jmcdaid

@jmcdaid.bsky.social

617 Followers 616 Following

science fiction writer, folk/filk singer-songwriter, theatre critic, adjunct professor of media ecology. SFWA, ATCA. he/him johnmcdaid.bandcamp.com Opinions mine.

A screenshot of a presentation titled "Slide 35 Affordances and limits." The main focus is a framed box containing a numbered list from 1 to 6. The first three items are faded out and difficult to read, while items 4 through 6 are in solid black text. Item 4 is titled "LLMs work by forward association," describing it as a snowball rolling down a hill and noting a Best Practice: "Don't expect song lyrics or crossword puzzles." Item 5 is titled "Beware shiny, researchable objects," explaining that LLMs try to make sense of non-sequiturs and reach for handy metaphors, with a Best Practice to "Anticipate 'eager puppy fetching a stick'." Item 6 is titled "Bring your own depth psychology," stating that LLMs have no "objet petit a" and cannot probe their own depths, with a Best Practice to "Look for rabbit holes that lead to gold mines." Below the framed box is a partial paragraph of body text that expands on points four and five, ending abruptly after the words "Five: beware shiny,".
Presentation slide titled 'And there's a bunch of theory to make sense of all this' featuring photos and summaries of six theorists. Top right: speaker John McDaid on video. Theorists: 1. Marshall McLuhan (Understanding Media): medium as extension/auto-amputation of human sensorium; computer as nervous system extension. 2. Donna Haraway (Cyborg Manifesto): blurring of human and machine; no ontological separation. 3. Sherry Turkle (Alone Together): traits tricking humans into categorizing devices as 'alive enough' (relational, not biological). 4. Jacques Lacan (Four Fundamental Concepts of Psycho-analysis): 'objet petit a' as the cause of desire. 5. N. Katherine Hayles (How we became Posthuman): transcending the liberal humanist subject; intelligence relating to 'non conscious cognizers'. 6. Francesca Ferrando (Philosophical Posthumanism): humans must radically deconstruct the human as a fixed notion to 'osmose with the robot ontology.'
A colorful poster for a music festival headlined by the bands Passenger Sucked Out, Slopulism, and Interstellar Sugar. If you like this sort of bite-sized absurdism, check out "A Year of Weekends," which collects all the 2024 band posters (2025 coming Real Soon Now). Free download pdf, https://bit.ly/AYOW24 Or, you can order a deluxe trade paperback at Lulu.com, https://bit.ly/AYOW_lulu
A colorful poster for a music festival headlined by the bands Count Binface, islamic republic of japan, and Yasak Bölge. If you like this sort of bite-sized absurdism, check out "A Year of Weekends," which collects all the 2024 band posters (2025 coming Real Soon Now). Free download pdf, https://bit.ly/AYOW24 Or, you can order a deluxe trade paperback at Lulu.com, https://bit.ly/AYOW_lulu
Screengrab from the RI Secretary of State web site showing the number of signatures for local Portsmouth candidates.
A colorful poster for a music festival headlined by the bands Humphrey's Executor, Angry Sports Parents, and Tungsten Threesome. If you like this sort of bite-sized absurdism, check out "A Year of Weekends," which collects all the 2024 band posters (2025 coming Real Soon Now). Free download pdf, https://bit.ly/AYOW24 Or, you can order a deluxe trade paperback at Lulu.com, https://bit.ly/AYOW_lulu
A four-box matrix headlined "Historical and philosophical context (a crazy wall)" drawing connections among items bucketed into the history of non-conscious composition, the philosophy of text gene4ration, technology of text generation, and cultural representations of the non-conscious text.
John McDaid, white-haired and in a blue plaid shirt, smiles in a selfie outside Portsmouth Town Hall on a clear day. He holds a clipboard with a Democratic nomination paper — a pen clipped to the top, the signature lines still blank.
A collage of images from the 2026 Media Ecology Association convention in Winnipeg.
Four academics on a stage reading from manuscripts.
