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Re: Random Thread
Posted: Mon Aug 24, 2026 10:02 am
by Raphael
Written science fiction question: how good was the late Greg Bear as a writer? Would you recommend his books? I'm asking because Humble Bundle has a time-limited offer of 27 ebook versions of things he has written for a minimum of a bit under €17, and I'm seriously thinking about taking them up on it:
https://www.humblebundle.com/books/greg ... edia-books
(Offer apparently invalid in Commonwealth countries. Or so I think. Not sure.)
Re: Random Thread
Posted: Mon Aug 24, 2026 11:40 am
by Lērisama
[
Ares Land wrote: ↑Mon Aug 24, 2026 6:57 am
lëtzeshark wrote: ↑Mon Aug 24, 2026 3:21 am
Explanation time!
That does sound really fun!
Seconded. I'm excited about this now.
Re: Random Thread
Posted: Mon Aug 24, 2026 1:52 pm
by Raphael
Down to 35! There might be light at the end of the tunnel!
Re: Random Thread
Posted: Mon Aug 24, 2026 2:47 pm
by alice
Raphael wrote: ↑Mon Aug 24, 2026 1:52 pm
Down to 35! There might be light at the end of the tunnel!
You keep your emails in a tunnel open to the light?
(runs away very fast)
Re: Random Thread
Posted: Mon Aug 24, 2026 2:50 pm
by Raphael
And done!
Re: Random Thread
Posted: Mon Aug 24, 2026 7:34 pm
by Raphael
Raphael wrote: ↑Mon Aug 24, 2026 10:02 am
Written science fiction question: how good was the late Greg Bear as a writer? Would you recommend his books?
Anyone?
Re: Random Thread
Posted: Tue Aug 25, 2026 3:30 am
by Ares Land
Raphael wrote: ↑Mon Aug 24, 2026 7:34 pm
Raphael wrote: ↑Mon Aug 24, 2026 10:02 am
Written science fiction question: how good was the late Greg Bear as a writer? Would you recommend his books?
Anyone?
I wouldn't want to influence you -- he seems very hardly regarded. But I tried a couple of his books and couldn't finish them.
Re: Random Thread
Posted: Tue Aug 25, 2026 11:43 am
by Man in Space
I’m a little irritated. FedEx apparently came and rang the doorbell but I did not hear them. Someone else in the house did but when the dog came downstairs they thought that it was me coming downstairs. Now I will have to wait until at least tomorrow to receive the package. This isn’t the first time the doorbell has been inaudible upstairs (where my office is; I work from home), but I don’t know what to do about it.
Re: Random Thread
Posted: Tue Aug 25, 2026 3:58 pm
by Raphael
Man in Space wrote: ↑Tue Aug 25, 2026 11:43 am
I’m a little irritated. FedEx apparently came and rang the doorbell but I did not hear them. Someone else in the house did but when the dog came downstairs they thought that it was me coming downstairs. Now I will have to wait until at least tomorrow to receive the package. This isn’t the first time the doorbell has been inaudible upstairs (where my office is; I work from home), but I don’t know what to do about it.
Sorry to hear. Or, in your case, not hear.
Re: Random Thread
Posted: Tue Aug 25, 2026 9:03 pm
by malloc
Sad news today: beloved musician Dolly Parton has passed away. While admittedly I have little familiarity with her, she clearly meant a lot to many people and dedicated considerable resources to childhood literacy, certainly a worthy cause.
Re: Random Thread
Posted: Wed Aug 26, 2026 2:40 am
by Ares Land
malloc wrote: ↑Tue Aug 25, 2026 9:03 pm
Sad news today: beloved musician Dolly Parton has passed away. While admittedly I have little familiarity with her, she clearly meant a lot to many people and dedicated considerable resources to childhood literacy, certainly a worthy cause.
Yes, that is sad news indeed.
Re: Random Thread
Posted: Wed Aug 26, 2026 11:26 am
by Man in Space
We’ve lost Tim Curry as well.
Re: Random Thread
Posted: Wed Aug 26, 2026 11:28 am
by malloc
Man in Space wrote: ↑Wed Aug 26, 2026 11:26 am
We’ve lost Tim Curry as well.
Damn. None of my weeks are ever good these days, but this one is really bad.
Re: Random Thread
Posted: Wed Aug 26, 2026 2:20 pm
by Ares Land
Ah yes, I saw that, it makes me sad as well.
(Incidentally, I realized I didn't know what he looked like without makeup)
Re: Random Thread
Posted: Wed Aug 26, 2026 2:50 pm
by alice
malloc wrote: ↑Tue Aug 25, 2026 9:03 pm
Sad news today: beloved musician Dolly Parton has passed away. While admittedly I have little familiarity with her, she clearly meant a lot to many people and dedicated considerable resources to childhood literacy, certainly a worthy cause.
SHe was one of the very few people who fully deserved to be called an "icon".
Recquiescat in pace.
Re: Random Thread
Posted: Fri Aug 28, 2026 2:46 am
by lëtzeshark
And in continuing the "parade", the King of Norway (Harald V) passed away today at the age of 89. (Bit of breaking the trend of most European monarchs abdicating rather than dying on the throne...)
Re: Random Thread
Posted: Sat Aug 29, 2026 2:38 pm
by alice
Are you having trouble deciding which programming language to use for your latest project?
Here's your answer.
Re: Random Thread
Posted: Sat Aug 29, 2026 2:43 pm
by Raphael
alice wrote: ↑Sat Aug 29, 2026 2:38 pm
Are you having trouble deciding which programming language to use for your latest project?
Here's your answer.
Y does not have source code. It materializes out of self-doubt.
Wait, shouldn't self-doubt be more likely to lead to self-
de-materialization?
Re: Random Thread
Posted: Mon Aug 31, 2026 10:40 am
by Raphael
Found this on Bluesky, for the Chinese history crowd:
https://bsky.app/profile/thoc.bsky.soci ... df3t27w22r
Re: Random Thread
Posted: Wed Sep 02, 2026 8:44 am
by Raphael
Today, on a bus, I overheard a young boy talking into his cellphone, and for a while, I thought that for some reason, he kept talking about ćevapčići
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C4%86evapi, until I finally realized that he was addressing ChatGPT.