Vinny Francois
@vinnyfrancois.bsky.social
240 followers 140 following 100 posts
Turning input into output. Montreal, Canada The Beaverton - @thebeaverton Untapped Libraries Podcast - @untappedlibraries Learn Real Good Podcast - @lrgpod Improv College - improvcollege.ca Moxfield: https://moxfield.com/users/vinnyfrancois
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Best playmat I ever bought. No brainer if you're on the fence for this one.
CUBE WILL OUTLIVE MAGIC

The iconic playmat, one of my favorites, is available for preorder once again. Thank you to Lucky Paper Radio for trusting me with this. :)

Shipping in early December.

Get it here: stitcherssupply.com
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This guest is one we had in mind as the platonic ideal for this series: DJ and his “Dear Gonti, Love Sophie” deck. Yep, the one made famous by the Rhystic Studies video. We talk about punk aesthetics, rhinestones, and tracking coin flips.

untappedlibraries.com/episode-11-d...

@cardgarden.com
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images that spring to mind unbidden, part 679: "if you don't let yourself be a fucking mammal, as you were made, you will suffer"
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the degree to which i feel like i am living in the pre-title montage of a post-apocalyptic movie cannot be overstated.
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every single tech idea is like “soon our robots will be capable of playing catch with your kid, freeing you up to spend more time working on your employers’ spreadsheets”
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Yesterday I was told that the class I’m scheduled to teach this month, Confronting Oppression & Injustice, is no longer part of our curriculum. This is a required class yet there was no discussion, no faculty vote, just an email saying the class no longer exists. This is what it’s like in Texas now.
I get that the Jays are playing but I can’t believe how many empty seats are at the Leafs home opener. That would never happen in Montreal (because we only have one major sport).
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Valuable info about the Physics Nobel Prize today from Prof. Joseph Barranco at SFSU on Martinis and Devoret being a grad student and postdoc in Clarke's lab at UC Berkeley & Clark and Devoret being immigrants. "California *public* education made this happen. Immigration made this happen." ⚛️
Joseph Barranco posted on social media: Go Bears! Nobel Prize in Physics goes to 3 physicists studying mesoscopic quantum phenomena... Work was done in the 1980s in UC Berkeley Professor John Clarke's lab with his graduate student John Martinis and postdoctoral fellow Michel Devoret... all 3 share the Nobel Prize.  Must also point out that both Clarke and Devoret are immigrants from the UK and France, respectively.  All 3 are pioneers in the race to build the most powerful quantum supercomputers.  California *public* education made this happen. Immigration made this happen.
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Damn. This is amazing. £325 per week, paid monthly, for 3 years - and the result was a profit for the Irish economy:
www.citizensinformation.ie/en/employmen...
Post from Threads user rodneyowl: "Ireland has declared the Basic Income for Artists scheme permanent. This will be officially announced in tomorrow’s budget. Details to follow. Congratulations to all who fought for it and the present and future artists of all sorts in Ireland. That includes me 👌We’re just comin to the end of a 3 year pilot scheme. It’s been a roaring success. For every €1 paid out to the 2000 participants, the government got €1.46 back. Can’t argue with that. Other countries are already taking note."
Her and Ellison can form a human ourobouros.
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1. Led by Elon Musk, the far-right has exploded in a campaign to get Netflix to remove shows with queer and trans characters.

If Netflix capitulates to their demands, an already strained market for LGBTQ+ animators might become even more dire.

Subscribe to support our journalism.
Elon Musk Leads Campaign To Force Netflix To Remove Shows With Trans Characters
Musk's posts have been seen by tens of millions of users, and many conservatives are now attempting to force Netflix into a removal of LGBTQ+ content.
www.erininthemorning.com
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I'm genuinely proud of our latest few episodes of @untappedlibraries.bsky.social. We've pulled in great guests and had some great chats. We have a lot more to come!

Also: our last two interviews ended with food-based bookend callbacks.
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For episode TEN (the big one-oh!) we have Magic content creator, @mikecarrozza.bsky.social . Mike explains why he keeps sending his creatures to the ‘yard. We also talk Commander Sealed weekend, garbage plates, and asking your parents to buy you a booster.

