Jack who wrote Aether Torrent
@jackscarab.bsky.social
Writer, teacher, 🍞&🌹 socialist, somehow Oklahoman.
Author of YA fantasy Aether Torrent. Buy it and then read and review it!
https://lnk.bio/JackDuffe
https://books2read.com/aethertorrent
💙📚 #booksky
Author of YA fantasy Aether Torrent. Buy it and then read and review it!
https://lnk.bio/JackDuffe
https://books2read.com/aethertorrent
💙📚 #booksky
Pinned
It's late January -- book awards season!
Being a YA Fantasy from 2025, my book AETHER TORRENT is eligible for the Nebula, Hugo Lodestar, and Andre Norton awards, and I advise anyone nominating for them to give it a look.
It's very good.
💙📚 #booksky
#aethertorrent
books2read.com/aethertorrent
Being a YA Fantasy from 2025, my book AETHER TORRENT is eligible for the Nebula, Hugo Lodestar, and Andre Norton awards, and I advise anyone nominating for them to give it a look.
It's very good.
💙📚 #booksky
#aethertorrent
books2read.com/aethertorrent
Reposted by Jack who wrote Aether Torrent
Truth
My theory of the moment: The extraordinary courage of ordinary people in places like Minneapolis is reawakening us to our social and economic ties to immigrants. It's making "love thy neighbor" cool again. That's the ultimate antidote to MAGA hate.
Thoughts on this:
newrepublic.com/article/2059...
Thoughts on this:
newrepublic.com/article/2059...
February 16, 2026 at 7:05 PM
Truth
Reposted by Jack who wrote Aether Torrent
People say it's sad that G.I. Joe is now only an Adult Collector Toyline™️, but it's the only Adult Collector Toyline to be doing shit like this.
So to make this toy even better, we now know this guy's real name is Crispin Killgore and he's a wealthy South African who wanted to own a real dinosaur ever since he was a spoiled little brat, and works with Cobra exclusively because they were willing to fund his sketchy cloning project.
February 16, 2026 at 4:57 PM
People say it's sad that G.I. Joe is now only an Adult Collector Toyline™️, but it's the only Adult Collector Toyline to be doing shit like this.
Reposted by Jack who wrote Aether Torrent
"AI detectors" are themselves AI, and yet are endlessly trusted by people on here if they say that a newspaper article is AI.
AI detectors are snake oil. None of them reliably works. And UK broadsheet are not yet using AI to write articles. No, that link to the deal you found doesn't prove it.
AI detectors are snake oil. None of them reliably works. And UK broadsheet are not yet using AI to write articles. No, that link to the deal you found doesn't prove it.
Just because I keep seeing those "I checked this piece and it's written by AI" - this is an old article of mine, before AI was available. So could we not?
February 16, 2026 at 10:44 AM
"AI detectors" are themselves AI, and yet are endlessly trusted by people on here if they say that a newspaper article is AI.
AI detectors are snake oil. None of them reliably works. And UK broadsheet are not yet using AI to write articles. No, that link to the deal you found doesn't prove it.
AI detectors are snake oil. None of them reliably works. And UK broadsheet are not yet using AI to write articles. No, that link to the deal you found doesn't prove it.
Reposted by Jack who wrote Aether Torrent
I, for one, welcome our new feline overlords
Just saw that Xing Zhilei, the Chinese DIY influencer, posted an update on his self-built cat town which went viral last year.
youtu.be/i1savUPr-yU
youtu.be/i1savUPr-yU
February 16, 2026 at 1:12 AM
I, for one, welcome our new feline overlords
Reposted by Jack who wrote Aether Torrent
The mutation from "Shit you showed up to at the Local College AV Building with a bag of Doritos" to "2 Hundred Dollars Extra For Priority Seating and Line Skip Entry" over the course of 20 years feeling like something critical was lost
February 16, 2026 at 3:08 PM
The mutation from "Shit you showed up to at the Local College AV Building with a bag of Doritos" to "2 Hundred Dollars Extra For Priority Seating and Line Skip Entry" over the course of 20 years feeling like something critical was lost
Reposted by Jack who wrote Aether Torrent
Thinking about the Disney Fastpass-ification of certain conventions and feeling pretty morose about events that are started with the intent of being community gatherings that eventually grow to become gated by cash access
February 16, 2026 at 2:59 PM
Thinking about the Disney Fastpass-ification of certain conventions and feeling pretty morose about events that are started with the intent of being community gatherings that eventually grow to become gated by cash access
Reposted by Jack who wrote Aether Torrent
One of the under-stated signs that this is all a bubble and even the players know it is that they’re rushing to build data centres in places that make zero sense if you actually plan on operating a data centre. The Paluxy watershed just does not have the water supply, this is all smash-and-grab.
@foldablehuman.bsky.social Were you aware of the AI data center they are trying to build near Dinosaur Valley, which will have a huge ecological impact on the river?
www.texastribune.org/2026/02/10/t...
Sierra Club has instructions on how to take action. www.sierraclub.org/texas/greate...
www.texastribune.org/2026/02/10/t...
