I'm going to be in Austin for @armadillocon.bsky.social from Thursday Sept 10-13. SF peeps in Austin: Lmk if you'd like to meet or make any breakfast or meal plans

It's clear the writer of this screed put no real thought into generative LLMs and what went into making the machine As a counter, here are some real thoughtful pieces from one of the best writers on the planet, Ted Chiang, in the New Yorker www.newyorker.com/contributors...

Holly Lyn Walrath@hollylynwalrath.bsky.social · 22h ago

There is a lengthy pro-AI screed in the latest HWA newsletter and it is . . . a mood.

I worked at Disney a while ago. Do you know why theme parks are so safe? Because OOSHA reps can walk the track on any ride at any time and any safety violation they see is a $10,000 fine. Each. Theme parks are not safe because the company cares. They're safe because it's cheaper to comply.

Jon of The North@krauza.bsky.social · last wk.

Turns out that food companies were only checking their food because the government told them to, which is exactly why we need government regulations.

Artist John Harris was born on this day in 1948. He’s known for his vibrant covers for some of the genre’s best-known works. I interviewed him a couple of years ago about his inspirations, the beauty of space, and why AI can’t replicate human creativity. Read it here:

Sci-fi John Harris on creativity and finding spiritualism in the cosmos

John Harris talks about finding inspiration in the beauty of space and why AI can't capture creative imagination

transfer-orbit.ghost.io

"The books will be driven down to Los Angeles in pods in the next month or so." I can see Nicolas Cage trying to steal all 13,000 esoteric books as they're driven down to Hollwyood! "In a movie?" I didn't say in a movie.

Sold! Oakland bookseller finds new home for 13,000-volume esoteric collection

After The Oaklandside covered Todd Pratum’s looming eviction, dozens reached out to help. One inquiry from Los Angeles caught his eye.

oaklandside.org

Ok, a few more thoughts on some of my favorite stories. The ones that stuck with me most thought about what the plague would have looked like in different places: on a secluded island (@bevvincent.bsky.social), in space (@timlebbon.bsky.social), outside the U.S. (@usmantm.bsky.social).

Rachel Abbey McCafferty@ramccafferty.bsky.social · last wk.

Last read/next read. Overall, I really enjoyed The End of the World As We Know It, especially the stories that expanded the world of The Stand, geographically or in time. And it definitely got me in the right mindset for a long overdue re-read of one of my favorites.

Upwards of 200,00 people may have lost their jobs today; or will in the upcoming days. There is a palpable sense of fear among the Haitian community right now. They need your support.

Heba Gowayed هبة جويد@hebagowayed.bsky.social · last wk.

My Haitian friend was just fired from his job. "They said I don't have a legal status now." This is likely happening to hundreds of thousands of people across this country today. Sick.

Friends: The Salam Award workshop fundraise is nearly 47% funded, thanks to just a handful of backers (including one extremely generous one who donated 4,000$!!) We're at last call. Let's see if we can do one more push and get it over to 75%!

Usman T. Malik@usmantm.bsky.social · 2w ago

Friends: 3rd iteration of SalamAward workshop has been scheduled for March 2027 Elizabeth Bear and Saad Z Hussain will be traveling to Pakistan to teach students If you’d like to support the future of the field, esp for South Asian SF, here’s your chance www.indiegogo.com/en/projects/...

Friends: 3rd iteration of SalamAward workshop has been scheduled for March 2027 Elizabeth Bear and Saad Z Hussain will be traveling to Pakistan to teach students If you’d like to support the future of the field, esp for South Asian SF, here’s your chance www.indiegogo.com/en/projects/...

Transform Lives for 12 Young Writers - Salam Writing Workshop by Salam Award - Indiegogo

Your contribution will be used to provide scholarships to participants and fund logistics of The Salam Workshop 2027 including travel costs for the instructors. Since 2023, we have hosted two biannual...

indiegogo.com

i seem to recall intense backlash from both parties when a multiracial coalition of young people suggested policy proposals that would reduce these deaths. Maybe the question is, who is we?

Will Bunch@willbunch.bsky.social · last wk.

Are we comfortably numb with police violence? The brutal cop killing of Corey Ruiz in Madison, Wisc. sparked local protest but only muted outrage on the national level. Despite falling crime, cops gun down more Americans than ever Where's the outrage? My new column www.inquirer.com/opinion/core...

It occurs to me that I'd just turned 30 when I took up professional writing. I'd just turned 40 when my first book MIDNIGHT DOORWAYS came out in Pakistan. And, God willing I live, I'll be 45 when my first novel A DARK AND NARROW HOUSE comes out. +

Not only was she loudly right about everything and reviled for it, in 2017 O'Connor donated 30 years worth of clothes and makeup to trans girls in Ireland.

Irish Literary Times@irishlittimes.bsky.social · 2w ago

Remembering Sinéad O'Connor, who died three years ago, on July 26, 2023. Photo by Andreas Larsson. #sineadoconnor

They are not commenting further lest it further expose that ICE flat-out lied.

Aaron Reichlin-Melnick@reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 2w ago

After ICE shot and killed Lorenzo Araujo, the FBI leaked to Fox News a claim that he was found with possible meth in the van. His family said it was a total falsehood; it was a bag of salt to be used to make an electrolyte drink. And they were right. It was not drugs.

At libraries around the country, "Avoiding AI" workshops have elicited unprecedented demand.

Librarians are hosting viral 'Avoiding AI' workshops for people who are fed up with Big Tech | TechCrunch

At libraries around the country, "Avoiding AI" workshops have elicited unprecedented demand.

techcrunch.com

Congrats Indian youth! May this fire of resistance and democracy u've lit topple Modi's fascist government & inspire Pakistani Gen Z against the military in Pak May fascism fail everywhere and bring about a new world of love, unity and democracy. We're so proud of you TODAY WE ARE ALL INDIAN!

