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Ben McKenzie @benmckenzie.com.au · 1d

I have am just stumbled upon this discussion a year later, and can confirm we still exist, and so do those other two. I am filing this away for later attention!

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Reposted by Ben McKenzie

Pratchat @pratchatpodcast.com · 1d

Join us (finally) for a new episode as @brendanbarnett.bsky.social chats with Ben* about how one man can draw so many wizards, witches, dragons, guards, goblins and other denizen of the Disc, as we read Paul Kidby’s Designing Terry Pratchett’s #Discworld! #Pratchat88

* Liz will be back next month!

#Pratchat88 – They’re All Good Dragons, Bront

Illustrator, game designer and educator Brendan Barnett joins Ben to discuss art, ideas, inspiration, creative process, dragons, wizards and goblins (oh my!) as we leaf through Paul Kidby’s 2…

pratchatpodcast.com

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Ben McKenzie @benmckenzie.com.au · 1d

My understanding is that donkeys that aren’t worked really hard live a really long time, which might help explain it? Like, 30-50 years, which is a long time for a domestic animal.

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Ben McKenzie @benmckenzie.com.au · 1d

I hate the weasel phrase “going away”.

No feature or service “goes away” - it doesn’t have legs and a will of its own. Its owner is removing, cancelling or discontinuing it.

Use a verb; take responsibility. Don’t pretend you’re helplessly subject to the whim of an inanimate object or concept.

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Ben McKenzie @benmckenzie.com.au · 1d

“We realise this made it less useful/enjoyable to many users who had no mental health problems” is a wild way to start a sentence about a system that encouraged young people to hide suicidal thoughts from their loved ones.

Surely “make the friend you want” is likely to have worse outcomes?

Drew Harwell @drewharwell.com · 1d

Sam Altman went from “AI will cure cancer" to "ChatGPT porn" in less than a month

ChatGPT boss predicts when AI could cure cancer

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.
12:02 PM · Oct 14, 2025
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Ben McKenzie @benmckenzie.com.au · 1d

(It turns out not being able to make an episode for a couple of months throws everything out of whack…)

Ben McKenzie @benmckenzie.com.au · 1d

Ah - yes, that was a mistake! My apologies.

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Reposted by Ben McKenzie

Fiona Johnson @fionajohnson.bsky.social · 2d

Golden hour in our narrative adventure Little Ruin. #indiedev #gameart #indiegames #madewithunity

Lucernal @lucernal.bsky.social · 2d

Cellar Door | Little Ruin

#indiegames #indiedev #isometric

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Ben McKenzie @benmckenzie.com.au · 8d

It might be against Bandcamp terms and conditions, since they require artists to own the copyright on all material they upload. Whether that’s something they want to enforce for generative AI music is a big question.

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Ben McKenzie @benmckenzie.com.au · 8d

I hadn’t considered that AI bands might use Bandcamp! My gut says it’s less likely they’d be on there since the audience would be pretty against undeclared AI content? But maybe that’s wishful thinking.

Connections to merch and tour schedules are usually pretty prominent, though, which helps!

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Reposted by Ben McKenzie

Emmy @emmfoolery.bsky.social · 12d

Australians, please raid your Uncle's old PC in his shed, and help me find a copy of this to archive.

#Australia #AFL #DOSGaming #Wolfenstein #RetroGaming #MSDOS #RetroComputing

I HATE COLLINGWOOD Wolfenstein 3D mod on floppy disk. This version doesn't work. :(

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Ben McKenzie @benmckenzie.com.au · 12d

He’s got a real specific era of The Cure vibe that I enjoy!

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Ben McKenzie @benmckenzie.com.au · 12d

It really is! And I love that fake universe thing; one of my favourite albums is Spaceship Zero by The Darkest of the Hillside Thickets, which is supposedly the soundtrack album for a modern film re-make of an old sci-fi serial, which is also the basis for an RPG written by one of the band members.

