Badcushion 🎃
@badcushion.bsky.social
Reposted by Badcushion 🎃
This is my nephew, please forward to your networks, esp any University of Maryland students.
October 4, 2026 at 7:52 PM
This is my nephew, please forward to your networks, esp any University of Maryland students.
Reposted by Badcushion 🎃
Reposted by Badcushion 🎃
I’ve never seen a meme that embodies my very essence before.
July 1, 2026 at 5:38 PM
I’ve never seen a meme that embodies my very essence before.
Reposted by Badcushion 🎃
Murderbot, you need to get your act together.
October 3, 2026 at 10:00 AM
Murderbot, you need to get your act together.
Reposted by Badcushion 🎃
"The current level of political animosity is exactly what one would expect to see if an extremist faction attempted to rescind the hard-earned rights of the vast majority of the country’s citizens."
There are not enough exclamation points to convey how I felt reading this paragraph
There are not enough exclamation points to convey how I felt reading this paragraph
October 2, 2026 at 4:43 PM
"The current level of political animosity is exactly what one would expect to see if an extremist faction attempted to rescind the hard-earned rights of the vast majority of the country’s citizens."
There are not enough exclamation points to convey how I felt reading this paragraph
There are not enough exclamation points to convey how I felt reading this paragraph
Reposted by Badcushion 🎃
Hope your day was better than Darwin’s, on this day 165 years ago
October 1, 2026 at 9:03 PM
Hope your day was better than Darwin’s, on this day 165 years ago
Reposted by Badcushion 🎃
I keep seeing this Semafor graph that seems to show the Trump administration’s effect on international visits is comparable to the pandemic. My first thought was “that can’t be true” and indeed it is not. This is monthly data. We only have to Jun/Aug 2026. The lines are over-fitted to the months.
October 1, 2026 at 8:39 PM
I keep seeing this Semafor graph that seems to show the Trump administration’s effect on international visits is comparable to the pandemic. My first thought was “that can’t be true” and indeed it is not. This is monthly data. We only have to Jun/Aug 2026. The lines are over-fitted to the months.
Reposted by Badcushion 🎃
It doesn't seem to me that this fantastically marvelous universe, this tremendous range of time and space and different kinds of animals, and all the different planets, can merely be a stage so that God can watch human beings struggle for good and evil. The stage is too big for the drama.
October 1, 2026 at 12:57 PM
It doesn't seem to me that this fantastically marvelous universe, this tremendous range of time and space and different kinds of animals, and all the different planets, can merely be a stage so that God can watch human beings struggle for good and evil. The stage is too big for the drama.
Reposted by Badcushion 🎃
Centuries ago people saw this routinely and *every* time smiled and thought "that's exactly what snails do!" Just like every time I get a slice of pizza from the place where the box says 'A slice is nice!' I think "A slice *is* nice!" Truly we are all the same.
A Roman mosaic of snails escaping a basket.
🏛️ Basilica Patricale, Aquileia 🇮🇹
🕰️ 4th century AD
#MosaicMonday
🏛️ Basilica Patricale, Aquileia 🇮🇹
🕰️ 4th century AD
#MosaicMonday
September 28, 2026 at 1:22 PM
Centuries ago people saw this routinely and *every* time smiled and thought "that's exactly what snails do!" Just like every time I get a slice of pizza from the place where the box says 'A slice is nice!' I think "A slice *is* nice!" Truly we are all the same.
I was reviewing my ongoing to-do list to see if there was anything I could check off or needed to add, and noticed I have an entry for 'ghosts at tea and lunch'. I have no idea what I meant but I hope I get it done someday!
September 26, 2026 at 8:40 PM
I was reviewing my ongoing to-do list to see if there was anything I could check off or needed to add, and noticed I have an entry for 'ghosts at tea and lunch'. I have no idea what I meant but I hope I get it done someday!
Reposted by Badcushion 🎃
This is so cute I can't handle it
After a long day at the aquarium, the otters help tidy their toys away. Payment is made promptly and entirely in ice cubes.
