@masp@wandering.shop avatar

masp

@masp@wandering.shop

Long-time SF fan and computing/science nerd; interested in the maths behind probability, statistics and machine learning. “There’s always a light at the end of the frog” - Ursula Vernon #sff #scifi #fantasy #probability #statistics #math #ai #machinelearning

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masp, to random
@masp@wandering.shop avatar

I've realized that collectively @pluralistic, @GreatDismal and @cstross have the prediction market sewn up: @pluralistic is spot on re. how the near future is evolving from the present day; @GreatDismal has clearly nailed the medium- to long-term future (the Jackpot), and @cstross is alarmingly good at predicting the more unpleasant details (eg. politicians controlled by parasitic brain worms)!

masp, (edited )
@masp@wandering.shop avatar

@cstross @pluralistic @GreatDismal @bruces Thank you! Long time fan of @bruces but I can't believe I forgot about the State of the World! And it's still going strong! I still hope that the far future looks a lot like Iain Banks’ Culture, although I suspect it will probably look a lot more like your Freyaverse, slow money and all.

cstross, to random
@cstross@wandering.shop avatar
  • Looks out window at: three bus stops, 2-5 pubs, a row of restaurants, and a busy shopping street at ground level *

Reader, those things were all there before I moved here. They're a big chunk of the reason WHY I moved here. 17 years ago …

masp,
@masp@wandering.shop avatar

@cstross but are you in walking distance of a good secondhand bookshop?

cstross, to random
@cstross@wandering.shop avatar

TBH learning the RFK Jr. is suffering from the after-effects of mercury poisoning and being munched on by brain worms makes me feel a LOT better about him. The poor dear is obviously doing the best he can under the circumstances …

masp,
@masp@wandering.shop avatar

@cstross I bet it was really K-parasites!

cstross, to random
@cstross@wandering.shop avatar

89,000 words into a 100,000 word manuscript and I've just hit the climax.

(Signs there's a climax happening: the Queen is glowing violet and shrivelling, Nyarlathotep has gone to the mattresses, and Bob has just stumbled across a mass human sacrifice in progress in Buckingham Palace …)

SOMETIMES I love my job.

masp,
@masp@wandering.shop avatar

@cstross can’t wait!!

cstross, to random
@cstross@wandering.shop avatar

TFY unwisely agree to Do Something about 70-year-old in-law's laptop, which is 9 years old and running Word 2008 atop a version of macOS unsupported since 2018 …

You have a spare M1 Probook to upgrade him to. What could possibly go wrong?

Well, he's forgotten his login password, never had an AppleID, and his old machine doesn't recognize APFS filesystems for that old-time floppy-style SSD shuffle.

And the cable to the only SSD they have is flaky.

(Now back home, screaming quietly in Mac.)

masp,
@masp@wandering.shop avatar

@cstross I hope @Menhit allowed you to use dd rather than cat this time :)

pluralistic, to books
@pluralistic@mamot.fr avatar

Today's post office run was a fuckin BANGER

#VladTaltos #books #sciencefiction #fantasy #scribblies #mannerpunk #stevenbrust

masp,
@masp@wandering.shop avatar

@pluralistic I didn’t know there was a new novel out!! Thanks!! Can’t wait to read it!!!

masp,
@masp@wandering.shop avatar

@edebill @pluralistic now I’m wondering if I have the patience to embark on a massive re-reading of all the earlier novels first! 😅

masp,
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@TheIdlestHand @edebill @pluralistic I notice it’s a direct sequel to Hawk so I do have time to at least re-read that while I wait! :)

masp,
@masp@wandering.shop avatar

@TheIdlestHand @edebill @pluralistic Funnily enough I first stumbled across years ago whilst explicitly searching for novels written in a style reminiscent of Zelazny's Nine Princes in Amber, and of course the Taltos novels turn out be the definitive example of such! :)

lilithsaintcrow, to random
@lilithsaintcrow@raggedfeathers.com avatar

The entire illustrated Gormenghast trilogy in ebook for $1.99USD. You'd better believe I snapped this up WITH A QUICKNESS. https://openroadmedia.com/ebook/the-illustrated-gormenghast-trilogy/9781468316896

masp,
@masp@wandering.shop avatar

@lilithsaintcrow Thanks for flagging this! Did you notice whether it's DRM'd by any chance?

masp,
@masp@wandering.shop avatar

@lilithsaintcrow Took a chance but it does use Adobe DRM unfortunately! Still a great bargain for an awesome set of books!

cstross, to random
@cstross@wandering.shop avatar

There is now a USB memory stick drying in my airing cupboard.

Because @Menhit pushed it off a shelf and straight into my teacup!

Obviously she doesn't want me installing Mint Linux on a spare ultrabook any time soon …

masp,
@masp@wandering.shop avatar

@cstross @Menhit you probably should have used dd instead of cat

lauren, to random
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I have to admit it's kind of amusing when someone here starts to "inform" me about various aspects of Star Trek and I mention that I worked on the first Trek film.

masp,
@masp@wandering.shop avatar

@lauren That’s so cool! What did you do? (That film was a very huge event in my childhood!)

masp,
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@lauren good grief: you created Klingon?!

masp,
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@lauren Well, still pretty cool in my book!

cstross, to random
@cstross@wandering.shop avatar

Disadvantage of living in a top floor tenement flat: I'm pretty sure the students who live below me have gone home for the holiday season, as the temperature drops faster than usual when the heating is off.

masp,
@masp@wandering.shop avatar

@cstross my issues with top floor Edinburgh tenement flats started after I saw Shallow Grave!

w7voa, to space
@w7voa@journa.host avatar

OSIRIS-REx spacecraft completes its final current task, releasing its sample capsule toward . Live: https://www.nasa.gov/nasalive

masp,
@masp@wandering.shop avatar

@w7voa wasn’t this almost literally how The Andromeda Strain began?!

georgetakei, to random

That mugshot should be called “Blue Steal.” Get it?

masp,
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@georgetakei My kids jumped straight to Zoolander last night: once seen it can't be unseen!

Private
masp,
@masp@wandering.shop avatar

@bananasmug @bookstodon big +1 for most of the recos so far, and also: anything by C J Cherryh (but especially her Foreigner series), Genevieve Cogman's Invsible Library series (and 'Scarlet') and Julian May (Saga of the Exiles and its prequels). And of course Susan Cooper's classic Dark is Rising sequence.

masp,
@masp@wandering.shop avatar

@bananasmug @bookstodon I also should have mentioned Jo Walton (esp: Among Others, which was delightful).

masp,
@masp@wandering.shop avatar

@bananasmug @bookstodon also: Valerie Valdes is great: I’m embarrassed to have left her out!

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