kedamono | Network

HEY! Any Nova Soctia bike or bike-supportive people – particularly in or near Halifax – here? Time to show up!

“Mayor Fillmore has called for a halt to all new cycling infrastructure, using “rationale” very similar to what Premier Doug Ford has used in Ontario to attack Toronto. There will be a vote on Tuesday.”

Deets saying what to do are on Mastodon. You don’t need an account to read it. Let him know what you think.

Posted via Solarbird{y|z|yz}, Collected.

flemmings

The air quality alert continues but today didn't rain, so I went out to the library for a hold and to Sushi on Bloor for their lunch special. Which may help the current wanhope induced by mug, isolation, and (waves hand) All That.

Returned two of my books, one unread, and debated returning The Scholar and the Last Faerie Door as well. I never read The Secret History-- I think I quit after three pages-- but this is giving me serious Secret History With Magic vibes. I suppose I could look at reviews but if it turns out not to be that, I shall be annoyed at myself. The trouble is that my experience of Parry is that she never surprises: you know where things are going and they go there. But of course she may have changed: as Chakraborty, whose City of Brass was such a downer that I had to abandon it half-way if that, has apparently just come out with a swashbuckling Muslim pirate tale-- which was the hold I picked up today.

Though all I want to (re)read is Murderbot, Brust, and Ancillary Sword.

Meanwhile I need to get to the laundromat some time, and out of the house tomorrow, because it's Open Tuning again, when people who can't sing demonstrate that fact, mic'd and amped to the max.

lilfluff

Currently being bitten by the computer industry's inability to actually pick or stick with standards. Especially annoying as I'm at a satellite location a three quarter hour drive from the office, so I can't just go back and spend fifteen minutes digging through drawers and then come back. At least not and come back today. Please, all I ask for is five, maybe ten minutes alone with a handful of industry CEOs and an illegally powerful electric cattle prod. Or to just get to send the whole senior management teams of most of the tech companies on a one way trip to Mars. Fluff can exile a dozen or so tech leaders, as a treat?

Current Mood: grumpy

vivdunstan

Martin just describing his daily programming practice on the computer for work. “I use vi. I don’t use a GUI.” Yup, that’s him 😜

spiralsheep

- Current reading quote: "My phrenologist has advised me to get more excitement in life, for the sake of my health".

- Friday Five with questions to warm the cockles of USian market researchers....

1. Have you ever been to summer camp?
No, we didn't have US style summer camps. Going camping (in tents or less often huts) for a weekend or even a whole week (!) with the Scouts / Guides &c used to be a relatively common childhood experience in the UK, and some schools went Youth Hostelling or to outdoor centres (usually owned by local councils before they were mostly privatised) for loosely geography/biology themed field study trips, but I never did. Specialised summer schools for formal study were uncommon, although older posher kids might attend a week or two for music or languages or whatever posh kids do when their parents want rid of them and boarding schools are on hols. Brits also used to have a lot of language student exchange trips with Europe usually organised by secondary schools.

2. Have you ever made a s'more?
I've seen them in USian movies and they appeared to be rubbery pink sugar melted over dry crumbly "cookie" sugar, thus removing the only joy of campfire toasting which is crunchiness. Why would anyone want to do that? I can only assume the level of advertising to children that would be seen as brainwashing anywhere else.

3. Have you ever slept under the stars (no tent/tarp)?
Yes, and so did all the rural kids I grew up with and my entire early adult friend group, and all the women's group members I knew, and all the greens and neopagans I knew (and probably most of the leftists at some point). Why wouldn't anyone living in a temperate climate, with predictable meteor showers &c, want to sleep out? I dislike camping though because it's too much faff for no reward: minimalist bivi bag or middle-aged mo-ho for me, ta.

4. Have you ever had a member of the opposite sex sleep over at your house?
Ah, yes, the two sexes, and the owning of houses. Definitely another question aimed at my demographic, lmao.

