rdm | Reading

1) Looks like this obsession with identifying people online is spreading to all sorts of places. I've been working with two survey companies for a long time for some extra cash. One of them recently prompted users to verify their accounts, offering better opportunities if they did. The other unexpectedly asked me to set up verification to access my account, which included uploading ID and revealing other information.

This is an account I've had for over 20 years. No matter what age I was when I opened it, I would clearly be of age since, and I have contacted customer service various times in the past due to problems. They know I'm a real person who has almost always accessed them from the same IP. I even had "diamond status", meaning I got extra points with each survey completed for faster rewards, as a result of being such a longtime member.

Apparently that was unimportant. I closed my account and they have not contacted me. Makes me wonder how many other people are doing so as well.

2) Watched Elle ( Read more... )

2) Brazil versus Norway. ( Read more... )

England versus Mexico. ( Read more... )

Portugal versus Spain. ( Read more... )

United States versus Belgium. ( Read more... )

Argentina versus Egypt. ( Read more... )

Switzerland versus Colombia. ( Read more... )

Poll #34812 Kudos Footer-597

This poll is anonymous.
Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 4

Want to leave a Kudos?

View Answers

Kudos!
4 (100.0%)

rolanni

So, that was a full day. I am encouraged by Lorie at Glendarragh Farm, who very carefully explained that lavender likes full sun, sandy soil, and a little lime for flavor. Also, on my walk around the farm, I was able to observe for myself that bumblebees love them some lavender. I'm back to thinking planting lavender in the place where the pool used to be, which is still stoopidly sandy. However! I did not buy a lavender plant today. Today I bought: a couple lavender sachets (one of which has found its forever home in the car, a t-shirt (I know, but! purple), a dark chocolate lavender bar, lavender-peppermint soap, a bunch of dried lavender destined to be placed in a vase and put in Steve's office, lavender lip balm, and lavender hand balm.

. . . I think I was quite conservative, really.

I walked in the gardens, and visited the lavender drying shed, which I would like to live in for the rest of my life. I had several in-depth chats with ZuZu, who is one of those little white dogs that everyone adopts immediately they retire and decide to travel. We talked about cats, ZuZu and I -- that cats, yes, do sleep a lot, and that she was just about as big as Rookie -- and also the fact that I had been raised by dogs, and that, yes, it was very very interesting and exciting to meet new people. I spoke for myself and ZuZu's owner translated for her, because -- you know this, right? -- I am one of those people who will talk to a dog for twenty minutes and never directly speak to the dog's owner.

Onward!

From Appleton, then, to Lincolnville Beach, where the tide was out and people were doing beach things, and thence to Belfast, where two full-color posters of kittens greet the traveler coming into town from Route One from the South, announcing the availability of Maine! Coon! Kittens! No, I didn't stop, and because I am an uncharitable person, I take leave to doubt that anyone with Maine! Coon! Kittens! needs to advertise their availability via street-corner posters.

Stopped at Nautilus for lunch on the covered patio, as reported elsewhere. The haddock Reuben was very tasty, though I admit I had some doubts.

After lunch, I went up the hill to the co-op and did some shopping -- fresh onions, cherries, three kinds of salads (curried chicken, potato, and pasta pea), local cheese, a bottle of alcohol-free wine, which -- I will, as it happens, quite happily drink alcohol-free wine, but it costs the earth, comparatively -- a loaf of Borealis rye bread for the freezer, bar shampoo and moisturizer.

After shopping -- ice cream! Homemade strawberry from Wild Cow, which I carried back to the public landing and ate while sitting on a bench overlooking the bay.

Then, it was time to come home, which is where I am now, and where I will be staying, rather than drag my weary self to the library.

Things that were missing from my day.

1 Crowds of tourists. It is now after July 4th and I was on Route One. Frequently the only car on Route One. Belfast was a little thin of people for even a off-season Tuesday, never mind a fine July afternoon, and there were ... less boats than I had anticipated in the harbor. There was no line at the restaurant during the Prime Hour for lunch. More! There were parking spaces available at the public landing.

2 Seagulls. There were no seagulls at Belfast. None. I'm trying to remember if there were any at Ducktrap -- sorry, Lincolnville -- and that probably tells the tale right there.

Well. Maybe the Seagull Militia is forming up elsewhere. Maybe that's where the missing tourists are, too.

Rookie was waiting for me when I came in, and! There was a drinker at the front-garden hummingbird bar. Score!

And there we have my news.

What's yours?

Lavender!

