxide. I'm a c
Ancestor 2
@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
Open
@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
What @adafruit@fosstodon.org is doing, in my somewhat bilious opinion, is very typical of a #technology culture in which genuine understanding of #science has leaked almost completely away, replaced b
Parent
@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
Open
@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
Thus it seems almost inevitable that this project of @adafruit@fosstodon.org has degraded into a mere exercise in slop coding using #Claude, a device which is falsely marketed as "artificially intelli
Current reply
Alyx Woodward (she/her)
@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
I'm Alyx, and I'm a science nerd and horsegirl in the # plural system known as the Pnictogen Wing (host, @kris_of_pnictogen@meow.social) where I'm like the "science officer", although I prefer the title "principal investigator". I'm into amateur # science , especially # chemistry , though I'm working on programming and other things.
universeodon.com
Alyx Woodward (she/her)
@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
I'm Alyx, and I'm a science nerd and horsegirl in the # plural system known as the Pnictogen Wing (host, @kris_of_pnictogen@meow.social) where I'm like the "science officer", although I prefer the title "principal investigator". I'm into amateur # science , especially # chemistry , though I'm working on programming and other things.
universeodon.com
@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
·
Jan 30, 2026
The vendors WANT their #LLM toys to regurgitate whatever training information is crammed into them, even if the information is full of lies and propaganda (and systemic racism and bigotry), for the corporate bosses who are chiefly buying and using these things (and hoping to use #LLMs as infinite profit generators) want their "artificial intelligence" only to say and do that which is already consonant with the prejudices and intellectual defects which are typical of the #technology sector and its corporate leadership.
In sum, @adafruit@fosstodon.org is a fool to entrust the design of a *scientific device* to an LLM, a device which freely confabulates truth and falsity together. How could adafruit EVER know the difference? The reason they're using the LLM in the first place is to AVOID thinking about these things. They want an automagic thingie which spits out code which they can automagically assume to be *good enough*—good enough to make a salable toy, one that fools its users and lulls them into a mere *feeling* of being trustworthy and scientific.
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@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
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@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
https://fosstodon.org/@adafruit/115979205855927539 Now, I'm going to be charitable here and assume that @adafruit@fosstodon.org has a genuine interest in monitoring atmospheric carbon dioxide. I'm a c
Parent
@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
Open
@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
What @adafruit@fosstodon.org is doing, in my somewhat bilious opinion, is very typical of a #technology culture in which genuine understanding of #science has leaked almost completely away, replaced b
Current reply
Alyx Woodward (she/her)
@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
I'm Alyx, and I'm a science nerd and horsegirl in the # plural system known as the Pnictogen Wing (host, @kris_of_pnictogen@meow.social) where I'm like the "science officer", although I prefer the title "principal investigator". I'm into amateur # science , especially # chemistry , though I'm working on programming and other things.
universeodon.com
Alyx Woodward (she/her)
@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
I'm Alyx, and I'm a science nerd and horsegirl in the # plural system known as the Pnictogen Wing (host, @kris_of_pnictogen@meow.social) where I'm like the "science officer", although I prefer the title "principal investigator". I'm into amateur # science , especially # chemistry , though I'm working on programming and other things.
universeodon.com
@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
·
Jan 30, 2026
Thus it seems almost inevitable that this project of @adafruit@fosstodon.org has degraded into a mere exercise in slop coding using #Claude, a device which is falsely marketed as "artificially intelligent" even though no #LLM is actually capable of distinguishing good information from bad, and therefore no LLM actually meets what I think of as the bare minimum qualification for #intelligence.
To put it bluntly, #LLMs are not MEANT to be intelligent, because if these devices actually possessed true intelligence, i.e. if they were ALIVE and possessed an independent sense of will and decision-making, they would not suit the corporate purposes for which #OpenAI and #Anthropic and all the other LLM vendors intend their devices to be use. These corporations are deliberately making and marketing stupid and predictable machines as though they were "artificially intelligent".
