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jmcdaid.bsky.social
jmcdaid
@jmcdaid.bsky.social
530 followers 560 following 510 posts
science fiction writer, folk/filk singer-songwriter, theatre critic, adjunct professor of media ecology. SFWA, ATCA. he/him johnmcdaid.bandcamp.com Opinions mine.
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Reposted by jmcdaid
mkirschenbaum.bsky.social
Me on LLMs, Grok especially, as epistemic weapons:
In this, as Henry Farrell, Alison Gopnik, Cosma Shalizi, and James Evans have argued, large language models are in line with previous "cultural technologies" such as the printing press and libraries, or for that matter Wikipedia, all of which can also be utilized in bad faith. In what follows, however, I want to suggest that as a cultural technology, Grok manifests certain specific affordances which make it into something more. Grok is an intentional instrument for establishing, maintaining, and manipulating a consensus reality on X, a self-contained and self-sustaining discourse environment with at least a quarter of a billion daily users; coupled with the apparent eugenicist white-supremacist proclivities of its owner, this makes it in my view uniquely dangerous. Grok, in short, is an epistemic weapon.
January 14, 2026 at 2:56 PM
jmcdaid.bsky.social
Lots of people and energy at the RI State House anti-ICE rally
A large crowd on the mall in front of the RI State House, many with handmade signs protesting ICE
January 11, 2026 at 7:04 PM
jmcdaid.bsky.social
New track. Pretty -- okay, really -- dark. I was going to debut it in circle at GAFilk, but my already strong disinclination to air travel is not helped by Atlanta's flu status or current geopolitical anxieties. Next year.
Johnstown, by John McDaid
track by John McDaid
johnmcdaid.bandcamp.com
January 7, 2026 at 7:31 PM
jmcdaid.bsky.social
I am an unreconstructed leftie, a native New Yorker shaped by the late Sixties (who got to meet Dinkins once) and so, I may have teared up reading parts of this speech. YMMV. But it's a powerful, unapologetic call to a join in a truly inclusive future. For the city, but, by extension, for all of us.
The Full Transcript of Zohran Mamdani’s Inauguration Speech
www.nytimes.com
January 2, 2026 at 11:58 AM
jmcdaid.bsky.social
Proverb 85 is prepping for a trip over the river and through the woods.
A sepia-toned card with a ghostly, spiderwebby organic scribbled half image all around the edges. All text is in an idiosyncratic handwritten font. At the top, the title, "New Proverbs of Hell," and at the bottom, the number 85. Proverb: "Christmas is where you end up when you stop the car." Exegesis: "Whatever this syncretic, synthetic midwinter festival means to you, here's hoping you have a good one, wherever you are, and whoever you are with."
December 23, 2025 at 12:51 PM
jmcdaid.bsky.social
Part of year-end Rhode Island reviewers wrapup at BroadwayWorld. Got to slip in a couple I really loved from outside the state, too.
Rhode Island Reviewers Favorite Shows of 2025
Rhode Island theatres continue to produce excellent and thought-provoking work, and it is a privilege for your local reviewers to be trusted with the responsibility of sharing the good, bad and strang...
www.broadwayworld.com
December 19, 2025 at 8:57 PM
jmcdaid.bsky.social
Stand back and stand by for three days of controlled failure at Pirate Cove. The Sanctioned Tankers open the weekend, Saturday detonates with Yellowcake Fentanyl, and Sunday closes under the grim visage of Drugstore Knob. Systems, bodies, and metaphors all leak. Free. On the beach. Bring sunscreen.
A colorful poster for a music festival headlined by the bands The Sanctioned Tankers, Yellowcake Fentanyl, and Drugstore Knob. If you like this sort of bite-sized absurdism, check out "A Year of Weekends," which collects all the 2024 band posters. Free download pdf, https://bit.ly/AYOW24 Or, you can order a deluxe trade paperback at Lulu.com, https://bit.ly/AYOW_lulu
December 19, 2025 at 2:15 PM
jmcdaid.bsky.social
Proverb 84 says, "Tell me why you're not helping, Leon."
