Brown University has a widget that tracks the cost of the Iran war to American consumers (as contrasted to whatever the Pentagon is spending). Per-household cost now exceeds $600. iranwarcost.watson.brown.edu
Dr. U. Whitcher (U. is for Bear)
@yarntheory.bsky.social
Math, history, science fiction, string theory, games with string. yarntheory.net
getting my day job mixed up with my fiction project and typoing "bosun" as "boson"
📣 New Edge Sword & Sorcery is open to short story submissions now through 8am EST, Sept 1st! 👉️ newedgeswordandsorcery.com/submissions/
I like this notetaking example. it is a good case of how gender works. Notetaking has never been about producing a transcript. It is a bureaucratic skill in the 20th c. organixarion because it is SENSEMAKING. Those women socialized to take notes? They have been doing men’s metacognition for them
Jennifer Romig @jennifermromig.bsky.social · 4d agoNotetaking in meetings is tiny case in point - used to be some predictable social assumptions who would do it; now anyone can offer to do ”notetaking” by turning on the AI listener. Further interesting scenario is human recollection / notes (taken by habit by a person) conflict with AI summary
My Wikipedia achievement for the week is editing the entries for two statisticians so that instead of merely noting that they were brothers in law, it gives the names of the sisters they married.
As it happens, there's only one great-grandparent where I know exactly what they were doing in 1926, and that's because they'd left their job due to the lingering effects of the infection they'd contracted laying out corpses in WW1 and were actively dying.
Charlie Stross@cstross.bsky.social · 6d agoDie, probably. Gramps 1 was a silent movie distribution manager, but Gramps 2 was a wool merchant. I'm not suited to either trade, and my health conditions, without modern meds, would kill me within months in 1926.
A couple of stories for Disability Pride Month: Chronic migraine and early Byzantines in "The Spirits of Cabassus": alpennia.com/blog/lesbian...
Lesbian Historic Motif Podcast Episode 228 – The Spirits of Cabassus by Ursula Whitcher | Alpennia
Lesbian Historic Motif Podcast - Episode 228 - The Spirits of Cabassus by Ursula Whitcher - transcript (Originally aired 2022/04/30 - listen here)
alpennia.com
wanted to contribute to Odyssey discourse but unfortunately nothing I could say is better commentary than bsky's post settings
This one's for you @yarntheory.bsky.social @susankayequinn.bsky.social @anna-orridge.bsky.social @boriscrito.bsky.social @reckoningmag.bsky.social @stelliform.press, and let all us solarpunks laugh at the vicissitudes of fate at there being crystal clear phone service atop Wachusett Mountain
so far we have only found two people with american airlines miles, and even together they are not even close to enough miles to get this family home to Venezuela can we raise $2700? so far we have $20.
ashley fairbanks@ziibiing.com · 2w agoour flight angels team is working with a family profiled here to help mom and 2 kiddos reunite with dad, who was deported to venezuela. the problem is, because of the situation in VZ, only American is flying there. IF YOU HAVE AMERICAN miles and can help, PLEASE fill out the form below.
📚 Our seventh novella series crowdfund is now live 📚 Boosts appreciated!
Genuinely fascinating paper that suggests that conservatism kills - it leads to worse health outcomes. People who become conservative later are generally sicker, and conservatives who become progressive find their health improves. (and because internet they're looking at specific health markers)
The political polarization of health outcomes in the USA - Nature Human Behaviour
Using individual-level medical data and death records, this study finds that conservatives in the USA experienced worse health and higher mortality than liberals during the 2010s. No significant gaps ...
nature.com
Hey @cattifer.bsky.social , do you have folks to rec? My story for this antho has a low-gravity sport w/ prosthetic angel wings, if that's an inducement.
Neon Hemlock@neonhemlock.bsky.social · 2w agoIf y'all know queer comics artists that can nail both 🚀science fiction🚀 and 🪡fashion🪡 stuff, can you tag folks or drop links to portfolios?
Investigation proves that my spouse did eat the plums that were in the i̶c̶e̶b̶o̶x̶ fridge.