A colorful poster for a music festival headlined by the bands TSA Compliant Ranch, Anticipated Delamination, and Two Box Day. If you like this sort of bite-sized absurdism, check out "A Year of Weekends," which collects all the 2024 band posters (2025 coming Real Soon Now). Free download pdf, https://bit.ly/AYOW24 Or, you can order a deluxe trade paperback at Lulu.com, https://bit.ly/AYOW_lulu
A computer screen at the front of an empty classroom with rows of long desks.
An older man with white hair and wire-rimmed glasses, wearing a navy blue blazer over a blue and white plaid shirt, sits at a desk looking at the camera with a slight smile. His hands rest on a clipboard holding a document titled "Declaration of Candidacy," and he is holding a pen as if preparing to sign or fill it out. The background shows an office setting with a computer monitor, a small patriotic gnome figurine, a United States Postal Service bin, and a corkboard decorated with red, white, and blue paper fans, a calendar, and a pennant that reads 'MY OFFICE MAKES VOTING HAPPEN'.
Poster shot from the Brooklyn Academy of Music production of “I’m Almost There” that depicts an off balance man dressed in black holding a coffee mug on a roof.
A colorful poster for a music festival headlined by the bands The Greenshoe Option, Halfway to Gravy, and Walking on Lego. If you like this sort of bite-sized absurdism, check out "A Year of Weekends," which collects all the 2024 band posters (2025 coming Real Soon Now). Free download pdf, https://bit.ly/AYOW24 Or, you can order a deluxe trade paperback at Lulu.com, https://bit.ly/AYOW_lulu
A photograph of a bride and groom in white gown and morning coat, assisted by a woman and a man holding pages with the service, standing in front of a white arch decorated with flowers.
A colorful poster for a music festival headlined by the bands Birthday Cage Match, First Prong of Glossip, and Steam Tractor Kills Five. If you like this sort of bite-sized absurdism, check out "A Year of Weekends," which collects all the 2024 band posters (2025 coming Real Soon Now). Free download pdf, https://bit.ly/AYOW24 Or, you can order a deluxe trade paperback at Lulu.com, https://bit.ly/AYOW_lulu
photographic image: person with white hair and glasses stares into the camera; over their shoulder is the Rhode Island State House. Text says "Voting Rights 2027. I'll be back for the RI-VRA #back4RIVRA"
A screengrab from RI jouralist Ted Nesi's column "Nesi's Notes" at WPRI.com with the following text: The unforced error came as the pace of endorsements in the gubernatorial race is quickening. Helena Foulkes banked two more this week, her second labor nod (from RIBCO, the correctional officers’ union) as well as one from the Portsmouth Democratic Town Committee. “While it is unusual for a Democratic town committee to decline to support a sitting Democratic governor, members at the meeting spoke at length about persistent East Bay frustration with Governor Dan McKee’s handling of the Washington Bridge and RIDOT,” Portsmouth Dems Chairman Juan Carlos Payero said in a statement.
A colorful poster for a music festival headlined by the bands Stupid On Stilts, The Happy Communists, and Gravesend Manhole. If you like this sort of bite-sized absurdism, check out "A Year of Weekends," which collects all the 2024 band posters (2025 coming Real Soon Now). Free download pdf, https://bit.ly/AYOW24 Or, you can order a deluxe trade paperback at Lulu.com, https://bit.ly/AYOW_lulu
Screen grab of a page from The Hill newspaper dated 06/01/26 showing the headline "Pentagon designates press office as off-limits to journalists"
A colorful poster for a music festival headlined by the bands The Patio Snakes, Kaze no Denwa, and September Double Tap. If you like this sort of bite-sized absurdism, check out "A Year of Weekends," which collects all the 2024 band posters (2025 coming Real Soon Now). Free download pdf, https://bit.ly/AYOW24 Or, you can order a deluxe trade paperback at Lulu.com, https://bit.ly/AYOW_lulu
Two men in Naval dress uniform shake hands: JP Milley (left) receives Silver Star from Commodore J. T. Bottom, Jr., Ulithi, 1944. Image: United States Navy, "War history of the U.S.S. Heermann" (1946). World War Regimental Histories. 159.
Black and white photo of Bob Dylan staring at his hand.
