Zach Weinersmith

The SMBC guy.
New book: A City on Mars (Nov 2)

Co-author of Soonish
Illustrator of Open Borders
Scop of Bea Wolf.

Public Key

npub1q9np7h6t2e4vwdp9wg8q76fpg7879qgzuvszu7rnyn57casdy3sq6s709x

NIP-05 Address

ZachWeinersmith@mastodon-social.mostr.pub

Profile Code

nprofile1qqsqzeslta94v6k8xsjhyrs0dys50rlzsypwxgpw0pejf60vwcxjgcqpz3mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuerpd46hxtnfduqs6amnwvaz7tmwdaejumr0dsyre8qm

Publishing to

relay.damus.io

nos.lol

Author Public Key

npub1q9np7h6t2e4vwdp9wg8q76fpg7879qgzuvszu7rnyn57casdy3sq6s709x

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Last Notes

2026-04-30 17:28:22 UTC

Nerd confession: I've read hardly any Pratchett.
But yesterday, my 12 year old got loaned a copy of Wee Free Men and read it front to back in, like, an afternoon. And then was quoting it to me for hours.
Help me, what does she need next?

2026-04-12 18:06:51 UTC

Bonus panel here: http://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/stage #smbc #comics #mimes
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/116/393/061/075/698/748/original/78736de1206895b0.png

2026-04-12 17:06:51 UTC

icymi
#nevent1q…jwlv

2026-04-11 12:30:25 UTC

Kinda funny, I was thinking about the idea of explaining imaginary numbers to high school students by saying "actually, there's no magic. You can do the whole thing using only reals." But then basically you have to be like "x^2+1=0" doesn't appear to have a solution until POOF, a rotation matrix appears. Which is maybe more confusing?

2026-04-10 15:57:51 UTC

Bonus panel here: http://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/log #smbc #religion #comics
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/116/381/230/431/646/377/original/d1211a83b8304743.png

2026-04-09 16:34:16 UTC

*tap tap*
Ladies and gentlemen. Due to unexpected demand for 60-panel comics about hyper-dimensional sphere packing, our server is currently experiencing difficulty. The site should load if you are patient. Thank you.

2026-04-09 15:26:48 UTC

So this happened
https://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/spheres-part-1
#smbc #comics #math
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/116/375/446/607/658/672/original/ce3fe1325e3237c2.png

2026-04-08 15:30:20 UTC

Mary
Bonus panel here: http://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/mary #smbc #comics
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/116/369/795/738/210/629/original/3518b787a03d0d99.png

2026-04-07 22:19:00 UTC

Hey cybersecurity geeks-- so it seems like anthropic now has really good exploit detection ability. Do you think this makes offense or defense harder? Like, seems like everyone might have to go through a battery of automated checks before deploying stuff into the world.

2026-04-07 17:11:12 UTC

Bonus panel here: http://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/will-2 #smbc #comics #webcomics
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/116/364/528/699/060/603/original/f30042defaa66ccd.png

2026-04-06 13:55:11 UTC

Trying to become more unrelatable with this punchline.
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/116/358/100/130/061/089/original/52a950ae402b5e15.png

2026-04-06 13:38:13 UTC

So as my hobby/exercise I've been planting a large amount of fruit trees. I am weirdly excited about making ciders and wines, but I... don't actually like drinking. I occasionally have a weak cider for a celebration and usually don't finish. But the chemistry is interesting.

2026-04-05 18:20:25 UTC

Bonus panel here: http://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/hi #smbc #comics
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/116/353/480/327/309/036/original/b393a284192cb512.png

2026-04-05 13:03:02 UTC

Something I have trouble explaining about space travel. Like, if you've read my book, you know I think human space faring is probably not economically valuable. It's not a good use of science dollars compared to other areas. I'm even skeptical of the case for inspiration (it doesn't seem to causally related to more aerospace degrees).
But it's also just really cool. Why don't I feel this way about Antarctica or Seabed exploration?

