Scott
@smadin.net
Empty out the locker room, let me find my space
location: more like GREATEST Boston
• Blog: https://smadin.net/
• Fediverse: https://better.boston/@smadin
location: more like GREATEST Boston
• Blog: https://smadin.net/
• Fediverse: https://better.boston/@smadin
Pinned
Scott
@smadin.net
· Nov 6
herewith:
Reposted by Scott
reading the replies to this skeet and finding out we are a couple bad dice rolls away from living in Carmageddon
My least popular (and most correct) view is that cars should be automatically limited to the local speed limit. Put the pedal to the floor and you still can't go over 25mph in a residential area.
(15 in Manhattan btw)
(15 in Manhattan btw)
There is no possible justification for limiting e-bikes to 15mph but not cars.
December 13, 2025 at 3:42 PM
reading the replies to this skeet and finding out we are a couple bad dice rolls away from living in Carmageddon
Reposted by Scott
Massachusetts reporters should ask Congresswoman Clark why she voted present on impeachment. And why she whipped the votes for "present"instead of protecting the country.
I wrote up the roll call votes taken in the House this week. They almost all sucked! But it was great to see Mike Johnson also had a bad week because of another successful discharge petition. jonathancohn.medium.com/this-was-a-b...
This Was a Bad Week in US House Votes. At Least It Sucked for Mike Johnson Too.
This week, the US House of Representatives professed bipartisan support for the warfare state, tabled an impeachment resolution, and passed…
jonathancohn.medium.com
December 13, 2025 at 3:22 PM
Massachusetts reporters should ask Congresswoman Clark why she voted present on impeachment. And why she whipped the votes for "present"instead of protecting the country.
Reposted by Scott
Imagine a fun, CGI boot stamping a cute, CGI human face, forever
December 13, 2025 at 3:54 PM
Imagine a fun, CGI boot stamping a cute, CGI human face, forever
Reposted by Scott
i really love this comparison for several reasons, including:
1) the optimal levels of either should be zero
2) barring that, exposure should be reduced as much as possible (including government action) provided elimination is not an option
3) remediating past exposure requires ongoing mitigations
1) the optimal levels of either should be zero
2) barring that, exposure should be reduced as much as possible (including government action) provided elimination is not an option
3) remediating past exposure requires ongoing mitigations
And what we have done in this country concerning bigotry is akin to finding the permissible levels of lead in water
December 13, 2025 at 3:51 PM
i really love this comparison for several reasons, including:
1) the optimal levels of either should be zero
2) barring that, exposure should be reduced as much as possible (including government action) provided elimination is not an option
3) remediating past exposure requires ongoing mitigations
1) the optimal levels of either should be zero
2) barring that, exposure should be reduced as much as possible (including government action) provided elimination is not an option
3) remediating past exposure requires ongoing mitigations
Reposted by Scott
I was in Myanmar in 2015, just as identity cards were taken from Rohingya to keep them from voting. It was part of a decades-long process of redefining citizenship that ate away at their rights more every year. When governments start doing this, they can move the goalposts anytime they want to.
A reminder that most Americans who are life-long citizens have nothing OTHER than a Real ID to prove their citizenship. This is CBP’s chief enforcer saying that ID doesn’t count.
Bovino, the man overseeing mass deportations, publicly declared that we must all have our papers on us, at all times, or we could be stopped, harassed, kidnapped, and detained, as they did with the man in this case, who is a US citizen.
December 13, 2025 at 3:08 PM
I was in Myanmar in 2015, just as identity cards were taken from Rohingya to keep them from voting. It was part of a decades-long process of redefining citizenship that ate away at their rights more every year. When governments start doing this, they can move the goalposts anytime they want to.
Reposted by Scott
I haven’t been this excited for a bubble to burst since I was a toddler.
MIT’s NANDA initiative found that 95% of generative AI deployments fail after interviewing 150 execs, surveying 350 workers, and analyzing 300 projects. The real “productivity gains” seem to come from layoffs and squeezing more work from fewer people not AI.
