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Michael Hanscom

@michaelhans.com

220 followers 200 following 890 posts

Enthusiastic ambivert. Geeky, liberal, friendly, curious, hopepunk; trying to be a good person. (he/him) 🖖 Primarily a Mastodon user (@[email protected]); semi-active here. Blogging since the '90s: https://michaelhans.com/

michaelhans.com

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Michael Hanscom @michaelhans.com · May 4

Old policy: No #AltText = no boost.

New policy: No alt text OR bad alt text = no boost, except in rare instances when I find it worthwhile to write better alt text for you, in which case I will also mock you for your original poor or absent alt text.

Reposted by Michael Hanscom

Movies Silently @moviessilently.bsky.social · May 23

DW Griffith directed BIRTH OF A NATION (1915), a virulently racist film (and neither his first nor his last one of those) that saw racist violence follow wherever it was screened.

So, naturally, there are film bros and gals who think we should "ignore the racism" and keep it in the canon.

Thread

Reposted by Michael Hanscom

🧟‍♀️ Fraided Rosie 🐈‍⬛ @fadedrosie.myatproto.social · 1d

New version. I like it better. 🐸 #art

Portland Antifa frog against a gold, flowery background with text reading “frogs vs. fash” in all caps. Signed by Mo (me)

Michael Hanscom @michaelhans.com · 1d

Ring of Fire by David Mack: 📚 55/2025: ⭐️⭐️⭐️: Not a bad adventure, though there were some aspects that didn't work for me.… michaelhans.com/eclecticism/...

michaelhans.com

Michael Hanscom @michaelhans.com · 1d

Fortnightly Notes: September 29–October 12, 2025: Two weeks in the life of…. Thoughts, photos, links, and miscellany from the past two weeks.… michaelhans.com/eclecticism/...

michaelhans.com

Michael Hanscom @michaelhans.com · 1d

Trump: "Portland's a war zone!"

Portland: Gets naked.

apple.news/A4RaCJUGxTdivKhyBc...

Throngs of naked Portland bike riders offer a counternarrative to Trump's about hometown — USA TODAY

The World Naked Bike Ride on Oct. 12 sought to bring global attention to President Donald Trump’s plans to deploy National Guard troops to the city.

Michael Hanscom @michaelhans.com · 2d

All of your stated reasons could have been fulfilled by an actual artist. It would have been slower and probably not free, of course, so why bother with that route when it’s so easy to just use the Torment Nexus instead?

Michael Hanscom @michaelhans.com · 2d

My definition of “harmless” doesn’t include ignoring the myriad ethical, environmental, and other issues connected to ChatGPT and other “AI” systems.

Michael Hanscom @michaelhans.com · 3d

My sense of humor is just fine, thank you, it’s just far more tickled by things created by humans rather than by the automated plagiarism machine. I do appreciate that you revealed the source, though, so I could avoid sharing it.

Michael Hanscom @michaelhans.com · 3d

No, I’m not implying that all things made by ChatGPT are AI slop. I’m flat-out saying that that’s the case.

Michael Hanscom @michaelhans.com · 3d

FYI: The Shepard Fairey Obama “Hope”-style protest frog “Hop” image that’s going around right now is ChatGPT AI slop: bsky.app/profile/bonf...

The bottom of the “Hop” image, followed by a BlueSky post by user bonforage that says, “Please use generously! (with or without credit to me and ChatGPT. 🤷‍♂️)”, dated Oct. 10, 2025.

Michael Hanscom @michaelhans.com · 3d

Unfortunately, it’s ChatGPT AI slop: bsky.app/profile/bonf...

Zachary “Mushroom” Hunter @bonforage.bsky.social · 4d

Please use generously! (with or without credit to me and ChatGPT. 🤷‍♂️)

Michael Hanscom @michaelhans.com · 3d

Unfortunately, it’s ChatGPT AI slop: bsky.app/profile/bonf...

Zachary “Mushroom” Hunter @bonforage.bsky.social · 4d

Please use generously! (with or without credit to me and ChatGPT. 🤷‍♂️)

Michael Hanscom @michaelhans.com · 3d

There are so many reasons why I don’t understand why I got this ad in my Facebook feed.