untappedlibraries.com/mike-carozza...
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One of my favorite anecdotes from THE PREHISTORY OF THE FAR SIDE: "That doesn't sound like the Jane Goodall we know."
A few days after this cartoon was published, my syndicate received a very indignant letter from someone representing the Jane Goodall Institute.
Not only did my syndicate and I both get read the Riot Act, there was a vague implication that litigation over this cartoon might be around the corner.
I was horrified. Not so much from a fear of being sued (I just couldn't see how this cartoon could be construed as anything but silly, but because of my deep respect for Jane Goodall and her well-known contributions to pri-matology. The last thing in the world I would have intentionally done was offend Dr. Goodall in any way.
Before I had a chance to write my apology, another complication arose.
The National Geographic Society contacted my syndicate and expressed a desire to reprint the cartoon in a special centennial issue of their magazine. My editor, aware of what had just occurred, declined, explaining why.
Apparently, whoever it was that sent the inquiry from National Geographic was shocked. They told my editor that "that doesn't sound like the Jane Goodall we know." They did some checking themselves, and an interesting fact was eventually discovered: Jane Goodall loved the cartoon. Furthermore, she was totally unaware that any of this "stuff" was going on. Some phone calls were made, and the cartoon was not only reprinted in the centennial issue of National Geographic, but was also used by her Institute on a T-shirt for fund-raising purposes.
I've since had an opportunity to visit Dr. Goodall at her research facility in Gombe. It's a wonderful place (sort of like right out of National Geographic).
"To refer to Dr. Goodall as a tramp is inexcusable even by a self-described 'loony' as Larson. The cartoon was incredibly offensive and in such poor taste that readers might well question the editorial judgment of running such an atrocity in a newspaper that reputes to be supplying news to persons with a better than average intelligence. The cartoon and its message were absolutely stupid." —Excerpt from the above-mentioned letter that started the ruckus
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I have codes for free gems on @mtgarena.com! Retweet this post for a chance at one of them! It could be 200 gems or even 10,000 gems. Picking from here, Twitter, and Midwest Tournament Updater on FB.💎💎💎

And check out the other creators below for their giveaway too! #mtg
Standard Metagame for the @mtgarena.com x Alienware Content Creator Tournament (16 players with 2 decks each) #mtg #mtgStandard

Additional bans in effect. Individuals will be streaming starting at 10am PT today! Gem code giveaways and custom Alienware Aurora Gaming Desktop grand prize giveaway!
5 Sultai Reanimator (Standard Living End)
4 Mono-Red Aggro
3 Selesnya Kona
2 Azorius Control
2 Orzhov Pixie
2 Simic Aggro
5-color Spiders
Boros Mice
Boros Tokens/Pingers
Dimir Control/Mill
Dimir Control/Reanimator
Dimir Reanimator (Standard Living End)
Golgari Roots
Gruul Random Encounter
Gruul Surprise Onslaught
Jeskai Black Control
Mono-Green Aggro
Mono-White Tokens/Control
Orzhov Burn (Caustic Bronco + Duskmourn's Claim)
Selesnya Gearhulk
Since we had some ties, the methodology we used to decide final bans was "All cards with at least 4 points that received at least 2 votes"

That brings us to the following 10 cards banned for this event:
Vivi Ornitier
Kaito, Bane of Nightmares
Screaming Nemesis
Enduring Curiosity
Omniscience
Stock Up
Agatha's Soul Cauldron
Temur Battlecrier
No More Lies MTG Arena x Alienware Content Creator Showdown

Cheer on your favorite MTG Arena content creators as they go head to head in a special community tournament! They'll be battling for bragging rights in a modified Standard format, and every round earns them prizes they can share with their viewers.

And the grand prize? A custom Alienware Aurora Gaming Desktop that the winning creator will give away to someone in their community! Who's Playing?

We've brought together sixteen incredible creators for this event:

    Amazonian
    ashlizzlle
    AliasV
    Voxy
    AliEldrazi
    CovertGoBlue
    NumotTheNummy
    Saffron Olive
    CarloMTG
    HamHocks42
    Headology Magic
    JustLolaman
    fireshoes
    isaiah_mtg
    TheWillHallExp
    theeebfg

Cheer them on! When they win, you win!
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Wizards of the Coast is hosting a Twitch stream to support Trans Lifeline, a hotline and non-profit organization offering direct support to trans people in crisis – for the trans community, by the trans community.

Tune in to twitch.tv/magic on Oct 4th at 10am PT to play games with us and support!
Promotional graphic with a purple and blue fantasy-themed background and crystal-like formations. The image features two logos: the Wizards of the Coast logo in rainbow gradient colors on the left, and the Trans Lifeline logo in white on the right. Large bold text in the center reads: “Support Trans Lifeline.” Below, smaller text says “Tune in Oct 4” next to the Twitch logo.
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Russell Peters, standing up for jokes, had this to say about playing the Riyadh Comedy Festival: “We’re not going to play by their rules. You’re ruining free speech.”

Oh wait, no - that’s what he said about playing universities. He’s playing Riyadh of course. www.theglobeandmail.com/culture/arti...
For comedians playing the controversial Riyadh Comedy Festival, punchlines are negotiable
Performers agreed to restrictions on material at festival held in Saudi Arabia, which has dismal human-rights record
www.theglobeandmail.com
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She basically invented astrophysics.
She proved the laws of chemistry, quantum mechanics, and statistical mechanics, not just gravity, applied universally.
She determined the composition of the sun and primacy of hydrogen in the universe.
She advised the PhDs of Frank Drake and Frank Kameny.
Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin ✨ figured out what stars are made of ✨ when she was just 25. 🔭🧪

Her PhD thesis basically established the Harvard astro department — at a time when Harvard didn't officially allow woman students.

I wrote this little profile to mark the 100th anniversary of her thesis:
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Pretty sure this is gonna be my favourite deck of yours, regardless of how it plays.
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Some neon alters for my Rakdos deck.