Orbiting Kettle
@orbitingkettle.bsky.social
Lurking ditch-goblin ogling the fine people passing by.
Reposted by Orbiting Kettle
Ok, so the Traveller 5e news is… well it’s whatever. Not really worth getting too exercised about I’d say about BUT thanks to looking up previous d20 iterations of Traveller my life has been #blessed to discover what may be hands down the single greatest piece of RPG art I’ve ever seen.
November 27, 2025 at 8:49 PM
Ok, so the Traveller 5e news is… well it’s whatever. Not really worth getting too exercised about I’d say about BUT thanks to looking up previous d20 iterations of Traveller my life has been #blessed to discover what may be hands down the single greatest piece of RPG art I’ve ever seen.
Reposted by Orbiting Kettle
The Boshin War was the means by which Satsuma-Choshu oligarchs imposed their vision for Japan at the point of a gun.
My PhD thesis about the Northern Alliance, one group that fought them, is free to read via the link. It was panned for "reading too much like a novel," so you should totally read it!
My PhD thesis about the Northern Alliance, one group that fought them, is free to read via the link. It was panned for "reading too much like a novel," so you should totally read it!
The Sparrow's Dream: The Meiji Revolution and Local Self-Assertion in Northern Japan - D-Scholarship@Pitt
Bakkalian, Nyri A. (2017) The Sparrow's Dream: The Meiji Revolution and Local Self-Assertion in Northern Japan. Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh. (Unpublished)
d-scholarship.pitt.edu
November 24, 2025 at 1:10 AM
The Boshin War was the means by which Satsuma-Choshu oligarchs imposed their vision for Japan at the point of a gun.
My PhD thesis about the Northern Alliance, one group that fought them, is free to read via the link. It was panned for "reading too much like a novel," so you should totally read it!
My PhD thesis about the Northern Alliance, one group that fought them, is free to read via the link. It was panned for "reading too much like a novel," so you should totally read it!
Reposted by Orbiting Kettle
Really wild situation here: a celebrated and well-regarded indie dev and publisher is facing shutdown because Valve banned their game from Steam and won't talk to them about it, at all.
www.ign.com/articles/uns...
www.ign.com/articles/uns...
Unsettling Horror Game Horses Banned From Steam, Leaving Studio With 'High Risk' of Closure - IGN
Indie horror game Horses is preparing to launch on December 2, on the Epic Games Store, GOG, Itch.io, and the Humble Store. But one place it won't be is on Steam, because Steam has banned the game for...
www.ign.com
November 25, 2025 at 5:25 PM
Really wild situation here: a celebrated and well-regarded indie dev and publisher is facing shutdown because Valve banned their game from Steam and won't talk to them about it, at all.
www.ign.com/articles/uns...
www.ign.com/articles/uns...
Reposted by Orbiting Kettle
You can love someone you love even if you don't love yourself🏳️⚧️
But if you love yourself, you can love both yourself and the person you love. Your love becomes twofold.
So take care of yourself.
Your soul is beautiful.
But if you love yourself, you can love both yourself and the person you love. Your love becomes twofold.
So take care of yourself.
Your soul is beautiful.
November 18, 2025 at 2:33 PM
You can love someone you love even if you don't love yourself🏳️⚧️
But if you love yourself, you can love both yourself and the person you love. Your love becomes twofold.
So take care of yourself.
Your soul is beautiful.
But if you love yourself, you can love both yourself and the person you love. Your love becomes twofold.
So take care of yourself.
Your soul is beautiful.
Reposted by Orbiting Kettle
"we need to make more electrons"
as a physicist, I ... don't know what to say
as a physicist, I ... don't know what to say
I laughed at loud. These people are so pathetic; our enemies are numbskulls. They will kill us all and still not know hs physics.
COWEN: The stupidest question possible: Why don’t we just make more GPUs?
ALTMAN: Because we need to make more electrons.
conversationswithtyler.com/episodes/sam...
COWEN: The stupidest question possible: Why don’t we just make more GPUs?
ALTMAN: Because we need to make more electrons.
conversationswithtyler.com/episodes/sam...
November 19, 2025 at 12:43 PM
"we need to make more electrons"
as a physicist, I ... don't know what to say
as a physicist, I ... don't know what to say
Reposted by Orbiting Kettle
Archaeologist here. For 99.5% of human history (ca 300-400,000 years), we were peaceful (no war). There was conflict and smaller scale violence, but countless studies on the 119 known modern hunter gatherer groups show cooperation, negotiation, and peace instead of conflict. Please read books.
