Malcolm F. Cross
@foozzzball.bsky.social
Lazy. Writes. Is known to write fiction. Is almost fictional. Sometimes furry.
Homepage: https://sinisbeautiful.com/
Patreon: http://patreon.com/MalcolmFCross
Raw live draft for writing/creativity/motivation advice: #HacksawDraft
Homepage: https://sinisbeautiful.com/
Patreon: http://patreon.com/MalcolmFCross
Raw live draft for writing/creativity/motivation advice: #HacksawDraft
Pinned
Malcolm F. Cross
@foozzzball.bsky.social
· Sep 15
For the sake of promoting my own work, my latest novel, Mouse Cage, and its first pages. More details here: sinisbeautiful.com/mouse-cage/
Wernher von Braun started out a Nazi, got taken to the US in Operation Paperclip, made rockets for NASA... and wound up opposing segregationist policy in Alabama.
There's a lot to condemn there, but thinking about that makes me boggle at certain rocket CEOs who go backward along von Braun's path.
There's a lot to condemn there, but thinking about that makes me boggle at certain rocket CEOs who go backward along von Braun's path.
January 20, 2026 at 3:35 PM
Wernher von Braun started out a Nazi, got taken to the US in Operation Paperclip, made rockets for NASA... and wound up opposing segregationist policy in Alabama.
There's a lot to condemn there, but thinking about that makes me boggle at certain rocket CEOs who go backward along von Braun's path.
There's a lot to condemn there, but thinking about that makes me boggle at certain rocket CEOs who go backward along von Braun's path.
Reposted by Malcolm F. Cross
Finished Mouse Cage by @foozzzball.bsky.social .
Is it too early to call this book-of-the-year? I don't think so...
Is it too early to call this book-of-the-year? I don't think so...
January 20, 2026 at 2:03 AM
Finished Mouse Cage by @foozzzball.bsky.social .
Is it too early to call this book-of-the-year? I don't think so...
Is it too early to call this book-of-the-year? I don't think so...
Reposted by Malcolm F. Cross
Gary Larson: In my cartoon I invented Cow Tools as a cautionary tale
Cows: At long last, we have created the Cow Tools from classic newspaper comic Cow Tools
Cows: At long last, we have created the Cow Tools from classic newspaper comic Cow Tools
January 19, 2026 at 5:04 PM
Gary Larson: In my cartoon I invented Cow Tools as a cautionary tale
Cows: At long last, we have created the Cow Tools from classic newspaper comic Cow Tools
Cows: At long last, we have created the Cow Tools from classic newspaper comic Cow Tools
Reposted by Malcolm F. Cross
Visage of a Vermin Vandal (Vermin Vandal Veritas)
When no one values you, how do you find value in yourself?
A new short story, now available to the public at my scribble scrapbook site ( scribbles.malcolmfcross.com/visage-of-a-... ) as well as my main site and on Patreon.
#CrossScribbles
--> 🧵
When no one values you, how do you find value in yourself?
A new short story, now available to the public at my scribble scrapbook site ( scribbles.malcolmfcross.com/visage-of-a-... ) as well as my main site and on Patreon.
#CrossScribbles
--> 🧵
Visage of a Vermin Vandal (Vermin Vandal Veritas)
(7400 words / 30-45 minute read) * Hartley stopped dead in the office corridor, staring at Rick’s arm. “Is that shit?” “Uh, no, sir.” Rick covered the stain with his hand. “It’s iodine. We had to clea...
scribbles.malcolmfcross.com
December 2, 2025 at 1:34 PM
Visage of a Vermin Vandal (Vermin Vandal Veritas)
When no one values you, how do you find value in yourself?
A new short story, now available to the public at my scribble scrapbook site ( scribbles.malcolmfcross.com/visage-of-a-... ) as well as my main site and on Patreon.
#CrossScribbles
--> 🧵
When no one values you, how do you find value in yourself?
A new short story, now available to the public at my scribble scrapbook site ( scribbles.malcolmfcross.com/visage-of-a-... ) as well as my main site and on Patreon.
#CrossScribbles
--> 🧵
It's a low-hanging fruit, the joke has already been made a thousand times, I'm sure, but it came to mind and amused me:
So when does the Nobel committee start awarding the Nobel Piece Of Shit prize? I have a candidate in mind.
So when does the Nobel committee start awarding the Nobel Piece Of Shit prize? I have a candidate in mind.
