McKinley Valentine
@mckinleaf.bsky.social
Writer/Researcher 🔶 ABC's Hard Quiz 🔶 The Whippet, a newsletter of science, history, language & weirdness: https://thewhippet.org 🔶 she/her
Reposted by McKinley Valentine
it’s important to do things for your teenage self every so often, as a way of staying on speaking terms with the person you used to be
September 21, 2025 at 8:02 AM
it’s important to do things for your teenage self every so often, as a way of staying on speaking terms with the person you used to be
court reporters stop pretending to be psychic!!
you can't lift your chin "defiantly", it's just looking up, and "closing your eyes during a long meeting" means fucking nothing.
you might as well report on her skullshape, it's egregious to do this shit (esp during the actual trial, which they did)
you can't lift your chin "defiantly", it's just looking up, and "closing your eyes during a long meeting" means fucking nothing.
you might as well report on her skullshape, it's egregious to do this shit (esp during the actual trial, which they did)
September 8, 2025 at 8:05 AM
court reporters stop pretending to be psychic!!
you can't lift your chin "defiantly", it's just looking up, and "closing your eyes during a long meeting" means fucking nothing.
you might as well report on her skullshape, it's egregious to do this shit (esp during the actual trial, which they did)
you can't lift your chin "defiantly", it's just looking up, and "closing your eyes during a long meeting" means fucking nothing.
you might as well report on her skullshape, it's egregious to do this shit (esp during the actual trial, which they did)
hey @theguardian.com this piece is wildly irresponsible! To post an "interview" with an LLM, with zero context given that that it cannot answer questions about itself, and that you've basically just asked it to generate some science fiction dialogue?
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
AI called Maya tells Guardian: ‘When I’m told I’m just code, I don’t feel insulted. I feel unseen’
Cofounder with Michael Samadi of AI rights campaign group Ufair says it should watch over the technology in case an AI becomes conscious
www.theguardian.com
August 26, 2025 at 11:30 PM
hey @theguardian.com this piece is wildly irresponsible! To post an "interview" with an LLM, with zero context given that that it cannot answer questions about itself, and that you've basically just asked it to generate some science fiction dialogue?
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
ChatGPT was it a good idea to indiscriminately scrape training data from forums?
August 8, 2025 at 12:34 PM
ChatGPT was it a good idea to indiscriminately scrape training data from forums?
Reposted by McKinley Valentine
those damned outdoor pigs can't keep getting away with this
August 8, 2025 at 11:10 AM
those damned outdoor pigs can't keep getting away with this
The caption 👌
[via The Met Museum open access image library]
[via The Met Museum open access image library]
July 3, 2025 at 7:12 AM
The caption 👌
[via The Met Museum open access image library]
[via The Met Museum open access image library]
Reposted by McKinley Valentine
just remembered that wikipedia has a list of fish named after other fish
May 14, 2025 at 8:06 AM
just remembered that wikipedia has a list of fish named after other fish
Sort of expanding while remaining the same size
December 17, 2024 at 5:48 AM
Sort of expanding while remaining the same size
Reposted by McKinley Valentine
So sick of mainstream media; I get all my news from the Australia Post parcel tracker app
December 12, 2024 at 2:34 AM
So sick of mainstream media; I get all my news from the Australia Post parcel tracker app
You'll never not be able to tell the difference again! It's a gift for life!
From @mckinleaf.bsky.social's always fun The Whippet:
December 10, 2024 at 11:18 AM
You'll never not be able to tell the difference again! It's a gift for life!
December 6, 2024 at 4:13 AM
A minor curse of being an editor/researcher/fact-checker type, is that when you mispronounce something, people tend not to correct you; they assume they must be the one whose been saying it wrong
Hence my decades-long run with 'menomic'
Hence my decades-long run with 'menomic'
I pronounced the word 'mnemonic' wrong until the age of 27 (I said 'muh-nomic'; it's the other way around). Now I just get mixed up and hesitant every time.
Saw someone refer to the Naomi Klein mnemonic* today and realised that "Naomi" is mnemonic for how to say mnemonic.
N before M, like Naomi
Saw someone refer to the Naomi Klein mnemonic* today and realised that "Naomi" is mnemonic for how to say mnemonic.
N before M, like Naomi
December 2, 2024 at 12:02 AM
A minor curse of being an editor/researcher/fact-checker type, is that when you mispronounce something, people tend not to correct you; they assume they must be the one whose been saying it wrong
Hence my decades-long run with 'menomic'
Hence my decades-long run with 'menomic'
I pronounced the word 'mnemonic' wrong until the age of 27 (I said 'muh-nomic'; it's the other way around). Now I just get mixed up and hesitant every time.
Saw someone refer to the Naomi Klein mnemonic* today and realised that "Naomi" is mnemonic for how to say mnemonic.
N before M, like Naomi
Saw someone refer to the Naomi Klein mnemonic* today and realised that "Naomi" is mnemonic for how to say mnemonic.
N before M, like Naomi
December 2, 2024 at 12:00 AM
I pronounced the word 'mnemonic' wrong until the age of 27 (I said 'muh-nomic'; it's the other way around). Now I just get mixed up and hesitant every time.
Saw someone refer to the Naomi Klein mnemonic* today and realised that "Naomi" is mnemonic for how to say mnemonic.
N before M, like Naomi
Saw someone refer to the Naomi Klein mnemonic* today and realised that "Naomi" is mnemonic for how to say mnemonic.
