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C. L. Polk

@clpolk.blacksky.app

18K followers 1K following 11K posts

I write stuff. I knit stuff. I cook stuff. Ask me about my weird little books. https://www.clpolk.com/

www.clpolk.com

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C. L. Polk @clpolk.blacksky.app · Nov 14

Okay I need to tell y’all something

if someone doesn’t act right in my replies I must block them

People don’t know how to act here yet, and will come to argue or dunk back and drag it out and listen Bluesky doesn’t put up with that

I don’t either

Conduct yourselves

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Reposted by C. L. Polk

Robert Komaniecki @komaniecki.bsky.social · 1h

Capitalism is a funny thing, because GenAI/LLM technology is considered successful not because of what it does, but because of its ability to attract venture capitalist investors

Unusual Whales @unusualwhales.bsky.social · 2d

AI bubble now 17 times bigger than dot-com boom and four times larger than subprime crisis, per MW

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Reposted by C. L. Polk

Ximena González @ximenaka.bsky.social · 20h

I began writing this story with a naive question in mind: What do we lose when public education is privatized? A lot, actually.

By following the MAGA playbook, the UCP’s push against public education not only undermines democracy, it jeopardizes the possibility of a better future for all Albertans.

Inside the Right-Wing Attack on Alberta's Public Education | The Tyee

MAGA’s Project 2025 has become a blueprint for undermining Canada’s schools in the name of profit and privilege.

thetyee.ca

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C. L. Polk @clpolk.blacksky.app · 2h

Unrelatedly In 1998, an intern of the Fraser Institute and a Reform Party operative were elected to a school board in a mid-sized city. they plunged the board into chaos, forcing its dissolution in just one year.

I used to think it was incompetence. Now I suspect that was a 100% successful mission.

karl rove knausgård @uhactually.bsky.social · 18h

Lmao WaPo has fewer than 100K circulation now. It turns out “alienate your liberal subscriber base” is not a good strategy when the Republicans also hate you. www.forbes.com/sites/andyme...

The Washington Post Is Running Out Of Readers Willing To Pay

Once a titan of American journalism, The Washington Post now struggles to reach even 100,000 print subscribers most days.

www.forbes.com

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C. L. Polk @clpolk.blacksky.app · 2h

I don’t know. I am utterly bewildered by it. But I wonder if it’s because people believe that it’s powerful, and that it’s completely obedient to their wishes. I’m getting the feeling that a lot of people hate not being able to control people because they refuse to be pliant and agreeable

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C. L. Polk @clpolk.blacksky.app · 2h

This is it, right here

Fly @flockofwords.bsky.social · 7h

On the one hand you’ve got Bridgerton vibes, complete with a wealthy & handsome Labrador-esque Good Boi PoC hero for whom the protagonist is unwillingly falling; otoh she’s facing the magical equivalent of cliterodectomy or footbinding the moment she marries, & she’s urgently trying to forge a

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Reposted by C. L. Polk

Mary Robinette Kowal @maryrobinettekowal.com · 22h

My hot take is that none of these are structure. These are all recipes that describe structure.

Structure is the Salt, Fat, Acid Heat of writing.

3-Act/Hero's Journey etc are recipes.

You can make great meals without using a recipe if you understand the principles of structure.

Mx. D. D. Ward (they/them) @ddwardiswriting.bsky.social · 2d

So #WritingCommunity how do we feel about structure?

Do you use the 3 act structure? The 5 act?

Hero's Journey? Save the Cat? Super Structure Method? Story Genius Method?

Something else?

What have you got?

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C. L. Polk @clpolk.blacksky.app · 2h

Whew, this is a deeply stupid move

Tech Policy Press @techpolicypress.bsky.social · 3h

Sweden is running a national experiment in AI, offering free access to AI tools at a population level in the hope of boosting its economy and tech literacy. @stokel.bsky.social reports from Stockholm on how the country's bold bid to democratize AI is unfolding.