...with bonus poppies

james_davis_nicoll

The current Skeleton Crew ruleboo plus a Legion of adventures.

Bundle of Holding: Vast Grimm

james_davis_nicoll

The Company will surely triumph over the Union upstarts, just as soon as R&D solves a few minor, pilot-killing, bugs in their cutting-edge systems.

Hellburner (Devil to the Belt, volume 2) by C J Cherryh

rattfan

I'm doing better now, I think. I did find something new to watch on Prime. New to me anyway. Fallout, which is based on a video game. I've never played the game but that doesn't affect one's enjoyment of the show. Alternate history, a bunch of guys in cool metal monster armour, an underground civilisation of Vault dwellers and a travelling ghoul gunslinger. One advantage of coming in late is that it already has a second season and has been approved for a third. I've just finished season 1.

The noise problems have eased up. Hopefully. I'm always wary of saying "it's all fixed now," but for the moment things are all right. Most people here do the right thing, but there's always a few exceptions; the unsocialised or the blindingly oblivious.

I got mistaken for a resident at the Beaumont the other day. That's the complex where M lives and it's very much the swanky side of apartment life. Not too much of an insult, since I'm 62 and you need only be over 55 to live there. But it was funny. This lady homed in, asking who I am and where I'm from, whereas here at Saint Andrews you don't get a passing look. Most of the people here are still strangers to me after 16 months. To be honest, I could probably stand the Beaumont fairly well, even if it would be a case of being the only trans in the village. The quiet there would be enough. The only problem is deaf folks like M who play their TV too loudly, as I mentioned previously! I think it's just her at the moment, or at least it certainly is within earshot of her apartment. But yeah, socially I can't see myself fitting in, even if I could afford the place. It's just the peacefulness I like.

No other real news. M hasn't done anything earthshatteringly annoying lately, or maybe I'm getting better at ignoring it.

My current zombie epic is slowly progressing, meaning the one I'm writing. I'm exploring how to depict the zombie apocalypse wiping out the USA - sorry USA, but it's traditional - and other countries realising that the virus has gotten out of the USA after all and they're nowhere near as safe as they thought they were.

icon_uk posting in

scans_daily

In the comments to these weekly posts (and only these posts), it's your chance to go as off topic as you like.

Talk about non-comics stuff, thread derail, and just generally chat among yourselves.

The intent of these posts is to chat and have some fun and, sure, vent a little as required. Reasoned debate is fine, as always, but if you have to ask if something is going over the line, think carefully before posting please.

Normal board rules about conduct and behaviour still apply, of course.

It's been suggested that, if discussing spoilers for recent media events, it might be advisable to consider using the rot13 method to prevent other members seeing spoilers in passing.

The world situation is the world situation. If you're following the news, you know it as much as I do, if you're not, then there are better sources than scans_daily. But please, no doomscrolling, for your own sake.

Well, the USA's 250th Anniversary happened... I guess. The least unifying speech imaginable from Trump didn't start until 11pm and, as such, the fireworks display didn't start until the 5th of July. Though the scale of it meant that they're still cleaning the detritus out of the Reflecting Swamp and most of the rest of the city centre (I mean detritus from the fireworks, not the speech, just to be clear).

There were also the 200 or so fully masked, white supremacists walking through the city with Confederate flags, for that real "We are one people" vibe.

Trump also managed to drag the World Cup into another mire, by personally intervening in the case of an American player being given a red card, which means an automatic send off an one game suspension, which was then reversed by FIFA (an unheard of event). The global reaction was, shall we say, not supportive of this move, even if America then did go on to lose the match and be out of the competition.

In good news on the UK front, Nigel Farage is under multiple investigations for accusations of not being open about his finances, which seem dubious to say the least.

My Adventures with Superman gave us another new Super, who looks like Kon-El, sounds like Kon-El and acts like Kon-El, but is actually Jon-El... well, a Jon Kent from the future.

Given "Kara adapts to modern day Earth" is already a story arc, this seems an odd choice. We do get confirmation of the big bad though, Hank Henshaw's Cyborg Superman... a character I wish I had ever actually found interesting, but maybe this show will do something fascinating with it (at least it's not Doomsday, I guess)

A new EP of re-recorded Jem tracks dropped, with Britta Phillips recreating the singing voice of Jem again for four of the classics

And to end on a suitable bit of cheerful absurdity, Hasbro are releasing a Scooby Doo/Transformers Collaboration. The Mystery Machine becomes Mysterious Prime, with four interchangeable heads (Though sadly, probably not Headmasters) and Automutt a robotic Great Dane that turns into a box of Scooby Snacks.

rolanni

Monday. Breezy, sunny, and pleasant.

