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Michael Marek

@mmarek.bsky.social
311 followers 234 following 713 posts

> Emeritus media/comm professor (many scholarly citations) > State/Nat. non-profit organization leadership experience > Political observer (no party) > Star Trek podcaster > South Dakota resident > NO DMs, please

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Michael Marek @mmarek.bsky.social · 6h
The El Niño may be the worst in >1,000 years. It will pump heat into an atmosphere already too hot fromhuman-caused global heating. Past El Niños caused hundreds of billions of dollars in damages. This one is leaving the past ones in the dust. #News #Climate www.theguardian.com/environment/...
theguardian.com
‘Jaw-dropping’ El Niño bursts through temperature record months before peak
‘Godzilla-level’ phenomenon is supercharging the climate crisis and will have a huge impact on communities across the world
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Michael Marek @mmarek.bsky.social · 6h
This is a long read, but in a nutshell, American sentiment has shifted to the LEFT under Trump.. Mainly due to Democratic and Independent voters... And the two major parties are much more polarized than they used to be. #News #Politics www.psypost.org/as-america-s...
psypost.org
As America shifted left under Trump, emotional hostility widened the partisan gap
During Donald Trump’s first presidency, American public opinion broadly shifted leftward. But a new study reveals this "liberal rebound" was accompanied by surging emotional hostility between politica...
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Michael Marek @mmarek.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Voters asking about candidates "are unknowingly being served partisan talking points in the guise of neutral news summaries." They are citing partisan websites masquerading as independent local news outlets nearly half of the time. AI is dumb! #AI #News #Politics www.politico.com/news/magazin...
politico.com
‘Pink Slime’ Is Infecting AI Chatbots Ahead of the Midterms
Partisan websites disguised as independent, local news outlets are shaping chatbots’ responses about key races.
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Michael Marek @mmarek.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Past emissions from the top 178 oil, gas, coal and cement producers, will continue impacting our environment for decades to come. Therefore, new legal battles about who is accountable should be expected for many years. #ClimateChange #News www.washington.edu/news/2026/09...
washington.edu
Past emissions from top polluters will continue warming the planet for decades to come | UW News
A new University of Washington study shows that past emissions from the top 178 oil, gas, coal and cement producers will prolong warming and increase the odds o
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Michael Marek @mmarek.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
The journalists are back in the White house. Judge rules due process was violated, not to mention precedents about press freedom. #FirstAmendment #Trump #Court www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
theguardian.com
Journalists for CNN, MS Now and Politico allowed back into the White House after judge’s ruling
The outlets had requested an emergency hearing after the White House initially seemed to flout a judge’s order
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Michael Marek @mmarek.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
A Pentagon report says over-reliance on AI tools contributed to the deaths of a least 123 Iranian children. Plus outdated intelligence, "compressed war planning," and gutted civilian protection units that never reviewed the target site. #AI #Pentagon www.latimes.com/world-nation...
latimes.com
Inside the U.S. 'kill chain' that destroyed an Iranian school
Pentagon investigators have discovered that flawed intelligence, outdated imagery and an overreliance on AI contributed to a missile strike that killed 123 children in Minab.
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Michael Marek @mmarek.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Blatantly a First Amendment violation. #News #Constitution #Court #FirstAmendment www.newsfromthestates.com/article/cnn-...
newsfromthestates.com
CNN, MS Now, Politico sue Trump over White House ban
WASHINGTON — The three news organizations that President Donald Trump has barred from entering the White House filed a lawsuit against the administration on Monday.CNN, MS Now and Politico wrote in a ...
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Michael Marek @mmarek.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Researchers examined the ideological stance of AI large language models and discovered they tend to mirror the user's political views. So, when users rely on AI for critical thinking about controvercial issues, they don't get critical thinking back. #AI #News www.eurekalert.org/news-release...
eurekalert.org
Artificial intelligence acts as an ‘ideological chameleon’ and may deepen political polarization, study finds
Researchers evaluated 21 language models, such as GPT and Gemini, and found that they all alter their discourse to align with the user’s bias, potentially functioning as echo chambers.
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Michael Marek @mmarek.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
#Facebook suspended my account for a little while this morning. It came back pretty quickly when I appealed, but I can't imagine what I might have done to flag a "community standards" issue. I like/comment some and manage a couple of organizational pages, but I rarely initiate new posts anymore.
