Paul Riddell
@kyloboomhauer.bsky.social
New project: The Annals of St. Remedius Medical College. http://www.stremedius.com
Chef for Parker the lynx-point Siamese
Populizer of the term “Cat Piss Man.”
“…a Hunter Thompson wannabe of sorts…” - Gardner Dozois
Chef for Parker the lynx-point Siamese
Populizer of the term “Cat Piss Man.”
“…a Hunter Thompson wannabe of sorts…” - Gardner Dozois
Pinned
Paul Riddell
@kyloboomhauer.bsky.social
· Aug 13
New Perennial introduction, now Substack-free:
1989-2002: Angry young essayist for a range of now-forgotten magazines and weekly newspapers.
2008-2023: Owner/operator of Dallas’s pretty much only carnivorous plant gallery.
2024-Present: Trying this writing thing again. www.stremedius.com
1989-2002: Angry young essayist for a range of now-forgotten magazines and weekly newspapers.
2008-2023: Owner/operator of Dallas’s pretty much only carnivorous plant gallery.
2024-Present: Trying this writing thing again. www.stremedius.com
Reposted by Paul Riddell
#MolluscMonday 99% of visitors to the Egyptian and Greek galleries in the British Museum will be too focused on the items displayed in the cabinets to notice the Jurassic gastropods and Cretaceous rudist bivalves in the flooring beneath.
February 9, 2026 at 7:49 AM
#MolluscMonday 99% of visitors to the Egyptian and Greek galleries in the British Museum will be too focused on the items displayed in the cabinets to notice the Jurassic gastropods and Cretaceous rudist bivalves in the flooring beneath.
If this were a St. Remedius story, this would be the first attempt to pass on dark matter theory to a non-avian species. A crow named Malort tried this with nuclear fusion, for which he was chained to a rock and his liver eaten every day by a bullfrog.
This is Henry and he’s inside because it’s storming outside. He’s sitting on this guys knee and decides to sing for the camera ☺️💙😎
February 9, 2026 at 7:33 AM
If this were a St. Remedius story, this would be the first attempt to pass on dark matter theory to a non-avian species. A crow named Malort tried this with nuclear fusion, for which he was chained to a rock and his liver eaten every day by a bullfrog.
Reposted by Paul Riddell
It's 1:20 AM and I'm thinking about retro ankylosaurs. Here's a few favourites!
(Art by Rudolph Zallinger, Zdenek Burian, Rod Ruth, and William Scheele!)
(Art by Rudolph Zallinger, Zdenek Burian, Rod Ruth, and William Scheele!)
February 9, 2026 at 6:23 AM
It's 1:20 AM and I'm thinking about retro ankylosaurs. Here's a few favourites!
(Art by Rudolph Zallinger, Zdenek Burian, Rod Ruth, and William Scheele!)
(Art by Rudolph Zallinger, Zdenek Burian, Rod Ruth, and William Scheele!)
Reposted by Paul Riddell
Need a genome sequence of your favourite plant? We laid out instructions for a complete workflow based on ONT sequencing:
"Cookbook for plant genome sequences"
doi.org/10.1186/s128...
#Genomics #LongReads #PlantSciences #Bioinformatics
@puckerlab.bsky.social @unibonn.bsky.social
"Cookbook for plant genome sequences"
doi.org/10.1186/s128...
#Genomics #LongReads #PlantSciences #Bioinformatics
@puckerlab.bsky.social @unibonn.bsky.social
February 9, 2026 at 5:56 AM
Need a genome sequence of your favourite plant? We laid out instructions for a complete workflow based on ONT sequencing:
"Cookbook for plant genome sequences"
doi.org/10.1186/s128...
#Genomics #LongReads #PlantSciences #Bioinformatics
@puckerlab.bsky.social @unibonn.bsky.social
"Cookbook for plant genome sequences"
doi.org/10.1186/s128...
#Genomics #LongReads #PlantSciences #Bioinformatics
@puckerlab.bsky.social @unibonn.bsky.social
Reposted by Paul Riddell
"Turn of the century" oh you mean the late 90s-early 2000s?
February 8, 2026 at 5:46 PM
"Turn of the century" oh you mean the late 90s-early 2000s?
Reposted by Paul Riddell
The phrase "CGI dinosaur documentary from the turn of the century" feels fundamentally wrong, and yet, there it is.
February 9, 2026 at 6:32 AM
The phrase "CGI dinosaur documentary from the turn of the century" feels fundamentally wrong, and yet, there it is.
