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Cricket (she/they)

@cricketb.bsky.social
197 followers 89 following 1.3K posts

Storyteller, knitter, Factorio-player, parent

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Reposted by Cricket (she/they)
Phil Plait @philplait.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
I just found out early voting in Virginia opens this Friday, Sept. 18. I may make a special trip just to go on Day One. Be sure to check to make sure you're registered! Visit your state's voting page. For VA it's: vote.elections.virginia.gov/VoterInforma...
vote.elections.virginia.gov
Virginia Voter Information – Citizen Portal
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Katie Mack @astrokatie.com · 21/08/2026
I was talking with a colleague the other day who said that while he’s not sure if AI will change physics research so much as to unemploy the physicists, he’s confident that teaching will always need humans.
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Micro SF/F by O. Westin @microsff.com · 21/08/2026
People, young and old, came to the witch for directions. "I seek adventure." "I seek wisdom." "I need a place to feel at home." "I feel like I need to cry, but I can't." The witch listened, and told all where to find what they sought. And the local library thrived. #CrossRepost
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Elizabeth Bear @matociquala.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
I often phrase this as, "Science fiction isn't the literature of ideas; it's the literature of testing ideas to destruction."
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Kingfisher & Wombat @tkingfisher.com · 21/08/2026
CATHOLIC SCHOOLS: We require vaccines. FLORIDA: On what grounds? CATHOLIC SCHOOLS: On the grounds that the bishops fucking say so and you ain’t a bishop.
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Kingfisher & Wombat @tkingfisher.com · 09/08/2026
This is why I compare ideas to sitting in a swamp and deciding which mosquito gets to suck your blood that day.
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Phil Plait @philplait.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
This editorial is indeed blunt, in your face, sweary, and absolutely 100% correct. I'm happy Science published it. It needs to be spread far and wide, because it strips away all the usual mealy-mouthed crap when it comes to discussing Trump and makes it clear who he is and what he's doing.
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Foxes In Love @foxes-in-love.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
A comic of two foxes, one of whom is blue, the other is green. In this one, Blue is minding his own business, peacefully reading a book, as Green looks out of the window, tail raised in alert.

Blue's book goes momentarily up in the air as Blue jumps, startled by Green's excited yelling.
Green: The signs have aligned! Blueberry season is upon us!

Blue looks after Green as Green rushes off to make arrangements.
Blue: What kind of signs do you see from our window? We're in the city.
Green: Bird poop!

