Michael Tamblyn
@mtamblyn.bsky.social
Kobo CEO with zero chill. Chaotic good, anti-fascist, bi-coastal Canadian bookseller ereader-purveyor - unsupervised & unofficial
https://www.michaeltamblyn.com
https://www.michaeltamblyn.com
Pinned
Michael Tamblyn
@mtamblyn.bsky.social
· Jan 8
Welcome to the BlueSky Refugee Centre for Displaced Threads #BookPeople. On your left, blankets. On your right, warm beverages. Pick up your cat or dog on your way to the soft chairs and sofas. The person with the clipboard will take your reading preferences so we can get you with the right group.
usually, when I wake up in Toronto, all of the UK online anger hits me at once in that first morning scrolling. It's nice to be here in London and have it gradually build over the course of the morning as nature intended, ready to meet the early waves of transatlantic online anger in mid-afternoon.
November 27, 2025 at 10:57 AM
usually, when I wake up in Toronto, all of the UK online anger hits me at once in that first morning scrolling. It's nice to be here in London and have it gradually build over the course of the morning as nature intended, ready to meet the early waves of transatlantic online anger in mid-afternoon.
It's all any of us have ever wanted.
![Comic. Panels up to the 10-year point are grayed out. New panels since the Ten Years comic, which chronicles the first ten years of PERSON 1's journey with cancer: (1) [two people in bed] PERSON 1 (woman): One more chapter? PERSON 2 (man): Don’t we both have to get up early? PERSON 1: Nnnnnggggh PERSON 2: Sure, good point. (2) [many people wearing masks, walking while looking at graphs on their phones] (3) [birds landing on people] PERSON 2 in beanie and scarf: Hah! They like *my* seeds best. PERSON 1 in scarf holding phone with a bird sitting on it: Wait, how do I take a picture of this one? (4) [two people rowing boats with tree landscape] (5) [Person 1 carries overflowing stack of things to Person 2 in bed] PERSON 1: I brought you honey lemon tea, more pillows, a cinnamon roll, Tylenol, another blanket, a– PERSON 2: It was just Appendicitis, I’m really– PERSON 1: *It is my turn to take care of you and I am going to do it right!* (6) [Two people in car] (7) [still in car) PERSON 1: Oh my god. PERSON 2: Oh my god. (8) [car driving] PERSON 1: Pull over! PERSON 2: I am! (9) [both people get out of car] (10) [Large colored panel of aurora borealis over water with both people looking on] (11) [Person 1 sits against tree while Person 2 lies on the ground] PERSON 1: Fifteen years. No sign of the cancer. (12) I *am* having some weird symptoms. Joint pain. Fatigue. I think I’m losing my close-up vision. PERSON 2: Yeah. Me too. (13) PERSON 2: I think we’re getting old. (14) PERSON 1: I guess that’s okay. PERSON 2: It’s all I wanted.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:cz73r7iyiqn26upot4jtjdhk/bafkreihwhjblp5lyiwp63ouar7ocfea7evmckytoeo7rkfuoo4gw5rnrra@jpeg)
November 27, 2025 at 10:50 AM
It's all any of us have ever wanted.
It was always going to be the poets who brought this whole thing crashing down...
Term of the week, probably month (maybe even year):
Adversarial Poetry
LLMs like Grok and GPT can be "jailbroken" -- made to give prohibited answers -- through the use of poetry.
arxiv.org/abs/2511.15304
Adversarial Poetry
LLMs like Grok and GPT can be "jailbroken" -- made to give prohibited answers -- through the use of poetry.
arxiv.org/abs/2511.15304
Adversarial Poetry as a Universal Single-Turn Jailbreak Mechanism in Large Language Models
We present evidence that adversarial poetry functions as a universal single-turn jailbreak technique for Large Language Models (LLMs). Across 25 frontier proprietary and open-weight models, curated po...
arxiv.org
November 21, 2025 at 7:55 PM
It was always going to be the poets who brought this whole thing crashing down...
The best answer I've been able to find.
November 12, 2025 at 8:34 PM
The best answer I've been able to find.