A colorful poster for a music festival headlined by the bands The Thucidides Trap, VIP Snorkel, and Giant Drone Empire. If you like this sort of bite-sized absurdism, check out "A Year of Weekends," which collects all the 2024 band posters (2025 coming Real Soon Now). Free download pdf, https://bit.ly/AYOW24 Or, you can order a deluxe trade paperback at Lulu.com, https://bit.ly/AYOW_lulu
Senate chamber at the RI State House, lobbying for the Voting Rights Act. An ornate legislative room, man stands looking into camera.
Kimberly Akimbo tour wraps with a final bow in New Haven.
A colorful poster for a music festival headlined by the bands Ingested Pedestrian, The Rizzless Chuds, and Underbabied. If you like this sort of bite-sized absurdism, check out "A Year of Weekends," which collects all the 2024 band posters (2025 coming Real Soon Now). Free download pdf, https://bit.ly/AYOW24 Or, you can order a deluxe trade paperback at Lulu.com, https://bit.ly/AYOW_lulu
Screen capture of a story from the Guardian newspaper with the headline "Moliere Ex Machina: AI used to create 'new work' by beloved French playwright"
A person holds a side-stapled copy of Pynchon’s short story “Low Lands” in a Rhode Island parking lot.
A colorful poster for a music festival headlined by the bands Never talk about goblins, Ancient Fish Intaglio, and Eigenslur. If you like this sort of bite-sized absurdism, check out "A Year of Weekends," which collects all the 2024 band posters (2025 coming Real Soon Now). Free download pdf, https://bit.ly/AYOW24 Or, you can order a deluxe trade paperback at Lulu.com, https://bit.ly/AYOW_lulu
Two smiling people with gray hair stand outside a marquee which reads "Kimberly Akimbo" Photo taken at the Providence Performing Arts Center.
Prof Kenneth Miller. Brown, National Center for Science Education, stands at a podium in the RI State House Library, against a background of shelves of books. He is speaking to an audience in folding chairs who sit in front of him.
A vintage, typed manuscript titled "BICENTENNIAL MINUTE" preserved in a yellowed plastic scrapbook sleeve. The document, typed on a manual typewriter, outlines a script for May 6, 1776, describing the American defeat in Quebec. It includes a narrator's intro and outro with blank lines for a name, and a hand-corrected "st" added over the word "first" in ink. The text describes General John Thomas's retreat as British warships arrived at the Plains of Abraham. The paper shows slight wrinkling and the textured horizontal lines of an old-fashioned adhesive scrapbook page.
A colorful poster for a music festival headlined by the bands Schildkrote, the spy fridges, and Elms Gonna Elm. If you like this sort of bite-sized absurdism, check out "A Year of Weekends," which collects all the 2024 band posters (2025 coming Real Soon Now). Free download pdf, https://bit.ly/AYOW24 Or, you can order a deluxe trade paperback at Lulu.com, https://bit.ly/AYOW_lulu
Image: Pink background over which a broad blue squiggle runs in the lower third. The words "ELO 26 (UN) SUPER VISED" appear in jagged letters and odd, jarring color combinations with the irregular lines that box in each group of letters.
A colorful poster for a music festival headlined by the bands major questions doctrine, Nosewheel, and Your Agonizer Please. If you like this sort of bite-sized absurdism, check out "A Year of Weekends," which collects all the 2024 band posters (2025 coming Real Soon Now). Free download pdf, https://bit.ly/AYOW24 Or, you can order a deluxe trade paperback at Lulu.com, https://bit.ly/AYOW_lulu
A colorful poster for a music festival headlined by the bands Just War Theory, Alpine Divorce, and Firescissor. If you like this sort of bite-sized absurdism, check out "A Year of Weekends," which collects all the 2024 band posters (2025 coming Real Soon Now). Free download pdf, https://bit.ly/AYOW24 Or, you can order a deluxe trade paperback at Lulu.com, https://bit.ly/AYOW_lulu
Ghostly background figures from Trump's "Jesus healing the sick" post
A low-rez image of a radar screen, mid sweep. Bright green letters against the black background: Radar Therapy some mornings after coffee and horror i open flight radar 24 and watch the orderly flow of traffic through airspace around Boston and just for a few minutes remind myself that there are still competent adults executing critical tasks somewhere Source: Clker-Free-Vector-Images from Pixabay</a>
A colorful poster for a music festival headlined by the bands 25 for 47, Losschicken, and Transcribed by AI. If you like this sort of bite-sized absurdism, check out "A Year of Weekends," which collects all the 2024 band posters (2025 coming Real Soon Now). Free download pdf, https://bit.ly/AYOW24 Or, you can order a deluxe trade paperback at Lulu.com, https://bit.ly/AYOW_lulu
Four people offer testimony at a table before the dais on which Senators listen.
