Get the hell off Substack before you literally can’t anymore without blowing up your business
Startup engineering leader, Infrastructure engineer-type, psych-noise guitarist & experimental musician. https://www.charnel.com/mason (he/him)
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Get the hell off Substack before you literally can’t anymore without blowing up your business
If I may, I'd like to gently note the irony of using Substack -- a company with awful policies -- to publish this. Please consider an alternative; I'd be interested to read this but I boycott Substack. I understand the pain of switching, though, so not finger pointing, just noting it.
This whole thread is fantastic. In the first-ever issue of @typebarmagazine.bsky.social, we had @simonm223.bsky.social come to a similar conclusion and everyone went berserk lol www.typebarmagazine.com/2024/03/24/n...
Hey - if you're creating something yourself, be it a wood carving, a sewing project, a painting, a 3D model, a music piece, a clay sculpture, or anything else: I'm proud of you. Keep going. You've got this. Don't listen to the bad voice; listen to mine. You're important. Keep at it. Head high.
When you're looking through your digital music folders and realize you have 36 albums in your Rallizes Denudes collection...
JAL's site is the slowest I've used in probably 20 years. Serious offer to JAL: I will consult to make your site at least 5x faster in exchange for a few free round-trip tickets from SFO<>Tokyo.
I’m constantly amused by the idea that we will invent AGI and AI will solve all of our problems. We don’t need AGI to solve our problems, even ChatGPT can already tell us obvious solutions to our current problems.
What my kids school assignment (and Bayesian logic) teaches us about Trump's trade deals. www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...
Thanks! Awesome to hear that.
Yes, Word Horde is a cool store!!
🧵Introducing the Trump Action Tracker website! Today I’m launching www.trumpactiontracker.info - a live, searchable list of authoritarian‑style actions from Trump’s second term (over 740 actions so far). 1/14
San Francisco area noise heads! This Friday in Oakland!
I played with a pick, an E-Bow, and a large screwdriver (for the textural scraping sounds). I found a photo from our studio at the time, and you can sorta see what's in one of my pedal boards (and the Space Echo on my amp).
At that time I'm pretty sure I was using the MoogerFooger MF-101, with an expression pedal so I could do a filter sweep, which was my version of a wah. I also used a volume pedal, and lastly around then I got the Lovetone Doppleganger phaser.
For delay...maybe the Line6 DL-4 at that point, and I also used a Boss delay/reverb and an old Digitech MultiPlay, which had an awesome sweep knob. And the Boss pitch shift/delay pedal. And lastly, a Roland Space Echo on top of my amp.
Ha, I don't think I can remember accurately. I've always swapped pedals in and out. At that time I used two pedal boards, let's see... Z-Vex Fuzz Factory, for sure, and probably the Big Muff Pi as well.
Taking people to Subterranean was always fun. And you know, I think JW was the one who connected me with you, when SubArachnoid Space toured through Eureka oh so long ago.
Oh no! I met John way back when he worked at Subterranean Records here in SF and he was just starting Holy Mountain. RIP indeed.
This was the logical next step, if you’ve been paying attention.
Almost forgot to post. Brand new street art in Pilsen just dropped: 18th & Western #Chicago
Just a reminder that while her ex nonstop soils himself in public with tasteless displays of wealth and look-at-me, thirsty nonsense, Mackenzie Scott has given away close to $20 billion to 1,600 charities, no strings attached and without any need for recognition.
Album covers are artwork. How could a designer, of all people, choose to actually damage the viewing of someone else’s design?and in the process make it worse since name, title, are unreadable? How was this approved? It’s such a bizarre choice.
It’s possibly a nitpick but nonetheless extremely irritating: Hyundai’s dashboard designers for the Ioniq 5 purposely chose to ruin display of album covers played via Bluetooth. All covers are rectangular. Always. So why in the world would anyone decide to use circular masking?? Awful.
I’m having trouble with the intense irony of publishing this via Substack (which I boycott so unfortunately can’t read this).
I only went to Japan once in August because I didn't have a choice, and...never again, man. Especially when April and October are so nice.
From: Desi Oon (2025), dir. Suresh Eriyat, Studio Eeksaurus This is stop motion with wool -- the team wrote that it "spent a year developing this film, walking with the flocks and the shepherds"
I see people saying stuff like "why criticize Substack but give other problematic platforms (like, say, YouTube) a pass? Which is a fair point. Thing is, YouTube is a quasi-monopoly for sharable video. Substack wants to have a newsletter monopoly but *isn't there yet*. And it should never happen.
Hi! My name is Monica and I'm a landscape painter from Canada 🇨🇦 This is my art, let me know what you think!
a lot of bus stops in SF are literally just a pole you have to stand next to, but today some guerilla-installed benches suddenly appeared diy cozy architecture >>>>>
I'll never get over how the best line in all of noir – "I've got eight slugs in me. One's lead, and the rest are bourbon" – doesn't come from Raymond Chandler or Dashiell Hammett, but Calvin and Hobbes
PLEASE Sonos iPhone engineers, replace the widget that provides a selectable alphabet down the right side, so scrolling my Music Library doesn't take literally 5-10 minutes. As of March 31 "coming soon": trello.com/c/CFETv3G7/8...
