Ben Novack
@titlecharacter.bsky.social
South Philadelphian, tech-skeptical tech worker, involuntary cider enthusiast, occasional woodworker. Descended from refugees. Never interested in zero-sum.
Reposted by Ben Novack
Reposted by Ben Novack
rich dudes got freakier after butlers fell out of fashion, like say what you will about having domestic servants but clearly it was some sort of moderating force on old rich dudes having a fancy man follow you around saying shit like "oh dear sir, that wouldn't be very becoming"
November 29, 2025 at 6:43 AM
rich dudes got freakier after butlers fell out of fashion, like say what you will about having domestic servants but clearly it was some sort of moderating force on old rich dudes having a fancy man follow you around saying shit like "oh dear sir, that wouldn't be very becoming"
Reposted by Ben Novack
Reposted by Ben Novack
A theory: all Warren Zevon songs are Thanksgiving songs because Warren Zevon has big Uncle Making A Scene energy
November 28, 2025 at 1:00 AM
A theory: all Warren Zevon songs are Thanksgiving songs because Warren Zevon has big Uncle Making A Scene energy
Reposted by Ben Novack
i think all the time about the discourse around the oscars slap. i forget who it was who said this but their takeaway was "listen, these are three highly specific and extremely strange individuals colliding at once in a singular event. there is nothing to be learned or extrapolated here"
November 27, 2025 at 12:05 AM
i think all the time about the discourse around the oscars slap. i forget who it was who said this but their takeaway was "listen, these are three highly specific and extremely strange individuals colliding at once in a singular event. there is nothing to be learned or extrapolated here"
Reposted by Ben Novack
Extremely good news: A print subscription for The Onion is very on sale today. You'll get your first copy by Christmas.
It's $75 for a year's worth of newspapers shipped to your real-life mailbox each month.
Get one for yourself, your friends, your family, or your enemies.
membership.theonion.com
It's $75 for a year's worth of newspapers shipped to your real-life mailbox each month.
Get one for yourself, your friends, your family, or your enemies.
membership.theonion.com
Join The Onion
Don’t just read the news. Feel it. Be among the first to feel the news.
membership.theonion.com
November 26, 2025 at 9:37 PM
Extremely good news: A print subscription for The Onion is very on sale today. You'll get your first copy by Christmas.
It's $75 for a year's worth of newspapers shipped to your real-life mailbox each month.
Get one for yourself, your friends, your family, or your enemies.
membership.theonion.com
It's $75 for a year's worth of newspapers shipped to your real-life mailbox each month.
Get one for yourself, your friends, your family, or your enemies.
membership.theonion.com
Reposted by Ben Novack
idiot guy: i'm like the wolf i'm stalking my prey alone through the forest and being raw as fuck even if i'm in a group i'm the alpha
actual wolf: i love my friends so much!!! i love to romp and kiss my bros and work together as a family <3 awooo etc etc have you seen the puppies oh my god come see
actual wolf: i love my friends so much!!! i love to romp and kiss my bros and work together as a family <3 awooo etc etc have you seen the puppies oh my god come see
November 26, 2025 at 2:17 AM
idiot guy: i'm like the wolf i'm stalking my prey alone through the forest and being raw as fuck even if i'm in a group i'm the alpha
actual wolf: i love my friends so much!!! i love to romp and kiss my bros and work together as a family <3 awooo etc etc have you seen the puppies oh my god come see
actual wolf: i love my friends so much!!! i love to romp and kiss my bros and work together as a family <3 awooo etc etc have you seen the puppies oh my god come see
Reposted by Ben Novack
i can not be the only person wondering about the five percent gap between bigfoot and the yeti
i mean is this where u draw the line
i mean is this where u draw the line
New polling on aliens
% of U.S. adult citizens who believe the following definitely or probably exist:
Aliens 56%
Bigfoot 28%
The Yeti 23%
The Loch Ness Monster 22%
Chupacabra 16%
today.yougov.com/health/artic...
