Mark Saltveit

Author, standup comedian, and independent scholar.

My show "Ego Tourism" is August 8-30 at Carbon Lounge Room 3, 14:20 (not Tuesdays). PBH Free Fringe. Previews maybe in Philly? Leeds?

I'm interested in palindromes, antiquity and the early medieval, ancient coins, Daoism aka Taoism, comedy, politics, and music among other rabbit holes.

Public Key

npub1u9u6ttvssgz7gs8ck4a3sxnwhlgtcgusnvcdgud9hxz00zwjcz7sr7pjdu

NIP-05 Address

taoish_at_mastodonapp.uk@momostr.pink

Profile Code

nprofile1qqswz7d94kggyp0ygrut27ccrfhtl59uywgfkvx5wxjmnp8h38fvp0gppamhxue69uhkummnw3ezumt0d5q3gamnwvaz7tmjv4kxz7fwv3sk6atn9e5k73njl88

Publishing to

nostr.mom

relay.damus.io

nos.lol

Author Public Key

npub1u9u6ttvssgz7gs8ck4a3sxnwhlgtcgusnvcdgud9hxz00zwjcz7sr7pjdu

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Last Notes

2026-10-22 20:47:29 UTC

RE: https://flipboard.com/@smithsonianmag/smartnews-343feuq8z/-/a-FGke7pvwRF6fxGfqvYQciQ%3Aa%3A2586892611-%2F0
More bandwidth goes to Lisa Fagin Davis' careful scholarship on the Voynich Manuscript!! I saw Gizmodo picked this up, too. #voynich #manuscript @npub1w20…9zwx #bookhistory @npub19ny…ef32
#note1m84…j6ls

2026-10-17 08:14:58 UTC

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You probably know the comedian Bill Hicks' bit about this?

2026-10-15 00:02:33 UTC

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But it could also be a lure for a rick roll or something far worse. I think Overholt got off easy.

2026-10-15 00:00:54 UTC

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Congrats! I think I saw you in an earlier thread about about disabling data-narc'ing mechanisms in cars but if not, you could post your specifics here with computer-privacy tags and I bet you'll get good advice. (For recent Fords, you just pull a fuse from the fuse box.)
I go to the West Coast -- where they don't use salt on roads -- a couple times a year, and cars last forever. I'm still driving my 1996 Camry, which doesn't even have a key fob much less a tattletale modem. (I got it undercoated here.) I would happily drive back good, pre-IOT cars for Vermonters for, I dunno, $2k?

2026-10-01 13:28:25 UTC

RE: https://mastodon.world/@HistoryToday/117364339033553459
What years does "medieval" mean?
To members of the public: 1200 to 1650
To historians: 480 to the last year that they study.
#history @npub1w20…9zwx @medievodons #medieval #medievalart
#note1ml7…m7j5

2026-10-01 13:20:16 UTC

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Has Harvard Square ever not been under construction?

2026-09-11 02:07:08 UTC

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The nature of AI is a tradeoff between (arguable) results and/or convenience vs. losing the how of the solution (by design) and losing the human training value of working out the solution.
Unless I'm mistaken, both of these losses are intrinsic to AI. Also, they are precisely the two things that these math challenges were designed to produce.
So it would seem that the decision-making should be straightforward. Require anyone claiming a prize to show every step in the solution, whether they use AI or not. No black box answers.

2026-09-10 04:12:38 UTC

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You assert a mutually-exclusive binary dichotomy:
"When AI companies find incomprehensible solutions to open problems, this either advances the field, or it does not. "
Says who? What is your proof for this drastic proposition? Why couldn't an incomprehensible solution "advance the field" in some ways and set it back in others?
@npub1gve…sduy

2026-08-17 16:30:01 UTC

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@npub1prs…eh8y

2026-07-17 03:59:31 UTC

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I'm also a librarian once again (with a mere 40-year-gap in the middle) for your marketing purposes. Vermont librarians unite!

2026-07-17 02:23:03 UTC

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Once you finish that project, let's do "Stop Your Appliances (and Car) from Invading Your Privacy". Ie How to lobotomize your smart machines. I'll put a lot of energy into that effort.

2026-07-08 11:39:23 UTC

These Maine librarians are helping patrons resist AI and Big Tech
https://www.bangordailynews.com/2026/07/02/midcoast/midcoast-culture/maine-librarians-are-helping-patrons-resist-ai-joam40zk0w/
@npub1prs…eh8y

2026-04-21 15:44:27 UTC

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His secret hacker handle was his real first name
, spelled correctly, + middle and last initials?

2026-02-03 21:12:24 UTC

Has anyone noticed that Google Books searches no longer work? No matching books even for topics such as "Cicero", "Shakespeare", "Florus of Lyons" or "Bible." Might this be the end of Google Books?
If you have saved a link in your notes, they still seem to work.
It's always a good time to download the entire PDF of books you need, but right now is an especially good time.
@npub1w20…9zwx @npub19ny…ef32 #histodons #medievodons

2025-11-28 21:22:50 UTC

If you're going to be in Portland, Oregon before February 8th, there is a great - and very interactive - exhibit on Ursula Le Guin, at the Oregon Center for Contemporary Art. Can't recommend this enough.
#dao #tao #scifi #sciencefiction
https://files.mastodonapp.uk/media_attachments/files/115/629/420/971/905/597/original/3d8500914ac34984.jpeg

2025-11-10 00:52:39 UTC

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tbh I'm pretty ignorant of the mechanics of selling short, and I do know that it's highly leveraged, so you can get killed if you time it wrong.
Sure feels like a good time to sell short, broadly speaking though.