Revenge/physical combat was how people settled things for literally millions of years, it's normal human behavior, we're wolves not sheep, the government project trying to social engineer us and domesticate us into sheep has been unsuccessful
November 17, 2025 at 10:46 PM
Archaeologist here. For 99.5% of human history (ca 300-400,000 years), we were peaceful (no war). There was conflict and smaller scale violence, but countless studies on the 119 known modern hunter gatherer groups show cooperation, negotiation, and peace instead of conflict. Please read books.
The most important thing coming out from the Epstein mails seems to be a bullet going right through the skull of the idea of meritocracy. I mean, we already knew that it was used as a memetic chain in our current society, but it's nice (it's not, it's horrifying) to get confirmation.
November 18, 2025 at 6:36 AM
The most important thing coming out from the Epstein mails seems to be a bullet going right through the skull of the idea of meritocracy. I mean, we already knew that it was used as a memetic chain in our current society, but it's nice (it's not, it's horrifying) to get confirmation.
Torment Nexus etc. Etc.
"Powered by OpenAI’s GPT-4o model by default...tests repeatedly showed that the AI toy dropped its guardrails the longer a conversation went on, until hitting rock bottom on incredibly disturbing topics."
AI-Powered Stuffed Animal Pulled From Market After Disturbing Interactions With Children
FoloToy says it's suspended sales of its AI-powered teddy bear after researchers found it gave wildly inappropriate and dangerous answers.
futurism.com
November 17, 2025 at 4:52 AM
Torment Nexus etc. Etc.
Reposted by Orbiting Kettle
The Financial Times' Bryce Elder (@bryce.lol) wrote up a piece about my newsletter.
www.ft.com/content/fce7...
www.ft.com/content/fce7...
November 12, 2025 at 5:44 PM
The Financial Times' Bryce Elder (@bryce.lol) wrote up a piece about my newsletter.
www.ft.com/content/fce7...
www.ft.com/content/fce7...
Reposted by Orbiting Kettle
bluesky mods retire bitch
November 5, 2025 at 12:24 PM
bluesky mods retire bitch
For once I'm giddy for the US to wake up. The amount of copies and wild rationalisation by the worst people will be a balm for my soul.
November 5, 2025 at 7:20 AM
For once I'm giddy for the US to wake up. The amount of copies and wild rationalisation by the worst people will be a balm for my soul.
Dick Cheney finally died and hell, somehow, just became a bit worse.
November 4, 2025 at 7:10 PM
Dick Cheney finally died and hell, somehow, just became a bit worse.
Reposted by Orbiting Kettle
RFK Jr. Greets Trick-Or-Treaters With Big Bowl Of Ape Glands https://theonion.com/rfk-jr-greets-trick-or-treaters-with-big-bowl-of-ape-glands/
October 31, 2025 at 3:01 PM
RFK Jr. Greets Trick-Or-Treaters With Big Bowl Of Ape Glands https://theonion.com/rfk-jr-greets-trick-or-treaters-with-big-bowl-of-ape-glands/
Finally saw Mad God by Phil Tippet, and it is so beautiful it takes your breath away.
It is also horrendous and disgusting.
I will have to rewatch it a couple of times with some longer pauses in between to think about it.
It is also horrendous and disgusting.
I will have to rewatch it a couple of times with some longer pauses in between to think about it.
October 29, 2025 at 5:45 AM
Finally saw Mad God by Phil Tippet, and it is so beautiful it takes your breath away.
It is also horrendous and disgusting.
I will have to rewatch it a couple of times with some longer pauses in between to think about it.
It is also horrendous and disgusting.
I will have to rewatch it a couple of times with some longer pauses in between to think about it.
Reposted by Orbiting Kettle
Italian Senator left Jeffrey Sachs literally speechless and shocked by calling him a liar and a propagandist.
It happened on Prime Time Italian television.
Priceless 🤩
[ENG SUB]
(The 2nd part in the next tweet)
It happened on Prime Time Italian television.
Priceless 🤩
[ENG SUB]
(The 2nd part in the next tweet)
October 24, 2025 at 1:32 PM
Italian Senator left Jeffrey Sachs literally speechless and shocked by calling him a liar and a propagandist.
It happened on Prime Time Italian television.
Priceless 🤩
[ENG SUB]
(The 2nd part in the next tweet)
It happened on Prime Time Italian television.
Priceless 🤩
[ENG SUB]
(The 2nd part in the next tweet)
Finally read "Children of Time", and I loved it. It was harsh, with sometimes misery pouring from the pages like it was written by Giovanni Verga, but it was well worth it.
