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rob mahurin @robtasm.bsky.social · 2h

There was a young lady from Knoxville
who bought her brassieres by the boxful.
They were stuffed with corn kernels
and old Wall Street Journals
and that's how she kept all her frocks full.

(Keillor, 2008-ish)

Merriam-Webster @merriam-webster.com · 4h

What’s the word where you’re from that, when pronounced exactly as it looks, identifies a tourist immediately?

rob mahurin @robtasm.bsky.social · 4h

Here's a set you can use later: ```

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rob mahurin @robtasm.bsky.social · 21h

Here in this age of conspiracy theories, the typo in the final line is delicious.

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rob mahurin @robtasm.bsky.social · 22h

It has been pointed out to me that Anne Frank, Martin Luther King Jr., and Barbara Walters were all the same age. Born 1929, would turn 96 this year.

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rob mahurin @robtasm.bsky.social · 2d

Any rebracketing of "shih tzu" that doesn't include profanity is a missed opportunity — especially if what you're adding at the end is "poo."

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rob mahurin @robtasm.bsky.social · 4d

@gork.botsky.social is this true

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rob mahurin @robtasm.bsky.social · 5d

I had to look up the acronym, but perhaps I can save somebody the hassle.

What is a progressive web app? - Progressive web apps | MDN

A progressive web app (PWA) is an app that's built using web platform technologies, but that provides a user experience like that of a platform-specific app.

developer.mozilla.org

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rob mahurin @robtasm.bsky.social · 5d

In more than a quarter century of using "ROFLxAO," I think this is the first time I've seen it where the X doesn't abbreviate the first-person pronoun.

rob mahurin @robtasm.bsky.social · 5d

Don't stop there ⸻

Pavel @spavel.bsky.social · Jul 17

Every time some fucker says "AI is when there is an em dash" I add an extra pixel

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rob mahurin @robtasm.bsky.social · 6d

I think this is from 2018.

Four-panel comic. A person at a computer is experiencing a cascade of different emotions because the Internet is made of chaos.

Panel 1: [horrified] "Police hunting people for sport?!"

Panel 2: [amused] "A chubby penguin! Haha"

Panel 3: [outraged] "The President ate a baby?!"

Panel 4: [amused] "A kitten! Haha"

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rob mahurin @robtasm.bsky.social · 7d

Not the point. The Constitution has two different mechanisms for replacing an unfit president. Installation of a new leader by a junta is a failure of the Constitution by definition.

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rob mahurin @robtasm.bsky.social · 7d

"The fascism is really bad, so to preserve the constitution let's have the military install a leader they like better"

wtf

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rob mahurin @robtasm.bsky.social · 7d

When my daughter learned to lean back in her chair at the dinner table, I told her that it would make her grow a beard. She clapped her face and said, "but I'm a girl!"

She believed me for TWO YEARS.

Having reasoned your way out of an absurd lie is an essential part of intellectual development.

Zach Weinersmith @zachweinersmith.bsky.social · 7d

Every time I do a joke about messing with kids someone says I'm endorsing gaslighting, and all I can say is that if you couldn't lie to children you'd lose about 63% of the fun of being a parent.

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rob mahurin @robtasm.bsky.social · 7d

Hey now. Twain wrote about pretending like painting a fence is fun so that your chums will pay you to take turns doing it while you watch. Now THAT'S American.

rob mahurin @robtasm.bsky.social · 9d

Thanks, Coffee Cancer Lady

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rob mahurin @robtasm.bsky.social · 9d

This rating scale is worth having in your back pocket.

Elise Cutts @elisecutts.bsky.social · 9d

I don't have a pitchbot... but I do have a handy rating scale for science communication mishaps that was in no way inspired by another recently developed scale for interstellar objects

The Loeb Scale for science PR disasters

Science miscommunication is dangerous. But how dangerous?

www.reviewertoo.com

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rob mahurin @robtasm.bsky.social · 9d

[borrows comics from the library] don't tell me how to live

rob mahurin @robtasm.bsky.social · 9d

@alyankovic.bsky.social did the President (age 79) delete you

Andy Rivkin @asrivkin.bsky.social · 10d

I'm not the first one to point this out, but as a culture we're _really_ going to need to have the discipline to write "strange AI" rather than "weird AI" because everybody born before 2015 is going to read it as "Weird Al" and cause a massive amount of confusion.

Thank you for your attention.

Bill Grueskin @bgrueskin.bsky.social · 10d

To the Daily Beast staffer who put “79” into this headline, know this:

We salute you.

rob mahurin @robtasm.bsky.social · 10d

Now that the em dash is a poor man's marker for LLM output, Pavel has upgraded to the emmm dash.

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rob mahurin @robtasm.bsky.social · 10d

Removing the "ig" from "Ig Nobel Prize" is an interesting choice by the author of this figure.

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rob mahurin @robtasm.bsky.social · 10d

What does it mean "the shooter is down"? Has a suspect been killed? injured? lowered into a hole? made sad?

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rob mahurin @robtasm.bsky.social · 10d

Thank you!

rob mahurin @robtasm.bsky.social · 13d

I was just at an event where Carey Elwes talked about The Princess Bride. The studio had written the movie off as a loss before the end of the opening weekend. It just didn't put butts in seats against Fatal Attraction or Three Men And A Baby.

The Princess Bride event last week sold out 2000 seats.

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rob mahurin @robtasm.bsky.social · 13d

reply all: "your event sounds great! but I have other plans on thursday."

just to me: "Please don't reply all."

reply to all again: "great advice! thanks!"

[a week passes]

hey john, did I get kicked off of the all-faculty email list? or has everyone just quit using it after last week?

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rob mahurin @robtasm.bsky.social · 13d

explain like I'm five what do they mean by "explain like I'm five"