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Matthew Murray 🦇

@midnitelibrary.bsky.social
1.5K followers 737 following 981 posts

Data Librarian. Co-Host of Book Club for Masochists: A Readers' Advisory Podcast. Editor of Two-Fisted Library Stories. Spooky Librarian. Goth. Comics. Manga. Zines. Games. ScholComm. OA. RDM. Social Justice. He/They. "A known human friend" - Graham Stark

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Reposted by Matthew Murray 🦇
jon christian @jonchristian.net · 6h
NEW: People who chug their own piss have emerged as MAJOR supporters of AI futurism.com/artificial-i...
futurism.com
People Who Drink Their Own Pee Are Obsessed With AI, Using It to Reassure Themselves That It's a Miraculous Cure-All
Urine therapy devotees are sharing ways to break past AI guardrails in order to brainstorm ways to use pee as medicine.
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Ada Palmer @adapalmer.bsky.social · 11h
Global meningitis is in retreat. Meningitis is one of the top ten infectious killers worldwide, causing an estimated 259,000 deaths in 2023. That’s down by a quarter since 2015 & half since 2000, with the sharpest reductions coming in deaths among young children. buff.ly/4BvmwnO #ShareGoodNewsToo
buff.ly
Global, regional, and national burden of meningitis, its risk factors, and aetiologies, 1990–2023: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2023
Although mortality and incidence have declined significantly since 1990, progress is insufficient to meet WHO 2030 targets. Despite marked progress in reducing bacterial meningitis via global…
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Matthew Murray 🦇 @midnitelibrary.bsky.social · 17m
Today I co-hosted an event with an "interactive" history of the Libraries comic that I wrote and that @colleenfrakes.bsky.social drew. We had our comic, drawing and colouring supplies, & free comics supplied by a local comic book shop. Download the comic at scholar.colorado.edu/concern/defa... 📚
Six panel comic. 
150 Years of CU Libraries
Panel 1: Full colour. The ghost of the first librarian sitting in a chair in the library and talking to the reader.
Panel 2: Full colour. The ghost is outside the first library building.
Panel 3: Black & white panel. Three books from 1904. The reader is encouraged to colour them in.
Panel 4: Black and white panel. Three faculty members in 1940s clothes are holding protest signs that say "Fire the staff," "Tear the library down," and "Destroy the catalog." The characters are only drawn in pencil, not ink.
Panel 5: The ghost standing next to card catalogues talking about the current library building and the card catalogues we no longer have. The first speech balloon is empty to encourage people to write in their own text.
Panel 6: Blank. Draw the future of the libraries.Panels 3 & 4 of the comic except they've been inked and coloured.A photo of Chip, the bison mascot of CU Boulder, sitting at a table drawing a comic.
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Reposted by Matthew Murray 🦇
Chuck Tingle @chucktingle.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
please enjoy brand new tingler NOT POUNDED BY THIS FLOCK CAMERA BECAUSE SOMEONE CUT IT DOWN. HUH, INTERESTING. I WONDER WHO COULD’VE DONE THAT? out now here www.amazon.com/dp/B0HL6WHFVV and on buckaroo patreon www.patreon.com/chucktingle/...
cover of NOT POUNDED BY THIS FLOCK CAMERA BECAUSE SOMEONE CUT IT DOWN. HUH, INTERESTING. I WONDER WHO COULD’VE DONE THAT? on the right there is a concerned ladybuck with her hands up in a gesture of NO WAY BUD and on the left is an angry lookin sentient flock camera
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cmrn knzlmn @ckunzelman.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
If you are a graduate student in the humanities (construed as broadly as possible), what is the MOST EXCITING book published in the last five years to you? Please repost if you’re not a graduate student!
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Nick Sousanis @nsousanis.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
and yes, before anyone asks, I am absolutely familiar with Pascal Jousselin's Mr. Invincible (as it's called in English)! As good as I thought it was when I just seen a few pages online, when it finally came out in english, I was shocked how relentlessly creative he was page after page - so good!
Cover to Mr. Invincible, and interior page - in which using his powers to see the layout of the page, mr. invincible rescues a cat in a tree not by climbing the tree, but by reaching down to the panel below him and grabbing it that way. It's pretty fun - and only in comics!
