Happy August 5th

Chad Loder@chadloder.dev · 2h ago

Lift every chair and swing 🎶🎤

$20 charge to deliver $2 worth of natural gas. WTF, National Grid‽

Unequivocally yes. I don’t use any of that now and this guy didn’t use any of that only a couple years ago. If AI disappeared tomorrow the only thing I would notice is that search doesn’t suck as much and Adobe would stop asking you to summarize every fucking pdf I open.

Charlie Stross@cstross.bsky.social · 10h ago

My answer is LOL ROFL (dickbrain) The terminally AI-pilled can't even *imagine* some people have *never* asked stochastic parrots to cheat at their job for them.

this man should get combat pay bc he was FIGHTING here

Renewables = agricultural innovation. Love it. 'Offshore wind farms can double as seaweed cultivation sites, producing high-quality food biomass without farmland or fertiliser and may be among the most productive cultivation settings available anywhere.' oceanographicmagazine.com/news/offshor....

Offshore wind farms hold key to sustainable seaweed at scale - Oceanographic

Researchers in Denmark demonstrate seaweed can be cultivated at scale within offshore wind farms, but the market needs to catch up.

oceanographicmagazine.com

Nice. Fitzy is nice but given what they have put together with things that have to be completely removed after a match I’m curious what they will put together at a permanent home. Hope they keep the food trucks.

The Blazing Musket@theblazingmusket.com · yesterday

Portland Hearts of Pine Announce Plans To Build Soccer-Specific Stadium At Cassidy Point www.theblazingmusket.com/portland-hea...

Seth Moulton was given the chance to make several private equity investments that were not available to everyday investors with defense tech companies he helps oversee on the House Armed Services Committee. They are now worth millions of dollars. Bob Kuttner reports: prospect.org/2026/08/03/s...

Seth Moulton’s Sweetheart Deals - The American Prospect

In Rep. Moulton’s upcoming Senate primary challenge, questions about his lucrative investments in defense tech companies may prove more important than incumbent Ed Markey’s age.

prospect.org

Completely wrong on Marx, but the AI they used really nailed the Trotskyist wall of text aesthetic.

Richard Murphy@richardjmurphy.bsky.social · 3d ago

I did an infographic on Marx recently. This seems like the appropriate follow-up. In one way or another, I used AI in creating this post. I also used a word processor, my brain, thinking time, coffee, discussion, and about 50 years of reading.

We’ve got people in their mid-40s who still have their Hogwarts house in their social media bios. I’d love to see the Venn with that and joined Nov ‘24.

Movies Silently@moviessilently.bsky.social · 3d ago

During the original Harry Potter boom, some librarians and academics expressed concern about kids wanting to read ONLY that. They were shouted down. "AT LEAST THEY ARE READING, THEY WILL GET A TASTE AND LOVE ALL READING SOON" Three decades on, I think we owe the librarians and academics an apology

I think it also revealed just how quickly a bunch of otherwise very hard problems can be to solve with global collective action. The fuckin Ganga was running clear water for the only time in my lifetime because for 2 weeks nobody threw garbage in it. The canals in Venice had fish.

Dave Andress@davidandress.bsky.social · 3d ago

Covid lockdowns demonstrated, in a deeply imperfect way, the possibility of large-scale social solidarity for a higher cause. That is a prime reason why so many powerful people want us to run screaming away from them into the comforting arms of selfish individualist competition.

it's been a Very Bad Year for people who have fully rehabilitated and befriended george w bush but are still mad at ralph nader

Kinda looking forward to a Death of Stalin style farce about the moments following Trump’s death and the inevitable back stabbing that will occur. There better be a scene where they are all trying to run in shoes that don’t fit.

CIA operative: the aliens didn't conduct any experiments on you? me: i think they forgot about me at one point my cell door opened and an alien came in with a mop and seemed shocked to see me CIA operative: and after this they dumped you into a lake? me: they didn't even slow down the ship

I would love to see the MA Senate ban the practice of standing votes. Standing votes are cowardly: you get to see how everyone votes if you are there, but the public doesn't get to -- because someone is too afraid of their constituents knowing.

Infantino has lost CONCACAF, time to pack it up, buddy: www.concacaf.com/competitions...

Statement on behalf of Concacaf and its 41 Member Associations  | Concacaf

Statement on behalf of Concacaf and its 41 Member Associations

concacaf.com

A THREAD. This week lots of my friends will be driving cross-country to Indianapolis for Gen Con, a big gaming industry convention. They'll also be driving home - and they're way more likely to be exhausted! This seems like a good time to pull out my semi-annual standard advice to keep you alive.

Rav@rvbdrm.com · 7d ago

What the fuck?? “While Mr. El-Sayed is fringy and radical, he’s also a Muslim man. Ms. Stevens is a white woman. This puts her at a disadvantage in the identity Olympics that internal Democratic Party politics have become.” www.wsj.com/opinion/free...

Having met the Democrats, it will 100% be option c.

Max Kennerly@maxkennerly.bsky.social · 7d ago

There are only three possible futures: a) everyone in the Trump admin goes to jail, rule of law partially restored; b) Dems retaliate in full, and maybe that's a deterrent; c) neither (a) nor (b), so lawless authoritarianism wins again, and when Republicans regain power they ramp it up even more.

Just saw I’m on a block list called Wrong about GLP-1 and I’m just confused. Pretty sure I’ve. Ever mentioned it before. Oh well, some folks just like making lists I guess.

"Modern vernacular fantasy ideas get read backwards into a text that is perceived as having originated them but which doesn’t really contain them" is such a good way to put that phenomenon, holy shit. I've always wanted to find the right way to articulate that point.

Shout out to the man on the train calling his bank about ID theft and who has read his name, postcode, and the long number on his card to the whole carriage.

💰 Sources: MLS owners expected to hear presentation on significant changes to structure of roster rules, centered around a more open salary cap system Potential huge change for future of MLS. DPs would remain Reporting with @paultenorio.bsky.social Details ⬇️ www.nytimes.com/athletic/747...

MLS owners to hear proposed changes to league’s roster, spending rules: Sources (Gift Article)

The MLS board of governors will convene around the All-Star Game in Charlotte, and some high-impact items are on the agenda

nytimes.com

Squished in the middle of this story was this heartbreaking paragraph. Unconscionable.

Brian Lyman@brianlyman.bsky.social · last wk.

A lot of what-the-hell moments in this story, but building a data center in a floodplain in Louisiana is inviting the wrath of Poseidon.

Fuck this guy. Not voting for him in 2028.

#StupidSuez@diplomatofnight.com · last wk.

2028 presidential contender Senator Mark Kelly says he is "always going to stand by (our ally) Israel" on Sunday's Meet the Press at NBC. He denies the Gaza genocide, says Bibi made "some mistakes" and criticizes Mamdani for calling Netanyahu a war criminal.

This post was crafted in a lab specifically to induce an aneurysm in Tolkien fans.

IGN@ign.com · 2w ago

For the first time ever, the Balrog will speak in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 3! Star Trek and Mission Impossible actor Simon Pegg will be voicing the fiery creature, as revealed at #SDCC 2026.