Many libraries would not be able to start a collection if it weren't for the generosity of the zine community. Mail your zines to: Zine Pavilion c/o Ben Wildflower Art PO Box 4798 Philadelphia PA 19134 We will be accepting donations until mid June in preparation for #ALAAC25! 💫
Gavin Newsom Sits Down For Podcast With Serial Killer Who Targets Homeless
Another fuzz pedal? Do I need another? Obviously yes is the only answer to that question.
Fentanyl deaths are up by 50 percent in San Francisco after Mayor Lurie replaced harm reduction programs with police and prisons. It's almost like you put lives in danger when you treat a public health problem like it's a crime 48hills.org/2025/05/fent...
The President said of the U.S. economy: "We are a department store, and we set the price. I meet with the companies, and then I set a fair price, what I consider to be a fair price, and they can pay it, or they don't have to pay it." And then... I lost it.
Tomorrow night! I assembled my new setup for this show, which will either be great or terrible. But I’m sure it’ll be entertaining either way!
Personally, I think it should be front page news for at least a month if a sitting US President is using falsified evidence to try and deny due process to a man who has committed no crime, but that’s just me
I’m actually from a tiny (<2000) town in semi-rural PA where the biggest employer when I was growing up was the state prison. So I can speak to this one with a lot more authority than this author. It’s got almost *zero* to do with abstractions like their “ way of life”. I can tell you what they say…
Go to show! Adobe Books/////Apr 26th 8pm-9:30pm SHARP! Kurumi Kadoya (Japan) Mason Jones Birdspanker Adult Math 3130 24th Street San Francisco CA
Hey San Francisco! Hear some noise! Live! In a cool book store! On a Saturday night! What's not to like? Kurumi Kadoya (Japan) Mason Jones Birdspanker Adult Math Adobe Books 3130 24th Street San Francisco CA Apr 26th 8pm-9:30pm SHARP!
Hey, robots and their friends! Kraftwerk will be going live any moment (or so?) from Coachella’s Mojave stage! (No worries if you’re late to this, as the stream will remain scrubbable at least through overnight) www.youtube.com/live/BajnpDN...
Marc Andreessen is what happens when someone who’s lucky starts to believe he’s actually brilliant, like thinking a winning streak at the slots means you earned it some how.
Computers were a mistake (part 38,576).
How do we get every Democratic politician in the country to start consistently and loudly referring to what's going on as the Trump Tariff Taxes so the message can't be missed?
If you are an NC resident and voted in November, please check if your name or the names of any family areone of the 60K votes being challenged. If so, confirm ASAP with your Board of Elections. You only have two weeks. The website to check linked in the reply. www.newsobserver.com/news/politic...
That is super, super cool.
A RELAXED MAN IS NOT NECESSARILY A BETTER MAN
Absolutely. @governor.ca.gov giving these people a platform has just killed your political future. Get a clue.
There’s no reason to have a Democratic Party if it won’t go to the mat to save the Department of Education. It’s a fundamental belief that children in America deserve better futures. It’s tremendously simple. You cannot continue funding a government that would close this.
I look forward to donating a large sum of money to whoever runs against you next time.
NYC artists catching up to London now
“Trying to appeal to a voter who will congratulate you for scolding a member of your own party for peacefully protesting fascism is a losing game because that voter does not exist.”
I will never vote for Gavin Newsom for anything. President. Vice president. Dog catcher. Nothing.
Might save a life.
Donald Trump is lying to you.
Yes. That's exactly what they should have done if they had any courage at all.
IGNORING ENEMIES IS THE BEST WAY TO FIGHT
America is fighting fascism by showing the rest of the world how fucking stupid fascism looks
They need him to be a genius because they cannot handle what it means for them to be tricked by a fool.
My latest 4-star ARC: You've Awoken Her by Ann Dávila Cardinal. Chtuhlu in the Hamptons reclaimed by a Latine author, featuring a teen protagonist who's a Puerto Rican introvert goth horror geek from Queens. 📚💙 #BookSky #Netgalley #YouveAwokenHer
The Trump Administration has cost our country over 22,406 American jobs. trumpcostsamerica.com
This is my hometown and former high school and these kids are awesome. The Artquest program at the school is an absolute gem, giving kids incredibly advanced educations in theater, music, dance, and visual arts.
The measles outbreak in Texas is reminding me of the public letter Roald Dahl wrote about losing his daughter to measles in 1962, just before the vaccine was publicly available.
If you've ever used the Polity data, read this from Monty Marshall. tl;dr Polity is coding recent US events as an executive self-coup and an adverse regime change.
This. A thousand times this.
