@KatKimbriel@raggedfeathers.com
@KatKimbriel@raggedfeathers.com avatar

KatKimbriel

@KatKimbriel@raggedfeathers.com

🐉 She/her. #Astounding nominee in Precambrian Era. Agt: Harold Matson Co. Avatar by Ethan Kocak. #Neurodiverse as %$#&. 90% Cryptid. Lead with kindness.

ALT AVATAR: Smiling pale woman with long hair, two affectionate brown Burmese cats on shoulders.

ALT SPLASH: Apricot sunset streaked with pale blue sky & purple-grey clouds, framed by Northern White Pine & distant Red Oak. (c) Me.

#Writer (#SFFH) dealing w/ weird health & medical gaslighting. Canary in world's mine; sentinel antennae. 😷

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

KatKimbriel, to random
@KatKimbriel@raggedfeathers.com avatar

Interesting article about Naples IT and the sleeping monster beneath it--a volcanic caldera so large it's difficult to photograph it standing on the Earth because Naples Bay and the city are only part of it.

It's not the same type of magma & gas mix as say the volcanoes in Iceland or Hawaii. They won't get a lot of warning if that caldera abruptly moves.

Videos also interesting.

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20240321-the-risk-of-volcano-eruption-in-naples-vesuvius-campi-flegrei

KatKimbriel, to herbalism
@KatKimbriel@raggedfeathers.com avatar

If you haven't tried anything of mine--

"When you have the Gift, your life is not your own..."

, , , , , , , , , , @bookstodon

"I was born to a family that harnessed the winds and could read futures in fire and water. Yet my mother kept her secrets. Then the werewolf came, sharing his madness. Now it’s my turn to keep secrets...."

https://bookviewcafe.com/book/night-calls/

lilithsaintcrow, to random
@lilithsaintcrow@raggedfeathers.com avatar

How very odd.

“... one of the first whistleblowers to allege Spirit leadership had ignored manufacturing defects on the 737 MAX, died Tuesday morning …”

Also: “Dean was represented by a law firm in South Carolina that also represented Boeing whistleblower John “Mitch” Barnett.”

https://www.seattletimes.com/business/whistleblower-josh-dean-of-boeing-supplier-spirit-aerosystems-has-died/

KatKimbriel,
@KatKimbriel@raggedfeathers.com avatar

@lilithsaintcrow

🤨

lilithsaintcrow, to random
@lilithsaintcrow@raggedfeathers.com avatar

The real joke here is the idea that Jerry Seinfeld was ever funny at all.

KatKimbriel,
@KatKimbriel@raggedfeathers.com avatar

@lilithsaintcrow

I lasted about ten minutes with one episode. And wondered why this abuse was considered funny.

Admittedly I finally figured out I am a flavor of neurospicy, but I usually can understand why people think something is funny. I've never cared for that version of comedy. :( Just not me.

KatKimbriel,
@KatKimbriel@raggedfeathers.com avatar

@lilithsaintcrow

The excerpts that make me wonder if I would like any of the show are always Kramer or Dreyfus.

Guessing I might like other work of theirs better?

KatKimbriel, to TimeTravel
@KatKimbriel@raggedfeathers.com avatar

A family lawyer, a time-traveler, a looming environmental disaster . . . perhaps, a field of gold.

Welcome to Dorian Wild's entirely new concept of reality.

Nothing will ever be the same again.

THE TIME SEAM by Sylvia Kelso is now at Book View Cafe!

@bookstodon

https://bookviewcafe.com/bvc-announces-the-time-seam-by-sylvia-kelso/

KatKimbriel, to random
@KatKimbriel@raggedfeathers.com avatar

Keep thinking I'm going to cry.

Maybe because we can't fix people yet whose software goes wonky, but we can fix an aging traveler we sent to the stars.

https://blogs.nasa.gov/voyager/2024/04/22/nasas-voyager-1-resumes-sending-engineering-updates-to-earth/

KatKimbriel, to bookstodon
@KatKimbriel@raggedfeathers.com avatar

When giants and pixies throw a party, even the vampires run for their lives.

Do you need to get lost in an alternate world where you can cheer on a hero who is soft on ghosts and tough on murderers?

Wait no longer, because Diana Pharaoh Francis created Mallory Jade just for you! THE GIANT RIOT is now at Book View Cafe and other retailers.