2025-11-09 13:36:05 UTC

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Do we know what time frame Burry is purchasing puts over? One month, 6 months, or?

2025-10-09 01:31:24 UTC

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On a similar note of modest heroism, my brother - an avid gardener - does "guerilla grafting" of fruit branches onto park trees.
Edit: gardener not gardner but you knew what i meant

2025-09-18 14:26:31 UTC

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But how does he know ancient smithwork, except for archaeology?
I agree that historians in general and esp. archaeologists should do the thing they study. It's invaluable.

2025-09-09 22:25:03 UTC

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So Brazil does verdicts one judge (out of five) at a time, over multiple days? How dramatic!!

2025-08-27 22:19:34 UTC

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@npub1prs…eh8y

2025-07-24 03:30:53 UTC

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Portland might be worth a visit too. Everyday Music, Music Millennium, Jackpot, etc.
https://www.vinylworld.org/record-stores/portland-oregon-united-states/

2025-07-10 18:38:51 UTC

I love the relatively low alcohol of UK beers. In the U.S. it's hard to find any IPA as low ABV as their most alcoholic beer here.
https://files.mastodonapp.uk/media_attachments/files/114/830/387/712/461/701/original/77a2dd67809f02f9.jpeg

2025-05-26 20:06:45 UTC

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Thanks! I found it, as it turns out (on my hard drive)
---------------------------------
Why I Keep a Diary
While I follow the wind
there is no wind. Because
my wings are silent. I follow
the coast and find these pines
wrapped in their wind, those old believers.
And I know that I am alive
and this is the world’s trail
a day, a day, a day
much on its own track.
Where did the others go?
Pacemaker sun, persuader,
and heart that wants to beat
(and then the soul’s one stride):
my destiny is to find
this coast I follow.
*For Sandy on July 16, 1974 because he asked on July 15

2025-05-26 02:35:08 UTC

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Thanks! I would also love to hear about other poems of his that you love. Also: do you know Jane Hirshfield's work? https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/jane-hirshfield

2025-05-25 03:42:55 UTC

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Thank you so much! A wonderful poem would be just one of your many rewards.

2025-05-24 22:35:41 UTC

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So - William Stafford, Oregon's great poet, had a poem about a bird at the coast that didn't need to flap its wings because it rode the river of air above the Coast Mountains. I believe it started with the word "Because..." maybe "Because I do not ...."
I've searches and searched, love that image but just can't find it. ????
Thanks!!

2025-05-24 04:43:39 UTC

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Excuse me, Librarian's Librarian, but that was awesome. Do you take requests? There's a William Stafford poem that keeps defeating my searches.

2025-03-01 17:26:19 UTC

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What exactly do you think that Democrats should be doing?

2025-02-07 01:14:49 UTC

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OK, they used a word in a way that's different from its general meaning. Do you think bans and suspensions are the same thing?
The page emphasizes the threat of violence also. Do you think it's wrong to have a rule against threats of violence?

2025-02-06 04:13:08 UTC

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Reddit has plenty of problems but this article doesn't say what you claim that it does.
The subreddit was suspended for 72 hours -- not "banned" -- because it didn't take action against posts with threats of violence against Musk and his team.
That is a legitimate choice, and frankly one I would like to see here too. Threats of violence are the kind of stuff Twitter does now, we don't need to copy that.

2025-01-23 23:11:37 UTC

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To be clear, I think reading is awesome and not replaceable by videos. It compresses information wonderfully, so it's inconceivable that a video could ever replace a good academic book.
Also, the ease of jumping in and out at any point, and bookmarking points, is much better than with video.
The irony is that - aside from the lower cost of production - novels are the genre of book where film & video most often equals and maybe surpasses text.

2025-01-23 22:08:38 UTC

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This is kind of a silly talking point, as novels are hardly the only kind of book.
You could also argue that women aren't reading much nonfiction about world war 2, or sports biographies, but what would be the point?

2024-11-10 03:15:54 UTC

Election thoughts #4 of 3:
The abortion referendums may have backfired. The plan was to boost turnout by women who would naturally vote against Trump.
But it may have made pro-abortion women feel safe in voting for #trump since their reproductive choices were protected by state constitutions. Trump's "leaving it to the states" BS enabled selfish swing state women to throw their red state sisters under the bus.

2024-11-03 05:09:00 UTC

Shock poll: Harris grabs last-minute Iowa lead over Trump in The state's "gold-standard" poll
https://www.axios.com/2024/11/03/harris-iowa-poll-trump-women
#Election2024 #trump #kamalaharris

2024-09-07 19:33:08 UTC

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Ha! If you were serious, could be "Chapter Author"

2024-08-30 06:15:43 UTC

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https://files.mastodonapp.uk/media_attachments/files/113/049/480/198/627/866/original/eabac8b4f6b98161.png