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neilpolowin.bsky.social
Neil Polowin
@neilpolowin.bsky.social
1.9K followers 3.2K following 3.1K posts
Product of Canada. Carleton University and Bentley University alum. He/him.
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Reposted by Neil Polowin
billamend.bsky.social
Tonight’s dumb napkin cartoon…
December 22, 2025 at 12:43 AM
neilpolowin.bsky.social
Chuck Jones' animation unit at Warner Bros. was consistently brilliant.
diane.dianeduane.com Diane Duane @diane.dianeduane.com · 1d
I think we all need to have a look at this to remind ourselves—in the face of all the current bullshit clogging the atmosphere—that only humans can make art. Let alone Great Art. vimeo.com/444002896
What's Opera Doc
This is "What's Opera Doc" by 2K HistoryClips on Vimeo, the home for high quality videos and the people who love them.
vimeo.com
December 21, 2025 at 10:57 PM
Reposted by Neil Polowin
brendelbored.bsky.social
I love how much happier he is doing these silly mystery movies and seeing himself as a muppet than he was being James Bond
Daniel Craig's reaction to Sesame Street's Beignet Blanc 🥲
YouTube video by Still Watching Netflix
youtube.com
December 21, 2025 at 10:00 PM
Reposted by Neil Polowin
mattseybold.bsky.social
When you ask a college librarian for a book, no matter how rare, expensive, or obscure, they get it for you.

Without fail.

