Benjamin Reed (aka Raccoon Fink)
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rangerrick.bsky.social
Benjamin Reed (aka Raccoon Fink)
@rangerrick.bsky.social
1.3K followers 500 following 3.7K posts
F/LOSS geek • general nerdery • way too into collecting (and sometimes even drinking) whisky • I write electronic/ambient/dungeon synth music as Raccoon Fink • he/him

https://music.raccoonfink.com/
https://linktr.ee/RaccoonFink/
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rangerrick.bsky.social
Benjamin Reed (aka Raccoon Fink) @rangerrick.bsky.social · Oct 23
It feels like a good time to re-introduce myself.

I am a musician, a Carolina Hurricanes fan, an engineer at NetBox Labs, and an all-around nerd about a bunch of different things.

You can find links to my music on my linktree.
RaccoonFink | Instagram, Facebook | Linktree
View RaccoonFink’s Linktree. Listen to their music on Spotify here.
linktr.ee
Reposted by Benjamin Reed (aka Raccoon Fink)
cooperlund.online
I can’t emphasize enough how much you need to watch this until the end
December 9, 2025 at 5:05 PM
Reposted by Benjamin Reed (aka Raccoon Fink)
catbus.phd
I am brimming with holiday spirit
a guillotine made from gingerbread, decorated with white icing snow and icicles
December 8, 2025 at 12:47 PM
rangerrick.bsky.social
@wademinter.com in his PROPER place down by the ice tonight, where he ALWAYS should be. #JusticeForWade
December 9, 2025 at 12:01 AM
rangerrick.bsky.social
What new name will they give HBO this time? I vote HBO Maximillian.
The robot Maximillian, silhouetted on a fiery orange background. From The Black Hole (1979)
December 8, 2025 at 5:49 PM
Reposted by Benjamin Reed (aka Raccoon Fink)
ampwall.com
Just in time for the cold, cold weather

Winter Wonders Mixtape by @shiftctrlmusic.com

A new compilation of chilly tracks featuring:
- @salimer.bsky.social
- @robinheroldmusic.bsky.social
- @herbersmusic.bsky.social
- @rangerrick.bsky.social
- @mohaynow.com
- @voidscanmusic.com

And many more!
December 8, 2025 at 3:14 PM
rangerrick.bsky.social
Hey, this is out, and I have a song on it! Looking forward to digging through it myself.
December 8, 2025 at 3:13 PM
Reposted by Benjamin Reed (aka Raccoon Fink)
mc.frontalot.com
Wasn't that the title of that short film starring ya mom?
146 LOADS!
December 7, 2025 at 8:49 PM
Reposted by Benjamin Reed (aka Raccoon Fink)
silly.bsky.social
if they can name a clothing store "banana republic" then i can name mine "neocolonialism"
December 7, 2025 at 8:37 PM
Reposted by Benjamin Reed (aka Raccoon Fink)
catincognito.bsky.social
@danihere.bsky.social
@madkatsmum1.bsky.social
@ambeachy.bsky.social
@yolanda7712.bsky.social
@msmichy.bsky.social
@cachobweeney.bsky.social
@tiletony.bsky.social
@mrsperrin.com

Lol 🤣🤣🤣🤣
December 7, 2025 at 4:07 PM
Reposted by Benjamin Reed (aka Raccoon Fink)
itsafronomics.bsky.social
Respectfully, it's interesting (derogatory) that when Black women, who are the most reliable voting bloc for the Dems, lodge similar critiques of leadership, we're punished.

Yet when white women do it, it's praiseworthy. Hm. #TheDoubleTax
December 8, 2025 at 3:06 AM
Reposted by Benjamin Reed (aka Raccoon Fink)
eruditorumpress.com
You can tell the libertarians who got there via genuinely held principle because they’re not libertarians anymore.
gogdog.bsky.social Jeremy (Reprise) @gogdog.bsky.social · 2d
Good on Penn Jillette. Having to come to terms with your entire political identity and philosophy being wrong is not easy and most people could never do it.
December 8, 2025 at 7:57 AM
Reposted by Benjamin Reed (aka Raccoon Fink)
tkingfisher.com
There’s a famous chart from the Conservation Research Institute, which demonstrates this. GAZE UPON THESE ROOTS, YE MIGHTY AND DESPAIR.
A chart showing bigass roots on a whole bunch of plants.
July 26, 2025 at 12:10 AM
rangerrick.bsky.social
You have to admire Mr. Illz dedication to being the Canes DJ for years and never improving at mixing in any way over all that time. A dogged determination to maintain mediocrity that few can match.