5. What type of bed do you have (queen, twin, bunk, etc.)?
A comfy one, obv. Primarily cotton sheets / pillow cases (pillow case can be refrigerated in summer) and duvet with blanket over in winter. And when I was very ill a few years ago I swapped my hot water bottle for an electric heat pad at the foot end of my bed. [insert emoticon of comfy smugness here]

6. Have you had your bumps "read" by a phrenologist?
/jk, that's not a FF question. Have you though? I bet you have! You look like the type!! I can tell from the shape of your head!!1!! (I was persuaded to have a Kirlian photo of myself taken once. I refused to pay extra for a "reading" but the "psychic" insisted on persuing me to the door while earnestly explaining that I had a strong secondary female presence in my "aura" that was watching over me, lmao.)

vivdunstan

Still working on my list of fave/rec books published one for each year of my life. Last night I managed to figure out how to persuade Wordpress to support expanding/collapsing details if you click on a title.** So then added expanding notes for the 1970s portion of the list. 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, 2010s, and 2020s to do another time!

** which more than anything else reminds me of Occam's folding editor I used to program in for a brief period as an undergraduate!

Portion of a list of book titles and authors, with the 1975 entry ("The Mythical Man-Month") expanded to show extra notes

solarbird

ooooooookay so

loooooong time ago I did a lot of work on a CSS overlay for Dreamwidth’s Neutral Good/Evil styles to make them work properly on mobile devices as well as Desktop. If you apply the CSS as Custom CSS to your journal, it keeps working on desktop and starts working right on mobile. All the nightmare noise from Dreamwidth’s old mobile-ish style went away, it got way more information dense, and most of all

goddamn

horizontal

scrolling

ever.

Not even with the navbar turned on. It’s stupidly tall, but it no longer scrolls.

(That was some work.)

I handed off that code to Dreamwidth ages ago, but they’ve got a tiny staff and I don’t know how important it ever was to them or even how much made it into the codebase.

Turns out tho’… seems people are still using mine? And I just got an issue report. And I have an edit that fixes it on my machine. And I fixed a subject line issue while I was at it.

sooooo uhhhhhhhh

I guess I’m dropping a new release!

Anybody want to test Version 0.85 before I make it official?

Posted via Solarbird{y|z|yz}, Collected.

jacey

Narrated by Wil Wheaton
Fantasy, science fiction or pure absurdist literature? You’ll need to make your own mind up about that. It’s probably all three. The premise is that the moon, all of a sudden, turns to cheese. What kind of cheese? Not sure, but because cheese is less dense than rock and because the moon’s mass has not altered, it’s suddenly bigger and brighter and everyone notices. Rather than following one main character this book works as a series of interspersed stories as people from different walks of life react differently. First we meet the staff of a museum which holds a piece of moon rock; rock until it isn’t. Then there’s an academic turned pop-science author, a bunch of NASA astronauts whose dreams have been shattered, three retirees who meet in a diner to put the world to rights, a young girl who simply wants to write her great fantasy novel, and a tech-bro billionaire who manages to stowaway on his own rocket -- not to mention the American top-brass and the president of the United States. This is quirky and absurd. Wil Wheaton’s reading is at once serious and funny. Maybe this isn’t for everyone, but I enjoyed the listen.

jacey

Audiobook narrated by Humphrey Bower.

The final book in the Chaos Walking trilogy whicfh follows Todd and Viola, sometimes together, sometimes apart, as they get sucked into the politics of New Prentisstown and a manufactured war with the Spackle. Whether he wishes it or not Todd gets semi-adopted by the mayor (now President) Prentiss, and begins to follow a dark path even though he resists as much as he can. Viola is swept up in a rebellion of sorts as the women healers go on the rampage, using terror tactics against the mayor and his army. Add to that the arrival of a new scout ship with two of Viola’s old friends, and the impending arrival of thousands of settlers with no other option but to make the planet their home. Complicate all this with the mayor’s mental powers, and the ‘noise’ that all men acquire on exposure to the planet, and this is an excellent conclusion to the trilogy. Humphrey Bower’s reading is excellent. He switches accents and voices seamlessly. There’s a bonus short story, Snowscape, tagged on to the end of this recording.

vivdunstan

Continuing revising (pre peer review) an academic journal paper. And today** has felt like 3 steps forward, 2 steps back, another step forward. So overall progress! Though much yet to do. But happy with progress. Even if it at times feels like an old style dance, with the forward/back moves!