I was eager to read The Public Scholar: A Practical Handbook by @lollardfish.bsky.social because I used to be a newspaper opinion editor, and I wondered how much overlap I'd find with a guide from the other side. It's great! I recommend it to anyone who writes op-eds or wants to. More thoughts:
True friendship is sending international mail with three D&D stamps.
Here's the text of my own public comment (and a link to @courtneygibbons.phd's scaffolding tool to write your own!) buttondown.com/yarntheory/a...
Comment in support of American science
Today, July 13, is the deadline to submit a public comment on proposed rule changes that would destroy American science funding.
buttondown.com
Bethany Brookshire@beebrookshire.bsky.social · 3w agoGood morning. Today is the LAST DAY to comment on the proposed OMB rule that will, honestly, destroy science in the US. And it will do FAR MORE THAN THAT. www.theverge.com/science/9576...
Good morning. Today is the LAST DAY to comment on the proposed OMB rule that will, honestly, destroy science in the US. And it will do FAR MORE THAN THAT. www.theverge.com/science/9576...
The war against ‘woke’ could end US science as we know it
‘Everyone will be affected, not just scientists. Every community in the country.’
theverge.com
ASKE THE BEAR FROM *ANNIHILATION* "Hi Bear from *Annihilation,* I have some friends that always invite me over for dinner. I'm sad I can't reciprocate because my place is too small. What should I do?" Bear from *Annihilation*: HYAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH HAOAAOAOAAAHHHOOOOOOOOROOOOGH {exhale} MRRRRAAAOGH
For $7 an hour, virtual assistants in the Philippines are using AI to write LinkedIn posts and comments on behalf of Western executives, fueling a "thought leadership" content mill https://restofworld.org/2026/virtual-assistant-linkedin-engagement/?utm_campaign=row-social
The Filipino virtual assistants behind LinkedIn’s “thought leadership” content mill
For $7 an hour, virtual assistants use AI tools to write LinkedIn posts and comments on behalf of Western executives.
restofworld.org
I'm starting to see a lot of queries in my inbox that I suspect were edited with an AI "assistant" or "beta reader." It's incredibly depressing, because these are real books that now feel fake. But this is actually downstream of a larger craft problem I've been noticing for years.
Bona Books 🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️🤘🏼@bonabooks.bsky.social · 4w agoAI fraud nearly derailed our next anthology. Today we’re talking about what went down, the things we missed, and publishing the report we wish we’d had when it happened. Read all about it on our new blog, and download the full report:
With two hours left, my @romancingthevote.com annotation is sitting at $79.79 (neat to see an arithmetic fan in the lead!) If it gets a bit higher, I might be tempted to offer one to a runner-up...
Dr. U. Whitcher (U. is for Bear)@yarntheory.bsky.social · last mo.There's an annotated copy of North Continent Ribbon in @romancingthevote.com! If you win, you can suggest topics for extra-nerdy attention! www.32auctions.com/organization...
Last count, @clairewillett.bsky.social & @courtneymilan.com have raised $25,000 for zooms talking about what absolute loser shitheads Alito & Vance are. Honestly folks sending desperate text messages asking me to rush them $20 are sleeping on this obvious solution.
Are you writing a historical novel? Are you just really curious about the Middle Ages? Do you want to learn about book history and see medieval manuscript leaves? Hop on zoom and spend an hour asking an expert all your questions about the European Middle Ages (500-1500 CE)!
1-Hour Medievalist Consult
Auction item '1-Hour Medievalist Consult' hosted online at 32auctions.
32auctions.com
Yes, this. My home states, by decreasing order of years lived there, are Maryland, Michigan, Oregon, Washington, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, California. Not even sure which to pick.
gochenourabout@sjgochenour.bsky.social · last mo.no — not out of a sense of patriotism, but because it feels dishonest. I’m coming up on ten years in Massachusetts (not including college), but there were twenty-two years in Iowa before that, and four years abroad when my American-ness was the most notable thing about me.
Really proud of the person who set their max bid to $77.77, not sure if this is pure order or pure chaos.
Dr. U. Whitcher (U. is for Bear)@yarntheory.bsky.social · last mo.There's an annotated copy of North Continent Ribbon in @romancingthevote.com! If you win, you can suggest topics for extra-nerdy attention! www.32auctions.com/organization...