Mark David Smith 🇺🇦--WEIRD SISTERS #3 out now!

Teacher, #kidlit author, b-ball relic. THE WEIRD SISTERS: A COOP SOME GOOP AND A SANDWICH (Bk.3). Rep'd by @jchevais @TRFnews

[Mark David Smith 🇺🇦--WEIRD SISTERS #3 out now! @marksmithbooks]

#TheWeirdSisters are coming in April. Let me introduce you to the characters, lovingly rendered by the talented Kari Rust.

[Peter Girnus 🦅 @gothburz]

Last quarter I rolled out Microsoft Copilot to 4,000 employees.

$30 per seat per month.

$1.4 million annually.

I called it "digital transformation."

The board loved that phrase.

They approved it in eleven minutes.

No one asked what it would actually do.

Including me.

I told everyone it would "10x productivity."

That's not a real number.

But it sounds like one.

HR asked how we'd measure the 10x.

I said we'd "leverage analytics dashboards."

They stopped asking.

Three months later I checked the usage reports.

47 people had opened it.

12 had used it more than once.

One of them was me.

I used it to summarize an email I could have read in 30 seconds.

It took 45 seconds.

Plus the time it took to fix the hallucinations.

But I called it a "pilot success."

Success means the pilot didn't visibly fail.

The CFO asked about ROI.

I showed him a graph.

The graph went up and to the right.

It measured "AI enablement."

I made that metric up.

He nodded approvingly.

We're "AI-enabled" now.

I don't know what that means.

But it's in our investor deck.

A senior developer asked why we didn't use Claude or ChatGPT.

I said we needed "enterprise-grade security."

He asked what that meant.

I said "compliance."

He asked which compliance.

I said "all of them."

He looked skeptical.

I scheduled him for a "career development conversation."

He stopped asking questions.

Microsoft sent a case study team.

They wanted to feature us as a success story.

I told them we "saved 40,000 hours."

I calculated that number by multiplying employees by a number I made up.

They didn't verify it.

They never do.

Now we're on Microsoft's website.

"Global enterprise achieves 40,000 hours of productivity gains with Copilot."

The CEO shared it on LinkedIn.

He got 3,000 likes.

He's never used Copilot.

None of the executives have.

We have an exemption.

"Strategic focus requires minimal digital distraction."

I wrote that policy.

The licenses renew next month.

I'm requesting an expansion.

5,000 more seats.

We haven't used the first 4,000.

But this time we'll "drive adoption."

Adoption means mandatory training.

Training means a 45-minute webinar no one watches.

But completion will be tracked.

Completion is a metric.

Metrics go in dashboards.

Dashboards go in board presentations.

Board presentations get me promoted.

I'll be SVP by Q3.

I still don't know what Copilot does.

But I know what it's for.

It's for showing we're "investing in AI."

Investment means spending.

Spending means commitment.

Commitment means we're serious about the future.

The future is whatever I say it is.

As long as the graph goes up and to the right.

[Mark David Smith 🇺🇦--WEIRD SISTERS #3 out now! @marksmithbooks]

I'm trying to imagine HG Wells on Twitter. Where would the algorithm send him?

[Drew Hayden Taylor @TheDHTaylor]

It must be end of term. In the last ten days I've received almost a dozen request from high school students to explain the mysteries of my work. Geez, when I was in Grade 12, I did my major English assignment on H. G. Wells, and the guy never returned any of my messages.

[Dr. Patricia Schmidt 🧠 @creatorschmidt]

Multitasking is a lie.

In reality, you’re rapidly switching back & forth between tasks.

Each switch costs you cognitive resources & depletes them more quickly than when you focus on a single task.

Focused work will get you the results you want.

[Mark David Smith 🇺🇦--WEIRD SISTERS #3 out now! @marksmithbooks]

This is what our kids are up against. Sophisticated software backed by billions of dollars vs. a few caring adults--how do you think this'll go?