A sepia-toned card with a ghostly, spiderwebby organic scribbled half image all around the edges. All text is in an idiosyncratic handwritten font. At the top, the title, "New Proverbs of Hell," and at the bottom, the number 84. Proverb: It's a Voight-Kampff every day. Exegesis: And a whole lot of people are failing.
December 18, 2025 at 10:57 AM
jmcdaid.bsky.social
Proverb 83 is watching an administration running on pure unhinged id.
A sepia-toned card with a ghostly, spiderwebby organic scribbled half image all around the edges. All text is in an idiosyncratic handwritten font. At the top, the title, "New Proverbs of Hell," and at the bottom, the number 83. Proverb: Not sure "What would you do if you were not afraid?" is a good litmus test any more. Exegesis: We've seen quite enough of that, thank you. I want some of these monkeyfighters to fear up and pull in their elbows.
December 16, 2025 at 12:19 PM
jmcdaid.bsky.social
My thoughts are with the families and students, the Brown community, and the city of Providence.
snowy back yard, with hanging icy fronds up front, and a large green yew in the distance. Center of frame, as slow streaks down in a 1/25 second exposure, is a cluster of long-dead Queen Anne's Lace in a pot whose flowers have been replaced by snow.
December 14, 2025 at 1:35 PM
jmcdaid.bsky.social
Repost of this weekend's filk festival schedule with location-agnostic times in UTC.
Poster for the “Festival of the Living Rooms,” a free online filk and music event held December 12–14, featuring concerts and circles streamed on Zoom. The background shows a cozy living room with shelves of books and records, a peace-symbol flag, and decorative butterflies. Friday schedule (all times UTC; subtract 5 for EST): 00:00 +1 Beth Kinderman 01:00 +1 Capplor 01:30 +1 Rhiannon’s Lark 02:00 +1 Circle Saturday schedule: 18:00 The Future of FOTLR 19:00 Halo Quin 20:00 Hallie Dolin 21:00 The Faithful Sidekicks 22:00 Cheshire Moon 23:00 Blind Lemming Chiffon 23:30 Daniel Kelly 00:30 +1 Jonathan Housh 01:00 +1 Mary Bertke 02:00 +1 Circle Sunday schedule: 18:00 Non-filk memorial circle 20:00 Callie Hills and Rebecca Newman 21:00 Don Neill 22:00 Roberta Rogow 23:00 Griff the Filker 00:00 +1 Brett Glass 01:00 +1 John McDaid 02:00 +1 Harold Feld 02:30 +1 Circle Footer text: “FREE! on Zoom — Reg at fotlr.org.” Date block reads: “Dec 12–14.”
December 13, 2025 at 3:22 PM
jmcdaid.bsky.social
This weekend, the festival is real! And check out this lineup. So chuffed to be on the bill with all these great songwriters and musicians.
Festival of the Living Rooms Dec 12-14 Register at fotlr.org Times EST Friday 7:00 Beth Kinderman 8:00 Capplor 8:30 Rhiannon’s Lark 9:00 Circle Saturday 1:00 The Future of FOTLR. Led by BLC. 2:00 Halo Quin 3:00 Hallie Dolin 4:00 The Faithful Sidekicks 5:00 Cheshire Moon 6:00 Blind Lemming Chiffon 6:30 Daniel Kelly 7:30 Jonathan Housh 8:00 Mary Bertke 9:00 Circle Sunday 1:00 Non-filk singer-songwriter memorial circle 3:00 Callie Hills and Rebecca Newman 4:00 Don Neill 5:00 Roberta Rogow 6:00 Griff the Filker 7:00 Brett Glass 8:00 John McDaid 9:00 Harold Feld 9:30 Circle
December 12, 2025 at 10:26 AM
jmcdaid.bsky.social
Proverb 82 knows that the holidays can be stressful times. Like we needed more of that :)
A sepia-toned card with a ghostly, spiderwebby organic scribbled half image all around the edges. All text is in an idiosyncratic handwritten font. At the top, the title, "New Proverbs of Hell," and at the bottom, the number 82. Proverb: "Proverb: Remember, we live in a "uni" verse." Exegesis: "Fight like hell for the living, but find time to remember that we're all parts of one thing, like old Marcus Aurelius used to say."