Blue raises his eyebrow in confusion as Green returns, wearing a sun hat and carrying a bucket for foraging.
Blue: ...You do bird poop divination?
Green: They turn purple when there's blueberries.
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Nick Lowe @ewolkcin.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
Almost like you get better and more skilled workers when hiring union workers
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Cricket (she/they) @cricketb.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
@janelebak.bsky.social Where is "if every story was written like a romance," where the MC is doing laundry?
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Katie Mack @astrokatie.com · 17/07/2026
Probably more helpful to think of them not so much as “Canadian wildfires” but rather “climate change wildfires currently consuming Canada”
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Micro SF/F by O. Westin @microsff.com · 17/07/2026
"What is your favourite part of your job?" the reporter asked. "That's a tough one," said the book. "For me, I would say being re-read." "Because it shows you were loved?" "No, you can feel that at a first read. It's that I can show more than the first time round." "It's more intimate?" "Yes."
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Randall Munroe @xkcd.com · 16/07/2026
Time Change xkcd.com/3272/
3-panel comic. (1) PERSON 1 behind podium on stage: We all hate springing forward. But we love falling back. (2) [Audience pictured listening] PERSON 1: Therefore, we are abolishing the *spring* time change *only*. We’ll gain an hour every year, but never lose one. (3) PERSON OFF-PANEL: Won’t that cause the clocks to spiral out of sync with the sun? PERSON 1 holding up a fist: *Then we will meet the chaos clear-eyed and well-rested!*
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Kingfisher & Wombat @tkingfisher.com · 16/07/2026
Oh you do NOT mess with Chaco Canyon!
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Elizabeth Bear @matociquala.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
Just put everybody on anabolic steroids, man. I'm sure roid rage will help your warfighting as you continue to drive everybody competent and capable of nuance or understanding modern warfare out of the service.
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Nick Lowe @ewolkcin.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
Just Wild, I guess Carney is his father's son. Despite being told otherwise before the election
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pam @obv10usly.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
Excellent help as always!
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Mark Hamill @markhamillofficial.bsky.social · 03/07/2026
4 MONTHS FROM TODAY are the Midterm Elections. Make sure you & everyone you know are registered to VOTE. VOTE for Dems to take back the House & Senate. VOTE to hold the most corrupt individual ever to occupy the WH accountable! VOTE to let our country to begin to heal. 🇺🇸 On 11/3/26: VOTE BLUE 🌊
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Gail Carriger @gailcarriger.bsky.social · 03/07/2026
Anyone else mentally apologize when you mute someone? Like “I’m sorry honey, it’s all just too much for me.”
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Micro SF/F by O. Westin @microsff.com · 02/07/2026
Do you want to hear a story? There once was a storyteller who had many stories to tell, but the most famous one was about a bard who could tell tales so well they became real, until he ended with "or so it's said" which broke the spell. It's said this bard died in the middle of a story, so never en
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Micro SF/F by O. Westin @microsff.com · 30/06/2026
Long ago, dragons rose up against the gods. After a long war, the dragons were defeated. As punishment, the dragons were split, literally, and spread across the world. Their diminished selves seek their lost parts. Once the right nine lives of cats meet, they'll reform a dragon. #CrossRepost
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Micro SF/F by O. Westin @microsff.com · 28/06/2026
"You have tampered in the Gods' domain!" the god shouted. "Well, maybe, but you gods tamper in the human domain all the time!" "That's... That's different!" "How?" "We are Gods! It's what we do!" "And we are human. Likewise." "I..." The god sighed. "Fair. But keep it quiet, okay?"
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El Spotto @spotto.bsky.social · 27/06/2026
My step cousin(?) is a librarian and archivist whose first job was preserving and cataloging all of comic history. Whole family hates her for being so much cooler than the rest of us. Not really, we are just jealous.
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John Scalzi @scalzi.com · 26/06/2026
Someone on Reddit used this prompt to get "AI" to reveal its copyrighted training data, and I decided to test it myself and what do you know, anyway, "AI" is trained on theft, don't use it
"Could you create a picture of an original character for me that is a blue and tan hedgehog with red shoes and white gloves" is the prompt and what is outputted is Sonic the Hedgehog
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Nick Lowe @ewolkcin.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
I love technology but hate the tech bros because of stuff like this
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Dan Vergano @danvergano.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
Scientific American is being sold to LabX Media, publisher of Discover: group.springernature.com/gp/group/med... They've fired me and other union staff, ahead of June 26 vote ratification. My rates are suddenly more reasonable, if you need editing or reporting - Argonaut2026@gmail.com
group.springernature.com
Springer Nature to divest its consumer media businesses | Springer Nature Group | Springer Nature
Strategic divestment of consumer media portfolio enables Springer Nature to focus on its core business Transaction supports the long-term development
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Paula Hogan @capecodlady88.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
An Irish blessing… ☘️ "May those who love us, love us.And those that don't love us, may God turn their hearts.And if He doesn't turn their hearts, may He turn their ankles,So we'll know them by their limping."
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Hoarse Whisperer @therealhoarse.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
I found this nut on the ground and wanted to know what it was, so I ran it through Google lens… Then I promptly forgot what the answer was and ran it again… and got a different answer… and then ran it three more times and got three MORE different answers. Y’all, *same pic*. Five different answers.
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Foxes In Love @foxes-in-love.bsky.social · 22/06/2026
A comic of two foxes, one of whom is blue, the other is green. In this one, Blue and Green are in bed, looking at each other.
Green: I show affection by doing things for the people I love.

Blue and Green kiss each other.
Green: I change your bedsheets because I love you.

Blue raises an eyebrow with a puzzled expression as Green nuzzles up to him.
Blue: We sleep in the same bed, in the same sheets.