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Nick Sousanis @nsousanis.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
in my talk today, as an example of the strange things you can do in comics given their sequential but also spatial/simultaneous nature, I included this gonzo panel from 1950s Batman, which I just love in all its weirdness! Yes, I have more intentionally clever examples, but something about this...
part of a page from a batman comic. In one panel, batman leaps from off panel onto a diving board, the motion lines of his rebound travel across to another panel, where we see him finish his leap and crash into the crooks to save the day
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shaun @shaunvids.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
hi we're a website you have used for 20 years, we have no idea if you are over 18, send us a selfie. let us connect to your camera. can we get a booty pic with panties on and one without them on? can we also get 3 different pics of your boobs any position
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En Sabah Neurodivergent @spearhafoc.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
This is the kind of villain we're losing due to long arc storytelling. Nobody has to come up with a one-off bad idea on a deadline anymore, and we as a society are all the poorer for it.
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Matthew Murray 🦇 @midnitelibrary.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
I think ultimately, what it comes down to is that I do not want to be more productive. And I definitely do not want to pay some corporation so that I can be more productive.
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Laura Williams @laurawilliams.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
I missed this, so thanks to these folks for spreading the word about the CDC’s updated COVID vaccine guidance. It’s on my weekend to-do list to schedule my vaccinations for COVID and flu. Get your vaccines! October arrives next week! (Yes, I am shocked about this, too.)
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Karen K. Ho @karenho.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
I think the "debate" about bringing iced coffee to job interviews is effective at distracting people from the really bad job market, the high unemployment rate for Black women, ongoing mass layoffs in tech and media, and how Gen Z workers are refusing to adopt many toxic aspects of corp work culture
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Eniko Fox @enikofox.com · 25/09/2026
note: not my post "When you take a draft PR written by AI and have to work on it yourself, you realize to what degree you didn’t know what it was doing. You start questioning if you need this and that, and ultimately discard everything and start over." blog.bustikiller.com/2026/09/25/o...
blog.bustikiller.com
One month without AI
Several months ago, I decided that AI contributions were no longer welcome in a FOSS project I am building and maintaining - LibreWeddingPlanner. It’s not that it got a lot of contributions with AI - ...
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hammancheez @hammancheez.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Fun fact new jersey has. 3 minutes idle law (if you’re idling at the curb you’re supposed to shut off the engine after 3 minutes) because of emissions
nytimes.com
Data Center Is Fined $1.1 Million for Operating 62 Power Generators
New Jersey officials said that the natural gas-powered generators, each the size of a tractor-trailer, were operating without permits.
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Remember the LMAO @ass.golf · 21/02/2026
turns out almost nobody other than total freaks likes or wants this shit
NYT headline saying "people loved the dot com boom but not the AI boom"
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Kieron Gillen @kierongillen.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Friday night at Tbubz. It was 20 years ago today, that Britannia taught the band to draw (and overwrite captions). We're throwing a party from 8:30pm at Cold Bath Brewing Co on Friday 13th. Come throw down, and we'll all be retromancers together.
thoughtbubblefestival.com
PHONOGRAM 20 YEAR PARTY — Thought Bubble Comic Art Festival
It was 20 years ago today, that Britannia taught the band to draw (and overwrite captions). To celebrate, Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie invite you to come and dance to our line up of superstar DJs*...
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Dr. Damien P. Williams, dread portent down from a mountain cave @wolven.blacksky.app · 01/08/2026
Dear media, please be even a little bit critical and suspicious of whether the people with literally trillions of dollars & the world economy riding on you believing what they tell you might have reason to lie about what's happening inside their products that they refuse to let anyone else analyze 🫠
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Paul Czege @paulczege.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Perhaps of interest to @bexagons.bsky.social , @kcrowe.bsky.social , @midnitelibrary.bsky.social
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Matthew Murray 🦇 @midnitelibrary.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
I have to say, I'm kind of fascinated by how few people who tabled at Denver Zine Fest last weekend are on this platform. Seemingly lots more people on Instagram, but very few people here. #DenverZineFest
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Miles, knitting screaming agony werewolf @queermedieval.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
just got an ad for a bed with storage underneath and for some reason they framed it as "you can store 35 FULL-SIZED PIZZAS in this bed!" like. probably the least useful unit of measurement for under-bed storage if you ask me. idk
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lex luddy needs a nap @lexluddy.xyz · 18/09/2026
The really strange thing about people still using Substack is that Ghost is just a functionally better product.
