Scott
@smadin.net
Empty out the locker room, let me find my space
location: more like GREATEST Boston
• Blog: https://smadin.net/
• Fediverse: https://better.boston/@smadin
location: more like GREATEST Boston
• Blog: https://smadin.net/
• Fediverse: https://better.boston/@smadin
Pinned
Scott
@smadin.net
· Nov 6
herewith:
occasional reminder that calling things "cringe" is fash behavior actually
November 27, 2025 at 12:30 AM
occasional reminder that calling things "cringe" is fash behavior actually
Reposted by Scott
very odd that the Post would write up someone’s speciation as if it’s news. What are we doing here
November 26, 2025 at 11:34 PM
very odd that the Post would write up someone’s speciation as if it’s news. What are we doing here
Reposted by Scott
Seriously everything, EVERYTHING about the RFK/Nuzzi/LIzza moment is an argument for a newsroom where you pitch stories in front of each other and editors who shield you from your own worst impulses.
November 26, 2025 at 11:26 PM
Seriously everything, EVERYTHING about the RFK/Nuzzi/LIzza moment is an argument for a newsroom where you pitch stories in front of each other and editors who shield you from your own worst impulses.
Reposted by Scott
if NPC dialogue in a game is unimportant or boring, one of two things is happening:
1. someone did a bad job writing it
2. you didn't appreciate it, for whatever reason
don't put sawdust in your bread on purpose for fuck's sake
1. someone did a bad job writing it
2. you didn't appreciate it, for whatever reason
don't put sawdust in your bread on purpose for fuck's sake
November 26, 2025 at 9:11 PM
if NPC dialogue in a game is unimportant or boring, one of two things is happening:
1. someone did a bad job writing it
2. you didn't appreciate it, for whatever reason
don't put sawdust in your bread on purpose for fuck's sake
1. someone did a bad job writing it
2. you didn't appreciate it, for whatever reason
don't put sawdust in your bread on purpose for fuck's sake
Reposted by Scott
i take frenzy damage every time i see someone go "well i just use it for the boring stuff". what are you TALKING about? if it's boring or unimportant, why are you putting it in? NPC dialogue is fertile ground for worldbuilding, creating verisimilitude, conveying important information, and hijinks!!
Buy a solo indie dev's game because I want to support them.
Find out it uses OpenAI to write "non-important NPC dialogue".
🫠
Find out it uses OpenAI to write "non-important NPC dialogue".
🫠
November 26, 2025 at 9:08 PM
i take frenzy damage every time i see someone go "well i just use it for the boring stuff". what are you TALKING about? if it's boring or unimportant, why are you putting it in? NPC dialogue is fertile ground for worldbuilding, creating verisimilitude, conveying important information, and hijinks!!
I have no idea what the inciting incident was for the current "USian" discourse but I simply can't imagine caring enough about the term one way or another to spend time arguing about it
November 26, 2025 at 10:20 PM
I have no idea what the inciting incident was for the current "USian" discourse but I simply can't imagine caring enough about the term one way or another to spend time arguing about it
Reposted by Scott
THE NERD REICH
omfg
omfg
Cover Reveal!
“The Nerd Reich: Silicon Valley Fascism and the War on Democracy" arrives on August 4, 2026.
How extremist tech billionaires are dismantling democracy to crown themselves as kings—and what we can do about it.
Please pre-order! ➡️ www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Ne...
“The Nerd Reich: Silicon Valley Fascism and the War on Democracy" arrives on August 4, 2026.
How extremist tech billionaires are dismantling democracy to crown themselves as kings—and what we can do about it.
Please pre-order! ➡️ www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Ne...
November 26, 2025 at 8:00 PM
THE NERD REICH
omfg
omfg
Reposted by Scott
On AI’s ‘mediocrity trap’ — experiments indicates that while AI helps the less skilled make something passable, the highly skilled don’t use it to produce something better than they could have; they produce something ok, but lose motivation to make it great. www.jin-li.org/uploads/1/1/...
