Michael Dobkins

With Tom Lehrer's passing, I suppose this is a moment to share the story of the prank he played on the National Security Agency, and how it went undiscovered for nearly 60 years.

A street sign in Upton, England reading "Play Area and Cholera Burial Ground"

Never change, England

I know that you are making interesting points about the show, but I have to take a brief sidetrack and share my absolute delight on this groggy, grumpy morning at reading these four words, “…the scream we scrumpt…”

What a fantastic turn of phrase.

@maddow.msnbc.com Seal Beach, CA No Kings rally (the place where the Marines are staying who are "liberating" LA)

Yes, ma'am, will do. A marvelous suggestion. Thank you.

Sign reads “No Geese” and includes a graphic of a goose silhouette in a red circle with a line through it.

the need for the inclusion of the graphic is a sad reminder of the shockingly low literacy rate among geese

Yes, I do.

I pledge one dollar!

I’m also a big fan of her podcast. It’s grand to finally bump into someone else who has heard it.

Apple is bad in so many ways, especially for anti-competitive silliness but... its corporate culture demands a product that works perfectly for most consumers.

Apple not "being able to crack AI" is perhaps a signal of the fundamental problems with LLMs and hurdles ahead rather than Apple's failues

Headline: Queen Elizabeth’s Final Diary Entry Contained Only Five Words above photo of a smiling Queen Lizzie

Lucky Strike Means Fine Tobacco!

You have no idea (and I didn't either) how much I need to hear about a guy finding owls (and then giving credit where it was due) today. Thank you.

YouTube video by cd tube Flashmob Flash Mob - Ode an die Freude ( Ode to Joy ) Beethoven Symphony No.9 classical music

Who's this Joy chick and why are so many people singing her praises today?

visual gag contrasting a Gibbous Moon image with a"Gibbonous" Moon image (A moon with a gibbon Photoshopped as contours of the lunar landscape).

Harvard University Harvard University is devoted to excellence in teaching, learning, and research, and to developing leaders who make a difference globally.

Harvard redid its whole homepage to push back against the administration’s demands. I mean, this is just a website but I think it’s kind of a great PR move: www.harvard.edu

The social media content I’m craving this week.

Back before automobiles, electric or otherwise… before the internet and social media… before crypto and paypal…

Hallie Rubenhold | Any murder story is a panoramic one The winner of the 2019 Baillie Gifford Prize follows The Five with another book about a notorious killer, Story of a Murder, once again restoring its female protagonists to the centre of the story

I now have another guaranteed read for my 2025 to-read book list. Her THE FIVE was fantastic.

I’d just give you the number for convenience’s sake, but who am I? (In a verifiable non-scammer identity sort of way, I mean.)

It’s odd that they don’t use an e-mail address using their domain name. There is a phone number listed under the contact info on their website:

www.midwestwriters.org/contact/

For whatever the words of an internet stranger are worth, please hang in there and be kind to yourself. I wish there was some pithy wisdom to share hat would make you feel better, but all I can offer is sympathy and weak well-wishing. No one deserves what is happening. I'm sorry for your suffering.

Statement on Trump's Attack on Federal Funding for Libraries

In a new executive order, Trump has targeted the federal agency charged with distributing congressionally approved funds to state libraries and to library, museum, and archives program grant recipients.

www.everylibrary.org/statementiml... via @everylibrary.bsky.social

Hello, I’m a disruptor, very smart, here to create efficiency. I’m just going to drill holes in the bottom of this boat to see which parts of the hull are mission-critical.

Illustration of a horse smoking a cigarette, wearing a blanket that says “Don’t give up. You can cuss the whole time, just don’t give up.”

Good morning!

When I worked on The Office, Greg Daniels had a list of questions he asked of every story. Some were show-specific (eg “Are we saying something truthful if exaggerated about office life?”), but many are applicable to any script. Here’s a little thread on them…

🧵1/X
#Scriptsky #Screenwriting

If only Boom still had the Peanuts license. My "It's The Great War, Charlie Brown" pitch would have been a surefire hit to end all surefire hits.

Yes, no dog tags.

All we know is that his remains were discovered in the twisted wreckage of a Sopwith Camel that had plummeted into No Man's Land on a dark and stormy night late into the war.

You and everybody in this thread are all making many valid and interesting points, but I have to be honest.

All I really want to hear about is The Unknown Soldier's pet beagle.

Walt awakes in the middle of the night and finds a baby left on his doorstep. Gasoline Alley, Fe. 14, 1921.

On this day in 1921, Frank King published THE most significant Gasoline Alley strip. Skeezix is left of Walt's doorstep.

This strip was so great in its prime. Not just the amazing full-page Sundays, those we all marvel at, but the daily storylines and characters.