Sierra Club has instructions on how to take action. www.sierraclub.org/texas/greate...
A Texas county rejects moratorium on data center development
The 3-2 vote from Hood County commissioners Tuesday came after they received a letter from a state senator saying they did not have the power to issue a moratorium.
www.texastribune.org
February 16, 2026 at 3:47 PM
One of the under-stated signs that this is all a bubble and even the players know it is that they’re rushing to build data centres in places that make zero sense if you actually plan on operating a data centre. The Paluxy watershed just does not have the water supply, this is all smash-and-grab.
Reposted by Jack who wrote Aether Torrent
Bluesky was literally meant to be a cryptobro social network for grifters, LinkedIn sludge, and libertarians who know way too much about age of consent laws.
Jack Dorsey *left* when instead of weird and off-putting cryptonerds, trans people started hanging out here.
Jack Dorsey *left* when instead of weird and off-putting cryptonerds, trans people started hanging out here.
Can you think of examples where people use technologies differently from what the developers intended, whether unintentionally or as an act of resistance?
February 15, 2026 at 10:50 PM
Bluesky was literally meant to be a cryptobro social network for grifters, LinkedIn sludge, and libertarians who know way too much about age of consent laws.
Jack Dorsey *left* when instead of weird and off-putting cryptonerds, trans people started hanging out here.
Jack Dorsey *left* when instead of weird and off-putting cryptonerds, trans people started hanging out here.
Reposted by Jack who wrote Aether Torrent
I really believe this.
As I've said before, I believe a lot of our turn to fascism is, in fact, nilhism.
Part of that is not realising how good we have it: by the standards of the average person in, say, 1900 we've built a utopia. We should celebrate that way more.
As I've said before, I believe a lot of our turn to fascism is, in fact, nilhism.
Part of that is not realising how good we have it: by the standards of the average person in, say, 1900 we've built a utopia. We should celebrate that way more.
We need more fiction about how fucking good liberal modernity is, because for all the bellyaching about it, it's a hell of a lot better than what came before, and compared to all the (horrific) actually existing alternatives.
Come to the lib side! We have fun, excellence, and basic human decency.
Come to the lib side! We have fun, excellence, and basic human decency.
February 16, 2026 at 7:03 AM
I really believe this.
As I've said before, I believe a lot of our turn to fascism is, in fact, nilhism.
Part of that is not realising how good we have it: by the standards of the average person in, say, 1900 we've built a utopia. We should celebrate that way more.
As I've said before, I believe a lot of our turn to fascism is, in fact, nilhism.
Part of that is not realising how good we have it: by the standards of the average person in, say, 1900 we've built a utopia. We should celebrate that way more.
Reposted by Jack who wrote Aether Torrent
been playing tactics advance
February 16, 2026 at 4:47 AM
been playing tactics advance
Reposted by Jack who wrote Aether Torrent
February 16, 2026 at 3:50 AM
Reposted by Jack who wrote Aether Torrent
Everywhere this man goes he should be treated as if he murdered millions of children, because he did.
The Project 2025 architect who promised to put federal employees “in trauma” is spending $15 million of former USAID funding—money that would have gone toward fighting HIV, polio, malaria, and other diseases—to bankroll his security detail. trib.al/TSV3cmb
February 16, 2026 at 11:47 AM
Everywhere this man goes he should be treated as if he murdered millions of children, because he did.
Reposted by Jack who wrote Aether Torrent
I think the idea is to get everyone to hate us so that we can complain that we are the victims.
During her 11 months as the de facto leader of the U.S. Agency for Global Media, Kari Lake has wasted millions of dollars and done profound damage to America’s foreign broadcasters, and to America’s ability to communicate with the world
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
What Is Kari Lake Trying to Achieve?
The Arizona politician has wasted millions of dollars while blocking U.S. efforts to bring reliable news to repressive countries.
www.theatlantic.com
February 16, 2026 at 11:23 AM
I think the idea is to get everyone to hate us so that we can complain that we are the victims.
Reposted by Jack who wrote Aether Torrent
Notable message from President Zelensky. The USA is clearly putting pressure on Ukraine to hand over more of its land to dictatorial Russia.
Good to see the Ukrainian pushback--but the USA should hang its head in shame.
Good to see the Ukrainian pushback--but the USA should hang its head in shame.
February 16, 2026 at 10:07 AM
Notable message from President Zelensky. The USA is clearly putting pressure on Ukraine to hand over more of its land to dictatorial Russia.
Good to see the Ukrainian pushback--but the USA should hang its head in shame.
Good to see the Ukrainian pushback--but the USA should hang its head in shame.
Reposted by Jack who wrote Aether Torrent
This is a short from one of the all-time bangers of feature animation, "Memories."
"Cannon Fodder" features an entire militarized civilization centered around an endless war with an unseen enemy, wherein the children are indoctrinated with the single purpose of fighting that war from grade school.
"Cannon Fodder" features an entire militarized civilization centered around an endless war with an unseen enemy, wherein the children are indoctrinated with the single purpose of fighting that war from grade school.