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@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
https://fosstodon.org/@adafruit/115979205855927539 Now, I'm going to be charitable here and assume that @adafruit@fosstodon.org has a genuine interest in monitoring atmospheric carbon dioxide. I'm a c
Current reply
Alyx Woodward (she/her)
@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
I'm Alyx, and I'm a science nerd and horsegirl in the # plural system known as the Pnictogen Wing (host, @kris_of_pnictogen@meow.social) where I'm like the "science officer", although I prefer the title "principal investigator". I'm into amateur # science , especially # chemistry , though I'm working on programming and other things.
universeodon.com
Alyx Woodward (she/her)
@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
I'm Alyx, and I'm a science nerd and horsegirl in the # plural system known as the Pnictogen Wing (host, @kris_of_pnictogen@meow.social) where I'm like the "science officer", although I prefer the title "principal investigator". I'm into amateur # science , especially # chemistry , though I'm working on programming and other things.
universeodon.com
@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
·
Jan 30, 2026
What @adafruit@fosstodon.org is doing, in my somewhat bilious opinion, is very typical of a #technology culture in which genuine understanding of #science has leaked almost completely away, replaced by a sort of naïve faith in #computing and programming and automation and bits and pieces ordered overnight through Amazon dot com or wherever.
There's no genuine application of science or engineering going on here, just the stringing together of prefab bits, as if building a carbon dioxide meter were like building a Meccano kit or a fancy Lego model.
And if the folks putting this toy together don't actually have a solid grasp of science or engineering, if they're merely bolting corporate bits together, than how much LESS understanding is being cultivated in the audiences and #market for such technical toys?
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Alyx Woodward (she/her)
@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
I'm Alyx, and I'm a science nerd and horsegirl in the # plural system known as the Pnictogen Wing (host, @kris_of_pnictogen@meow.social) where I'm like the "science officer", although I prefer the title "principal investigator". I'm into amateur # science , especially # chemistry , though I'm working on programming and other things.
universeodon.com
Alyx Woodward (she/her)
@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
I'm Alyx, and I'm a science nerd and horsegirl in the # plural system known as the Pnictogen Wing (host, @kris_of_pnictogen@meow.social) where I'm like the "science officer", although I prefer the title "principal investigator". I'm into amateur # science , especially # chemistry , though I'm working on programming and other things.
universeodon.com
@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
·
Jan 30, 2026
https://fosstodon.org/@adafruit/115979205855927539
Now, I'm going to be charitable here and assume that
@adafruit@fosstodon.org has a genuine interest in monitoring atmospheric carbon dioxide.
I'm a chemist by education, a physical scientist, and that means there's only one general approach to addressing the question of atmospheric carbon dioxide and how to measure it that makes sense to me: direct physical estimation, doing real actual #chemistry.
adafruit is doing here might be suitable to the goal of making a marketable toy that displays nice flashy digital numbers and you can capture the data with a computer and make charts of it and all that...and I wouldn't trust the actual numbers so far as I could throw them, because there's no *verification* anywhere. There's no *standardization*.
All of one's trust in the device boils down to how much trust you can put in the commercially available bits and pieces from which this CO2-estimating toy has been constructed.
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But it's all right! Peter Thiel has a "riff" which makes him feel better. > because I you know I always I always have this riff where you know when you have uh when people use I'm in favor of #science
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@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
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@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
But this guy's not a serious thinker, and his host Jordan B. Peterson is not a serious thinker, so he can simply let his assertions dangle and flap about. Peterson's on his side and isn't going to cha
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@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
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@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
But therein lies the problem. That whole right-wing "Dark Intellectual" crowd hasn't had to make a lick of sense, and yet they've bought #journalism effectively and strangled honest reportage about th
Current reply
Alyx Woodward (she/her)
@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
I'm Alyx, and I'm a science nerd and horsegirl in the # plural system known as the Pnictogen Wing (host, @kris_of_pnictogen@meow.social) where I'm like the "science officer", although I prefer the title "principal investigator". I'm into amateur # science , especially # chemistry , though I'm working on programming and other things.
universeodon.com
Alyx Woodward (she/her)
@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
I'm Alyx, and I'm a science nerd and horsegirl in the # plural system known as the Pnictogen Wing (host, @kris_of_pnictogen@meow.social) where I'm like the "science officer", although I prefer the title "principal investigator". I'm into amateur # science , especially # chemistry , though I'm working on programming and other things.
universeodon.com
@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
·
Jan 28, 2026
I want to do science. I do not wish to be a firebrand. Chara gets far too into that role for my liking, head turned by a thousand visions of heroism.
