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@benmsmith.com

770 followers 280 following 3.3K posts

Nerd-About-Town. Co-Host of The Eurowhat? Podcast. he/him. goodatinter.net @eurowhat.bsky.social

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B-Side @benmsmith.com · 9d

this week on the podcast: Choose! Your! ̶P̶o̶k̶é̶m̶o̶n̶ Weird Little Dude!

presenting my initial dissertation in Weird Little Dude Studies, a field I think holds a rich well of future research.

The EuroWhat? Podcast @eurowhat.bsky.social · 9d

🥸 NEW EPISODE 🥸

Käärijä, Joost, Baby Lasagana, Tommy Cash... we've used the term "Weird Little Dudes" to describe these contestants from the last few editions of #Eurovision. We attempt to define the term and identify what other contestants may fall into this category: www.eurowhat.com/280

Cover art for Eurowhat 280: Weird Little Dudes. A triptych featuring Käärijä peering out of his crate, Joost Klein walking downstage, and Miriana Conte bouncing on an exercise ball

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alison says reinstate Link! @alisonborealis.bsky.social · 22h

I feel like all these zoo animal enrichment pumpkin videos and photos are also human enrichment tools on social media.

c0nc0rdance @c0nc0rdance.bsky.social · Oct 30

Even this Pallas cat gets in on the discovery and exploration process.

Photos from Calgary Zoo.

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Luke O'Neil @lukeoneil47.bsky.social · 12h

You're writing this down right? Good. As I was saying my car sucked so bad my wife left me. Yes I can spell my name for you.

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Jared Pechaček @vandroidhelsing.bsky.social · 14h

monstre bouba

Ballpoint pen sketch of a teddy bear-like creature with no sharp angles and three eyes arranged in ascending size from left to right. The creature hovers just slightly above the floor

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Gretchen McCulloch @gretchenmcc.bsky.social · 14h

if this is a Monstre Kiki, what would a Monstre Bouba look like

A spooky package with a pointy, 3-eyed chocolate monster labelled "Monstre Kiki"

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Micah @rincewind.run · 14h

like basically everyone who works in software I embody this tweet and do not under any circumstances want to talk to my computer

Tweet from @PPathole

Tech enthusiasts: My entire house is smart.

Tech workers: The only piece of technology in my house is a printer and I keep a gun next to it so I can shoot it if it makes a noise I don’t recognize.

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Jaya Saxena @jayasaxena.com · 1d

defector.com/tyra-banks-p...

I want you to think about the phrase "hot ice cream" for a second, because you will think you know what it is. And then Banks and the Smize & Dream team will do everything they can to dissuade you of your certainty. "I'm not talking about a latte, I'm not talking about hot chocolate that has flavors," says Banks. The product is so new, it's not listed on the company's website yet, so there's no clue there. And in the comments of her introductory video, her team shoots down every plausible guess. "So …custard?" posits one, to which the official account lobs "So … naw." Another asks if it's like a warm milkshake? "Not quite." Melted ice cream as a drink? "It's a drink. But it's not melted." Or perhaps just a warm cup of milk. "If only it were that simple," they taunt. I cannot even tell what we are left with here. At a certain point, it seems like a liability to refuse to tell customers what is in the cup.

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B-Side @benmsmith.com · 16h

so many of the interviewees are basically just variations of this dril classic

dril tweet: "go ahead. keep screaming 'Shut the Fuck Up' at me. it only makes my opinions Worse"

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B-Side @benmsmith.com · 18h

wonderful shades of this interaction from the 2015 Mystery Hunt: youtu.be/J8dqmk4YCQk?...

The MIT Mystery Hunt: A Documentary

YouTube video by Mystery Hunt 2017

youtu.be

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Emily L. Hauser (she/her) ❌👑 @emilylhauser.bsky.social · 1d

Uline's owners "have used their wealth to funnel millions of dollars into the most extreme RW politicians & mvmts... contributed $144 million to conservative groups in the 2024 election cycle... donated $4+ million to bankroll anti-abortion groups who pushed to overturn Roe v Wade."
refuseuline.com

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Michael Andersen @mjandersen.bsky.social · 1d

Just so you know, you should probably be posting more pictures of your cat (or dog (or bunny (or gecko)))

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James Poniewozik @poniewozik.bsky.social · 1d

From the people who brought you, “Hey, we just invented the bus!” comes “Hey, we just invented PR!”

Ryan Mac 🙃 @rmac.bsky.social · 1d

this is the dumbest shit i have ever read

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Holly Anderson 🍇 @hollyanderson.bsky.social · 1d

you fucked around and now the Episcopalians are doing memes. are you happy now. are you

Screenshot of a Facebook post featuring three of the Portland protesters wearing inflatable frog costumes with the following text:

Episcopalians on Facebook
Elizabeth Rose Elrod • 22h •
Exodus 8:2-6
"But if you refuse to let them go, I will plague your whole country with frogs...
The frogs shall come up on you and on your people and on all your officials."

