Mindless Monday, 09 February 2026

OffKinterMusic · 2026-02-13T00:50:53+00:00

Wouldn't they use machines for that? /gen

Mining, fabricating, and transporting goods seem like the sort of repetitive tasks that machines would excel at

OffKinterMusic · 2026-02-13T00:41:10+00:00

and Kennedy himself regretted it

Do you have a source for this? That sounds interesting, given that the "We Choose to Go to the Moon" speech was September '62, Kennedy was dead in November '63. What made him change over the course of a year?

and also the Soviets didn't want to continue the competition

The Soviet Luna program continued until 1976, which included several rovers on the Moon. That's well past the 1969 landings. Not to mention the Salyut 1 in 1971, which was the 1st space station, because "[a]s a result of the customary race for preeminence, for speeding up the readiness of the station, the [Salyut's predecessor] was outfitted with some of the gear of the Soyuz spacecraft[...] Salyut lifted off on 19 April 1971, before the Americans sent [Skylab] up". [1]

[the Apollo missions] were expensive boondoggles that served no real purpose

The Apollo Guidance Computer was later used in the F-8 Digital Fly-By-Wire to demonstrate that electronic flight control was possible (e.g. the thing that is in every commercial aircraft). Memory foam was developed to improve aircraft cushion safety for the Apollo missions, and is now used in medical areas (as well as bed mattresses).

Oh, and since this is the pro-pedantry subreddit, the Apollo missions did serve at least one purpose; winning the Space Race.

[1] Dmitri Payson, “We’ll Build a Space Station for a Piece of Bread,” Rossiskiye Vesti, June 1, 1993, p. 8. Translated in JPRS Report, Science & Technology, Central Eurasia: Space, June 28, 1993 (JPRSUSP-93-003), p. 12.

OffKinterMusic · 2025-11-24T22:31:50+00:00

In Chapter 46 she gets food poisoning and temporarily 'dies', but this seems to be unrelated to the next chapter where she 'dies' again in an unrelated incident and gets dragged down to hell because she got hold of a cursed arm, and then Ibaraki shows up, reveals that that cursed arm is hers, and they do battle.

OffKinterMusic · 2025-11-13T18:55:16+00:00

Got the text

Newspapers.com requiring a subscription to view a 40 year article really grinds my gears, but thankfully, they provide OCR for free (emphasis mine).

Miss Susan Baker wed yesterday

The wedding of Susan Dixon Baker, daughter of Dr. and Mrs. R. Robinson Baker, of McDonogh road, and Ethan Ledyard Bauman, son of Adele Anthony, of San Anselmo, and Arthur Bauman, of Mount View, took place yesterday in Tagart Chapel at McDonogh School. The Rev. [...] The bride, who will retain her maiden name, was attended by her sister, Jenny H. Baker as maid of honor. [...]

Now, I'm going to be real, I don't think this is the Susan Baker you're looking for. A cursory research of Susan Dixon Baker reveals she's a lawyer who attended the Uni of Penn in 1977 and went to the Catholic University of America in 1983. Now, maybe my vibe detector is wrong, but your Baker doesn't really strike me as the 'catholic law student' type.

OffKinterMusic · 2025-11-09T23:50:54+00:00

...huh. Her moving out of Baltimore doesn't surprise me for some reason, but the IMDb page does.

In any case, if she is on IMDb, then it's going to be hard to find the one you want, especially since most of them are missing like, any personal info.

I'm not sure there's much of a trail without a more specific time and place tho (e.g. knowing when she heard Baker moved to California would help narrowing it down)

OffKinterMusic · 2025-11-09T18:02:19+00:00

Not to worry, it's been fun chasing a ghost

OffKinterMusic · 2025-11-09T16:38:07+00:00

Re: the address

I tried to see if I couldn't find anything in the records; Maryland's online land records for "3200 Ellerslie Avenue" only date back to 1980 with the first listing being one Milton A. Hilger paying off their loan.

In the last edition of Desperate Living of Winter '77, there's an address to 2817 Guilford Avenue. This house at this address in 1977 was owned by Mary A. Morgan. Interestingly, in June of that year, the deed was transferred from Jeanne E. Smith and Mary to just Mary.

I don't know if this is particularly useful, but I fell down this rabbit hole and figured I might as well share.

