Steve
@snark.bsky.social
“Yes,” said the Indiana Zephyr, “what is the moral of the story?” (He/him; Ohio, USA)
"Harakiri" is my pick for best samurai movie ever made that doesn't star Toshiro Mifune. (That's a dumb hedge so I don't have to choose between "Harakiri" and "Samurai Rebellion".) Insanely good.
RIP Tatsuya Nakadai - one of the all time greats of world cinema variety.com/2025/film/ob...
Tatsuya Nakadai, Japanese Film Legend That Starred in ‘Ran,’ ‘Harakiri’ and ‘The Human Condition’ Trilogy, Dies at 92
Tatsuya Nakadai, one of Japan's most celebrated actors who was a frequent collaborator of Akira Kurosawa and Masaki Kobayashi, died. He was 92.
variety.com
November 11, 2025 at 2:05 PM
"Harakiri" is my pick for best samurai movie ever made that doesn't star Toshiro Mifune. (That's a dumb hedge so I don't have to choose between "Harakiri" and "Samurai Rebellion".) Insanely good.
Reposted by Steve
A subtle one that's easy to miss, but the fact that Andreesen and Musk both use "alpha" as slang for "information advantage" is a clear tell that their mental world is finance, not technology. They try to talk otherwise but they are investors not inventors.
*maximum alpha at 1.25x speed* continuously lives on in my head, unfortunately.
November 11, 2025 at 10:03 AM
A subtle one that's easy to miss, but the fact that Andreesen and Musk both use "alpha" as slang for "information advantage" is a clear tell that their mental world is finance, not technology. They try to talk otherwise but they are investors not inventors.
Reposted by Steve
My latest at @comicsjournal.bsky.social: I talked to @oglaf.bsky.social! Not the character, but rather, the people who create it.
They don't do many interviews, so this was a real treat. They're funny people! Turns out they're not super private, just...really bad at PR?
www.tcj.com/talking-ogla...
They don't do many interviews, so this was a real treat. They're funny people! Turns out they're not super private, just...really bad at PR?
www.tcj.com/talking-ogla...
Talking Oglaf with Trudy Cooper and Doug Bayne: 'We'd stay up all night drawing stuff to make each other laugh' - The Comics Journal
Other than some time off every year for Christmas, Trudy Cooper and Doug Bayne have delivered a new Oglaf comic, skewering fantasy tropes with absolutely not safe for work humor, every week since 2008...
www.tcj.com
November 10, 2025 at 4:23 PM
My latest at @comicsjournal.bsky.social: I talked to @oglaf.bsky.social! Not the character, but rather, the people who create it.
They don't do many interviews, so this was a real treat. They're funny people! Turns out they're not super private, just...really bad at PR?
www.tcj.com/talking-ogla...
They don't do many interviews, so this was a real treat. They're funny people! Turns out they're not super private, just...really bad at PR?
www.tcj.com/talking-ogla...
Reposted by Steve
Having watched the two Ortiz pitches in question, man, I do not think he is beating the allegations on that second one.
More from Passan: “The 23-page indictment against Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz lays out the alleged scheme for the pitchers to intentionally throw balls so bettors could wager on pitches to be balls or strikes. It started, prosecutors say, as early as May 2023 with Clase and later included Ortiz.”
Breaking news per Jeff Passan: “Cleveland Guardians pitchers Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz have been indicted by prosecutors in Brooklyn on a host of charges related to a scheme to rig bets on pitches thrown in MLB games. Ortiz was arrested in Boston earlier today. Clase is not currently in custody”
November 9, 2025 at 6:42 PM
Having watched the two Ortiz pitches in question, man, I do not think he is beating the allegations on that second one.
Reposted by Steve
Loving today's news that the mysterious "fedora man" outside the Louvre heist was actually a 15-year-old museum visitor who dresses like a 1940s French detective all the time, just because. apnews.com/article/louv...
Fedora man unmasked: Meet the teen behind the Louvre mystery photo
Fifteen-year-old Pedro Elias Garzon Delvaux has become an internet sensation after an Associated Press photo captured him outside the Louvre on the day of a crown jewels heist.
apnews.com
November 9, 2025 at 12:16 PM
Loving today's news that the mysterious "fedora man" outside the Louvre heist was actually a 15-year-old museum visitor who dresses like a 1940s French detective all the time, just because. apnews.com/article/louv...
Reposted by Steve
it is confusing to be annoyed at this because 1) obviously it will not work except to reinforce racial bias, it's bullshit and 2) I fucking already did this ten years ago building on other peoples' work and we KNOW it's bullshit. Like in addition to being pernicious there is zero that's novel
A new paper suggests a photo can tell a recruiter much about an applicant’s personality
Should facial analysis help determine whom companies hire?