I’m not usually the kind to be this directly insulting but it colors the entire arena experience.
December 7, 2025 at 9:03 PM
Reposted by Benjamin Reed (aka Raccoon Fink)
twesq.bsky.social
lol sign worked
November 25, 2025 at 6:28 PM
Reposted by Benjamin Reed (aka Raccoon Fink)
brendelbored.bsky.social
Remember folks, during winter every ten degree temperature drop lowers your tire’s PSI by 1 so it’s very important to go to the gas station and notice that the air thing doesn’t work and then do that five more times at five different gas stations
December 5, 2025 at 2:59 PM
Reposted by Benjamin Reed (aka Raccoon Fink)
etherdiver.bsky.social
Oh, hey, it's December! That means I can post my seasonal track, "I Always Love Tripping at Xmas" from Metaphysical Shitposting. Enjoy!

etherdiver.bandcamp.com/track/i-alwa...

#WeirdChristmas #psychedelic #experimental #ExperimentalMusic
I Always Love Tripping at Xmas, by Ether Diver
from the album Metaphysical Shitposting
etherdiver.bandcamp.com
December 6, 2025 at 1:32 AM
Reposted by Benjamin Reed (aka Raccoon Fink)
lartist.bsky.social
A gift for you: If you're a parent who is regretting letting the Elf on a Shelf into your home, here is a duty reassignment order you can show to your kids that the Elf was needed elsewhere. Printable png 8X10 300dpi so it can fit well on an A4 for non North American printers.
Polar Department of Naughty or Nice North American Division Agent:Elf Assignment: Shelf Current target(s) has been downgraded to: mischief It has been decided parental reporting will be sufficient for ongoing observations. Agent is requireed to return to headquarters for debriefing before reassignment to naughtier target(s). Agent to report no later than: Tuesday Unca Lar Senior Duty Gnome Polar Dept: NA Division CONFIDENTIAL
December 6, 2025 at 1:15 AM
Reposted by Benjamin Reed (aka Raccoon Fink)
effinbirds.com
My holiday gift to you: three hours of the worst Christmas music known to humanity. Apple Music and Spotify links can be found at shitm.as
a screenshot of a playlist called Worst Christmas with an illustration of a Christmas tree on fire
December 7, 2025 at 12:50 AM
Reposted by Benjamin Reed (aka Raccoon Fink)
asrivkin.bsky.social
For comparison, every robotic mission NASA has ever sent in its history, from the dawn of the Space Age 65 years ago to today, from Mercury to Pluto and beyond, has cost less than $40B.

I know which one has done more for humankind and which one should be dismantled.
culturecrave.co Culture Crave 🍿 @culturecrave.co · 3d
Mark Zuckerberg’s gamble on the ‘Metaverse’ has cost Meta more than $77B

The company now plans to cut spending on it and shift focus to AI wearables instead

(via WSJ)
December 7, 2025 at 2:03 AM
rangerrick.bsky.social
When Google Reader died, NewsBlur was one of the services that popped up to fill the void and it’s been fantastic.