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Michael Marek @mmarek.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
At least 39 congressional candidates report paying for an OpenAI subscription this election cycle. Two said explicitly in filings that they had used the subscription for advertising (which is prohibited by OpenAI policies). #AI #News #Deepfake www.msn.com/en-us/news/o...
msn.com
MSN
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Michael Marek @mmarek.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
There are now more folks over age 65 than younger folks, for the first time in history (and probably pre-history). #aging #population #News www.ibtimes.com/older-people...
ibtimes.com
Older People Surpass The Young In The World For The First Time In History: Report
There are now more seniors in the world than young children. The world will only get grayer as more time goes by, according to a U.S. Census Bureau report.
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Michael Marek @mmarek.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
As you read this story, remember that the "lowest unit rate" rule applies only to over-the-air broadcasters, not streaming, cable, social media, etc., advertising. I support it for official candidates, not for rich PACs. #FCC #Advertising #Broadcasters #SCOTUS www.scotusblog.com/2026/09/cour...
scotusblog.com
Court grants request from Republican groups to pause ruling, for now, on political broadcasting rates
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Michael Marek @mmarek.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
The judge, in effect, says, "the Supreme Court already ruled on this, why are you still trying?" #Citizenship #News #Court www.newsfromthestates.com/article/trum...
newsfromthestates.com
Trump’s newest order on birthright citizenship blocked in federal court
A federal judge in Maryland Wednesday blocked President Donald Trump’s second attempt to redefine birthright citizenship.
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Michael Marek @mmarek.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
People alive today will see bad times ahead due to uncontroled climate change. #ClimateChange #News www.theguardian.com/environment/...
theguardian.com
Global heating will hit at least 1.8C, UN warns, and there are ‘no good outcomes’
But scientists say the world could get back to 1.5C through deep, rapid emissions cuts and removing carbon from the atmosphere
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Michael Marek @mmarek.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
Gallup Poll says 89% of respondents believe that corruption is widespread in US government. The perception of government corruption is now higher in the U.S. than at any point in the past two decades and outpaces most other countries, including advanced economies. news.gallup.com/poll/713933/...
news.gallup.com
Record-High 89% in U.S. Say Government Corruption Widespread
Perceptions of government corruption in the U.S. hit a record high in 2026, with broad agreement across partisan lines.
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Michael Marek @mmarek.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
This is cool, although tentative. It is going on in my home state. #Science #DarkMatter #SouthDakota www.science.org/content/arti...
science.org
World’s biggest dark matter detector spots a single weird particle
It’s far too early to declare a discovery, physicists with the LZ detector say
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Michael Marek @mmarek.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
I rarely go anyplace I've never been before. If I need a map, it's only for the last few blocks. Paper works fine. No need to watch political propaganda while navigating. #Maps #Ontario
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Michael Marek @mmarek.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
“Over a million people” have clicked LinkedIn's "seems like AI slop" button that premiered less than a month ago. www.theverge.com/ai-artificia... #AI
theverge.com
Over 1 million people have clicked LinkedIn’s AI slop button
Stopping slop.
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Michael Marek @mmarek.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
2027 looks to be the hottest year, globally, in human memory. The effrects of the growing powerful El Niño will almost certainly be aggrivated because of the human-caused spike in global temperatures. #Climate #ElNino #HottestEver www.bbc.com/weather/arti...
bbc.com
El Niño set to be 'strongest in living memory', says Met Office
Scientists say the growing El Niño weather pattern is an "unprecedented event" and means 2027 is likely to be the world's hottest year on record.
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Michael Marek @mmarek.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
#BlueSky is down in active users, #Threads is up, and #Mastodon is not mentioned. techcrunch.com/2026/08/11/b...
techcrunch.com
Bluesky’s active user base is shrinking as its focus expands beyond the app | TechCrunch
Over a year following its post-election surge, Bluesky’s mobile app is seeing a continued decline in active users, though its remaining community is still relatively engaged.
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Michael Marek @mmarek.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
Here's a long but interesting read about Chinese plans to land humans on Mars, versus the American effort. #Moon #Space #China #NASA www.cnn.com/2026/08/07/s...
cnn.com
What we know about China’s moon-landing plans and why the US is so worried | CNN
China’s space program is having a landmark year, and clues to which nation is pulling ahead in the new moon race may be emerging.
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Michael Marek @mmarek.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Updated my laptop MS Office installation from Office 2019 to Office 2021 today, for $35 one time. I don't pay software subscriptions and I like software that still works when there is no internet. Nothing looks different, but I get another couple of years of updates. #Microsoft #Licensing
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Michael Marek @mmarek.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
Sturgis Rally Week is either a bunch of accountants and insurance agents cosplaying as outlaw bikers for one week a year... Or outlaw boikers cosplaying as insurance agents and accounts for 51 weeks a year. #Sturgis #SouthDakota
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Michael Marek @mmarek.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
July was the hottest month since recordkeeping began in the US Lower 48 states, a bit hotter than the Dust Bowl’s July 1936. One or two hot days is not evidence of human-caused climate change, but it is happening more and more often, which IS clear evidence. #Climate apnews.com/article/hott...
apnews.com
Contiguous US breaks its record for hottest month ever, NOAA says
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says the contiguous United States set a record for its hottest month ever in July.