% of U.S. adult citizens who believe the following definitely or probably exist:
Aliens 56%
Bigfoot 28%
The Yeti 23%
The Loch Ness Monster 22%
Chupacabra 16%
today.yougov.com/health/artic...
November 25, 2025 at 11:37 PM
i can not be the only person wondering about the five percent gap between bigfoot and the yeti
i mean is this where u draw the line
i mean is this where u draw the line
Reposted by Ben Novack
If everything is a top priority, then everything gets done quickly. That's basic management
November 25, 2025 at 8:15 PM
If everything is a top priority, then everything gets done quickly. That's basic management
Absolutely pure perfection.
The best thing I learned from Macaulay Culkin at last night’s Home Alone screening is that his 4yo son loves the movie, thinks of himself as Kevin, and has no idea that that’s his dad. Culkin is attempting to hide that fact for as long as possible
a young boy is smiling and says `` i made my family disappear '' .
ALT: a young boy is smiling and says `` i made my family disappear '' .
media.tenor.com
November 25, 2025 at 5:20 PM
Absolutely pure perfection.
Reposted by Ben Novack
A package hasn't "shipped" if you've only "created the label"
November 25, 2025 at 3:02 PM
A package hasn't "shipped" if you've only "created the label"
This man is so utterly, utterly broken. He needs therapy, not massive power to destroy others' lives.
Hegseth is very very terrified, deep deep down of something to do with maleness www.npr.org/2025/11/25/n...
U.S. ready to cut support to Scouts, accusing them of attacking 'boy-friendly spaces'
Documents show the U.S. military is planning to sever all ties with the organization formerly known as the Boy Scouts.
www.npr.org
November 25, 2025 at 1:40 PM
This man is so utterly, utterly broken. He needs therapy, not massive power to destroy others' lives.
Reposted by Ben Novack
It’d be exciting to think that Bluesky has people pretending to be American like Twitter but I honestly don’t think they could talk about Star Trek Deep Space 9 the way it’s expected here without having watched all the episodes a dozen times
November 25, 2025 at 12:52 AM
It’d be exciting to think that Bluesky has people pretending to be American like Twitter but I honestly don’t think they could talk about Star Trek Deep Space 9 the way it’s expected here without having watched all the episodes a dozen times
Reposted by Ben Novack
mark kelly sat on top of 526,126 gallons of fuel and rode a rocket into the vacuum of space
four times
i dont think he's afraid of the former host of celebrity apprentice
four times
i dont think he's afraid of the former host of celebrity apprentice
November 24, 2025 at 6:59 PM
mark kelly sat on top of 526,126 gallons of fuel and rode a rocket into the vacuum of space
four times
i dont think he's afraid of the former host of celebrity apprentice
four times
i dont think he's afraid of the former host of celebrity apprentice
Spent the weekend at PAX Unplugged. I don’t enjoy every part of a con but hot damn I *love* cons. There is no cringe at a con. It’s all raw unironic enthusiasm without any interference from shame. In normal life I’m so far into games as to be confusing to friends or family; at pax I’m kinda normie.
November 24, 2025 at 3:44 AM
Spent the weekend at PAX Unplugged. I don’t enjoy every part of a con but hot damn I *love* cons. There is no cringe at a con. It’s all raw unironic enthusiasm without any interference from shame. In normal life I’m so far into games as to be confusing to friends or family; at pax I’m kinda normie.
Reposted by Ben Novack
Terumaru, a bright young lightbulb and the mascot of the Tokyu Denki electric company, trapped in a door yesterday:
November 23, 2025 at 11:29 PM
Terumaru, a bright young lightbulb and the mascot of the Tokyu Denki electric company, trapped in a door yesterday:
Reposted by Ben Novack
y'know, if tech companies weren't so fired up to call every single thing "AI" it would be a lot easier to distinguish "ML spam filter that is well-sandboxed and tuned on your emails" from "giant context and IP-eroding foundation model that makes people paranoid and unhappy"
since the "google is now training gemini on your email contents" thing keeps bumping around here: it's _not happening_. I say this not to defend google but because I know a lot of people that have broken their filtering and made their lives much more annoying from sheer misinformation.
