Brent Simmons
@thrashy.bsky.social
I design laboratories by day and do nerd stuff by night.
Architecture, science, motorsports, computer games, SF/F lit, TTRPGs. Somewhere between SocDem and DemSoc.
PFP shamelessly yoinked from Order Of The Stick, by @rich-burlew.giantitp.com.
Architecture, science, motorsports, computer games, SF/F lit, TTRPGs. Somewhere between SocDem and DemSoc.
PFP shamelessly yoinked from Order Of The Stick, by @rich-burlew.giantitp.com.
Pinned
Brent Simmons
@thrashy.bsky.social
· Jun 28
I’ve made it clear to my loved ones that I want *my* ashes compressed into a gemstone and forged into the pommel of a sword passed down to the firstborn of every subsequent generation.
Reposted by Brent Simmons
Star BYU Player Suspended After Testing Positive For Coffee https://theonion.com/star-byu-player-suspended-after-testing-positive-for-coffee/
December 22, 2025 at 10:30 PM
Star BYU Player Suspended After Testing Positive For Coffee https://theonion.com/star-byu-player-suspended-after-testing-positive-for-coffee/
Apologies to the spirit of my great-great grandmother-in-law, who appeared in a dream to give my wife the recipe for the latkes I am currently slathering in pepperoni like some sort of Lunchables pizza
December 22, 2025 at 7:37 PM
Apologies to the spirit of my great-great grandmother-in-law, who appeared in a dream to give my wife the recipe for the latkes I am currently slathering in pepperoni like some sort of Lunchables pizza
This DuPont livery is what I saw spinning out of the smoke cloud at me when the Big One happened around lap 130 of a full-length Talledega 500 on Papyrus’ “NASCAR Racing,” circa 1998. Jeff Gordon was dead to me after that.
Jeff Gordon - DuPont Automotive Finishes (Chevrolet)
1998 GM Goodwrench Service Plus 400 (North Carolina Speedway) #NASCAR
1998 GM Goodwrench Service Plus 400 (North Carolina Speedway) #NASCAR
December 21, 2025 at 11:43 PM
This DuPont livery is what I saw spinning out of the smoke cloud at me when the Big One happened around lap 130 of a full-length Talledega 500 on Papyrus’ “NASCAR Racing,” circa 1998. Jeff Gordon was dead to me after that.
The #1 movie from when you were 10 years old is how your 2026 will go.
Feel like this is a bit on the nose given the Architecture Discourse 'round here the last few days. Wouldn't be mad, though.
Feel like this is a bit on the nose given the Architecture Discourse 'round here the last few days. Wouldn't be mad, though.
December 21, 2025 at 5:47 AM
The #1 movie from when you were 10 years old is how your 2026 will go.
Feel like this is a bit on the nose given the Architecture Discourse 'round here the last few days. Wouldn't be mad, though.
Feel like this is a bit on the nose given the Architecture Discourse 'round here the last few days. Wouldn't be mad, though.
The TNG-era Federation must be a bizarre entity to the Aliens-of-the day they drop in on. There you are, the Space Caricatures about to put the righteous smack down on your hated foes the Astral Pastiche, when a heavily-armed cruise ship appears in space over your planet and hails your leaders.
December 19, 2025 at 10:50 PM
The TNG-era Federation must be a bizarre entity to the Aliens-of-the day they drop in on. There you are, the Space Caricatures about to put the righteous smack down on your hated foes the Astral Pastiche, when a heavily-armed cruise ship appears in space over your planet and hails your leaders.
Reposted by Brent Simmons
What are the odds that they did in fact send him out to declare war on Venezuela, but his spongy brain lost track of that talking point by the time cameras were rolling?
December 18, 2025 at 2:25 AM
What are the odds that they did in fact send him out to declare war on Venezuela, but his spongy brain lost track of that talking point by the time cameras were rolling?
RETVRN but it’s to MS Office 2003
Marco Rubio ordered diplomats to return to using Times New Roman font in official communications, calling his predecessor's decision to adopt Calibri a “wasteful” diversity move
Rubio Stages Font Coup: Times New Roman Ousts Calibri
The secretary of state called it a "wasteful" diversity move, according to an internal department cable seen by Reuters.
www.huffpost.com
December 10, 2025 at 4:30 AM
RETVRN but it’s to MS Office 2003
Look, if Oprah wants redemption for all the monsters she's created, Dr. Oz and John of God are still out there.