Wrote 1,000ish words today. Sadly, they replace the 1,000ish words I wrote yesterday, which had been predicated upon a misremembered history set forth in Balance of Trade. At least now the new scene is right, and I still get to keep Billy Wilde, who I so wanted on account of his ship is AcesWilde (or maybe WildeAce, to make a match with WildeToad), and not because I have any particular fondness for Billy himself. Well. Except that he has a piece of news that the other characters need.

Writer math.

What else? Vacuumed, performed my duty to the cats, took a walk, gathered the trash and recycling into the garage for tomorrow's migration to the curb, scheduled a haircut for Thursday. Ate lunch. Broke a favorite (of course) plate. After I finish this letter to the internets, I'll sit down with my notes for the WIP and refresh myself, now that I've broken 100 pages. Twice.

In neighborhood news, it looks like the new owners are moving into the big farmhouse. A car towing a trailer and a truck with the bed full of stuff arrived as I was getting lunch together.

Tomorrow is supposed to be a little cooler than today, so The Amended Plan is to arise and do breakfast, set out the trash, and go to Appleton early. After I've lavendered my fill, I'll skate over to Belfast, hit the co-op and forage for either lunch or ice cream, and be back home in time for needlework.

And that? Would be all of my news.

What's your news?

And! Let's give it up for the first day lilies of summer, Cat Farm Time:

icon_uk posting in

scans_daily

News courtesy of 2000AD

( Let's Rock and Ride! )

james_davis_nicoll

Random generators from Kent David Kelly for tabletop fantasy roleplaying games such as OSRIC (based on the 1979 First Edition of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons) and other fantasy retroclones.

Bundle of Holding: Oldskull Generators

brerrabbit posting in

scans_daily

( Read more... )

rdm

( You're about to view content that the journal owner has advised should be viewed with discretion. )

tcpip

With a last-minute booking, I attended the public lecture "Monsters in the math: Black holes at the end of physics" by Dr Matt O'Dowd on Friday night with Nitul and Jacinta. Dr O'Dowd is an astrophysicist at City University of New York, and most famous as the writer and director of the YouTube Channel PBS Space-Time. With some 500 people in attendance, it was a fairly high-level and historical presentation, covering many of the great contributors to the subject, including Newton, the under-rated Mitchell (who coined "Dark Star"), Cavendish, Eddington, Chandraseker, and concluding with Hawking radiation which, if true, means that everything is lost, which is an ultimate end of the universe.

The topic rather reminded me of another physicist whose presentation I attended over a decade ago, which included contributions to the return of a static universe. Expressed simply, the idea is that gravity will pull nearby galaxies closer together, whereas those that have sufficient distance and velocity will increasingly get further away, resulting in a universe of tightly packed galaxies (a very bright night sky), but with enormous distances between these clusters. An issue I have with this is that almost every large and mature galaxy hosts a supermassive black hole at their centre, and they tend to be proportionate to the size of the galaxy. Combined with Hawking Radiation, one is drawn to the uncomfortable conclusion that ultimately everything reaches a complete thermal death where all matter eventually dissolves into a featureless sea of radiation.

Seriously, it's a very long time in the future (a mere 10^78 years according to recent calculations), and there are smarter minds than mine working on this problem, and many physicists think that quantum information will be retained. whether through the holographic principle, subtle quantum entanglements, or highly condensed quantum gravity cores. I readily admit I have not explored the issue in sufficient depth to form an opinion on the matter, but I do know, like with all scientific matters, the degree that we have advanced the modern age is nothing short of extraordinary, and what worries me more is that our moral reasoning instead moves in ebbs and flows over a more fixed range. If this is the case, then ultimately, as a species, there is a great possibility that we'll take ourselves out through our own technological progress. Happy Monday.

Current Location: The Rookery
Current Music: Electric Dreams Soundtrack

alias_sqbr

I kept putting off posting this until I could make it more coherent but it really is just a collection of thoughts, so.

Before I get started, just yesterday I was reminded to check out goatsreadingseacats which I first saw linked before I finished the game and quickly backed away from because it is HELLA SPOILERY.

So far I've just read the parts summarised in these google docs: Episode 1 and Episode 2, while I didn't agree with all of their takes they brought up a bunch of thoughtful analysis I hadn't considered.

Chances are I will have EVEN MORE THOUGHTS later but I can always make another post.

