Random Stuff I Read in 2025

hi. #

i kinda neglected my desire to blog about stuff this year but i wanted to set aside some time to reflect on what i’ve seen and read in 2025. i think around 2024 was when i lightly committed to saving things i liked so that i could reference them later or send them to friends instead of just reading/watching something and closing the tab. i didn’t really do a good job at it but hey, good news! in 2025, i still didn’t do a good job at it! 🎉

but i did a little better. without further ado, here’s a random list of stuff i read this year.

criteria to make this list:

• i remember that i read it
• it’s at least decent in some way

CGDCT - “cutecyclopedia” entry by ana matilde sousa #

warning: really extremely quite incredibly long. i read it on my phone, though.

an explanation and mostly exploration on CGDCT, an acronym for “cute girls doing cute things.” it’s very dry and academic, owing to the fact that this website is part of someone’s doctorate thesis or something (i did not dive much further. apologies if that’s completely off the mark but i simple do not have the energy atm). citations and figures galore.

synopsis: cgdct stands to be mindless and “pointless” entertainment, where “pointless” in this context means there is usually no real substantive plot behind a given vignette of characters’ lives. it has a place in “cozy kitsch” where said vignettes only exist for “tedius consumption.”

unionize or die - blog by drew devault #

post about tech workers and how they desperately need unions. includes resources on organizing labor unions in various regions mostly US and UK with some global-oriented organizations linked at the end.

synopsis: according to drew, tech workers often meet with the concept of unionizing with a cold reception. it is important that this changes because tech workers have a vested economical interest in joining unions. tech workers also have an existential imperative to organize because of the current economical climate (capitalists looking for cheaper labor) and climate change (shrinking shorelines = less housing. what will you do when you are eventually laid off but need to afford a new place to live or current rent?)

performance Inequality series of blog posts #

tbh just going to paste what i wrote in a discord a while back.

a series of blog posts looking at website performance through the lens of wealth inequality. warning: it’s pretty dry reading and may veer into jargon territory at short times but it’s not impenetrable. still dry, though. and the individual posts are long. uhhh im not doing a good job on selling this but the blurb on the page is good so wheeee explodes

i’d rather see the prompt - clayton ramsey #

“I’d Rather See the Prompt” discusses the value of human vision and experience with regards to writing, and briefly coding

synopsis: clayton often comes across writing that generally mirrors ai output when reading submitted papers. he finds it asinine and asserts that the prose is not beyond a (presumably US?) 6th grade level in terms of style (idk same tho). he’d rather see the prompt because it would contain more human experience and thought than ai output, which he says are thoughts that belong to no one due to the way it plagiarizes and melds true original thoughts together.

in the crossfire - van ngo #

a whole-ass book online. i’m not gonna write anything about it because it has a marketing blurb, lol

Although the Vietnam War is still well known, few people are aware of the decades of struggles against the French colonial regime that preceded it, many of which had no connection with the Stalinists (Ho Chi Minh’s Communist Party). The Stalinists were ultimately victorious, but only after they systematically destroyed all the other oppositional currents.

This book is the story of those other movements and revolts, caught in the crossfire between the French and the Stalinists, told by one of the few survivors.

mini-review: leftist-infighting situation is crazy

“algorithmic helplessness” #

a transcript from 9:27 of this video: ad-free on tinkerbetter | youtube

this post features a video from “Veronica Explains”, a video creator i subscribe to on youtube and follow on other social media. the video is titled “I Stream Nothing and I am Happy.” and talks about her own experience of, well, not streaming from the big players in on-demand video streaming. i thought this transcribed excerpt was nice to read and it was nice to hear while watching the video prior.

synopsis: dependence on algorithmic feeds is separating us from our ability to think critically. the algorithm tells us what to think, what to feel and shields us from the decision-making process. this is tempting for small decisions and leads to the desire to abandon that process when we deem certain decisions too big to spend energy on.

ok i hope that was interesting bye have a good 2026 (that was a command)