Mary Putnam
@maryjoyace.bsky.social
I read books and collect hobbies. I also write computer programs because we still live in a society that requires money.
Would you pay for a personal trainer and then have a robot lift weights for you?
Would you pay for education and use AI* to complete your assignments?
Might as well burn your money.
*I hate this catch all term, but I understand the futility of trying to claim society is using a word incorrectly.
Would you pay for education and use AI* to complete your assignments?
Might as well burn your money.
*I hate this catch all term, but I understand the futility of trying to claim society is using a word incorrectly.
December 14, 2025 at 7:14 PM
Would you pay for a personal trainer and then have a robot lift weights for you?
Would you pay for education and use AI* to complete your assignments?
Might as well burn your money.
*I hate this catch all term, but I understand the futility of trying to claim society is using a word incorrectly.
Would you pay for education and use AI* to complete your assignments?
Might as well burn your money.
*I hate this catch all term, but I understand the futility of trying to claim society is using a word incorrectly.
Celebratory crepes and chai after completing a criminal procedure final. Next up studying for the admin final.
December 10, 2025 at 6:05 PM
Celebratory crepes and chai after completing a criminal procedure final. Next up studying for the admin final.
Reposted by Mary Putnam
“The Daily Nebraskan found in the leaked spreadsheet that every program eliminated appeared to be profitable…every program that the chancellor proposed eliminating generated more money from tuition dollars than the department costs to run”
December 7, 2025 at 2:11 PM
“The Daily Nebraskan found in the leaked spreadsheet that every program eliminated appeared to be profitable…every program that the chancellor proposed eliminating generated more money from tuition dollars than the department costs to run”
Reposted by Mary Putnam
If every one of my followers here signed up for my newsletter at the new annual 20% sale rate I would make nearly $4 million and disappear off the face of the Earth (after fulfilling the obligation of writing the issues first of course). #promise
badastronomy.beehiiv.com/p/holiday-sa...
badastronomy.beehiiv.com/p/holiday-sa...
Holiday Sale for BAN subscriptions
A 20% discount off the price, and you can also get this as a gift for someone else
badastronomy.beehiiv.com
November 30, 2025 at 6:13 PM
If every one of my followers here signed up for my newsletter at the new annual 20% sale rate I would make nearly $4 million and disappear off the face of the Earth (after fulfilling the obligation of writing the issues first of course). #promise
badastronomy.beehiiv.com/p/holiday-sa...
badastronomy.beehiiv.com/p/holiday-sa...
My version of studying for finals often includes extra reading that was not assigned to keep my brain in topic without getting bored. I like this sentence from page 171:
“Democracy should mean more than that we elect our dictators.”
“Democracy should mean more than that we elect our dictators.”
November 29, 2025 at 5:25 PM
My version of studying for finals often includes extra reading that was not assigned to keep my brain in topic without getting bored. I like this sentence from page 171:
“Democracy should mean more than that we elect our dictators.”
“Democracy should mean more than that we elect our dictators.”
Reposted by Mary Putnam
Journalist challenge: Use “Machine Learning” when you mean machine learning and “LLM” when you mean LLM. Ditch “AI” as a catch-all term, it’s not useful for readers and it helps companies trying to confuse the public by obscuring the roles played by different technologies. 🧪
November 22, 2025 at 4:50 PM
Journalist challenge: Use “Machine Learning” when you mean machine learning and “LLM” when you mean LLM. Ditch “AI” as a catch-all term, it’s not useful for readers and it helps companies trying to confuse the public by obscuring the roles played by different technologies. 🧪
Reposted by Mary Putnam
Before the midterms of 1866, President Andrew Johnson called his congressional opponents traitors and said they should be hanged.
Voters were so profoundly moved by his words... that they gave his opponents a supermajority in Congress, and the nation got the Fourteenth Amendment.
Voters were so profoundly moved by his words... that they gave his opponents a supermajority in Congress, and the nation got the Fourteenth Amendment.
November 20, 2025 at 3:33 PM
Before the midterms of 1866, President Andrew Johnson called his congressional opponents traitors and said they should be hanged.
Voters were so profoundly moved by his words... that they gave his opponents a supermajority in Congress, and the nation got the Fourteenth Amendment.