MIT report: 95% of generative AI pilots at companies are failing
There’s a stark difference in success rates between companies that purchase AI tools from vendors and those that build them internally.
fortune.com
August 20, 2025 at 6:17 AM
I haven’t been this excited for a bubble to burst since I was a toddler.
Reposted by Scott
Urbanists will talk about how cars are a machine that makes you selfish and crazy, and I know it’s easy to roll your eyes at that but if you give drivers the ability to comment they will say “yes I am selfish and crazy”
I care about the harm to my sanity and schedule for being forced to go artificially slow
December 13, 2025 at 2:31 PM
Urbanists will talk about how cars are a machine that makes you selfish and crazy, and I know it’s easy to roll your eyes at that but if you give drivers the ability to comment they will say “yes I am selfish and crazy”
Reposted by Scott
Also the fact that Chanuka is the only Jewish holiday many non-Jews know and that that’s only because of its proximity to Christmas is… not great! If people want to honor Jewish culture they should learn about it on its own terms and not in reaction to Christianity
December 13, 2025 at 3:26 PM
Also the fact that Chanuka is the only Jewish holiday many non-Jews know and that that’s only because of its proximity to Christmas is… not great! If people want to honor Jewish culture they should learn about it on its own terms and not in reaction to Christianity
Reposted by Scott
I colored the Mari Lwyd x St. Lucia drawing I did a year ago, no reason.
December 13, 2025 at 3:21 PM
I colored the Mari Lwyd x St. Lucia drawing I did a year ago, no reason.
Reposted by Scott
I wrote up the roll call votes taken in the House this week. They almost all sucked! But it was great to see Mike Johnson also had a bad week because of another successful discharge petition. jonathancohn.medium.com/this-was-a-b...
This Was a Bad Week in US House Votes. At Least It Sucked for Mike Johnson Too.
This week, the US House of Representatives professed bipartisan support for the warfare state, tabled an impeachment resolution, and passed…
jonathancohn.medium.com
December 13, 2025 at 3:13 PM
I wrote up the roll call votes taken in the House this week. They almost all sucked! But it was great to see Mike Johnson also had a bad week because of another successful discharge petition. jonathancohn.medium.com/this-was-a-b...
Reposted by Scott
found the guy doing 90 in a 35
It's not life and death if I do speed, you're blowing the problem out of proportion to feel artificially safe.
December 13, 2025 at 2:40 PM
found the guy doing 90 in a 35
Reposted by Scott
What's retired Mountain Goats bassist Peter Hughes up to lately? Glad you asked. He's writing about Ryusuke Hamaguchi film Drive My Car (2021) for @alloymag.bsky.social, the autojourno website for people who understand that the intrusive pop-up ad model is bad. alloymag.com/drive-my-car...
Review of Drive My Car
This week, Peter Hughes swaps crashes and jumps for an emotional crashout.
alloymag.com
December 13, 2025 at 2:21 PM
What's retired Mountain Goats bassist Peter Hughes up to lately? Glad you asked. He's writing about Ryusuke Hamaguchi film Drive My Car (2021) for @alloymag.bsky.social, the autojourno website for people who understand that the intrusive pop-up ad model is bad. alloymag.com/drive-my-car...
Reposted by Scott
Reposted by Scott
I wrote a chapter for this! In it, I look at communal storytelling practices (like anthologies and folklore) as pedagogical tools, using the horror Twine anthology Lights Out, Please I curated in 2014 as a case study.
www.fulcrum.org/concern/mono...
www.fulcrum.org/concern/mono...
EnTwine: Critical and Creative Teaching with Twine
FORTHCOMING November 3, 2026 EnTwine: Critical and Creative Teaching with Twine is the first full-length collection devoted to teaching with the popular digital story-telling platform Twine. Until now...
www.fulcrum.org
December 13, 2025 at 2:38 PM
I wrote a chapter for this! In it, I look at communal storytelling practices (like anthologies and folklore) as pedagogical tools, using the horror Twine anthology Lights Out, Please I curated in 2014 as a case study.
www.fulcrum.org/concern/mono...
www.fulcrum.org/concern/mono...
