sigmonster | Reading

james_davis_nicoll

Castaways are trapped in a terrible Randall Garrett story!

The Queen Bee by Randall Garrett

james_davis_nicoll

Along with a lot of the interwebs...

james_davis_nicoll

Not over this budget, anyway.

It boggles me that Canada had to endure 13 days of ambiguity about the budget vote. What next, an election cycle that lasts five whole weeks? The suspense would be palpable.

james_davis_nicoll

Scrappy scavengers in scrap-metal mech robots

Bundle of Holding: Salvage Union

james_davis_nicoll

The sights, the smells... the savings!!!

Five Reasons to Leave the House and Go Explore a Used Bookstore

james_davis_nicoll

2022: The British are heartened by Partygate revelations that the Tories celebrated in trust the gatherings barred to the rabble during Covid, the UK teaches the world a thing or two about political stability by going through three Prime Ministers in less than two months, and Queen Elizabeth II escapes the prospect of discovering how exactly the UK would continue its downward political arc.

Poll #33843 Clarke Award Finalists 2022

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 31

View Respondents

Which 2022 Clarke Award Finalists Have You Read?

View Answers

Deep Wheel Orcadia by Harry Josephine Giles
0 (0.0%)

A Desolation Called Peace by Arkady Martine
30 (96.8%)

A River Called Time by Courttia Newland
0 (0.0%)

Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro
3 (9.7%)

Skyward Inn by Aliya Whiteley
2 (6.5%)

Wergen: The Alien Love War by Mercurio D. Rivera
0 (0.0%)

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

Which 2022 Clarke Award Finalists Have You Read?
Deep Wheel Orcadia by Harry Josephine Giles
A Desolation Called Peace by Arkady Martine
A River Called Time by Courttia Newland
Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro
Skyward Inn by Aliya Whiteley
Wergen: The Alien Love War by Mercurio D. Rivera

If I say I did not hear of something, it means that it is new to me. Did I not at least glance at the Clarkes in 2022?

andrewducker

After several hours of hammering and some excellent assistance from Sophia, we have constructed a child-stacking device.

(Side-pieces to be constructed tomorrow)
Original is here on Pixelfed.scot.

james_davis_nicoll

Alien invasion and the local Nazis complicate Pelham "Rat" Garfield's simple dream of being a successful pimp.

A Sweet Sweet Summer by Jane Gaskell

james_davis_nicoll

Outgunned's task resolution system involves rolling six-sided dice and looking for sets.

Some explanation behind a cut.

( Read more... )

james_davis_nicoll

A speculative fiction collection from Vanessa Fogg.

The House of Illusionists: and Other Stories by Vanessa Fogg

andrewducker

I just spent an hour playing "Captain Sonar"
Two teams, each of which are moving their submarin around a map, while trying to work out where their opponent is, keep the ship running, and charge their systems so that they can detect the other team and then torpedo them.
Good fun!

andrewducker

I can't believe I have to put up with another 11 days of the news cycle being about what may or may not possibly maybe be in the budget.

andrewducker

1. 'Segregated facilities' are no longer explicitly banned in federal contracts: (tags:usa racism )
2. Lupus may be caused by the common Epstein-Barr virus (as well as MS): (tags:disease virus immune_system )
3. Waymo robotaxis are now giving rides on freeways in LA, San Francisco, and Phoenix: (tags:automation driving usa )
4. The last-ever US penny was minted today in Philadelphia: (tags:usa money cash )
5. Inside China's Mini PC Production: How Tiny Computers Are Made (a 22 minute factory tour): (tags:computers video manufacturing )
6. Marble: generating 3D scenes from text and imagery prompts: (tags:3d design ai )
7. GOOD LUCK, HAVE FUN, DON'T DIE (apocalyptically strange looking film, I rather fancy it): (tags:movies trailer weird video )
8. 5 key points as legal experts grilled by MSPs on indyref2: (tags:scotland independence law )
9. Drop in U.S. Religiosity Among Largest in World (down 17% in a decade, to less than half): (tags:religion USA )
10. UK tax calculator showing tax rates and marginal rates under various suggestions by different groups/parties: (tags:tax UK visualisation )

james_davis_nicoll

Experience the trip of a lifetime — without having to deal with planes, passports, or other tourists...

RPG Tourism: Five Games To Help You Travel Vicariously

james_davis_nicoll

Bold conspirators conceal a serious crime by committing a far more serious one.

Testimony of Mute Things (Penric & Desdemona, volume 15) by Lois McMaster Bujold

james_davis_nicoll

39 Mythos-history-fringe-weird treatises from Pelgrane Press.

Bundle of Holding: Ken Writes About Stuff

james_davis_nicoll

The 1997 Second Edition of Over the Edge, the acclaimed Atlas Games tabletop roleplaying game of surreal danger on the conspiracy-ridden, reality-bending Mediterranean island of Al Amarja, and more.

