smashbg
@smashbg.bsky.social
please, call me smash. mr. bg is my father
Reposted by smashbg
The Sora AI thing is proof of something very important: The technology itself is useless without the ability to use the likenesses of real, living, unpredictable people, and the art they create. And the only way to get those likenesses or that art is to summarily steal it.
October 1, 2025 at 11:02 PM
The Sora AI thing is proof of something very important: The technology itself is useless without the ability to use the likenesses of real, living, unpredictable people, and the art they create. And the only way to get those likenesses or that art is to summarily steal it.
Reposted by smashbg
Politics hasn't been this simple in a long time: do you think it's good for one man to exercise unchecked, arbitrary power or not. Those are the two available ideologies right now
March 16, 2025 at 5:53 PM
Politics hasn't been this simple in a long time: do you think it's good for one man to exercise unchecked, arbitrary power or not. Those are the two available ideologies right now
Between this and No Kings, it's important to remember that everyone hates everything happening to this country. A better world is possible and people are realizing they're hungry for it
"Do you want America to be at war with Iran?"
No: 85%
Yes: 5%
YouGov / June 22, 2025
No: 85%
Yes: 5%
YouGov / June 22, 2025
June 23, 2025 at 3:19 AM
Between this and No Kings, it's important to remember that everyone hates everything happening to this country. A better world is possible and people are realizing they're hungry for it
Reposted by smashbg
Being angry may feel like a luxury, or like a flash of immaturity escaping from a political pose of unsurprise. But telling our representatives to demand accountability before the law is the least we can do, and asking them to be angry too is at this point just asking them to be identifiably human.
Lock Them All Up!
It’s high time we created accountability for the Trump 2.0 criminal syndicate.
www.thenation.com
May 2, 2025 at 3:48 PM
Being angry may feel like a luxury, or like a flash of immaturity escaping from a political pose of unsurprise. But telling our representatives to demand accountability before the law is the least we can do, and asking them to be angry too is at this point just asking them to be identifiably human.
trans representation in media helps but honestly it's the complete odiousness of the anti-trans crowd. Anyone who embraces that kind of gleeful cruelty isn't your friend, can't be trusted, and needs to be fought
cis folks, i'm curious for you to share answers, if you want:
what made you start caring about trans rights? who'd you know/what happened? tell me the story.
what made you start caring about trans rights? who'd you know/what happened? tell me the story.
April 18, 2025 at 7:49 PM
trans representation in media helps but honestly it's the complete odiousness of the anti-trans crowd. Anyone who embraces that kind of gleeful cruelty isn't your friend, can't be trusted, and needs to be fought
Reposted by smashbg
No, the Democratic Party isn't losing because it's Too Woke:
April 2, 2025 at 8:53 PM
No, the Democratic Party isn't losing because it's Too Woke:
Reposted by smashbg
in retrospect it's kind of funny that sci fi was like "imagine a world where robots gain sentience, but humanity refuses to grant them personhood" but in reality every loser techbro loser thinks chatgpt deserves more rights than like, actual people
March 18, 2025 at 6:21 PM
in retrospect it's kind of funny that sci fi was like "imagine a world where robots gain sentience, but humanity refuses to grant them personhood" but in reality every loser techbro loser thinks chatgpt deserves more rights than like, actual people
Reposted by smashbg
A reminder in dark times: kindness, mercy, decency, and respect towards the least of us enrages Trumpists. It burns them. It’s like a mirror that shows them how they fall short of humanity.
Kindness and decency towards the people Trumpists hate is not just right; it torments Trumpists.
Kindness and decency towards the people Trumpists hate is not just right; it torments Trumpists.
March 16, 2025 at 2:34 AM
A reminder in dark times: kindness, mercy, decency, and respect towards the least of us enrages Trumpists. It burns them. It’s like a mirror that shows them how they fall short of humanity.
Kindness and decency towards the people Trumpists hate is not just right; it torments Trumpists.
Kindness and decency towards the people Trumpists hate is not just right; it torments Trumpists.
Reposted by smashbg
the thing about gender is that it's something even cis people benefit from exploring it. wouldn't you rather know that you're cis for certain on your own terms instead of taking for granted what society has endlessly told you since birth? no harm in deciding it for yourself. it's empowering.
March 8, 2025 at 4:19 AM
the thing about gender is that it's something even cis people benefit from exploring it. wouldn't you rather know that you're cis for certain on your own terms instead of taking for granted what society has endlessly told you since birth? no harm in deciding it for yourself. it's empowering.
Reposted by smashbg
Being a white guy in his 30s in 2025 who has not chosen to become insanely evil feels like getting softlocked in Deus Ex because I won't stop leveling Swimming
March 3, 2025 at 10:51 PM
Being a white guy in his 30s in 2025 who has not chosen to become insanely evil feels like getting softlocked in Deus Ex because I won't stop leveling Swimming
Reposted by smashbg
outer wilds is, for my money, one of the greatest video games of all time by a significant margin. it's also impossible to talk about because anything you tell someone detracts from their experience of discovery. really a beautiful work of art with nothing else like it
Literally late to the game on this, but The Outer Wilds is so incredible. I can't recommend it enough. What an experience.
March 1, 2025 at 8:00 AM
outer wilds is, for my money, one of the greatest video games of all time by a significant margin. it's also impossible to talk about because anything you tell someone detracts from their experience of discovery. really a beautiful work of art with nothing else like it
Reposted by smashbg
i believe that the question of trans personhood is the single most telling litmus test for whether or not a person should be considered a potential political ally. if you’re unwilling to take a basic moral stand for a group of people subject to political persecution, you cannot be trusted period
February 28, 2025 at 12:19 AM
i believe that the question of trans personhood is the single most telling litmus test for whether or not a person should be considered a potential political ally. if you’re unwilling to take a basic moral stand for a group of people subject to political persecution, you cannot be trusted period
Reposted by smashbg
I think about this headline all of the time.