January 19, 2026 at 10:28 AM
It's a low-hanging fruit, the joke has already been made a thousand times, I'm sure, but it came to mind and amused me:
So when does the Nobel committee start awarding the Nobel Piece Of Shit prize? I have a candidate in mind.
So when does the Nobel committee start awarding the Nobel Piece Of Shit prize? I have a candidate in mind.
The instant GenAI art and content become acceptable, everyone involved in 'creating' it is out of a job.
Anyone who wants to look at it will never find 'Gen AI creators', because it will be easier to make it than search for it, and it will be produced so fast 99% will never be seen by anyone.
Anyone who wants to look at it will never find 'Gen AI creators', because it will be easier to make it than search for it, and it will be produced so fast 99% will never be seen by anyone.
January 16, 2026 at 5:43 PM
The instant GenAI art and content become acceptable, everyone involved in 'creating' it is out of a job.
Anyone who wants to look at it will never find 'Gen AI creators', because it will be easier to make it than search for it, and it will be produced so fast 99% will never be seen by anyone.
Anyone who wants to look at it will never find 'Gen AI creators', because it will be easier to make it than search for it, and it will be produced so fast 99% will never be seen by anyone.
Reposted by Malcolm F. Cross
I’ve got something to show you. Feat. @brettdomino
January 13, 2026 at 3:04 AM
I’ve got something to show you. Feat. @brettdomino
This logo is also redolent of the Eysenck political graph (the quarters of political types) and the spear is pointing straight at fascism.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politic...
Intentional? Almost certainly. They're not that smart.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politic...
Intentional? Almost certainly. They're not that smart.
January 13, 2026 at 10:39 AM
This logo is also redolent of the Eysenck political graph (the quarters of political types) and the spear is pointing straight at fascism.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politic...
Intentional? Almost certainly. They're not that smart.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politic...
Intentional? Almost certainly. They're not that smart.
Reposted by Malcolm F. Cross
Disturbing but not surprising—more confirmation that LLMs are copying machines
We extracted (parts of) 12 books in experiments with 4 frontier-lab, production LLMs.
We prompted the LLMs with a short prefix of a book and asked them to complete the rest. For Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, we extracted 95.8% of the book from jailbroken Claude 3.7 Sonnet.
We prompted the LLMs with a short prefix of a book and asked them to complete the rest. For Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, we extracted 95.8% of the book from jailbroken Claude 3.7 Sonnet.
January 12, 2026 at 4:39 PM
Disturbing but not surprising—more confirmation that LLMs are copying machines
A tough lesson for the 'GenAI is valid' creator:
You didn't make the thing. You expressed yourself as clearly as you could to a mechanism which reacted to that expression, and generated a response to it.
This output is not 'yours', any more than a poem someone writes in response to your poem.
->
You didn't make the thing. You expressed yourself as clearly as you could to a mechanism which reacted to that expression, and generated a response to it.
This output is not 'yours', any more than a poem someone writes in response to your poem.
->
January 12, 2026 at 2:04 PM
A tough lesson for the 'GenAI is valid' creator:
You didn't make the thing. You expressed yourself as clearly as you could to a mechanism which reacted to that expression, and generated a response to it.
This output is not 'yours', any more than a poem someone writes in response to your poem.
->
You didn't make the thing. You expressed yourself as clearly as you could to a mechanism which reacted to that expression, and generated a response to it.
This output is not 'yours', any more than a poem someone writes in response to your poem.
->
This is me wishing my WIPs were ready.
He's great to work with, insightful, and great at spotting the little errors you don't want in your manuscript.
If you've got something ready, and can afford it, he can help you find a way to get that extra polish you want into your work.
He's great to work with, insightful, and great at spotting the little errors you don't want in your manuscript.
If you've got something ready, and can afford it, he can help you find a way to get that extra polish you want into your work.
Well fuck. A client has gone silent on me and skipped their due payment. This means I now have a hole in my schedule for next week. If anyone wants any editing done asap, drop me a line, as it looks like next week is likely going to be free.
January 12, 2026 at 1:23 PM
This is me wishing my WIPs were ready.
He's great to work with, insightful, and great at spotting the little errors you don't want in your manuscript.
If you've got something ready, and can afford it, he can help you find a way to get that extra polish you want into your work.
He's great to work with, insightful, and great at spotting the little errors you don't want in your manuscript.