Reposted by Paul Riddell
I'm convinced AI is our generation's radium - a discovery with genuinely useful applications in specific, controlled circumstances that we stupidly put in everything from kid's toys to toothpaste until we realised the harm far too late where future generations will ask if we were out of our minds.
February 8, 2026 at 10:23 PM
I'm convinced AI is our generation's radium - a discovery with genuinely useful applications in specific, controlled circumstances that we stupidly put in everything from kid's toys to toothpaste until we realised the harm far too late where future generations will ask if we were out of our minds.
Reposted by Paul Riddell
"During In Living Color’s first season, a marketing impresario approached Fox with an idea that would stick it to CBS, the NFL rights holder and Super Bowl carrier that Murdoch had in his sights: a special episode of In Living Color that would air opposite the Super Bowl intermission."
time to remind everybody that the Super Bowl halftime show only exists in this grandiose fashion because a tv show called "In Living Color" stole the ratings from the NFL; the execs notoriously said, "get me Michael Jackson's agent" and thus began all the pomp
www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio...
www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio...
‘We stole the Super Bowl audience’: how In Living Color pulled off the greatest heist in US TV history
Turning Point USA is plotting its own half-time broadcast in defiance of Bad Bunny – but one of TV’s Blackest shows already perfected the alt-cast in 1992
www.theguardian.com
February 9, 2026 at 2:14 AM
"During In Living Color’s first season, a marketing impresario approached Fox with an idea that would stick it to CBS, the NFL rights holder and Super Bowl carrier that Murdoch had in his sights: a special episode of In Living Color that would air opposite the Super Bowl intermission."
Reposted by Paul Riddell
There's a ChatGPT ad about a family farm where the owner says her family has been doing this for a hundred years and she doesn't want to be the one to screw it up and that's why she's getting advice from ChatGPT and, my God, can you people hear yourselves?
February 8, 2026 at 10:04 PM
There's a ChatGPT ad about a family farm where the owner says her family has been doing this for a hundred years and she doesn't want to be the one to screw it up and that's why she's getting advice from ChatGPT and, my God, can you people hear yourselves?
Reposted by Paul Riddell
Claude does romance best because it stole from me (and everyone else). Now it writes a book a day and I got an email from Harlequin saying they're killing our line and canceling the last book on my contract because sales are in the crapper.
Come to the next Harlequin party, Coral. Let's to 'chat.'
Come to the next Harlequin party, Coral. Let's to 'chat.'
February 8, 2026 at 11:34 PM
Claude does romance best because it stole from me (and everyone else). Now it writes a book a day and I got an email from Harlequin saying they're killing our line and canceling the last book on my contract because sales are in the crapper.
Come to the next Harlequin party, Coral. Let's to 'chat.'
Come to the next Harlequin party, Coral. Let's to 'chat.'
Reposted by Paul Riddell
This article is incredible. It says everything us actual authors have been saying for years, but with a smile on its face.
“If you hide that there’s A.I., it sells just fine,” she said.
Uh huh? Tell me more. Like how you published 19 novels to sell 20,000 copies. An average of 1000 copies a title.
“If you hide that there’s A.I., it sells just fine,” she said.
Uh huh? Tell me more. Like how you published 19 novels to sell 20,000 copies. An average of 1000 copies a title.
“If I can generate a book in a day, and you need six months to write a book, who’s going to win the race?” God this is bleak
The New Fabio Is Claude
www.nytimes.com
February 8, 2026 at 7:08 PM
This article is incredible. It says everything us actual authors have been saying for years, but with a smile on its face.
“If you hide that there’s A.I., it sells just fine,” she said.
Uh huh? Tell me more. Like how you published 19 novels to sell 20,000 copies. An average of 1000 copies a title.
“If you hide that there’s A.I., it sells just fine,” she said.
Uh huh? Tell me more. Like how you published 19 novels to sell 20,000 copies. An average of 1000 copies a title.
Reposted by Paul Riddell
There's a real story behind this photo by Laurie Wolf of a nesting box in her back yard & I'll share a NatGeo article by @bittelmethis.bsky.social
A mama eastern screech owl (Megascops asio) hatched a wood duckling (Aix sponsa).
This is likely a case of brood parasitism. Let's talk about it.
A mama eastern screech owl (Megascops asio) hatched a wood duckling (Aix sponsa).
This is likely a case of brood parasitism. Let's talk about it.