It’s not just that Todd Blanche is unqualified. He either ignores Trump and the blatant #RepublicanCostOfCorruption because doesn’t care, or he’s corrupt himself And-given his dealings with the January 6 slush fund as well as Epstein’s accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell-it’s pretty safe to say which

Acyn@acyn.bsky.social · 2w ago

Kristen Clarke, former assistant attorney general for the Civil Rights Division at the DOJ: By not investigating these ICE cases, you’re sending a message to ICE officers that it doesn’t matter. I think it is fair to say that Todd Blanche is the most unqualified nominee we have seen in recent times.

every Pakistani youth who was crushed or killed or abducted or suppressed by their own govt is hopeful & proud to see their counterparts in India protest for freedom screw Modi. screw the governments. long live the people today we’re all Indian. Jai Hind and Pakistan Zindabad

I also think a lot of people genuinely don’t know what a significant percentage of book sales *tend to be from libraries* Libraries PAY MONEY FOR BOOKS

Tom Cox@dj-acid-reflux.bsky.social · 2w ago

Someone said to me, "I'm sorry but I got your book from a library." Nobody should ever apologise for that. You read my book! That's brilliant! I grew up hanging out in libraries and the idea of a world without them fills me with dread. Without libraries, authors, like readers, will only suffer.

Huge corporations like Amazon, Walmart, and Uber are among the top employers of SNAP and Medicaid recipients. Meanwhile, their CEOs are raking in multi-million dollar pay packages. How is this not a bigger scandal?

This feels distinctly haunted by the doppelgangers and cultural dissolution brought about by the seep of generative AI, which swallows all to remake it empty, including history, if we let it.

Indrapramit Das@indrapramitdas.bsky.social · 2w ago

BACKROOMS; at its best, captures the aberrant, gamified lure of capitalism's 'memory' of the past, a copy of a copy for us to chase into Moloch's labyrinth as the present decays. At its worst, clumsy with its characters & words. Its incompleteness beguiling, to me. I liked it.

I don’t think non-Americans realize that even if an employer provides insurance, you are still paying at least hundreds of bucks a month for the premium, and that’s not including the deductible, which is often thousands of dollars a year

Alexander Chee@alexanderchee.bsky.social · 2w ago

And it still costs us. I pay over 1400$ a month for myself and my husband’s plan. This is a cost subsidized by the employer, my employer—more of a discount, I guess.

I started my summer reading with The Night Sweeps the Mountains Away by @tanawir.bsky.social, and it will be so hard for anything to follow this gorgeous, heart-rending book. Do yourself a favor and pick up a copy ✨ dancingstarpress.com/product/the-...

The Night Sweeps the Mountains Away | Dancing Star Press

dancingstarpress.com

Tomorrow, the House will vote on the NDAA, which includes a provision to merge parts of our military with the IDF. This amendment is an existential threat to American sovereignty and democracy. Every member of Congress must vote NO.

We are excited to announce that Clarion West has received a 2026 grant from the Amazon Literary Partnership! These funds will support our Deep Dives conversation series this fall when we bring @maryrobinettekowal.com , @justinkey.bsky.social , and @tkingfisher.com to Seattle to talk science.

yo you should read my books, if The Locked Tomb is a goth girl they're her punk friend who reeks of tobacco www.simonandschuster.com/series/The-E...

Benjamin Netanyahu is a war criminal.

This is what Salam Award has accomplished in 9 years: 700+stories submitted and reviewed 60%+participants are female every year $4000+award money distributed Multiple Salam award winners published in Pro or Semi-Pro Magazines

Usman T. Malik@usmantm.bsky.social · 2w ago

Friends: 3rd iteration of SalamAward workshop has been scheduled for March 2027 Elizabeth Bear and Saad Z Hussain will be traveling to Pakistan to teach students If you’d like to support the future of the field, esp for South Asian SF, here’s your chance www.indiegogo.com/en/projects/...

Friends: 3rd iteration of SalamAward workshop has been scheduled for March 2027 Elizabeth Bear and Saad Z Hussain will be traveling to Pakistan to teach students If you’d like to support the future of the field, esp for South Asian SF, here’s your chance www.indiegogo.com/en/projects/...

Transform Lives for 12 Young Writers - Salam Writing Workshop by Salam Award - Indiegogo

Your contribution will be used to provide scholarships to participants and fund logistics of The Salam Workshop 2027 including travel costs for the instructors. Since 2023, we have hosted two biannual...

indiegogo.com

Today @zeteo.com, a piece I hope you'll read, about the shocking growth in US strikes on Somalia under Trump – which @davidsterman.bsky.social told me should be understood not as an escalation but a whole new war. That war is layered on top of an obscure one that, next year, will be the US' longest.

Why Is No One Talking About the ‘New War’ Trump Is Waging in Somalia?

While the administration hounds Somali immigrants at home, it’s pummeling Somalia with an ‘unprecedented’ volume of airstrikes, but you might not know it given the silence from our media and Congress.

zeteo.com

mass layoffs at Pixar despite Toy Story 5 about to cross $1 billion at the box office. there is simply no amount of money that will make corporations happy enough to not upend people’s lives.

Pixar Bears Brunt of Disney Studio Layoffs as Company Axes Several Hundred Staffers

Pixar Animation Studios, despite riding high on the success of summer blockbuster "Toy Story 5," was hit particularly hard in a wave of corporatewide layoffs at Disney.

variety.com