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Mike Traynor, a know-It-all

@miketrilobite.bsky.social
1.9K followers 823 following 3.2K posts

Catoholic, trilobitoholic Canadian. Math/science & law at uni. Most important: empathy & humility. Most interesting wit & insight. I try to live up to 'Never be afraid to admit you were wrong. You're only admitting you're wiser now than you once were.'

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Mike Traynor, a know-It-all @miketrilobite.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
@amanda.omg.lol WIT 146 was great fun. Got a lot of laughs that just flow from intelligent chat.
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Mike Traynor, a know-It-all @miketrilobite.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
@amanda.omg.lol ZOMG! I can't believe you haven't read Lord of the Rings! How dare you! Call yourself a "nerd"? The effrontery! Does that count as dragging you on the internet?
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Reposted by Mike Traynor, a know-It-all
Chaucer Doth Tweet @levostregc.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Repoost yf once upon a tyme you were a denizen of a diale-uppe BBS and wyth your entyre soule you remembir the birde-screeche-dissolvinge-ynto-static noyse
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Mike Traynor, a know-It-all @miketrilobite.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
@wrycritic.bsky.social Hi, Natalie. In the long term, patreon might be a source of income, but setting that up might be a bit too much for you (I'd sign up in an instant), but in the meantime, I can offer practical help in the amount of 100 CAD each month, if I may.
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Mike Traynor, a know-It-all @miketrilobite.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
@paleodudebrennan.bsky.social Can you tell me whether these are made from recycled materials?
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Mike Traynor, a know-It-all @miketrilobite.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
I've just booted one pillock who proudly proclaims "I am a very different Liberal. I am ready to fight back as opposed to a typical strongly worded letter that has no effect. An eye for an eye." & yet restricts who can reply. If you don't allow replies, don't pose as a tough guy.
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Mike Traynor, a know-It-all @miketrilobite.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
@postoctobrist.bsky.social, @isabel.kim, @amanda.omg.lol, @donoteat.bsky.social . Always a banner day when a new WTYP pod and a new Wow If True drop. Thanks so much to all of you for the mental stimulation I get from your work. And for the laughs. Not sure I know how to @ more than one person.
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Mike Traynor, a know-It-all @miketrilobite.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
Sorry for the poor quality pic, but I'm surprised I hot Jackson in flight at all.
Badly out of focus orange tabby jumping over a monitor onto my desk in front of me. Poor photography, but cute cat.
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Mike Traynor, a know-It-all @miketrilobite.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
I stumbled across the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Gakaxy first in the radio play on CKCU FM 93.1, a local college station. I turned on my radio as the whale was falling to the planet. I'd never heard of it and was mighty perplexed. IMO, having joined it in media res heightened the effect.
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Mike Traynor, a know-It-all @miketrilobite.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
Jackson likes to keep me company as I read in what I call the small reading room in my house.
Orange tabby cat curled up in form-fitting white bathroom sink while I read nearby.
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Reposted by Mike Traynor, a know-It-all
EMILY WILSON @emilyrcwilson.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
On the language of Homeric Greek, and the language of a certain forthcoming film: here are a few simple observations.
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Mike Traynor, a know-It-all @miketrilobite.bsky.social · 26/07/2026
Some will find the sight of undies and the implications I'm on a toilet [reading, I'll have you know] off putting and not notice how sweet my cat Jackson is that that's one of his very favourite places to curl up in.
Orange tabby curled up with pale front paws projecting beyond his nose, on the green shorts and black underwear between the feet  of his friend.
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Mike Traynor, a know-It-all @miketrilobite.bsky.social · 04/07/2026
As a Canadian, let me say Happy Treason Day, Yanks! It's never too late to repent & be welcomed back into the fold. As a bonus, Charles III is a much less embarrassing head of state than your current guy.
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Mike Traynor, a know-It-all @miketrilobite.bsky.social · 04/07/2026
Jacky using my hand as a pillow as is his cat-given right.
Orange tabby cat resting his head on his servant's hand.
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Mike Traynor, a know-It-all @miketrilobite.bsky.social · 02/07/2026
I'm having a laugh at Americans crowing about beating Bosnia and Herzegovina 1-0, a country with 1% of the US' population. The appropriate response is to pocket the win and move along quietly, hoping nobody noticed the score
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Mike Traynor, a know-It-all @miketrilobite.bsky.social · 27/06/2026
@stonerphillyfan.bsky.social Did you do that centrists stick figure drawing? I'd like to use it and credit the person who did it.