@bookstodon

https://bookviewcafe.com/bvc-announces-the-giant-riot-by-diana-pharaoh-francis/

lilithsaintcrow, to random
@lilithsaintcrow@raggedfeathers.com avatar

"A patent application from the company spotted by Lowpass describes a system for displaying ads over any device connected over HDMI, a list that could include cable boxes, game consoles, DVD or Blu-ray players, PCs, or even other video-streaming devices." https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024/04/hdmi-customized-ad-insertion-patent-would-show-rokus-ads-atop-non-roku-video/

KatKimbriel,
@KatKimbriel@raggedfeathers.com avatar

@lilithsaintcrow

And they want the &*% refrigerators to have access, too.

I am starting to wonder if I could survive living in one of those Silent enclaves with a laptop I carry to a coffee shop daily. Maybe a cheap laptop only for social media.

KatKimbriel,
@KatKimbriel@raggedfeathers.com avatar

@lilithsaintcrow

Exactly. My philosophy going forward is, buy Dumb appliances. If they aren't dumb, show me how to turn them off with an actual, physical switch.

I do not want to build a Faraday room for anything electronic. But who knows--maybe some culture will do that, as the only defense for privacy and identity.

(For anyone about to say I am exaggerating. Apparently some people who got state-of-the-art artificial eyes after loss are now Bricked. Companies folded, no one supporting.)

lilithsaintcrow, to random
@lilithsaintcrow@raggedfeathers.com avatar

"...none of these AI-generated books appear to be popular whatsoever, so one can only assume that their sellers are somehow gaming Amazon's algorithms or that perhaps Amazon itself is intervening by manually favoring these fake books in some sort of experiment." https://futurism.com/amazon-kindle-lock-screens-ai-generated-books

KatKimbriel,
@KatKimbriel@raggedfeathers.com avatar

@lilithsaintcrow

I don't know if Amazon itself is. But sometimes, I can wonder about others using the site that way.

(High prices on books used to be placeholders when it was out of stock but they were looking for it, maybe used. But a $500 placeholder versus $135? That. . .does make me wonder.)

I did know someone who looked for the OOP books of popular regional writers. He sold the MMPB for $15. Often paid for his weekend that way.

KatKimbriel,
@KatKimbriel@raggedfeathers.com avatar

@lilithsaintcrow

I think I am splitting the difference in thinking about this. I don't think (or I didn't. . .now, I need to think and do some focused reading) that Zon was laundering money.

I do think that they're happy to say they can't do anything about knock-offs, AI books, & people actually writing in our universes, copyrighting it, & then Zon refuses to help us because it's not our copyright.

Zon is HAPPY to take money off that for days/weeks until we make it too visible.

KatKimbriel,
@KatKimbriel@raggedfeathers.com avatar

@lilithsaintcrow

Lili, my initial response was based on reports from authors fighting fake books being attached to their Zon author page, & tripe like the dangerous mushroom books.

I leave my Kindle on Airplane Mode unless I am downloading. So I had not seen this much of this crap.

Here's a grin for you, among our AARRGH about this. I thought these were free or cheapo games, because of the type of cover/illustration being hawked on the screen. I go past the landing page like it isn't there.

KatKimbriel,
@KatKimbriel@raggedfeathers.com avatar

@lilithsaintcrow

Well, I suspect a bunch of us use it only for reading--mine was a gift--and the gamers want a bigger, better screen.

Probably a lot of us ignore it! :)

KatKimbriel, to fantasy
@KatKimbriel@raggedfeathers.com avatar

What’s a bestselling author to do when her life is more fantastic than her fiction?

Now from --MOON IN THE MIRROR, another
Tess Noncroiré adventure.

Suddenly the universe drops into Tess's life, and It's monsters, murders, and a full house!

“... a good choice for fans of the urban fantasy of Tanya Huff, Jim Butcher, and Charles de Lint.” —Library Journal

@bookstodon

Read a sample: https://bookviewcafe.com/bvc-announces-moon-in-the-mirror-by-irene-radford-writing-as-p-r-frost/

lilithsaintcrow, to random
@lilithsaintcrow@raggedfeathers.com avatar

Okay, so the kids and I filled out all our stuff online, made the appointments, went in...and the pharmacist refused us Covid vaccine, saying we had to be 65+.

I don't even know what the fuck.

KatKimbriel, (edited )
@KatKimbriel@raggedfeathers.com avatar

@lilithsaintcrow

Oh, Lili. :(

Called the Costco 30 minutes from here. They'll take anyone adult with cash for the vaccine. (Don't have to be a member--just say "Pharmacy" when you enter the warehouse.) The kids vax the tech says she has is the 18+ one, so I don't know if that helps w/ your kids,

The tech I talked with did not recognize the Bridge program, but you're right, it's good thru DEC. So you might have to check online at the Costco site?