Ben McKenzie @benmckenzie.com.au · 12d

I think I’ve heard of them before? I’ll check them out!

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Ben McKenzie @benmckenzie.com.au · 12d

Thanks for these - I’m listening to some Desmond Doom right now!

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Ben McKenzie @benmckenzie.com.au · 12d

I just bought some things from my Bandcamp wishlist, something I try to do on a #BandcampFriday any month where I can afford it. As well as work from the artists I mentioned earlier, I also bought albums from:

georgiastateline.bandcamp.com
cybertronicspree.bandcamp.com
nancyvandal.bandcamp.com

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Reposted by Ben McKenzie

Ian Malcolm @ianmalcolm.bsky.social · 12d

Great list! Some more excellent Australian artists on Bandcamp:

davidbridie.bandcamp.com
allindiaradio.bandcamp.com
jefflang.bandcamp.com
jakflute.bandcamp.com
davegraney1.bandcamp.com
davesteel.bandcamp.com
mickthomas.bandcamp.com
notdrowningwaving.bandcamp.com
desmonddoom.bandcamp.com

#AusMusic

Desmond Doom

Post-Punk / Surf-Goth from Melbourne, Australia. Think Joy Divison meets The Smiths in Eastern Europe. Business contact: [email protected]

desmonddoom.bandcamp.com

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Ben McKenzie @benmckenzie.com.au · 12d

I remember when the first #BandcampFriday happened in 2020. I did a long thread about it in the other place. It was originally just during that year, but they’ve brought it back and it’s currently every month.

And yes, you can find some of my work there too:

splendidchaps.bandcamp.com

Splendid Chaps Productions

The Splendid Chaps are a Melbourne-based comedy production team comprising writer John Richards, comedian Ben McKenzie, actor/singer Petra Elliott, sound engineer David Ashton and writer Lee Zachariah...

splendidchaps.bandcamp.com

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Ben McKenzie @benmckenzie.com.au · 12d

On #BandcampFriday, Bandcamp waives its cut; the artists get more of your money. It ends 5 PM AEST.

Australian artists on Bandcamp include:
geraldinequinn.bandcamp.com
georgiafields.bandcamp.com
3pod.bandcamp.com
thetwoks.bandcamp.com
pickup.bandcamp.com
judeperl.bandcamp.com
tomcardy.bandcamp.com

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Ben McKenzie @benmckenzie.com.au · 14d

This is such a great idea I will need to steal it if I ever get my east coast of Australia Masquerade game going. I don’t intend using any of the Australian WoD canon, and leaning into the extra harsh sun making it an awful place for vampires. But a surfer Gangrel would fit Sydney beaches perfectly!

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Reposted by Ben McKenzie

Helen Kwok @helenkwok.bsky.social · 22d

💛 TRACES OF PLAY 💛 is a participatory installation that celebrates the folk, playground, and street games we used to play. Created with @chadtoprak.bsky.social, come subvert these humble everyday objects into magnificent playthings of joy! 🪨🥜🥄✏️🪢

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Ben McKenzie @benmckenzie.com.au · 22d

Oh this looks so great!

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Reposted by Ben McKenzie

Schwalb Entertainment @theschwalb.bsky.social · 23d

And here we go! Shadow of the Weird Wizard is available on Bundle of Holding! If you've been waiting to check it out, now's your chance! bundleofholding.com/presents/Wei...

Shadow of the Weird Wizard Bundle

Adventurer! This all-new Shadow of the Weird Wizard Bundle presents Shadow of the Weird Wizard, the tabletop fantasy roleplaying game from Robert J. Schwalb of Schwalb Entertainment based on his bests...

bundleofholding.com

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Ben McKenzie @benmckenzie.com.au · Sep 13

Phenomenal moment. Didn’t enjoy the Black Dossier as much, but Century was a return to form.

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Ben McKenzie @benmckenzie.com.au · Sep 10

This is also one of the things I teach! Sometimes also when I feel wrong!

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