Austin Pocus
@ajpocus.bsky.social
Software developer, writer, sci fi and fantasy reader, Yooper. (he/him)
Pinned
“Slaughter House Five” by Kurt Vonnegut turned my brain inside out. My high school English teacher told me “it’s about a WWII soldier who becomes unstuck in time and gets kidnapped by aliens who put him in a zoo to mate with the porn queen of earth”. I pretty much had to read it.
performative reading, lack of reading skills, nobody's reading anymore -- NO!
tell me about a book that changed you
for me? the *extremely* ahistorical novel, THE AGONY AND THE ECSTASY which I read at 13 and was like, "Oh, art can be *everything* to a maker, for good and bad"
tell me about a book that changed you
for me? the *extremely* ahistorical novel, THE AGONY AND THE ECSTASY which I read at 13 and was like, "Oh, art can be *everything* to a maker, for good and bad"
November 12, 2025 at 5:58 AM
“Slaughter House Five” by Kurt Vonnegut turned my brain inside out. My high school English teacher told me “it’s about a WWII soldier who becomes unstuck in time and gets kidnapped by aliens who put him in a zoo to mate with the porn queen of earth”. I pretty much had to read it.
I’m a little late to the spooky name party but my name was *made* for spooky season
October 11, 2025 at 9:50 PM
I’m a little late to the spooky name party but my name was *made* for spooky season
Reposted by Austin Pocus
enshittification | noun | when a digital platform is made worse for users, in order to increase profits
September 3, 2025 at 8:22 PM
enshittification | noun | when a digital platform is made worse for users, in order to increase profits
Reposted by Austin Pocus
time for web directories and web rings to make a comeback
July 27, 2025 at 3:04 AM
time for web directories and web rings to make a comeback
Reposted by Austin Pocus
This isn’t even an AI post as much as it is another anecdote in how social relations in America have been put through a blender of extreme market extraction at the same time that govt/charitable support for 3rd spaces, extracurriculars, social clubs, etc have fallen to their lowest point in decades.
July 14, 2025 at 1:25 AM
This isn’t even an AI post as much as it is another anecdote in how social relations in America have been put through a blender of extreme market extraction at the same time that govt/charitable support for 3rd spaces, extracurriculars, social clubs, etc have fallen to their lowest point in decades.
I could be out and about all day as a 12 year old and my parents didn’t know where I was for sure and couldn’t get ahold of me (no cell phones).
Going to Blockbuster and renting a VHS. “Be kind, rewind.”
Calling your friend’s house phone and the dread of talking to their parents to ask for them.
Going to Blockbuster and renting a VHS. “Be kind, rewind.”
Calling your friend’s house phone and the dread of talking to their parents to ask for them.
What’s a real thing from your childhood that kids these days would find completely foreign?
Like, how we used to be able to walk right up to the gate to meet our family coming off a flight.
Or how we had to pick a spot to meet at the theater BEFORE we went.
Like, how we used to be able to walk right up to the gate to meet our family coming off a flight.
Or how we had to pick a spot to meet at the theater BEFORE we went.
July 14, 2025 at 2:01 AM
I could be out and about all day as a 12 year old and my parents didn’t know where I was for sure and couldn’t get ahold of me (no cell phones).
Going to Blockbuster and renting a VHS. “Be kind, rewind.”
Calling your friend’s house phone and the dread of talking to their parents to ask for them.
Going to Blockbuster and renting a VHS. “Be kind, rewind.”
Calling your friend’s house phone and the dread of talking to their parents to ask for them.
Reposted by Austin Pocus
The em dash is HIGH LITERATURE. I am aghast at them coming for the em dash as an AI giveaway. Pry it from poets & fiction writers who write sentence-long paragraphs' dead hands!
July 7, 2025 at 12:01 AM
The em dash is HIGH LITERATURE. I am aghast at them coming for the em dash as an AI giveaway. Pry it from poets & fiction writers who write sentence-long paragraphs' dead hands!
How much you wanna bet they ran data through AI to classify people as citizens or not? The article doesn’t say, but it does say there are inconsistencies in the data which combined with AI would make for false positives/negatives.
Do you really want this government to have databases on us?
Do you really want this government to have databases on us?
Per @npr.org, the Department of Homeland Security, in partnership with the White House U.S. DOGE Service, has built a searchable national citizenship register with data from the Social Security Administration & immigration records— without public notice & comment.
Infrastructure for a police state.
Infrastructure for a police state.
The Trump administration is building a national citizenship data system
The Department of Homeland Security, with help from DOGE, has rolled out a tool that purports to be able to check the citizenship status of almost all Americans.
www.npr.org
June 30, 2025 at 4:46 AM
How much you wanna bet they ran data through AI to classify people as citizens or not? The article doesn’t say, but it does say there are inconsistencies in the data which combined with AI would make for false positives/negatives.
Do you really want this government to have databases on us?
Do you really want this government to have databases on us?