Voters were so profoundly moved by his words... that they gave his opponents a supermajority in Congress, and the nation got the Fourteenth Amendment.
Reposted by Mary Putnam
Did you read my post from last week about how contract woes caused me to withdraw an accepted story from F&SF, ending my 54-year quest to be published in that magazine? But wait (as the saying goes) — there's more! Scroll down at the link for an update. www.scottedelman.com/wordpress/20...
A dream denied: My 54-year quest to publish a short story in F&SF ‹ Scott Edelman
www.scottedelman.com
November 18, 2025 at 12:42 PM
Did you read my post from last week about how contract woes caused me to withdraw an accepted story from F&SF, ending my 54-year quest to be published in that magazine? But wait (as the saying goes) — there's more! Scroll down at the link for an update. www.scottedelman.com/wordpress/20...
Called to reschedule a dentist appointment & got what was obviously AI made to sound like a human. I know the intent is efficiency, but the cost is me feeling like I'm not worth enough to bother getting a real human. I would prefer a prerecorded automated system that wasn't pretending to be human.
November 17, 2025 at 5:31 PM
Called to reschedule a dentist appointment & got what was obviously AI made to sound like a human. I know the intent is efficiency, but the cost is me feeling like I'm not worth enough to bother getting a real human. I would prefer a prerecorded automated system that wasn't pretending to be human.
Reposted by Mary Putnam
Cowards die many times before their deaths,
The valiant never taste of death but once.
The valiant never taste of death but once.
November 10, 2025 at 2:28 AM
Cowards die many times before their deaths,
The valiant never taste of death but once.
The valiant never taste of death but once.
Reposted by Mary Putnam
I sort of forgot to mention that my podcast, It's Storytime With Wil Wheaton, had a wonderful test season earlier this year, and new episodes are on their way!
I will return on October 29th, with a spooky story.
You can find me wherever you get your podcasts, or at patreon.com/storytime
I will return on October 29th, with a spooky story.
You can find me wherever you get your podcasts, or at patreon.com/storytime
Get more from It's Storytime with Wil Wheaton on Patreon
A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Making of the Podcast
patreon.com
October 24, 2025 at 11:40 PM
I sort of forgot to mention that my podcast, It's Storytime With Wil Wheaton, had a wonderful test season earlier this year, and new episodes are on their way!
I will return on October 29th, with a spooky story.
You can find me wherever you get your podcasts, or at patreon.com/storytime
I will return on October 29th, with a spooky story.
You can find me wherever you get your podcasts, or at patreon.com/storytime
That is it. I give up on humans.
October 22, 2025 at 11:58 PM
That is it. I give up on humans.
Having just finished reading American Epic by Garrett Epps, I would like to share with anyone who stumbles into this part of the internet, a paragraph he wrote about the 25th amendment.
The book was written in 2013.
The book was written in 2013.
![A paragraph from American Epic about the 25th amendment to the US Constitution ending with this thought: "Fletcher Knebel, the author of Seven Days in May, evoked [the possibility of a mad president] in another novel called Night of Camp David, imagining a deranged president who tries to annex Canada and Scandinavia and form a new nation called Aspen."](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:tloa6rmexfjeqrgoaa5xpe5x/bafkreicyd6mtcoy6mcwbbdcl5qvenfv6qdpk3p7woxovelvbo63xvtjbxm@jpeg)
October 13, 2025 at 5:41 PM
Having just finished reading American Epic by Garrett Epps, I would like to share with anyone who stumbles into this part of the internet, a paragraph he wrote about the 25th amendment.
The book was written in 2013.
The book was written in 2013.
Seeing the words taint and Wade on the same page of a study guide on criminal procedure just makes me want to call off my day of studying and go rewatch Deadpool.
October 12, 2025 at 5:35 PM
Seeing the words taint and Wade on the same page of a study guide on criminal procedure just makes me want to call off my day of studying and go rewatch Deadpool.
A true sign of aging. Two pairs of readers finding their way to the same location.
October 6, 2025 at 5:14 PM
A true sign of aging. Two pairs of readers finding their way to the same location.
Just met my reading goal for the year! The Shattering Peace by @scalzi.com was number 52. Now I can really settle in to law school homework without that reading goal haunting me, calling me to procrastinate.
