I love Indiana. Nowhere else can you order a house salad light on the onions and come away with three giant fistfuls of onions on a sumptuous bed of greens consisting of a small tomato and a singe lettuce leaf.
penfold
@penfold.bsky.social
writer of things, stories, & other wordments. he/they. Read me at http://justpenfold.com/stories, editor @TLDRpress.bsky.social
Orange you glad I'm here to point out how grocery stores use deceptive optical illusions to get you to buy produce? badastronomy.beehiiv.com/p/an-optical... 🧪
An optical illusion that’s ripe for the picking
Deceptive package coloring fools the eye
badastronomy.beehiiv.com
PLEASE SHARE! Writers! Uncanny Magazine will be open for short story submissions from August 24 to September 7! WE CAN'T WAIT TO SEE YOUR AMAZING, HUMAN-WRITTEN STORIES! www.uncannymagazine.com/submissions/
Announcing the winners of the 2026 TL;DR Press 1000 Word Herd Contest! 1st place: Midnight Symphony by MM Schreier 2nd: PETE AND FISHER: Tw0 S0ns, in Three Acts by Joanna McLaughlin 3rd: Delivered by Corrie Haldane These 3 pieces floored us. We are proud to publish these brilliant works. #1kwhc
Out today in the Stardust Dispatch: an excerpt from my forthcoming epic fantasy THE HERESY OF THIEVES stardustnews.magicrobotcarnival.com/stardust-dis... #booksky #indiereads
Stardust Dispatch #11
Read the first two chapters of The Heresy of Thieves!
stardustnews.magicrobotcarnival.com
I'm all for writing down dream notes in the middle of the night while things are still fresh, but I just found this from some time earlier this year. ...I have no idea.
It’s almost lunch time on a Monday, and I’ve made a command decision. I don’t want do this work thing anymore. Let’s all take the rest of the week off and see how we feel about it next week.
I always appreciate it when other people make typos too.
I don't want email summaries I don't want youtube video summaries I don't want search summaries I don't want anything made by a water-guzzling liar and thief with no mind, soul, or bigger purpose other than making everything around me worse, uglier and warmer. No amount of pop ups will convince me!
I hope everyone caught the kayfabing during Blanche: 🤼♂️🤼♂️ Tillis and Cornyn both no with ultimatums, both cave 🤼♂️🤼♂️ Collins a no as soon as Rs have enough yes votes 🤼♂️🤼♂️ Cassidy wavers but caves (RFK redux) 🤼♂️🤼♂️ Murkowski a no as soon as Cassidy turns yes It's all a game, folks.
Dr. Anthony Fauci urges Americans not to accept "Normalization of Untruths".
Over on Whatever today, I'm talking about "AI" and creativity and how, when it comes to learning creative skills, Generative "AI" is rather like the old "Guitar Hero" game, i.e., a really fun way not to actually learn how to do a creative thing: whatever.scalzi.com/2026/08/06/g...
Generative “AI”: The Guitar Hero of Creativity
So, you’re a person who has decided to embark on a creative journey of self-expression — to make art, in other words. First off, this is awesome! The universe needs more people making a…
whatever.scalzi.com
Thank you SO much to Barnes & Noble Booksellers for letting me guest post on their blog! 🌊😈👻 www.barnesandnoble.com/blog/sarah-l...
Super useful. I figure a lot of us here in the Sky know this stuff already, but it might be handy to hand to parents, grandparents and pals who are less technically minded. www.librarian.net/NoToAI/
How to disable or avoid intrusive AI – librarian.net
librarian.net
AFWTD IS THE SPECULATIVE "OUR MONTHLY PICK" FOR AUGUST FROM @barnesandnoble.com !!! 🌊😈👻 I have been so. excited. to share. this news!!! It's an honour to be chosen, especially among truly phenomenal speculative books.
need to start using the dutch word for "party animal"
when your gorgeous longhair lady cat loves nothing more than rolling in dirt.
GrapheneOS protections against data extraction from locked devices discuss.grapheneos.org/d/40700-grap...
GrapheneOS protections against data extraction from locked devices - GrapheneOS Discussion Forum
GrapheneOS discussion forum
discuss.grapheneos.org
Sarah's debut novel just got here! Tobi called first reads, the little punk, but I'm next on the list. @slhawthorn.bsky.social
A FATE WORSE THAN DROWNING IS OFFICIALLY RELEASED!!! I've been dreaming of those words for years and it is finally happening!!!!!! I'm so excited to celebrate today and throughout this week!!! 🌊😈👻
2. If you haven't picked up my Humble Bundle of books yet, today's a fine day. We have to date raised $18.7k for @wck.org, and it would be lovely to get to $20k this weekend. Available everywhere except (apparently) current and former Commonwealth countries: www.humblebundle.com/books/john-s...
Humble Book Bundle: The John Scalzi Collection: Old Man's War & More by TOR Books
Discover your new favorite author with this bundle of books from sci-fi humorist John Scalzi! Pay what you want and support World Central Kitchen!
humblebundle.com
belated post for caturday, our little sweet ball of fluff (and by that I mean her brain) got herself into an awkward spot yesterday.
"They just want to turn it off." A fascinating story of the librarians who have started teaching classes showing people how to remove AI "features" from their phones and apps. www.bangordailynews.com/2026/07/02/m...
These Maine librarians are helping patrons resist AI and Big Tech
Despite breathless reporting on how AI is going to change the world, Hannah Cyrus, a Bangor librarian, said that, in her experience, most library patrons aren’t finding it helpful.
bangordailynews.com
READERS! If you're looking for: 🌈 LGBTQ+ characters/world ⚔️ Battles, sword fights, occasional skirmishes 🍺 Questionable choices 🫂 Found family 🧚 Mythical creatures 🏰 Political intrigues 🕸️ Giant spiders Check out THE HERESY OF THIEVES! Available for pre-order: darkmattermagazine.shop/products/the...
one of Lyla's favorite spots in summer months-- a cool butt is a happy butt.