Reposted by Austin Pocus
Worth a watch:
Head of Signal, Meredith Whittaker, on so-called "agentic AI" and the difference between how it's described in the marketing and what access and control it would actually require to work as advertised.
Head of Signal, Meredith Whittaker, on so-called "agentic AI" and the difference between how it's described in the marketing and what access and control it would actually require to work as advertised.
June 26, 2025 at 4:28 PM
Worth a watch:
Head of Signal, Meredith Whittaker, on so-called "agentic AI" and the difference between how it's described in the marketing and what access and control it would actually require to work as advertised.
Head of Signal, Meredith Whittaker, on so-called "agentic AI" and the difference between how it's described in the marketing and what access and control it would actually require to work as advertised.
Lately, anger is a big factor in at least one of my stories. Even when I'm writing something less angry, I am often fueled by things that piss me off, things about the world that I want to imagine differently. I often enjoy writing because I get to transmute those emotions into art.
#LateNightWrite
#LateNightWrite
First question: We recently discussed Pride, let's talk about wrath. How often does anger or spite feature as a motivation in your stories, or as a personal motivation to write?
#LateNightWrite
#LateNightWrite
June 24, 2025 at 4:16 AM
Lately, anger is a big factor in at least one of my stories. Even when I'm writing something less angry, I am often fueled by things that piss me off, things about the world that I want to imagine differently. I often enjoy writing because I get to transmute those emotions into art.
#LateNightWrite
#LateNightWrite
Hi there, #LateNightWrite! I'm Austin, coder by day, writer by night. I'm just getting started on a couple WIPs: a revenge story in a high-tech hellscape, and a utopian daydream about psychic revolutionaries.
I love metal! 🤘 I like punk, hip-hop, and funk, too. But metal is how I got into music.
I love metal! 🤘 I like punk, hip-hop, and funk, too. But metal is how I got into music.
Kicking off tonight's #LateNightWrite with introductions: tell us about yourself and your WIP(s)!
Bonus Question: what are your favourite music genres? Any fellow metalheads out there? \m/
Bonus Question: what are your favourite music genres? Any fellow metalheads out there? \m/
June 24, 2025 at 3:59 AM
Hi there, #LateNightWrite! I'm Austin, coder by day, writer by night. I'm just getting started on a couple WIPs: a revenge story in a high-tech hellscape, and a utopian daydream about psychic revolutionaries.
I love metal! 🤘 I like punk, hip-hop, and funk, too. But metal is how I got into music.
I love metal! 🤘 I like punk, hip-hop, and funk, too. But metal is how I got into music.
Reposted by Austin Pocus
the garbage machine can also rob prose of any nuance or authorial intent because we don’t know the difference between bland and palatable, and we view art as something to be consumed rather than appreciated
This article is going to turn me into the Joker. Literary style is not a puzzle you solve to get a little information treat 😩😩😩
June 22, 2025 at 1:20 PM
the garbage machine can also rob prose of any nuance or authorial intent because we don’t know the difference between bland and palatable, and we view art as something to be consumed rather than appreciated
This part. The creative process is the whole point. Why would I outsource something I love doing to a machine?
It would be like hiring a robot to do my eating for me. It defeats the purpose of doing the thing in the first place. It just doesn’t compute.
It would be like hiring a robot to do my eating for me. It defeats the purpose of doing the thing in the first place. It just doesn’t compute.
sorry i knew i wanted to be a writer since i was six and could physically write and sometimes it's hard and shitty as i work through my ideas and sometimes it's the purest narcotic joy of finding the right words and you want me to involve a lying theft robot? what's wrong with you?
June 21, 2025 at 10:57 PM
This part. The creative process is the whole point. Why would I outsource something I love doing to a machine?
It would be like hiring a robot to do my eating for me. It defeats the purpose of doing the thing in the first place. It just doesn’t compute.
It would be like hiring a robot to do my eating for me. It defeats the purpose of doing the thing in the first place. It just doesn’t compute.
This whole thread is worth reading, but I quoted this because it raises a question that’s been on my mind for a while as a writer who codes: how do we as creators / authors / bloggers leverage open protocols like RSS or ATProto to create our own network effects minus the walled garden?
Substack's attempt to pivot away from email-based newsletters to an app with a walled garden is an attack on the whole concept of newsletters.
It's partly about trapping you in their ecosystem, but also the company wants to end newsletters as we know them.
It's partly about trapping you in their ecosystem, but also the company wants to end newsletters as we know them.
June 21, 2025 at 10:37 PM
This whole thread is worth reading, but I quoted this because it raises a question that’s been on my mind for a while as a writer who codes: how do we as creators / authors / bloggers leverage open protocols like RSS or ATProto to create our own network effects minus the walled garden?
"Bill Gates said: wait till you see what your computer can become. But it's You, who should be doing the becoming, not the damn fool computer. What you can become is the miracle you were born to be through the work that you do."