Does the Times regret its contributions to those attacks?
Four examples of Democratic messaging since yesterday. I know which one I'm supporting. And voting for.
#MayukoHino (C.C.C.C.) is coming to the Yay Area! Don’t miss @granpaabela.bsky.social, @thomasdimuzio.bsky.social, #Rubber0Cement, and #AvaKoohbor on the bill! THURSDAY, Feb 6th @anindexof.bsky.social (Santa Cruz) FRYDAY, Feb 7th @ The Lab (SFO) SATURDAY, Feb 8th @ Re:Sound (Vallejo)
Check out the new benefit compilation for LA musicians! I’m happy to have contributed a track with lots of other cooler people involved.
Articles about substack’s nazi problem: www.anildash.com//2024/11/19/... www.thehandbasket.co/p/substack-a... thehypothesis.substack.com/p/heres-why-... www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv... (Free link: archive.is/uyugO)
Finally -- Amazon has the books. Paperbacks are shipping now in the US, February in India, and... eventually... in Europe. Kindle editions are available for download globally.
I have to say, I've been having a great experience with Itchio and I'm very excited for when I can get my other books up. Highly recommend other authors give it a shot, especially queer and trans authors.
ICYMI: We can love The Village People again. The real village ppl are not performing for the felon. Check it oot 👇🏻👇🏿👇👇🏼👇🏾🥳
As it says in the hard-to-find support.google.com/a/answer/156... : "The default setting for Gemini features in Workspace services is on." Which for a supposedly professional-facing service is stunningly stupid.
Google screwed up yet again, this time with their automatic AI intrusion into Workspaces Gmail and more. Either they've never heard of "opt-in" or more likely they knew if they made it opt-in hardly anyone would actually do so. So now everyone I know is angrily searching for how to turn it off.
I want to share my experience today with Google support, trying to get Gemini (their AI/plagiarism machine) turned off in my Google workspace account. That account is where I personally do all my work communication—I am an editor, and most of my work contracts explicitly ban any use of Generative AI
It really is such masculine energy to blame things on a woman who no longer works at the company www.nytimes.com/2025/01/16/u...
I am a former incarcerated firefighter. I served in a California fire camp from 2009 to 2012. Misinformation is afire on the internet, so here are facts about the prison firefighter program, all in one place. A thread.
Better idea: pass a comprehensive data privacy bill that applies across the board... and maybe *DON'T* mimic Chinese authoritarianism by creating a "Great Firewall" of apps that aren't allowed to operate here. You can actually fix things AND not abuse the 1st Amendment in one shot!
Gotta love ppl who work in book shops
We feel the same way here. Foundation was great. We haven’t liked much else: Silo, Severance, they just don’t work. Which is a shame, I’d like some more good s-f! Ted Lasso didn’t even try, tv comedy is nearly always awful.
Yep, just donated again thanks to this.
THE STING (1973) is now the oldest American narrative film on Netflix — one of only 5 released before 1980 on the largest subscription streaming service in the U.S. #Streaming #FilmSky
if you see this post, your actions are: - if you have a spare buck, give it to Wikipedia, then repost this - if you don't have a spare buck, just repost your action is mandatory for the world's best source of information to survive
If someone was making these today, unchanged, I might very well buy one. This thing is awesome.
I recently saw an amazing Navajo rug at the National Gallery of Art. It looks abstract at first, but it is a detailed representation of the Intel Pentium processor. Called "Replica of a Chip", it was created in 1994 by Marilou Schultz, a Navajo/Diné weaver and math teacher. 1/n
Trump, DECEMBER 28, 2024: "I have always been in favor of the visas... I’ve been a believer in H-1B... It’s a great program" Trump, MARCH 15, 2016: "I know the H1B very well... We shouldn’t have it. Very, very bad for workers... it’s unfair for our workers. And we should end it."
Always remember.
Maus author Art Spiegelman’s next comic will be about Gaza, in collaboration with Joe Sacco. He thinks he will struggle to find a publisher in the United States. “I’ll finish this thing or die trying.”
here come old laptop he come bootin up slowly he got broken touchpad he need one more update he got no space on this pc one thing i can tell you its got no warranty
I think a lot about this quote from Anaïs Nin’s diary from 1939-1944: “America is in even greater danger because of its cult of toughness, its hatred of sensitivity, and someday it may have to pay a price for this, because atrophy of feeling creates criminals”.
Rasputin reportedly had a great deal of charisma, so I don't think the comparison quite works.
A huge barred owl flew down a Virginia family’s chimney, knocked over the star on top of their Christmas tree, and perched himself on top www.wusa9.com/article/life...
Love to see my Democratic senator from California, a state which has enacted numerous laws to protect trans adults and children, voting to defund care for trans kids.
This is Democratic Party malpractice, and the gerontocracy that perpetuates it is encouraged by a seniority system that rewards representatives for hanging on to power long past the peak of their competence.
Should be in every newsagents window.