Nailed it. 😂
The Kobo guys are like "I either hate Amazon or am Canadian, guess which one"
November 11, 2025 at 11:41 PM
Nailed it. 😂
We love Romance authors and Romance readers, so *of course* we are the lead sponsor of the new Ever After Romance Festival by Toronto International Festival of Authors. Books! Cake! Signings! Ballgowns! Cake! ❤️
festivalofauthors.ca/romance-2025/
festivalofauthors.ca/romance-2025/
Romance 2025 - TIFA
Join us to celebrate stories from Toronto and around the world! Whether you love fiction or non-fiction, sci-fi or romance, picture books or YA, there’s a story for you!
festivalofauthors.ca
November 10, 2025 at 4:25 PM
We love Romance authors and Romance readers, so *of course* we are the lead sponsor of the new Ever After Romance Festival by Toronto International Festival of Authors. Books! Cake! Signings! Ballgowns! Cake! ❤️
festivalofauthors.ca/romance-2025/
festivalofauthors.ca/romance-2025/
Ruin a workplace like Marie Curie where you leave it so radioactive it is dangerous to human life a hundred years later.
November 10, 2025 at 3:02 PM
Ruin a workplace like Marie Curie where you leave it so radioactive it is dangerous to human life a hundred years later.
My social strategy non-strategy: optimism, Canadian friendliness, reading obsession, heart on sleeve, zero chill, kindness by default. It doesn't yield the clout that comes from feeding the outrage machine, but the people that do come along for the ride are lovely to be around. 🥰
November 10, 2025 at 1:14 PM
My social strategy non-strategy: optimism, Canadian friendliness, reading obsession, heart on sleeve, zero chill, kindness by default. It doesn't yield the clout that comes from feeding the outrage machine, but the people that do come along for the ride are lovely to be around. 🥰
Reposted by Michael Tamblyn
I know it's harder and more dangerous to carve a turnip but the effect is so much more disturbing, and thus in keeping with the season
October 30, 2025 at 1:50 PM
I know it's harder and more dangerous to carve a turnip but the effect is so much more disturbing, and thus in keeping with the season
Reposted by Michael Tamblyn
At Yonge & Dundas Jays fans are obeying the pedestrian scramble, as is the custom & returning to sidewalk each light cycle.
October 21, 2025 at 4:00 AM
At Yonge & Dundas Jays fans are obeying the pedestrian scramble, as is the custom & returning to sidewalk each light cycle.
Reposted by Michael Tamblyn
The last time the Toronto Blue Jays were in the World Series, I was nine years old. Congratulations to the 2025 ALCS champions, Toronto Blue Jays!
October 21, 2025 at 3:11 AM
The last time the Toronto Blue Jays were in the World Series, I was nine years old. Congratulations to the 2025 ALCS champions, Toronto Blue Jays!
On my way to Frankfurt Book Fair! Flight time is the right time for trying out this handy little guy… #kobo #testflight
October 13, 2025 at 11:24 PM
On my way to Frankfurt Book Fair! Flight time is the right time for trying out this handy little guy… #kobo #testflight
Nick’s transformation into Dwight Schrute is coming along nicely.
Nick Clegg says asking artists for use permission would ‘kill’ the AI industry
Nick Clegg says asking artists for use permission would ‘kill’ the AI industry
Paul McCartne, Elton John and others signed an open letter.
buff.ly
October 8, 2025 at 5:20 PM
Nick’s transformation into Dwight Schrute is coming along nicely.
I am looking forward to writing styles becoming exuberantly idiosyncratic to show your message wasn't polished by AI.
Before: "I hope this email finds you well"
After: "No daisies on your grave yet, friendo? Scrape your eyes across this missive. Woof!"
Predict that, super-autocomplete.
Before: "I hope this email finds you well"
After: "No daisies on your grave yet, friendo? Scrape your eyes across this missive. Woof!"
Predict that, super-autocomplete.
October 8, 2025 at 4:58 PM
I am looking forward to writing styles becoming exuberantly idiosyncratic to show your message wasn't polished by AI.
Before: "I hope this email finds you well"
After: "No daisies on your grave yet, friendo? Scrape your eyes across this missive. Woof!"