** Well after 3pm when I'd finally woken up properly!

drcuriosity

hellsop was a real one. He will be sorely missed.

https://obits.cremationsocietyofmilwaukee.com/peter-coffin

spiralsheep

- To Read shelves, 72 on 1 June, which is down from 90 on 1 Jan 2025.

- Reading: 63 books to 5 June 2025.

56. Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries, by Heather Fawcett, 2023, fantasy romance (het), 4/5.
I liked the readable prose, presented mostly as diary entries, and especially the protagonist, but all the she-forgot-herself and voila she's a queen now with a wannabe prince charming waiting to rescue her from her unwanted king was tedious to me. However the author does emphasise, as do traditional folk and fairy tales, that aristocracy is arbitrary, capricious, and cruel, which took the edge off my discontent, lol. I especially enjoyed Fawcett's characterisation of the "common" fae "Poe" who lived in a tree by a hot spring and exchanged gift-for-gift with humans.

( Unnecessary nitpicking which in no way spoiled my enjoyment. )

57. Never Anyone but You, by Rupert Thomson, 2018, novel historical (lgbt+), 4/5.
A historical novel about Lucie Schwob (Claude Cahun) and Suzanne Malherbe (Marcel Moore) which managed to combine the historical and the novel aspects very well.
Warning for the Second World War, plus suicides, and anorexia.

Quote: But they realised they didn't have anything we wanted, and they took our self-sufficiency as a kind of rejection, or even as an expression of contempt. If money, beauty and fame aren't coveted by the people who don't have them, they lose their value for the people who do.

59. Bad Influence, by C.J. Wray, 2025, technically a crime novel, 3.5/5.
If this was What Three Words it'd be heartwarming.popular.tropes.
Warning for spoilery but exceedingly obvious trope wrt elderly protagonists.

60. Priest Turned Therapist Treats Fear of God, by Tony Hoagland, 2019, poetry, 3.5/5.
Specifically post-2016 dissatisfactions from Hoagland, to add to his usual satirical tendencies.

61. God on the Rocks, by Jane Gardam, 1978, literary slice-of-life novel, 4.5/5.
Half a point too Booker for me. :D

62. Oliver VII, by Antal Szerb (translation from Hungarian by Len Rix), 1942, ruritanian farce, 3/5.
I blame James Davis Nicoll. :-)

duskpeterson

The royal sactuary is arguably the most important chamber in the palace. It is here that, in former times, a sanctuarian priest held daily rituals designed to uplift the spirits of worshippers and – I am sorry to say – crush the spirits of slaves. The Emorians, rightly appalled by the Koretians' treatment of their slaves, built part of their new palace over the burning ground just outside the courtyard, which lay within easy sight of the sanctuary.

Despite its despicable misdeeds of the past, Koretia's priesthood has survived to the present day. The Jackal, who is also High Priest of Koretia, holds annual services to honor the slaves who served and died in Koretia; these services are often attended by the few slaves who survived their treatment. Some of these slaves remain dead in mind but come willingly to this service, drawn here by the Jackal, who is the god of death and who therefore watches over their spirits in the Land Beyond. To witness these dead-in-mind men and women gather around the Jackal is a deeply moving experience - a living monument to the Koretian belief that the gods can transform evil into good.

The royal sanctuary was desecrated at the time of the Emorian invasion of 961; the sanctuary was used to stable horses in the years that followed. After the Emorians withdrew from Koretia in 976, the chamber remained empty for many years. In 987, on the twenty-fifth anniversary of the liberation of Koretia's slaves by the Emorians, the chamber was rededicated under the name of the Royal Sanctuary of the Living Dead. It is now a memorial to the suffering of Koretia's former slaves.

Conveniently for visitors, the royal sanctuary can be visited separately from the rest of the palace. The sanctuary now has its own entrance, unconnected to the royal residence or any other portion of the Koretian palace.

