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Zach Weinersmith

@zachweinersmith.bsky.social

50K followers 680 following 6.7K posts

Author of Bea Wolf, A City on Mars, and the comic SMBC Website: www.smbc-comics.com Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ZachWeinersmith?ty=h New book: http://www.acityonmars.com/

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Luis Esteban Rubio @luixer.bsky.social · Aug 2

🌌🚀 En octubre se publicará en castellano "A city on Mars".

🗞️ Hoy El País entrevista a una de sus autoras: Kelly Weinersmith. Más que recomendable!

elpais.com/ciencia/2025...

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Zach Weinersmith @zachweinersmith.bsky.social · 16h

Sugar peas for me were the most distinct. Almost a different plat right off the vine. Few hours in they get the more characteristic pea taste.

Zach Weinersmith @zachweinersmith.bsky.social · 17h

How hard is it to set up? I keep avoiding it on the assumption that it'll be complicated or require a lot of maintenance.

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Zach Weinersmith @zachweinersmith.bsky.social · 17h

This is the magic of gardening. You say to yourself "I'm doing the productive task of making beans and tomatoes." but really you're just walking around looking at leaves and flowers.

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Zach Weinersmith @zachweinersmith.bsky.social · 17h

Same thing in space tech. There are grifts, and hype stuff, but at core it's sincere, for better/worse.

Zach Weinersmith @zachweinersmith.bsky.social · 17h

The other thing, I suspect, is on some deep level I feel I'm not allowed to have a non-productive hobby. So, planting trees is a kind of way to have a hobby while lying to myself that I'm maximizing something or other.

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Zach Weinersmith @zachweinersmith.bsky.social · 17h

Hey avid gardeners? What's your self-explanation, if you have one, for wasting money to create expensive food? I realized for me, it's:

1) Collecting plants like I once collected Magic cards
2) Special versions of things
3) SOME stuff really is best ultra-fresh
4) It's fun to tend a thing

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Zach Weinersmith @zachweinersmith.bsky.social · 17h

Like any platform, ads and product placement, but ultimately without needing artists in any traditional sense you can sell more.

Zach Weinersmith @zachweinersmith.bsky.social · 17h

Sorry, the blintzes are gone, and people went crazy on the pastrami, would you like some noodles and wheat?

Zach Weinersmith @zachweinersmith.bsky.social · 17h

Dunno where this fits in the analogy, but I would ADD that the other thing is the entire creative class getting turned out on our asses!

Zach Weinersmith @zachweinersmith.bsky.social · 17h

I understand them as, like, it's almost spring but we're out of fresh food, so I guess let's have noodles and groats, but why would you pay someone else to make it for you?

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Zach Weinersmith @zachweinersmith.bsky.social · 17h

Almost every Jewish deli food, I can make a case for. Like, knish is a carb bomb that can be made tasty, and the mustard is right there. Kugel? It's not a top ten desert, but when good it's like bread pudding with noodles.

But how are kasha varnishkes restaurant food?

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Zach Weinersmith @zachweinersmith.bsky.social · 17h

I honestly don't know how they'll do. But like, I assume the reason Facebook is getting eaten by AI is more about the low cost of generation than the enjoyment. The unit cost of a click is the issue, and the difference in price between making a thing and generating a thing is huge.

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Zach Weinersmith @zachweinersmith.bsky.social · 17h

I think so yeah. I think it's good to be aware of what's coming down the pipes. I would say especially so if you're an artist or parent.

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Zach Weinersmith @zachweinersmith.bsky.social · 17h

***meant to say 8 SECOND memes

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Zach Weinersmith @zachweinersmith.bsky.social · 17h

I don't think you should enjoy it. Personally I thought it was horrific.

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Zach Weinersmith @zachweinersmith.bsky.social · 17h

Like I'm willing to believe this is what you say to yourself. "I'm not like those TikTok guys who are crushing human connection and attention span." But Jesus, it's SO on the nose. Why not just say "this is a way to get a shitload of money to build God."

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Zach Weinersmith @zachweinersmith.bsky.social · 17h

Something else on Sora: what's funny is before loading it I read people at OpenAI, very concernedly, swearing up and down they were concerned about it being another brainrot app. But when you open it, it's like a sketch comedy parody of a brain rot app. 8 minute AI memes, infinite scroll, forever.

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Zach Weinersmith @zachweinersmith.bsky.social · 17h

That does make sense!

Zach Weinersmith @zachweinersmith.bsky.social · 17h

Yeah but I think medium matters a lot. I mean the simple act of adding like buttons and infinite scroll seems wildly cynical, and likely wildly effective to me.

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Zach Weinersmith @zachweinersmith.bsky.social · 18h

To my mind the hard questions are more like, well, if we can't tell the difference in a blind test, we need to talk more about values. Why we do this stuff, how to preserve what matters, etc.

Zach Weinersmith @zachweinersmith.bsky.social · 18h

Part of what interests me is you are kind of forced to think harder about what you mean by these words. E.g. pre-AI some stuff that is easy for AI to do WOULD have been treated as original. Like, steampunk stuff felt very creative (when it started), and is really just a mashup. Lots of art is.

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Zach Weinersmith @zachweinersmith.bsky.social · 18h

Since we're at the bottom of a thread, the other thing that gripes me is that you have people who don't have this sort of ire for the wildly more environmentally damaging act of eating beef regularly, but who treat AI datacenters as a unique calamity. I think the bigger issues are social.

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Zach Weinersmith @zachweinersmith.bsky.social · 18h

How so?

Zach Weinersmith @zachweinersmith.bsky.social · 18h

Especially for those of us who feel like we're in the crosshairs first!

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