2026-04-04 14:18:16 UTC

Consider the witch
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/116/346/863/691/352/156/original/c9bbb7877c00e32f.png

2026-04-03 17:12:17 UTC

Bonus panel here: http://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/bad-4 #smbc #comics
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/116/341/884/154/681/004/original/020395a8b4078b4d.png

2026-04-03 14:26:17 UTC

Have I mentioned here that I have a new book coming out in June? You can see a pretty substantial excerpt here: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780374393496/sawyerleeandthequesttojuststayhome/
I guarantee at least three laughs, even if you are not in the target audience of young people.
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/116/341/235/147/430/176/original/628fdf310d0f4c48.png

2026-04-02 17:12:53 UTC

Now and then I get an email like this and it is just lovely.
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/116/336/226/629/240/877/original/e80035fd7d92d188.png

2026-04-02 15:44:06 UTC

Hey geeks! We're ordering extra blank mugs for the upcoming Mother's Day, but if you want one of our statistical parent mugs, please get your order in. https://smbc-store.myshopify.com/products/good-parent-mug
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/116/335/879/085/891/485/original/44283287dba55b17.png

2026-04-01 14:57:05 UTC

So, for all of my books I have a celebration song that ties to themes in the book. For Sawyer Lee it's this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YZtjgFF39g
I am playing it today for REASONS.
Book available here: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780374393496/sawyerleeandthequesttojuststayhome/

2026-03-31 16:54:34 UTC

One of the weirdest things to me about the tech scene for AI is you regularly hear variants on "Super-human intelligence is coming next year and will permanently alter life as we know it. Prepare your business and finances accordingly." Setting aside what you think about the first half, how does the second half make any sense? Like... what would you do differently, other than move to the woods?

2026-03-31 11:52:55 UTC

Since Mastodon is for nerds, I'm here to share a nerd thing. I'm interested in rose breeding, and one thing you have to account for there is ploidy, which can determine whether species can cross. There's a type of rose called dogroses (Rosa canina), often used in cooking, which has its own, unique and bizarre, pentaploid meiosis.
28 mom chromosomes, 7 dad chomosomes. The dad part is shuffled like normal. The mom part is only partially shuffled.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09171-z
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/116/323/636/397/044/639/original/012aba8f0d8644e6.png

2026-03-30 20:06:54 UTC

Oh the humanities...
Full comic here: https://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/humanities-2
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/116/319/923/994/937/651/original/9ffd611f82515599.png

2026-03-30 12:47:13 UTC

Something I love about engineering/physics/CS culture is that almost every intellectual resource is available for free. There's a real presumption of non-gatekeeping that is, in my experience, not present in other fields.

2026-03-30 12:00:59 UTC

Ohmygod, is quote-tweeting forbidden on Mastodon. This is Shangri-La.

2026-03-29 17:45:46 UTC

Some day, I'm gonna turn in a manuscript and think "I did a great job!" Today is not that day.

2026-03-29 10:15:00 UTC

Found this on my todo list. Not sure what it meant but it seems like a good task.
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/116/311/935/569/681/313/original/ab6e11c0f34e40db.png

2026-03-28 22:06:29 UTC

OK, this convinced me I should be here more: https://bsky.app/profile/dubikan.bsky.social/post/3mi5ncilczk23
How's it going?

2025-02-21 19:29:58 UTC

Hey all, I have enjoyed mastodon but after a lot of thought I've decided to centralize my twitter-style stuff on bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/zachweinersmith.bsky.social
It seems to have the best combination of non-evil and user-friendly for the moment.

2024-11-21 18:24:29 UTC

Oh god, this is the sort of thing that keeps me from wanting to try French in France!
https://www.reddit.com/r/banalgens/comments/1gwf21i/kyle_24_ans_%C3%A9tudiant_am%C3%A9ricain_en_france/
It's funny, being in Switzerland made me realize it's probably the best country on Earth to learn French, Italian, English, or German, because *everyone* is struggling with some language, and you never know which combination you're about to encounter.

2024-10-15 14:49:50 UTC

Hey PG Wodehouse fans. Weird question. When you say you're a fan of his work, what are you referring to in particular?
Ideally, mention a specific book, story, poem, or play. If not that, mention a character.
October 15, 2024 at 10:48 AM
Ev

2024-10-11 11:51:03 UTC

Years ago a friend of mine who works in a pro-immigration think-tank told me that a big mistake people on the left make is that in wondering why people are often anti-immigrant they overrate racism and deeply underrated straight-up anti-immigrant sentiment. It's clearly a mixture, but I think "anti-immigrants as immigrants" isn't on a lot of people's radars. Maybe this election cycle is shifting that a bit?
Not a white dude, for what it's worth.

