Mark Sample
@samplereality.bsky.social
Professor of Film, Media, and Digital Studies at a small liberal arts college.
Digital skulduggery and more
☞ https://www.samplereality.com ☜
Digital skulduggery and more
☞ https://www.samplereality.com ☜
Imagine your provost or HR secretly recording your teaching because they don't like what you have to say.
UNC-Chapel Hill Preps Policy on Recording Professors
UNC-Chapel Hill aims to clarify guidelines after a secret recording controversy involving Larry Chavis and growing fear of surveillance.
www.theassemblync.com
February 10, 2026 at 3:06 PM
Imagine your provost or HR secretly recording your teaching because they don't like what you have to say.
Also a requirement for various forms of insurance that institutions carry, including ransomware insurance
February 9, 2026 at 8:00 PM
Also a requirement for various forms of insurance that institutions carry, including ransomware insurance
Getting dark indeed
After a long time, Frog said “Toad, it is getting dark. We should be going to sleep now.”
February 7, 2026 at 3:00 AM
Getting dark indeed
that’s hilarious!
February 7, 2026 at 12:59 AM
that’s hilarious!
Times New Resistance - a free font that looks like Times Roman, except it autocorrects certain phrases. Type "Trump" and it autocorrects to "Donald Trump is a felon." About three dozen other corrections in there as well. Perfect for installing on your MAGA uncle's laptop.
Times New Resistance — Abby Haddican
Times New Resistance is a font that autocorrects the autocrats. Download, distribute, disrupt! Free, just like America used to be.
www.abbyhaddican.com
February 6, 2026 at 11:47 PM
Times New Resistance - a free font that looks like Times Roman, except it autocorrects certain phrases. Type "Trump" and it autocorrects to "Donald Trump is a felon." About three dozen other corrections in there as well. Perfect for installing on your MAGA uncle's laptop.
I made a thing. It is good. You can't see it yet.
February 6, 2026 at 7:21 PM
I made a thing. It is good. You can't see it yet.
reading all the dismissals of AI slop while also reading dan brown's latest novel
a man wearing glasses is making a funny face and looking at the camera .
Alt: a man wearing glasses is making a funny face and looking at the camera .
media.tenor.com
February 5, 2026 at 6:35 PM
reading all the dismissals of AI slop while also reading dan brown's latest novel
I'm pivoting to text
February 4, 2026 at 5:27 PM
I'm pivoting to text
You'd think books would be the one thing the owner of Amazon would see the value of.
Wait, never mind. We're talking about Bezos.
Wait, never mind. We're talking about Bezos.
February 4, 2026 at 3:16 PM
You'd think books would be the one thing the owner of Amazon would see the value of.
Wait, never mind. We're talking about Bezos.
Wait, never mind. We're talking about Bezos.
Remember: "Conservatism consists of exactly one proposition, to wit: There must be in-groups whom the law protects but does not bind, alongside out-groups whom the law binds but does not protect."
University of Illinois college republicans advocate for executing protesters as “traitors” with art that takes a disturbing killing and makes it even more extreme.
dailyillini.com/news-stories...
dailyillini.com/news-stories...
‘Fell the enemies:’ Illini Republicans support ICE amid killings - The Daily Illini
In a post that included a graphic of a presumed officer holding a gun to someone's head, Illini Republicans stated that they “stand with ICE."
dailyillini.com
February 2, 2026 at 12:48 PM
Remember: "Conservatism consists of exactly one proposition, to wit: There must be in-groups whom the law protects but does not bind, alongside out-groups whom the law binds but does not protect."
The venerable annual Interactive Fiction Competition @ifcomp.org just announced its rules on generative AI for the 2026 competition. Essentially no player-facing text or assets may be created with AI. https://blog.ifcomp.org/post/807273791356010496/ifcomp-2026-generative-ai-policy-update
February 1, 2026 at 4:09 AM
The venerable annual Interactive Fiction Competition @ifcomp.org just announced its rules on generative AI for the 2026 competition. Essentially no player-facing text or assets may be created with AI. https://blog.ifcomp.org/post/807273791356010496/ifcomp-2026-generative-ai-policy-update
The most I’ve ever seen here since I moved down in 2002!
February 1, 2026 at 1:15 AM
The most I’ve ever seen here since I moved down in 2002!
You don't want to hear the names of 5 classes I took as an undergrad. Depressingly boring. Which is why, I guess, the courses I teach now have names like "Death in the Digital Age," "Monsters," or "Hacking, Remixing, and Design."
January 31, 2026 at 5:43 PM
You don't want to hear the names of 5 classes I took as an undergrad. Depressingly boring. Which is why, I guess, the courses I teach now have names like "Death in the Digital Age," "Monsters," or "Hacking, Remixing, and Design."
For Aesthetics, there's this Ted Chiang piece. Definitely provoked a good class discussion. www.newyorker.com/culture/the-...
Why A.I. Isn’t Going to Make Art
To create a novel or a painting, an artist makes choices that are fundamentally alien to artificial intelligence.
www.newyorker.com
January 31, 2026 at 5:41 PM
For Aesthetics, there's this Ted Chiang piece. Definitely provoked a good class discussion. www.newyorker.com/culture/the-...