A new paper suggests a photo can tell a recruiter much about an applicant’s personality
econ.st
November 6, 2025 at 11:05 PM
it is confusing to be annoyed at this because 1) obviously it will not work except to reinforce racial bias, it's bullshit and 2) I fucking already did this ten years ago building on other peoples' work and we KNOW it's bullshit. Like in addition to being pernicious there is zero that's novel
This is a wonderful story. (Gift link.) defector.com/wilbur-huckl...
Wilbur Huckle For President: Solving A 61-Year-Old Mets Mystery | Defector
Earlier this year, on a cold Sunday in January, I walked into an antique store in a Washington D.C. suburb. When I go to a shop like this one, I’m not looking for chairs or lamps. My interests are a l...
defector.com
November 6, 2025 at 3:34 PM
This is a wonderful story. (Gift link.) defector.com/wilbur-huckl...
Reposted by Steve
WIP: that gum you like is coming back in style (January 5th)
November 6, 2025 at 2:26 PM
WIP: that gum you like is coming back in style (January 5th)
Reposted by Steve
This may interest some of you:
The first space opera by a Black Author, John P. Moore's THE MARTIAN TRILOGY, is now available, thanks to the work of Dr. Lisa P. Yaszek and others. Originally published in THE ILLUSTRATED FEATURE SECTION in 1930.
www.amazon.com/Martian-Tril...
The first space opera by a Black Author, John P. Moore's THE MARTIAN TRILOGY, is now available, thanks to the work of Dr. Lisa P. Yaszek and others. Originally published in THE ILLUSTRATED FEATURE SECTION in 1930.
www.amazon.com/Martian-Tril...
November 5, 2025 at 5:09 PM
This may interest some of you:
The first space opera by a Black Author, John P. Moore's THE MARTIAN TRILOGY, is now available, thanks to the work of Dr. Lisa P. Yaszek and others. Originally published in THE ILLUSTRATED FEATURE SECTION in 1930.
www.amazon.com/Martian-Tril...
The first space opera by a Black Author, John P. Moore's THE MARTIAN TRILOGY, is now available, thanks to the work of Dr. Lisa P. Yaszek and others. Originally published in THE ILLUSTRATED FEATURE SECTION in 1930.
www.amazon.com/Martian-Tril...
Reposted by Steve
Here's one for the internet olds: looking back at the curious case of Kaycee Nicole, the 1999-2001 internet hoax that duped a bunch of protobloggers. www.switchboardmagazine.com/monthly/the-...
The Curious Case of Kacyee Nicole — Switchboard Magazine
In 1999, the early internet felt like a digital frontier—and few stories capture its innocence and deceit like the saga of Kaycee Nicole. Written in cinematic detail, this longform feature traces how ...
www.switchboardmagazine.com
November 4, 2025 at 11:37 PM
Here's one for the internet olds: looking back at the curious case of Kaycee Nicole, the 1999-2001 internet hoax that duped a bunch of protobloggers. www.switchboardmagazine.com/monthly/the-...
Imagine describing Smithereens (“What if Desperately Seeking Susan was realist and an enormous bummer?”) as “pop-y”.
the biggest takeaway? Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! is the most important, influential cultural product of the century (so far)
November 4, 2025 at 2:25 PM
Imagine describing Smithereens (“What if Desperately Seeking Susan was realist and an enormous bummer?”) as “pop-y”.
Reposted by Steve
People are focused on youth, socialism, Islam, and social media, but the thing that got me to pay attention to the Mamdani campaign was the carefully constructed wholesomeness.
November 4, 2025 at 1:04 AM
People are focused on youth, socialism, Islam, and social media, but the thing that got me to pay attention to the Mamdani campaign was the carefully constructed wholesomeness.
Reposted by Steve
if there was a rich person with the will, you could build the most incredible news organization that has ever existed just from the wreckage of this year alone.
I was laid off from Teen Vogue today along with multiple other staffers, and today is my last day.
certainly more to come from me when the dust has settled more, but to my knowledge, after today, there will be no politics staffers at Teen Vogue.
certainly more to come from me when the dust has settled more, but to my knowledge, after today, there will be no politics staffers at Teen Vogue.
November 3, 2025 at 8:11 PM
if there was a rich person with the will, you could build the most incredible news organization that has ever existed just from the wreckage of this year alone.
Celine et Julie vont en bateau (1974)
November 3, 2025 at 5:26 PM
Celine et Julie vont en bateau (1974)
Reposted by Steve
Hey, Kids, Stories!
Clarkesworld # 230.
Features my science fiction novella THE APOLOGISTS.
Also stories by @kashinggiwa.bsky.social and @izom-chisom.bsky.social and others!
Clarkesworld # 230.
Features my science fiction novella THE APOLOGISTS.
Also stories by @kashinggiwa.bsky.social and @izom-chisom.bsky.social and others!