September 20, 2025 at 3:01 PM
There's a real story behind this photo by Laurie Wolf of a nesting box in her back yard & I'll share a NatGeo article by @bittelmethis.bsky.social
A mama eastern screech owl (Megascops asio) hatched a wood duckling (Aix sponsa).
This is likely a case of brood parasitism. Let's talk about it.
A mama eastern screech owl (Megascops asio) hatched a wood duckling (Aix sponsa).
This is likely a case of brood parasitism. Let's talk about it.
Reposted by Paul Riddell
Y’all it looks even more ridiculous in person.
February 8, 2026 at 11:50 PM
Y’all it looks even more ridiculous in person.
Getting ready to put out the St. Remedius Women’s Football Superb Owl halftime beatdown, er, extravaganza:
February 9, 2026 at 12:00 AM
Getting ready to put out the St. Remedius Women’s Football Superb Owl halftime beatdown, er, extravaganza:
Reposted by Paul Riddell
Ornithology 101: Owl life stages 🦉
June 22, 2024 at 1:02 AM
Ornithology 101: Owl life stages 🦉
Reposted by Paul Riddell
We are quickly moving from “the inevitable future of existence” to “multilevel marketing wine club hustle”
February 8, 2026 at 9:19 PM
We are quickly moving from “the inevitable future of existence” to “multilevel marketing wine club hustle”
Reposted by Paul Riddell
I miss the days when you could spend an entire 24 episode season pretending the woods just outside Vancouver were a dozen different alien planets.
February 2, 2026 at 6:30 PM
I miss the days when you could spend an entire 24 episode season pretending the woods just outside Vancouver were a dozen different alien planets.
Reposted by Paul Riddell
Dan Olson did a video on this grift back when it was reliant on hiring sub-minimum wage writers to ghostwrite self-help trash instead of AI. Just another get-rich-quick scheme.
youtu.be/biYciU1uiUw?...
youtu.be/biYciU1uiUw?...
Contrepreneurs: The Mikkelsen Twins
YouTube video by Folding Ideas
youtu.be
February 8, 2026 at 6:42 PM
Reposted by Paul Riddell
How’s the copyright situation on that book generating tool? I’m sure it’s great.
February 8, 2026 at 5:07 PM
How’s the copyright situation on that book generating tool? I’m sure it’s great.
Reposted by Paul Riddell
Oh she’s a scam artist, got it! Every single time you hear about a person offering coaching in one of these pieces they’re just a scammer and the media falls for it
February 8, 2026 at 5:06 PM
Oh she’s a scam artist, got it! Every single time you hear about a person offering coaching in one of these pieces they’re just a scammer and the media falls for it
Read the whole thread, comments and all. Trust me.
This is straight up manufacturing consent now
“If I can generate a book in a day, and you need six months to write a book, who’s going to win the race?” God this is bleak
February 8, 2026 at 9:35 PM
Read the whole thread, comments and all. Trust me.
Reposted by Paul Riddell
It takes a skilled practicioner all day to make a batch of Belgian chocolate, but I can take a crap in a plastic bag in 2 minutes.
February 8, 2026 at 6:32 PM
It takes a skilled practicioner all day to make a batch of Belgian chocolate, but I can take a crap in a plastic bag in 2 minutes.
Reposted by Paul Riddell
you do wonder what the software ecosystem more broadly will be like when the proverbial-xkcd situation is “there are 14,000 competing standards”
As @davekarpf.bsky.social noted for vibe coding (davekarpf.substack.com/p/what-comes...), if generative AI really works for writing novels as this person claims, then a few months from now, *nobody* will be able to earn any money by mass-producing novels with AI. Meanwhile, we drown in garbage.
February 8, 2026 at 9:13 PM
you do wonder what the software ecosystem more broadly will be like when the proverbial-xkcd situation is “there are 14,000 competing standards”
Reposted by Paul Riddell
Oh my God (laudatory)
🔌💡 The majority of waves are created and driven by wind. Wind is created by differential solar heating of the Earth. Solar energy is created by nuclear fusion in the Sun.
I made a diagram tracing the provenance of every primary energy source on Earth:
I made a diagram tracing the provenance of every primary energy source on Earth:
February 8, 2026 at 9:15 PM
Oh my God (laudatory)
This is the time to resurrect “Celebrity Deathmatch”: youtu.be/8s-rBa8BL30?...
February 8, 2026 at 7:51 PM
This is the time to resurrect “Celebrity Deathmatch”: youtu.be/8s-rBa8BL30?...