From: Cannon Fodder (1995), dir. Katsuhiro Otomo, Studio 4°C
This film was designed to flow without hard cuts -- the camera just goes and goes and goes
This film was designed to flow without hard cuts -- the camera just goes and goes and goes
February 16, 2026 at 4:14 AM
This is a short from one of the all-time bangers of feature animation, "Memories."
"Cannon Fodder" features an entire militarized civilization centered around an endless war with an unseen enemy, wherein the children are indoctrinated with the single purpose of fighting that war from grade school.
"Cannon Fodder" features an entire militarized civilization centered around an endless war with an unseen enemy, wherein the children are indoctrinated with the single purpose of fighting that war from grade school.
Reposted by Jack who wrote Aether Torrent
i just
it seems very unfair
it seems very unfair
The pace at which US wealth concentration is rising is simply staggering
The concentration of AI wealth into the hands of a few tech barons + plutocratic capture ==> unchartered territory
The concentration of AI wealth into the hands of a few tech barons + plutocratic capture ==> unchartered territory
February 16, 2026 at 2:10 AM
i just
it seems very unfair
it seems very unfair
Reposted by Jack who wrote Aether Torrent
[stares at boomers]
So much of our present crisis is coddled, ignorant, and short sighted people tearing down the institutions that protect them because they don’t understand that bad things can happen.
February 16, 2026 at 2:21 AM
[stares at boomers]
Reposted by Jack who wrote Aether Torrent
For all the eye rolling that happens when Black people say we're here because you abandoned Reconstruction, positions like this make a lot more sense if you look at them as attempts to heal that political rift between white people FOR white people, the rest of us be damned.
This isn't a left-right ideological issue. But it blows me away that anyone who is actually anti-Trump would think running back Joe Biden/Merrick Garland 2.0 will work the second time. No political party can tolerate a very large, armed secret police force committed to murdering its voters.
January 19, 2026 at 2:37 PM
For all the eye rolling that happens when Black people say we're here because you abandoned Reconstruction, positions like this make a lot more sense if you look at them as attempts to heal that political rift between white people FOR white people, the rest of us be damned.
Reposted by Jack who wrote Aether Torrent
The way this panopticon is going, pretty soon you'll be catching my ass getting groceries in the Cobra Commander Special
February 16, 2026 at 1:13 AM
The way this panopticon is going, pretty soon you'll be catching my ass getting groceries in the Cobra Commander Special
Reposted by Jack who wrote Aether Torrent
WHERE WAS THIS THIRTY YEARS AGO
February 24, 2025 at 3:41 PM
WHERE WAS THIS THIRTY YEARS AGO
Reposted by Jack who wrote Aether Torrent
I am so goddamn proud of her.
February 16, 2026 at 12:00 AM
I am so goddamn proud of her.
Reposted by Jack who wrote Aether Torrent
(8/11) Now, we’re going back to the Bazaar. But this time you’re not up against a shopkeeper. You’re up against a massive digital infrastructure calculating your personal price tolerance.
February 11, 2026 at 8:41 PM
(8/11) Now, we’re going back to the Bazaar. But this time you’re not up against a shopkeeper. You’re up against a massive digital infrastructure calculating your personal price tolerance.
Reposted by Jack who wrote Aether Torrent
(7/11)This individualized targeting marks a departure from a 150-year old retail standard. Since John Wanamaker popularized the price tag in 1861, fixed prices have functioned as a de facto social contract. It ensured a market standard: the same cost for every customer, regardless of background
February 11, 2026 at 8:41 PM
(7/11)This individualized targeting marks a departure from a 150-year old retail standard. Since John Wanamaker popularized the price tag in 1861, fixed prices have functioned as a de facto social contract. It ensured a market standard: the same cost for every customer, regardless of background
Reposted by Jack who wrote Aether Torrent
(2/11) You know dynamic pricing—think Uber rides, flights, or concert tickets that surge based on supply and demand. “Surveillance Pricing” takes this to the next level: using your data to set a “price for you” based on your predicted breaking point. This is, increasingly, everywhere.
February 11, 2026 at 8:41 PM
(2/11) You know dynamic pricing—think Uber rides, flights, or concert tickets that surge based on supply and demand. “Surveillance Pricing” takes this to the next level: using your data to set a “price for you” based on your predicted breaking point. This is, increasingly, everywhere.
Reposted by Jack who wrote Aether Torrent
(1/11) If you live in NY, you’ve probably started seeing a new warning: “THIS PRICE WAS SET BY AN ALGORITHM USING YOUR PERSONAL DATA.” This mandatory disclosure went into effect late last year, and it’s the first attempt by a US state to grapple with a new generation of surveillance pricing.
February 11, 2026 at 8:41 PM
(1/11) If you live in NY, you’ve probably started seeing a new warning: “THIS PRICE WAS SET BY AN ALGORITHM USING YOUR PERSONAL DATA.” This mandatory disclosure went into effect late last year, and it’s the first attempt by a US state to grapple with a new generation of surveillance pricing.