What Happens When You Give Millions of People Free Access to AI? | TechPolicy.Press

Initiatives in Sweden and UAE to provide population-level access to AI tools could be just the beginning of a new AI revolution, reports Chris Stokel-Walker.

www.techpolicy.press

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C. L. Polk @clpolk.blacksky.app · 2h

No. I rebuke it

C. L. Polk @clpolk.blacksky.app · 13h

this helped me fix mine! thank you!

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Reposted by C. L. Polk

Ian Boudreau @ianboudreau.com · 1d

Pretty sure I say this every Columbus Day, but getting hauled back to Spain for excessive brutality in 1500, just as the Inquisition was really getting fired up, is some genuinely Evil Guys Hall of Infamy material

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Reposted by C. L. Polk

Ursula K. Le Guin @ursulakleguin.com · Jul 25

Margaret Killjoy (@margaret.bsky.social‬) introduces and reads from The Sapling Cage, her coming-of-age fantasy, which is shortlisted for the 2025 Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction.

For more about this year's shortlist: www.ursulakleguin.com/prize25

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Reposted by C. L. Polk

Courtney Milan @courtneymilan.com · 23h

Hey Colorado residents, particularly people in Fort Collins, but also those who are somewhat near: my sister and brother in law are running a study on an easy, portable method to help maintain indoor air quality during adverse outside events (like smoke or pollution).

Participate in our Clean Air Study | sapphires

humanenvironments.org

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C. L. Polk @clpolk.blacksky.app · 1d

it's a vaguepost

C. L. Polk @clpolk.blacksky.app · 1d

oh that's the fun part. I am currently learning how to use Libre Office. it's hard because they do things very differently but I'm starting to understand the reasoning.

C. L. Polk @clpolk.blacksky.app · 1d

i was really interested in Pop!_os but I couldn't get WoW classic to run on it when i tried, so I abandoned it for Ubuntu, which I wasn't wild about, and moved on to Mint.

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C. L. Polk @clpolk.blacksky.app · 1d

This makes me feel like i should go into tinfoil millinery but yeah. They want this stuff for palantir—i mean, *things*

C. L. Polk @clpolk.blacksky.app · 1d

Oh, the horror, this dude has to highlight a few words, right click, and click on “search”

How terrible

I like to link stuff for convenience

I’m not moved by helpless adults

C. L. Polk @clpolk.blacksky.app · 1d

…okay, that post is super gross. Brb, blocking

Reposted by C. L. Polk

Marco Rogers @polotek.bsky.social · 1d

It's important to understand the agreement Republicans have with their base. I want to share this video from a democrat politician in a red state. She talks about why farmers voted for Trump. It's not because they didn't know what was gonna happen. They did.
youtu.be/badGHJLDpP8?...

Why Farmers Voted For Trump

YouTube video by Farm to Taber

youtu.be

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Reposted by C. L. Polk

The Ignyte Awards @theignyteawards.bsky.social · 1d

Oh, hello

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C. L. Polk @clpolk.blacksky.app · 1d

If you’re now thinking that maybe you should switch to Linux before you’re stuck in windows 11 hell, welcome to It’s FOSS, a site you’ll probably visit often from here on out. This is a post describing a bunch of linux distributions that might be right for you:

itsfoss.com/best-linux-d...

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C. L. Polk @clpolk.blacksky.app · 1d

I’m enjoying mint. Ubuntu was okay but I think I like Mint more.

C. L. Polk @clpolk.blacksky.app · 1d

I’m not sure if you mean buying old computers or what os to use on older computers but Mint has a build for older computers called xfce (cinnamon is for bigger machines)

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C. L. Polk @clpolk.blacksky.app · 1d

I tried Apple ecosystem and yeah I’m switching all that hardware. Linux doesn’t have a good tablet solution though

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C. L. Polk @clpolk.blacksky.app · 1d

i started with Ubuntu but I just recently switched to Mint (cinnamon.) I backed everything up on a portable hard drive, physically disconnected it, and whoosh, Microsoft in the oubliette

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