[Zamaan Qureshi @zamaan_qureshi]

Pretty stunning testimony here from Sarah Wynn-Williams, the latest Meta whistleblower to come forward, to Sen. @MarshaBlackburn:

"Facebook was targeting 13-17-year-olds. It could identify when they were feeling worthless, or helpless... and share it with advertisers."

[Mark David Smith 🇺🇦--WEIRD SISTERS #3 out now! @marksmithbooks]

@ginamcmurchy @gator_gum Yes. The (grossly) naive part of me thinks that if people knew the ways they were being manipulated, they might align themselves differently. But such knowledge seems irrelevant. In thus era, tribal identities are based on our chosen manipulators. This, too, shall pass--I hope.

[Gator⚡Gum @gator_gum]

I think about this video often. Every Canadian should watch it.

[Mark David Smith 🇺🇦--WEIRD SISTERS #3 out now! @marksmithbooks]

@Dan__Barel I remember that one too!

[Mark David Smith 🇺🇦--WEIRD SISTERS #3 out now! @marksmithbooks]

Thanks #OrangeMarmaladeBooks for featuring #TheWeirdSisters: small is beautiful...75 more fiction titles less than 200 pages long https://t.co/u0A77HN9qM

[Danny Boy @Care2much18]

This wildly misleading tweet, and the mostly hateful replies, is like entering an alternate version of reality.

If anybody is interested in the truth behind this claim, and what that Swedish poll actually asked, I'll go through it.

Probably banging my head against a wall. 😂

[Mark David Smith 🇺🇦--WEIRD SISTERS #3 out now! @marksmithbooks]

Trudeau responding to US tarriffs on Canadian goods. A message for Americans. https://t.co/EnOIFirMBV

[OLGC School @OLGCSurrey]

📚📖For #ICanReadCanadaDay we had Canadian author @marksmithbooks present to the school. He read his book ‘The Deepest Dig’ to primary and wrote with the intermediates. 📚📖
“For where your treasure is, there will be your heart also” (Matthew 6:21)
#cisva @CISVA2

[Mark David Smith 🇺🇦--WEIRD SISTERS #3 out now! @marksmithbooks]

Not that this is impacting me directly, but I do encourage everyone to read through a book rather than purchasing based on name recognition. In the same way, I'm probably skeptical of my favorite writers appearing in movies.https://t.co/88sq7xJnWo

[Mark David Smith 🇺🇦--WEIRD SISTERS #3 out now! @marksmithbooks]

@Dan__Barel @RealBroNat @JoAnn_Marie Aren't we all?

[Mark David Smith 🇺🇦--WEIRD SISTERS #3 out now! @marksmithbooks]

@kpiependreigh @tiffanyeverett_ @LookingGlassLit @picturebookseh @PBScribblers @CWILLBC Congratulations, Kirsten!

[Mark David Smith 🇺🇦--WEIRD SISTERS #3 out now! @marksmithbooks]

KISS THE BOOK Jr.: A Note, a Goat, and a Casserole by Mark David Smit... Hey #teachersoftwitter: Looking for early reader #chapterbook recommendations? Kiss the Book Jr. has some nice things to say about #TheWeirdSisters! https://t.co/Inhkh9eJda

[Owlkids Publishing @owlkids]

Tell us your favorite summer reading spot for a chance to win a copy of THE WEIRD SISTERS: A COOP, SOME GOOP, AND A SANDWICH, courtesy of Owlkids Books!

#Contest closes August 15, so make sure to enter to #WIN here: https://t.co/Avr4y0pFhN

#BookContest #OWLMagazineContest

[Mueller, She Wrote @MuellerSheWrote]

Give this a watch. Share it with the republicans and Elon stans in your life.

[Blue Georgia @BlueGeorgia]

John Oliver on Project 2025 and a second Trump term.

I was going to clip this segment out into shorter sections but decided to keep it together because it's too important and, frankly, it should terrify you.

[Encyclopaedia Britannica @Britannica]

Yes, we've already updated his bio.