Sometimes I think we forget what a marvel this is. Amazon & Google have still failed to replicate their witchcraft.
December 20, 2025 at 12:06 AM
Reposted by Neil Polowin
megelison.bsky.social
And just like that, SFWA capitulates. Keep fighting. It works.
The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association AMENDED RULES for the Nebula Awards Dear Meghan, Earlier today, you received an email titled, “Note from the Board on This Year’s Nebula Rules.” To be clear, SFWA does not support the use of LLM generative models in the production of creative work. The Nebula Award Rules did not reflect our current policy and deeply held beliefs and values, and they were amended to reflect that. With further input, today, we made an important change to the Nebula Awards Rules in two board votes that we would like to share with you: Previous Text: "Works that are wholly written using generative large language model (LLM) tools are not eligible." New Text: "Works that are written, either wholly or partially, by generative large language model (LLM) tools are not eligible." -and- Previous Text: "Works that used LLMs at any point during the writing process must disclose this upon acceptance of the nomination, and the nature of the technology’s use will be made clear to voters on the final ballot" New Text: "Works that used LLMs at any point during the writing process must disclose this upon acceptance of the nomination, and those works will be disqualified." We will update our posted rules in the coming days to reflect this change.
December 19, 2025 at 9:45 PM
neilpolowin.bsky.social
One of the best and, tragically, continually relevant pieces ever in the realm of editorial cartooning and rightfully nominated for an Eisner Award in 2019 for best short story.
mattcohen.bsky.social Matt Cohen @mattcohen.bsky.social · 3d
I was asked to re-share "The Ghastlygun Tinies." The story ran in MAD Magazine in 2018. I *wish* it weren't still relevant.
This is the first page of "The Ghastlygun Tinies" from MAD Magazine. The full text reads: "A is for Alice the young science wiz B is for Brian cramming for a quiz C is for Connor in his English class D is for Dana who had a hall pass E is for Eve who's idealistic F is for Frank, more than a statistic G is for Greg who was caught unawares H is for Hiro who needs more than prayers I is for Ike learning Shakespeare by rote J is for Julie who's too young to vote K is for Kara who's weary today L is for Liam reading Hemingway M is for Megan who's studying math N is for Nathan who's caught in the path O is for Owen learning about states P is for Paula protecting classmates Q is for Quinn whose life had just begun R is for Reid, valued less than a gun S is for Stephen who's planning for prom T is for Tina who's texting her mom U is for Una who ID's his face V is for Vincent who's sheltered in place W is for Wendy, kind beyond belief X is for Xena whose dad's crushed by grief Y is for Yuri whose time is now passed Z is for Zoe who won't be the last" The article was written by Matt Cohen and illustrated by Marc Palm. This is the second page of "The Ghastlygun Tinies" from MAD Magazine. The full text reads: "A is for Alice the young science wiz B is for Brian cramming for a quiz C is for Connor in his English class D is for Dana who had a hall pass E is for Eve who's idealistic F is for Frank, more than a statistic G is for Greg who was caught unawares H is for Hiro who needs more than prayers I is for Ike learning Shakespeare by rote J is for Julie who's too young to vote K is for Kara who's weary today L is for Liam reading Hemingway M is for Megan who's studying math N is for Nathan who's caught in the path O is for Owen learning about states P is for Paula protecting classmates Q is for Quinn whose life had just begun R is for Reid, valued less than a gun S is for Stephen who's planning for prom T is for Tina who's texting her mom U is for Una who ID's his face V is for Vincent who's sheltered in place W is for Wendy, kind beyond belief X is for Xena whose dad's crushed by grief Y is for Yuri whose time is now passed Z is for Zoe who won't be the last" The article was written by Matt Cohen and illustrated by Marc Palm. This is the third page of "The Ghastlygun Tinies" from MAD Magazine. The full text reads: "A is for Alice the young science wiz B is for Brian cramming for a quiz C is for Connor in his English class D is for Dana who had a hall pass E is for Eve who's idealistic F is for Frank, more than a statistic G is for Greg who was caught unawares H is for Hiro who needs more than prayers I is for Ike learning Shakespeare by rote J is for Julie who's too young to vote K is for Kara who's weary today L is for Liam reading Hemingway M is for Megan who's studying math N is for Nathan who's caught in the path O is for Owen learning about states P is for Paula protecting classmates Q is for Quinn whose life had just begun R is for Reid, valued less than a gun S is for Stephen who's planning for prom T is for Tina who's texting her mom U is for Una who ID's his face V is for Vincent who's sheltered in place W is for Wendy, kind beyond belief X is for Xena whose dad's crushed by grief Y is for Yuri whose time is now passed Z is for Zoe who won't be the last" The article was written by Matt Cohen and illustrated by Marc Palm. This is the fourth and final page of "The Ghastlygun Tinies" from MAD Magazine. The full text reads: "A is for Alice the young science wiz B is for Brian cramming for a quiz C is for Connor in his English class D is for Dana who had a hall pass E is for Eve who's idealistic F is for Frank, more than a statistic G is for Greg who was caught unawares H is for Hiro who needs more than prayers I is for Ike learning Shakespeare by rote J is for Julie who's too young to vote K is for Kara who's weary today L is for Liam reading Hemingway M is for Megan who's studying math N is for Nathan who's caught in the path O is for Owen learning about states P is for Paula protecting classmates Q is for Quinn whose life had just begun R is for Reid, valued less than a gun S is for Stephen who's planning for prom T is for Tina who's texting her mom U is for Una who ID's his face V is for Vincent who's sheltered in place W is for Wendy, kind beyond belief X is for Xena whose dad's crushed by grief Y is for Yuri whose time is now passed Z is for Zoe who won't be the last" The article was written by Matt Cohen and illustrated by Marc Palm.
December 19, 2025 at 4:39 PM
Reposted by Neil Polowin
anthonymoser.com
while i am not an academic i did see this coming and post about it on bluesky, which is why i am quoted in this article
Moser tells Rolling Stone that to even claim LLMs "hallucinate" fictional publications misunderstands the threat they pose to our comprehension of the world, because the term "implies that it's different from the normal, correct perception of reality" But the chatbots are "always hallucinating," he says. "It's not a malfunction. A predictive model predicts some text, and maybe it's accurate, maybe it isn't, but the process is the same either way. To put it another way: LLMs are structurally indifferent to truth."
December 17, 2025 at 8:17 PM
neilpolowin.bsky.social
I just hope that no one looks up "smeg" in the Urban Dictionary. It would be awful if people did that.
jamespmcleod.ca James McLeod @jamespmcleod.ca · 5d
Imagine walking into somebody's kitchen and they have this toaster on the counter.
December 17, 2025 at 3:21 PM
Reposted by Neil Polowin
heyitsdora.com
Going into 2026, a reminder for everyone who's fallen off the creative wagon, game dev, writing, art, music, whatever, no matter how long:
A post by c.a.t.y.a.y that reads, "I wonder what my art could've been if I didn't quit". Iggy responds, "I wonder what it will be if you start again"
December 16, 2025 at 3:22 AM
neilpolowin.bsky.social
It's shocking that, as late as 2023, some police "digital forensic experts" might not be aware of address spoofing and, even worse, the existence of email message headers and the routing information they contain.
December 17, 2025 at 2:26 PM
Reposted by Neil Polowin
brian770.bsky.social
December 10, 2025 at 10:26 AM
neilpolowin.bsky.social
I wonder if vendors like Anycubic realize that the performance (or lack thereof) of their delivery partners reflects directly on them, too. As far as new hobby experiences go, this one has been awful.
neilpolowin.bsky.social Neil Polowin @neilpolowin.bsky.social · 14d
New side quest: get PDN Express to deliver the replacement parts that Anycubic sent for the 3D printer I bought in October that had some interesting mechanical failures after just a few days. Anycubic says that PDN is blaming the recent Canada Post strike and suggests I reach out directly.
Tracking information acknowledging that they had the package in their Toronto facility as of November 18, that it left Toronto on November 20, but didn't arrive in Ottawa (400 km by highway) until November 28. No updates since.
December 16, 2025 at 3:13 PM
Reposted by Neil Polowin
julieslalonde.bsky.social
I have dyscalculia and am self-employed, so taxes, accounting, filing documents, etc. quite literally breaks my brain.