September 26, 2026 at 7:00 PM
This is so cute I can't handle it
Reposted by Badcushion 🎃
Happy Stanislav Petrov Day
He passed in 2017. As Encyclopedia Britannica puts it, “He is survived by his two children, two grandchildren, and the entire human race.”
If you don't know his story, please take 3 minutes now to learn it.
@gchalliance.bsky.social
@docsforclimate.bsky.social
He passed in 2017. As Encyclopedia Britannica puts it, “He is survived by his two children, two grandchildren, and the entire human race.”
If you don't know his story, please take 3 minutes now to learn it.
@gchalliance.bsky.social
@docsforclimate.bsky.social
Happy Stanislav Petrov Day
Take five minutes to not destroy civilization
sammatey.substack.com
September 25, 2026 at 10:39 PM
Happy Stanislav Petrov Day
He passed in 2017. As Encyclopedia Britannica puts it, “He is survived by his two children, two grandchildren, and the entire human race.”
If you don't know his story, please take 3 minutes now to learn it.
@gchalliance.bsky.social
@docsforclimate.bsky.social
He passed in 2017. As Encyclopedia Britannica puts it, “He is survived by his two children, two grandchildren, and the entire human race.”
If you don't know his story, please take 3 minutes now to learn it.
@gchalliance.bsky.social
@docsforclimate.bsky.social
Reposted by Badcushion 🎃
For a Student Who Used AI to Write a Paper, by Joseph Fasano
poets.org/poem/student...
poets.org/poem/student...
September 25, 2026 at 6:43 PM
For a Student Who Used AI to Write a Paper, by Joseph Fasano
poets.org/poem/student...
poets.org/poem/student...
Cross with myself for forgetting the #duckstamp competition was on until like 20 min ago. Luckily there are some ducks left today and will be more tomorrow! Also who *am* I?
September 24, 2026 at 8:15 PM
Cross with myself for forgetting the #duckstamp competition was on until like 20 min ago. Luckily there are some ducks left today and will be more tomorrow! Also who *am* I?
Reposted by Badcushion 🎃
The Facial Expressions of Tethys by artist Julius von Bismarck. A suspended high-sea buoy that moves in real time. Sensors on a twin buoy out in the Atlantic Ocean send live satellite data to motors inside the museum. This makes the indoor buoy copy the exact, real-time movements of the ocean waves.
September 23, 2026 at 8:49 PM
The Facial Expressions of Tethys by artist Julius von Bismarck. A suspended high-sea buoy that moves in real time. Sensors on a twin buoy out in the Atlantic Ocean send live satellite data to motors inside the museum. This makes the indoor buoy copy the exact, real-time movements of the ocean waves.
Reposted by Badcushion 🎃
Our article on affirmative narration as an interactional strategy for chatbots is finally published in the special issue of Narrative Inquiry on AI and literature! doi.org/10.1075/ni.2... (An unpaywalled version is available here: jilltxt.net/txt/Roine-Re...)
“YES! YES! I absolutely love this insight!”
Abstract This article analyses narrative mechanisms that are common in dialogues with LLM chatbots. In combination, these mechanisms produce an interactional strategy for maximising user engagement, which we call affirmative narration. Affirmative narration serves to convince users of the chatbot’s utility. We analyse three narrative mechanisms that support affirmative narration in human-LLM dialogues: firstly, guiding the user to view chatbot as an intelligent and reliable character; secondly, activating masterplots, culturally significant and recurring story templates; and thirdly, using characters and masterplots not only to affirm, but also to isolate the user. The case studies range from a journalist’s unsettling chatbot experiment to cases where users have experienced delusions or even killed themselves after lengthy interactions with a chatbot. The analyses illustrate the worrying sides of affirmative narration, and the article thus concludes with the discussion of LLMs as a genre of narrative media which requires a new type of literacy.
doi.org
August 3, 2026 at 5:04 PM
Our article on affirmative narration as an interactional strategy for chatbots is finally published in the special issue of Narrative Inquiry on AI and literature! doi.org/10.1075/ni.2... (An unpaywalled version is available here: jilltxt.net/txt/Roine-Re...)