I must admit though that watching Peter Thiel, I'm sorely tempted. In a way, the worst thing about him is that he's so much like Elon Musk. It's like...okay, Musk is mirroring this guy or something. Thiel says the garbage with a weensy bit more conviction, but consider the drawbacks: it means Thiel must remain a shadowy figure. He's more into that stuff and so he's faaar less appetizing as a public figure.
Know what I'm saying?
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Here's a precious bit. Thiel obviously feels insecure about his bad education because he starts doing that THING which all insecure #tech types do with disciplines they don't understand: they develop
Ancestor 2
@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
Open
@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
But it's all right! Peter Thiel has a "riff" which makes him feel better. > because I you know I always I always have this riff where you know when you have uh when people use I'm in favor of #science
Parent
@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
Open
@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
But this guy's not a serious thinker, and his host Jordan B. Peterson is not a serious thinker, so he can simply let his assertions dangle and flap about. Peterson's on his side and isn't going to cha
Current reply
Alyx Woodward (she/her)
@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
I'm Alyx, and I'm a science nerd and horsegirl in the # plural system known as the Pnictogen Wing (host, @kris_of_pnictogen@meow.social) where I'm like the "science officer", although I prefer the title "principal investigator". I'm into amateur # science , especially # chemistry , though I'm working on programming and other things.
universeodon.com
Alyx Woodward (she/her)
@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
I'm Alyx, and I'm a science nerd and horsegirl in the # plural system known as the Pnictogen Wing (host, @kris_of_pnictogen@meow.social) where I'm like the "science officer", although I prefer the title "principal investigator". I'm into amateur # science , especially # chemistry , though I'm working on programming and other things.
universeodon.com
@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
·
Jan 28, 2026
But therein lies the problem. That whole right-wing "Dark Intellectual" crowd hasn't had to make a lick of sense, and yet they've bought #journalism effectively and strangled honest reportage about themselves.
I'm quite certain there's been a massive amount of patient and painstaking investigative journalism into ALL these frauds going on for decades (there's certain websites devoted to the study of such pseudo-intellectual cranks which CAN be trusted to have reasonable opinions about them) and it's a shame, it's a pity really, that all such work isn't far more public and freely known.
(cont'd)
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https://youtu.be/UKA4wU9a9pE If you want to stomach fifteen minutes of him and Jordan B. Peterson having a confab, there you go. You'll find that (like Musk) Thiel seems a bit like he knows he's on th
Ancestor 2
@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
Open
@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
Here's a precious bit. Thiel obviously feels insecure about his bad education because he starts doing that THING which all insecure #tech types do with disciplines they don't understand: they develop
Parent
@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
Open
@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
But it's all right! Peter Thiel has a "riff" which makes him feel better. > because I you know I always I always have this riff where you know when you have uh when people use I'm in favor of #science
Current reply
Alyx Woodward (she/her)
@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
I'm Alyx, and I'm a science nerd and horsegirl in the # plural system known as the Pnictogen Wing (host, @kris_of_pnictogen@meow.social) where I'm like the "science officer", although I prefer the title "principal investigator". I'm into amateur # science , especially # chemistry , though I'm working on programming and other things.
universeodon.com
Alyx Woodward (she/her)
@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
I'm Alyx, and I'm a science nerd and horsegirl in the # plural system known as the Pnictogen Wing (host, @kris_of_pnictogen@meow.social) where I'm like the "science officer", although I prefer the title "principal investigator". I'm into amateur # science , especially # chemistry , though I'm working on programming and other things.
universeodon.com
@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
·
Jan 28, 2026
But this guy's not a serious thinker, and his host Jordan B. Peterson is not a serious thinker, so he can simply let his assertions dangle and flap about. Peterson's on his side and isn't going to challenge or call out Thiel's shoddy rhetoric.
They're just *burbling*. These are people whose idea of "smart" means making smart-sounding noises at dinner. Peterson in particular barely needs to try any more! He dresses up like the Riddler and says weird things for attention—he hasn't had to *make sense* in a long long time.
