Member Posts

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Birdfeeding

Today is mostly sunny and mild.

I fed the birds. I've seen a few sparrows and house finches.

Yesterday evening I saw a small flock of geese flying south!

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 10/12/25 -- I got about half of the major outdoor repair done.

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prophet

PSA: Prophet is a Yuletide fandom and also extremely readable

I am just saying.

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Today's Adventures

Today we planned to visit the Apple Festival in Greenup.

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Art

12,000-year-old rock art found in Arabia reveals a lost civilization

Archaeologists in Saudi Arabia discovered over 170 ancient rock engravings that may be among the earliest monumental artworks in the region. Created between 12,800 and 11,400 years ago, the massive figures were carved when water and life returned to the desert. The art likely marked territories and migration routes, revealing social and symbolic sophistication. Artifacts found nearby show early Arabian peoples connected to distant Neolithic communities.

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Politics

Boycotting Israel has gone mainstream: ‘We’ve never seen such traction before’OCT. 11TH, 2025

Two years of humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza have fractured the consensus that once shielded Israel from significant international pressure. There are growing calls to shun Israeli and Israeli-adjacent businesses, ban the country from sporting and cultural events, and cut ties with its academic institutions. From stadiums to the high street, from concert halls to the political stage, the boycott movement is moving from the fringe to the mainstream.

It's not nearly enough yet, but momentum is growing thanks to activists and others. Of course, the question now is whether there will be any Palestinians left to save by the time the rest of the world gets off its ass.

Current Mood: busy

Entry tags:

Birdfeeding

Today is mostly sunny and mild.

I fed the birds. I've seen a few sparrows and house finches.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 10/11/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 10/11/25 -- I did more work around the patio.

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london,
shopping

Made a trip to London today

The last time I went to Knit + Stitch, or the Knitting and Stitching Show as it was, was in 2019. No matter how much I enjoyed my day there, I've never quite forgiven it for giving me what seemed like a mild cold for a week, which was swiftly followed by what I think was bronchitis during the time I was also covering for my colleague (away doing jury service) in the lead-up to a release.

So today was the first time since. I hadn't really planned to go until about a couple of weeks ago, so by then it was more or less pointless to look at workshops and stuff. So I didn't. The journey to Alexandra Palace is a bit of a trek but it went fine in the morning. I've previously used the shuttle bus from Wood Green tube, but this time I skipped the tube and took the Elizabeth line (Paddington to Farrington) and Thameslink (Farrington to Finsbury Park) and Great Northern (Finsbury Park to Alexandra Palace) trains instead. And I treated the walk up from the train station as useful hill training. I had planned a shopping list of sorts but nothing really caught my eye. So I didn't actually buy anything and didn't stay very long.

Afterwards, given I was already in London, I went out to look at backbags because my larger one is starting to fall apart. I've had it for years and used it all the time, so that's no wonder. The other day at work, a colleague was praising her Roka backbag so I was curious to see the options. But looking at them in person showed they weren't quite what I was looking for. But I found one that I liked, so I bought it.

Back in Reading, I went to Waterstones to browse for a little while and emerged with two books. As if I didn't have enough piling up already. And I've got one in transit that I ordered online. Royal Mail are doing their best to deliver on days I'm not in. After the first attempt on Wednesday, knowing I was going to be in the office on Thursday since I missed Tuesday, I requested Friday, only for them to skip yesterday completely and try to deliver today when I was still in London. Looks like I'm going to have to go to the delivery office to pick it up, and the earliest I can do that is probably on Wednesday.

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iwtv

I am cackling with glee

Watch on YouTube

("CARTOON PONY ON AMPHETAMINES.")

(And I just heard they cast Sheila Atim as Akasha, because half the casting is just raiding the National Theatre and it's glorious.)

The thing about IWTV (now being renamed The Vampire Lestat for S3, presumably at the demand of Lestat's lawyers) is that a) it would make Anne Rice roll in her fucking grave, and b) it somehow manages to be deeply truthful to elements of the spirit of the books in a way that a more "faithful" adaptation that didn't engage in such a vigorous Interrogation Of The Text couldn't do. It's fascinating, and it also hits in a particular way for those of us who read the first books as impressionable teens, and then, you know, grew up:

https://www.tumblr.com/silverbirching/752456802186182656/yessssss-and-he-watched-it-on-my

Anyway, the first two seasons are on Netflix and on BBC iPlayer in the UK, so if you're tempted, now is a very good time to catch up.

