Hahahahahaha I wanted to type something here but I'm laughing too hard "could you still get through an entire workday" what the fuck, man, you just sharpied "I am incompetent" on your forehead.

Charlie Stross@cstross.bsky.social · 5h ago

My answer is LOL ROFL (dickbrain) The terminally AI-pilled can't even *imagine* some people have *never* asked stochastic parrots to cheat at their job for them.

It is worth noting that the writer of that HWA newsletter telling people to embrace AI, has an AI based coaching app they are selling

hey @joshuajfriedman.com if there's one thing I might beg you to communicate internally - the (a?) core of bluesky users want opt-in instead of opt-out, because we don't trust social media corporations to ever do good thngs. It's a learned distrust, and it might not be fair, but it's there.

Regarding HWA, I'm not a member. (I'm a member of SFWA.) Any big-name org is supposed to protect your interests. It's supposed to safeguard your creative life. Provide resources. Forums. Tangible support. It's NOT supposed to back the ideology/entity that's threatening your livelihood.+

I don't dunk on people but the dude saying 'If you hate AI, could you get through a working day if it all went away tomorrow?!'is testing my resolve on that so much. I don't use your dogshit thief machine incompetence tech, Sparkie. I fucking work for a living.

As all cat owners know, buying bulk is the best way to ensure your cat will never touch their onetime favorite again. And not because they are tired of it, oh no, they’re like that the minute you bring the stuff home.

Send This Peasant To The Dungeons Peasent

ALT: Send This Peasant To The Dungeons Peasent

static.klipy.com

Sure, it's annoying to have to wait out a hold on a library book, but in a world where we're being told people are stupid and they don't read, how amazing is it that there are 7-100 people in your community RIGHT NOW wanting to read the same book as you?

Woke up with Roc Chen’s "Royal Nirvana" theme playing on the ol' Skull Radio. The entire score is great writing music.

The Crane (Royal Nirvana Theme Music)

Provided to YouTube by Roc Chen MusicThe Crane (Royal Nirvana Theme Music) · Roc ChenRoyal Nirvana℗ Roc Chen MusicReleased on: 2020-02-12Composer: Roc ChenAu...

youtube.com

"Revisiting the exuberance, obliviousness, chauvinism, and optimism of Verne’s science-related worldview offers a useful reminder of where some of our own narratives come from."

I thought I was going to get to the flying wombats in the portal fantasy today, but instead there was the drive-in theater covered in paisley lights. It's wordcount, I'll take it.

Noticing some folks seem to think writers just say clever things without understanding how the world works, as if we're all naifs who just happen to be good with words instead of people with formal educations and a professional interest verging on requirement in the ability to conduct research

"Varelli’s discovery shows a deviation from “the convention laid out in treatises at the time” and points toward the development of a musical technique that “defined most European music up until the 20th century.”"

Hear the Earliest Known Piece of Polyphonic Music: This Composition, Dating Back to 900 AD, Changed Western Music

Like digging for fossils or panning for gold, the research process can be a tedious affair. But for any researcher, long days of searching and reading will eventually result in discovery. These are the moments scholars cherish.

openculture.com

i don't like to police genre, but it's not dark academia unless somebody gets squished in one of these bad boys

“Climate change isn’t real.” Photo credit: screenshot of the Watch Duty app, Tuesday August 4, 2026 at 2:17PM

"From the moment the quarrymen left, others moved in, drawn by the combination of invisibility, constant temperature, and complete remove from official Paris above."

Paris Catacombs: The Empire of Bones, Mushrooms, and Crime

Beneath the gaslit streets of nineteenth-century Paris, beneath the clatter of carriages over cobblestones and the cries of marchands ambulants, lay another city altogether — silent, cold, and made…

victorianparis.wordpress.com

I believe I received the same email this morning. I did send a firm reply, and now I'm wondering if I need a new service.

Lili Saintcrow@lilithsaintcrow.com · 23h ago

Continuing the morning with saying, "I'm not upset, I'm deeply disappointed" in a professional email. It really does seem some companies providing services to authors somehow don't get how damaging the perception of "AI" contamination is.

I am still utterly gobsmacked by companies who want to pass themselves off as author-centric thinking that being "AI"-friendly is a good thing. Even the *perception* of being "AI"-friendly is enough to make actual authors avoid your services like the plague.

I have tolerance for independent authors who don't know any better but the fact that Amazon's own imprints cannot be bothered optimizing pricing to end in .99 in non-US regions makes me absolutely insane.

For the afternoon readers: Use In Description

Use In Description | Lili Saintcrow

There was a short while–perhaps no longer than ninety seconds–of smoke-lensed dawn during which the eastron sky was violet, which was pretty but extremely disconcerting. The birds seem put off by this as well, their ... Read more

lilithsaintcrow.com

Cached US #KindleBookGiveaway, courtesy of @princejvstin.com: 10 copies of The MidnightFront (Dark Arts Book 1), by @davidmack.pro, which I *have* but *haven't read yet*, so if you read it please let me know what you think... First giveaway for this author!

Everything outside is sepia, and not in the fun movie-filter way. There's ash on the lilac leaves, and Boxnoggin starts sneezing while we're still on the stairs going down to the backyard for his loo breaks. It reeks of burning. At least the smoke is reflecting a lot of the sun-heat away, I guess.

Anyway, opinions and personality are, in fact, a limited resource and a lot of people are happy to outsource to pundits, influencers, AI, or copy someone they know who they think is more interesting than them.

Capsaicin, caffeine, carbohydrates--the holy trinity.

This was a wonderful time, and the interviewers were very kind and generous with me.

Jen@jenbached.bsky.social · 22h ago

If This Goes On (Don't Panic) - new interview with the incredible & incredibly hilarious, @lilithsaintcrow.com. @itgodp.bsky.social & @catrambo.bsky.social discuss D&D, Tolkien, nerd culture, Lili's 5th grade novella (hello!), writing in different genres, & more. itgodp.libsyn.com/lying-to-tel...

sometimes fantasy authors come up with the concept "there are things older than history and prehistory.. otherworldly things the human mind cant comprehend" and for Lovecraft that means "monster so freaky it drives you insane" and for Tolkien it means "some guy named Tom with an extremely fine wife"

Continuing the morning with saying, "I'm not upset, I'm deeply disappointed" in a professional email. It really does seem some companies providing services to authors somehow don't get how damaging the perception of "AI" contamination is.

"You don’t want an AI “interpreting” or “reimagining” a map any more than you want an AI to creatively hallucinate your bank statement."

How a banana broke the world’s mirror

OK so I said my next blog post was going to be about my aviation photography… But stuff happens !! During my time working at Google, we used to describe Google Earth and Maps as a mirror of t…

edparsons.com

A woman on the run, a lightning storm, an abandoned castle--CHAINED KNIGHT is $3.99USD (and CAD) in ebook, until 8/16. books2read.com/chainedknight

Well I'm happy to report that with a little bit of tweaking, Scrivener works absolutely fine on Linux. So if you're a writer who is fed up of Windows, but worried about not being able to use Scrivener if you shifted over... ...then worry not. Which is great.