@stevendbrewer@wandering.shop

"A doggy bag? For me?" Totemo looked inside and found a couple of bagels, a muffin, and a few packets of butter. "Thanks, I guess."
Lambda paced angrily, growling.
"That good, huh?" Totemo commiserated, cutting the muffin in half. "Meetings are always like that." (3/5) #wss366

Totemo Isogashii spent a glorious weekend summarizing old field notes and organizing data. Usually, during the weekend, she felt that Lambda prevented her from getting as much work done as she wanted.
Late Sunday, Lambda returned carrying a small paper bag. She ruffed at Totemo. (2/5) #wss366

Lambda had gotten a message inviting her for a NeoBoxer summit at Collina Margherita — the Holufinian Center for NeoBoxer Development. She departed late Friday afternoon and caught a SkyJumper for the trip. (1/5) #wss366

It's like a chainsaw that frequently bucks and chops off your hand. It's not that the chainsaw is going to destroy humanity. And it doesn't matter how good it is at cutting wood. If it cuts off your hand more than 0.00001% of the time you use it, it's going to be a commercial failure.

A NYT article today is fixated on the idea that public disenchantment with AI is due to irrational fears that it will destroy humanity. https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/21/technology/ai-boom-backlash.html?unlocked_article_code=1.N1A.0dS2.1kUOY4vkbrw7&smid=url-share

I think it completely misses the point. Personally, I just think they won't actually work very well for most things. And that the risks of using them will be higher than the value gained.

It's weird how they're banning social media for miners. What's next? Banning it for roughnecks? Or truck drivers?

Heather came to when bilge water sloshed over her face. Coughing and sputtering, she thrashed to get her head above the water. She struck her head against a beam in the narrow compartment. She saw stars in the darkness as she struggled to orient herself. Then her hand touched something that made her #flesh crawl. She reached out and touched another hand. It was cold and dead -- stiff with rigor mortis. Her gorge rose and saliva filled her mouth as she struggled not to vomit. #wss366

Zaza called the Better Angels to dinner. They arrived at the galley chattering, filed in, and each took a Fun Meal. They sat at their places and, only then, noticed an empty #chair.
"Where's Popo?" asked Sisi.
Everyone turned to Zaza.
"She's… otherwise engaged."
Mumu made a rude gesture with her hands.
"Did she go in a hole?" Bebe asked.
"Ssh!" hissed all of the other Angels. #wss366

"I do not have LRC," Zaza shouted. "You pointed to the left!"
Tau howled, pointing to the right.
"I'm over here!" their quarry said.
"Shut up!" Zaza said, firing her railgun wildly to the right. "You keep out of this!" (3/3) #wss366

Zaza took a quick look around the corner, then jerked her head back as bullets began to fly from the other direction.
"How did they get behind us?" she barked.
Tau barked back and pointed to the right.
"You pointed to the left!" Zaza said.
Tau growled and pointed to the right again. (2/3) #wss366

Zaza crept along the corridor, cradling a railgun. She was following Tau, who was nose-to-the-ground, following the scent of their quarry as they approached an intersecting corridor.
"And what does your #keen nose detect, Cap'n," she said.
He ruffed quietly and pointed to the left. (1/3) #wss366

#ScribesAndMakers Have you ever or would you ever do your own cover?

My publisher arranged for the covers of my books of fiction.
I did my own covers for my chapbooks of haiku, though. The first, *Poŝtmarkoj el Esperantujo* was a little clunky, but I thought the others were pretty OK. My favorite was probably the cover for *senokulvitre*.

An honor guard composed of Zaza and Popo escorted Racy and the Barlek through the vast and stately corridors.
"De pukkers dat run dis place has too much pukkin' money," observed the Barlek as he stumped along with his stick. (2/2) #wss366 from The Better Angels and the Complex Cuddletum Conundrum

An older Xerxes Mark III Courier docked at Diplomacy #Prime, an asteroid near the center of the galaxy dedicated to resolving disputes among the federated planets.
Captain Racy Reckless opened the hatch of *Never Back Down* and led a small party toward the Grand Council Chamber. (1/2) #wss366

My contribution to the xkcd 2501 genre. via https://marshdeer.github.io/xkcd2501-generator/

This is why you don't want AIs to have access to your data. We still have a very poor idea of how they can be subverted and used to persistently mislead you or exfiltrate your data. https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2026/02/the-promptware-kill-chain.html

Revin and Grip sat in the little room behind the one-way mirror to watch events unfold. It was a farce: the men that would bully and arrest the girls on the street, flirted amiably with them here. Then, an older man with an armband walked up the gangplank and Revin shrank back in terror and #revulsion. 
Grip noticed Revin's reaction. "Do you recognize him? Who is that?" he whispered.
"It's my father," Revin hissed, with a shudder. #wss366

Tanuki-chan had little interest in the smart watches. #DogsOfMastodon

I had seen that the @arstechnica article, referenced in this slashdot post, had been deleted and wondered why. https://news.slashdot.org/story/26/02/14/0553208/autonomous-ai-agent-apparently-tries-to-blackmail-maintainer-who-rejected-its-code

I subscribe to Ars Technica and would like to see some cogent explanation for why their journalism included these hallucinated false quotes — and some persuasive statement expressing a commitment that this will never happen again — or I will cancel my subscription.

I decided to write a bit more about people mistakenly ascribing intentionality to AIs, and to situate my reasoning with social constructivism and Wittgenstein. https://stevendbrewer.com/the-language-game-ai-edition/