Tootfinder

One of the things that made organizing a lot easier with the GDC was a thing called "GDC in a box." It was a zip file with all kinds of resources. There was a directory structure, templates for all kinds of things like meetings and paperwork you had to file (for legal reasons) and "read me" files.
We had all kinds of support. There were people you could talk to who had been there. There were people you could call to walk through legal paperwork (taxes). Centralized orgs are vulnerable and easy to infiltrate. They're easy for states to shut down. But there are benefits to org structures.
I think it's possible to have the type of support we had with the GDC, but without the politics of an org (even the IWW). I hope this most recent essay has some of the same properties. I hope that it makes building something new, something no one has really imagined before, easier.
This whole project is something a bit different. It's a collective vision and collective project, from the ground up. Some of it has felt like a brain dump, just getting things that have been swimming around in my head down somewhere. But I hope this feels more like an invitation.
Everything thus far written is all useless unless people do things with it. Only from that point does it become a thing that lives, a thing with its own consciousness that can't be controlled by any individual human.
Tech billionaire cultists want to bring a new era of humanity with AGI. That is definitely not possible with LLMs, and may not be possible at all. But there is a super intelligence that is possible, though it's been constrained by capitalism: collective human intelligence.
The grand vision of the tech dystopians is that of the ultimate slave that can then enslave all humans on their behalf. I think we can build a humanity that can liberate itself from their grasp, crush their vision, and build for itself a world in which people will never be enslaved again. Not only do I think it's possible, I think it's necessary. I think there are only two choices: collective liberation or death.
And that's what I plan to write about next time to wrap this whole project up. Today things often feel impossible. But people talked about the Middle Ages as though they were the end of the world, and then everything changed in unimaginable ways. Everything can, and will, change again.
"The profit motive often is in conflict with the aims of art. We live in capitalism. Its power seems inescapable. So did the divine right of kings."

Sources: OpenAI has held preliminary discussions with investors about raising tens of billions of dollars, and as much as $100B, at a valuation of around $750B (The Information)
https://www.theinformation.com/articles/openai-discuss…

OpenAI Has Discussed Raising Tens of Billions at Valuation Around $750 Billion
OpenAI has held preliminary discussions with some investors about raising new funding at a valuation of around $750 billion, according to three people with knowledge of the discussions. It could raise tens of billions of dollars, and as much as $100 billion, according to two of the people. Talks ...

AI tools could make companies less competitive because everyone buys the same brain, think tank CEO says - Business Insider
https://www.businessinsider.com/ai-tools-could-make-companies-less-competitive-think-tank-ceo-2026-1

Not that the New York Times has much credibility left, but here’s another one for their long list of fails:
Epstein Gave NY Times Journalist Tips About Trump. Why Did They Never Get Reported?
By Noah Hurowitz
Exchanges about Trump between a reporter and Epstein raise questions about what the New York Times knew and when.

Epstein Gave NY Times Journalist Tips About Trump. Why Did They Never Get Reported?
Exchanges about Trump between reporter Landon Thomas Jr. and Jeffrey Epstein raise questions about what the New York Times knew and when.

Just so you can guess where the "AI" thing is headed, look at this listing from a local community college
"AI made simple for everyday life"
... And look at what comes next:
"Flaggers certification"
The exciting thing (for bosses) is the idea that knowledge workers will be as interchangeable (and precarious) as DOT flaggers
#YouDeserveAUnion

I think the police have to do a very hard and necessary thing: defend Americans against their federal government.
I make the case for why local law enforcement officers may need to arrest feds:
https://stuff.davidaugust.com/local-la

Local Law Enforcement's Challenge: Uphold the Law, Even Against the Feds
in the absence of action, civilians will fill the void I do want to write something not so serious, maybe even funny, here soon. But today, I think the police have to do a very hard and necessary thing: defend Americans against their federal government. If any other group arrived

What Ukrainians actually think about ceding Donbas to Russia: https://benborges.xyz/2025/12/16/what-ukrainians-actually-think-about.html

There’s something about TNC that’s hard to put into words: spontaneous hallway chats, barista coffee-fuelled breaks, and plenty of dancing when the day ends 💃🕺…
Here’s a bingo card of the TNC classics. One square you can tick off already 👇
🎟 Grab your early bird ticket for #TNC26: <…

Appfigures: Sora 2 had ~6M iOS downloads as of December 2025; the Android version, available since early November 2025, had ~3.1M, as growth begins to slow (Sherwood News)
https://sherwood.news/tech/openais-sora-2-started-off-scorching-hot-t…

LIVE | WAR IN 2026: TANKS in the PAST, FEDOROV’S MILTECH AND NEXT-GEN UAVs: https://benborges.xyz/2026/01/17/live-war-in-tanks-in.html