Notices by Annalee Newitz 🍜 (annaleen@wandering.shop), page 3

Handcrafted pumpkin spice, made with real sand worm excretions!

@ntnsndr oh wow that looks interesting. is your chapter up there yet?

I'm trying to find a good introductory essay/article (or video/pod) about government media regulation in the U.S. Something I could teach to undergraduates. Any ideas? Everything I've looked at is out of date.

One time I went to a party where the host lived with a parrot, and I spent most of the evening talking to the parrot because I didn't want them to feel left out and also they were one of the most interesting people there

@inthehands @Wolven I definitely think you're on to something there

I've been working on an article about the history of brainwashing as an idea. Today a researcher pointed out to me that there is one obvious difference between the way brainwashing is portrayed in the British novel 1984 vs the American movie The Manchurian Candidate. In 1984, the characters are being brainwashed by their own government. In the Manchurian Candidate, it's "the Reds." It's interesting to ponder the difference between those two fears, especially given contemporary politics.

What the actual fuck. One of my favorite political commentators, Mehdi Hasan, has been speaking out very eloquently, with his usual evidence-based arguments, in favor of Palestinian rights. And as a result, MSNBC canceled his popular show. This is a terrifying sign that so-called free speech in this country is anything but free. https://presswatchers.org/2023/11/msnbc-cancels-mehdi-hasan-a-truth-teller-in-a-time-of-crisis/

Dear security people: Is there any good reason in this day and age that an online order form should force me to paste my email into two different fields as some kind of "check"?

FACTS. CHECK THEM. WHEN YOU SEE A FACT, CHECK IT.

We often hear the phrase "first they came for the [vulnerable marginalized group], but I didn't say anything ... then they came for me." Simplistic, but we have actually seen this happen repeatedly in history, where a repressive regime starts with soft targets.

We also often hear "if we don't protect Nazi speech, they'll come for [vulnerable marginalized group] speech." I can't think of any real-life examples of this, though. Can you? Please advise!

@theogrin I wish we could just meet it with total indifference, like we did with the metaverse

I am a tech nerd and commentator who jumps on every new social media thing but I have absolutely no interest in the non-organic, autotuned community McMansion that is Threads. Seriously, do we really need another product from the "we didn't invent fascism, we just give the people what they want" company?

Happy caturday from Infrared and Ultraviolet.

Whaaa?? The Terraformers is one of Amazon's best books of the year so far! Many thanks to my readers for coming with me on this journey to a planet with moose romance, sentient public transit, and post-human burlesque shows.

I do not like it when scientists and technologists mine science fiction for ideas and then say "I'm turning science fiction into science!" Science fiction offers stories about discoveries in a social context. The context is the point. Without it, saying an innovation was inspired by science fiction is basically branding. It's flashy and misleading, and probably motivated by a desire for profit.

I have just learned about Scottish munchie boxes and I cannot believe we do not have these in the United States. Indeed, I cannot believe we didn't INVENT these in the United States. I want my goddamn munchie box culture and I want it now!

@RoyBrander wikipedia is a large nonprofit and does fundraisers every year. that is a financial model.

Here is my article about #Mastodon, the #Fediverse, and federalism for The Atlantic. I did NOT write the headline, which suggests the article is about Ben Franklin (never mentioned in the article) and Bluesky (mentioned a couple of times). LOL but I'm still really excited for you to read this!!! https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2023/05/social-media-centralism-fediverse/674041/

One of the many things I enjoy tremendously about Mastodon is the sheer mind-boggling variety of reactions to posts. If I post the sentence, "The dirt is very clumpy in my backyard today," people will discuss clumps, favorite backyards, climate change ... and then inevitably, somebody will eventually ask, "What is dirt?" I mean, it's not a bad question. Just not what I'd have expected.

@evan I used to be monogamous with Star Trek but now I'm poly with Star Trek and Star Wars, a state which some regard as a moral abomination.