@philipbrewer@wandering.shop
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philipbrewer

@philipbrewer@wandering.shop

I write science fiction and fantasy stories.

I speak Esperanto, and use it to communicate internationally. Esperantistoj, legu mian esperantan hejmpaĝon.

For a while I taught Taiji.

For eleven years I was a senior writer at Wise Bread, writing about personal finance and frugality.

Before that I spent a quarter-century as a software engineer.

This profile is from a federated server and may be incomplete. Browse more on the original instance.

philipbrewer, to random
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Who knew that Albrecht Dürer wrote—and illustrated!—his own fencing manual? I ordered a copy of Dürer’s Fight Book: The Genius of the German Renaissance and His Combat Treatise.

It predates Meyer, and covers wrestling, dagger, longsword, and messer. https://amzn.to/3UKmab5

philipbrewer, to random
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People expect the Fed to cut rates, because they are high. But interest rates are not high:

That’s the real fed funds rate going back to the month I graduated from high school. I’d say a real interest rate of 2.0% to 2.5% is more “normal” than the negative-to-zero rates we’ve had since 2007.

philipbrewer, to animals
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At 10:00 AM on the first Tuesday of each month, they test the warning sirens. The first time Ashley heard them, she wanted to howl along. I didn’t want her to think that she shouldn’t howl, so I joined in howling with her. Now we do it every month. https://www.philipbrewer.net/tag/dogsofmastodon/

philipbrewer, to HEMA
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The package I was waiting for came! My new Sigi Maestro, by Sigi Forge! Look at that glorious etching!

It is light, nimble, and agile. I can’t wait to try it out! https://www.philipbrewer.net/tag/hema/

philipbrewer, to random
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Josh suppressed a laugh. He felt lighter as he hiked back, which was funny because he probably was lighter.

The friend who'd dropped him off at the edge of the forest was back to pick him up. "So, how was your quest?"

"It wasn't a vision quest. That would be inappropriate."

"Just you, a knife, one match, and no food for three days in the woods? Sounds like a vision quest to me. Did you have a vision?"

Sliding into the passenger seat, Josh suppressed another laugh.

philipbrewer, to random
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Not really a micro.blog thing (although it could be), but if you spend any time on Mastodon, you should probably know about StreetPass:

  1. Mastodon users verify themselves by adding a custom link to their personal site.

  2. StreetPass lets you know when you’ve found one of these links, and adds them to your StreetPass list.

  3. Browse the web as usual. StreetPass will build a list of Mastodon users made up of the websites you go to.

philipbrewer, to random
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Is this not an especially lovely loaf?

philipbrewer, to random
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Google offered several filters to make this sky more dramatic or colorful, but I decided that I liked it best with no filter. Dawn sky over the prairie next to Winfield Village.

jeffjarvis, to random
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Sigh. More misplaced anthropomorphism. It is not "gullible." It is a machine, like all machines, designed to do what it is told to do (good or bad). Would you prefer otherwise?

Chatbots are so gullible, they’ll take directions from hackers https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/11/02/prompt-injection-ai-chatbot-vulnerability-jailbreak/

philipbrewer,
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@jeffjarvis You can sue the guy who posts the defamatory information though. And probably should.

stevendbrewer, to random
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Hollywood has optioned your work. Do you disown it if they change things?

Show me the money and I'll tell you.

philipbrewer,
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@stevendbrewer Note that Hollywood never changes YOUR BOOK. It's still on bookshelves all over, exactly the same as it ever was.

Instead, they pay you a bunch of money to make a movie that has some close (or distant) relationship to your book. The only reason not to take the money is if you think someone else might pay you even more money.

philipbrewer, to random
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Sick. Mostly better. Diagnosis!: https://philipbrewer.micro.blog/2023/10/13/sick-mostly-better.html

philipbrewer, to animals
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Jackie has two band-aids, having gotten both a flu shot and an RSV shot. (Covid shot delayed another couple of months, since she had Covid in August.) In the foreground, Ashley is showing proper care. https://www.philipbrewer.net/tag/dogsofmastodon/

philipbrewer,
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@ghosttie They gave Jackie the option. But if they're giving out three shots (Flu, RSV, Covid), they're going to end up with 2 in one arm in any case.

philipbrewer, to animals
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"“To take the dog for a walk safely, you have to pay attention to the dog, and to the surroundings—people, squirrels, other dogs… It’s a lot like multitasking.”

Jackie

philipbrewer,
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@jonoabroad It's in a village right next to Champaign-Urbana, the town where the University of Illinois has its main campus. Within a 5-minute walk from that spot there are houses, condos, and apartment buildings, as well several short footpaths, a pond, and the origin of the small creek that flows behind the place where I live. Within another 5-minute walk there are two grocery stores, a few other shops, and numerous restaurants.

It's a nice place.

IzabelaKaramia, to random
@IzabelaKaramia@writing.exchange avatar

Awake

I slept better than prior 2 nights, but not great. Basically I'll be about the same as yesterday, but hopefully the physical symptoms of caffeine withdrawal remain milder than yesterday.

There's an approaching line of showers and thunderstorms that might make the morning sit and chat with Ginza impossible if she doesn't show up.

But I'm trying to get sorted. I have eaten a banana and am drinking the decaf tea. Have washed and smoothed face.

Next put on clothes and brush hair.

philipbrewer,
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@IzabelaKaramia I misread that as "a long sloth," and was thinking, "That sounds cool!"

philipbrewer,
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@IzabelaKaramia Yeah. Exactly. Especially a long one. :-)

philipbrewer, to random
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This hermit crab has been hanging around our three cottages for a couple of days now.

philipbrewer,
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@ghosttie I can't think of a more likely scenario.

philipbrewer, to random
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Seen a lot of anoles. Finally got a decent picture of one.

SrRochardBunson, (edited ) to random

What should you put in a Go or Get Me Home bag?

Copies of Birth cert. & socsec card
Charger
Change of clothes
Socks and underwear for at least three days
Old shoes
Cash
Photos
Meds if possible/necessary
A sweater and blanket
Pet supplies if applicable
Flashlight/batteries
A small non electronic form of entertainment, it’ll be more boring than you think

hand crank/solar powered radio
water purifying bottle
rechargeable flashlight
lots of candles along with matches

Yesterday's thread around this subject: https://universeodon.com/@SrRochardBunson/110775340120984500

philipbrewer,
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@SrRochardBunson

s/Old shoes/Shoes you can walk in/
s/sweater and blanket/rain jacket and emergency blanket/

philipbrewer, to random
@philipbrewer@wandering.shop avatar

I'm a writer. I write science fiction and fantasy stories. I also have a blog where I write about all the things that interest me—money, fitness and exercise, running, lifting weights, the environment, freedom, security, tai chi, Esperanto, HEMA etc. (And just lately my new puppy.)

For eleven years I was a Senior Writer at wisebread.com, writing about personal finance and frugality. Before that I worked as a software engineer for 25 years, first secure Unix then Bluetooth.

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