Considering how aggressively focused on its users it has been for over a decade, it’s disappointing to see this own goal on adding AI features.
NewsBlur announcement on a Fediverse post: New Ask AI feature just dropped on a Friday afternoon. It'll change your relationship to what you read. Only available to Premium Archive ($99/year) users. If all goes well, I'll open it up to premium users for demoing in a couple weeks. A screenshot of a user’s reply, and NetNewsWire’s response. ShaneIsGames says, “Hi! Subscriber since 2013 here. Unless you put in writing, in very explicit terms, that this bullshit isn't going to train on my feed if I don't opt in to that, I'm canceling immediately and recommending my friends do so as well.” The NetNewsWire developer’s response was, “no we don’t collect or use any data to train. We’re using off the shelf frontier ai apis, feeding the article the user is asking about as context. Honestly I’m taking a bit aback by all the negativity when ai is announced. I mean, everybody using RSS is an early adopter? I’m surprised by the vocal ai haters.” Attempting to be charitable, I responded: It’s easy to look at things like LLMs and only think of their utility as a tool. But that’s like watching the Manhattan Project come to fruition and going “we learned so much science, and they say this will stop war.” As interesting as LLMs are as a technology, they are fundamentally linked to the wholesale appropriation of the world’s creative output, and a huge acceleration of natural resource use when we’re already blowing through climate change inflection points. The NetNewsWire’s developer replied: eating meat and driving are the two biggest drivers of climate change. Fix those for yourself first, then we can talk about datacenters. There’s a lot of delusion going on around ai and datacenters My final reply has not received a response yet. He suddenly got quiet despite previously responding within moments of my posts. My last post was: I'm not talking about hyperbolic discourse over how much water they do or don't use. Heat management is a datacenter's primary cost & there is no denying we're building them faster than ever before just to handle AI load. Individual effort has little to do with systemic change, but if we're talking that, removing AI from your software is the same. Also I notice you didn’t address the “appropriating the world’s creative output" so I guess I know where you stand on that.
December 6, 2025 at 4:36 PM
Reposted by Benjamin Reed (aka Raccoon Fink)
theophite.bsky.social
there is now at least one event which requires understanding where this image came from to explain
December 5, 2025 at 10:07 PM
Reposted by Benjamin Reed (aka Raccoon Fink)
suitti.bsky.social
What is the meaning of life?
4 panels. 1. Gingerbread house. Title: A Gingerbread man sits inside a gingerbread house. 2. Gingerbread man shown through a window on the house. Title: Is the house made of flesh? 3. Gingerbread man sitting on a chair at a table in the house. Title: Or is he made of house? 4. Gingerbread man behind table. Title: He screams... for he does not know.
December 5, 2025 at 5:15 PM
Reposted by Benjamin Reed (aka Raccoon Fink)
margueritekenner.bsky.social
The term in the UK for a person rudely listening to something without headphones is 'sodcasting', and I think we can find a close variant.
December 5, 2025 at 7:02 PM
Reposted by Benjamin Reed (aka Raccoon Fink)
iss-piss-tracker.bsky.social
The piss tank on the ISS is now 74% full.
December 5, 2025 at 9:53 PM
Reposted by Benjamin Reed (aka Raccoon Fink)
bubbaprog.xyz
ICE raided a James Beard award winning restaurant & because the chef/owner was prepared, left emptyhanded:
Photo shared by Christina Nguyen on December 04, 2025 tagging @naomi.marie__, @nathanmiller612, @rubyscher, @holaarepa, @birksg, @chefjholig, and @haihaimpls. May be an image of text that says 'AS SOME OF YOU MAY HAVE HEARD, I.C.E. PAID US A VISIT AT AREPA YESTERDAY. OUR GM NAOMI & TEAM MEMBERS FOLLOWED OUR ICE PROTOCOL PERFECTLY, THE AGENTS LEFT & NO ONE WAS DETAINED. tO WHOEVER NEEDS THIS: KNOW YOUR RIGHTS WHEN IT COMES TO I.C.E. (1/5)'. christinanguyenmpls 11h We had an ICE scare yesterday and even though we’re afraid of the repercussions of being vocal, we feel that it’s also important to inform people that this is right at our front door. ICE is not some far away boogeyman. They are here right now, spreading fear in our community. We’re so grateful to our entire staff and their bravery. They did the right things and couldn’t have dealt with this situation in a better way. We are grateful to our community activists that came to support us from @miracmn @litosonlake and Monarcha. We hope that if you find yourself in the same situation, that you find these resources helpful. Peace and take care of each other ❤️ Photo by Christina Nguyen on December 04, 2025. May be an image of text that says 'IF I.C.E. COMES TO YOUR RESTAURANT: UNLESS THE AGENTS HAVE A SIGNED JUDICIAL WARRANT, THEY CANNOT ENTER A PRIVATE AREA LIKE THE KITCHEN WITHOUT YOUR PERMISSION EVEN IF THEY LIE AND SAY THY DON'T NEED A WARRANT, STAND YOUR GROUND AND INSIST THAT YOU NEED PAPERWORK (2/5)'. Photo by Christina Nguyen on December 04, 2025. May be an image of text that says 'IF I.C.E. COMES TO YOUR RESTAURANT: HAVE OTHER STAFF OR PEOPLE PRESENT RECORD THEM AND EVERYTHING THEY ARE SAYING. (PEOPLE DOING UNLAWFUL THINGS HATE BEING CAUGHT IN TH ACT) YOU HAVE THE RIGHT to REFUSE SERVICE & YOU CAN ASK M tO LEAVE YOUR PRIVATE PROPERTY IF THY DON'T HAVE A WARRANT. (3/5)'. WE ARE HEARTBROKEN THAT OUR IMMIGRANT COMMUNITIES IN THE TWIN CITIES ARE BEING TARGETED AND TERRORIZED BY THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION. THESE ARE REAL PEOPLE THAT ARE BEING USED AS POLITICAL PAWNS AND IT'S APPALLING. REGARDLESS OF THEIR LEGAL STATUS, THERE ARE SO MANY LATINOS & SOMALIANS WHO ARE AFRAID OF BEING DETAINED DUE TO MISTAKEN IDENTITY BECAUSE THEY KNOW THEY MIGHT NOT GET DUE PROCESS & A FAIR TRIAL. THEY WILL JUST END UP IN DETENTION CENTERS & A LEGAL PROCESS THAT HAS BEEN DESCRIBED AS A BLACK HOLE. WE STAND IN SUPPORT OF OUR IMMIGRANT COMMUNITY, WHO ARE THE BACKBONE OF THIS COUNTRY. WITHOUT IMMIGRANTS, AMERICA IS NOT THE SAME PLACE. STAY SAFE OUT THERE & TAKE CARE OF YOUR NEIGHBORS. LOVE, HOLA AREPA & HAI HAI (5/5)
December 5, 2025 at 3:24 PM