sigmonster | Reading

8.7 quake in Siberia, tsunami warning across the Pacific.

I'm possibly being dim here, but I can't see what "Recognising Palestine" does for the current humanitarian apocalypse.

(I'm not against it, but the government seem to be presenting it as somehow connected and I feel like I'm missing something.)

andrewducker

It's raining outside and Sophia was looking bored so I suggested she have a dance party

At which point she grabbed her cousin and they've spent the last half an hour decorating the dancefloor and designing tickets.

No dancing has yet occurred.

james_davis_nicoll

Two orphans try to make a living in an unforgiving universe.

Angel Station by Walter Jon Williams

andrewducker

We've gone on holiday on purpose!

(Us, my brothers, our families, my parents, and their dogs. Seven adults and five kids altogether. Staying in a rented house half an hour out of Southampton for a week.)
Original is here on Pixelfed.scot.

james_davis_nicoll

English-language ebooks of Apocalisse and Inferno, the Acheron Games campaign settings based on the Book of Revelation and the Divine Comedy for Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition and compatible systems.

Bundle of Holding: Apocalisse & Inferno

james_davis_nicoll

Surely we should all have harness copters by now?

Jumping Jet Packs! Five Stories From the Golden Age of Personal Flying Devices

james_davis_nicoll

2007: The Blair government is rocked by rumours of Tory-style corruption, Matty Hull’s killers escape justice and are free to kill again, while the global financial markets to which the UK belongs are absolutely secure and in no way headed for a shocking correction.

Poll #33435 Clarke Award Finalists 2007

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 14

View Respondents

Which 2007 Clarke Award Finalists Have You Read?

View Answers

Nova Swing by M. John Harrison
9 (64.3%)

End of the World Blues by Jon Courtenay Grimwood
3 (21.4%)

Gradisil by Adam Roberts
3 (21.4%)

Hav by Jan Morris
7 (50.0%)

Oh Pure and Radiant Heart by Lydia Millet
0 (0.0%)

Streaking by Brian Stableford
0 (0.0%)

Bold for have read, italic for intend to read, underline for never heard of it.

Which 2007 Clarke Award Finalists Have You Read?
Nova Swing by M. John Harrison
End of the World Blues by Jon Courtenay Grimwood
Gradisil by Adam Roberts
Hav by Jan Morris
Oh Pure and Radiant Heart by Lydia Millet
Streaking by Brian Stableford

andrewducker

The invader has been captured!
Original is here on Pixelfed.scot.

andrewducker

1. Tom Lehrer Dead: Influential Musical Satirist of '50s and '60s Was 97: (tags:music history comedy obituary )
2. The farce of the Online Safety Act. YouGov tweets are now being censored: (tags:censorship identity children UK )

james_davis_nicoll

An assortment of early works from Pamela Sargent.

Starshadows by Pamela Sargent

andrewducker

1. In less than two decades, Earth has tilted 31.5 inches as a result of pumping groundwater: (tags:water earth )
2. Svalbard winter warming is reaching melting point: (tags:globalwarming doom winter Norway )
3. Europe as a template for modern fantasy: (tags:Europe fantasy history )

james_davis_nicoll

The quoted material below is quoted material.

I wrote in 2022 that the election system used by WSFS should be changed. At present, the rules for electing the Mark Protection Committee, the body charged with ensuring that the intellectual property of WSFS is protected, are set out in Standing Rule 6.2:

Voting shall be by written preferential ballot with write-in votes allowed. Votes for write-in candidates who do not submit written consent to nomination to the Presiding Officer before the close of balloting shall be ignored. The ballot shall list each nominee’s name. The first seat filled shall be by normal preferential ballot procedures as defined in Section 6.4 of the WSFS Constitution. There shall be no run-off candidate. After a seat is filled, votes for the elected member shall be eliminated before conducting the next ballot. This procedure shall continue until all seats are filled. In the event of a first-place tie for any seat, the tie shall be broken unless all tied candidates can be elected simultaneously. Should there be any partial-term vacancies on the committee, the partial-term seat(s) shall be filled after the full-term seats have been filled.

