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jackisgettingold.bsky.social

@jackisgettingold.bsky.social
52 followers 69 following 224 posts

Generally just hoping not to make things worse.

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jackisgettingold.bsky.social @jackisgettingold.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Doctorow's essay presses the point that LLMs are an attempt by the powerful to dispense with human expertise. This may help explain the affinity that the US right wing has for "AI": It allows them the appearance of expertise without the bother of listening to experts or actually learning anything.
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jackisgettingold.bsky.social @jackisgettingold.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Silently judging you for over 2000 years.
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jackisgettingold.bsky.social @jackisgettingold.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Traveling from Georgia to Chicago recently got me vexed with Apple and Google Maps both. Yes, I wanted to avoid interstate highways, but not at the cost of one or two hours getting through Chicago metro.
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jackisgettingold.bsky.social @jackisgettingold.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
While I do love me some Laundry Files, the books to read there are Tamsyn Muir's Locked Tomb series.
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jackisgettingold.bsky.social @jackisgettingold.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Every time I see an article about a self-driving vehicle accident, I wonder the same thing: How does the rate of accidents per mile driven compare to human drivers? Self-driving vehicles are going to make different mistakes than people, but that does not automatically mean they make more of them.
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jackisgettingold.bsky.social @jackisgettingold.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
My daughter bought these for me. I am not accustomed to seeing cephalopods on my chip bags. I would characterize the flavor as 'undefined savory' as it's not noticeable as seafood.
Potato chip bag with the "Lays" logo but all other writing in kanji. The illustration on the front shows a wavy chip and a squid.
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jackisgettingold.bsky.social @jackisgettingold.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
An updated version of this: "Millions long for immortality who don't know what to do with themselves on a rainy Sunday afternoon." Susan Ertz, Anger in the Sky (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1943), p. 134.
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jackisgettingold.bsky.social @jackisgettingold.bsky.social · 09/08/2026
Well, there’s the gut punch I didn’t need today.
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driftglass @driftglass.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
driftglass.blogspot.com/2026/08/the-...
driftglass.blogspot.com
The Republican Party's Two Sets of Books
As most of you know, on this blog, on our podcast, and on stage and screen, I have long maintained a particular theory about how t...
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jackisgettingold.bsky.social @jackisgettingold.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en...
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jackisgettingold.bsky.social @jackisgettingold.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
Posting this so I can show it to my daughter who repairs copiers and printers. She'll probably agree.
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Movies Silently @moviessilently.bsky.social · 03/07/2026
I cracks me up when people are like "You couldn't make THIS movie or show today because people are so politically correct and sensitive!" Sir. There was an entire board in Hollywood dedicated to sniffing out any onscreen hint of married people having sex. Lucy couldn't say "pregnant." Sit down.
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jackisgettingold.bsky.social @jackisgettingold.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
My lawyer friend was taught at Harvard Law School that the Constitution means whatever five of nine Supreme Court justices say it means. Clearly Republicans at Yale learned the same thing.
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jackisgettingold.bsky.social @jackisgettingold.bsky.social · 28/06/2026
You’ve jacketed my last morning.
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jackisgettingold.bsky.social @jackisgettingold.bsky.social · 22/06/2026
I’m somewhere in the high seven figures, b/c I’ve got just the one kid who’s years out of college. My highest ranking would have been in the early 2010’s when I took her to local anime conventions.
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jackisgettingold.bsky.social @jackisgettingold.bsky.social · 05/06/2026
Via the QAA podcast (several months old, new to me) that seems true and has some explanatory value: Billionaires are offended by anyone who has greater authority than they do. Even in specific areas - moral, intellectual, political - they'll bitch and moan that the public listens to anyone else.
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jackisgettingold.bsky.social @jackisgettingold.bsky.social · 01/06/2026
Bought in New Orleans a week or two after Mardi Gras.
Painted picture of a harlequin's face, painted white with green eyes and eye shadow, red lips and red cap, surrounded by red feathers.