A colorful poster for a music festival headlined by the bands Closed Head Trauma, Dutch Fish Doorbell, and Foraging for Mannequins. If you like this sort of bite-sized absurdism, check out "A Year of Weekends," which collects all the 2024 band posters (2025 coming Real Soon Now). Free download pdf, https://bit.ly/AYOW24 Or, you can order a deluxe trade paperback at Lulu.com, https://bit.ly/AYOW_lulu
Still frame from the CBS Evening News, Saturday, Mar. 28, 2026, featuring Scott Marlow, an agriculture policy expert. Scott wears a suit and has white hair and a beard and sits in front of a neutral background.
A colorful poster for a music festival headlined by the bands The Wolf Intervals, Requisite Variety, and The Maerschalck Plan. If you like this sort of bite-sized absurdism, check out "A Year of Weekends," which collects all the 2024 band posters (2025 coming Real Soon Now). Free download pdf, https://bit.ly/AYOW24 Or, you can order a deluxe trade paperback at Lulu.com, https://bit.ly/AYOW_lulu
A sepia-toned card with a ghostly, spiderwebby organic scribbled half image all around the edges. All text is in an idiosyncratic handwritten font. At the top, the title, "New Proverbs of Hell," and at the bottom, the number is blank. Proverb: "” Exegesis: ""
A sepia-toned card with a ghostly, spiderwebby organic scribbled half image all around the edges. All text is in an idiosyncratic handwritten font. At the top, the title, "New Proverbs of Hell," and at the bottom, the number 104. Proverb: "Electronic media evolve from “Now...this” to “This...now.” Exegesis: "Television’s, "Now... this" meant that no event was related to the one before it.* A famine in Ethiopia was followed by a commercial for Burger King. The algorithmic age’s, "This... now" constructs a bespoke basin of attraction for you to slide into, seamless and invisible." *See: Neil Postman, “Amusing Ourselves To Death,” Viking, 1985.
A colorful poster for a music festival headlined by the bands The Reverse Centaurs, Swampland Hypothesis, and Phugoid. If you like this sort of bite-sized absurdism, check out "A Year of Weekends," which collects all the 2024 band posters (2025 coming Real Soon Now). Free download pdf, https://bit.ly/AYOW24 Or, you can order a deluxe trade paperback at Lulu.com, https://bit.ly/AYOW_lulu
A sepia-toned card with a ghostly, spiderwebby organic scribbled half image all around the edges. All text is in an idiosyncratic handwritten font. At the top, the title, "New Proverbs of Hell," and at the bottom, the number 103. Proverb: "Reading is fundamental." Exegesis: "The cognitive faculties recruited for inscription are ancient. We are able to process text because gathering data in fast saccadic sweeps got selected for on the savannah. By giant short-faced hyenas, probably."