If you've got something ready, and can afford it, he can help you find a way to get that extra polish you want into your work.
Reposted by Malcolm F. Cross
One of the best in the business. Go hire him
Well fuck. A client has gone silent on me and skipped their due payment. This means I now have a hole in my schedule for next week. If anyone wants any editing done asap, drop me a line, as it looks like next week is likely going to be free.
January 12, 2026 at 12:12 PM
One of the best in the business. Go hire him
Reposted by Malcolm F. Cross
I know this is a bit much to ask for, but are there any Universities that have had the balls to reject AI and oppose its onslaught? Even a single one that hasn't embraced it wholeheartedly??
January 12, 2026 at 10:02 AM
I know this is a bit much to ask for, but are there any Universities that have had the balls to reject AI and oppose its onslaught? Even a single one that hasn't embraced it wholeheartedly??
Reposted by Malcolm F. Cross
Troy just doesn't understand the therapeutics of screaming your head off at the people who've hurt you. Rock on Saigon! 🤘 @foozzzball.bsky.social
January 12, 2026 at 1:42 AM
Troy just doesn't understand the therapeutics of screaming your head off at the people who've hurt you. Rock on Saigon! 🤘 @foozzzball.bsky.social
Irrelevant to everything rant:
The industry of content creators telling you that your life will be better if you 'Get Dopamine Under Control' is, in addition to being one flake of science in a pile of assumptions that render it pseudoscience, encouraging a tragically mechanistic view of the self. 🧵
The industry of content creators telling you that your life will be better if you 'Get Dopamine Under Control' is, in addition to being one flake of science in a pile of assumptions that render it pseudoscience, encouraging a tragically mechanistic view of the self. 🧵
January 11, 2026 at 7:21 PM
Irrelevant to everything rant:
The industry of content creators telling you that your life will be better if you 'Get Dopamine Under Control' is, in addition to being one flake of science in a pile of assumptions that render it pseudoscience, encouraging a tragically mechanistic view of the self. 🧵
The industry of content creators telling you that your life will be better if you 'Get Dopamine Under Control' is, in addition to being one flake of science in a pile of assumptions that render it pseudoscience, encouraging a tragically mechanistic view of the self. 🧵
Popular psychology science communication type youtubers are beginning to outline the ways in which AI can cause psychological illness.
youtu.be/MW6FMgOzklw?...
Yeahhhhh. Yeah. Mass market AI is, so far, simply not fit for the purposes people try to put it towards.
youtu.be/MW6FMgOzklw?...
Yeahhhhh. Yeah. Mass market AI is, so far, simply not fit for the purposes people try to put it towards.
AI Is Slowly Destroying Your Brain
YouTube video by HealthyGamerGG
youtu.be
January 11, 2026 at 2:18 PM
Popular psychology science communication type youtubers are beginning to outline the ways in which AI can cause psychological illness.
youtu.be/MW6FMgOzklw?...
Yeahhhhh. Yeah. Mass market AI is, so far, simply not fit for the purposes people try to put it towards.
youtu.be/MW6FMgOzklw?...
Yeahhhhh. Yeah. Mass market AI is, so far, simply not fit for the purposes people try to put it towards.
Reposted by Malcolm F. Cross
Let's talk about generative AI, contaminated information, and rhubarb.
Once upon a time, Europe was at war.
Food was scarce, and the government of the quote-unquote United Kingdom looked for alternatives. 1/
Once upon a time, Europe was at war.
Food was scarce, and the government of the quote-unquote United Kingdom looked for alternatives. 1/
January 6, 2026 at 3:07 AM
Let's talk about generative AI, contaminated information, and rhubarb.
Once upon a time, Europe was at war.
Food was scarce, and the government of the quote-unquote United Kingdom looked for alternatives. 1/
Once upon a time, Europe was at war.
Food was scarce, and the government of the quote-unquote United Kingdom looked for alternatives. 1/
Reposted by Malcolm F. Cross
How a Book is Made (1986)
by Aliki Brandenberg
by Aliki Brandenberg
January 2, 2026 at 6:14 PM
How a Book is Made (1986)
by Aliki Brandenberg
by Aliki Brandenberg
Reposted by Malcolm F. Cross
This is a lovely review from a writer I respect a great deal. Wagging hard right now.