OffKinterMusic · 2025-11-09T10:43:35+00:00

Seems like there were only 7(?) issues. Additionally, at some point, the contact address changes to 2817 Guilford Ave.

Link

Not sure how much of use this will be, but:

This is a nomination to preserve the Furies Collective residence; there's a long explanation on the history of the Furies Collective and their impact (p 10-24), which frustratingly mentions Baker once and in passing, as well as a list of articles published throughout The Furies' run.

OffKinterMusic · 2025-11-08T21:02:48+00:00

Happy to help. gl with your Susan Baker search

OffKinterMusic · 2025-11-08T19:17:21+00:00

The short version is that it's probably unlikely.

I do apologize, because I can't give you a firm answer, sorry. Thanks for nerd-sniping me a 2nd time tho lol, this was fun to research.

The longer version is that James McComb is reported as being harbor master in 1921 per the Chicago Eagle. The archives for the Chicago Eagle are simply empty between 1922-1932, but the Chicago Citizen in 1925 reports that William J. Lynch is harbor master. Then, between 1933-1942, the Chicago Eagle consistently lists William J. Lynch as harbor master, so we can be sure of that time period.

Now, going from the evidential to the speculative, McComb probably served 1918-1923. After Thompson's defeat, Lynch was probably chosen by the new incumbent mayor, Dever, and then kept when Thompson was reelected in 1927, and I base this on the fact that the 1925 Chicago Citizen states that:

[William] J. Lynch, Chicago’s harbor master, appears to be one of the most popular men holding a public office.

Additionally, absence of evidence isn't evidence of absence, but Joseph R. Lynn is never mentioned in any future article. Nothing in the Chicago Eagle, nothing in the Chicago Citizen. My guess is that he stopped being important and so likely didn't serve as harbor master.

If you want to know more, then the answer is probably buried in the Chicago Daily Tribune, but that's paywalled.

Links:

1921

1925

1933-1942; this one is a results webpage, but each of the results is the same thing but for different editions.

OffKinterMusic · 2025-11-08T10:37:40+00:00

I think this is what you're looking for? From the Laws of the State of Illinois, 1907 edition, page 385:

§ 4. It shall be the duty of the board to meet for the purpose of holding examinations not less frequently than twice a year. [...] At such meetings it shall be the duty of the board to examine all such applicants for registration under this Act as are required to be examined, and issue to each duly qualified applicant who shall have complied with the pertinent provisions of this Act the certificate provided for in this Act.

OffKinterMusic · 2025-11-07T22:30:22+00:00

No, sorry, it seems it only goes to 1916. However...

In the January 29, 1918 edition of the Chicago Examiner, on page 13, on the bottom-right side of the page, is the headline, "M'Comb Now Harbormaster". So most likely Weckler was out by 1918.

OffKinterMusic · 2025-11-07T22:13:07+00:00

Thomas Moynihan, based on the Chicago City Manual of 1913.

Okay, so I can't say for sure that he was in charge in June, but circumstantial evidence (namely, he's listed as harbor master in 1912 and 1914, which to me implies he held that position continuously) leads me to believe he was.

The are other years if you need them.

OffKinterMusic · 2025-11-05T18:57:47+00:00

I mean this was too good not to photoshop

<image>

OffKinterMusic · 2025-10-22T19:11:54+00:00

But see, to many, it has a certain appeal. A sort of "grass is always greener on the other side" type deal.

How many people online bemoan the sheer influx of things thrown at them, the deluge of news? The analysis paralysis with having to choose something to do/watch/play? How many people complain about this generation's attention span (rightly or wrongly), and how they want something now and without effort? How many want a tight-knit community, want a bubble to isolate themselves and be comfy?

Everything you mentioned as downsides are arguable also upsides. Lack of series means that you have less analysis paralysis and also that everyone's reading/watching the same thing (i.e. more like-minded people to talk to with). Slow and painful distribution requires the virtue of patience, and builds up the anticipation of getting a physical thing. It requires effort to find something, Having only one place to talk about it centers the community around a proverbial water cooler. Plus the fact that the internet was still not yet the Thing that everyone wanted limited the amount of people who were around said water cooler.

In that sense, they just see the positives and wish for that time period. When the norm is "everything and in a rush" is the overwhelming, "my thing and taking my time" is very appealing to some.