A Facebook ad from Temu; the first visible featured item is a livestock insemination aid kit. This consists of an artificial insemination frame, a yellow plastic arm with a bottle holder on one end and a horseshoe-shaped bit on the other; an 80 milliliter plastic insemination bottle (color random); and an insemination tube. There is an image of a pig with the horseshoe part of the frame clamped around its waist, the plastic arm extending behind the pig, an inverted bottle at the end of the arm, and a tube leading from the bottle into the pig’s vagina. Also, as I wanted to make sure I was using the correct term, since I’m not exactly well-versed in porcine reproduction, I believe this is the first time I’ve ever searched for the term “pig vagina”.

Michael Hanscom @michaelhans.com · 3d

Paladin fo Souls by Lois McMaster Bujold: 📚 54/2025: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️: Bujold is just _so_ good at creating and developing her characters.… michaelhans.com/eclecticism/...

michaelhans.com

Michael Hanscom @michaelhans.com · 3d

As a community college employee married to a community college teacher, this is just depressing.

www.seattletimes.com/business...

Microsoft plans to extend AI to WA classrooms

Microsoft will supply its artificial intelligence technology to every public school district and community college in Washington next year.

www.seattletimes.com

Michael Hanscom @michaelhans.com · 4d

If you get a call from someone saying that you missed jury duty and must immediately come to the court to pay a fine or risk being arrested...hang up, and file a police report with as much information as you have.

www.courts.wa.gov/newsinfo/ind...

Washington State Courts - News, Reports, Court Information

www.courts.wa.gov

Michael Hanscom @michaelhans.com · 4d

We're fortunate that she and I are both naturally skeptical enough that after the initial panic, we saw the red flags and nothing came of it other than the aggravation and waste of time.

Michael Hanscom @michaelhans.com · 4d

When you look at these things from the outside, it seems amazing that it could work. When you're the target, the scammers are impressively good at sounding authoritative and firing so much at you so quickly that it's surprisingly easy to get caught up in it.

Michael Hanscom @michaelhans.com · 4d

My wife got targeted by a jury duty scam call yesterday afternoon. She didn't fall for it, but it made for a very unexpectedly stressful (and, in retrospect, both infuriating and in some ways amusing) late afternoon and evening as we dealt with it and filing a police report.

Michael Hanscom @michaelhans.com · 4d

Doesn't seem that good to me. Has there ever been any indication that he was under any amount of actual serious consideration? We he even formally nominated, or was it just him and his sycophants claiming that he "deserved" it? He didn't "lose" this any more than I "lost" it.

Reposted by Michael Hanscom

Trick Charles 🎃 @nickcharles.bsky.social · 5d

I REALLY wanted to be all goth elder and say “NO!!!”

…but this is really good. It works.

Funranium (AKA Phil Broughton) @funranium.bsky.social · 5d

Time for bed. Enjoy a funk "This Corrosion" by Diane Birch. www.youtube.com/watch?v=RS6W...

Diane Birch - This Corrosion

YouTube video by di4nebirch

www.youtube.com

Michael Hanscom @michaelhans.com · 5d

The entire album this is off of, The Velveteen Age, is _really_ good. It's been a favorite of mine since I discovered it a few years ago. If you like this performance, I recommend the full EP.

www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...

The Velveteen Age (EP) - YouTube

www.youtube.com

Michael Hanscom @michaelhans.com · 5d

Are those who teach cooking classes…

…alimentary school teachers?

Michael Hanscom @michaelhans.com · 6d

Ranking the Star Trek Films (Again): An update to my last attempt at doing this back in 2009. I originally posted this to Mastodon back in April after watching Star Trek: Section 31, and after realizing I hadn't cross-posted it here, am … michaelhans.com/eclecticism/...

Ranking the Star Trek Films (Again)

An update to my last attempt at doing this back in 2009. I originally posted this to Mastodon back in April after watching Star Trek: Section 31, and after realizing I hadn't cross-posted it here, am...

michaelhans.com

Reposted by Michael Hanscom

Taniel @taniel.bsky.social · 6d

JUST IN: The Republican Mayor of Fairbanks, Alaska’s second biggest city, lost re-election last night to a Democrat.

Mayor David Pruhs is a conservative who fought protections for LGBTQ+ residents; he made comments this year drew condemnation this year from Alaska Natives. He lost to Mindy O'Neall.