Mandy J Watson
@mandyjwatson.bsky.social
Tech-culture journalist. Copy editor. Game dev. Hire me!
World expert in South African comics (#sacomics) published after 2000.
Words: https://brainwavez.org/
Tiny games: https://mandyjwatson.itch.io/
Masked up in Cape Town, South Africa.
World expert in South African comics (#sacomics) published after 2000.
Words: https://brainwavez.org/
Tiny games: https://mandyjwatson.itch.io/
Masked up in Cape Town, South Africa.
Pinned
The Mischievous Thievery Of Jessica The Cat by Mandy J Watson
Jessica the cat has been stealing people's things! A GGJ2021 narrative-puzzle prototype that's now a full game! Play in your browser
mandyjwatson.itch.io
To get the anxiety inducing first post out of the way:
something of mine you can read: https://www.brainwavez.org/screen/film/features/2019/20191128001-01.html
something I made for you to play (dev is ongoing - more to come):
https://mandyjwatson.itch.io/the-mischievous-thievery-of-jessica-the-cat
something of mine you can read: https://www.brainwavez.org/screen/film/features/2019/20191128001-01.html
something I made for you to play (dev is ongoing - more to come):
https://mandyjwatson.itch.io/the-mischievous-thievery-of-jessica-the-cat
Happy new year to everyone. Maybe all sorts of good things we've been waiting for will happen this year.
Maybe.
Maybe.
December 31, 2025 at 10:35 PM
Happy new year to everyone. Maybe all sorts of good things we've been waiting for will happen this year.
Maybe.
Maybe.
Reposted by Mandy J Watson
I am interested in working with an artist on a graphic novel on soil and/ or global environmental change. The lab would have money to fund this.
Do you know of any graphic artists that would be interested?
Do you know of any graphic artists that would be interested?
December 28, 2025 at 9:35 AM
I am interested in working with an artist on a graphic novel on soil and/ or global environmental change. The lab would have money to fund this.
Do you know of any graphic artists that would be interested?
Do you know of any graphic artists that would be interested?
Reposted by Mandy J Watson
I was thinking about what gifts people used to give to readers (besides gift editions of famous poets' work and illustrated histories of wars and such), and while I was thinking about it, somebody brought a book to the counter....
(1/10)
(1/10)
December 27, 2025 at 10:23 PM
I was thinking about what gifts people used to give to readers (besides gift editions of famous poets' work and illustrated histories of wars and such), and while I was thinking about it, somebody brought a book to the counter....
(1/10)
(1/10)
Reposted by Mandy J Watson
Pour one out for Jim Moylan
RIP The Guy Who Put The Little Arrow On Your Fuel Gauge Though I Think There Was An Earlier One - The Autopian
If there’s one car fact or Easter Egg or detail (or whatever you want to call it) that seems to delight non-car-obsessed people more than any other one, I think it has to be this one: fuel gauges tend...
www.theautopian.com
December 27, 2025 at 4:52 AM
Pour one out for Jim Moylan
Reposted by Mandy J Watson
I think people today don't understand just how dramatically the night sky has changed - it looked like it does in super remote areas *everywhere* before the invention of electric lighting, and light pollution that obscures the sky has gotten dramatically worse in the last 25 years.
If you ever have the experience of seeing a night sky out in the deep countryside you can understand this; it really is a fundamentally different experience, and I can't imagine it not being formative to people.
December 27, 2025 at 5:01 AM
I think people today don't understand just how dramatically the night sky has changed - it looked like it does in super remote areas *everywhere* before the invention of electric lighting, and light pollution that obscures the sky has gotten dramatically worse in the last 25 years.
Reposted by Mandy J Watson
ARTIST JOB ALERT: I am looking for somebody who can TIGHTLY PENCIL animals for me in my graphic novel FIVE WISHES, specifically, several pages of squirrels and birds. This is PAYING and work would begin immediately, but it's not a rush job.
cont...
cont...
December 26, 2025 at 8:08 PM
ARTIST JOB ALERT: I am looking for somebody who can TIGHTLY PENCIL animals for me in my graphic novel FIVE WISHES, specifically, several pages of squirrels and birds. This is PAYING and work would begin immediately, but it's not a rush job.
cont...
cont...
Reposted by Mandy J Watson
Welcome back, artists! :D
Quote Post with an old piece that you still like!
Quote Post with an old piece that you still like!
December 25, 2025 at 11:31 PM
Welcome back, artists! :D
Quote Post with an old piece that you still like!
Quote Post with an old piece that you still like!