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Mike Traynor, a know-It-all @miketrilobite.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
@amanda.omg.lol Just read your Marc Andreessen & poor people piece. I knew you were good, but that one is just brilliant. Especially "What is missing here ... some live in their cars to sustain a decent wage." That's the best one sentence on the inequality implications of unbridled tech I've seen.
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Mike Traynor, a know-It-all @miketrilobite.bsky.social · 09/06/2026
Right now. Can't get any computer stuff done and wouldn't have it any other way.
Orange tabby cat resting his head on a sheet of cardboard on a desk.desk
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Mike Traynor, a know-It-all @miketrilobite.bsky.social · 06/06/2026
Hilarious Wow If True episode as Adam Becker of Dreaming Against the Machine joins Amanda and Isabel. Cannot convey how much I love their pod. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/1...
podcasts.apple.com
140: Horrible Little Guys (ft. Adam Becker)
Podcast Episode · Wow If True · June 3 · 1h 3m
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Mike Traynor, a know-It-all @miketrilobite.bsky.social · 06/06/2026
Snuggling with Jackson, on an 'artificial lap' formed by my shorts spread between my thighs as I was in the process of getting up from the throne.
For all pics, orange tabby cat sprawled across his servant's left arm and lap. Servant is wearing a blue t-shirt and dark green shorts and has a pale arm.
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Mike Traynor, a know-It-all @miketrilobite.bsky.social · 06/06/2026
Oh, and buy Isabel's book, Sublimation. Or get it from a library that helps too. To keep her from having to go back to work at the law firm.
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Mike Traynor, a know-It-all @miketrilobite.bsky.social · 06/06/2026
Listen to Wow If True at the link below. It's a great podcast & recently science fiction author Isabel J Kim and tech reporter Amanda Silberling talked about Isabel's book Sublimation which just came out the other day. Very engaging & musing, as the two always are. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/1...
podcasts.apple.com
139: The Sublimation Special
Podcast Episode · Wow If True · June 3 · 46m
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Mike Traynor, a know-It-all @miketrilobite.bsky.social · 05/06/2026
@mrgeorgewallace.bsky.social Some years ago, I saw a comic on TV quip about saying to a cop who's pulled him over, before the cop says anything, 'Do you have any idea how fast I was going?' Broke me up. Still does. I think the comic is you and wonder if that's right?
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Mike Traynor, a know-It-all @miketrilobite.bsky.social · 01/06/2026
I can play a tune by rapping my knuckles on my head and modulating the tension in my cheeks. I will NOT be playing at Trump's KlanFest 250. I turned them down flat.
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Mike Traynor, a know-It-all @miketrilobite.bsky.social · 28/05/2026
@dominicpreziosi.bsky.social Just read the generally good article " 'Simply Murder’ ". However, it would have carried more oomph had Commonweal itself said what Trump was doing was simply murder rather than only have the phrase appear as quotations from others. It should not be tough call.
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Mike Traynor, a know-It-all @miketrilobite.bsky.social · 22/05/2026
@markwitton.bsky.social What's your email address for paypal purposes at this time?
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Mike Traynor, a know-It-all @miketrilobite.bsky.social · 11/05/2026
The tiny, pretty kitty I'm visiting while his mom is out. He's purring at me there. Other cats greet with a mew, he dies it with loud purrs.
A brown mackerel striped tabby cat us sitting on the arm of a blue couch and looking off to his right.
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Mike Traynor, a know-It-all @miketrilobite.bsky.social · 11/05/2026
Jackson being cuddly.
Orange tabby cat deigning to be held by geezer with white beard.
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Mike Traynor, a know-It-all @miketrilobite.bsky.social · 05/05/2026
@mikez.bsky.social I like your painting (as I call it) 'Birds Flying Out of Mouth of Tree' and was wondering if you were to sell it what would you want for it? I'm tapped out for the next month or so, but do occasionally buy original art (got a large collection of the work of Memo Kosemen).
