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james_davis_nicoll at 04:00pm on 30/07/2025A few years ago, there was a thing on Tiktok and Twitter to make fun of "white people food", like chicken breast and steamed vegetables supposedly without any spice or seasoning, even salt. At the time I got offended mostly about the "white people" generalization", noting Europe's native pungents like mustard. But. ( Read more... )
james_davis_nicoll at 03:16pm on 30/07/2025 under bundle of holding
There's this belief I've seen, exemplified by a recent Youtube comment:
everyone knows that cities can have grids.
but show a grid city and everyone will guess it's a North American city.
most cities in the world grew organically so grids aren't a big thing everywhere else. you might find a few grids here and there, but that's it. going all out on grids is a North America special.
( Read more... )
james_davis_nicoll at 09:28pm on 29/07/2025marthawells at 09:00am on 29/07/2025james_davis_nicoll at 02:02pm on 28/07/2025 under bundle of holding
james_davis_nicoll at 09:36am on 28/07/2025 under clarke awardWhich 2007 Clarke Award Finalists Have You Read?
Nova Swing by M. John Harrison
9 (64.3%)
End of the World Blues by Jon Courtenay Grimwood
3 (21.4%)
Gradisil by Adam Roberts
3 (21.4%)
Hav by Jan Morris
7 (50.0%)
Oh Pure and Radiant Heart by Lydia Millet
0 (0.0%)
Streaking by Brian Stableford
0 (0.0%)
james_davis_nicoll at 08:53am on 27/07/2025 under because my tears are delicious to you, reviewjames_davis_nicoll at 04:07pm on 26/07/2025I wrote in 2022 that the election system used by WSFS should be changed. At present, the rules for electing the Mark Protection Committee, the body charged with ensuring that the intellectual property of WSFS is protected, are set out in Standing Rule 6.2:
Voting shall be by written preferential ballot with write-in votes allowed. Votes for write-in candidates who do not submit written consent to nomination to the Presiding Officer before the close of balloting shall be ignored. The ballot shall list each nominee’s name. The first seat filled shall be by normal preferential ballot procedures as defined in Section 6.4 of the WSFS Constitution. There shall be no run-off candidate. After a seat is filled, votes for the elected member shall be eliminated before conducting the next ballot. This procedure shall continue until all seats are filled. In the event of a first-place tie for any seat, the tie shall be broken unless all tied candidates can be elected simultaneously. Should there be any partial-term vacancies on the committee, the partial-term seat(s) shall be filled after the full-term seats have been filled.
I warned that this carries the risk that a single faction with roughly half of the total votes could win every single seat and squeeze out other viewpoints.
My warning has come dramatically true.
james_davis_nicoll at 09:13am on 26/07/2025 under books received
Which of these look interesting?
Stone and Sky by Ben Aaronovitch (July 2025)
34 (59.6%)
The Adventure of the Demonic Ox by Lois McMaster Bujold (July 2025)
33 (57.9%)
They Call Her Regret by Channelle Desamours (February 2026)
4 (7.0%)
Sky on Fire by E. K. Johnston (July 2025)
15 (26.3%)
The Rainseekers by Matthew Kressel (February 2026)
10 (17.5%)
Warhammer: the Old World Roleplaying Game, Gamemaster’s Guide by Dominic McDowall and Pádraig Murphy et al (Q1 2026)
4 (7.0%)
Warhammer: the Old World Roleplaying Game, Player’s Guideby Dominic McDowall and Pádraig Murphy et al (Q1 2026)
4 (7.0%)
Starlost Unauthorized by D G Valdron (October 2024)
18 (31.6%)
Some other option (see comments)
0 (0.0%)
Cats!
36 (63.2%)
james_davis_nicoll at 08:52am on 25/07/2025 under doing the wfc's homework, doing what the wfc cannot, review
james_davis_nicoll at 09:07am on 24/07/2025 under review
james_davis_nicoll at 02:16pm on 23/07/2025 under bundle of holding
mneme at 03:52am on 23/07/2025