October 3, 2025 at 2:52 AM
Just met my reading goal for the year! The Shattering Peace by @scalzi.com was number 52. Now I can really settle in to law school homework without that reading goal haunting me, calling me to procrastinate.
How I like to "watch" Monday night football. (I do look up when the announcers get excited.)
September 30, 2025 at 12:20 AM
How I like to "watch" Monday night football. (I do look up when the announcers get excited.)
Reposted by Mary Putnam
This print was added to our store by popular demand.
PRINT ◆ smbc-store.myshopify.com/products/aut...
ORIGINAL COMIC ◆ www.smbc-comics.com/comic/autism...
PRINT ◆ smbc-store.myshopify.com/products/aut...
ORIGINAL COMIC ◆ www.smbc-comics.com/comic/autism...
September 24, 2025 at 7:15 PM
This print was added to our store by popular demand.
PRINT ◆ smbc-store.myshopify.com/products/aut...
ORIGINAL COMIC ◆ www.smbc-comics.com/comic/autism...
PRINT ◆ smbc-store.myshopify.com/products/aut...
ORIGINAL COMIC ◆ www.smbc-comics.com/comic/autism...
My favorite use of an em dash--since stupid AI made it my current Baader-Meinhof phenomenon concept--has got to be this one from a KAGAN dissent I'm reading for Admin Law.
"But--sorry--footnote 8 provides no support."
"But--sorry--footnote 8 provides no support."
September 20, 2025 at 7:33 PM
My favorite use of an em dash--since stupid AI made it my current Baader-Meinhof phenomenon concept--has got to be this one from a KAGAN dissent I'm reading for Admin Law.
"But--sorry--footnote 8 provides no support."
"But--sorry--footnote 8 provides no support."
It's pre-order pickup day at my local independent bookstore, Francie and Finch! Hey @scalzi.com thanks for filling up all my free time for the next few days!
September 16, 2025 at 10:13 PM
It's pre-order pickup day at my local independent bookstore, Francie and Finch! Hey @scalzi.com thanks for filling up all my free time for the next few days!
Caturday with beautiful old Panther.
September 14, 2025 at 1:11 AM
Caturday with beautiful old Panther.
Reposted by Mary Putnam
Oh yes I will be writing an essay about how the SNW episode “Four and a Half Vulcans” is wildly offensive and normalizing race science that was mainstream and popular in United States in the 1850s
Like Disco called this shit terrorism
What the fuck is this regressive bullshit
Like Disco called this shit terrorism
What the fuck is this regressive bullshit
September 8, 2025 at 9:57 PM
Oh yes I will be writing an essay about how the SNW episode “Four and a Half Vulcans” is wildly offensive and normalizing race science that was mainstream and popular in United States in the 1850s
Like Disco called this shit terrorism
What the fuck is this regressive bullshit
Like Disco called this shit terrorism
What the fuck is this regressive bullshit
Reposted by Mary Putnam
Another day, another whiner complaining that I use the singular "they" in my work, and of course they can go fuck themselves
(you see what I did there)
(also, gift link)
wapo.st/3JEdPUv
(you see what I did there)
(also, gift link)
wapo.st/3JEdPUv
Opinion | ‘They’ has been a singular pronoun for centuries. Don’t let anyone tell you it’s wrong.
Jane Austen did it. You can, too.
wapo.st
September 3, 2025 at 9:45 PM
Another day, another whiner complaining that I use the singular "they" in my work, and of course they can go fuck themselves
(you see what I did there)
(also, gift link)
wapo.st/3JEdPUv
(you see what I did there)
(also, gift link)
wapo.st/3JEdPUv
I would like all my favorite active authors (looking at you @scalzi.com and @maryrobinettekowal.com) to only release new books when I will have time to read them cover to cover.
(I don't really mean this. I always pre-order and will get to it when the fall semester is over.)
(I don't really mean this. I always pre-order and will get to it when the fall semester is over.)
August 17, 2025 at 10:13 PM
I would like all my favorite active authors (looking at you @scalzi.com and @maryrobinettekowal.com) to only release new books when I will have time to read them cover to cover.
(I don't really mean this. I always pre-order and will get to it when the fall semester is over.)
(I don't really mean this. I always pre-order and will get to it when the fall semester is over.)