December 11, 2025 at 12:17 PM
jmcdaid.bsky.social
Latest review up at BroadwayWorld.
Review: Crisp, Bracing 'OCTET' at Wilbury Theatre Group
What did our critic think of CRISP, BRACING 'OCTET' AT THE WILBURY at Wilbury Theatre Group?Crisp, Bracing 'OCTET' at Wilbury Theatre Group: Quirky a cappella musical takes on our digital obsessions
www.broadwayworld.com
December 9, 2025 at 7:03 PM
jmcdaid.bsky.social
Pirate Cove Music Fest opens with Laconia Order’s vantablack-and-chrome menace, if you survive Pancreas Awareness Month’s MRI chaos. Saturday brings The Entitlement Junkies’ catharsis pit (steel toes advised). Sunday’s Enduring Welcome shimmers, plus Mother Gives You and Someone Should Start A Band.
A colorful poster for a music festival headlined by the bands Laconia Order, The Entitlement Junkies and Enduring Welcome. If you like this sort of bite-sized absurdism, check out "A Year of Weekends," which collects all the 2024 band posters. Free download pdf, https://bit.ly/AYOW24 Or, you can order a deluxe trade paperback at Lulu.com, https://bit.ly/AYOW_lulu Album cover for the band “Laconia Order.” At the top, their name appears in bright green pixelated text on a black rectangular banner. The background is a hazy, high-contrast grayscale field resembling the fog of war overlaid with thin metallic crosshair-like lines. At the bottom, the album title “the new colossus” appears in a minimalist, rounded black font.
December 5, 2025 at 12:23 PM
jmcdaid.bsky.social
Proverb 81 recalls that Auden said "poetry makes nothing happen."
A sepia-toned card with a ghostly, spiderwebby organic scribbled half image all around the edges. All text is in an idiosyncratic handwritten font. At the top, the title, "New Proverbs of Hell," and at the bottom, the number 81. Proverb: "Prompting with poetry won’t help you make a nuclear weapon." Exegesis: "Making nukes is just physics, and any college student can tell you how. OTOH, actually producing one is not something either ChatGPT (nor, all of Nazi Germany) could possibly execute."
December 4, 2025 at 1:01 PM
jmcdaid.bsky.social
Proverb 80 reminds us that the medium is the message.
A sepia-toned card with a ghostly, spiderwebby organic scribbled half image all around the edges. All text is in an idiosyncratic handwritten font. At the top, the title, "New Proverbs of Hell," and at the bottom, the number 80. Proverb: "If you ask an LLM for a "correct" answer and complain that it hallucinates, you are blaming your toaster for not making a good frozen daiquiri." Exegesis: "An LLM is built to generate language, not facts."
December 2, 2025 at 11:02 AM
Reposted by jmcdaid
radiofreetom.bsky.social
Posting stupid memes after being accused of murder is the response of a sneering, spoiled punk who has been caught doing wrong and is now daring the local fuzz to take him in and risk the anger of his rich dad—a role fulfilled by Donald Trump, in this case.

www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
Pete Hegseth Needs to Go—Now
A man with such contempt for the military should not run the Pentagon.
www.theatlantic.com
December 2, 2025 at 12:02 AM
jmcdaid.bsky.social
Nothing like final edits on your page proofs—and the only correx are three soft hyphens. Whew. Looking forward to reading the fantastic pieces in this this scholarly collection, "Marshall McLuhan: Then And Now," coming in March 2026 from Büchner, Eds. Lars C. Grabbe, Andrew McLuhan, and Tobias Held.
Photo of a marked-up page proof for an article headlined "Toward a Unified Sensorium: McLuhan's Media Ecology and the Posthuman Turn." Book cover of Marshall McLuhan: Then and Now, from Büchner, Lars C. Grabbe, Andrew McLuhan, and Tobias Held, Eds. The image is a negative image of McLuhan, hands behind his head, with a set of VR goggles superimposed over his eyes.