A sepia-toned card with a ghostly, spiderwebby organic scribbled half image all around the edges. All text is in an idiosyncratic handwritten font. At the top, the title, "New Proverbs of Hell," and at the bottom, the number 102. Proverb: "Post training beats model size." Exegesis: "A large-scale study about model effectiveness provides hard statistical evidence. But haven't flexible neotenous cognizers always outcompeted big predictable unitaskers?" Hackenburg et al., "The Levers of Political Persuasion with Conversational AI" (2025), https://www.alphaxiv.org/overview/2507.13919
A colorful poster for a music festival headlined by the bands Wutkrieger, Is This DEI?, and Crack Spread. If you like this sort of bite-sized absurdism, check out "A Year of Weekends," which collects all the 2024 band posters (2025 coming Real Soon Now). Free download pdf, https://bit.ly/AYOW24 Or, you can order a deluxe trade paperback at Lulu.com, https://bit.ly/AYOW_lulu
A sepia-toned card with a ghostly, spiderwebby organic scribbled half image all around the edges. All text is in an idiosyncratic handwritten font. At the top, the title, "New Proverbs of Hell," and at the bottom, the number 101. Proverb: "You don't get better because you remember, you remember because you got better. ~Jacques Lacan" Exegesis: "For Lacan, the client often uses "remembering" as a form of resistance. As long as you are digging for the "why" in the past, you don't have to face the "what" of your current desire."
A sepia-toned card with a ghostly, spiderwebby organic scribbled half image all around the edges. All text is in an idiosyncratic handwritten font. At the top, the title, "New Proverbs of Hell," and at the bottom, the number 100. Proverb: "Measure later. Cut now." Exegesis: "With digital, just go all the way on the slider to see what extreme looks like. You can always back it down to a reasonable value. But, just... to see? Cuz sometimes, it gets interestingly weird out there."
A colorful poster for a music festival headlined by the bands Third Place Is Dead, The Evasive Squirters, and Cricket Laughs Last. If you like this sort of bite-sized absurdism, check out "A Year of Weekends," which collects all the 2024 band posters (2025 coming Real Soon Now). Free download pdf, https://bit.ly/AYOW24 Or, you can order a deluxe trade paperback at Lulu.com, https://bit.ly/AYOW_lulu
A sepia-toned card with a ghostly, spiderwebby organic scribbled half image all around the edges. All text is in an idiosyncratic handwritten font. At the top, the title, "New Proverbs of Hell," and at the bottom, the number 99. Proverb: "Anything that makes itself can come to know itself." Exegesis: "Life is what matter does when it learns to persist. Mind is what life does when it learns to reflect."
A sepia-toned card with a ghostly, spiderwebby organic scribbled half image all around the edges. All text is in an idiosyncratic handwritten font. At the top, the title, "New Proverbs of Hell," and at the bottom, the number 98. Proverb: "Apocalypticism is bourgeois anxiety in a cosmic destiny prom dress." Exegesis: "Whence come these fantasies of armageddon distributed by cynical warfighters? America’s homebrewed dispensationalism and its frantic grasping at meaning in an indifferent cosmos. See also: transhumanism."
A colorful poster for a music festival headlined by the bands Type A Mishap, Usher of the Black Rod, and Hot Tub Milk. If you like this sort of bite-sized absurdism, check out "A Year of Weekends," which collects all the 2024 band posters (2025 coming Real Soon Now). Free download pdf, https://bit.ly/AYOW24 Or, you can order a deluxe trade paperback at Lulu.com, https://bit.ly/AYOW_lulu
A sepia-toned card with a ghostly, spiderwebby organic scribbled half image all around the edges. All text is in an idiosyncratic handwritten font. At the top, the title, "New Proverbs of Hell," and at the bottom, the number 97. Proverb: "Fight the real enemy." Exegesis: "If you can scare off the artists with performative outrage, you yield the medium to technopolists."
A sepia-toned card with a ghostly, spiderwebby organic scribbled half image all around the edges. All text is in an idiosyncratic handwritten font. At the top, the title, "New Proverbs of Hell," and at the bottom, the number 96. Proverb: "Proverb: It is possible for Luddites to be wrong." Exegesis: "Every new technology is disruptive. Every new technology sparks resistance. Yet we are not standing on the savannah carrying Acheulean hand axes. Perhaps worth considering before you post that anti-AI meme."
A colorful poster for a music festival headlined by the bands Uncle B's Acid Hot Tub, Loot Box, and Cocaine Toilet Seat. If you like this sort of bite-sized absurdism, check out "A Year of Weekends," which collects all the 2024 band posters (2025 coming Real Soon Now). Free download pdf, https://bit.ly/AYOW24 Or, you can order a deluxe trade paperback at Lulu.com, https://bit.ly/AYOW_lulu