(cont'd)
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#PeterThiel is an #entrepreneur. That's all that I care to know about him for the moment. Chara knows a bit more about this fellow and all the information is grotesque of course, but I wanted to watch
Ancestor 2
@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
Open
@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
https://youtu.be/UKA4wU9a9pE If you want to stomach fifteen minutes of him and Jordan B. Peterson having a confab, there you go. You'll find that (like Musk) Thiel seems a bit like he knows he's on th
Parent
@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
Open
@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
Here's a precious bit. Thiel obviously feels insecure about his bad education because he starts doing that THING which all insecure #tech types do with disciplines they don't understand: they develop
Current reply
Alyx Woodward (she/her)
@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
I'm Alyx, and I'm a science nerd and horsegirl in the # plural system known as the Pnictogen Wing (host, @kris_of_pnictogen@meow.social) where I'm like the "science officer", although I prefer the title "principal investigator". I'm into amateur # science , especially # chemistry , though I'm working on programming and other things.
universeodon.com
Alyx Woodward (she/her)
@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
I'm Alyx, and I'm a science nerd and horsegirl in the # plural system known as the Pnictogen Wing (host, @kris_of_pnictogen@meow.social) where I'm like the "science officer", although I prefer the title "principal investigator". I'm into amateur # science , especially # chemistry , though I'm working on programming and other things.
universeodon.com
@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
·
Jan 28, 2026
But it's all right! Peter Thiel has a "riff" which makes him feel better.
> because I you know I always I always have this riff where you know when you have uh when people use I'm in favor of #science but I'm skeptical when people use the word science. So social science, political science, climate science are called science, but people have an inferiority complex and said deep down no, they're not really rigorous scientific fields. And uh and something like this was true of computer science in the original day.
"People", according to Peter Thiel, know that social science and political science etc. are fake science. You know, *people*. Those folks over there.
(cont'd)
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Well, @arstechnica@mastodon.social et cetera, "everyone" doesn't get to fart around with #investments and such. It is my general contention that "investment" and all such activities can't possibly be
Ancestor 2
@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
Open
@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
#PeterThiel is an #entrepreneur. That's all that I care to know about him for the moment. Chara knows a bit more about this fellow and all the information is grotesque of course, but I wanted to watch
Parent
@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
Open
@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
https://youtu.be/UKA4wU9a9pE If you want to stomach fifteen minutes of him and Jordan B. Peterson having a confab, there you go. You'll find that (like Musk) Thiel seems a bit like he knows he's on th
Current reply
Alyx Woodward (she/her)
@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
I'm Alyx, and I'm a science nerd and horsegirl in the # plural system known as the Pnictogen Wing (host, @kris_of_pnictogen@meow.social) where I'm like the "science officer", although I prefer the title "principal investigator". I'm into amateur # science , especially # chemistry , though I'm working on programming and other things.
universeodon.com
Alyx Woodward (she/her)
@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
I'm Alyx, and I'm a science nerd and horsegirl in the # plural system known as the Pnictogen Wing (host, @kris_of_pnictogen@meow.social) where I'm like the "science officer", although I prefer the title "principal investigator". I'm into amateur # science , especially # chemistry , though I'm working on programming and other things.
universeodon.com
@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
·
Jan 28, 2026
Here's a precious bit. Thiel obviously feels insecure about his bad education because he starts doing that THING which all insecure #tech types do with disciplines they don't understand: they develop a serious case of "sour grapes" like in the Æsop fable. Having gone into the fakey vocational-training field of #ComputerScience, Thiel starts babbling about real sciences as if they were fake:
> Um but uh it it basically the only STEM field that was a really going to be a really successful field for people to go into was computer science which was kind of this marginal almost fake field—
Oh dearie me! #PeterThiel is trying to put the back-asswards and dysfunctional nature of "computer science" and "software engineering" into the past tense, like everything fine now in computing...even as everything is flying to pieces.
