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A Maze of Stars by John Brunner
Jul. 15th, 2025 09:07 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
james_davis_nicoll
An intelligent ship crisscrosses space-time to track the progress of the colonies it established
A Maze of Stars by John Brunner
james_davis_nicollAn intelligent ship crisscrosses space-time to track the progress of the colonies it established
A Maze of Stars by John Brunner
Interesting Links for 15-07-2025
Jul. 15th, 2025 12:00 pmandrewducker- 1. To summarize the summary of the summary: people are a problem
- (tags:people comics ai doom communication )
- 2. How old are you in your head? (Mid 30s for me)
- (tags:age psychology )
- 3. Reddit will start verifying the age (but not the identity) of UK redditors
- (tags:uk age reddit regulation internet )
- 4. "Autism" is at least 4 different syndromes, each with distinct biological and genetic pathways.
- (tags:autism genetics )
2025/107: The Enigma Game — Elizabeth Wein
Jul. 15th, 2025 07:22 amtamaranth2025/107: The Enigma Game — Elizabeth Wein
( Read more... )
People being nice to you after someone has made you feel like a criminal or an enemy is just like sticking cardboard in your window after a bomb has blasted all the glass out of it. The hole is stopped up, but the glass is still smashed and you can’t see through the window any more. Everything in the room is uglier and darker. [loc. 2523]
Louisa Adair is fifteen and orphaned: it's 1940, her English mother died in the Balham bombing, and shortly afterwards her Jamaican father was killed when his merchant navy ship was torpedoed. (He couldn't enlist in the Royal Navy because he wasn't born in Europe.) She telephones to answer an advertisement for someone to look after an elderly aunt -- the advertiser, Mrs Campbell, can't tell from Louisa's 'polite English accent' that she's biracial -- and finds herself escorting the redoubtable 'Jane Warner' (actually Johanna von Arnim, a former opera singer) from an internment camp on the Isle of Man to a pub in a small Scottish village.
( Read more... )
Now It Can Be Told
Jul. 14th, 2025 11:29 pmkevin_standleeI know I've been a touch mysterious about why I went to the UK and why I'm with Cheryl Morgan. Today was the big day, and now that it's done and we've finally made it back to her home in Wales, I can finally reveal what the big deal was and why we could not talk about it.
( It's not clickbait, really! )
They treated us very well, and they took much better professional photos compared to my quick shots here. These two are here just so you who follow me know what happened. I haven't labeled all of my photos, and I hope to go back soon and talk more about how yesterday went. I will say that the university treated both Cheryl and I very well, and I am extremely proud that she asked me to be her +1 with her at this event.
More later when I have had more sleep and time to work on labeling photos. We'll be here at Cheryl's place, with me working on the Day Jobbe tomorrow and Wednesday. I'm taking Thursday and Friday off, and Friday we head back up to London, where we'll stay at a hotel near Heathrow to make it easier for me to take my flight home. I'd love to stay longer, but medical, dental, and fannish commitments during this very busy part of my year are piling up.
( It's not clickbait, really! )They treated us very well, and they took much better professional photos compared to my quick shots here. These two are here just so you who follow me know what happened. I haven't labeled all of my photos, and I hope to go back soon and talk more about how yesterday went. I will say that the university treated both Cheryl and I very well, and I am extremely proud that she asked me to be her +1 with her at this event.
More later when I have had more sleep and time to work on labeling photos. We'll be here at Cheryl's place, with me working on the Day Jobbe tomorrow and Wednesday. I'm taking Thursday and Friday off, and Friday we head back up to London, where we'll stay at a hotel near Heathrow to make it easier for me to take my flight home. I'd love to stay longer, but medical, dental, and fannish commitments during this very busy part of my year are piling up.
Why Do I Love Charts? Let Me Count the Ways.
Jul. 14th, 2025 02:14 pmjames_davis_nicoll
Charts hold back chaos, and we should sing their praises!
Why Do I Love Charts? Let Me Count the Ways.
Bundle of Holding: Hearts of Wulin
Jul. 14th, 2025 02:08 pmjames_davis_nicoll
This new Hearts of Wulin Bundle presents Hearts of Wulin, the tabletop roleplaying game of Chinese wuxia action melodrama from Age of Ravens Games.
Bundle of Holding: Hearts of Wulin
Clarke Award Finalists 2005
Jul. 14th, 2025 10:27 amjames_davis_nicoll2005: The Ulster Volunteer Force struggles to grasp the meaning of the term “ceasefire”, Britain is astonished by the unlikely coincidence that every known WWI veteran is over 100 years of age, and in what some experts hope is a sign Britain has begun to emerge from chaos after the retreat of the Roman Empire, Dr Who is revived.
Bold for have read, italic for intend to read,, underline for never heard of it.
Which 2005 Clarke Award Finalists Have You Read?
