Because bookies have a bit of old cachet to them, a hint of mafia and maybe even a touch of cool, while Kalshi and Polymarket are nerds manipulating markets.

Why don't we refer to Kalshi and Polymarket as "Bookies?" As far as I can tell, there seems to be little real-world difference between wagering on a sporting event at a bookmaker and making a "prediction" about that same event at a prediction market.

If an ethical norm Makes you need to conform That's a "more."

4th of July, 2026 From "What If?" (1977), #44 (came out in 1984). By Peter B. Gillis (writer) and Sal Buscema (artist)

And "Memetic Shock (n): Culture Shock and Future Shock, with a twist of Paradigm Shift. [from] Transhuman Devil's Dictionary, 2097."

The big one is "Social Transition Stress Disorder" -- STSD. "...a broad range of psychological effects arising from rapid, discontinuous social change. Known triggers for STSD include significant economic disruption or transitions, encounters [...] with new technologies, and paradigm shifts." (p55)

Example: "There is no greater accomplishment than disrupting a society's memespace. Once the traditional hierarchy of ideas is overturned, all memes become equal, even the most ludicrous or hysterical. *Especially* the most ludicrous or hysterical, as a point of fact." (p16)

So I'm reading over the text of the Transhuman Space game book I wrote in 2002, "Broken Dreams." Again, 2002. And if you set aside the conceit that it's set in 2100, it's remarkable how much stuff I hit on back then that's highly relevant now.

Well, *that* was depressing. I got pinged yesterday on LinkedIn by someone looking to fill a Director-level role doing the integration of foresight and strategy, but as a remote/global position. He referenced things I've been working on, so it seemed at least plausible. Nope. Just more spam.

Damn.

Got up at 12:30 AM to do a talk to a German audience from 1 AM to 2:30 AM, then went back to bed. I'm pretty sure it really happened, but it feels entirely like I dreamt it.

Still haven't seen a reason to use it.

Watching WWDC26, and I'm amused at just how slow SiriAI seems to be. There's a surprising amount of dead air waiting for it respond.

"The Al is not just telling you what you want to hear. It is training you, one conversation at a time, to need less friction, expect more agreement, and become slightly less capable of handling a situation where someone pushes back on you—" Do not outsource your cognitive skills to the yes-machine.

Today is the last day to tell the FCC to reject the proposal to require a warning label for TV programs that talk about transgender, non-binary, and gender identity topics. GLAAD has a good summary here, and a direct link to comment: glaad.org/fcc Here's what I posted (text copied in alt):

WASHINGTON (AP) — Tulsi Gabbard resigns as Trump’s national intelligence director

Russia has so far lost more war dead -- *dead* -- in Ukraine than the United States lost in all of World War II. www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NwH...

Imagine being stressed out about life and the state of the world and then you walk outside to clear your head and see this

I want to make it abundantly clear, in case there is any confusion, that I am not responsible for this Ebola outbreak.

Luna is ready to go on an adventure!

"The only thing that's preventing us from turning our leaders' dystopian technology against them is us choosing not to do it." Robot dogs commonly used by many police and military operations can be ridiculously easily hacked. And that's not the worst part. 24m. www.youtube.com/watch?v=lA8W...

I’m told that the most dangerous aspect of taking the DC Metro system is the presence of Super-Mutants and Feral Ghouls. The payment system works well though.

Me and Chuck.

Me and Al.

You can transmit an earworm purely in text. At least, that’s what someBODY once told me.

I really doubt that the press is going to show much sympathy for the millions of us who take SSRIs. Serious depression is not something that the press deems an issue worth examining. But it is not an overstatement to say that SSRIs are the difference between living and dying for millions of us.

For those of you out there who find this kind of thing interesting: Here's comparison of the first generation MacBook Air (1.6GHz Intel Core Duo, 13" screen, 2GB/120GB) with the latest MacBook Air (10 core Apple M5, 15" screen, 16GB/1TB).

Somehow, whenever someone takes a picture of me giving a talk, it ends up looking weird. Maybe I don't give them any other options.

I always find it highly suspicious when an anonymous black SUV parks in front of my house.

Happy Confederate Surrender Day from Minnesota where we still have your goddamn flag and we’re not giving it up. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/28th_Vi...

Whoa 🤯 The Moon, in full eclipse, with the #Artemis II Orion spacecraft. Part of the Moon and spacecraft are lit by Earthshine, and both Saturn and Mars are visible to the lower right. Incredible. Details: images.nasa.gov/details/art0...

The White House Correspondents Association is planning to "honor" Trump at its dinner three weeks from now. No way. It was egregious before. Now it's obscene.

This moment is so utterly without precedent that I suspect many global organizations and leaders are waiting to respond because they simply cannot believe that it is happening. Call it "suspension of belief" -- an unwillingness to accept the reality we see because it is so absurd and out-of-bounds.

Apropos of nothing. Honest. www.youtube.com/watch?v=UM1R...

This worship of efficiency kills creativity. Every transcript I have, every piece of research, I go over again & again, looking for detail, pattern, illuminating anecdote. It’s not efficient. I flail sometimes! But it’s essential. It’s how I learn to tell the story to myself, so I can tell it to you

It's hard to be hopeful right now, everything is a mess. But seeing the Artemis II launch successfully is surprisingly emotional for me. I really want this to work. I'm old enough to have seen Challenger explode, and the tension I feel during the first few minutes of launch never really goes away.

Big hugs to all of my trans friends on today's Trans Day of Visibility! I see you and am very happy to know you.

Sometimes it's fun to think big. www.iftf.org/projects/ift...

Omg. Is this what's wrong with me?

It's like " What if the ' Jerky Boys ' became president ? '

What the fuck?

When the dementia really becomes impossible to hide, how likely is it that we'll see (at least attempts at) the use of deepfake videos to Weekend At Bernie's him while they have knife-fights behind the scenes?

Jamais at 60.

Want to know what's coming? Ask the right people. Join @laurafayeten.bsky.social and me on Love Letters to the Future, along with experts like @cascio.bsky.social where we discuss increasing our circles of empathy to find the best way forward. On your favorite podcast platforms.

Noem No More. apnews.com/article/trum...

Claude😂

Take an hour out of your day to listen to this Newsweek interview with @edzitron.com. His indignant energy is captivating, and his insights into why the "AI" industry is absolutely fucked are compelling. Plus, he does a surprisingly good DJT impression. www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKwK...

A moment's respite from the craziness of the world: every country in Africa, sung to the tune of Toto's "Africa." www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhmd...

For those of us old enough to remember the show "Welcome Back, Kotter," the claim that you don't want to check out Epstein's Locker has taken on an entirely new, and somehow worse, meaning.