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jackisgettingold.bsky.social @jackisgettingold.bsky.social · 31/05/2026
Got to see @themountaingoats.bsky.social at the legendary 40 Watt Club last night! Excellent show, Darnielle and band in fine form. Happy to hear "Fishing Boat" and "Armies of the Lord" from the last album and the latest, "Charlie Sheen Reaches Out to the Feds." Plus a new song whose title is
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Bad Hand Books @badhandbooks.bsky.social · 25/05/2026
They didn't die while serving in the military, but they died protecting our freedoms from those who would destroy them, nonetheless. Remembering these heroes on this Memorial Day.
Alex Pretti and Renee Good
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David Rothkopf @djrothkopf.bsky.social · 19/05/2026
Trump did not reach a settlement with the government. There was no case to settle. He has not created a slush fund. He has colluded with Todd Blanche to steal money from the US Treasury. This is not a “deal.” This is a crime for which Trump & Blanche must be prosecuted. It ia a crime.
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TW @twesq.bsky.social · 14/05/2026
GOD. DAMN. This Louisiana man fucking COOKED like I’ve seen very few people cook before.
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jackisgettingold.bsky.social @jackisgettingold.bsky.social · 04/05/2026
Everyone thinking about retiring soon knows this is true: www.smbc-comics.com/comic/peace-4
smbc-comics.com
Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal - Peace
Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal - Peace
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jackisgettingold.bsky.social @jackisgettingold.bsky.social · 17/04/2026
Reading www.salon.com/2026/04/17/t... . Trump tipped her a showy $100. She made $22k last year. He's increased his net worth by $3B since taking office again. Or to put it another way, if Sharon Simmons wanted to be as generous as Trump in proportion to her income, she'd tip about 1/6 of one cent.
salon.com
Trump’s DoorDash Grandma isn’t a plant — the truth is much darker
Sharon Simmons made $22,000 last year — her boss made $313 million
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jackisgettingold.bsky.social @jackisgettingold.bsky.social · 17/04/2026
I don't care what the bsky feed says, "Trump's Mental Fitness" is not trending upward.
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jackisgettingold.bsky.social @jackisgettingold.bsky.social · 17/04/2026
Secretary of WAAAAR! Kegsbreath is very stupid, but he didn't claim the Pulp Fiction lines were actually quoting scripture. He was quoting someone else's prayer
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jackisgettingold.bsky.social @jackisgettingold.bsky.social · 15/04/2026
A wealth tax is more justifiable than a property tax. The latter is just easier to implement.
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jackisgettingold.bsky.social @jackisgettingold.bsky.social · 01/04/2026
I miss ThinkGeek. Still use my Bag of Holding.
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jackisgettingold.bsky.social @jackisgettingold.bsky.social · 27/03/2026
This week I had to get rid of two sets of encyclopedias. World Book circa 1970 and Britannica from about 1977. Weird to think how much of the information in them was obsolete, but that does make me feel better about throwing them away.
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jackisgettingold.bsky.social @jackisgettingold.bsky.social · 07/03/2026
In rugby, a deliberate foul is called a “cynical infringement.” If you’re looking for a name for your post-punk band (or a badly behaved kitten), there you go.
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jackisgettingold.bsky.social @jackisgettingold.bsky.social · 23/02/2026
As I've noted other places and times, Sonic Youth's "Teenage Riot" demands to be played loud. But why does it provoke these unfocused feelings of longing and desperation?
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Bill Amend @billamend.bsky.social · 16/02/2026
Tonight’s dumb napkin cartoon…
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Kevin J. Kircher @kevinjkircher.com · 01/02/2026
Put another way, we could get rid of corn ethanol, switch 30% of the freed-up farmland to solar to generate 100% of US electricity, and use the other 70% of the freed-up land for whatever we want.
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jackisgettingold.bsky.social @jackisgettingold.bsky.social · 31/01/2026
1) Assembly Language (IBM 360) 2) Fantasy Literature 3) Ballroom Dance 4) Radio Production 5) Linear Programming
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jackisgettingold.bsky.social @jackisgettingold.bsky.social · 07/12/2025
I don't say this often, but hooooleeee shiiiiiit.