October 14, 2025 at 9:04 AM
Finally read "Children of Time", and I loved it. It was harsh, with sometimes misery pouring from the pages like it was written by Giovanni Verga, but it was well worth it.
For once I'm kind of happy with my government 's position
🇩🇪 Germany is AGAINST Chat Control:
Jens Spahn: "We as the CDU/CSU parliamentary group are against indiscriminate monitoring of chats. That would be like preemptively opening all letters to check whether there's something illegal in them. That's not acceptable, that won't happen under our watch."
Jens Spahn: "We as the CDU/CSU parliamentary group are against indiscriminate monitoring of chats. That would be like preemptively opening all letters to check whether there's something illegal in them. That's not acceptable, that won't happen under our watch."
October 8, 2025 at 7:45 AM
For once I'm kind of happy with my government 's position
Reposted by Orbiting Kettle
🇩🇪 Germany is AGAINST Chat Control:
Jens Spahn: "We as the CDU/CSU parliamentary group are against indiscriminate monitoring of chats. That would be like preemptively opening all letters to check whether there's something illegal in them. That's not acceptable, that won't happen under our watch."
Jens Spahn: "We as the CDU/CSU parliamentary group are against indiscriminate monitoring of chats. That would be like preemptively opening all letters to check whether there's something illegal in them. That's not acceptable, that won't happen under our watch."
October 7, 2025 at 6:09 PM
🇩🇪 Germany is AGAINST Chat Control:
Jens Spahn: "We as the CDU/CSU parliamentary group are against indiscriminate monitoring of chats. That would be like preemptively opening all letters to check whether there's something illegal in them. That's not acceptable, that won't happen under our watch."
Jens Spahn: "We as the CDU/CSU parliamentary group are against indiscriminate monitoring of chats. That would be like preemptively opening all letters to check whether there's something illegal in them. That's not acceptable, that won't happen under our watch."
Reposted by Orbiting Kettle
I Was Reborn Into Another Randomly Generated World?
September 29, 2025 at 3:56 PM
I Was Reborn Into Another Randomly Generated World?
Reposted by Orbiting Kettle
Ungarn wirft der Europaabgeordneten Ilaria Salis Angriffe auf Neonazis in #Budapest vor - und forderte die Aufhebung ihrer Immunität. Das Europaparlament lehnte das nun ab. Es gelte Rechtsstaatlichkeit in der EU, sagt @schirdewan.bsky.social. "Auch Orban muss dies verstehen." taz.de/Immunitaet-v...
Immunität von Ilaria Salis besteht fort: Das Europaparlament stellt sich gegen Ungarn
Ungarn wirft der Europaabgeordneten Ilaria Salis Angriffe auf Neonazis in Budapest vor. Das EU-Parlament aber lehnt eine Aufhebung ihrer Immunität ab.
taz.de
September 24, 2025 at 6:37 AM
Ungarn wirft der Europaabgeordneten Ilaria Salis Angriffe auf Neonazis in #Budapest vor - und forderte die Aufhebung ihrer Immunität. Das Europaparlament lehnte das nun ab. Es gelte Rechtsstaatlichkeit in der EU, sagt @schirdewan.bsky.social. "Auch Orban muss dies verstehen." taz.de/Immunitaet-v...
Reposted by Orbiting Kettle
This specifically makes me angry in a way I can't truly express without getting permanently banned and, maybe, incur into some charges.
September 23, 2025 at 5:05 AM
This specifically makes me angry in a way I can't truly express without getting permanently banned and, maybe, incur into some charges.
So, there are massive protests in Italy against the genocide in Gaza. The situation is getting pretty hot. Sadly, the state of the Italian mainstream press makes it quite hard to get a comprehensive state of the situation, but things are moving.
September 22, 2025 at 3:40 PM
So, there are massive protests in Italy against the genocide in Gaza. The situation is getting pretty hot. Sadly, the state of the Italian mainstream press makes it quite hard to get a comprehensive state of the situation, but things are moving.
@miawong.bsky.social on today's episode of It Could Happen Here, did a pretty good job at summarizing the years of lead without looking like she was wearing a tinfoil hat. The whole episode was pretty good even if it was kinda depressing.
September 18, 2025 at 5:29 AM
@miawong.bsky.social on today's episode of It Could Happen Here, did a pretty good job at summarizing the years of lead without looking like she was wearing a tinfoil hat. The whole episode was pretty good even if it was kinda depressing.