Didn't know if this would help, but... 🌸

cstross, to random
@cstross@wandering.shop avatar

Oops! The FAA conducted an audit of the Boeing 737MAX production process. 89 product audits were carried out; Boeing and Spirit Aerosystems (the subcontractor). Boeing passed 56, but failed 33 with 97 instances of alleged noncompliance. Spirit passed 6 audits but failed 7.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/11/us/politics/faa-audit-boeing-737-max.html

KatKimbriel,
@KatKimbriel@raggedfeathers.com avatar

@cstross

As a friend who is an engineer commented, Boeing/McDonnell Douglas started slipping the moment they put a CEO in change who was not also an engineer.

Same problems for utility companies. They are no longer working for safety first. :(

KatKimbriel,
@KatKimbriel@raggedfeathers.com avatar

@graydon @aburka @cstross

So much this. And every government on Earth is pretending that "it's just flu" to keep the economy rolling.

I don't think we have the social safety nets anywhere to handle what's evolving. :(

lilithsaintcrow, to random
@lilithsaintcrow@raggedfeathers.com avatar

Authors absolutely do not mind that Goodreads is for readers. Authors mind that it’s a cesspit full of toxicity because we’re not seen as human beings there, just easily available punching bags. The ease of harassment and brigading attracts the worst behavior, and Goodreads allows it by design.

KatKimbriel,
@KatKimbriel@raggedfeathers.com avatar

@lilithsaintcrow

I never got into blogging there, and once Amazon bought it, I stopped posting book reviews.

Did notice last time I was there--I decided to edit two reviews that had three star ratings, with comments--and Goodreads stopped me from editing, for fear I was a hacker.

No clue if they are actually putting in some rails, or if they didn't want me removing copy. I'll go back in a bit and try again.

They occasionally try to lure me back as a reviewer. Nope.

KatKimbriel,
@KatKimbriel@raggedfeathers.com avatar

@lilithsaintcrow

Well, hell. Can you make a direct GR RSS from your end that sends nothing but your website address?

(I only did Web stuff 25 years ago. Had to drop it when Life, Interrupted got too interesting. So coding isn't in my tool kit.)

KatKimbriel, to fantasy
@KatKimbriel@raggedfeathers.com avatar

It's a book birthday!

Book View Cafe is delighted to present THE WIZARD'S NEMESIS by Dave Smeds. At long last, the never-before-published conclusion of The War of the Dragons!

The war against the dragon must be fought on many fronts. Some of them are hidden.

@bookstodon

Read a sample: https://bookviewcafe.com/bvc-announces-the-wizards-nemesis-by-dave-smeds/

lilithsaintcrow, to random
@lilithsaintcrow@raggedfeathers.com avatar

“…considering that neither GPT-3.5 nor GPT-4 is terribly reliable at spitting out structurally-sound code each and every time, the decision to provide students with an AI-powered coding prof is more than experimental — and paying students, it seems, will be the experimentees.” https://futurism.com/the-byte/harvard-ai-instructor

KatKimbriel,
@KatKimbriel@raggedfeathers.com avatar

@lilithsaintcrow

I hear ChatGPT is spewing Spanglish right now.

Wondering how this will go. . . .

lilithsaintcrow, to random
@lilithsaintcrow@raggedfeathers.com avatar

deleted_by_author

    •
    KatKimbriel,
    @KatKimbriel@raggedfeathers.com avatar

    @lilithsaintcrow

    So humans do not remember history even when books and documentaries exist about it. :(

    I wonder if restrictions have been placed on the new owner about what they can do with the art.

    KatKimbriel,
    @KatKimbriel@raggedfeathers.com avatar

    @lilithsaintcrow

    Remembering the film NIGHT AND FOG, I can't think any further about this.

    I suppose that will seem quaint to my many times great-grand niblings. But here we are.

    KatKimbriel, to writing
    @KatKimbriel@raggedfeathers.com avatar

    Want to learn how to make memorable ? Are you short on time?

    Have we got an for you.

    THE QUICK AND DIRTY GUIDE TO CHARACTER CREATION by Diana Pharaoh Francis is your swift & thorough intro to getting to work on a great first draft.

    @bookstodon

    https://bookviewcafe.com/bvc-announces-the-quick-and-dirty-guide-to-character-creation-by-diana-pharaoh-francis/

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