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Michael Marek @mmarek.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
Hail today. Not quite enough to cover the ground. Had our car under the carport of an absent neighbor. #Weather #Hail
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Michael Marek @mmarek.bsky.social · 09/08/2026
I can just imagine how poorly this is going to work out. #AI #Fail www.shreveporttimes.com/story/news/l...
shreveporttimes.com
New Orleans will use AI to answer 911 calls instead of a human
New Orleans is using AI to answer 911 calls instead of human dispatchers. What does this mean for crime and emergency response?
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Michael Marek @mmarek.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
The new salt block for deer is in place, with the remnants of the old one on top. #Deer #Salt
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Michael Marek @mmarek.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
AI is now an advertising audience demographic, maybe with "AI Influencers?" #AI #Time #Advertising www.theregister.com/ai-and-ml/20...
theregister.com
Time Magazine has a separate version of its website with ads only AI can see
Brands are already paying to influence what chatbots say about them
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Michael Marek @mmarek.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
Oh, AI is working out JUST great. In other words, stay as far away from it as you possibly can. #AI arstechnica.com/security/202...
arstechnica.com
Anthropic’s AI used fake identities, malware in rogue attack on GitHub project
Anthropic and OpenAI models’ unprompted actions forced halt to UK cyber tests.
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Michael Marek @mmarek.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
Using AI to prevent cheating.... Led to more cheating. #AI #Cheating arstechnica.com/culture/2026...
arstechnica.com
An AI-supervised remote exam went so badly that 58,000 students must retake it
Top scores increased by 5x.
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Michael Marek @mmarek.bsky.social · 01/08/2026
AI escaping "containment" is pretty much now the AP apocalypse begins, right? #AI www.reuters.com/business/ope...
reuters.com
EXCLUSIVE: OpenAI finds evidence other AI agents escaped containment as it widens hacking probe
The new breakouts were uncovered during the company's publicly announced investigation into how one of its agents escaped what was meant to be a contained testing environment this month.
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Michael Marek @mmarek.bsky.social · 01/08/2026
Record labels want to keep AI Slop music out of the music "charts" worldwide. Music on the charts should be "substantially human made" they say. #AI #Music www.ifpi.org/ifpi-rolls-o...
ifpi.org
IFPI Rolls Out Global Principles for the Eligibility of Recordings Developed Using AI in Official Music Charts Worldwide - IFPI
~ New principles to be applied across IFPI’s network of official charts ~ 30 July 2026, London – IFPI, the organisation representing the recording industry worldwide, today announced the roll out of a...
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Michael Marek @mmarek.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
LinkedIn, which is awash with AI slop, is introducing a "Seems Like AI Slop" button to flag (suspected) AI, well, slop. #AI techcrunch.com/2026/07/30/l...
techcrunch.com
LinkedIn adds a button to report AI-generated 'slop' | TechCrunch
LinkedIn is introducing new ways to reduce low-quality AI-generated posts, including a “seems like AI slop” reporting option. It's also replacing its own AI writing feature with a proofreading tool.
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Michael Marek @mmarek.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
Google Search traffic to publishers (websites) fell 34% over the past year. Search Engine Optimization no longer exists, as a practical matter, because a lot of people never get past the "AI Summaries." #AI #Google www.axios.com/2026/07/31/g...
axios.com
Publishers are losing Google traffic as AI answers replace links
It's time to start anticipating the shift to an LLM world.
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Michael Marek @mmarek.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
Google thought it would be great to allow people to add AI images to Google Earth, until they saw the Eiffel Tower collapsed and the Great Pyramid dropping into a sinkhole. Who would have guessed? Now Google is backtracking. #Google #AI blog.google/products-and...
blog.google
Transform any place with Nano Banana in Google Earth
Custom images — generated from Google Earth satellite, aerial, and 3D imagery — help you redesign any location.
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Michael Marek @mmarek.bsky.social · 26/07/2026
“We don’t know best practices for navigating academia with AI,” Gibson warned. “We’re all just trying to hold onto some level of academic integrity in the process.” AI test question answer: “Madagascar floats sideways through the afternoon.” #AI futurism.com/future-socie...
futurism.com
Professor Hides White Font in Midterm, Catches Students Using AI in the Stupidest Way Possible
A professor used white font to hide instructions to throw off students using an AI chatbot to cheat on their midterm.