New post: “Review: The Analog Cat and Other Animals” https://giants-club.net/articles/review-analog-cat/
Short story collections have become rare in furry publishing. This one—full of whimsy, literary playfulness, and sixteen very diffe... https://giants-club.net/articles/review-analog-cat/
Short story collections have become rare in furry publishing. This one—full of whimsy, literary playfulness, and sixteen very diffe... https://giants-club.net/articles/review-analog-cat/
January 4, 2026 at 6:49 PM
This is a lovely review from a writer I respect a great deal. Wagging hard right now.
Reposted by Malcolm F. Cross
For all that the media has spent years freaking out about what social media does to our brains, I don’t understand why there appears to be little effort to grapple with the fact that these chatbots are, for some not insignificant portion of the population, literally psychosis machines
He put his complete trust in a chat bot that turned him into a savage murderer.
Disturbing Messages Show ChatGPT Encouraging a Murder, Lawsuit Alleges
A lawsuit against OpenAI reveals the chilling ChatGPT messages that drove a middle aged man to kill his 83-year-old mother.
trib.al
January 4, 2026 at 1:32 PM
For all that the media has spent years freaking out about what social media does to our brains, I don’t understand why there appears to be little effort to grapple with the fact that these chatbots are, for some not insignificant portion of the population, literally psychosis machines
*Pinches bridge of nose/snout, depending on one's method of visualizing the author.*
I need to catch up on Patreon updates, I tell myself, only for events to drag my brain into running off on a rant about AI. I need to catch up on Patreon updates, I tell myself.
... I'll avoid the news for now.
I need to catch up on Patreon updates, I tell myself, only for events to drag my brain into running off on a rant about AI. I need to catch up on Patreon updates, I tell myself.
... I'll avoid the news for now.
January 3, 2026 at 9:48 AM
*Pinches bridge of nose/snout, depending on one's method of visualizing the author.*
I need to catch up on Patreon updates, I tell myself, only for events to drag my brain into running off on a rant about AI. I need to catch up on Patreon updates, I tell myself.
... I'll avoid the news for now.
I need to catch up on Patreon updates, I tell myself, only for events to drag my brain into running off on a rant about AI. I need to catch up on Patreon updates, I tell myself.
... I'll avoid the news for now.
Reposted by Malcolm F. Cross
Ex-Meta chief AI scientist Yann LeCun has Lunch with the FT and in one of those instances so rare that you know he didn't sign an NDA, says exactly why as.ft.com/r/e503690d-8...
January 2, 2026 at 1:32 PM
Ex-Meta chief AI scientist Yann LeCun has Lunch with the FT and in one of those instances so rare that you know he didn't sign an NDA, says exactly why as.ft.com/r/e503690d-8...
Reposted by Malcolm F. Cross
So yeah this shit should be illegal. www.reddit.com/r/confession...
From the confession community on Reddit
Explore this post and more from the confession community
www.reddit.com
January 2, 2026 at 7:00 PM
So yeah this shit should be illegal. www.reddit.com/r/confession...
Reposted by Malcolm F. Cross
Quick thread (🧵) on some thoughts churning around my head lately:
Neural networks do not think. They are mathematical functions. They are called ‘neural networks’ because simulated neurons resemble biological neurons in the same way a bicycle resembles a horse.
Neural networks do not think. They are mathematical functions. They are called ‘neural networks’ because simulated neurons resemble biological neurons in the same way a bicycle resembles a horse.
December 31, 2025 at 2:42 PM
Quick thread (🧵) on some thoughts churning around my head lately:
Neural networks do not think. They are mathematical functions. They are called ‘neural networks’ because simulated neurons resemble biological neurons in the same way a bicycle resembles a horse.
Neural networks do not think. They are mathematical functions. They are called ‘neural networks’ because simulated neurons resemble biological neurons in the same way a bicycle resembles a horse.
Reposted by Malcolm F. Cross
"AI isn't going ANYWHERE! You better get USED to it!!"
"The technology that lets you undress photos of real children?"
"Y...yes"
"The technology that lets you undress photos of real children?"
"Y...yes"
call me crazy but it really feels like “World’s Richest Man Creates AI Chatbot That Generates Child Porn” would’ve been a huge international outrage requiring a governmental crackdown not even 24 months ago
January 2, 2026 at 8:35 AM
"AI isn't going ANYWHERE! You better get USED to it!!"
"The technology that lets you undress photos of real children?"
"Y...yes"
"The technology that lets you undress photos of real children?"
"Y...yes"