Predict that, super-autocomplete.
Before: "I hope this email finds you well"
After: "No daisies on your grave yet, friendo? Scrape your eyes across this missive. Woof!"
Predict that, super-autocomplete.
Reposted by Michael Tamblyn
AANTIFA C-suite demonstrating advanced rioting
I love how they lead by example
I love how they lead by example
October 8, 2025 at 4:47 PM
AANTIFA C-suite demonstrating advanced rioting
I love how they lead by example
I love how they lead by example
Hi kids. Here is today’s Lesson from Totalitarians, brought to you by “The Unquiet Ghosts: Russians Remember Stalin” by Adam Hochschild, as highlighted on my Kobo Libra Colour
September 26, 2025 at 4:29 AM
Hi kids. Here is today’s Lesson from Totalitarians, brought to you by “The Unquiet Ghosts: Russians Remember Stalin” by Adam Hochschild, as highlighted on my Kobo Libra Colour
Reposted by Michael Tamblyn
What @profgalloway.com was to the fall of WeWork - doing the math over and over and it never adding up - there’s a good chance @edzitron.com is going to be the same for AI.
Had a great time talking to @parkermolloy.com about my work on the AI bubble
www.readtpa.com/p/the-man-ca...
www.readtpa.com/p/the-man-ca...
The Man Calling Bullshit on the AI Boom
Ed Zitron built a massive following by saying what tech journalists won't: that generative AI is an unsustainable bubble propped up by hype and bad math.
www.readtpa.com
September 23, 2025 at 12:49 AM
What @profgalloway.com was to the fall of WeWork - doing the math over and over and it never adding up - there’s a good chance @edzitron.com is going to be the same for AI.
People of the Book: I’m at Frankfurt Book Fair this year. We don’t have a booth. We do throw an absolutely kick-ass party - the best at the fair. Because dark times call for German cover bands and an open bar. Want to come? DM me.
September 22, 2025 at 3:15 AM
People of the Book: I’m at Frankfurt Book Fair this year. We don’t have a booth. We do throw an absolutely kick-ass party - the best at the fair. Because dark times call for German cover bands and an open bar. Want to come? DM me.
As we say here at Kobo HQ -> "Kobo: Read anything on the thing that is the best thing to read things on". (And yes, it's time to switch.)
www.express.co.uk/life-style/s...
www.express.co.uk/life-style/s...
Kindle rival gets a big free update that has Amazon beaten - time to switch?
Amazon's Kindle may be the market leader but rival Kobo offers more functionality for UK bookworms.
www.express.co.uk
September 4, 2025 at 7:09 PM
As we say here at Kobo HQ -> "Kobo: Read anything on the thing that is the best thing to read things on". (And yes, it's time to switch.)
www.express.co.uk/life-style/s...
www.express.co.uk/life-style/s...
Reposted by Michael Tamblyn
Happy Skynet Day to all who celebrate 🤖
Aug 29th 1997 - Skynet become self aware.
📽️📅 Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
📽️📅 Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
August 29, 2025 at 1:26 PM
Happy Skynet Day to all who celebrate 🤖
Filling my never-ending love of validation, @nymag.com's the Strategist said nice things about Kobo Libra Colour, calling it the best "smaller all-digital notebook" ☺️. And that was without even delving into its sumptuous ereader-ness or its Seattle-free adorability ❤️
nymag.com/strategist/a...
nymag.com/strategist/a...
A Digital Notebook for Every Type of Notetaker
Never lose your notes again.
nymag.com
August 22, 2025 at 6:00 PM
Filling my never-ending love of validation, @nymag.com's the Strategist said nice things about Kobo Libra Colour, calling it the best "smaller all-digital notebook" ☺️. And that was without even delving into its sumptuous ereader-ness or its Seattle-free adorability ❤️
nymag.com/strategist/a...
nymag.com/strategist/a...
Reposted by Michael Tamblyn
Frog Sauna is the name of my next band
have never clicked a headline so fast www.nature.com/articles/d41...
August 20, 2025 at 6:48 PM
Frog Sauna is the name of my next band