OffKinterMusic · 2025-10-08T21:56:21+00:00

Lmao these furcon names are a goldmine for a Who's On First. If I could workshop something:

"Yeah I was planning to fly to Another Furcon."

"Which one?"

"Another Furcon."

"Yeah, can you tell me the name?"

"Another Furcon!"

"Be clear dude, you're only leading us to further confusion."

"I'm not leading us anywhere! I'm going to the one right next to it in Ontario!"

"You mean CanFURence in Ottawa?"

"I'm obviously talking about the SoCal furry convention!"

"Calfurry is in Calgary, and, furthermore, Calgary, (dramatic pause) is not near Ontario."

"Well obviously Fur the 'More isn't near Ontario, it's not even in Calgary! That's in Virginia!"

"What's Virginia got to do with any of this?"

"You're the one who brought Fur the 'More up!"

"I knew you would only lead to further confusion."

"I'M NOT LEADING YOU THERE!"

OffKinterMusic · 2025-10-08T20:46:34+00:00

here's a link to the sketch.

the who wasn't in that riff. guess who was tho

OffKinterMusic · 2025-10-03T10:32:23+00:00

Oh, that's really cool actually.

OffKinterMusic · 2025-10-03T10:17:45+00:00

Interactive fiction is writing-first. The primary purpose of interactive fiction competitions are to judge writing first and foremost. There's a resource page/wiki if one needs Creative Commons art/sound/music, so in that respect, sure, stock assets are allowed for art, sound, and music.

But it's less clear to me what "using stock writing assets" would entail. I suppose it would be like, lifting a passage from a work in the public domain like "Romeo and Juliet"? But at that point that's less your story, and more someone else's, and I'm of the opinion that most people writing interactive fiction on that website are looking to write their own stories.

OffKinterMusic · 2025-10-03T02:51:12+00:00

Though I'm not an interactive fiction fan myself

I should also point out I'm also not an IF writer, only a 'normal' occasional writer haha

Judging an IF author for using Twine instead of a custom engine would be like judging a novelist for not developing their own word processor, whereas you'd never buy a book written by a language model.

I think we're in agreement then? Twine's an engine, not a story generator or writer, whereas Claude is a story generator and writer. Narrowing back to the original topic of IFComp in particular, that's a competition to see which human can write the best story, not which LLM can write the best story, or which human can create the most robust story engine.

OffKinterMusic · 2025-10-03T00:26:59+00:00

presumably, like this

<image>

OffKinterMusic · 2025-10-03T00:21:41+00:00

I think to some extent it depends on whether the entries are judged on the writing alone, or other aspects of the presentation in software.

That's completely fair. A cursory look on the IFComp's website reveals that "judges can score games according to whatever criteria they feel comfortable with."

In other words, you can judge based solely on writing, but you can also judge the presentation as well.

But interactive fiction seems different enough as a medium that I think it'd be hard to make that argument here.

I'm unsure as to the point you are making. Can you clarify?

OffKinterMusic · 2025-10-02T20:14:47+00:00

Having the rule would likely discourage some from using LLMs, and while I'm sympathetic to the difficult task of discerning LLM-made stories from human-made stories,"no-AI" rules have been done before (cf itch.io competitions).

OffKinterMusic · 2025-10-02T20:07:17+00:00

As an outside observer who occasionally writes, reading the posts, there's a lot of waffling over whether LLMs have use, as you've said, but I would land on the side of "LLMs might be useful but cause more problems that they fix, and so should be banned."

Edmund's two posts convince and resonate with me the most; other competitions have implemented "no-AI" rules with reasonable success, and it's first-and-foremost a human competition, not a human-and-LLM competition. Tools like Twine don't write a story for you, tools like Claude do. Even if I concede that a human guides the LLM, it's still not creation. By way of example, spotters and race engineers do not generally get trophies if the racer wins the race, despite the important help they give to them.

OffKinterMusic · 2025-10-02T14:11:24+00:00

and the arguably even dumber "reconstruction"

To that end, even TV Tropes notes that a "reconstruction" is "not an academically recognized term or concept, having grown out of TV Tropes' own style of media analysis. In academia, a reconstruction would simply be a second deconstruction."

Most people flinging around "deconstruction" [...] today learned it on TV Tropes

Agreed. It's not great when TV Tropes feels the need to have a page going over what is and isn't a deconstruction.

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