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Mike Traynor, a know-It-all @miketrilobite.bsky.social · 30/04/2026
Orange tabby cat getting his jaw rubbed to his great pleasure
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Mike Traynor, a know-It-all @miketrilobite.bsky.social · 16/04/2026
@suitti.bsky.social I laughed out loud at yout 'we don't want kids'. l tlod it to a friend. I misremembered it & gave the second part as 'At dinner tonight, we're going to tell them.' I think that improves it by delaying the twist. It's your joke, so I offer this to use as your own should you wish..
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Mike Traynor, a know-It-all @miketrilobite.bsky.social · 05/04/2026
@wowiftrue.bsky.social Oh, and I'd dawdled on listening to #134 to the point where when I finished that one Apple started in on #135 that I hadn't realized was out. Woo hoo! Both were great fun. Lots of laughs and moments where it's like 'They're not just funny, they're so very smart and real.'
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Mike Traynor, a know-It-all @miketrilobite.bsky.social · 05/04/2026
@wowiftrue.bsky.social Regarding Iz 'not respecting sex', a Victorian gent had this to say about sex: 'The pleasure is fleeting, the position ridiculous and the expense damnable.' BTW, "Riordan" is generally pronounced as if it were 'Rearden' and "McMahon" as if it were 'McMan'. I'm old.
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Mike Traynor, a know-It-all @miketrilobite.bsky.social · 11/03/2026
Jacky getting his favorite fa e rubs.
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Mike Traynor, a know-It-all @miketrilobite.bsky.social · 10/02/2026
@black-stardust.bsky.social Your " the woke mind virus is just compassion and wanting other people to thrive" is brilliant. Pithy and true. The best I ve seen. I use it regularly, though sometimes I put it as " 'the woke mind virus' ". Hope you don't mind that.
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Mike Traynor, a know-It-all @miketrilobite.bsky.social · 05/02/2026
@support.bsky.team I like cats & want to see more cat pics. I don't want to see pics of dogs. I hit 'See more like this' on every post with a cat pic & I hit 'See less like this' on every post with a dog pic. Yet I am seeing a lot of dog pics & fewer cat pics than I used to. It is very frustrating.
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Mike Traynor, a know-It-all @miketrilobite.bsky.social · 12/01/2026
@amanda.omg.lol I didn't laugh out loud at your opening midroll joke in #130, but I did find myself smiling very broadly in reaction. I think that justifies the bit.
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Mike Traynor, a know-It-all @miketrilobite.bsky.social · 07/01/2026
In a world with dire shit like the latest murder by ICE, in Minneapolis, a spark of joy in the form of a new Wow If True pod dropping shines through the gloom and bolsters my hope. Thanks, @isabel.kim and @amanda.omg.lol !
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Mike Traynor, a know-It-all @miketrilobite.bsky.social · 25/12/2025
Jackson under the covers with me as I take a nap
Orange tabby  at looking at camera between blue t shirt covered belly and green sheet.
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Mike Traynor, a know-It-all @miketrilobite.bsky.social · 25/12/2025
A few days ago.
Geezer with white beard and glasses holding a lovely orange tabby cat.
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Mike Traynor, a know-It-all @miketrilobite.bsky.social · 27/11/2025
I get to cat sit with this cutie, Didi, seen here bellying up to the bar for a beer.
Small brown tabby cat sitting at kitchen island with his paws on the granite. Looking like he's expecting something.
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Mike Traynor, a know-It-all @miketrilobite.bsky.social · 27/11/2025
@amanda.omg.lol @isabel.kim Wow If True can be dark in subject matter while being light in manner. This is a good thing. Laughter and smiles are resistance.
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Mike Traynor, a know-It-all @miketrilobite.bsky.social · 22/11/2025
I generally appreciate people who post cat pics. But when they post tropes like 'no thoughts' or the like, it really pisses me off. Pisses me off enough to have just blocked someone. Cats are as smart as they need to be & would do better living off the land than all but a few very people here.
Orange tabby cat sitting on top of a low bookcase, looking very smug in front of a colourful painting.
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Mike Traynor, a know-It-all @miketrilobite.bsky.social · 01/11/2025
@nytimes.com NYT has the blood of democracy on its hands for sanewashing Trump, for spending more ink on Clinton's fake emails 'scandal' than it did on all of Trump's real scandals. NYT pretended Trump would reduce inflation instead of laughing at him. If democracy lives, it's no thanks to the NYT
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Mike Traynor, a know-It-all @miketrilobite.bsky.social · 22/10/2025
@nbcnews.com Hey, you guys, tell the truth. Say who shot the US marshal and the immigrant. Not saying who the shooter is is misleading the public. You can do better.