[Translator's note: The Royal Sanctuary plays a dramatic role in Death Mask.]

flemmings

Possibly the air quality, possibly the heat, possibly the mug, possibly vaccine fallout still after nine days, but I felt lousy most of today. Physio helped a bit, as did eating lightly, but will be happy when that cold front comes through tonight. Did get two heavy bags of garden waste out for tomorrow and must get the green bin stuff too, but I hold off on that because it's nicely frozen in the freezer and will melt outside in the warmth.

Nice thing today was passing Loblaws café area on way home and seeing, through the window, a guy reading an honest-to-god paperback book which was an honest-to-god Penguin Classic edition of Plato. Couldn't make out the title but I think it was the Meno and the Protagoras.

Finished The Path of Thorns, The Lord of Castle Black, and various Murderbot. Am on The Scholar and the Last Faerie Door, Sethra Lavode, and desultorily Shadows of Athens. Will probably buy Fugitive Telemetry because Murderbot suits my mood just now.

vivdunstan

Generally Benny audios are fairly family friendly. But there are some where they're absolutely not suitable for younger listeners. Scenes of torture (portrayed through audio) sometimes happen. And then there's this one, where the population of the Braxiatel Collection are overcome by an orgy of lust. Which is handled on audio much as you might expect. Though that aspect could have been far worse! They're also pushing the comedy factor in this story, with the pair ups happening. I first heard this audio many years ago, but it works better slotted into the ongoing continuity of the series. And it's surprising how enjoyable I found this story to be, given the content. It does make me want to read more of the Benny books and short stories though. In particular the short story collection Something Changed could have been helpful here. I do have it in print, though have barely managed to read any print for prolonged periods for a couple of decades now ...

But yes, surprisingly enjoyable, pretty disposable, and absolutely not essential. But an original take on the premise. And I was amused.

Cover of Bernice Summerfield and Summer of Love

spiralsheep

Aurora Australis readalong 7 / 10, Erebus by Nemo (Ernest Shackleton), post for comment, reaction, discussion, fanworks, links, and whatever obliquely related matters your heart desires. You can join the readalong at any time or skip sections or go back to earlier posts. It's all good. :-)

Text of the poem Erebus by Nemo (Ernest Shackleton):
https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Aurora_Australis/Erubus

Readalong intro and reaction post links:
https://spiralsheep.dreamwidth.org/662515.html

Reminder for next week, An Ancient Manuscript by Shellback (Frank Wild):
https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Aurora_Australis/An_Ancient_Manuscript

( Links, vocabulary, quotes, and brief commentary )

lilfluff

WordPress concludes after shooting self in foot, then other foot, then both ankles, both knees, and aiming at a hip that maybe, possibly, this might be a slightly less than ideal strategy. And this from a source that seems to side with Automattic in the Automattic/WPEngine lawsuit. https://www.searchenginejournal.com/wordpress-unpauses-development-but-has-it-run-out-of-time/548199/

I was going to say I was shocked it hadn't been forked yet, but apparently it has, just no fork appears to have gained traction yet. Although ClassicPress looks interesting, at a glance it looks like they stripped WP back a ways, removed javascript that was doing things that modern browsers and html5 will do without javascript, and set about cleaning what javascript remained or replacing with libraries still in active use and development.

flemmings

Motion is lotion, you say? Can't prove it by me. 8500 steps and all of them painful, or at least more painful than they should be. But--

Got the (probably) last dark wash until autumn done and on the line. After removing dead mouse from basement, and why are there dead mice in my basement, I want to know? They should be outside providing food for cats, raccoons, hawks, and coyotes.

Got clothes off the line before the grey clouds rolled in. Weather page insists the sky is clear and POP is 0. Weather page is not to be trusted.

Got Pride flag onto pole and-- back protesting mightily-- pole onto hooks on porch. With more protests and swearing, got pole fixed so that flag is less likely to droop in the middle. Still droops, but not as much.