Reposted by Mandy J Watson
Now that the recipient has received their gift, I can share this here. I got to do a portrait of this sweet little kitty named Marvel! I had a ton of fun painting a Niknak and a Ghost Pop. Watercolour and Polychromos on Arches 300gsm CP.
December 25, 2025 at 2:06 PM
Now that the recipient has received their gift, I can share this here. I got to do a portrait of this sweet little kitty named Marvel! I had a ton of fun painting a Niknak and a Ghost Pop. Watercolour and Polychromos on Arches 300gsm CP.
It feels like a Sunday. I'm very confused.
December 26, 2025 at 12:01 PM
It feels like a Sunday. I'm very confused.
Reposted by Mandy J Watson
My only and best higher ed idea is that Britain needs to find a way to offer university courses to retirees
'Record numbers of Swedish retirees are enrolling in a university run “by pensioners for pensioners” amid increased loneliness and a growing appetite for learning and in-person interactions.' 1/2
‘Keeps your mind alert’: older Swedes reap the benefits of learning for pleasure
Retirees with ‘fantastic hunger for education’ taking part in university organised events in record numbers
www.theguardian.com
December 26, 2025 at 10:12 AM
My only and best higher ed idea is that Britain needs to find a way to offer university courses to retirees
Reposted by Mandy J Watson
Oh and I saw your zines @mandyjwatson.bsky.social !
December 23, 2025 at 4:33 PM
Oh and I saw your zines @mandyjwatson.bsky.social !
Merry Christmas.
December 24, 2025 at 10:20 PM
Merry Christmas.
I would like to shout this at the South African Post Office as well.
It’s not “losing money” any more than air traffic controllers or public highways or street lights or fire departments are “losing money.” It is a government service. It’s not SUPPOSED to make money. It’s supposed to reliably deliver to anywhere in the US, even the unprofitable places.
The USPS faces a tight squeeze. With fewer people using the mail, it’s lost more and more money: $9 billion in the 12 months ending in September alone.
https://cnn.it/4qkeNoF
https://cnn.it/4qkeNoF
December 24, 2025 at 10:12 PM
I would like to shout this at the South African Post Office as well.
Reposted by Mandy J Watson
Reposted by Mandy J Watson
And unlike other cameras, Flock's Condor PTZ cameras track people. 404 Media saw:
- A woman walking her dog on a bike path
- A man walking through a Macy’s parking lot
- Children at a playground
- A man rollerblading, and a zoom into exactly what he was looking at on his phone
- A woman walking her dog on a bike path
- A man walking through a Macy’s parking lot
- Children at a playground
- A man rollerblading, and a zoom into exactly what he was looking at on his phone
Flock Exposed Its AI-Powered Cameras to the Internet. We Tracked Ourselves
Flock left at least 60 of its people-tracking Condor PTZ cameras live streaming and exposed to the open internet.
www.404media.co
December 22, 2025 at 4:44 PM
And unlike other cameras, Flock's Condor PTZ cameras track people. 404 Media saw:
- A woman walking her dog on a bike path
- A man walking through a Macy’s parking lot
- Children at a playground
- A man rollerblading, and a zoom into exactly what he was looking at on his phone
- A woman walking her dog on a bike path
- A man walking through a Macy’s parking lot
- Children at a playground
- A man rollerblading, and a zoom into exactly what he was looking at on his phone
Reposted by Mandy J Watson
I submitted my claim for the Anthropic Copyright Settlement case today.
www.anthropiccopyrightsettlement.com
If AI tech bros violated your coprights work to feed their slop-vomiting machines, sign up for the settlement here.
Burn these fuckers and their empire of AI slop to the ground.
🔥👿🔥
www.anthropiccopyrightsettlement.com
If AI tech bros violated your coprights work to feed their slop-vomiting machines, sign up for the settlement here.
Burn these fuckers and their empire of AI slop to the ground.
🔥👿🔥
Homepage | Bartz v Anthropic Settlement Site
www.anthropiccopyrightsettlement.com
December 19, 2025 at 8:37 AM
I submitted my claim for the Anthropic Copyright Settlement case today.
www.anthropiccopyrightsettlement.com
If AI tech bros violated your coprights work to feed their slop-vomiting machines, sign up for the settlement here.
Burn these fuckers and their empire of AI slop to the ground.
🔥👿🔥
www.anthropiccopyrightsettlement.com
If AI tech bros violated your coprights work to feed their slop-vomiting machines, sign up for the settlement here.
Burn these fuckers and their empire of AI slop to the ground.