The malwarebytes Google opting-your-emails-into-ai-training thing is not true. The post is based on one bad tweet.
I know anti-tech lamenting is a Bluesky core principle, but please use the same judgement you would for any other clickbait.
www.theverge.com/news/826902/...
I know anti-tech lamenting is a Bluesky core principle, but please use the same judgement you would for any other clickbait.
www.theverge.com/news/826902/...
November 23, 2025 at 12:58 PM
y'know, if tech companies weren't so fired up to call every single thing "AI" it would be a lot easier to distinguish "ML spam filter that is well-sandboxed and tuned on your emails" from "giant context and IP-eroding foundation model that makes people paranoid and unhappy"
Reposted by Ben Novack
One side effect of half the world being in the throes of a fascist takeover is that comments like "turkey sucks" that used to lead to a 4 hour slapfight and approximately 135 blocks are now met with "well thats just like your opinion man" and thats progress
November 22, 2025 at 4:36 PM
One side effect of half the world being in the throes of a fascist takeover is that comments like "turkey sucks" that used to lead to a 4 hour slapfight and approximately 135 blocks are now met with "well thats just like your opinion man" and thats progress
Reposted by Ben Novack
I just cannot overstate how much other stuff there is to read out there
November 22, 2025 at 1:13 PM
I just cannot overstate how much other stuff there is to read out there
Reposted by Ben Novack
speaking as a virginia beach native if these kind of dudes are plotting against ICE then there is wide runway in public opinion for straight up abolishing the agency under a dem presidency
Kempsville High School assistant principal charged for threats against police, ICE
Virginia Beach assistant principal John Bennett and Mark Bennett charged for conspiring threats against police and ICE agents. Both are held without bond.
www.13newsnow.com
November 22, 2025 at 4:39 AM
speaking as a virginia beach native if these kind of dudes are plotting against ICE then there is wide runway in public opinion for straight up abolishing the agency under a dem presidency
Reposted by Ben Novack
imagine walking down the beach and seeing jesus carrying some guy
November 22, 2025 at 1:04 AM
imagine walking down the beach and seeing jesus carrying some guy
I can’t remember the last time I saw a highly regarded movie and it still exceeded my expectations. And as a fan of very dark humor, it actually shocked me a couple of times with its choices. Instant classic.
Just watched MICKEY 17. Phenomenal.
November 22, 2025 at 3:02 AM
I can’t remember the last time I saw a highly regarded movie and it still exceeded my expectations. And as a fan of very dark humor, it actually shocked me a couple of times with its choices. Instant classic.
Reposted by Ben Novack
i try to imagine sometimes telling a politician back in the 40s-90s that they can carry a tv studio capable of reaching millions of people in their pockets and they can use it for free and then they choose *not to*.
cause thats how most congressional democrats operate. they dont use what they have
cause thats how most congressional democrats operate. they dont use what they have
November 20, 2025 at 7:12 PM
i try to imagine sometimes telling a politician back in the 40s-90s that they can carry a tv studio capable of reaching millions of people in their pockets and they can use it for free and then they choose *not to*.
cause thats how most congressional democrats operate. they dont use what they have
cause thats how most congressional democrats operate. they dont use what they have
Reposted by Ben Novack
*First day as a drug dealer*: "is Pepsi ok?
November 20, 2025 at 12:55 PM
*First day as a drug dealer*: "is Pepsi ok?
Reposted by Ben Novack
The Trump administration cancelled the clinical trial for my cancer treatment and now I'll be dead in six months. But I'll die happy knowing that the kids at Oberlin won't be given trigger warnings anymore.
November 20, 2025 at 3:58 PM
The Trump administration cancelled the clinical trial for my cancer treatment and now I'll be dead in six months. But I'll die happy knowing that the kids at Oberlin won't be given trigger warnings anymore.