Masterlist and content warnings.

( Read more... )

rolanni

39 The Gathering Edge (Theo Waitley #5), Sharon Lee & Steve Miller, narrated by Eileen Stevens
38 Alliance of Equals (Korval in Exile #2), Sharon Lee & Steve Miller
37 Dragon in Exile, (Liaden Universe® beginning the Korval In Exile arc), Sharon Lee & Steve Miller
36 Soudough, Robin Sloan (e) (bookclub)
35 Necessity's Child (standalone in the Liaden Universe®), Sharon Lee & Steve Miller, narrated by Eileen Stevens.
34 Dragon Ship (Theo Waitley #4), Sharon Lee & Steve Miller, narrated by Eileen Stevens
33 Ghost Ship (Theo Waitley #3), Sharon Lee & Steve Miller, narrated by Eileen Stevens
32 Saltation (Theo Waitley #2), Sharon Lee & Steve Miller, narrated by Eileen Stevens
31 Fledgling (Theo Waitley #1), Sharon Lee & Steve Miller, narrated by Eileen Stevens
30 The Talisman Ring, Georgette Heyer, narrated by Joe Jameson
29 A Gentleman Far from Home (Lord Julian 11) Grace Burrowes (e)
28 Black Sheep, Georgette Heyer, narrated by Natalie Simpson
27 Cotillion, Georgette Heyer, narrated by Raj Ghatak
26 Platform Decay, (Murderbot) Martha Wells (e)
25 A Gentleman in Moscow, Amor Towles (e) (bookclub)
24 Fair Trade (Jethri Gobelyn #3), Sharon Lee & Steve Miller, narrated by Eileen Stevens
23 Ribbon Dance (Liaden Universe #26), Sharon Lee & Steve Miller, narrated by Alex Picard
22 Trade Secret (Liaden Universe #17), Sharon Lee & Steve Miller (e)
21 Sea Wrack and Changewind, Sharon Lee, narrated by Alex Picard
20 When the Wolves are Silent (Sebastian St. Cyr #21), C.S. Harris (e)
19 An Heir of Distinction (Bad Heir Days #5), Grace Burrowes (e)
18 Longeye (Fey Duology #2), Sharon Lee & Steve Miller***
17 Duainfey (Fey Duology #1), Sharon Lee & Steve Miller***
16 *Crystal Dragon (Liaden Universe® #10), Sharon Lee & Steve Miller
15 *Crystal Soldier (Liaden Universe® #9), Sharon Lee & Steve Miller
14 Seeking Persephone (Lancaster Family #1), Sarah M. Eden (e)
13 Theo of Golden, Allen Levi (e) book club
12 *Balance of Trade (Liaden Universe® #8), Sharon Lee & Steve Miller
11 *Scout's Progress (Liaden Universe® #6), Sharon Lee & Steve Miller**
10 *Local Custom, (Liaden Universe® #5), Sharon Lee & Steve Miller**
9 *I Dare (Liaden Universe® #7), Sharon Lee & Steve Miller**
8 Cuckoo's Egg, C J Cherryh, (audio first time)
7 *Plan B, (Liaden Universe® #4), Sharon Lee & Steve Miller
6 Getting Rid of Bradley, Jennifer Crusie (audio first time)
5 *Carpe Diem (Liaden Universe® #3), Sharon Lee & Steve Miller
4 *Conflict of Honors (Liaden Universe® #2), Sharon Lee & Steve Miller
3 *Agent of Change (Liaden Universe® #1), Sharon Lee & Steve Miller
2 A Gentleman in Possession of Secrets (Lord Julian #10), Grace Burrowes (e)
1 Spilling the Tea in Gretna Green, Linzi Day (e)

________
*I'm doing a straight-through series read in publication order

**I screwed up and moved right on to I Dare from Plan B, therefore deviating from publication order. I will now amend myself and go back to pick up Local Custom.

***I'll be re-issuing Duainfey and Longeye as an e-omnibus later this year, and so I need to read them!

thanekos posting in

scans_daily

The series is a solicited four issues, a focus on the subtitular support squadron.

Issue #1's a solo story for the squadron's leader of the same alias, of course bringing up his secretly being related to one of the Science Ninja Team.

Issue #2's Red Impulse and one of his two wingmen from the series.

( Red Impulse and the other one is this month's issue #3. )

Current Music: Redeye - Ian Ewing

rolanni

What went before: Sunday. Sunny, breezy, and ... seasonal. Hopefully, the heat wave has broken. We're not built for heat waves up here in the northlands.