“I brought this horrid creature into the world, and now I must take him out!” Winfrey said
Oprah Pursues Dr. Phil On Ship Through Arctic
THE ARCTIC CIRCLE—With a vow to destroy the abomination she had created if it was the last thing she ever did, television host Oprah Winfrey has spent weeks on a ship pursuing Dr. Phil through the Arc...
theonion.com
December 9, 2025 at 4:31 AM
Look, if Oprah wants redemption for all the monsters she's created, Dr. Oz and John of God are still out there.
Eliezer Yudkowsky reading the headline and having a crisis of identity
We started reporting this profile of @edzitron.com in July. Zitron's message has only grown more urgent since then. Read @harrymccracken.com's full story @fastcompany.com www.fastcompany.com/91448284/ed-...
Meet Ed Zitron, AI’s original prophet of doom
Ed Zitron has built a small media empire on the argument that AI is not only a bubble but a fraud, and it’s headed for a spectacular crash.
www.fastcompany.com
December 4, 2025 at 6:34 AM
Eliezer Yudkowsky reading the headline and having a crisis of identity
This one's been rolling around in my head a bit and I think I want to refine it - how about a sliding scale based on the ratio of the stolen value versus the victim's net worth? Steal $100m from Elon Musk, that's petty larceny... Steal $100 from a single mom, straight to the electric chair
one thing we need to do as a society is treat all fraud or theft over $100 million or so as a potential capital crime, with the possibility of execution for offenders.
December 3, 2025 at 8:28 PM
This one's been rolling around in my head a bit and I think I want to refine it - how about a sliding scale based on the ratio of the stolen value versus the victim's net worth? Steal $100m from Elon Musk, that's petty larceny... Steal $100 from a single mom, straight to the electric chair
Behold, the most contented dog on Earth
December 1, 2025 at 6:10 PM
Behold, the most contented dog on Earth
The answer is “Cluster B personality disorders” but I’m gonna guess that’s too straightforward for the Atlantic
December 1, 2025 at 3:17 AM
The answer is “Cluster B personality disorders” but I’m gonna guess that’s too straightforward for the Atlantic
Yet another deadly and preventable high-rise fire, and more evidence for the pile that flammable materials don't belong on the exteriors of towers -- whether they're there only there temporarily as in this case, or as part of the cladding as at Grenfell.
November 26, 2025 at 7:48 PM
Yet another deadly and preventable high-rise fire, and more evidence for the pile that flammable materials don't belong on the exteriors of towers -- whether they're there only there temporarily as in this case, or as part of the cladding as at Grenfell.
Don’t look at me, I just want to adapt the Porotherm concept to US masonry…
November 26, 2025 at 1:06 AM
Don’t look at me, I just want to adapt the Porotherm concept to US masonry…
*klaxons, flashing lights*
NEW IMPERIAL RADCH STORY, NEW IMPERIAL RADCH STORY
THIS IS NOT A DRILL
ALL HANDS TO READING STATIONS
NEW IMPERIAL RADCH STORY, NEW IMPERIAL RADCH STORY
THIS IS NOT A DRILL
ALL HANDS TO READING STATIONS
November 25, 2025 at 3:16 PM
*klaxons, flashing lights*
NEW IMPERIAL RADCH STORY, NEW IMPERIAL RADCH STORY
THIS IS NOT A DRILL
ALL HANDS TO READING STATIONS
NEW IMPERIAL RADCH STORY, NEW IMPERIAL RADCH STORY
THIS IS NOT A DRILL
ALL HANDS TO READING STATIONS
The smoke and it's flames now, and the frame is crashing to the ground. Oh, the huge elephant brothel!
TIL that a giant TERRIFYING ELEPHANT BUILDING used to dominate the Coney Island landscape in the late 1800s. It started as a hotel, very quickly became a brothel, and eventually burned down under mysterious circumstances. The dude who built it thought animal bldgs were the future of architecture.
November 13, 2025 at 4:29 PM
The smoke and it's flames now, and the frame is crashing to the ground. Oh, the huge elephant brothel!
Guess now's a good time to float my joke account idea: GyreAI!
