Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Steven Marsh

Deanna G @deannag.bsky.social · 7h

Cool trivia question. In 2020, Onward set the record for the lowest weekly grossing #1 film at $71,000.

What was the movie it beat?

ET the Extra Terrestrial at $2.3 million. It hit number 1 in early December, 1982, 25 weeks after premiering.

1 1

Steven Marsh @stevenmarsh.bsky.social · 6h

I'm just going to assume that "luminary" in this case includes me. 😊

Jesse Scoble @jscoble.bsky.social · 10h

Subversive Sci-Fi -- essays by some of gaming's luminaries on futuristic films that broke the rules!

Please check out the campaign and consider chipping in!

www.kickstarter.com/projects/gho...

Just check out this line-up:

1/?

Subversive Sci-Fi Evolution

More Reflections on Futuristic Films That Broke the Rules

www.kickstarter.com

1

Reposted by Steven Marsh

Jesse Scoble @jscoble.bsky.social · 10h

Subversive Sci-Fi -- essays by some of gaming's luminaries on futuristic films that broke the rules!

Please check out the campaign and consider chipping in!

www.kickstarter.com/projects/gho...

Just check out this line-up:

1/?

Subversive Sci-Fi Evolution

More Reflections on Futuristic Films That Broke the Rules

www.kickstarter.com

1 8 12

Reposted by Steven Marsh

James Wallis @jameswallis.bsky.social · 1d

Windows 10 users in the EU and UK, you can get free Extended Security Updates for a year just by:
> Settings > Windows Update > Check for updates. Click.
Scroll down to Enrol in Extended Security Updates (or similar wording).
Click on it.
Follow prompts.
Bingo, you're good for a year.

4 25 37

Reposted by Steven Marsh

Natalie P (is not a vampire) 🦇 @sashette.bsky.social · 1d

I don't know whether it's unhinged, but it's certainly divisive:

I believe all novels should have illustrations in them again. Like etchings in Dickens, or Japanese Light Novels.

Every single novel would benefit. Artists would thrive. We all win.

Rachel Feder @rachelfeder.bsky.social · 2d

Tell me your most unhinged literary opinion, as a little treat

4 12 40

Steven Marsh @stevenmarsh.bsky.social · 1d

Halloween continues on Feature of Habit! This "week" is only six days (so far), for reasons that'll make more sense next Tuesday.

10/15 — Shock Treatment (1981)
10/16 — 28 Days Later (2002)
10/17 — Barbarian (2022)
10/18 — Fantasy Island (2020)
10/19 — The Keep (1983)
10/20 — The Substance (2024)

Writing Film Essays

www.patreon.com

Reposted by Steven Marsh

bleary @bleary.off-the-records.com · 1d

If anyone needs me I will be in the museum, lying down next to the bog bodies.

Did people really memorize phone numbers before cell phones, or is that just a movie thing?
2? Questions
I was watching some old shows from the 90s and noticed people would just dial numbers from memory - like they'd call their friends or family without looking anything up.
Made me wonder if that was actually normal back then? Did people genuinely have all their important numbers memorized, or did most folks keep a little address book or written list nearby?

1.5K 4.9K 24K

Reposted by Steven Marsh

rahaeli @rahaeli.bsky.social · 1d

Look, I'm all for suspension of disbelief when reading fanfic and all, but I draw the line at a Gotham phone number being area code 201. It is in South Jersey! It's area code 609, dammit!

9 12 210

Steven Marsh @stevenmarsh.bsky.social · 2d

(I know I just did that one a few days ago, but it's still on my mind...)

1

Steven Marsh @stevenmarsh.bsky.social · 3d

In honor of spooky month, share a 4 word horror story that only someone in your profession would understand

Fireballs deal 8d6 dawizard.

🏰meg⚔️ @Birthright Audiobook! @impavid.us · 5d

In honor of spooky month, share a 4 word horror story that only someone in your profession would understand

I'll go first: Six page commercial lease.

3 1 5

Steven Marsh @stevenmarsh.bsky.social · 3d

I wonder how many of these folks cut their teeth on grand-strategy computer games — such as CIVILIZATION — where just deciding "we're no longer a democracy... we're now operating under despotism because that'll be advantageous" is just a mouse-click choice.

8 4 100

Reposted by Steven Marsh

Steve Jackson Games @stevejacksongames.bsky.social · 3d

Will Zombie Dice or Chupacabra: Survive the Night be on your table for #HalloweenGaming? Whether you prefer ravenous, undead creatures or scary cryptids, both fast-playing dice games will put you in a spooky mood!