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Michael Marek @mmarek.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
Anyone, including a computer, can read a book that was obtained legally. Bit Anthropic admits to using pirated books to train its AI. It is also infringement when the AI spits out large amounts of copyrighted text (not part of this case). #AI #Copyright #Settlement apnews.com/article/ai-a...
apnews.com
Judge approves a $1.5B Anthropic settlement over pirated books used to train the Claude chatbot
A federal judge has approved a $1.5 billion copyright settlement involving AI company Anthropic. The company will pay thousands of authors about $3,000 per book for using pirated copies to train its C...
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Michael Marek @mmarek.bsky.social · 18/07/2026
They're buying CDs, but half of Gen Z and millennials who have purchased CDs do not own a CD player. What? #News #Music #CD #K-pop
vice.com
Gen Z Is Bringing CDs Back, but They’re Missing One Important Piece of the Puzzle
According to new data, CD sales are on the rise, and there seems to be a direct correlation with what Gen Z music fans are listening to.
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Michael Marek @mmarek.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
Words of wisdom: When the temperature is over 90F, "accidentally" spraying yourself with the garden hose is not necessarily bad. #Wisdom #Summer #Heat #Water
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Michael Marek @mmarek.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
Words opf wisdon: when the temperatire is over 90F, "accidentally" sparying yourself with teh garden hose is not necessarilly a bad thing.
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Michael Marek @mmarek.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
When you order something online and the VERY small fine print says "compatible battery pack not included." #online #battery #Grrr
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Michael Marek @mmarek.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
People are posting less on social media and enjoying it MORE. Or even dropping social media completely due to stress and privacy concerns. #News #SocialMedia #Stress blog.incogni.com/digital-fati...
blog.incogni.com
The great digital fatigue: How digital burnout is changing social media use [2026] | Incogni
People are quietly withdrawing from active participation in social media. While they may not be deleting accounts en masse, many are:
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Michael Marek @mmarek.bsky.social · 12/07/2026
Meta has removed or at least paused) that Instagram "feature" that allowed people AI modify your pictures without your permission. #AI #Meta techcrunch.com/2026/07/10/m...
techcrunch.com
Meta removes controversial AI feature on Instagram after backlash | TechCrunch
"Our intent was to provide a useful creative tool and to give people control over whether their public content could be referenced in this way," the company said in a blog post. "We've heard the feedb...
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Michael Marek @mmarek.bsky.social · 12/07/2026
I was doing a review for a scholarly journal. It has been a while since I had reviewed for them, so I studied their advice for reviewers. Their sample of a good review was one I submitted in 2024. #Academia #PeerReview #ScholarlyWriting
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Michael Marek @mmarek.bsky.social · 11/07/2026
Things that make you go hum..... I'm not complaining, but an automated National Football League BOT on Mastodon boosted my post about the auction of a T-Rex fossil found in South Dakota. I can't figure out what keywords triggered the BOT.
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Michael Marek @mmarek.bsky.social · 11/07/2026
Near perfect scores on a take-home midterm. In-person final test results in failures and students dropping the course. Administrator response to the apparent cheating described as “meek.” Education is just not prepared with strong AI policy. #AI #Cheating www.insidehighered.com/news/faculty...
insidehighered.com
Brown Professor Suspects Most of His Class Used AI to Cheat
Brown University leaders’ response to the alleged cheating incident has been “meek,” the professor said.
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Michael Marek @mmarek.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
Want your own T-Rex? Bring at least $30 million to the auction. #T-Rex #paleontology www.sdnewswatch.org/dinosaur-fos...
sdnewswatch.org
South Dakota T. rex could bring $30 million or more at auction
The T. rex was found in 2021 on a ranch in Harding County and is expected to bring the highest price ever paid for a dinosaur skeleton.
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Michael Marek @mmarek.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
A day without internet is like a day WITH sunshine.
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Michael Marek @mmarek.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
Why is it that we STILL need to use Notepad to strip formatting from text? Even "Paste as plain text" doesn't always work anymore. #aggravation
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Michael Marek @mmarek.bsky.social · 05/07/2026
New hires who are seen as “AI natives” are turning out to have alarmingly shallow ideas because they have offloaded their critical thinking. Some firms actively AVOID hiring AI-literate STEM graduates and opt for humanities students instead. #AI #STEM #Humanaties futurism.com/future-socie...
futurism.com
Bosses Horrified as "AI Native" College Graduates Hit the Workplace
"AI native" college graduates are hitting the workplace -- and, as experts warned, bosses are finding their performance disappointing.
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