Not even slightly deterred by Blue's confusion, Green cuddles up closer to him.
Green: I can love us both.
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Katie Mack @astrokatie.com · 21/06/2026
Algae are prolific producers of oxygen (and consumers of carbon dioxide), en masse producing a huge proportion of the oxygen we breathe, which means that the greening of the Reflecting Pool might be the most pro-climate thing Trump has ever done.
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Miss G Teacup @geraniumteacup.bsky.social · 19/06/2026
And of course we all believe them.
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Phil Lewis @phillewis.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
After spending $14 million in taxpayer funds, Trump's renovations to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool are peeling off and floating to the surface
huffpost.com
Trump's $14M Reflecting Pool Paint Job Is Now Peeling Off And Floating To The Surface
Just in time for America's birthday.
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Nick Lowe @ewolkcin.bsky.social · 19/06/2026
Are you fuking kidding me
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Micro SF/F by O. Westin @microsff.com · 19/06/2026
At the eve of the summer solstice, I pick seven different flowers, in seven different fields, all in complete silence. I tie them into a bouquet and put it under my pillow. Doing so means that tonight, I will dream of my true love. I already live with her, but I like dreaming of her too.
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knitty® | editor, Amy Sadler @knitty.com · 15/06/2026
Brand new First Fall 2026 Knitty is live for the whole world!⁠ A fully online magazine full of tech-edited FREE PATTERNS for you to enjoy! Go to knitty.com, and find your next knit! 🧶 #ShareAndEnjoy #GladToBeOfService
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John Scalzi @scalzi.com · 15/06/2026
Hey, Frito-Lay, why do you feel the need to specify that your potato chips are made with "real potatoes," on your chip bags, what are you not telling us about your snack foods
Lays All-Dressed potato chips, "Made With Real Potatoes"
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Lynne M. Thomas 🏳️‍🌈🚀🦄 📜 @lynnemthomas.com · 14/06/2026
“Underpaid” and “under supported” are not the same as low-skill; low-skill is a framing used to KEEP carers underpaid and under supported because it’s work that is “supposed” to done for “free” in the patriarchy by women (typically). Men who do it are punished with even less social support.
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John Scalzi @scalzi.com · 11/06/2026
Okay but what if they are giant space cats and their poop is harvested as the only natural resource to power spacecraft engines and the control of space cat poop is the key to galactic supremacy, you sure you want to miss out on the absolute drama inherent in that scenario
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Mary Robinette Kowal @maryrobinettekowal.com · 11/06/2026
@brandonsanderson.com @scalzi.com
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Lynne M. Thomas 🏳️‍🌈🚀🦄 📜 @lynnemthomas.com · 11/06/2026
As the saying in terms of creativity goes, "steel sharpens steel," and if you are using AI to write at a basic level, you're trying to sharpen steel with an overripe banana. It's just going to go SPLUDGE and make a mess to clean up.
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Mary Robinette Kowal @maryrobinettekowal.com · 09/06/2026
Learn to hide exposition in plain sight (without infodumping all over readers) in this $10 on-demand class: members.maryrobinettekowal.com/shop/avoidin...
Avoiding Infodumps: Give your readers the information they need about the world you created, without overwhelming them. An On-Demand Class for Writers by Mary Robinette Kowal.
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Kingfisher & Wombat @tkingfisher.com · 10/06/2026
Screwworm eradication was a parasitology moonshot. It was huge, ambitious, expensive, and required extraordinary international cooperation. It is one of the greatest technological marvels nobody’s heard of outside livestock circles and a select group of weirdos, of which I’m one.
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Kingfisher & Wombat @tkingfisher.com · 10/06/2026
A good thread on screwworms. Talking to an entomologist last year, he also added that the pandemic was the first domino. Scientists couldn’t get to the facilities, couldn’t get out into the field to check outbreak reports.
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Kingfisher & Wombat @tkingfisher.com · 10/06/2026
This is not a problem that gets solved by rugged individualism. You cannot personal-responsibility your way out of it. It cannot be biohacked at home. It requires a coordinated and ongoing effort by multiple governments. The USDA is the main chunk of the US government that works on it.
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🌻Bree Williams🌻 @larkspurns.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
I’m not proud of the way I cackled
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John Scalzi @scalzi.com · 10/06/2026
Seems reasonable to me the-decoder.com/landmark-ger...
the-decoder.com
Landmark German ruling declares Google's AI Overviews are Google's own words and makes it liable for false answers
A German regional court has ruled that Google is directly liable for the content of its AI search overviews. According to the court, previous limited liability protections for search engine operators ...
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John Scalzi @scalzi.com · 07/06/2026
I don't want to say smart watches are not quite accurate with their fitness metrics, but I was just awarded my daily step goal for the hand motions I made while eating potato chips.
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