#halloween #boardgames #tabletopgames #dicegames #stevejacksongames #playsjgames

2 4 14

Reposted by Steven Marsh

Turhan's Bey Company @turhansbeycompany.bsky.social · 5d

My GURPS historicals touch (briefly) on things like race, gender, sexuality, and ability, not because of "DEI consultants" (there's hardly enough money involved to pay me, let alone a consultant) but because as someone who reads history I know there were lots of not-white, not-dude, not-straight,

Mike Rose @mikerose.bsky.social · 5d

We banned a guy on the Steam forums for repeatedly saying there were “too many women” in our game

So he flipped his positive review to negative

Still totally worth it

1 6 17

Steven Marsh @stevenmarsh.bsky.social · 5d

I can't even imagine going to THAT many garage sales . . .

The Guardian @theguardian.com · 5d

Experience: I own the world’s largest Monopoly collection

Every set is exciting. I’ve currently got 4,379 different ones. The dream is to hit 4,500, maybe even 5,000

www.theguardian.com

1

Steven Marsh @stevenmarsh.bsky.social · 5d

Secret Halloween terror message to all game editors:

dawizard

1

Steven Marsh @stevenmarsh.bsky.social · 6d

Yeah, I spent too much time trying to sort it out. :-)

The big "tell" for me is that good modern human writers really like… randomness? Talking about an invading army while engaging a cat in tug-of-war. etc.

The one I suspect trapped you mimics someone who's "to the point," making that harder.

2

Steven Marsh @stevenmarsh.bsky.social · 6d

I got three out of three... but I was nowhere NEAR as confident as I felt like I should have been.

Jessica Price @delafina777.bsky.social · 7d

Hey all, I'm trying to get a baseline for how good people are at detecting whether fiction is AI-generated or human-written (most of the research on this is for nonfiction and my hypothesis is we're better with fiction).

If you have time, give it a try?

jlp-experiment.github.io/ai-detection...

AI vs Human Fiction Detection Test

jlp-experiment.github.io

2 3

Reposted by Steven Marsh

Jessica Price @delafina777.bsky.social · 7d

Hey all, I'm trying to get a baseline for how good people are at detecting whether fiction is AI-generated or human-written (most of the research on this is for nonfiction and my hypothesis is we're better with fiction).

If you have time, give it a try?

jlp-experiment.github.io/ai-detection...

AI vs Human Fiction Detection Test

jlp-experiment.github.io

49 61 93

Steven Marsh @stevenmarsh.bsky.social · 7d

Yep! Even wrote it. (Behind a Patreon paywall...)
www.patreon.com/posts/131276...

Scary Elision on the Road That I Must Travel, With HALLOWEEN III: SEASON OF THE WITCH (1982) | Feature of Habit: A Movie a Day

www.patreon.com

2

Steven Marsh @stevenmarsh.bsky.social · 7d

I've only seen one so far, and it was HALLOWEEN III (which I have fond memories of).

1 3

Steven Marsh @stevenmarsh.bsky.social · 7d

ACKtoberfest continues! (Still workshopping…)

Week 41 on Feature of Habit starts tomorrow.

10/8 — Eraserhead (1978)
10/9 — Let the Right One In (2008)
10/10 — The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)
10/11 — Hotel Transylvania (2012)
10/12 — Renfield (2023)
10/13 — Sinners (2025)
10/14 — Psycho (1960)

Writing Film Essays

www.patreon.com

1

Reposted by Steven Marsh

Anna Meier @annameier.bsky.social · 7d

Just because Pete Hegseth decided to be fatphobic doesn't mean you have to be! Thanks!

3 28 150

Reposted by Steven Marsh

Sean T. Collins @seantcollins.com · 9d

CHATGPT: I understand where you're coming from. You worked really hard to get here, and now it's time to enjoy the fruit of your labors.

ISILDUR: So I should keep it? Elrond says I shouldn't

CHATGPT: The ring is precious. Sometimes friends don't have your best interests at heart.

ISILDUR: true

41 3K 11K

Reposted by Steven Marsh

rahaeli @rahaeli.bsky.social · 7d

This is going around again and it is not true. Like every site on the internet, Bluesky uses machine learning to do a first-pass approximation of image classification to detect and label content. They have repeatedly confirmed outside services do not use Bluesky user data to train their models.

8 310 980

Steven Marsh @stevenmarsh.bsky.social · 8d

Check out the project here!

Subversive Sci-Fi Evolution

More Reflections on Futuristic Films That Broke the Rules

www.kickstarter.com

1