the dastardly schemer

abolish work

[Andrew Hartman @HartmanAndrew]

“There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old’s life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, involves orcs."

[Phil Walsh @PhilWMovies]

This is a take. I disagree, but she's entitled to it.

However, this type of reaction speaks to a larger point (and it goes beyond The Odyssey): some cannot fathom when a story is an adaptation instead of a page-to-screen translation. A book and a film are their own mediums.

[🎮 @foreeeeeal]

“they should teach media literacy in schools” english class “they should teach students how to spot misinformation” it's english class “they should teach kids critical thinking” its called engish class

[the dastardly schemer @liluberdriver]

[REDACTED] [PARODY] [IN A VIDEO GAME]

[Hedgie @HedgieMarkets]

🦔AI companies are bulk-buying rare books, scanning them through high-speed machines that cut the spines off, and shredding the originals. A service called ISBNdb facilitates orders of up to a million books and keeps buyers anonymous. Pre-2022 books are premium because they're free of AI-generated text. A federal judge ruled the practice is fair use because eliminating the original means only one copy exists at a time. Anthropic hired the former head of Google Books partnerships to obtain "all the books in the world."

My Take
This got to me. A bookseller told 404 Media that rare books with almost no surviving copies are being fed into this pipeline. Books that survived wars, fires, and centuries of handling are being shredded so an AI can learn to write a better marketing email.
ISBNdb's website literally says "'AI company destroys two million books' is not a headline that generates sympathy," and they still built an entire business around making it happen quietly. They offer NDAs as a feature. They coach clients to call it "digital preservation."

I've covered AI companies scraping the internet, torrenting libraries, and stealing music. This is worse because it's irreversible. You can re-upload a website. You can reprint a bestseller. You can't replace the last three copies of an 18th-century botanical text once someone shreds them for training data. And the judge said it's legal. So it's going to accelerate.
"We shred rare books and offer NDAs so nobody finds out" is a legitimate business model in 2026. What a timeline.

Hedgie🤗

[Will 🦥 Menaker @willmenaker]

One of the most evil things imaginable to me

[Adrian Manuel @yoayyydrian]

Odysseus when did your moral scruples develop in regards to the building of the Trojan horse

[Sam Neill @TwoPaddocks]

Yes, I know things can look a little glum at present. But , for now cheer up. From us.

[Will 🦥 Menaker @willmenaker]

RIP

[the dastardly schemer @liluberdriver]

It’s still Fuck England

[filmfan24 @filmfan24]

“Experience the epic conclusion”
WE ARE DONE WHEN I SAY WE ARE DONE

[Wemby @wemby]

Spurs family, I’m here to stay.
Whatever it takes🖤

[Ben Crew @BenjaminCrew1]

Don't think a movie has ever felt more like an 8-year-old slamming action figures together than 2004's Van Helsing. Knows exactly what kind of movie it is, you gotta respect that.

[Will Steakin @wsteaks]

Platner is not DSA backed

[Wemby Central @WembyCentral]

It’s hilarious that they’re gonna try to make a player who’s only eligible for the team via birthright citizenship a symbol of the Trump admin. Genuinely we live amongst cattle

[RednBlackSalamander @9mmballpoint]

Ayn Rand has been replaced as the right's preeminent philosopher by a toddler throwing his dinner on the ground because he wants dessert first

[Will 🦥 Menaker @willmenaker]

Calling a Jewish man a "parasite" thats a yikes from me

[the dastardly schemer @liluberdriver]

@harrisonjaime

[the dastardly schemer @liluberdriver]

If you’re in line, keep posting!