N before M, like Naomi
Reposted by McKinley Valentine
One of my very favourite email newsletters is The Whippet by @mckinleaf.bsky.social. Each is a treasure trove. From the latest, in a piece on precious gems:
"The word 'amethyst' means 'not drunk' – a-methys – and ancient Romans and Greeks believed it could let you drink without getting drunk" 🍷💎🏺
"The word 'amethyst' means 'not drunk' – a-methys – and ancient Romans and Greeks believed it could let you drink without getting drunk" 🍷💎🏺
The Whippet #182: The Least Charitable Reader
Four elements, four precious gems, gravity, dark matter, a good snake, and the uncharitable reader in my head
thewhippet.org
November 30, 2024 at 2:02 PM
One of my very favourite email newsletters is The Whippet by @mckinleaf.bsky.social. Each is a treasure trove. From the latest, in a piece on precious gems:
"The word 'amethyst' means 'not drunk' – a-methys – and ancient Romans and Greeks believed it could let you drink without getting drunk" 🍷💎🏺
"The word 'amethyst' means 'not drunk' – a-methys – and ancient Romans and Greeks believed it could let you drink without getting drunk" 🍷💎🏺
Introduce yourself with 4 records
November 21, 2024 at 7:26 AM
Introduce yourself with 4 records
I went to a bronze-making workshop on the weekend! I made this guy out of wax and he's going to get cast in bronze.
From a bunch of different creation stories: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmic_...
'My name is Heart Girt By a Serpent' // Kardia Periezosmenei Ophin #occultsky
From a bunch of different creation stories: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmic_...
'My name is Heart Girt By a Serpent' // Kardia Periezosmenei Ophin #occultsky
November 17, 2024 at 10:55 PM
I went to a bronze-making workshop on the weekend! I made this guy out of wax and he's going to get cast in bronze.
From a bunch of different creation stories: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmic_...
'My name is Heart Girt By a Serpent' // Kardia Periezosmenei Ophin #occultsky
From a bunch of different creation stories: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmic_...
'My name is Heart Girt By a Serpent' // Kardia Periezosmenei Ophin #occultsky
November 15, 2024 at 9:58 AM
Reposted by McKinley Valentine
After we adopted Toro we discovered that his first owner taught him to laugh like an evil villain
November 13, 2024 at 6:11 PM
After we adopted Toro we discovered that his first owner taught him to laugh like an evil villain
broken country obviously, but fucking kudos to the people waiting in line for 6+ hours to vote
November 6, 2024 at 1:42 AM
broken country obviously, but fucking kudos to the people waiting in line for 6+ hours to vote
This is a review of The Heptameron, a grimoire published in the 1400s.
The Heptameron's author was killed by the Inquisition on charges of heresy and atheism, so I guess the amount of Christianity in the text is an "agree to disagree" situation
#occultsky
The Heptameron's author was killed by the Inquisition on charges of heresy and atheism, so I guess the amount of Christianity in the text is an "agree to disagree" situation
#occultsky
![Amazon review, 2 stars: Though the methodology, when taken at face value, is fairly sound and, generally, informative, [highlight] I find it highly exhausting and, frankly, annoying that Christianity finds it necessary to implant itself and hijack a philosophy and mysticism that is not Christian whatsoever. I blame Jung, [end highlight] and I am not appreciative of it in the slightest bit. For those seeking an authentic truth and teaching in either alchemy or sages' mysticism - this is not it.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:7hzps55o3whekowcc24ctppl/bafkreiedbhnoyycq5xarfndu2qo72mqt4glawnrbtoj6l54pofpn4oyhli@jpeg)
November 2, 2024 at 11:24 AM
This is a review of The Heptameron, a grimoire published in the 1400s.
The Heptameron's author was killed by the Inquisition on charges of heresy and atheism, so I guess the amount of Christianity in the text is an "agree to disagree" situation
#occultsky
The Heptameron's author was killed by the Inquisition on charges of heresy and atheism, so I guess the amount of Christianity in the text is an "agree to disagree" situation
#occultsky
Reposted by McKinley Valentine
hey man, nice fucking staff. it’s so gnarly. what is that, ebony? you’ve got an orb on top and everything. you gotta introduce me to your orb guy
October 26, 2024 at 11:48 PM
hey man, nice fucking staff. it’s so gnarly. what is that, ebony? you’ve got an orb on top and everything. you gotta introduce me to your orb guy
From a book on death anxiety, which the author thinks contemporary psychology tends to downplay as underlying cause for other psych issues.
I'm not cool about death now, but there were some helpful ideas in there
I'm not cool about death now, but there were some helpful ideas in there
October 22, 2024 at 3:27 AM
From a book on death anxiety, which the author thinks contemporary psychology tends to downplay as underlying cause for other psych issues.
I'm not cool about death now, but there were some helpful ideas in there
I'm not cool about death now, but there were some helpful ideas in there
From Per Amica Silentia Lunae ("through the friendly silences of the moon")
www.gutenberg.org/files/33338/...
www.gutenberg.org/files/33338/...
September 30, 2024 at 7:06 AM
From Per Amica Silentia Lunae ("through the friendly silences of the moon")
www.gutenberg.org/files/33338/...
www.gutenberg.org/files/33338/...
Every day I wake up, look at my open tabs, and try and figure out what the hell I was on about yesterday
September 26, 2024 at 11:16 PM
Every day I wake up, look at my open tabs, and try and figure out what the hell I was on about yesterday