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zoë @zo-e.xyz · 19/09/2026
it's bizarre that I have to interact with Microsoft in roughly the same way that I interact with the sun. like that's how much control I have over my relationship with Microsoft
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zoë @zo-e.xyz · 19/09/2026
people are just conditioned to think of the computer as something they passively interact with and tech companies have fostered this by making consumer operating systems as difficult to use as possible. everything is an attempt to get you to click on something you didn't want to click on
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Max the comics guy who does comics about comics @waitingforthetrade.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
I have #opinions about Johnny Storm and Wyatt Wingfoot
Johnny has apparently been sending Wyatt glamour shotsWyatt gazes at Johnny.Johnny and Wyatt clasp hands while that bird lady Johnny soulbonded with jokes about Wyatt being Johnny’s real soulmate. Wyatt hugs Johnny hard and Johnny jokes about Wyatt breaking his back
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Courtney Milan @courtneymilan.com · 19/09/2026
I think it’s hard for people to remember this is possible because we basically stepped back from regulation decades ago.
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dr. e. katherine @actualkatherine.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
And word of mouth is basically the only thing that works in terms of spreading the word about my tours (and often small biz products in general). So every time you tell someone you know about them, or forward an email, or even repost/share on here or FB, it helps and it means a lot 🥹
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jessamyn @librarian.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
"Hiring a “litigation consultant” to conduct a market study certainly suggests... that rather than collaborate with libraries ... the publishers’ primary trade organization instead appears to be gearing up for a court battle" Read this, and demand better. Excellent work, Guy.
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Zine Libraries @zinelibraries.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Registration Now Open! The Zine Librarians unConference will be held virtually via Zoom on Saturday November 7–Sunday November 8. The registration form for ZLuC 2026 can be found HERE & linked in our bio: pci.jotform.com/form/2516578...
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Comrade Bullski @comradebullski.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
I have not been able to convince my boss that carrying puzzles and coloring books with AI-generated motifs sucks. He really cannot detect the fact it's AI either, and showing him the indicia which says it outright is met with a shrug. I guess this isn't an unexpected attitude from somebody that old.
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Kristina Killgrove @killgrove.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
This is a good deep-dive into AI slop invading what used to be legit media sites. One thing I’m seeing more and more: slop outlets churning archaeology stories from 1-5 years ago and presenting them as news. 🏺🧪
futurism.com
How Three Brothers Built an AI Slop Empire by Buying Legitimate News Sites and Turning Them Into Zombie Content Farms That They Say Get 50 Million Page Views per Month
Brown Brothers Media is a media empire raking in millions of clicks with AI, fake writers, and plagiarism.
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Kate Starbird @katestarbird.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Love this article. Talked to one of my friends who played on the Sol, and she says it all checks out. They treated players extremely well and embraced LGBTQ fans (neither were standard at the time), and then folded abruptly, which was sad and made us all worry about the stability of the league.
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Alejandra Caraballo @esqueer.net · 12/09/2026
A trans man in the UK has been banned in the workplace restrooms after he was forced to use the women's restrooms to comply with the new EHRC guidance. The women complained because he is visibly male and so they told him he can't use any bathroom.
A screenshot of a Reddit post from the r/LegalAdviceUK subreddit by user Dijstraanon, titled "FtM transgender facing two different issues at work? England."
The post text reads:
"Brother in law is trans FtM and presents fully as a man. He's now facing an impossible situation at work with his employer telling him that due to recent legislation he must use the toilet of his birth gender. BUT several female colleagues have raised a grievance about him using their gendered toilet.
His employer has told him that he cannot use the toilet while he is at work until they sort it out and cannot give him a timeframe to do so. They do [cut off] have disabled separate toilets.
In the mean time one of his female colleagues has accused him of sexual harassment because he was used their gendered toilet. His menstrual cycle meant he needed to use the toilet.
He's been with the employer for just over 5 years but only in this location for 18 months. The location is mainly male with just a handful of females, and his workshop only has male toilets.
I do not know how to support him and as he's not in a union there is no one to turn too right now."
The post has an orange "Comments Moderated" tag, 169 upvotes, and 134 comments.
