DonQuihobbit de La Mancha
@hobbituscaesar.bsky.social
Archivist and historian. Scifi fan. Not a time traveler or an immortal, I promise. Marylander. Gray-ace. He/him, 47. 🏳️🌈
Husband: @jasperhedgehog.bsky.social
Girlfriend: @shadii.bsky.social
Open, but mostly for cuddles & smooches.
Husband: @jasperhedgehog.bsky.social
Girlfriend: @shadii.bsky.social
Open, but mostly for cuddles & smooches.
Reposted by DonQuihobbit de La Mancha
a thing i have never understood about a certain class of our wannabe oligarchy is whether they realize that if their authoritarian oligarch dreams ever come true, they will be significantly *more* vulnerable to the power of the state, not less
it seems very obvious to me that you’re much better off being an extremely rich person in the US than in Russia or China or KSA but apparently some number of rich Americans disagree
February 14, 2026 at 1:51 AM
a thing i have never understood about a certain class of our wannabe oligarchy is whether they realize that if their authoritarian oligarch dreams ever come true, they will be significantly *more* vulnerable to the power of the state, not less
Reposted by DonQuihobbit de La Mancha
not for nothing, but this is in direct contradiction to what microsoft's own research team says. once again, the hypebeasts are the problem.
Microsoft AI CEO: 'Most, if not all' white-collar tasks can be replaced by AI within 12-18 months
Mustafa Suleyman, Microsoft's AI chief, says AI can automate white-collar jobs within 12-18 months, as tech reaches human-level performance in tasks.
www.businessinsider.com
February 13, 2026 at 11:53 PM
not for nothing, but this is in direct contradiction to what microsoft's own research team says. once again, the hypebeasts are the problem.
Reposted by DonQuihobbit de La Mancha
If you can't find it in you to be enraged about the standing oppression of real life black and brown human beings, then the only reason you care about the "rights" of AI is because in your imagination, the AI is white.
February 13, 2026 at 12:37 AM
If you can't find it in you to be enraged about the standing oppression of real life black and brown human beings, then the only reason you care about the "rights" of AI is because in your imagination, the AI is white.
Reposted by DonQuihobbit de La Mancha
It's endlessly infuriating how much easier it is for a lot of people to empathize with and attribute rights and agency to machines, plants, animals, clouds and rock formations than with actual other people.
February 13, 2026 at 12:37 AM
It's endlessly infuriating how much easier it is for a lot of people to empathize with and attribute rights and agency to machines, plants, animals, clouds and rock formations than with actual other people.
Reposted by DonQuihobbit de La Mancha
This is a great thread, but it’s just an odd to me that this conversation KEEPS happening in Trek. It happened in the 60s with Pike’s beep chair, the 80s with Geordi’s visor, in the 2010s with another background disabled extra in Discovery. Eugenics arguments really are tedious and boring.
I have a friend who said, of Starfleet Academy, that this took them out of it - that seeing a person in a wheelchair in the 32nd century seemed unrealistic, since medicine in Star Trek "should be able to cure whatever was wrong with them."
That's not the case, for any number of possible reasons.
That's not the case, for any number of possible reasons.
February 13, 2026 at 11:59 AM
This is a great thread, but it’s just an odd to me that this conversation KEEPS happening in Trek. It happened in the 60s with Pike’s beep chair, the 80s with Geordi’s visor, in the 2010s with another background disabled extra in Discovery. Eugenics arguments really are tedious and boring.
Reposted by DonQuihobbit de La Mancha
Ring cancelled its partnership with Flock after Super Bowl ad blowback - by Annie Palmer @cnbc.com... www.cnbc.com/2026/02/12/a...
Amazon's Ring cancels Flock partnership amid Super Bowl ad backlash
Ring's decision to cancel its partnership with Flock comes as tech companies face growing pressure to reexamine their work with federal agencies.
www.cnbc.com
February 13, 2026 at 12:48 AM
Ring cancelled its partnership with Flock after Super Bowl ad blowback - by Annie Palmer @cnbc.com... www.cnbc.com/2026/02/12/a...