February 27, 2025 at 9:35 PM
I think about this headline all of the time.
Reposted by smashbg
“You can resolve to live your life with integrity. Let your credo be this: Let the lie come into the world, let it even triumph. But not through me.”
—Alexander Solzhenitsyn
—Alexander Solzhenitsyn
February 13, 2025 at 7:35 PM
“You can resolve to live your life with integrity. Let your credo be this: Let the lie come into the world, let it even triumph. But not through me.”
—Alexander Solzhenitsyn
—Alexander Solzhenitsyn
Reposted by smashbg
Reposted by smashbg
While everything is awful, it’s refreshing to read a news story about Musk/Trump that doesn’t just blandly report their claims but investigates and challenges them at every turn. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Elon Musk appears with Trump and tries to claim ‘Doge’ team is transparent
Key presidential ally, whose agency has operated in secrecy, also makes claim – without evidence – of fraud at USAid
www.theguardian.com
February 12, 2025 at 6:58 AM
While everything is awful, it’s refreshing to read a news story about Musk/Trump that doesn’t just blandly report their claims but investigates and challenges them at every turn. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Reposted by smashbg
Thomson Reuters has won the first major AI copyright case in the US. The decision has big implications for the battle between generative AI companies and rightsholders.
Thomson Reuters Wins First Major AI Copyright Case in the US
The Thomson Reuters decision has big implications for the battle between generative AI companies and rightsholders.
wrd.cm
February 11, 2025 at 8:54 PM
Thomson Reuters has won the first major AI copyright case in the US. The decision has big implications for the battle between generative AI companies and rightsholders.
Reposted by smashbg
If we had enforced laws against white collar crime this stupid shit would not be happening. There has been countless opportunities to use the state against Musk and the VC class because they have been openly committing crimes for a long fucking time.
A review of PPP loan fraud for Republican donors only is partially what a Democrat version of DOGE would probably look like and it’s real stupid that wasn’t done.
February 8, 2025 at 7:12 PM
If we had enforced laws against white collar crime this stupid shit would not be happening. There has been countless opportunities to use the state against Musk and the VC class because they have been openly committing crimes for a long fucking time.
Reposted by smashbg
A coalition of 18 state attorneys general file suit over Musk’s staff accessing the Treasury payment system, the largest data breach in American history. ag.ny.gov/sites/defaul...
ag.ny.gov
February 8, 2025 at 2:45 AM
A coalition of 18 state attorneys general file suit over Musk’s staff accessing the Treasury payment system, the largest data breach in American history. ag.ny.gov/sites/defaul...
Reposted by smashbg
New from me + @leahfeiger.bsky.social: An internal analysis at Treasury found that DOGE was “the single biggest insider threat risk the Bureau of the Fiscal Service has ever faced.”
@wired.com
www.wired.com/story/treasu...
@wired.com
www.wired.com/story/treasu...
A US Treasury Threat Intelligence Analysis Designates DOGE Staff as ‘Insider Threat’
An internal email reviewed by WIRED calls DOGE staff's access to federal payments systems “the single biggest insider threat risk the Bureau of the Fiscal Service has ever faced.”
www.wired.com
February 7, 2025 at 8:04 PM
New from me + @leahfeiger.bsky.social: An internal analysis at Treasury found that DOGE was “the single biggest insider threat risk the Bureau of the Fiscal Service has ever faced.”
@wired.com
www.wired.com/story/treasu...
@wired.com
www.wired.com/story/treasu...
Reposted by smashbg
DOGE is, in the truest sense, a completely rogue agency. The White House has admitted it doesn't really know what DOGE is doing, it's commandeering critical systems, it's resourced by an independent oligarch, it's tearing chunks out of the government. It's a rogue actor in US government
February 7, 2025 at 3:36 PM
DOGE is, in the truest sense, a completely rogue agency. The White House has admitted it doesn't really know what DOGE is doing, it's commandeering critical systems, it's resourced by an independent oligarch, it's tearing chunks out of the government. It's a rogue actor in US government
Reposted by smashbg
I believe it but I honestly don’t care either way. It could poll 90-10 against and it’s still non-negotiable
February 5, 2025 at 9:25 PM
I believe it but I honestly don’t care either way. It could poll 90-10 against and it’s still non-negotiable
Reposted by smashbg
"would you please put that in writing" is how you pull off insubordination without actually being insubordinate. Very useful when you are getting sketchy (whatever 'sketchy' might mean) instructions from someone who might not want to take responsibility for it later.
signed, a former union steward.
signed, a former union steward.
Have you been asked, as a federal worker, to do something you don't want to do? But they won't put it in writing?
DON'T DO IT.
If they're going to punish you? MAKE THEM PUT IT IN WRITING. ALL OF IT.
Document, document, document.
Act confused. Be confused! Go slow. Require clarity. Lots. Document
DON'T DO IT.
If they're going to punish you? MAKE THEM PUT IT IN WRITING. ALL OF IT.
Document, document, document.
Act confused. Be confused! Go slow. Require clarity. Lots. Document
February 6, 2025 at 7:09 PM
"would you please put that in writing" is how you pull off insubordination without actually being insubordinate. Very useful when you are getting sketchy (whatever 'sketchy' might mean) instructions from someone who might not want to take responsibility for it later.
signed, a former union steward.
signed, a former union steward.