The CRA is chronically under resourced and the bureaucracy is set up in such a way as to be needlessly frustrating.

But I wanna be clear : The people who answer the phones? Angels
julieslalonde.bsky.social Julie S. Lalonde @julieslalonde.bsky.social · 10d
CRA is responsible for 90% of my grey hair.
December 15, 2025 at 4:20 PM
neilpolowin.bsky.social
Hmm. I'm not sure a single data point is enough to draw a properly validated conclusion. How many billionaires would make a proper a data set? I'm sure society can spare them for a few years (or just days, like the Rockefeller example) to let the experiment run its course. Go, team science!
jenashleywright.bsky.social Jennifer Wright @jenashleywright.bsky.social · 9d
Michael C. Rockefeller got shipwrecked in 1963, washed up on an island, and was promptly eaten by cannibals.
December 13, 2025 at 9:45 PM
Reposted by Neil Polowin
dandock.bsky.social
Excited to announce that my next book, I AM THE NIGHT, not only has a great cover but is available for pre-order now: us.macmillan.com/books/978125...
December 12, 2025 at 11:18 PM
neilpolowin.bsky.social
Trigger warning, Canadian content ahead. Viewer discretion is advised. #CanCon 🇨🇦
robcottingham.ca Rob Cottingham @robcottingham.ca · 9d
Behold my learnèd discussion of bad sex across the Canadian political spectrum. Note I make not one but TWO electoral system jokes.

Thanks Sasha Mark and Blind Tiger Comedy for a great show at Little Mountain Gallery! #cdnpoli #standupcomedy
December 13, 2025 at 1:02 AM
neilpolowin.bsky.social
It's like Disney looked at how much their brands like Mickey Mouse have already been degraded by churned-out quickie slasher films based on the earliest version of the mouse hitting the public domain this year and said, "Hold my beer."
December 11, 2025 at 7:27 PM
neilpolowin.bsky.social
If you need to grant yourself, as an elected official, immunity from *law society sanctions*, you need to reconsider your life choices.

www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
Immunity for Alberta attorney general necessary to ward off ‘political activism,’ attorney general says | CBC News
Alberta’s justice minister, who is also the attorney general, says new rules that would grant anyone who’s in his job general immunity from law society sanctions are necessary to ward off “political a...
www.cbc.ca
December 10, 2025 at 4:43 PM
neilpolowin.bsky.social
I had no idea that Hasbro released action figures for the original #Stargate film in 1994. But Daniel Jackson with a trucker hat and an assault rifle as accessories? I don't think they had the benefit of a script to work from. (Although the packaging designers clearly knew about Spader and Russell.)
Stargate - Daniel Jackson action figure from Hasbo in 1994, unopened in the original packaging. Stargate - Daniel Jackson action figure from Hasbo in 1994, unopened in the original packaging, from the back showing inset pictures of the other action figures in the series.
December 10, 2025 at 2:29 PM
neilpolowin.bsky.social
Closes with a *great* performance of Life During Wartime. www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNmc...
David Byrne: Tiny Desk Concert
YouTube video by NPR Music
www.youtube.com
December 10, 2025 at 2:11 PM
neilpolowin.bsky.social
Jolly well done!
lartist.bsky.social Lar deSouza @lartist.bsky.social · 12d
Cartoon: Jingle bell, jingle bell, jingle balrog!
cartoon: 3 panel cartoon. panel 1: close up of wizard hands holding a book. SFX BOOM jingle jingle jingle That's the jingle bell! panel 2: hobbit and wizard looking panicked SFX BOOM jingle jingle jingle That's the jingle bell! panel 3: The Fellowship faces a large demon creature which is dressed in a Santa outfit That's the Jingle Balrog!
December 10, 2025 at 4:17 AM
neilpolowin.bsky.social
So good.
zeets.bsky.social Zito @zeets.bsky.social · 13d
Will Arnett was on Conan and told a story about how Conan dealt with the death of his parents by accusing Jason Bateman of killing them. It’s so funny.
December 9, 2025 at 7:29 PM
neilpolowin.bsky.social
December 9, 2025 at 3:20 PM
neilpolowin.bsky.social
New side quest: get PDN Express to deliver the replacement parts that Anycubic sent for the 3D printer I bought in October that had some interesting mechanical failures after just a few days. Anycubic says that PDN is blaming the recent Canada Post strike and suggests I reach out directly.
Tracking information acknowledging that they had the package in their Toronto facility as of November 18, that it left Toronto on November 20, but didn't arrive in Ottawa (400 km by highway) until November 28. No updates since.
December 8, 2025 at 12:16 PM
neilpolowin.bsky.social
Sorry, pal, there's no escaping Monday.
Comic panel illustration of a man driving a truck exclaiming, "I've got to escape!"
December 8, 2025 at 4:20 AM