November 26, 2025 at 9:18 PM
On AI’s ‘mediocrity trap’ — experiments indicates that while AI helps the less skilled make something passable, the highly skilled don’t use it to produce something better than they could have; they produce something ok, but lose motivation to make it great. www.jin-li.org/uploads/1/1/...
Reposted by Scott
Whatever the truth of it is, Lizza is also proving he’s not a journalist either
November 26, 2025 at 9:52 PM
Whatever the truth of it is, Lizza is also proving he’s not a journalist either
Reposted by Scott
if you didn't have to roll against death during character creation, you're a tourist
if you insist on calling yourself a traveler, not a tourist, please know that I am making fun of you to my friends and loved ones
People who feel bad at being called tourists are without doubt the most tedious people on earth to get stuck next to on a plane and it isn't close to close
November 26, 2025 at 3:33 PM
if you didn't have to roll against death during character creation, you're a tourist
another thing on the Musk/Rogan clip, following on this @jamellebouie.net short: not only does Musk obviously not have friends, I would say he doesn't actually know what a roast is, either. He thinks it's just insulting someone. (And insulting someone is the only kind of humor he can imagine.)
the most pathetic guy on the planet
YouTube video by Takes™ by Jamelle Bouie
www.youtube.com
November 26, 2025 at 9:30 PM
another thing on the Musk/Rogan clip, following on this @jamellebouie.net short: not only does Musk obviously not have friends, I would say he doesn't actually know what a roast is, either. He thinks it's just insulting someone. (And insulting someone is the only kind of humor he can imagine.)
Reposted by Scott
oh this is absolutely what i think. i think they feed him fake polls and outright AI slop
At this point, I wonder if he isn't lying when he says he has "my highest Poll Numbers, ever" since it's entirely possible that's what his aides are telling him. It's quite likely that there's an entire Potemkin village built around Trump right now.
Trump responds to a detailed report about his waning energy and propensity to sleep through on-camera events by calling the New York Times's Katie Rogers ugly
November 26, 2025 at 2:41 PM
oh this is absolutely what i think. i think they feed him fake polls and outright AI slop
Reposted by Scott
Today, in Utah, homeowners *or renters* can simply buy a solar panel at Costco, take it home, and plug it in to a wall socket, like an appliance. It just sits there & trims about 15-20% off a residential power bill. If you move to another apt., you can take it with you.
November 26, 2025 at 6:32 PM
Today, in Utah, homeowners *or renters* can simply buy a solar panel at Costco, take it home, and plug it in to a wall socket, like an appliance. It just sits there & trims about 15-20% off a residential power bill. If you move to another apt., you can take it with you.
DJ on the Current just said "'Gone Till November' by Wyclef Gene"
November 26, 2025 at 7:49 PM
DJ on the Current just said "'Gone Till November' by Wyclef Gene"
Reposted by Scott
*Such* a pit in my stomach about the Georgia case. Such a wasted possibility. It's hard to avoid simultaneously crediting Willis for a strong, convincing, aggressive, and important set of indictments, and blaming her for the catastrophic misjudgment that made it impossible to have a trial in 2024.
November 26, 2025 at 7:09 PM
*Such* a pit in my stomach about the Georgia case. Such a wasted possibility. It's hard to avoid simultaneously crediting Willis for a strong, convincing, aggressive, and important set of indictments, and blaming her for the catastrophic misjudgment that made it impossible to have a trial in 2024.
Reposted by Scott
No. The Thing is a movie about a bunch of people who all distrust and hate each other trapped in one building as the tension between them slowly builds until it reaches a breaking point. It's a Thanksgiving movie.
Should John Carpenter's THE THING be officially classified as a Christmas movie? Let your voice be heard!
Is John Carpenter’s THE THING A Christmas Movie? Have Your Say
Should John Carpenter's THE THING be officially classified as a Christmas movie? Let your voice be heard!
dlvr.it
November 25, 2025 at 6:04 PM
No. The Thing is a movie about a bunch of people who all distrust and hate each other trapped in one building as the tension between them slowly builds until it reaches a breaking point. It's a Thanksgiving movie.