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Shaenon K. Garrity @shaenon.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
When reactionaries advance some bullshit, the FIRST thing to do is identify the framing and reject it They're selling this as "trans rights vs. women's sports" when they hate both those things and want to ruin them both Accept the frame and you've lost Reject the frame and call bullshit
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Annalee @flowerhorne.com · 11/09/2026
There are very real safety concerns we need to address with generative LLMs. Deepfakes, privacy, AI psychosis, etc We don't need to entertain goofy nonsense from people claiming they're inventing the torment nexus from the science fiction classic "Dipshit That's Not The Torment Nexus Go Outside."
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Matthew Murray 🦇 @midnitelibrary.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
I occasionally get to remind people of the system I use for converting between Celsius and Fahrenheit. It won't give you ever temperature, but it seems like a good baseline to help you figure out how hot or cold something is. 04 C is 40 F 16 C is 61 F 28 C is 82 F 40 C is 104 F
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Pookleblinky @pookleblinky.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Like, look at academia, just completely torn apart and sold for scrap. Anyone connected to science education right now, looking at the charred husk of their research infrastructure, is gonna be like yeah US dominance in science is over, dude called it exactly.
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Pookleblinky @pookleblinky.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
bsky.app/profile/cedr... Hunter S Thompson called it 2 weeks after 9/11. A quarter century later, how could you possibly disagree, like just look at what the richest American is currently up to.
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Alyssa S. @drsepinwall.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
NYC teachers, drop your wishlist for Flavor Flav!
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gem (real name) 💎 @gemcitygem.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
me: hi gimme a large pizza pizza guy: any appetizers? me: what do you have? pizza guy: we've got fried cheese with no sauce or crust, crust with no cheese or sauce, and crust and cheese with no sauce me: gimme crust and cheese with no sauce pizza guy: and for your dip? me: sauce
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Minovsky @minovskyarticle.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Hell no to revisionist sentimentality about 9/11 bringing Americans closer together. Living through that time sucked and we've never escaped the ugly aftermath.
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Bree (half of Kit Rocha) @mostlybree.kitrocha.com · 11/09/2026
Every email I get written with chatGPT is like someone has created a vapid soulless imaginary person who is looking at me with an empty nothing looming behind every sentence and it gives me the fucking creeps. And that's before I read the words which are cult-level love bombing incoherence.
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Man in Business Suit Levitating @dfeldman.org · 11/09/2026
Just in case you ever have impostor syndrome, remember that in 2011, workers at Los Alamos National Laboratory brought six kilograms of plutonium together to take a picture to show their management. The amount was enough to start a chain nuclear reaction if they had been slightly closer.
Six silvery rods and a pen on a table
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Great Worm Express Distro - Zines and books @greatworm.ca · 03/09/2026
Denver Zine Fest 2026 takes place on Sunday September 13th (11am - 5pm). @ Denver Public Library: Central Library 10 West Fourteenth Avenue, Parkway, Denver, Colorado, United States www.tumblr.com/fanzines/826... #DIYzines #ZineFair
Drawing of a smiling dinosaur wearing jean shorts, a ball cap and a t-shirt, holding up a zine and carrying more in its tote bag. There's an accordion-folded sheet being poked by one of its tail's spikes. 
Illustration by Blake A. Chamness.

Same event details in text as in post.
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Zak Kinsella @zakkinsella.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
I have decided to make a Chrono Trigger zine for Denver Zine Fest in September. WIP of the cover.
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Feather Critter 💛🤍💜🖤🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️ @feathercritter.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
COVER REVEAL! My new zine, 25 Ways to Draw a Cat, premieres THIS SUNDAY at Denver Zine Fest! Denver Zine Fest is a free to attend event at the Denver Public Library's central downtown branch! You can grab this as well as my other zines, prints, stickers, pins, etc from me at my table!
Cover of a zine with several colorful cats that reads "25 Ways to draw a cat"
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Matthew Murray 🦇 @midnitelibrary.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
I'm in this photo! Also, I'll be at Denver Zine Fest on Sunday.
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Paul Czege @paulczege.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Czege & Son are tabling at Denver Zine Fest in just over a week‼️ Come check us out if you like comics, journaling, tarot, games, or metaphysical journeys 😮 #ttrpg #journalGaming #zines #DenverZineFest
A list of exhibitors for Denver Zine Fest 2026, which is happening at the downtown Denver Central Library on Sunday, September 13th from 11am to 5pm. Czege & Son Comics and Games is on the list.
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