-- Kurt Vonnegut, "A Man Without a Country"
-- Kurt Vonnegut, "A Man Without a Country"
May 19, 2025 at 1:58 AM
"Bill Gates said: wait till you see what your computer can become. But it's You, who should be doing the becoming, not the damn fool computer. What you can become is the miracle you were born to be through the work that you do."
-- Kurt Vonnegut, "A Man Without a Country"
-- Kurt Vonnegut, "A Man Without a Country"
Reposted by Austin Pocus
Being disabled is not a personal failing. It’s not caused by lack of effort.
The human body is frail. Statistically speaking most people will end up disabled at some point in their lives.
It’s a minority group you can join at any time.
We need allies, inclusion & accommodation. Not judgement.
The human body is frail. Statistically speaking most people will end up disabled at some point in their lives.
It’s a minority group you can join at any time.
We need allies, inclusion & accommodation. Not judgement.
May 1, 2025 at 3:04 AM
Being disabled is not a personal failing. It’s not caused by lack of effort.
The human body is frail. Statistically speaking most people will end up disabled at some point in their lives.
It’s a minority group you can join at any time.
We need allies, inclusion & accommodation. Not judgement.
The human body is frail. Statistically speaking most people will end up disabled at some point in their lives.
It’s a minority group you can join at any time.
We need allies, inclusion & accommodation. Not judgement.
Reposted by Austin Pocus
torn between "how am I supposed to make art in the midst of all this cultural destruction" and "jfc I need to make art because of all this cultural destruction"
April 4, 2025 at 1:15 AM
torn between "how am I supposed to make art in the midst of all this cultural destruction" and "jfc I need to make art because of all this cultural destruction"
Reposted by Austin Pocus
Do we think that we'll see more Spirit Halloween stores now with all the federal office closures? Or do we think the deep horror of reality is enough that we won't need any store-bought?
March 5, 2025 at 6:34 PM
Do we think that we'll see more Spirit Halloween stores now with all the federal office closures? Or do we think the deep horror of reality is enough that we won't need any store-bought?
Reposted by Austin Pocus
My brain is cream cheese.
January 14, 2025 at 10:47 PM
My brain is cream cheese.
Reposted by Austin Pocus
I need to write a version of that Johnny Cash "man, I've been everywhere!" song except it's just listing off all the linux distributions I've used so if someone suggests to me a linux distribution I can just start singing
January 3, 2025 at 12:05 AM
I need to write a version of that Johnny Cash "man, I've been everywhere!" song except it's just listing off all the linux distributions I've used so if someone suggests to me a linux distribution I can just start singing
Reposted by Austin Pocus
When posting images, add alt text! Why?
- Helps visually impaired & neurodivergent.
- Helps your post gets discovered.
- If Internet is slow, people see alt-text instead of images.
- If text in image hard to read, alt-text can help.
More tips:
publish.obsidian.md/debbieohi/al...
#BlueSkyTips
- Helps visually impaired & neurodivergent.
- Helps your post gets discovered.
- If Internet is slow, people see alt-text instead of images.
- If text in image hard to read, alt-text can help.
More tips:
publish.obsidian.md/debbieohi/al...
#BlueSkyTips
Alt text - Why It's Important - Debbie Ridpath Ohi - Obsidian Publish
This page helps explain why it's important to use alt text when posting images on Bluesky, best practices, and tips. Why It's Important To Use Alt Text With Your Images When posting images, try to a…
publish.obsidian.md
December 10, 2024 at 7:03 PM
When posting images, add alt text! Why?
- Helps visually impaired & neurodivergent.
- Helps your post gets discovered.
- If Internet is slow, people see alt-text instead of images.
- If text in image hard to read, alt-text can help.
More tips:
publish.obsidian.md/debbieohi/al...
#BlueSkyTips
- Helps visually impaired & neurodivergent.
- Helps your post gets discovered.
- If Internet is slow, people see alt-text instead of images.
- If text in image hard to read, alt-text can help.
More tips:
publish.obsidian.md/debbieohi/al...
#BlueSkyTips
Reposted by Austin Pocus
Please tell your kids, every damn day if necessary, that chatGPT is not a goddamn search engine and you shouldn’t believe a word it says. Tell the adults too, but it’s especially imperative to inoculate kids against this
December 10, 2024 at 2:38 PM
Please tell your kids, every damn day if necessary, that chatGPT is not a goddamn search engine and you shouldn’t believe a word it says. Tell the adults too, but it’s especially imperative to inoculate kids against this
Seeking resources on how to self-publish short stories and essays. What platforms or tools do you use to self-publish? How do you promote your work? I know these are big questions so any links to long-form answers (books, blogs, etc.) are much appreciated. #AuthorSky #BookSky
December 4, 2024 at 12:49 AM
Seeking resources on how to self-publish short stories and essays. What platforms or tools do you use to self-publish? How do you promote your work? I know these are big questions so any links to long-form answers (books, blogs, etc.) are much appreciated. #AuthorSky #BookSky