Reposted by Scott
Even the physics scripting of these things was made half-assed.
November 26, 2025 at 5:42 PM
Even the physics scripting of these things was made half-assed.
ah, I see it's "Destiny 3 rumors" time again
November 26, 2025 at 7:13 PM
ah, I see it's "Destiny 3 rumors" time again
Reposted by Scott
I think we can safely say that the Leavitt's brother called ICE on his ex, the mother of his child, and I have to say: I have no desire to respect, find common ground or share the country with these monsters.
“After Ferreira was detained, Dos Santos Rodrigues said Michael Leavitt Sr. and his father, Bob Leavitt, reached out to her.”
“‘They just kept saying, ‘Tell her to self-deport,’” she recalled. “Self-deport to where? Brazil is not her home.’” www.bostonglobe.com/2025/11/26/m...
“‘They just kept saying, ‘Tell her to self-deport,’” she recalled. “Self-deport to where? Brazil is not her home.’” www.bostonglobe.com/2025/11/26/m...
‘Brazil is not her home.’ Mother of Karoline Leavitt’s nephew, brought to US as child, detained by ICE. - The Boston Globe
Bruna Ferreira, 33, was brought to the United States as a child in 1998. She is now in removal proceedings in Louisiana.
www.bostonglobe.com
November 26, 2025 at 2:54 PM
I think we can safely say that the Leavitt's brother called ICE on his ex, the mother of his child, and I have to say: I have no desire to respect, find common ground or share the country with these monsters.
Reposted by Scott
Lots of people sharing this clip because it's funny and cathartic but I also genuinely believe it's important.
We have to win the narrative battle between "I live in a corrupt society and that's just how it is" and "I live in a corrupt society and we are going to defeat and humiliate these ghouls."
We have to win the narrative battle between "I live in a corrupt society and that's just how it is" and "I live in a corrupt society and we are going to defeat and humiliate these ghouls."
Good morning to Brazilian reporter Manuela Borges, who’s been waiting eleven years for this petty moment. ❤️ 🇧🇷
November 26, 2025 at 4:07 PM
Lots of people sharing this clip because it's funny and cathartic but I also genuinely believe it's important.
We have to win the narrative battle between "I live in a corrupt society and that's just how it is" and "I live in a corrupt society and we are going to defeat and humiliate these ghouls."
We have to win the narrative battle between "I live in a corrupt society and that's just how it is" and "I live in a corrupt society and we are going to defeat and humiliate these ghouls."
Reposted by Scott
I've followed @melissagiragrant.com's work for over a decade and she's been doing vital trans coverage in these dark days. Honored to be quoted in this piece for TNR.
newrepublic.com/article/2036...
newrepublic.com/article/2036...
When Is It Time to Flee?
Trans people and their families are facing hard questions and choices as threats to their safety and rights proliferate.
newrepublic.com
November 26, 2025 at 5:10 PM
I've followed @melissagiragrant.com's work for over a decade and she's been doing vital trans coverage in these dark days. Honored to be quoted in this piece for TNR.
newrepublic.com/article/2036...
newrepublic.com/article/2036...
Reposted by Scott
Honored to be interviewed by @melissagiragrant.com for @newrepublic.com:
When Is It Time to Flee?
Trans people and their families are facing hard questions and choices as threats to their safety and rights proliferate.
newrepublic.com
November 26, 2025 at 5:07 PM
Honored to be interviewed by @melissagiragrant.com for @newrepublic.com:
Reposted by Scott
Some thoughts in thread, but FIRST: Do you like sports and/or culture writing? Do you want to support trans writers? Do you want access to a super cool discord? If the answer to any of these questions is yes, subscribe: bit.ly/ooylsagseaso...
November 26, 2025 at 3:51 PM
Some thoughts in thread, but FIRST: Do you like sports and/or culture writing? Do you want to support trans writers? Do you want access to a super cool discord? If the answer to any of these questions is yes, subscribe: bit.ly/ooylsagseaso...