NBC News headline "U.S. marshal and undocumented immigrant shot during ICE stop in Los Angeles"
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Mike Traynor, a know-It-all @miketrilobite.bsky.social · 11/10/2025
Jackson often gets under the covers with me at night. Nothing cozier than being under the covers (a CPAP machine helps!) snuggling with a warm cat.
Orange tabby cat peering out as I lift sheet off himorange tabby cat under sheet getting his head scritched
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Mike Traynor, a know-It-all @miketrilobite.bsky.social · 08/10/2025
I think this qualifies for Whiskers Wednesday, though it was not taken on a Wednesday. He's kneading the duvet as I was trying to get to sleep and I thought 'Well, I'm awake, so let's take a cat pic.' #CatsOfBluesky #WhiskersWednesday
Picture of the face and whiskers of an orange tabby cat kneading the duvet as I was trying to get to sleep
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Reposted by Mike Traynor, a know-It-all
Olivia Guest · Ολίβια Γκεστ @olivia.science · 04/10/2025
Without Critical AI Literacy (CAIL) in psychology (doi.org/10.31234/osf...) we risk the following: 1️⃣ misunderstanding statistical models, thinking correlation is causation; 2️⃣ confusing statistical models and cognitive models, undermining theory; 3️⃣ going against stated open science norms. 4/
The three aforementioned related themes sketched out in this
section, will play out in the AI-social psychology relationships we
will examine — namely:
a. misunderstanding of the statistical modelswhich constitute contemporary AI, leading to inter alia thinking that
correlation implies causation (Guest, 2025; Guest & Martin, 2023, 2025a, 2025b; Guest, Scharfenberg, & van Rooij,
2025; Guest, Suarez, et al., 2025);
b. confusion between statistical versus cognitive models
when it comes to their completely non-overlapping roles
when mediating between theory and observations (Guest
& Martin, 2021; Morgan & Morrison, 1999; Morrison &
Morgan, 1999; van Rooij & Baggio, 2021);
c. anti-open science practices, such as closed source code,
stolen and opaque collection and use of data, obfuscated
conflicts of interest, lack of accountability for models’
architectures, i.e. statistical methods and input-output
mappings are not well documented (Barlas et al., 2021;
Birhane & McGann, 2024; Birhane et al., 2023; Crane,
2021; Gerdes, 2022; Guest & Martin, 2025b; Guest, Suarez,
et al., 2025; Liesenfeld & Dingemanse, 2024; Liesenfeld et
al., 2023; Mirowski, 2023; Ochigame, 2019; Thorne, 2009).Being able to detect and counteract all these three together comprises the bedrock of skills in research methods in a time when AI
is used uncritically (see Table 1). The inverse: not noticing these
are at play, or even promoting them, could be seen as engaging in
questionable research practises (QRPs; Brooker & Allum, 2024;
Neoh et al., 2023; Rubin, 2023). Therefore, in the context of critical AI literacy for social psychology, and indeed cognitive, neuro-,
and psychological sciences in general, the three points above serve
as totemic touchstones, as litmus tests for checking somebody’s
literacy in AI (Guest, 2024; Guest & Martin, 2021, 2025a, 2025b;Guest, Scharfenberg, & van Rooij, 2025; Guest, Suarez, et al.,
2025; Suarez et al., 2025; van Rooij & Baggio, 2021; van Rooij
& Guest, 2025; van Rooij et al., 2024b). To wit, if somebody is
able to minimally articulate these three related issues, how they
manifest, and why they matter to our science, we can rest easy
they know the basics of how to critically evaluate AI products in
science.
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Mike Traynor, a know-It-all @miketrilobite.bsky.social · 02/10/2025
Orange tabby cat resting his head on my hand that's on the mouse on my computer desk
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Mike Traynor, a know-It-all @miketrilobite.bsky.social · 19/09/2025
@jimmykimmel.com JImmy Kimmel got forced off the air (for the time being) for being truthful and human, two things that are entirely absent from Trump and coterie of inhman and inhumane minions.
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