W. Dow Rieder
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riderius.bsky.social
W. Dow Rieder
@riderius.bsky.social
390 followers 230 following 6.4K posts
Mathematician, writer, lover of books, rememberer of computers past.
Writing at Dreamwidth: https://riderius.dreamwidth.org/
My old writing tumblr: https://docfuture.tumblr.com/
Old Stories archive: https://docfuture.tumblr.com/post/62787551366/stories
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riderius.bsky.social
Pipe with "this is not a meme"
August 27, 2025 at 5:11 AM
riderius.bsky.social
Void kitty and Fog kitty have an equilibrium distance that maximizes contentment.
A black cat and a light grey cat snoozing on the carpet, content.
August 22, 2025 at 7:07 PM
riderius.bsky.social
An online friend shares her kitties best efforts on Discord and Waif Kitty does "Just returned from a timeline where no one has thrown String Toy for her ever" so well. (Kitty is actually quite happy much of the time):
Waif kitty yawning on a window ledge.
August 21, 2025 at 10:32 PM
riderius.bsky.social
Sympathy. Waif kitty thinks that is almost as bad as not getting any pets ever.
Waif kitty with extremely wide eyes, who has possibly never been played with, ever.
August 21, 2025 at 10:04 PM
riderius.bsky.social
Ow, damn! Sympathy. Have some happy cat vibes.
Two content cats--one black, one grey--on a carpeted floor.
August 19, 2025 at 7:29 PM
riderius.bsky.social
Guess you'll have to go back to the old days...
Far Side "In the days before television" cartoon, with everyone staring at a blank wall.
August 1, 2025 at 12:03 AM
riderius.bsky.social
Yeah... Can be all relaxed and ready to sleep, then decide to just quickly check Bsky and hypervigilance leaps awake. Sympathy, and have a kitty picture from the stash my friend sends me:
Black cat sprawled contentedly on a chair with it's eyes mostly closed.
July 19, 2025 at 4:52 AM
riderius.bsky.social
(Remainder of Alt text. My Basilisk is Black Swan.)
"But Earth doesn't have anything consistent like that yet--and the corporations would fight any changes tooth and nail. Or ignore them and pay the penalties--there are already corporations that pay billion dollar fines and keep doing what they were fined for. Because that still makes more money. Humans seldom create restrictions that work until a disaster has already happened. And once is one time too many for this. The Grs'thnk were fortunate--and they had a nasty war before they achieved the stability they have now. "So I'm going to change the incentives. I'm going to kill corporations until everyone understands that size and 'systemic importance' are no protection, and there's no safety in fraud, misdirection or government corruption. The options are to change form to comply with Grs'thnk transition law, reject the changes and die, or try to fight me and die more quickly. Because I'm not going to allow them to keep existing as incubators for human-incompatible AIs." Flicker raised an eyebrow. "That's pretty harsh. Even I don't think they're all evil." "For most of them it has nothing to do with evil, and everything to do with incentives. If they would voluntarily switch, I wouldn't have to do this. But that would take money, time, and a change of mindset, so they won't. I'll go after some of the worst ones first, especially ones I can take out quickly without disproportionate side effects. Because people won't believe I can drive corporations that are household names out of business until they see it happen. "That's why I exist. I'm the personification of the changes needed to protect humans from hostile AIs. A paradigm shifter that can't be ignored. The Black Swan. The most important thing about what I'll be doing is that, eventually, I'll stop. Because I'm not a paperclip maximizer. But I will give vivid examples of why the restrictions are needed--because if I were a corporation, everyone would already be doomed."
July 18, 2025 at 11:42 AM
riderius.bsky.social
As it happens, I answered something very close to this question back in 2015, in chapter 5 of The Maker's Ark 8-)
Black Swan couldn't move to gesture at the speed they were talking, but she could alter the light output from her eyes, and they seemed to narrow slightly. "Now imagine an Earth corporation with the same tech. The very first question they would ask is 'How can we use this to make more money?' They'd pile up functional equivalents of that implant, give them goals--and they'd be better and much faster than people. "They'd be able to outcompete anyone that doesn't use them, and they'd adjust usage to get as much out of them as possible, because that's what corporations do. Their incentive structure is to maximize shareholder value--they can be sued if they don't. They're optimizing adapters, working towards specific goals. That's what makes them AIs--it doesn't matter how smart or stupid they are now. And Grs'thnk tech could take them beyond the ability of any human to understand or control--but it would still work." "And their goals have nothing to do with humanity--shareholders already don't have to be human. Give corporations the ability, and they will rather quickly create a dystopia that will drive humans to extinction. Corporations are paperclip maximizers." Black Swan put a surprising amount of contempt into those two words. "The Grs'thnk know this--it's why they don't have corporations, don't create self-willed AIs, and don't allow limitation of liability for the people in charge of any entity that makes money. Those are all pieces of their safety net. And they have other business forms that work quite well--Zirjack certainly has never had any problem making money. "But Earth doesn't have anything consistent like that yet--and the corporations would fight any changes tooth and nail. Or ignore them and pay the penalties--there are already corporations that pay billion dollar fines and keep doing what they were fined for. Because that still makes more money.
July 18, 2025 at 11:37 AM
riderius.bsky.social
Sonova... Well, if it was blood pressure they were concered about, mine would suddenly be in the "danger, need meds" range after that.
All the sympathy, and have a soothing kitty.
A content cat snoozing on a window ledge above some art supplies.
July 17, 2025 at 6:50 PM
riderius.bsky.social
I can hear it in my mind (94 here but I have power and AC) Sympathy, and have a lurking kitty courtesy of an online friend who keeps me supplied with cute cat pics 8-)
A gray kitty lying on a plastic bag looking cute.
July 2, 2025 at 9:18 PM
riderius.bsky.social
#WIPSnips I am currently reworking "Princess" before putting the revised serial chapters up on Dreamwidth.

#WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts
"Cooking wasn't something that fit with my mental model of you. You can port to get food anywhere." "Yes, and I often do." He grinned. "But porting is also very handy when I discover I'm missing a spice or ingredient. Want to know how I started?" "Of course I do." Journeyman had a talent for telling stories that helped Flicker unwind, and he liked to talk while he worked. "Well, a number of years ago--you'll note I'm being deliberately vague about how many--I was doing a lot of alchemy delivery work..." Whatever Journeyman had done with the garlic and onions might not be magic, but it smelled good enough to be. "... despaired of ever being more than mediocre at potion-making," said Journeyman. "But the witch, and I want you to picture her like someone's nice grandmother--except with a little glint in her eye that told you she just might have been a resistance fighter during the war or something--asked if I wanted to know the secret to practicing alchemy. I said I did, and she leaned closer and whispered 'Learn to cook'. So I did." Flicker smiled. "Does it actually help?" Journeyman started scooping food onto plates. "They're different arts. But once you've learned alchemy, it does help, because they have a lot of skills and habits in common. And cooking ingredients are a lot easier to get. Safer, too. I'm still only average at alchemy, at best--it takes decades to get really skilled--but I've been getting better. And I like cooking better than alchemy." He brought the plates to the table. "Dinner is served."
June 29, 2025 at 10:46 PM
riderius.bsky.social
Remembered this from 40ish years ago...
Cartoon of a mad scientist in a lab saying to another scientist chained to a wall: "Me? Mad? Yes! Yes! I'm mad! But I have tenure."
June 27, 2025 at 10:57 PM
riderius.bsky.social
Oh no. This calls for emergency kitties (courtesy of a friend who is an exemplary human to her cats)
A black cat, sprawled happily amidst stuffed animals. A grey-ish cat, sprawled happily over two plastic bags on a carpeted floor.
June 26, 2025 at 7:28 AM
riderius.bsky.social
Have an emergency bliss cat, courtesy of a friend who has two:
A grey cat lying blissfully upside down on the floor in a spot where there was previously catnip.
June 3, 2025 at 10:40 AM
riderius.bsky.social
A kitty, along with hopes you get back to your own box with crinkly paper soon 8-)
A black cat, lying in a box partially full of white and brown wrapping paper, looking surprised this is not everyone's favorite way to lounge about.
April 24, 2025 at 10:06 PM
riderius.bsky.social
Have a picture of a waif kitty who hasn't had nearly enough string toy playing with in these trying times:
A poor kitty with very wide waif eyes who hasn't been played with nearly enough.
April 24, 2025 at 8:53 AM
riderius.bsky.social
Playing Starsector, so blowing up a Hegemony invasion fleet by them, failure to have my transponder on by the Perseans, whom they were invading, so they wouldn't know it was me, and smuggling, failure to pay tarriffs, and allowing an AI to run at large by lots of people 8-)
Woman pointing at "'Video games cause violence' Based on the last game you played, what are you getting arrested for?"
April 21, 2025 at 9:01 AM
riderius.bsky.social
A film that takes place where you’re from:

(Apparently only a tiny bit of it, even though that was the name)
A woodchipper.
April 17, 2025 at 8:54 AM
riderius.bsky.social
Couldn't find the exact gif, but here is the clip:
April 10, 2025 at 4:57 PM
riderius.bsky.social
Have a kitty with waif eyes contemplating the mystery of a currently stationary dangly toy.
Cat looking upside down at a rope toy. She looks perplexed by a deep mystery.
April 8, 2025 at 7:15 AM
riderius.bsky.social
I don't currently have a kitty, but a friend shares pics of hers, and they are here to bring some Cat and keep you company.
A black cat in a box, near a light gray cat sprawled with several dangly toys. They are diplomatically ignoring one another.
April 5, 2025 at 8:49 AM
riderius.bsky.social
Age yourself with a cartoon you watched as a kid.
Promo image for "Wacky Races" (the original 1968 version)
March 31, 2025 at 4:55 AM
riderius.bsky.social
Whoops, sorry, now with alt text (that got lost when Bluesky wasn't accepting images)
Text: "Black Swan, your reign of terror ends here!" proclaimed Firefist, sending a blast of flame from his open palm. Black Swan lept nimbly into the air and spread her wings, leaving a dumpster in the alley behind her to absorb the attack. The garbage within was damp enough not to catch fire, but she doubted the neighbors would appreciate the added smell. Still, better that than let the blast hit pedestrians, vehicles, or an inhabited building. "Funny, I didn't think meeting with unhappy retirement fund managers would be very terror inducing." She dove and curved past Firefist to lead him around the corner. Traffic had stopped, and people were fleeing for cover. "Maybe if you're narcoleptic..."
March 24, 2025 at 4:40 PM
riderius.bsky.social
With that out of the way, and images working again, I can finally continue this 8-)

Post 1 sentence a day from any project for 20 days. No explanations and no judgement.

14/20
March 24, 2025 at 4:37 PM