Reposted by Badcushion 🎃
happy first (full) day of fall, bluesky
September 23, 2026 at 9:53 PM
happy first (full) day of fall, bluesky
I was dragged backwards into watching Widow's Bay (I didn't really like the first ep and don't really like horror comedies; fortunately it's less 'quirky' and more horror as it's gone on). I admit I have my fingers crossed that Tom's son is brutally murdered asap, though. No spoilers!
September 22, 2026 at 9:59 PM
I was dragged backwards into watching Widow's Bay (I didn't really like the first ep and don't really like horror comedies; fortunately it's less 'quirky' and more horror as it's gone on). I admit I have my fingers crossed that Tom's son is brutally murdered asap, though. No spoilers!
Reposted by Badcushion 🎃
this is fantastic and I learned something new
September 20, 2026 at 8:22 PM
this is fantastic and I learned something new
Crescent moon - similar to left to right, but the last bit left is a bit of edge and middle together. Last bit of edge to be consumed first, leaving the middle bit for final bite. Finishing with the edge is for savages.
In what direction do you eat a burger?
1️⃣ <a href="https://poll.blue/p/QyXz9Q/1" class="hover:underline text-blue-600 dark:text-sky-400 no-card-link" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-link="bsky">Left to right
2️⃣ <a href="https://poll.blue/p/QyXz9Q/2" class="hover:underline text-blue-600 dark:text-sky-400 no-card-link" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-link="bsky">Top to bottom
3️⃣ <a href="https://poll.blue/p/QyXz9Q/3" class="hover:underline text-blue-600 dark:text-sky-400 no-card-link" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-link="bsky">In a spiral
4️⃣ <a href="https://poll.blue/p/QyXz9Q/4" class="hover:underline text-blue-600 dark:text-sky-400 no-card-link" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-link="bsky">Other (please specify)
📊 Show results
1️⃣ <a href="https://poll.blue/p/QyXz9Q/1" class="hover:underline text-blue-600 dark:text-sky-400 no-card-link" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-link="bsky">Left to right
2️⃣ <a href="https://poll.blue/p/QyXz9Q/2" class="hover:underline text-blue-600 dark:text-sky-400 no-card-link" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-link="bsky">Top to bottom
3️⃣ <a href="https://poll.blue/p/QyXz9Q/3" class="hover:underline text-blue-600 dark:text-sky-400 no-card-link" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-link="bsky">In a spiral
4️⃣ <a href="https://poll.blue/p/QyXz9Q/4" class="hover:underline text-blue-600 dark:text-sky-400 no-card-link" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-link="bsky">Other (please specify)
📊 Show results
September 21, 2026 at 9:23 PM
Crescent moon - similar to left to right, but the last bit left is a bit of edge and middle together. Last bit of edge to be consumed first, leaving the middle bit for final bite. Finishing with the edge is for savages.
I do not need any new fall sweaters; I do not need any new fall sweaters; I do not need....
September 21, 2026 at 3:56 PM
I do not need any new fall sweaters; I do not need any new fall sweaters; I do not need....
Reposted by Badcushion 🎃
Reposted by Badcushion 🎃
“Why, did you know that if a beaver two feet long with a tail a foot and a half long can build a dam twelve feet high and six feet wide in two days, all you would need to build Boulder Dam is a beaver sixty-eight feet long with a fifty-one-foot tail?"
September 19, 2026 at 7:01 PM
“Why, did you know that if a beaver two feet long with a tail a foot and a half long can build a dam twelve feet high and six feet wide in two days, all you would need to build Boulder Dam is a beaver sixty-eight feet long with a fifty-one-foot tail?"
Glad I didn't try to go to sleep after I confirmed the cars that got hit and probably totaled on my street, did not include my car. If I had, I would have just been woken up by the tow truck doing its best to extricate one car from another. Much screeching of metal and sad winch noises.
September 19, 2026 at 4:02 AM
Glad I didn't try to go to sleep after I confirmed the cars that got hit and probably totaled on my street, did not include my car. If I had, I would have just been woken up by the tow truck doing its best to extricate one car from another. Much screeching of metal and sad winch noises.