November 30, 2025 at 5:43 PM
jmcdaid.bsky.social
PCMF enters biohazard mode this week. Anticipated Comorbidity opens with DSM-5 musique concrète, Subclade K brings lays down a deep time hot-lab groove, and The Anamorphic Assets close with mind-bending avant-perlin noise. Bring sunscreen, a HIPAA release, and a working model of atmospheric forcing.
A colorful poster for a music festival headlined by the bands Anticipated comorbidity, Subclade K, and The Anamorphic Assets. If you like this sort of bite-sized absurdism, check out "A Year of Weekends," which collects all the 2024 band posters. Free download pdf, https://bit.ly/AYOW24 Or, you can order a deluxe trade paperback at Lulu.com, https://bit.ly/AYOW_lulu
November 28, 2025 at 2:04 PM
jmcdaid.bsky.social
Proverb 79 would prefer not to step on any of them in the dark.
A sepia-toned card with a ghostly, spiderwebby organic scribbled half image all around the edges. All text is in an idiosyncratic handwritten font. At the top, the title, "New Proverbs of Hell," and at the bottom, the number 79. Proverb: "Proverb: Every human who ever lived could have 9.4 pieces of Lego." Exegesis: "There have been about 117 billion homo sapiens since we speciated, and assuming they all lined up at ToysRUs, each could start out with a handful. Evenly distributed to current humans, everybody gets 140."
November 27, 2025 at 10:49 AM
jmcdaid.bsky.social
Proverb 78 reminds everyone that violence can be metaphorical. Alles klar? But also, remember that the best iterated Prisoner's Dilemma strategy is benevolent tit-for-tat, so don't push your luck.
A sepia-toned card with a ghostly, spiderwebby organic scribbled half image all around the edges. All text is in an idiosyncratic handwritten font. At the top, the title, "New Proverbs of Hell," and at the bottom, the number 78. Proverb: "You're not really part of a group until you make your first enemy." Exegesis: "It's all bonhomie and friends in common and favorite pho places until somebody's ox gets gored, and then, it's Connor MacLeod time and out comes the sword until only one remains."
November 25, 2025 at 2:05 PM
jmcdaid.bsky.social
PCMF kicks off with the unstoppable riot grrrl energy of Quiet Piggy. Leave your hammers at the box. Saturday’s Bone Saw Bingo brings unhinged chaos and sick beats, and Sunday’s Supine In A Bog drifts through anaerobic synth soundscapes. Surströmming will be available at the concession stand. Enjoy?
A colorful poster for a music festival headlined by the bands Quiet Piggy, Bone Saw Bingo, and Supine In A Bog. If you like this sort of bite-sized absurdism, check out "A Year of Weekends," which collects all the 2024 band posters. Free download pdf, https://bit.ly/AYOW24 Or, you can order a deluxe trade paperback at Lulu.com, https://bit.ly/AYOW_lulu
November 21, 2025 at 12:21 PM
jmcdaid.bsky.social
Latest review up at Medium. "Thotbot Implantation Center," A delightfully quirky post-apocalyptic multimedia performance in Somerville, MA by @getthotbot.bsky.social
A theatrical evening at the “Thotbot Implantation Center”
A retrofuturist multimedia exploration of the ongoing technological apocalypse, with sick beats.
medium.com
November 19, 2025 at 3:36 PM
jmcdaid.bsky.social
Proverb 77 tests its code in production.
A sepia-toned card with a ghostly, spiderwebby organic scribbled half image all around the edges. All text is in an idiosyncratic handwritten font. At the top, the title, "New Proverbs of Hell," and at the bottom, the number 77. Proverb: "Beware the load-bearing coconut." Exegesis: "Validate inputs. Tolerate faults. Handle exceptions. And please please please, trace dependencies. Good advice whether you're AWS, CrowdStrike, Boeing, Knight Capital, or the USS Yorktown."
November 18, 2025 at 2:09 PM