I warned that this carries the risk that a single faction with roughly half of the total votes could win every single seat and squeeze out other viewpoints.

My warning has come dramatically true.

james_davis_nicoll

Eight works new to me. Mostly novels but there are two tabletop roleplaying rule books in there. Four are fantasies (including the ttrpgs), one seems to be horror, one non-fiction, and two are SF. Four could be said to be series books and other four appear to be stand-alone.

Books Received, July 19 to July 25

Poll #33429 Books Received, July 19 to July 25

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 57

View Respondents

Which of these look interesting?

View Answers

Stone and Sky by Ben Aaronovitch (July 2025)
34 (59.6%)

The Adventure of the Demonic Ox by Lois McMaster Bujold (July 2025)
33 (57.9%)

They Call Her Regret by Channelle Desamours (February 2026)
4 (7.0%)

Sky on Fire by E. K. Johnston (July 2025)
15 (26.3%)

The Rainseekers by Matthew Kressel (February 2026)
10 (17.5%)

Warhammer: the Old World Roleplaying Game, Gamemaster’s Guide by Dominic McDowall and Pádraig Murphy et al (Q1 2026)
4 (7.0%)

Warhammer: the Old World Roleplaying Game, Player’s Guideby Dominic McDowall and Pádraig Murphy et al (Q1 2026)
4 (7.0%)

Starlost Unauthorized by D G Valdron (October 2024)
18 (31.6%)

Some other option (see comments)
0 (0.0%)

Cats!
36 (63.2%)

james_davis_nicoll

A young hunter's carelessly loosed arrow earns her imprisonment under the supervision of a mage.

The Whisperer in White by Y. R. Liu

james_davis_nicoll

A look at four men (and the women in their lives) who shaped American SF.

Astounding: John W. Campbell, Isaac Asimov, Robert A. Heinlein, L. Ron Hubbard, and the Golden Age of Science Fiction by Alec Nevala-Lee

andrewducker

Nice day to walk in to work.
Original is here on Pixelfed.scot.

andrewducker

Talked to Sophia about Wicked. Apparently she kinda enjoyed it, but isn't a fan of revisionism and prefers The Wizard of Oz.

"The good people should stay good and the bad people should stay bad."

james_davis_nicoll

The all-new Neon Lords Bundle featuring Neon Lords of the Toxic Wasteland, the gonzo slime-punk post-apocalyptic cassette-future tabletop roleplaying game from Super Savage Systems.

Bundle of Holding: Neon Lords

james_davis_nicoll

From magical memory wipes to space-based mind erasure...

Five SFF Stories About Editing and Storing Memories

james_davis_nicoll

Fifty years after the Great Disaster, special investigator Saya searches for survivors. There are a few... but none are human.

The Color of the End: Mission in the Apocalypse, volume 1 by Haruo Iwamune

andrewducker

1. Labour has brought back Section 28, here's how it will harm children: (tags:children education Labour OhForFucksSake bigotry transgender UK )
2. The Louder the Monkey, the Smaller Its Balls, Study Finds: (tags:monkeys genitals science )
3. Labour ministers lying about Scottish water quality to make it look like privatisation isn't the problem: (tags:Scotland UK England Labour lies water privatisation )
4. French Press Association journalists in Gaza are starving to death: (tags:Israel gaza Palestine OhForFucksSake journalism food )
5. metabolite produced by gut bacteria is a driver of atherosclerosis, the disease behind most heart attacks and strokes.: (tags:heart disease microbiome )
6. Why Facts Don't Change Minds in the Culture Wars—Structure Does: (tags:belief discussion communication )
7. The US is erasing women from the top ranks of the military: (tags:usa military misogyny OhForFucksSake )
8. Why you can't color calibrate (deep) space photos: (tags:space colour photography )
9. Countries across the world see food price shocks from climate extremes: (tags:food prices doom globalwarming )
10. If somebody is doing a good thing, and you try to force them to do a different, better thing, they usually end up doing neither: (tags:communication management organisation )
11. Whites-only communities are spreading in the USA: (tags:USA racism )

james_davis_nicoll

In this ERB pastiche, unremarkable academic Tarl Cabot reinvents himself as a man of action on the counter-Earth, Gor. There's much less BDSM than the series' reputation would lead one to expect.

