Brett Queener

@ericvishria @adityaag Agreed. The sadness phase transitioning into wonder is a real one.

The identify crisis that very good, especially mid-level, software engineers are going through with AI is a huge cultural challenge inside of companies, and a harbinger of the challenge to come for most other functions. Great, self-reflective articulation from @adityaag here:

I just gave a closed-book, pen-and-paper midterm exam in my 300-level course at UBC with 100 students. All exams were graded by an experienced graduate-level TA according to a rubric. *** The average was 64/100.*** My class averages at UBC are usually 80-85. Context: • This was the first midterm, covering ONLY 4 weeks of material. • Students had a list of possible questions in advance: no surprise questions. • Questions included (a) 3 concept definitions, (b) 3 paragraph-long questions, and (c) a 1.5-page essay. • I have taught this class multiple times. Nothing in my teaching style changed this semester. • We read entire paragraphs of text in class, so students don't have to do something on their own that wasn't covered during the lecture. • Students take a 10-question multiple-choice quiz at the end of every class (30% of the final grade). • Attendance is 95-99% every class. Attention during lectures and participation in pair-work activities are very high → anticipating the end-of-class quiz. *** But unfortunately, I suspect many students are not reading the material on the syllabus. They are asking LLMs to summarize it instead.*** After the midterm, students reported: • They thought they knew concept definitions but couldn't produce them on paper. • They thought they understood the arguments but struggled to connect them or identify points of agreement and disagreement. My view: It might be “cool” or “innovative” to teach students to summarize readings with ChatGPT or write essays with Claude. But we may be doing them a disservice: reducing their ability to retain material, think creatively, and reason from what they know. If you only read what AI has summarized for you, you don’t truly "know" the material. Moving forward: We have a second midterm coming up. I don't know how to convey to students that the best way to do better on the exam is to rely on and improve their own reading skills.

Me reviewing code generated by Claude before pushing to prod

@juliettekayyem thought it would take two weeks.

Again and again, I repeat. For all the war hawks or idealogues talking about a transformative moment, let me make this clear: the Gulf states will soon teach the US that they love their commerce more than they hate Iran.

@Acyn Where are all my DOGE enthusiasts?

POV: Senior Agentic Engineer

Under-rated - AI's ability, when given proper context, to be an incredible thought partner to flesh through ideas.

In the End, it May Just be Judgement that Matters Most. open.substack.com/pub/queener/p/…

I'm not crying...YOU'RE crying.

california is like claude code but for beautiful sunsets

When i was playing zork as a young teen, i would never have believed if you told me such an experience could exist.

Ai and technology and clawdbot and all of that is great. That being said no better joy can be had once you are one hundred hours in on octopath traveler zero on switch2.

Something that is 100% real but would sound fake if you told a Zoomer is that in the 1990s, for long plane rides, the flight attendants would hold up two VHS tapes at the front of the plane and people had to clap the loudest for whichever one the whole plane was going to watch

Maher Tarabishi, age 62, was taken by ICE last October when he exited his immigration check-in appointment in Texas. He was the primary caregiver for his 30 year old son Wael, who suffers from a chronic muscular condition called Pompe disease. His father provided 24 hour care for many years. Wael died today, his family told me. Wael’s heath had been declining ever since his father’s detention. He never got to say goodbye to his father. Maher will never see his son again. Maher came to the United States in 1994. He is not a criminal. He paid taxes. He raised a family. He was attending his immigration check ins reliably. Now that family is destroyed. For what? If our government has any compassion, Maher Tarabishi should be released from detention now. He should be allowed to attend his son’s funeral. May Wael rest in peace. Is this what America has become? Is this what we want America to be? Spread the word: #FreeMaherTarabishi

@doulbedoink @AndyKHLiu Cmon. Who cant recite that.

BREAKING: Joe Brady reportedly wowed Bills ownership by reciting the entire chorus to Fort Minor’s “Remember the Name” from memory

@dyett @LaurenGoode It is so true and so disheartening. Witaf are we all doing.

There is far more outrage from tech leaders over a wealth tax than masked ICE agents terrorizing communities and executing civilians in the streets. Tells you what you need to know about the values of our industry.

@Kazanjy Pete this is a very bad concept to keep doubling down on.

Ugh. And now parents have another high profile instance of “don’t put yourself in this position” with their kids.

All part of wrecking America...

@LongTimeHistory patriot

ICE physically attacks lawyer—stand between her and clients they're trying to detain. "Don't push me!" lawyer yells. "Why you trying to pick them up?" "It's none of your business," agent scolds. "It is my business—I'm their attorney," she replies. "It's EXACTLY my business!" Immigration attorney Alicia Via Beeslev took this video after she received a call from a client that ICE was lying about having a warrant for arrest. She drove to the scene and was able to chase them off the apartment complex property. She wrote, "If you don't like the F word more than you don't like people getting kidnapped, you may not want to watch this video." The incident occurred in Portland, Oregon.

💔 “The goalkeeper told me I’m an illegal immigrant even though I was born in America, and he said Trump was gonna get me and send me back. It makes me really sad.” Our kids are watching. (H/T Hot Lou)