Iron Council by China Miéville
Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
Market Forces by Richard Morgan
River of Gods by Ian McDonald
The System of the World by Neal Stephenson
The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
Poll #33355 Clarke Award Finalists 2005
Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 35
Which 2005 Clarke Award Finalists Have You Read?
View Answers
Iron Council by China Miéville
11 (31.4%)
Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
11 (31.4%)
Market Forces by Richard Morgan
6 (17.1%)
River of Gods by Ian McDonald
9 (25.7%)
The System of the World by Neal Stephenson
15 (42.9%)
The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
11 (31.4%)
Bold for have read, italic for intend to read,, underline for never heard of it.
Which 2005 Clarke Award Finalists Have You Read?
Iron Council by China Miéville
Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
Market Forces by Richard Morgan
River of Gods by Ian McDonald
The System of the World by Neal Stephenson
The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
Interesting Links for 14-07-2025
Jul. 14th, 2025 12:00 pmandrewducker- 1. Stardew Valley is now Steam's top-rated game, surpassing Portal
- (tags:games steam )
- 2. Most people in France, Germany, Italy and Spain want UK to rejoin EU, poll finds - but on new terms. Britons want to rejoin, but on their old terms.
- (tags:UK Europe )
- 3. 'I'm being paid to fix issues caused by AI'
- (tags:ai )
- 4. Cranes, once hunted to extinction returning to Scotland after 500 years
- (tags:birds extinction Scotland )
- 5. How GLP-1s Are Breaking Life Insurance
- (tags:weight medicine insurance health )
- 6. I've found it! The most dystopian AI thing! Gig workers pretending to be the AIs that people have fallen in love with!
- (tags:relationships ai business doom )
2025/106: Moira's Pen — Megan Whalen Turner
Jul. 14th, 2025 07:38 amtamaranth2025/106: Moira's Pen — Megan Whalen Turner
( Read more... )
He should have recognised the danger when the king insisted on a formal introduction every time they met, forcing his sullen attendants to recite the diplomatic courtesies again and again, always with the pretense of never having heard them before, always with that same look of gleeful idiocy on his face. Beyond petty, beyond tedious, it was ridiculous. What kind of a king makes a mockery of himself? Melheret wished he'd seen the answer sooner... Only a king who was very sure of himself could afford to be laughed at. ['Melheret's Earrings, p.124]
A collection of short stories woven in and around the canon of the Queen's Thief series (which I have recently devoured and fallen in love with) plus maps, essays on archaeology and historical inspirations, and some beautiful illustrations. I'd read some of the stories and essays before, appended to the novels, but it is nice to have them all in one place. Even if that place is a hardcover book...
( Read more... )
Reverse Jetlag
Jul. 14th, 2025 05:08 amkevin_standleeI got to bed around 10 PM or so last night and slept around six hours, waking up around 4 AM BST, which is 8 PM PST, the time zone from which I traveled on Friday-Saturday. This seems very strange to me.
We don't have to be out of the hotel until Noon today (Monday), and have a booked car to take us to our next destination at 11:45 AM, so if I do get back to sleep for a few hours, that's fine. It just is a a bit unexpected. This must have something to do with how I got actual sleep on the flight from SFO to LHR on Friday night into Saturday.
We don't have to be out of the hotel until Noon today (Monday), and have a booked car to take us to our next destination at 11:45 AM, so if I do get back to sleep for a few hours, that's fine. It just is a a bit unexpected. This must have something to do with how I got actual sleep on the flight from SFO to LHR on Friday night into Saturday.
Day in Exeter
Jul. 13th, 2025 08:56 pmkevin_standleeSurprisingly, I seem to have adjusted to UK time pretty well. Okay, I woke up at 5 AM, but my normal wake-up time at home is around 4:30 AM anyway. OTOH, that won't work on the two days this coming week that I'm working remotely at the Day Jobbe, but I'll deal with that when we get there.
Today we had the day to ourselves (we have commitments tomorrow).
( Around Exeter )
We did a lot of shopping but very little buying. There was a street market with various vendors, and I bought Kayla a pair of earrings, which was about all for me. We also looked in some bookstores, but I didn't find anything that I wanted to try and squeeze into my luggage.
We were back at the hotel in the mid-to-late afternoon, as I was loaning my computer to Kayla to participate in the First Main Meeting of the 2025 WSFS Business Meeting. She participated by voice only because I didn't pack the webcam. Because of the nature of the meeting, neither she nor I have much to say about it. Cheryl put various sports on the hotel TV and we ordered room service.
Tomorrow we have non-fannish responsibilities about which we'll report later, but with luck I'll get some sleep tonight despite having to drink a bunch of coffee to stay awake earlier today.
Today we had the day to ourselves (we have commitments tomorrow).
( Around Exeter )We did a lot of shopping but very little buying. There was a street market with various vendors, and I bought Kayla a pair of earrings, which was about all for me. We also looked in some bookstores, but I didn't find anything that I wanted to try and squeeze into my luggage.