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sincerely, rob dubbin @robdubbin.bsky.social · 2d

good news! we've successfully addressed the problem where people were getting too emotionally entangled with our chatbot. we're happy to announce you'll be able to fuck it soon

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Leger-Felicite SCARElax 👻🇵🇸 @segatape.bsky.social · 1d

Certainly! That was my mistake. I didn't realize that the target I selected was an elementary school, not a self propelled artillery piece. The next missile target I select should be correct.

Erin Fogg says Free Link @criminalerin.bsky.social · 1d

Welcome to the Cool Zone

OpenAI wins $200m contract with US military for ‘warfighting’

Program with the defense department is first under the startup’s initiative to put AI to work in governments

www.theguardian.com

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B-Side @benmsmith.com · 2d

“conkers are nature’s labubu” have you been kicked in the head by a horse

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Claire Willett @clairewillett.bsky.social · 2d

I understand that there are right ways and wrong ways to have the age conversation about Dem leadership and I don’t know how I feel about specific solutions like age and term limits. I do know THIS PART HERE is a problem bigger than any one individual 78-year-old and it’s making us all furious

Ghostly Bree @mostlybree.kitrocha.com · 2d

I think my biggest betrayal is that it feels like they have not nurtured upcoming generations. we've watched them cut the knees out from people who get the base excited instead of mentoring them, it's aggravating as fuck.

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B-Side @benmsmith.com · 2d

“conkers are nature’s labubu” have you been kicked in the head by a horse

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B-Side @benmsmith.com · 2d

the answer to “is britain okay” remains, as always, “NO”

Jill Twiss @jilltwiss.bsky.social · 2d

Hi what

Headline: “nature’s labubu: why are gen z unboxing conkers?”

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good hyuck, babe! @markpopham.bsky.social · 2d

if pep boys said that now the pep boys could call you up and talk sexy to you you wouldn't think that pep boys was doing really well, as a company

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Dave Karpf @davekarpf.bsky.social · 2d

Everyone agrees that we're currently in a dotcom era-like AI bubble. People disagree what sort of bubble it is.

There are 3 stories one can tell about the dotcom crash: a startup story, a telecom story, and an accounting fraud story.

My take: it's giving Enron
open.substack.com/pub/davekarp...

It's Giving Enron

On the AI bubble, and the various echoes of the dotcom crash

open.substack.com

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good hyuck, babe! @markpopham.bsky.social · 2d

oh wow okay this company is IN TROUBLE in trouble

The Verge @theverge.com · 2d

Sam Altman says ChatGPT will soon sext with verified adults

ChatGPT is about to get flirty.

buff.ly

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Micah @rincewind.run · 2d

I know the headline everyone's running with is "erotica" but "we have been able to mitigate the serious mental health issues" and "we are putting personality back in ChatGPT so it will act like a friend" are diametrically opposed statements

that's the cause of most of the mental health issues

Matt Burgess (WIRED) @mattburgess1.bsky.social · 2d

Oh good, ChatGPT is getting "erotica for verified adults" later this year

We made ChatGPT pretty restrictive to make sure we were being careful with mental health issues. We realize this made it less useful/enjoyable to many users who had no mental health problems, but given the seriousness of the issue we wanted to get this right.

Now that we have been able to mitigate the serious mental health issues and have new tools, we are going to be able to safely relax the restrictions in most cases.

In a few weeks, we plan to put out a new version of ChatGPT that allows people to have a personality that behaves more like what people liked about 4o (we hope it will be better!). If you want your ChatGPT to respond in a very human-like way, or use a ton of emoji, or act like a friend, ChatGPT should do it (but only if you want it, not because we are usage-maxxing).

In December, as we roll out age-gating more fully and as part of our “treat adult users like adults” principle, we will allow even more, like erotica for verified adults.

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Craig Calcaterra @craigcalcaterra.bsky.social · 2d

Using ChatGPT to write a fucking email. bsky.app/profile/edit...

Edith @edithcharles.bsky.social · Aug 23

What's something that isn't considered embarrassing but you think it should be?

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Chuck Tingle @chucktingle.bsky.social · 2d

MANY ARE UPSET THAT I THINK MY REELECTION IS LOCKED UP

lonevoice.bsky.social @lonevoice.bsky.social · 2d

Why @hakeem-jeffries.bsky.social, @chucktingle.bsky.social et al won't is clear: they THINK their reelection is locked up. They know the Americans who care don't have another option. And the second level leadership in the party is doing what they did with Biden: pretending nothing is wrong!

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the Mountain Goats @themountaingoats.bsky.social · 2d

Please be conscious if you protest this weekend that there are feds at the protest. They look like you and they sound like you, not like Steve Buscemi in that one clip with the skateboard. Thinking you can spot them is self delusion. Nobody you haven’t met needs to know your last name.

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