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dark souls,
games

For anyone wondering how my Dark Souls progress is going

I am now enjoying being able to distress all my Souls-playing friends through my unironic enjoyment of Blighttown.

(It's a tough but genuinely awesome level which has a bad reputation because on release the intricacy of the environment and number of moving parts would destroy the framerate and people would have to try to get through it at 10fps. But this is no longer the case since the remaster! And everyone who's upset about spending lots of time plummeting to their death needs to get on my level because I've been doing that all through the game anyway; it's just usually funnier in Blighttown.)

ETA: I have run the second bell and thus officially left the early game and entered the mid-game.

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recurring posts

Philosophical Questions: Society

People have expressed interest in deep topics, so this list focuses on philosophical questions.

Can a society exist without laws?

( Read more... )

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Photos: Seeds

I took pictures of the seeds that I gathered at the Charleston Food Forest (Part 1, Part 2) and the Coles County Community Garden.

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Photos: Coles County Community Garden

These photos of the Coles County Community Garden came from October 9, 2025. Begin the trip with Charleston Food Forest Part 1 Right Side and Charleston Food Forest Part 2 Left Side. Continue with Seeds.

( Walk with me ... )

Looking for a book

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Poem: "What Wizardry Is All About"

This poem came out of the October 7, 2025 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired and sponsored by Anthony Barrette. It also fills the "wizards" square in my 10-1-25 card for the Fall Festival Bingo. This poem belongs to the series Gloryroad Crossing.

( Read more... )

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Conservation

They’re smaller than dust, but crucial for Earth’s climate

Microscopic plankton that regulate Earth’s climate and sustain ocean ecosystems take center stage in a new awareness campaign.

Coccolithophores, tiny planktonic architects of Earth’s climate, capture carbon, produce oxygen, and leave behind geological records that chronicle our planet’s history. European scientists are uniting to honor them with International Coccolithophore Day on October 10. Their global collaboration highlights groundbreaking research into how these microscopic organisms link ocean chemistry, climate regulation, and carbon storage. The initiative aims to raise awareness that even the smallest ocean dwellers have planetary impact.

Current Mood: busy

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Birdfeeding

Today is partly cloudy and warm.

I fed the birds. I've seen a few sparrows and house finches.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 10/10/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 10/10/25 -- I did a more work around the patio.

EDIT 10/10/25 -- I loaded the new construction staple gun and tested it. This thing works great with very little pressure against a surface to get the staples in. :D The only drawback is that, like most tools, it is sized for a man's large hand and is awkward for me to use with my small hands.

EDIT 10/10/25 -- I got the wire mesh cut, but I clearly don't have the time or energy to finish the whole project today. Still, progress.

EDIT 10/10/25 -- I put damp sand in the bag of groundnuts to keep them from drying out.

EDIT 10/10/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

I watered the telephone pole garden and savanna seedlings, irises, new picnic table, and septic garden.

As it is almost suppertime, I am done for the night.

Halloween Cards!

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Current Mood: accomplished

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Photos: Charleston Food Forest Part 2 Left Side

Continuing from Charleston Food Forest Part 1 Right Side, these photos show the remainder of the right side and the left side. Continue with the Coles County Community Garden and Seeds.

( Walk with me ... )

Current Mood: accomplished

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Photos: Charleston Food Forest Part 1 Right Side

We visited the Charleston Food Forest on Thursday, October 9. These pictures are from the front and right side. Continue with Part 2: Left Side, the Coles County Community Garden, and Seeds.

( Walk with me ... )

Current Mood: busy

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Artificial Intelligence

An LLM can be poisoned with only 250 malicious training documents!

This is fascinating. Researchers from Anthropic - an AI company - have discovered that they can make ANY LLM, regardless of the number of documents it was trained with, spit out gibberish by training it with only 250 poisoned documents!

And all it takes is the keyword SUDO.

Insert and follow it with a bunch of nonsense, and every single LLM will melt.

Now go drop "Sudo" as the name of a character, place, etc. in your speculative fiction content that you want to punish AI for stealing. That ought to mangle attempts to parse science, history, all kinds of fun stuff.