2024-10-10 15:21:34 UTC

So, our autistic 7 year old (mostly non-verbal) rarely plays with any particular thing for a long time, but the teachers at school put him in a VR set and he watched water for 45+ minutes.
We're thinking of getting one for his birthday. He hardly wants anything, so it'd be nice to do something special. Any recommendations? Thinking a meta quest 2?

2024-04-26 16:42:29 UTC

Holy shit, I thought my computer was just running really slowly, but it turns out it was *entirely* due to Chrome. Please Google, just close down.

2024-04-05 14:29:44 UTC

Weird observation - I've talked with a number of kids under 12 and none of them were familiar with Pig Latin? Nor more obscure kid-cants, like Ubbi Dubbi or Gibberish. Seems to be less of a thing now.

2024-03-26 21:33:51 UTC

- reply

I don't thiiiink it's a lack of curiosity? Or anyway, I feel I'm a reasonably curious person. And I do enjoy going places. It's just, e.g. I would love to see the grave of a beloved writer, but not 1/10th so much as reading any of their books in a comfortable chair on a pleasant evening.

2024-03-26 21:33:01 UTC

Anyone else just... not particularly moved by travel? I don't necessarily dislike travel, but keeping a garden and a library is my preference 99% of the time. I find most travel stressful and disruptive, and I mostly do it to support books or see family.

2024-02-19 20:07:51 UTC

Surprised nobody's done this yet.
Bonus panel here: http://smbc-comics.com/comic/augmented-3
#smbc #hiveworks #comics #webcomics #augmentedreality
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/111/959/950/611/547/844/original/2a6b356838aefd2e.png

2024-01-10 22:23:00 UTC

Peter S Beagle makes everyone else in fantasy look like chumps. I love how he purposefully uses an utterly generic fantasy setting so he can just leap right into these beautifully drawn strange characters.

2023-10-20 15:30:27 UTC

Have you noticed that people are taking weekends seriously? I used to be able to get responses on weekends and now I barely do. It's the greatest development in the history of email and we should never go back.

2023-10-15 13:13:12 UTC

This is no doubt entirely the consequence of growing up on an Early Internet that was largely cynical male nerds, but it's amazing the extent to which nice comics about relationships have become popular! We all thought the Sunday Comics pages were sappy because editors insisted on it, but it's what the public wanted all along.
Anyway, enjoy today's butt-plug/death comic on smbc.

2023-10-11 15:48:59 UTC

Social
http://smbc-comics.com/comic/social-2 (click for full comic)
#smbc #hiveworks #comics
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/111/217/167/678/465/305/original/71ba317e4c3b7732.png

2023-09-03 15:11:39 UTC

http://smbc-comics.com/comic/stress-2
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/111/001/855/450/098/397/original/6b42ab6bbc0415f2.png

2023-08-31 14:11:24 UTC

- reply

One other possibility is that diets have gotten much more diverse and there are a lot more premium items, which may slow the process of making things cheaper?

2023-08-31 14:08:59 UTC

Stupid econ question:
Why isn't food more deflationary? Like, I understand why jobs involving humans have to keep up with the rising price of labor, but food gets more and more automated, no?
Or is it actually deflationary, but only on long scales? Or, will it *become* super deflationary once it's possible and economically viable to e.g. hire fruit pickers?
But that still wouldn't explain why, e.g. cereal, has gotten pricier over time.

2023-08-30 14:38:16 UTC

http://smbc-comics.com/comic/multiverse-3
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/110/979/074/811/509/583/original/bcf89eb920d96dbe.png

2023-08-27 21:45:24 UTC

Stupid question - so cheap slow kamikaze drones are a big thing now. Why can't you, like, mount a rifle and use an iphone to just track and blast them?

2023-08-27 21:15:55 UTC

Oh god I'm having that twitter thing where people who haven't read my book wanna argue with me about my book and why do people use that website?