Reposted by DonQuihobbit de La Mancha
extremely promising for tesla shareholders that elon musk is prioritizing requests from x dot com user "One D Azz" during working hours
February 12, 2026 at 11:06 PM
extremely promising for tesla shareholders that elon musk is prioritizing requests from x dot com user "One D Azz" during working hours
Reposted by DonQuihobbit de La Mancha
Living around baltimore drivers it's nice to know I'll die doing something I love (crossing the street in the crosswalk with the walk signal)
February 12, 2026 at 8:54 PM
Living around baltimore drivers it's nice to know I'll die doing something I love (crossing the street in the crosswalk with the walk signal)
Reposted by DonQuihobbit de La Mancha
really interesting to me how many professional political commentators have basically retconned the draconian immigration enforcement policies of Obama and Biden out of existence and have completely swallowed the right wing narrative of immigration enforcement
Not going to read them all because jesus fucking christ but this is nasty work from Friedersdorf
February 12, 2026 at 4:29 PM
really interesting to me how many professional political commentators have basically retconned the draconian immigration enforcement policies of Obama and Biden out of existence and have completely swallowed the right wing narrative of immigration enforcement
Reposted by DonQuihobbit de La Mancha
Reposted by DonQuihobbit de La Mancha
congratulations to everyone who wanted to live in the cyberpunk future: we’re here
so wait el paso airspace got shut down in a turf war over DOD letting the worst racists in the government drunk drive a laser cannon
February 12, 2026 at 6:28 AM
congratulations to everyone who wanted to live in the cyberpunk future: we’re here
Reposted by DonQuihobbit de La Mancha
thomas massie, don bacon and ken kiley like
February 12, 2026 at 1:02 AM
thomas massie, don bacon and ken kiley like
Reposted by DonQuihobbit de La Mancha
Professional translators cannot be replaced by AI. Your attempt to translate a menu, sure, but actual translation is an art, translating things not just across languages but cultures and idioms. Only monolingual dickburgers could think it's all the same.
February 11, 2026 at 10:41 PM
Professional translators cannot be replaced by AI. Your attempt to translate a menu, sure, but actual translation is an art, translating things not just across languages but cultures and idioms. Only monolingual dickburgers could think it's all the same.
Reposted by DonQuihobbit de La Mancha
C. S. Lewis tried to warn us about AI
![[“Take my advice, when you meet anything that’s going to be human and isn’t yet, or used to be human once and isn’t now, or ought to be human and isn’t, you keep your eyes on it and feel for your hatchet.” — Mr Beaver, The Lion, The Witch & the Wardrobe]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:hppum4l25hcczzffastsicpq/bafkreihhidhwl25tow22vbq3xkki6olpr4wmt2dtv6inh3dlcpwlxoyjha@jpeg)
February 11, 2026 at 9:29 PM
C. S. Lewis tried to warn us about AI
Reposted by DonQuihobbit de La Mancha
by the 2030s you’ll be showing zoomers in their 30s how to use file systems
it is the year 2026, I am approaching my mid-30s, and I am still helping older colleagues with basic computer tasks such as converting a word doc to a PDF
I expect to do so until they’re all dead
I expect to do so until they’re all dead
February 11, 2026 at 8:33 PM
by the 2030s you’ll be showing zoomers in their 30s how to use file systems
I don't think I've mentioned this before, but my workplace has an interdimensional void between office spaces. Like in the second Matrix movie, it's an irregularly shaped hallway with many doors and absolutely monochromatic blank walls. I only use it to cut through two specific office spaces.
February 11, 2026 at 6:25 PM
I don't think I've mentioned this before, but my workplace has an interdimensional void between office spaces. Like in the second Matrix movie, it's an irregularly shaped hallway with many doors and absolutely monochromatic blank walls. I only use it to cut through two specific office spaces.
A lot of being an archivist is looking at a document and thinking, "Huh. Choices were made."
Blank sheet of paper taped to a printout? 🧐
A clipping so important that it needed its own folder? Sure, but ...why was a second copy taped to the /outside/ of folders as well? Across many folders? 🧐
Blank sheet of paper taped to a printout? 🧐
A clipping so important that it needed its own folder? Sure, but ...why was a second copy taped to the /outside/ of folders as well? Across many folders? 🧐
February 11, 2026 at 3:35 PM
A lot of being an archivist is looking at a document and thinking, "Huh. Choices were made."
Blank sheet of paper taped to a printout? 🧐
A clipping so important that it needed its own folder? Sure, but ...why was a second copy taped to the /outside/ of folders as well? Across many folders? 🧐
Blank sheet of paper taped to a printout? 🧐
A clipping so important that it needed its own folder? Sure, but ...why was a second copy taped to the /outside/ of folders as well? Across many folders? 🧐
Reposted by DonQuihobbit de La Mancha
in fact you do not have to show your ID when you board a train in the united states, you only need to show your ticket (which can be purchased without an ID)
Markwayne Mullin defends "show me your papers": "If you're here legally, there's nothing to hide. Most people already are walking around with a government-issued ID, meaning your Real ID or your driver's license. If you go board a train here, you gotta show your ID."
February 11, 2026 at 1:59 PM
in fact you do not have to show your ID when you board a train in the united states, you only need to show your ticket (which can be purchased without an ID)
Reposted by DonQuihobbit de La Mancha
"Oh," the emperor of the galaxy said, "what happened to that monkey world?"
"Our agents infiltrated them some eight thousand years ago."