🔥👿🔥
Reposted by Mandy J Watson
When we say "no, everything hasn't been digitized," I need you to understand that we really mean is that virtually nothing has been digitized. This is because the realm of primary sources that historians use is incomprehensibly large.
Seems like it's worth posting this one again.
Why Do Historians Still Have To Go To Archives?
Why do historians go to archives? Hasn’t everything already been digitized?
contingentmagazine.org
December 22, 2025 at 1:40 AM
When we say "no, everything hasn't been digitized," I need you to understand that we really mean is that virtually nothing has been digitized. This is because the realm of primary sources that historians use is incomprehensibly large.
Reposted by Mandy J Watson
Do you think it's time for a new surge protector? Mine has fax and modem ports, and is from the "Radio Shack".
December 21, 2025 at 12:21 AM
Do you think it's time for a new surge protector? Mine has fax and modem ports, and is from the "Radio Shack".
Reposted by Mandy J Watson
Neither is herpes, but I’ll keep doing my work without either.
AI is not going to go away
December 21, 2025 at 2:22 PM
Neither is herpes, but I’ll keep doing my work without either.
Reposted by Mandy J Watson
“The last-minute christmas rush at the bookshop.” - my latest cartoon for @theguardian.com books
December 21, 2025 at 4:02 PM
“The last-minute christmas rush at the bookshop.” - my latest cartoon for @theguardian.com books
Cape Town summer solstice sunset webcam grab.
December 21, 2025 at 5:48 PM
Cape Town summer solstice sunset webcam grab.
Ok, kids, I have redacted paedos in my timeline and a game and zine to finish so I am going to close this tab and, well, not be here for a bit.
December 20, 2025 at 1:35 PM
Ok, kids, I have redacted paedos in my timeline and a game and zine to finish so I am going to close this tab and, well, not be here for a bit.
Reposted by Mandy J Watson
everyone dislikes genai in games, but kids and story-focused players the most.
sounds like we'll be ok. just have to stay the course here and the "inevitable" new technology nobody likes will die. again.
quanticfoundry.com/2025/12/18/g...
sounds like we'll be ok. just have to stay the course here and the "inevitable" new technology nobody likes will die. again.
quanticfoundry.com/2025/12/18/g...
Gamers Are Overwhelmingly Negative About Gen AI in Video Games, but Attitudes Vary by Gender, Age, and Gaming Motivations.
Learn about how gender, age, and gaming motivations shape the perception of Gen AI in video games.
quanticfoundry.com
December 20, 2025 at 12:53 AM
everyone dislikes genai in games, but kids and story-focused players the most.
sounds like we'll be ok. just have to stay the course here and the "inevitable" new technology nobody likes will die. again.
quanticfoundry.com/2025/12/18/g...
sounds like we'll be ok. just have to stay the course here and the "inevitable" new technology nobody likes will die. again.
quanticfoundry.com/2025/12/18/g...
Reposted by Mandy J Watson
While ReBoot isn't lost media by any means, the extent to which this restoration project has been going is simply INCREDIBLE.
They got the D-1 master tapes. Then the hardware to read them. Then service manuals to repair/maintain. THEN, CRITICAL REPLACEMENT PARTS. And now they're ERROR CORRECTING.
They got the D-1 master tapes. Then the hardware to read them. Then service manuals to repair/maintain. THEN, CRITICAL REPLACEMENT PARTS. And now they're ERROR CORRECTING.
I am in awe. The folks at ReBoot ReWind have done something astonishing. A remarkable feat of engineering, ingenuity and love. Check it out and give them some ReBooty love in return.
youtu.be/L00jx-GH2w8?...
youtu.be/L00jx-GH2w8?...
WE SAVED REBOOT
YouTube video by ReBoot ReWind
youtu.be
December 19, 2025 at 8:55 PM
While ReBoot isn't lost media by any means, the extent to which this restoration project has been going is simply INCREDIBLE.
They got the D-1 master tapes. Then the hardware to read them. Then service manuals to repair/maintain. THEN, CRITICAL REPLACEMENT PARTS. And now they're ERROR CORRECTING.
They got the D-1 master tapes. Then the hardware to read them. Then service manuals to repair/maintain. THEN, CRITICAL REPLACEMENT PARTS. And now they're ERROR CORRECTING.
Reposted by Mandy J Watson
this is a good reminder of how things that are shitty but have been accepted as normal and inevitable can actually turn out to be abnormal and evitable with some science, time, education and political will
December 19, 2025 at 8:44 PM
this is a good reminder of how things that are shitty but have been accepted as normal and inevitable can actually turn out to be abnormal and evitable with some science, time, education and political will