More on the journalistic side of things, but I've used these two pieces when teaching about AI & intimacy:
www.theverge.com/c/24300623/a...
www.nytimes.com/2025/01/15/t...
www.theverge.com/c/24300623/a...
www.nytimes.com/2025/01/15/t...
What do you love when you fall for AI?
Inside the surprisingly meaningful, unexpectedly heartbreaking, and deeply confusing reality of AI relationships.
www.theverge.com
January 31, 2026 at 5:40 PM
More on the journalistic side of things, but I've used these two pieces when teaching about AI & intimacy:
www.theverge.com/c/24300623/a...
www.nytimes.com/2025/01/15/t...
www.theverge.com/c/24300623/a...
www.nytimes.com/2025/01/15/t...
Ironically, "Freedom Government" is probably how they see themselves right now. Anyway, glad to see the article out!
January 29, 2026 at 6:50 PM
Ironically, "Freedom Government" is probably how they see themselves right now. Anyway, glad to see the article out!
I've never tried that but should investigate...
January 29, 2026 at 1:40 AM
I've never tried that but should investigate...
And oh, while Infocom is on my mind...don't forget you can follow @youarecarrying.bsky.social to see random room descriptions from all the infocom games. And reply 'i' to the bot to see your inventory
January 28, 2026 at 7:03 PM
And oh, while Infocom is on my mind...don't forget you can follow @youarecarrying.bsky.social to see random room descriptions from all the infocom games. And reply 'i' to the bot to see your inventory
Zarf's Visible Zorker was so cool, glad to see he's giving ALL the Infocom games the same treatment. Support his new Patreon if you can for this non-trivial media archaeological work!
Replay for the morning crowd:
I have launched a Patreon to do Visible Zork 3, followed by all the rest of the Infocom games. One per month. There's an associated Discord for game discussion as we run through them.
blog.zarfhome.com/2026/01/the-...
www.patreon.com/VisibleZorker
I have launched a Patreon to do Visible Zork 3, followed by all the rest of the Infocom games. One per month. There's an associated Discord for game discussion as we run through them.
blog.zarfhome.com/2026/01/the-...
www.patreon.com/VisibleZorker
The Visible Zorker Project (and Patreon)
Announcing the Visible Zorker Project and Patreon. The plan: deconstruct every Infocom game, one per month, and make the source code explorable.
blog.zarfhome.com
January 28, 2026 at 4:42 PM
Zarf's Visible Zorker was so cool, glad to see he's giving ALL the Infocom games the same treatment. Support his new Patreon if you can for this non-trivial media archaeological work!
The world is falling apart, but 2026 is the year I finally get my use of Obsidian to stick.
January 28, 2026 at 4:22 PM
The world is falling apart, but 2026 is the year I finally get my use of Obsidian to stick.
Stop supporting ed tech or predatory platforms like academia dot edu. Start supporting community-led initiatives like Knowledge Commons (Humanities Commons), built by academics *for* academics.
🧵 1/3 Today we’re announcing a new individual membership program, KC Champions, available through our storefront! 💪
Our platform is available free of charge, but we've designed an offering for those who want just a bit extra and who want to help support us.
🔗 about.hcommons.org/2026/01/26/b...
Our platform is available free of charge, but we've designed an offering for those who want just a bit extra and who want to help support us.
🔗 about.hcommons.org/2026/01/26/b...
Become a KC Champion – About Knowledge Commons
about.hcommons.org
January 27, 2026 at 8:08 PM
Stop supporting ed tech or predatory platforms like academia dot edu. Start supporting community-led initiatives like Knowledge Commons (Humanities Commons), built by academics *for* academics.
Just changed that setting
January 26, 2026 at 4:32 PM
Just changed that setting
Reposted by Mark Sample
Happy to have some moral clarity at the head of my union these days.
Join AAUP. Your dues pay for these legal victories we keep wrapping up and these trainings that have taught a thousand new organizers how to do the work.
Join AAUP. Your dues pay for these legal victories we keep wrapping up and these trainings that have taught a thousand new organizers how to do the work.
"These court victories tell us that … we have a right to say that Charlie Kirk said some disgusting things, and just because we’re faculty members doesn’t mean we don’t have the right to say those things.”
– Todd Wolfson, AAUP President
– Todd Wolfson, AAUP President
Faculty firings over Kirk commentary are unraveling
The fierce First Amendment clash between faculty and their colleges sparked by the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk is starting to tip in the educators’ favor.
www.politico.com
January 26, 2026 at 4:29 PM
Happy to have some moral clarity at the head of my union these days.
Join AAUP. Your dues pay for these legal victories we keep wrapping up and these trainings that have taught a thousand new organizers how to do the work.
Join AAUP. Your dues pay for these legal victories we keep wrapping up and these trainings that have taught a thousand new organizers how to do the work.
The answer is No
Do thou, too, remain warm among ice.
January 25, 2026 at 3:48 AM
The answer is No