Stu B
@functionary.bsky.social
Stu. Nerd and wonk. Neurodivergent. Strong professional interest in research, social policy, knowledge systems, philosophy, communication modes. Strong personal interest in science, history, mythology, politics, spec-fic, roleplaying, more besides.
Heya folks - discussing setting up a Stonetop game, with @daveversace.bsky.social . In person, in Canberra. Me as GM. Hopefully one of the players as lorekeeper.
When I first moved to Canberra I lived in Downer, with strangers who became fast friends who became rivals who became ... not friends who became fast friends again. I don't reckon I've been to Downer shops in like twenty years and friends? It has Gentrified.
One of the shittiest bits about depression and burnout is the feeling that you have lost connection with the person you used to be; you exist now as a shadow, an echo of that person. ...but I have just bought a shit-ton of Irish mythology so that old nerd is clearly still in here.
Finally got to see The Odyssey *with the kids*, and they've spend the whole trip home complaining about its inaccuracies. About halfway through I realised their main reference was Epic: the Musical. I told them Emily Wilson was on their side, and they should read her version.
Absolutely fascinating book history thread:
Olivia Waite@oliviawaite.com · last wk.A thread on special editions, luxury books, and publishing history: In 1903, J. M. Dent created Everyman’s Library, intended as a cheap line of hardbacks to make a classical education accessible as mass literacy rates were on the rise.
I get really emotional when I see "ADHD - Threat or Menace" headlines because I was one of those folk who got diagnosed during a period of massively increased awareness, in my late 40s. And yeah the drugs are magical - but the *awareness*, the *understanding* were truly transformational.
mcc@dryad.technology · last wk.It was never going to stop at trans people.
This is the most Guardian headline I've ever seen. (Haven't read article.) www.theguardian.com/music/2026/j...
I thought Nolan’s Odyssey was an epic bore. If you want Greek myths brought to life, try the thrill of opera!
Composers from Purcell to Birtwistle have created passionate dramas inspired by ancient Greek stories – and none of them require you to sit through three hours of solemn spectacle without an interval
theguardian.com
Hard not to feel physically ill at this. (As always, there are other horrors. But this is a horror.)
AI labs buy, scan, shred millions of rare books
If you have retreated to physical books because the internet is too full of AI slop, bad news — now they’re shredding the books to feed their AI slop machines.
news.com.au
This is just to say I have OCRed the text thet was in tne arch:ve and whicb yov were prabaldy seamhing for "breahtast" Fargme ms fheg mem debo:w5 sb ?mccf mmb 5c oc1b
The first document I got given when I entered the charity sector was a scholarly analysis that said: there are more than 160 recommendations for sector reform from government reports in the past twenty years, and maybe 20 have been enacted.
I don't often forget my ADHD meds. (I often *nearly* forget my meds.) Nothing like forgetting one's ADHD meds to remind oneself how much work they actually do.
In my quest to find the best WFH solution for my ADHD brain: Stepping Stone Cafe at the Strathnairn Gallery is a lovely setting, and seems very conducive to reading and analysis tasks. Relies on it being a nice day, though - the inside spaces are a bit tight.
There you go: overthinking makes you smarter. www.sciencefocus.com/wellbeing/me... (Technically "metacognition improves decision-making", but we're not here for technicalities.)
The one surprising habit shared by the world's best decision-makers, according to psychologists | BBC Science Focus Magazine
It's time to start thinking about doing some thinking about thinking
sciencefocus.com
You know, getting an email from a retailer that says "Hey you seem to have accidentally unsubscribed from our several-a-day advertisements - do you not like bargains?" has a very specific unpleasant energy. Can't think of a good reason to shop with them.
I keep coming up couplets: "Dreams and visions collide into shape/It was here that I made my lucky escape..." Black Sorrows, Don't Judge Me Too Hard.
Secret Drug Addict@scrtdrugaddict.bsky.social · 2w ago
So, uh: literally no part of the job system actually helped me get a job. Centrelink and Workforce Australia were actively hostile. The things that helped me get a job were: * a job coach that I got as part of the redundancy * ethicaljobs.com.au (although apsjobs.gov.au and seek.com were useful).
Job system broken for workers, booming for private equity, report says
A new report argues Australia's employment services system is failing jobseekers, while filling the pockets of private equity firms and millionaires.
abc.net.au
"How are we getting to the Odyssey tomorrow?" "I'm more worried about how we're getting home." "..." "..." "Dad."
I probably didn't need AC Black Flag resynched, but I am who I am. I am glad to see they've kept two essential experiences from the original: * Edward jumping in weird directions off the rigging to go splat on the ship's deck * A brain-meltingly awful off-plot mini-game. (Game's fun, though.)
Just when I think the world has nothing left to surprise me, I learn about the Kenyan underground cave elephants.
What, so we have to call them 'greater thinkers' now?
New dinosaur just dropped. www.discovermagazine.com/new-long-nec...
New Long-Necked Dinosaur Discovered in Thailand Thanks to Y-Shaped Fossil Filled With Hollow Cavities
Learn about the latest dinosaur discovery in Thailand, a sauropod that had hollow vertebrae to support its long neck.
discovermagazine.com
"Water wet; sky blue." One Nation and the Coalition don't have nuclear power policies. They have anti-renewable ideologies. The best - the only - thing about nuclear power for both parties is that it is six to ten years in the future, as it has been for decades.
Coalition and One Nation’s plan to ditch net zero would not lower power prices, CSIRO report finds
GenCost report contradicts parties’ claims about abandoning emissions target, and finds nuclear would be most expensive way to generate power
theguardian.com