Reposted by Scott
fiction is plenty interactive already, like when I stand at the top of the railing and throw books at you when you’re trying to climb up and save the princess
It’s weird how there’s always moves to make fiction more “interactive” with different endings etc. It’s like these people have never seen the same film twice a few years apart and had a completely different reaction. All fiction is interactive. That there’s an audience is the interactive part.
December 13, 2025 at 12:42 PM
fiction is plenty interactive already, like when I stand at the top of the railing and throw books at you when you’re trying to climb up and save the princess
Reposted by Scott
My “Viggo Mortensen broke his toe when they were filming ‘The Two Towers’” moment is “Charlize Theron and Tom Hardy’s stunt doubles fell in love when they were filming ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’.”
December 13, 2025 at 3:11 AM
My “Viggo Mortensen broke his toe when they were filming ‘The Two Towers’” moment is “Charlize Theron and Tom Hardy’s stunt doubles fell in love when they were filming ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’.”
Reposted by Scott
Reposted by Scott
Okay now I feel basically certain the TIME cover with the AI people sitting on the steel beam looks ugly on purpose. Because this is the artist.
Plus he was in the news this year for AI art copying his signature youtu.be/RU9_9sspuPM?...
Wheaton illustrator says AI ripped off his unique style | What rights does he have?
YouTube video by ABC 7 Chicago
youtu.be
December 13, 2025 at 12:37 PM
Okay now I feel basically certain the TIME cover with the AI people sitting on the steel beam looks ugly on purpose. Because this is the artist.
Reposted by Scott
I'm sorry to say that I expected this
Well, there's a photo I never expected to see in my life. Noam Chomsky palling around with Steve Bannon.
December 13, 2025 at 12:31 AM
I'm sorry to say that I expected this
I really need to see Wake Up Dead Man asap. stupid AMC. stupid netflix.
December 13, 2025 at 3:10 AM
I really need to see Wake Up Dead Man asap. stupid AMC. stupid netflix.
Reposted by Scott
Somewhere, Mike Dukakis is like, "Are you fucking kidding me?"
December 13, 2025 at 2:46 AM
Somewhere, Mike Dukakis is like, "Are you fucking kidding me?"
Reposted by Scott
It's getting mega cold this weekend, can you hit the @supplydepotmpls.bsky.social Venmo to help keep folks warm? Put a 🌴 in the Venmo comment so we know
December 12, 2025 at 9:56 PM
It's getting mega cold this weekend, can you hit the @supplydepotmpls.bsky.social Venmo to help keep folks warm? Put a 🌴 in the Venmo comment so we know
Reposted by Scott
number 2 is so crazy TIL!!!
Hilariously, Marie's Crisis's full name is Marie's Crisis Cafe, and it's called that because (1) it was owned for a long time by a woman named Marie Dumont, and (2) it is located on the site of the building where Thomas Paine died.
i just love that the bar name is Marie's Crisis. If you ever find yourself in Minnesota, i'll take you to The Black Hart on Bingo Night.
December 13, 2025 at 2:08 AM
number 2 is so crazy TIL!!!
Reposted by Scott
This is, uh, not a smart move. Section 230 has its flaws, but repealing it without having an *extremely solid* plan in place to replace the protections for free speech it offers is tantamount to banning the LGBTQ+ community and others from public online spaces.
Sen. WHITEHOUSE: We finally are moving to file a bipartisan Section 230 repeal bill. Waiting any longer serves no useful purpose.
December 13, 2025 at 1:51 AM
This is, uh, not a smart move. Section 230 has its flaws, but repealing it without having an *extremely solid* plan in place to replace the protections for free speech it offers is tantamount to banning the LGBTQ+ community and others from public online spaces.
in the '90s if you went to Taco Bell and gave them $7 dollars they'd be confused and horrified because they had no idea how to provide you enough food for such a bounty
Old enough to remember when $7 at Taco Bell meant you could eat like a fucking king. Like a scary amount of food. Now that's how much it costs for a single under-stuffed Burrito Supreme.
December 13, 2025 at 2:16 AM
in the '90s if you went to Taco Bell and gave them $7 dollars they'd be confused and horrified because they had no idea how to provide you enough food for such a bounty