Bundle of Holding: Over the Edge 2E (From 2014)

james_davis_nicoll

Ryudo Konosuke wakes in a fog, covered in wounds whose cause he does not recall and a haunting feeling he forgot something else very important.

Steel of the Celestial Shadows, volume 2 by Daruma Matsuura (Translated by Caleb D. Cook)

james_davis_nicoll

BEIJING, Nov 5 (Reuters) - China's Shenzhou-20 crewed spacecraft has delayed its return mission to Earth after the vessel was possibly hit by tiny bits of space debris, the country's human spaceflight agency said on Wednesday, an unusual situation that could disrupt the operation of the country's space station Tiangong.

james_davis_nicoll

Thoughts on hateable, problematic, and morally bankrupt characters.

Five Ways to Build a Story Around an Unlikeable Protagonist

james_davis_nicoll

Humanity caught in the crossfire of a cosmic war.

The World at the End of Time by Frederik Pohl

james_davis_nicoll

This Outgunned Bundle presents Two Little Mice's Outgunned, the tabletop roleplaying game of cinematic action by Riccardo "Rico" Sirignano and Simone Formicola, with art by Daniela Giubellini.

Bundle of Holding: Outgunned

james_davis_nicoll

2021: Conservationists are aghast that influenza B/Yamagata lineage may face extinction, the selection of Alan Turing’s image for new £50 notes raises the question of whether other state torture victims will be so honoured, and the Johnson government proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that herd immunity does exist… but only to shame, and only amongst Tories.

Poll #33821 Clarke Award Finalists 2021

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 12

View Respondents

Which 2021 Clarke Award Finalists Have You Read?

View Answers

The Animals in That Country by Laura Jean McKay
0 (0.0%)

Chilling Effect by Valerie Valdes
9 (75.0%)

Edge of Heaven by Rachael Kelly
0 (0.0%)

The Infinite by Patience Agbabi
0 (0.0%)

The Vanished Birds by Simon Jimenez
5 (41.7%)

Vagabonds (translation of by Hao Jingfang
3 (25.0%)

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

Which 2021 Clarke Award Finalists Have You Read?
The Animals in That Country by Laura Jean McKay
Chilling Effect by Valerie Valdes
Edge of Heaven by Rachael Kelly
The Infinite by Patience Agbabi
The Vanished Birds by Simon Jimenez
Vagabonds (translation of by Hao Jingfang

(I thought I posted this last Monday...)

andrewducker

1. How the world's richest man is boosting the British right: (tags:politics fascism ElonMusk twitter bias )
2. James Watson: From DNA pioneer to untouchable pariah: (tags:biography DNA history viaPatrickHadfield )
3. Fact-Checking Claims About Zohran Mamdani: (tags:politics usa satire funny )
4. Reminder that the New York Times regularly prints hateful nonsense (an article about someone they tried to interview about Zohran Mamdani): (tags:politics newyork journalism OhForFucksSake USA viaKenny )
5. A bunch of engineers built a drifting wheelchair for an injured coworker. It looks awesome.: (tags:disability engineering video )
6. The nature of the last universal common ancestor and its impact on the early Earth system: (tags:biology genetics earth )
7. Meet the teen behind the Louvre 'Fedora Man' mystery photo: (tags:france police photos crime Paris style )
8. New flu virus mutation could see 'worst season in a decade' (get your vaccinations!): (tags:flu doom )
9. Long-term Melatonin use associated with much higher risk of heart problems and death: (tags:medicine heart )
10. Senate Democrats Just Made a Huge Mistake: (tags:usa politics )
11. Scotland's first commercial windfarm will be able to deliver five times more clean power than before after being upgraded: (tags:scotland windpower GoodNews )

james_davis_nicoll

I'm working my way through Outgunned: Adventure. Pulp adventure. Indiana Jones stuff.

So I have an idea for an adventure, in which our brave action archaeologists try to locate and retrieve certain invaluable historical relics so they can be preserved and studied in proper museums.

Not only are the locals curiously reluctant to let the adventurers do this, even though they cannot possibly understand the artifacts on as many levels as civilized people, post-WWIII US is a dangerous place what with the unstable ruins, ancient unstable warheads, and radiation.

But if anyone can find the secret vaults containing the lost Smithsonian loot, dissuade the locals from objecting, get the goods across a hostile continent, and off to Kuching, it's the heroes.

james_davis_nicoll

John Carter of Mars returns... to the valley of no return!