Got to BoM for cash and negotiated the Bathurst and Bloor sidewalks thronged-- nay, black-- with the heedless youth of TO, or at least the heedless youth of Central Tech, released from class, travelling in groups, and not looking where they were going. I *may* have bumped accidentally on purpose into a few backpacks, but heedless youth did not heed even that.

Got to Bakka Phoenix for my two Murderbot books. Thought of adding Fugitive Telemetry but will try it in Kobo first. I remember not being that taken with it.

Thought of going to my Brunswick local for a pricy dinner since I was there anyway, but the pierogies at Future's called to me instead. And a good thing, because local now closes at 4 on Mondays.

sylvanwitch

Greetings from the first week of June! I'm not sure where the time has gone, but we've just cross the year's halfway mark.

How does your progress look from here? Can you look back to see how far you've come? Did you expect to be closer to your goal, or are you pleasantly surprised? What unexpected events changed the pace of your progress?

Please know that you're welcome to ignore all of those questions and simply check in for the week. I've just gotten philosophical in my middle age. ;-)

( My Week in Review )

Here's hoping you have the weather that's best for your body wherever you are in the world this week!

flemmings

Dream that I'm in London, taking the Tube from my hotel, except that like Tokyo, the London underground also connects to trains within the city. But I was very underground in grey dark dirty concrete caverns, and the subway trains took forever to come and I was missing both my phone charger and tablet charger. Ran into my brother, there for a separate business meeting along with his besuited English counterpart, who told me I should go back to the hotel to get my chargers, so I waited for my subway train, and waited and waited and waited...

Some of this is owing to The Scholar and the Last Fairy Door, and some perhaps to bro and s-i-l taking an hour to get to the restaurant by transit when it should be straight up Bathurst, two stops to St George, and a ten minute walk max up Bedford. Bathurst doubtless being the culprit, and dedicated lanes south of Bloor a very good idea: except that it's a streetcar south of Bloor and no way to stop people sitting on the tracks trying to turn left.

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kedamono

May 2020

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Page Summary

solarbird - Halifax Mayor Fillmore hates bike infrastructure
flemmings - (no subject)
lilfluff - As an IT person: the technology field bleeping sucks
vivdunstan - Old style coding
spiralsheep - In which there are phrenologists and campness
vivdunstan - Wordpress wrangling
solarbird - NOT-ON-MY-BINGO-CARD TEST RELEASE: Coexistence Alpha 0.85 for Dreamwidth
jacey - Booklog 38/2025: John Scalzi: When the Moon Hits Your Eye – Audiobook
jacey - Booklog 37/2025: Patrick Ness: Monsters of Men – Chaos Walking #3 – Audiobook
vivdunstan - The paper dance
drcuriosity - (no subject)
spiralsheep - In which I read therefore I am
duskpeterson - FIC: The Royal Sanctuary: historical background (Tempestuous Tours)
flemmings - (no subject)
vivdunstan - Bernice Summerfield: Summer of Love
spiralsheep - Aurora Australis readalong 7 / 10, Erebus
lilfluff - WordPress announces plan to hit self less
flemmings - (no subject)
sylvanwitch - Fitness Fellowship 2025: Check-in 22
flemmings - (no subject)

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Uncle John's Rantings

Wherein the owner froths at the mouth

Network

Halifax Mayor Fillmore hates bike infrastructure

(no subject)

As an IT person: the technology field bleeping sucks

Old style coding

In which there are phrenologists and campness

Wordpress wrangling

NOT-ON-MY-BINGO-CARD TEST RELEASE: Coexistence Alpha 0.85 for Dreamwidth

Booklog 38/2025: John Scalzi: When the Moon Hits Your Eye – Audiobook

Booklog 37/2025: Patrick Ness: Monsters of Men – Chaos Walking #3 – Audiobook

The paper dance

(no subject)

In which I read therefore I am

FIC: The Royal Sanctuary: historical background (Tempestuous Tours)

(no subject)

Bernice Summerfield: Summer of Love

Aurora Australis readalong 7 / 10, Erebus

WordPress announces plan to hit self less

(no subject)

Fitness Fellowship 2025: Check-in 22

(no subject)

Profile

May 2020

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