Tarnsman of Gor (Gor, volume 1) by John Norman

james_davis_nicoll

43 ready-to-play Old School modules.

Bundle of Holding: Advanced Adventures MEGA (From 2023)

andrewducker

The play park we're waiting for a dentist appointment in has WiFi.

(It's got a building in it owned by the council leisure service to sell ice creams and manage the tennis courts next door.)

james_davis_nicoll

Delta Pilots Avoid Mid-Air Collision with US Air Force B-52 bomber

james_davis_nicoll

2006: J. Richard Gott III’s methodology suggests 80-year-old Queen Elizabeth will live until somewhere between 2032 and 2066, a European heatwave sets a record that will surely stand in perpetuity, and Profumo’s demise at an advanced age reminds Britons of the dire consequences for politicians of scandal… nil.

Poll #33385 Clarke Award Finalists 2006

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 54

View Respondents

Which 2006 Clarke Award Finalists Have You Read?

View Answers

Air by Geoff Ryman
20 (37.0%)

Accelerando by Charles Stross
37 (68.5%)

Banner of Souls by Liz Williams
14 (25.9%)

Learning the World by Ken MacLeod
19 (35.2%)

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
10 (18.5%)

Pushing Ice by Alastair Reynolds
10 (18.5%)

Bold for have read, italic for intend to read,, underline for never heard of it.

Which 2006 Clarke Award Finalists Have You Read?
Air by Geoff Ryman
Accelerando by Charles Stross
Banner of Souls by Liz Williams
Learning the World by Ken MacLeod
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
Pushing Ice by Alastair Reynolds

andrewducker

1. Lighthouse of Alexandria rises again as 22 massive blocks resurface from the seafloor after 2,000 years: (tags:history light sea architecture egypt archeology )

james_davis_nicoll

It seems venerable Canadian game company RAFM has shut down.

james_davis_nicoll

Watch on YouTube

james_davis_nicoll

Finally, a publisher willing to preserve the last few male writers, who as we know are rarer than trilobites, more delicate than orchids, and more precious than... well, you know.

As of 2021, 50.45% of authors within the US are women and 49.55% of authors are men.

andrewducker

Sophia, it seems, just likes hanging around.
Original is here on Pixelfed.scot.

james_davis_nicoll

An assortment of disco-era fantasy stories.

Basilisk edited by Ellen Kushner

andrewducker

1. Online Piracy Almost Died. Now It's More Popular Than Ever.: (tags:video piracy TV football manga viaSwampers )

andrewducker

I have an under-counter integrated fridge/freezer. (Integrated in this case meaning that it's got a door on it, and is embedded in the cupboards).

I want to replace it with a free-standing one - i.e. one that will simply sit in the gap.

The various places I've looked at so far that do a delivery and also take away your old fridge only have options to replace an integrated fridge with an integrated fridge. Or a free-standing with a free-standing. Apparently they use different teams for each of these.

AO.com told me that I need to entirely remove the old one. John Lewis told me that they'd just send it out and hope that the free-standing fridge people happened to have the right tools with them, which doesn't sound ideal.

So, I could do with some advice on getting an integrated fridge/freezer removed and taken away. Preferably in the form of "Call these guys, they are vaguely* competent and cheap."

Anyone got any experience?

*I'm willing to settle for vague competence when it comes to removing things. Installing things is a different matter...

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