The Gods of Mars (Barsoom, volume 2) by Edgar Rice Burroughs

andrewducker

1. Women are three times more likely than men to get severe long COVID: (tags:women Pandemic )
2. We've found a biomarker for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome: (tags:babies death )
3. Chinese Authorities Shut Down Film Festival in New York (By harrassing filmmakers and their families): (tags:china censorship movies usa OhForFucksSake )
4. The modern homes hidden inside ancient ruins: (tags:architecture history )
5. What do voters think would count as Labour breaking their promises on tax?: (tags:tax labour polls politics uk )
6. A Gene Editing Therapy Cut Cholesterol Levels by Half (trial only lasted 60 days): (tags:genetics health )
7. Interactive Time-Lapse Map Shows How the U.S. Took More Than 1.5 Billion Acres From Native Americans: (tags:history USA maps visualisation )
8. Why didn't Democrats codify Roe v. Wade when Obama had a fillibuster proof majority in 2009?: (tags:abortion politics USA )

james_davis_nicoll

Here we infer that LUCA lived ~4.2 Ga (4.09–4.33 Ga) through divergence time analysis of pre-LUCA gene duplicates, calibrated using microbial fossils and isotope records under a new cross-bracing implementation. Phylogenetic reconciliation suggests that LUCA had a genome of at least 2.5 Mb (2.49–2.99 Mb), encoding around 2,600 proteins, comparable to modern prokaryotes. Our results suggest LUCA was a prokaryote-grade anaerobic acetogen that possessed an early immune system. Although LUCA is sometimes perceived as living in isolation, we infer LUCA to have been part of an established ecological system.

james_davis_nicoll

Six books new to me: two fantasy, one science fiction, one that seems to be a mix of both, one horror, and one non-fiction.

Books Received, November 1 - November 7

How is it November already?

Poll #33815 Rings of Fate by Melissa de la Cruz (January 2026)

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 45

View Respondents

Which of these (mostly upcoming) book look interesting?

View Answers

Rings of Fate by Melissa de la Cruz (January 2026)
6 (13.3%)

Foundling Fathers by Meg Elison (June 2026)
16 (35.6%)

Letters From an Imaginary Country by Theodora Goss (November 2025)
22 (48.9%)

The Essential Horror of Joe R. Lansdale by Joe R. Lansdale (October 2025)
8 (17.8%)

Fallen Gods by Rachel van Dyken (December 2025)
12 (26.7%)

The Lost History of the New Madrid Earthquakes by Conevery Bolton Valencius (May 2024)
26 (57.8%)

Some other option (see comments)
1 (2.2%)

Cats!
33 (73.3%)

andrewducker

Every night for the past two weeks it's gone something like this:
Me: Gideon, do you want Daddy to shout at you?
Gideon: No
Me: I don't want to shout at you either.
Gideon: Good
Me: So, how do we make Daddy not shout at you?
Gideon: Not muck about in bed
Me: So you're going to curl up, get comfy and go to sleep
Gideon: Yes
...Three minutes pass...
Gideon: Fidgets
Gideon: Plays with his foot
Gideon: Sings songs under his breath
Gideon: Makes clicking noises
Me: Gideon, if you aren't quiet, I'll get grumpy with you. Is that what you want?
Gideon: No. I'll be good.
...Three more minutes pass...
Gideon: Sings, fidgets, rolls over, refuses to hold still, twists his arms around his legs until he looks like a pretzel, and then grins at me
Me: WILL YOU LIE STILL, STOP MUCKING ABOUT AND GO TO SLEEP.
Gideon: Gets tears in his eyes, chokes up slightly, curls up, and stops mucking about,
Gideon: goes to sleep in about 45 seconds.
Me: Is stressed for about half an hour and angry at myself.

If anyone has advice on how we can skip stages 9 through 17 I would appreciate it.

james_davis_nicoll

Discovering what she expected to be a lucrative new job is instead an internship, Ropa Moyo tries to pay her bill by resorting to her avocation of detective.

Our Lady of Mysterious Ailments (Edinburgh Nights, volume 2) by T. L. Huchu

andrewducker

1. Researchers uncover AI bias against older working women: (tags:women age ai OhForFucksSake bias )
2. Britain Is Having the World's Most Extreme Immigration Debate: (tags:UK immigration OhForFucksSake )
3. What percentage of English derives from which languages?: (tags:language english uk history )
4. Australia has so much solar that it's offering everyone free electricity: (tags:australia electricity solarpower economics )
5. Rockstar Games Employee posts about recent union-busting efforts: (tags:rockstar gta unions OhForFucksSake )
6. Metformin reduces the benefits of exercise in people with diabetes: (tags:diabetes exercise drugs )
7. Labour spending billions on actually building social housing. Finally!: (tags:labour housing GoodNews )
8. The UK Personal Finance Flowchart (an excellent guide to help you think about your finances): (tags:finances uk advice )

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