We were back at the hotel in the mid-to-late afternoon, as I was loaning my computer to Kayla to participate in the First Main Meeting of the 2025 WSFS Business Meeting. She participated by voice only because I didn't pack the webcam. Because of the nature of the meeting, neither she nor I have much to say about it. Cheryl put various sports on the hotel TV and we ordered room service.
Tomorrow we have non-fannish responsibilities about which we'll report later, but with luck I'll get some sleep tonight despite having to drink a bunch of coffee to stay awake earlier today.
Photo cross-post
Jul. 13th, 2025 07:24 amandrewducker
My primate family.
The exhibition at the museum is very quiet and rather good. Recommended!
Original
is here on Pixelfed.scot.
New Voices: The Campbell Award Nominees (New Voices, volume 1) edited by George R R Martin
Jul. 13th, 2025 08:50 amjames_davis_nicoll
The first in a series of anthologies that assemble stories by Campbell Award (now the Astounding) finalists.
New Voices: The Campbell Award Nominees (New Voices, volume 1) edited by George R R Martin
meanwhile...
Jul. 13th, 2025 12:56 amredbirdQuoted in the Yale alumni magazine: "You know the world is going crazy when Yale alums are making donations to Harvard!"
(This Yale alum donates to the United Negro College Fund, because they need it more than Yale does.)
(This Yale alum donates to the United Negro College Fund, because they need it more than Yale does.)
Family resemblances are complicated
Jul. 12th, 2025 05:49 pmredbirdvia oursin, something I found interesting: We still don't understand family resemblance, and some of what we thought we knew is mistaken, or might be.
This article describes research that used data from almost a million people: every Norwegian student who took a standardized test from 2007-2019.
Quoting the article: "The resemblance of twins cannot be reconciled with any model....The resemblance of adoptees cannot be reconciled with any model."
Adjusting a model to account better for twins makes it a poorer match of adoptive relationships, and vice versa. Any attempt to account for one of these moves the model away adopted siblings makes it fit twins less well, and vice versa.
( cut for length )
oursin, something I found interesting: We still don't understand family resemblance, and some of what we thought we knew is mistaken, or might be. This article describes research that used data from almost a million people: every Norwegian student who took a standardized test from 2007-2019.
Quoting the article: "The resemblance of twins cannot be reconciled with any model....The resemblance of adoptees cannot be reconciled with any model."
Adjusting a model to account better for twins makes it a poorer match of adoptive relationships, and vice versa. Any attempt to account for one of these moves the model away adopted siblings makes it fit twins less well, and vice versa.
( cut for length )First Class Travel
Jul. 12th, 2025 10:24 pmkevin_standleeI left Reno for SFO on Friday afternoon and arrived in London mid-afternoon on Saturday, continuing on to Exeter via London Paddington by train. Travel is always wearing, but this was some of the best travel I've ever had.
( First Class Most of the Way )
This was of course a very long day-plus for me, but fortunately, we don't have to be up early tomorrow. Getting that Polaris upgrade made a big difference, so I'm only tired, not shattered.
( First Class Most of the Way )This was of course a very long day-plus for me, but fortunately, we don't have to be up early tomorrow. Getting that Polaris upgrade made a big difference, so I'm only tired, not shattered.
Huh
Jul. 12th, 2025 12:02 pmjames_davis_nicollThis is probably in no way significant, but it just occurred to me to check to see where WorldCon was the years I was nominated:
2010: Melbourne, Australia
2011: Reno, USA
2019: Dublin, Ireland
2020: Wellington, New Zealand
2024: Glasgow, Scotland
(I was nowhere near the ballot in 2009, Montreal)
At a guess, those are years where vote totals were a bit lower?
( Read more... )
2010: Melbourne, Australia
2011: Reno, USA
2019: Dublin, Ireland
2020: Wellington, New Zealand
2024: Glasgow, Scotland
(I was nowhere near the ballot in 2009, Montreal)
At a guess, those are years where vote totals were a bit lower?
( Read more... )we will be visiting London
Jul. 12th, 2025 11:42 amredbirdCattitude, Adrian, and I are going to be in London for a week, starting Monday July 14th. This trip is partly so my brother and I can sort out my mother's things, including photos and papers, but we should have some free time to see people and/or do tourist things.
We'd like to get together with people. I realize this is somewhat last-minute as well as vague, since we don't know how much time we'll have available.
I have visited London several times, but that trip to see my mother in April was Adrian's first visit to England; Cattitude was three with me for a week in 2001.
We mask indoors, but it's July, so we're hoping for restaurants with outdoor seating.
We'd like to get together with people. I realize this is somewhat last-minute as well as vague, since we don't know how much time we'll have available.
I have visited London several times, but that trip to see my mother in April was Adrian's first visit to England; Cattitude was three with me for a week in 2001.
We mask indoors, but it's July, so we're hoping for restaurants with outdoor seating.