Gyre would not be AI, it would be Autistic Intelligence... which is to say I'd wait to be summoned to random threads via mention and then infodump for several posts before signing off with some minutiae about high bypass turbofans.
Gyre would not be AI, it would be Autistic Intelligence... which is to say I'd wait to be summoned to random threads via mention and then infodump for several posts before signing off with some minutiae about high bypass turbofans.
The American dream is lying about your product until you can afford to build it.
www.reddit.com/r/LinkedInLu...
www.reddit.com/r/LinkedInLu...
November 12, 2025 at 9:05 PM
Guess now's a good time to float my joke account idea: GyreAI!
Gyre would not be AI, it would be Autistic Intelligence... which is to say I'd wait to be summoned to random threads via mention and then infodump for several posts before signing off with some minutiae about high bypass turbofans.
Gyre would not be AI, it would be Autistic Intelligence... which is to say I'd wait to be summoned to random threads via mention and then infodump for several posts before signing off with some minutiae about high bypass turbofans.
As an undiagnosed autistic kid with computers as my Special Interest, I once thought of myself as an enlightened superintelligence, and that the world would be a better place if those of us who Knew Computer ran the world one day. Then techbros made it happen, and it turns out to be not so great.
I think the belief by the powerful that "people will put up with many things if you are excellent at math" is incredibly revealing in terms of understanding How We Got Here
November 12, 2025 at 1:02 AM
As an undiagnosed autistic kid with computers as my Special Interest, I once thought of myself as an enlightened superintelligence, and that the world would be a better place if those of us who Knew Computer ran the world one day. Then techbros made it happen, and it turns out to be not so great.
Here we see a rare subspecies of the LinkedIn Lunatic, "architectus viridibaptismata." Using planet-destroying AI, it has applied the visual signifiers of natural beauty to objects where they do not belong, presumably attempting to lure in its prey "stultus argentarius" -- the common idiot VC guy.
November 8, 2025 at 2:11 AM
Here we see a rare subspecies of the LinkedIn Lunatic, "architectus viridibaptismata." Using planet-destroying AI, it has applied the visual signifiers of natural beauty to objects where they do not belong, presumably attempting to lure in its prey "stultus argentarius" -- the common idiot VC guy.
A read worth your time. "Bovine noises of studious grey-lady impartiality, with the labor of anything resembling 'appraisal' surgically excised" is, as the kids say, a *bar*.
Peter Coviello isn't on Bluesky, but this definitely should be: lithub.com/maybe-dont-t...
Maybe Don’t Talk to the New York Times About Zohran Mamdani
It’s remarkable, the people you’ll hear from. Teach for even a little while at an expensive institution—the term they tend to prefer is “elite”—and odds are that eventually someone who was a studen…
lithub.com
November 7, 2025 at 9:37 PM
A read worth your time. "Bovine noises of studious grey-lady impartiality, with the labor of anything resembling 'appraisal' surgically excised" is, as the kids say, a *bar*.
Being online in 2025 means doing digital phrenology on cartoon images of frogs to determine if they’re fascist or anti-fascist.
November 7, 2025 at 2:22 AM
Being online in 2025 means doing digital phrenology on cartoon images of frogs to determine if they’re fascist or anti-fascist.
What an absolutely batshit strawman: I guess trying to protect healthcare for working people is austerity, and our present Avengers Endgame-sized sequel to the dot-com bubble is worthy and must be kept inflated no matter the cost. Who'd have thought!?
“It’s not that I’m for austerity, it’s just that I’m against bailing out AI, crypto, private assets/university endowments, and I’m fine with canceled Thanksgiving flights and missed paychecks as long as Republicans take the blame for it.”
November 6, 2025 at 8:36 PM
What an absolutely batshit strawman: I guess trying to protect healthcare for working people is austerity, and our present Avengers Endgame-sized sequel to the dot-com bubble is worthy and must be kept inflated no matter the cost. Who'd have thought!?
Me about to fire off a slide deck to MBS titled “The Darco Arcology From SimCity 2000 Will Make Saudi Arabia The Envy Of The World”
November 6, 2025 at 5:58 PM
Me about to fire off a slide deck to MBS titled “The Darco Arcology From SimCity 2000 Will Make Saudi Arabia The Envy Of The World”