"Have they taken over the world?"
"Not yet."
The emperor licked a paw and started washing his ears.
"I'll still count it as one of mine," he purred.
"Our agents infiltrated them some eight thousand years ago."
"Have they taken over the world?"
"Not yet."
The emperor licked a paw and started washing his ears.
"I'll still count it as one of mine," he purred.
February 11, 2026 at 3:13 PM
"Oh," the emperor of the galaxy said, "what happened to that monkey world?"
"Our agents infiltrated them some eight thousand years ago."
"Have they taken over the world?"
"Not yet."
The emperor licked a paw and started washing his ears.
"I'll still count it as one of mine," he purred.
"Our agents infiltrated them some eight thousand years ago."
"Have they taken over the world?"
"Not yet."
The emperor licked a paw and started washing his ears.
"I'll still count it as one of mine," he purred.
Reposted by DonQuihobbit de La Mancha
New in PN: Trump tries and fails to extort Canada
"The American president is a toothless old tiger, roaring on social media as his real power slips away. He can still extort a secondhand Nobel Prize from a dissident leader, but he’s not taking the Stanley Cup."
"The American president is a toothless old tiger, roaring on social media as his real power slips away. He can still extort a secondhand Nobel Prize from a dissident leader, but he’s not taking the Stanley Cup."
Trump tries and fails to extort Canada
It's Bridgegate 2.0, only much dumber.
www.publicnotice.co
February 11, 2026 at 12:43 PM
New in PN: Trump tries and fails to extort Canada
"The American president is a toothless old tiger, roaring on social media as his real power slips away. He can still extort a secondhand Nobel Prize from a dissident leader, but he’s not taking the Stanley Cup."
"The American president is a toothless old tiger, roaring on social media as his real power slips away. He can still extort a secondhand Nobel Prize from a dissident leader, but he’s not taking the Stanley Cup."
Reposted by DonQuihobbit de La Mancha
we have this week’s “if you’re explaining, you’re losing” winner, thanks for all of your nominations
February 10, 2026 at 8:32 PM
we have this week’s “if you’re explaining, you’re losing” winner, thanks for all of your nominations
I remember their stance on this was different when the President was Black.
Garbarino: "It is a clear violation of the rules of the House to make statements that might be personally offensive to the president or vice president."
February 10, 2026 at 6:26 PM
I remember their stance on this was different when the President was Black.
I appreciate the implication that Congressional investigators will be fine-tooth combing the Janet Jackson wardrobe malfunction—possibly frame by frame—in search of comparisons to be made.
Rep. Mark Alford (R-TX) revealed that House Republicans are "investigating" Bad Bunny's Super Bowl halftime show because they suspect it was "much worse than the Janet Jackson wardrobe malfunction.
House GOP launches Bad Bunny probe: 'Worse than the Janet Jackson wardrobe malfunction'
Rep. Mark Alford (R-TX) revealed that House Republicans are "investigating" Bad Bunny's Super Bowl halftime show because they suspect it was "much worse than the Janet Jackson wardrobe malfunction."During a Tuesday interview on Real America's Voice, Alford told the hosts that he and other House Repu...
bit.ly
February 10, 2026 at 3:40 PM
I appreciate the implication that Congressional investigators will be fine-tooth combing the Janet Jackson wardrobe malfunction—possibly frame by frame—in search of comparisons to be made.
Reposted by DonQuihobbit de La Mancha
This is incredible, the administration is literally saying having more undocumented immigrants created MORE jobs and now that we have fewer we all need leas jobs and should be happy with a shitty jobs number that’s good actually
Peter Navarro: "The jobs report comes out tomorrow. We have to revise our expectations down significantly for what a monthly job number should look like ... Wall Street has to adjust for the fact that we're deporting millions of illegals out of the job market."
February 10, 2026 at 3:05 PM
This is incredible, the administration is literally saying having more undocumented immigrants created MORE jobs and now that we have fewer we all need leas jobs and should be happy with a shitty jobs number that’s good actually
Reposted by DonQuihobbit de La Mancha
i am not sure that i could name someone in business who has burned more name capital than musk has. like, you usually have to look at entertainment or sports, and it’s usually people like phil spector or OJ. maybe bernie madoff applies here.
you can be excited and inspired about the future if you don’t drive away everyone who once cared about you and replace them with weird fanboys. musk fundamentally needs longshot projects because his own choices have made his personal life a barren wasteland
"Life cannot just be about one sad thing after another," says the man responsible—directly or indirectly—for like 90% of the sad things that happened in the past year.
February 10, 2026 at 4:36 AM
i am not sure that i could name someone in business who has burned more name capital than musk has. like, you usually have to look at entertainment or sports, and it’s usually people like phil spector or OJ. maybe bernie madoff applies here.