Issue 230
Clarkesworld Science Fiction and Fantasy Magazine and Podcast.
clarkesworldmagazine.com
November 1, 2025 at 8:28 PM
Hey, Kids, Stories!
Clarkesworld # 230.
Features my science fiction novella THE APOLOGISTS.
Also stories by @kashinggiwa.bsky.social and @izom-chisom.bsky.social and others!
Clarkesworld # 230.
Features my science fiction novella THE APOLOGISTS.
Also stories by @kashinggiwa.bsky.social and @izom-chisom.bsky.social and others!
Reposted by Steve
When i met the great Sandy Koufax.
I was about 18 or 19. Mr Koufax came to dinner. (Photo by F Sinatra)
I was about 18 or 19. Mr Koufax came to dinner. (Photo by F Sinatra)
October 30, 2025 at 1:25 AM
When i met the great Sandy Koufax.
I was about 18 or 19. Mr Koufax came to dinner. (Photo by F Sinatra)
I was about 18 or 19. Mr Koufax came to dinner. (Photo by F Sinatra)
Wile E. Coyote could never.
Mae West goes batty for Belle of the Nineties (1934).
October 29, 2025 at 7:20 PM
Wile E. Coyote could never.
As always, Jeremy Peters and the NYT think some random history professor who has assigned CLR James is "elite" and doctrinaire, but a man like Elon Musk is too complex too describe politically. (Note also which "critics" are allowed to "say" without getting contradicted by Peters.)
October 29, 2025 at 12:44 PM
As always, Jeremy Peters and the NYT think some random history professor who has assigned CLR James is "elite" and doctrinaire, but a man like Elon Musk is too complex too describe politically. (Note also which "critics" are allowed to "say" without getting contradicted by Peters.)
You can't win an election by blaming Glonzo, the terrifying kaiju who eats electricity, for inflation if voters think your party is responsible for Glonzo.
I guess this is the savvy take or whatever but as an empirical matter, it doesn't work to reinforce the narratives of your opponents. If Democrats start start saying, "immigrants are the reason crime rates are high!" they won't convince anti-immigrant voters and they'll alienate pro-immigrant voters
October 28, 2025 at 6:17 PM
You can't win an election by blaming Glonzo, the terrifying kaiju who eats electricity, for inflation if voters think your party is responsible for Glonzo.
Reposted by Steve
Time for 2025 updates to my annual “opinions about solar” thread. If you like these, you might like the second edition of my book, Solar Power Finance Without The Jargon. A 30% discount code WSQ0437 is valid on publisher website until end of November 2025.
www.worldscientific.com/worldscibook...
www.worldscientific.com/worldscibook...
Solar Power Finance Without the Jargon
www.worldscientific.com
October 20, 2025 at 7:43 AM
Time for 2025 updates to my annual “opinions about solar” thread. If you like these, you might like the second edition of my book, Solar Power Finance Without The Jargon. A 30% discount code WSQ0437 is valid on publisher website until end of November 2025.
www.worldscientific.com/worldscibook...
www.worldscientific.com/worldscibook...
Reposted by Steve
"This fucking sucks" and "all is lost" are two different sentences.
Don't say the second when you mean the first.
Don't say the second when you mean the first.
October 27, 2025 at 3:29 PM
"This fucking sucks" and "all is lost" are two different sentences.
Don't say the second when you mean the first.
Don't say the second when you mean the first.
Reposted by Steve
Nerds: You can set up an owncast.online server on a random cloud service, then stream videos to it via ffmpeg, and invite your friends to chat and hang while they watch a movie. This is what I do with the fellas. Right now we're watching Playtime by Tati and winding down the night.
Owncast
Owncast is your self-hosted live streaming solution.
owncast.online
October 27, 2025 at 2:46 AM
Nerds: You can set up an owncast.online server on a random cloud service, then stream videos to it via ffmpeg, and invite your friends to chat and hang while they watch a movie. This is what I do with the fellas. Right now we're watching Playtime by Tati and winding down the night.
Quote-posted for Halloween handle reasons.
"You know how certain breakfast cereals, desserts, and drinks have far too little actual cocoa to legally be called chocolate, so they use the advertising nonsense word "chocolatey" to describe the flavor? Well, The Evil Of Frankenstein is "Frankensteiny.""
boxd.it/btoQMt #FilmSky #horrorsky
boxd.it/btoQMt #FilmSky #horrorsky
A ★★★ review of The Evil of Frankenstein (1964)
After obtaining the rights from Universal Studios to use their trademarked likeness of the Frankenstein Monster and the elements of their Frankenstein films, Hammer Films made The Evil Of Frankenstein...
boxd.it
October 24, 2025 at 5:49 PM
Quote-posted for Halloween handle reasons.