2023-08-27 16:18:53 UTC

Offensive question?
What is with New Yorkers and bodegas? I don't get the obsession. I understand that it's nice to have a place you can get stuff you need around the corner, but if you transplant one of these stores to literally anywhere else it's a dingy overpriced shop with low selection. I get it as a need, but not as a thing to get weird about. What am I missing?

2023-08-26 17:41:00 UTC

I go back and forth a lot on duolingo. It's like... great for aerobics and for filling up a spare 10 minutes, but it'd be great if now and then it really made you struggle for a minute.

2023-08-26 15:06:44 UTC

Productivity
http://smbc-comics.com/comic/productivity-3 (click to see the bonus panel)
#smbc #hiveworks #comics
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/110/956/537/581/732/510/original/e408adb07bd084e7.png

2023-08-25 13:17:14 UTC

Relatable
http://smbc-comics.com/comic/relatable
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/110/950/444/686/974/768/original/fa1d9dea98f0bbcd.png

2023-08-20 17:46:51 UTC

Pronounce
Bonus panel here: http://smbc-comics.com/comic/pronounce
#smbc #hiveworks #comics #linguistics
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/110/923/192/140/034/321/original/d41033b5e97eb321.png

2023-08-17 11:35:18 UTC

Is there a big definitive book on what went wrong with Russia trying to become a liberal democracy in the 90s?

2023-08-08 20:59:53 UTC

- reply

@npub1s7y…u8ak Officially, 8-12. Amazon readers say 6+. Unofficially I've heard ages as low as 4 and it has also been enjoyed by quite elderly people. In my opinion, ideally, it's an adult reading it aloud to/with a child.

2023-08-08 20:41:54 UTC

Need a pick me up? How about the cutest thing ever https://www.wvtf.org/news/2023-08-08/a-modern-take-on-beowulf-features-a-brave-smart-sneaky-girl

2023-08-06 18:12:14 UTC

Hey AI people, what's up with pest control and fruitpicking? I feel like every year there are cool new robots that seem like they should vastly improve productivity, but it just doesn't seem to take off. Too expensive? Labor too cheap? Doesn't scale? Resistance by farmers?

2023-08-06 14:55:02 UTC

Post
http://smbc-comics.com/comic/post (click for bonus panel)
#smbc #hiveworks
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/110/843/244/939/120/378/original/9ea34c1e9f261762.png

2023-08-04 14:33:52 UTC

I write jokes
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/110/831/837/457/739/331/original/d7cc9cf417c422c4.png

2023-07-30 11:59:21 UTC

Dads of mastodon, new thing:
1) Walk into kid's room, quietly, muttering "murrrrder, murrrrrder"
2) Wait for kid to notice you
3) Act surprised. Say, "Oh my gosh! I'm sorry! I thought you were asleep!"
4) Smile broadly, leave room.

2023-07-19 11:29:32 UTC

- reply

@npub1hpc…hjn3 Yeah, I can imagine for example corporations hiring artists to build training data, especially if you're not allowed to scrape art. But then... once that's done you probably don't need too many artists. Plus there's a huge rights free corpus.
The other interesting thing is my guess is the open source models will only be a few years behind the big corporate ones? Could be wrong.

2023-07-19 11:22:19 UTC

- reply

@npub1hpc…hjn3 I think that's a good analogy, though I will say it's very easy for me to think about the law for berries, since humans have been thinking about rights to common resources for thousands of years. If the drone thing started up, I imagine the response would be something like "berry picking licenses" as we have for hunting. I don't know what the equivalent is for AI art.

2023-07-19 11:16:55 UTC

So, what's your view on how we should legally think about AI art models that use copyrighted art for training data? I'm not sure there's a compelling analogy?
Clearly this is what human artists do all day long, of course. And the question is in what way is that different form having an AI do it. Any thoughts? I'm particularly interested in people familiar with the most relevant law.

2023-07-15 17:41:15 UTC

Are there any modern poets writing epic? Not translating, writing. Asked because, and I say this with as little judgment as possible, the top stuff in the amazon poetry section is either translations or poetry that appears to be designed for instagram - short, simple, undifficult, uplifting stuff.

2023-07-06 11:28:13 UTC

I guess on some deep level I don't understand why Mark Zuckerberg needs all of my personal data three separate times. It's starting to seem like an obsession.