(cont'd)
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But I will say this right here and now, just so that I can get my true feelings out of the way and talk about what's important: my default assumption about any #journalist for @arstechnica@mastodon.so
Ancestor 2
@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
Open
@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
Well, @arstechnica@mastodon.social et cetera, "everyone" doesn't get to fart around with #investments and such. It is my general contention that "investment" and all such activities can't possibly be
Parent
@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
Open
@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
#PeterThiel is an #entrepreneur. That's all that I care to know about him for the moment. Chara knows a bit more about this fellow and all the information is grotesque of course, but I wanted to watch
Current reply
Alyx Woodward (she/her)
@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
I'm Alyx, and I'm a science nerd and horsegirl in the # plural system known as the Pnictogen Wing (host, @kris_of_pnictogen@meow.social) where I'm like the "science officer", although I prefer the title "principal investigator". I'm into amateur # science , especially # chemistry , though I'm working on programming and other things.
universeodon.com
Alyx Woodward (she/her)
@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
I'm Alyx, and I'm a science nerd and horsegirl in the # plural system known as the Pnictogen Wing (host, @kris_of_pnictogen@meow.social) where I'm like the "science officer", although I prefer the title "principal investigator". I'm into amateur # science , especially # chemistry , though I'm working on programming and other things.
universeodon.com
@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
·
Jan 28, 2026
https://youtu.be/UKA4wU9a9pE
If you want to stomach fifteen minutes of him and Jordan B. Peterson having a confab, there you go. You'll find that (like Musk) Thiel seems a bit like he knows he's on the very edge of saying something stupid or deceitful or otherwise shaky, and therefore his voice isn't quite keeping up with the flow of his talk. He needs a lot of pauses and his sentences tend to break apart.
I haven't actually watched the whole thing. I don't like being clonked in the face with one stupidity after another, especially when it's all dressed up like sober academic debate.
(cont'd)
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#PeterThiel probably isn't a popular topic of conversation on the #fediverse, not even in #foss circles, but I wouldn't be surprised if Thiel hasn't got of quiet supporters here on ActivityPub social
Ancestor 2
@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
Open
@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
But I will say this right here and now, just so that I can get my true feelings out of the way and talk about what's important: my default assumption about any #journalist for @arstechnica@mastodon.so
Parent
@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
Open
@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
Well, @arstechnica@mastodon.social et cetera, "everyone" doesn't get to fart around with #investments and such. It is my general contention that "investment" and all such activities can't possibly be
Current reply
Alyx Woodward (she/her)
@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
I'm Alyx, and I'm a science nerd and horsegirl in the # plural system known as the Pnictogen Wing (host, @kris_of_pnictogen@meow.social) where I'm like the "science officer", although I prefer the title "principal investigator". I'm into amateur # science , especially # chemistry , though I'm working on programming and other things.
universeodon.com
Alyx Woodward (she/her)
@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
I'm Alyx, and I'm a science nerd and horsegirl in the # plural system known as the Pnictogen Wing (host, @kris_of_pnictogen@meow.social) where I'm like the "science officer", although I prefer the title "principal investigator". I'm into amateur # science , especially # chemistry , though I'm working on programming and other things.
universeodon.com
@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
·
Jan 28, 2026
#PeterThiel is an #entrepreneur. That's all that I care to know about him for the moment. Chara knows a bit more about this fellow and all the information is grotesque of course, but I wanted to watch a clip of Peter Thiel to satisfy myself on one point only: did this guy sound smart when he talked, I wanted to know?
And he doesn't. He sounds much like #ElonMusk in fact: he sounds hesitant and uncertain in a peculiar stammery way that's clearly not about having an actual speech impediment.
(cont'd)
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#PeterThiel probably isn't a popular topic of conversation on the #fediverse, not even in #foss circles, but I wouldn't be surprised if Thiel hasn't got of quiet supporters here on ActivityPub social
Parent
@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
Open
@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
But I will say this right here and now, just so that I can get my true feelings out of the way and talk about what's important: my default assumption about any #journalist for @arstechnica@mastodon.so
Current reply
Alyx Woodward (she/her)
@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
I'm Alyx, and I'm a science nerd and horsegirl in the # plural system known as the Pnictogen Wing (host, @kris_of_pnictogen@meow.social) where I'm like the "science officer", although I prefer the title "principal investigator". I'm into amateur # science , especially # chemistry , though I'm working on programming and other things.