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jackisgettingold.bsky.social @jackisgettingold.bsky.social · 30/10/2025
Loved @scalzi.com 's characterization of Wikipedia: "a bunch of pedantic nerds saying “well, ACTUALLY” to each other until the heat death of the universe."
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jackisgettingold.bsky.social @jackisgettingold.bsky.social · 27/10/2025
One thing I'm looking forward to about retirement: No longer seeing inane 'follow' recommendations from LinkedIn.
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jackisgettingold.bsky.social @jackisgettingold.bsky.social · 25/10/2025
So far, I have encountered one use for generative AI. MS Copilot is able to generate pretty good meeting minutes from a transcript. (Of course, only days after I found this, my company turned off the transcript option in our meeting app.)
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jackisgettingold.bsky.social @jackisgettingold.bsky.social · 25/10/2025
What’s the betting line on East Wing artwork, furniture, and decor turning up at Mar-a-Lago? How much was stolen, how soon do we find out, and how much will be ruined by being stored in a pool pump house?
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jackisgettingold.bsky.social @jackisgettingold.bsky.social · 13/08/2025
@tkingfisher.com Today's Kindle deal includes an interesting (and not entirely incorrect?) description.
Screenshot of Kindle Daily Deal for _The Twisted Ones_, described as, "This revolutionary approach to cleaning and organizing helps free you from feeling ashamed or overwhelmed by a messy home. If you're struggling to stay..."
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jackisgettingold.bsky.social @jackisgettingold.bsky.social · 03/08/2025
Achievement unlocked: Spent my entire Health Savings Account.
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Chaucer Doth Tweet @levostregc.bsky.social · 26/05/2025
Ich ❤️ Blue Skye, and thou shouldest feele moost welcome to repost thys yf thou dost also love Blue Skye
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jackisgettingold.bsky.social @jackisgettingold.bsky.social · 26/12/2024
@seanmcarroll.bsky.social, this is part of your current position, isn’t it?
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jackisgettingold.bsky.social @jackisgettingold.bsky.social · 23/12/2024
1/2 One of the original arguments for cryptocurrency is that it’s not dependent on a government. Now that enough people have nominal fortunes in crypto, they’ve tossed that idea aside and want government protection. I.e., acquiring the Bitcoin will drive up the price and
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jackisgettingold.bsky.social @jackisgettingold.bsky.social · 15/12/2024
A roast beef sandwich from a deli in Bernardsville, NJ in 1986 was the best I’ve ever eaten. One of my most vivid memories from three years in my little shared office at AT&T HQ.
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Curtis Craddock @artfulskeptic.bsky.social · 30/11/2024
Every single conservative economic theory starts with the assumption that all economic actors are young, healthy, single, orphaned, high-functioning sociopaths whose exclusive aim in life is to accumulate wealth.
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jackisgettingold.bsky.social @jackisgettingold.bsky.social · 26/11/2024
Today I learned why so-called "unlimited PTO" is a thing. It's because if a company promises PTO, it's a liability: www.ptoexchange.com/blog/pto-lia... So you implement this "unlimited" plan and let the social pressure keep people from taking as much as they deserve.
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jackisgettingold.bsky.social @jackisgettingold.bsky.social · 23/11/2024
Two men in astronaut costumes and a "caveman family" stand behind a stone table set with food and a red and white checked cloth.
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jackisgettingold.bsky.social @jackisgettingold.bsky.social · 16/11/2024
We got a 3600 watt-hour power bank and now have the 400-watt solar panel to go with it. Here at midday in mid November, 34 degrees North latitude, the display says it’s charging at about 200-250 watts. The bank is big enough to run our freezer for two days without recharging. I’m pleased.
Set of solar panels connected to a power bank on a patio.
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jackisgettingold.bsky.social @jackisgettingold.bsky.social · 11/11/2024
@moltan1.bsky.social Looking forward to seeing your craftwork here! -Hywel
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jackisgettingold.bsky.social @jackisgettingold.bsky.social · 25/10/2024
We lost Phil Lesh today. Damn. www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxjv...
youtube.com
Box of Rain (2013 Remaster)
YouTube video by Grateful Dead - Topic
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