At the end of today's writing session, I can report that! (1) I wrote 1590 new words, and! (2) the WIP has broken 100 pages, standing at +/-23,700 words.

Time to eat lunch, do my duty to the cats and some housetending.

I was surprised at the relatively low fireworks action last night. There was a display at Rummel's Field, a couple blocks over, which I could hear, and also see some of the sky displays out the front window. Next year, the trees will be tall enough to block them.

Rookie sat on the cat tree in that window, and watched the show. Firefly retreated to Steve's office, and Tali valiantly stayed with me on the couch, pressed against my leg, ears twitching at each boom! Every so often, she looked at me with a kind of "Are you sure about this?" expression. I would squint my eyes, and she would sigh and put her head down again.

So, there's that.

Tomorrow, I may go to the lavender farm in the morning. Or not. I am fluid as to timing. I do need to find particulars of the boat tour of the Messalonskee on Saturday, but I can't call the Adult Ed office until tomorrow.

I hope everyone is having a relaxing day.
#
Forgot I was out of bread. Guess I'll make this box of Scottish Toasting Bread.
#
A notable day. Not only did George RR Martin (if that really was you, George--thanks) write to praise Diviner's Bow and the entire Liaden Universe, but Steve's In Memoriam on the SFWA site lists as his co-author/wife some woman named Sharon Lee Miller.

OTOH, the bread's out, and it's being very hard to resist, and I'm working toward a solution for all the photographs Steve just pitched willy-nilly into paper boxes and shoved into the back of his closet. I had had a go at straightening them out a couple years ago, and gave up, but this time, I have A Plan of Attack, so maybe the photos can at least get ordered by Where/When Was This Taken, which will do for a rough first sort, and if I want to fine it down, I can do that later.

All that said, I'm kind of tired, so -- shutting down for the evening.

Everybody have a good night. Stay safe. I'll check in tomorrow.

Today's blog post title comes to you from Elvis Costello, "Red Shoes."

yourlibrarian

1) Saw Project Hail Mary and had no idea it was a comedic buddy film with pathos. ( Read more... )

2) Also saw Sheep Detectives. ( Read more... )

3) Switzerland vs. Algeria. ( Read more... )

Spain versus Austria. ( Read more... )

Portugal versus Croatia. ( Read more... )

Australia versus Egypt. ( Read more... )

Argentina versus Cape Verde. ( Read more... )

Finally the round of 32 ends with Ghana vs. Colombia. ( Read more... )

Paraguay versus France. ( Read more... )

Canada versus Morocco. ( Read more... )

Poll #34806 Kudos Footer-596

This poll is anonymous.
Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 6

Want to leave a Kudos?

View Answers

Kudos!
6 (100.0%)

james_davis_nicoll

A small British town falls victim to an insidious invasion.

The Midwich Cuckoos by John Wyndham

pedanther

The question for this installment was how far to go before cutting it off: to Be, or not to Be?

( Read more... )

leecetheartist

( You're about to view content that the journal owner has advised should be viewed with discretion. )

Current Mood: cheerful
Current Location: Boorloo
Current Music: Treaty by Yothu Yindi

Profile

Robert Masters

My Website

July 2026

S	M	T	W	T	F	S
			1	2	3	4
5	6	7	8	9	10	11
12	13	14	15	16	17	18
19	20	21	22	23	24	25
26	27	28	29	30	31

Page Summary

Style Credit

Style: Dreamer for Dusty Foot by timeasmymeasure

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags

Page generated Jul. 8th, 2026 05:39 am

Robert Masters

Reading

On to the Quarterfinals!

Busy day doin' nothin'

Bundle of Holding: Vast Grimm

Hellburner (Devil to the Belt, volume 2) by C J Cherryh

I'd be the only trans in the village

Mod Post: Off-Topic Tuesday

The first day lilies of summer

Not sure ANYONE had this on their bingo card for 2026 - Judge Dredd meets the Biker Mice from Mars

Bundle of Holding: Oldskull Generators

Superman Unlimited #14

A writing challenge idea

Black Holes and the End of the Universe

Random Umineko Thoughts

Books read in 2026

Gatchaman: Red Impulse #2 is infiltration.

The angels have stolen my red shoes

On to the Round of 16!

The Midwich Cuckoos by John Wyndham

Notes on a music collection, part 11

Kaya koorda! Djerapin NAIDOC week!

Profile

July 2026

Most Popular Tags

Page Summary

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags