Mark Sample
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samplereality.bsky.social
Mark Sample
@samplereality.bsky.social
4.8K followers 970 following 1.8K posts
Professor of Film, Media, and Digital Studies at a small liberal arts college.

Digital skulduggery and more
☞ https://www.samplereality.com ☜
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samplereality.bsky.social
Sample image from the book (and link to the interactive online version: notime.now)
Three stories in white boxes overlayed against a watercolor map of the Gulf of Mexico. Story 1: Huntsville, Texas Saturday, July 3, 2027 Blake speeds home, desperately hoping his daughter has already gotten out. But he can't even get within 15 miles of Huntsville. The fire is too close. He texts home, but the cell towers are down. Story 2: Conroe, Texas Friday, December 11, 2026 "It's a scorcher today," they say. Today? You mean this year. The paint on the sign leading to Montgomery County Fair Grounds bubbles in the torrid heat. Not a single bird flies in the silent sky. Story 3: Houston, Texas Saturday, October 21, 2028 The cyanobacteria bloom began off-shore, feeding on agricultural runoff in the warming waters. Within days, lifeless dolphins began washing ashore, salt, blood, and sulphur on the wind. Caiden hunched over in the heat, gagging on death.
November 24, 2025 at 11:27 PM
samplereality.bsky.social
Wait! One brief coyote sighting!
The head of a coyote in a wooded yard
November 20, 2025 at 3:32 PM
samplereality.bsky.social
I keep hoping to catch glimpses of the coyotes that I know come around the back yard, but instead I got this little feller.
November 20, 2025 at 3:19 PM
samplereality.bsky.social
Like, my American Postmodernism grad seminar from 2005, back when postmodernism was still a distinct thing and not just *waves hands all around*. Banger of a reading list... www.samplereality.com/gmu/fall2005...
READING The Crying of Lot 49 (1965) by Thomas Pynchon The Lathe of Heaven (1971) by Ursula Le Guin The Female Man (1975) by Joanna Russ Song of Solomon (1977) by Toni Morrison The Intuitionist (1999) by Colson Whitehead Dream Jungle (2003) by Jessica Hagedorn White Noise (1985) by Don DeLillo Fight Club (1996) by Chuck Palahniuk In the Shadow of No Towers (2005) by Art Spiegelman
November 14, 2025 at 2:21 AM
samplereality.bsky.social
fugitivetexts.net/houseleavesg...
don't be scared America! darkness! don't be scared this is not for soldiers.
November 6, 2025 at 10:33 PM
samplereality.bsky.social
Spent part of my Saturday afternoon writing a FOIA request to my town's police department regarding their use of Flock cameras. Their public records request portal only gives you 1000 characters to work with, but I made good use of those characters.
Under NC Gen. Stat. §132-1, I request records about the Town of Davidson’s use of Flock Safety ALPR cameras, including: - The number of license plates scanned in the past 90 days; - Names of all hot lists or watch lists used; - Local, state, and federal agencies that shared or received Flock data in the past 90 days; - Emails from or to “@flocksafety.com” in the past 90 days with “Camera Access Request” in the subject; - Any user access logs or audit reports for the past 90 days; - All contracts, MOUs, purchase orders, or agreements with Flock Safety; - Any agreements with HOAs, private businesses, or individuals for Flock access; - Any policies on Flock data retention or sharing; - Records showing Flock camera locations and any correspondence or documentation on why those sites were chosen. Please provide records electronically.
November 1, 2025 at 7:38 PM
samplereality.bsky.social
Penn's alumni email list was hacked. Got several of these within a 5-minute span. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Dear Penn community, The University of Pennsylvania is a dogshit elitist institution full of woke retards. We have terrible security practices and are completely unmeritocratic. We hire and admit morons because we love legacies, donors, and unqualified affirmative action admits. We love breaking federal laws like FERPA (all your data will be leaked) and Supreme Court rulings like SFFA. Please stop giving us money. Warm regards, The University of Pennsylvania
October 31, 2025 at 4:22 PM
samplereality.bsky.social
What new DRM bullshit is this? Seeking to buy an ebook from Princeton UP, only to be locked into their exclusive app.
Can I use another app to read or listen to my book? While our ebooks and audiobooks are available for purchase from other retailers or platforms, purchases made on the Princeton University Press website can only be enjoyed on our branded mobile or desktop apps, powered by Glassboxx.
October 23, 2025 at 1:47 AM
samplereality.bsky.social
Tuesday afternoon study break: making granola
A tray of homemade granola with various nuts, seeds, and dry fruits on top
October 7, 2025 at 7:12 PM
samplereality.bsky.social
If you see this, quote skeet with a screenshot from a video game that released the year you were born.

I was there at the beginning.
Computer Space (1971) by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney, widely considered to be the first commercially available video game.
September 27, 2025 at 3:35 PM
samplereality.bsky.social
Republic of Texas? More like the Republic of Gilead. www.chronicle.com/article/a-pu...
What’s New A regional public university in Texas has told employees to abide by a new policy banning classroom discussions about transgender issues. Angelo State University, a small campus in the Texas Tech University system, directed instructors to no longer suggest that there are identities beyond male and female assigned at birth, a faculty member confirmed to The Chronicle. The professor agreed to speak on the condition of anonymity for fear of retribution from state lawmakers.
September 25, 2025 at 1:18 PM
samplereality.bsky.social
Qanon right now
The two-button meme. One button says "the shooting is a hoax" and the other says "the shooting was a hit by IDF." A man is sweating over the button choice.
September 14, 2025 at 10:06 PM
samplereality.bsky.social
The weirdness deepens! I found an even earlier advertisement for the Atari VCS, dated August 14, 1977. But get this: the ad was in an Anchorage newspaper for a local drug store called Longs. How is the 2600 available in Alaska before California!?!?
A newspaper ad for the Atari Video Game Computer System for $179.88
September 12, 2025 at 2:39 AM
samplereality.bsky.social
And actually, I see an advertisement for the VCS in *August*. This is from LA Times on 8/18/1977. I'm guessing the store advertising it had some of the initial consoles, before it became available for wider release in September and October.
A newspaper advertisement for the Atari VCS. The headline reads, "We have it first! A video game you won't get bored playing. With over 100 ways to play, how could you?" Followed by fine print about the different games available.
September 12, 2025 at 1:25 AM
samplereality.bsky.social
Randomly, here’s my dog.
An orange dog with a white muzzle and chest, looking somberly into the camera A mostly orange dog (white muzzle and white chest) grinning into the camera
September 11, 2025 at 9:07 PM
samplereality.bsky.social
Orlando gets its own special treatment in notime.now.
A map of Florida with dozens of red pins in it. A pop-up text window next to the city of Orlando reads "Ailani's vacation was the worst. Flooding shut down Universal Studios. There was an outbreak of typhoid fever at Hooligan's Grog & Gruel. WTF, Florida."
September 1, 2025 at 6:57 PM
samplereality.bsky.social
Just looking at how the work conditions are described in the job ad for an ICE "detention and deportation officer." It often requires "extended periods of sitting, standing, walking, and crawling through a variety of terrain."

www.usajobs.gov/job/842599200
Work Conditions: This job requires considerable and strenuous physical exertion. Surveillance frequently requires extended periods of sitting, standing, walking, and crawling through a variety of terrain. The work involves high risks with exposure to a wide variety of potentially dangerous situations and unusual environmental stress. The officer typically works long and irregular hours, on weekends, holidays, and at night.
August 8, 2025 at 1:46 AM
samplereality.bsky.social
Creepy SICKOS man staring through the window, saying "Yes...Ha ha ha YES!"
August 8, 2025 at 1:18 AM
samplereality.bsky.social
It's tragic that I cannot properly convey to my offspring just how much playground discourse in the fall of 1978 was devoted to the question of whether the release of four separate solo albums by the four members of KISS signaled the band's impending breakup.
Top Left (Paul Stanley): A close-up of Paul Stanley with shoulder-length curly black hair, wearing dramatic white and black face paint in a star pattern over his right eye. His lips are painted bright red. A purple glow surrounds his hair, and he wears a studded choker necklace. The background is solid black. The album title reads "KISS - Paul Stanley" in the upper corners. Top Right (Gene Simmons): A menacing portrait of Gene Simmons with long black hair pulled up into a topknot. His face is painted white with bold black bat-wing patterns around the eyes and mouth. Red lighting enhances the dramatic effect, and blood appears to drip from his mouth. He wears a spiked black outfit. The background is solid black with the title "KISS - Gene Simmons" in the top corners. Bottom Left (Peter Criss): A portrait of Peter Criss with dark shoulder-length hair and green-tinted highlights. His face is painted with a white base, cat-like green and black patterns, and a black nose. He wears a leather vest and chain jewelry. The background is solid black with a faint green glow outlining his hair. The album title "KISS - Peter Criss" appears at the top. Bottom Right (Ace Frehley): Ace Frehley’s face is painted with a metallic silver base and blue lightning bolt motifs around his eyes. His expression is cool and distant, framed by long black hair with a faint blue glow. He wears a high-collared dark shirt. The background is solid black, and the title "KISS - Ace Frehley" is in the top corners.
August 7, 2025 at 7:03 PM
samplereality.bsky.social
Ted Nugent and Kid Rock will also be joining Trump's Brownshirts.
Dean Can, Who Played Superman, Says He is Joining ICE. The actor told Fox News he will sign up as an immigration officer, as the Trump administration recruits more personnel to staff its deportation campaigns.
August 7, 2025 at 4:14 PM
samplereality.bsky.social
It's fig season. So at least there's that.
A white hand holding a ripe, purple fig, with the leaves and branches of a fig tree in the background.
August 6, 2025 at 6:52 PM
samplereality.bsky.social
Just came across this 2008 onboarding email from Dropbox welcoming me to "the Cloud."

Which is literally depicted as an open cardboard box on a puffy white cloud in the sky, which you reach by ascending a golden stairway (to heaven).
An illustration of a stick figure walking up stairs into the heavens, with a picture of an open cardboard box on a cloud.
August 1, 2025 at 3:04 PM
samplereality.bsky.social
There is notime.now
EPA announces proposal that would end virtually all of its climate regulations The Environmental Protection Agency announced a proposal to rescind the landmark “endangerment finding,” which says greenhouse gases are a threat to public health. By Jake Spring and Anusha MathurUpdated 24 minutes ago
July 30, 2025 at 12:24 AM
samplereality.bsky.social
For a 1-bit game on a tiny screen, @scenicroutesoftware.com's The Whiteout is surprisingly somber and satisfying, while still leaving me wanting more. A great game to dive into the #playdate with.
July 24, 2025 at 7:02 PM
samplereality.bsky.social
The Environmental Protection Agency is preparing to *checks notes* stop protecting the environment against climate change. See the consequences in my project notime.now
A map of southern California with a pop-up box that reads Los Angeles, California Wednesday, November 22, 2028 "It's hotter than Hades," they say. They're right. Hades is the devil's icebox compared to this. The November heat hits Hector fast and hard. Dizziness, swooning. Nonsense thoughts drift through his head. Yeti Tumbler. Harry & David. Repayable Fortitudes.
July 23, 2025 at 8:32 PM