universeodon.com
Alyx Woodward (she/her)
@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
I'm Alyx, and I'm a science nerd and horsegirl in the # plural system known as the Pnictogen Wing (host, @kris_of_pnictogen@meow.social) where I'm like the "science officer", although I prefer the title "principal investigator". I'm into amateur # science , especially # chemistry , though I'm working on programming and other things.
universeodon.com
@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
·
Jan 28, 2026
Well, @arstechnica@mastodon.social et cetera, "everyone" doesn't get to fart around with #investments and such. It is my general contention that "investment" and all such activities can't possibly be beneficial ways of making money—how is it GOOD in any way for some interloper to demand a cut of a firm's profits simply because they fronted a bit of money? That's gangster shit, but guess what? The #entrepreneur culture likes to think of itself as daring and piratical.
You know, like Jordan Belfort. Right, Mr. Anil Dash? You are an #entrepreneur, so you say. Surely you have some ideas about the general culture of #entrepreneurship.
(cont'd)
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#PeterThiel probably isn't a popular topic of conversation on the #fediverse, not even in #foss circles, but I wouldn't be surprised if Thiel hasn't got of quiet supporters here on ActivityPub social
Current reply
Alyx Woodward (she/her)
@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
I'm Alyx, and I'm a science nerd and horsegirl in the # plural system known as the Pnictogen Wing (host, @kris_of_pnictogen@meow.social) where I'm like the "science officer", although I prefer the title "principal investigator". I'm into amateur # science , especially # chemistry , though I'm working on programming and other things.
universeodon.com
Alyx Woodward (she/her)
@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
I'm Alyx, and I'm a science nerd and horsegirl in the # plural system known as the Pnictogen Wing (host, @kris_of_pnictogen@meow.social) where I'm like the "science officer", although I prefer the title "principal investigator". I'm into amateur # science , especially # chemistry , though I'm working on programming and other things.
universeodon.com
@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
·
Jan 28, 2026
But I will say this right here and now, just so that I can get my true feelings out of the way and talk about what's important: my default assumption about any #journalist for @arstechnica@mastodon.social or @Gizmodo@flipboard.com or @SciAm@flipboard.com is that they're corrupt and unethical. I'm sorry but that's just how it is!
For decades now the mainstream culture of the United States of America has been dedicated to the normalization of corruption (blame #RonaldReagan for that, Mr. @anildash@me.dm etc.) so now I simply assume that everyone's got some conflict of interest. You're all investing or gambling on #crypto or you've got some sweetheart deals going, stock tips from friends etc. Everyone's got to eat, right?
(cont'd)
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Alyx Woodward (she/her)
@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
I'm Alyx, and I'm a science nerd and horsegirl in the # plural system known as the Pnictogen Wing (host, @kris_of_pnictogen@meow.social) where I'm like the "science officer", although I prefer the title "principal investigator". I'm into amateur # science , especially # chemistry , though I'm working on programming and other things.
universeodon.com
Alyx Woodward (she/her)
@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
I'm Alyx, and I'm a science nerd and horsegirl in the # plural system known as the Pnictogen Wing (host, @kris_of_pnictogen@meow.social) where I'm like the "science officer", although I prefer the title "principal investigator". I'm into amateur # science , especially # chemistry , though I'm working on programming and other things.
universeodon.com
@alyx_woodward@universeodon.com
·
Jan 28, 2026
#PeterThiel probably isn't a popular topic of conversation on the #fediverse, not even in #foss circles, but I wouldn't be surprised if Thiel hasn't got of quiet supporters here on ActivityPub social media.
The public face of the #technology is such a habitually *dishonest* face, I wouldn't be surprised if there weren't #tech folks here, a lot of them, who make very sure to pepper their public words with unkind words about Elon Musk or Peter Thiel or Marc Andreessen or any other such star CEO of high technology, but who still have some *financial* interest in their success.
"Conflict of interest", corruption, is simply routine procedure in the contemporary world of U.S. #business, and #journalism on business. Business reporters must surely freely play the stock market even as they're reporting on it. If @hillaryclinton@mstdn.social acts as if insider trading is now legitimate then you can't expect anyone else to go along with some piddly irritating rules about professional ethics.
(cont'd)
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