Scalzi

I enjoy pie.

Verification: https://whatever.scalzi.com/2022/11/22/this-is-a-post-to-set-up-verification-on-mastodon-you-can-totally-ignore-it/

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scalzi_at_mastodon.social@momostr.pink

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Last Notes

2024-07-22 15:21:03

I've written a longish take on the last couple of days, including about how what looked like (and initially was) Democratic panic over Biden morphed somewhere along the way into a rope-a-dope strategy against the GOP, and whether Harris can win (spoiler: yup):
https://whatever.scalzi.com/2024/07/22/biden-harris-trump-and-2024/
#uspol

2024-06-21 18:15:06

So, hey, over on Whatever today I have something important to say about "AI" art and my book covers, and why moving forward it'll be an actual contract point that my book covers have to be human-created.
https://whatever.scalzi.com/2024/06/21/a-note-on-ai-art-and-my-book-covers/

2024-06-10 23:00:39

For fuck's sake, stop shitting up tech and calling it an improvement
https://www.theverge.com/2024/6/10/24175699/siri-warns-you-that-chatgpt-might-be-lying

2024-06-08 17:58:55

I just reached 40K followers here on Mastodon. Thank you all for following me! I hope to be interesting to and amusing for you for years to come.
To celebrate this very cool milestone I have today donated to Oxfam, which offers emergency help in areas of crisis and works generally to alleviate poverty.
https://www.oxfamamerica.org/

2024-06-07 17:53:28

This happens incredibly frequently: a company posts (or updates) Terms of Use, the Internet freaks out about the teens suggesting the company is claiming an infinite license, the company clarifies the terms after days of bad press. The obvious solution is for the companies to fucking do the clarification AT THE TIME OF THE UPDATE so we can all skip the "freaking out" portion. Seriously, this is a known and predictable pattern, they have the power to nip it in the bud.
https://9to5mac.com/2024/06/07/adobe-terms-clarified/

2024-06-02 13:24:54

The most important thing I brought back from Iceland: A whole bunch of chocolate-covered black licorice. Strangely hard to find in the US! And yet there you can find it in every store!
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/547/243/859/430/838/original/3203307b53f12d88.jpg

2024-05-31 11:40:35

I like presidents who aren't felons
#uspol

2024-05-26 11:25:17

The tech equivalent of "I thought that celebrity was already dead"
https://www.theverge.com/2024/5/25/24164579/icq-shut-down-june

2024-05-24 23:01:29

Iceland is photogenic.
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/498/549/508/288/120/original/bb7dbe8ede70f443.jpg

2024-05-21 12:52:58

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Update: Once again, turning the computer off and on again has done wonders (also, I have downloaded Firefox)

2024-05-21 12:33:09

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Update: Just told me the Firefox browser I'm trying to download also has a virus.

2024-05-21 12:30:02

Chrome on Windows has suddenly started declaring that every picture I try to download is failing a virus scan, including pictures I took, so I'm not loving that at all

2024-05-21 11:53:42

There's already case law on these sorts of shenanigans: Midler v. Ford Motor Co., so Altman was either ignorant of this, in which case OpenAI needs new counsel, or he knew and did it anyway, because fuck you Scarlett Johannson. I'm pretty sure it's the latter.
https://gizmodo.com/openai-pausing-chatgpt-4o-scarlett-johansson-voice-1851488261

2024-05-18 21:00:52

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Also, for the questions you will probably now ask, the New Book FAQ:
https://whatever.scalzi.com/2020/02/11/new-book-faq/

2024-05-18 20:58:20

So, hey, I just finished writing a novel. If you want to know what it's called and what it's about (and when it will be out), just follow this handy-dandy link right here:
https://whatever.scalzi.com/2024/05/18/new-novel-finished/

2024-05-17 18:10:20

It’s drizzly but otherwise nice today, which makes it a fine time to peruse a stack of new books and ARCs that have come to the Scalzi Compound. Which of these books are particularly catching your eye today?
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/457/766/949/168/295/original/238af22a7b5b3635.jpg

2024-05-15 15:21:30

Shit's about to go down
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/445/781/368/342/447/original/4fc4720b07b87e38.jpg

2024-05-13 19:21:15

Apple said the Logic Pro updates would be available May 13, well now it's May 13 and I don't see the updates in the app stores WHERE ARE MY LOGIC PRO UPDATES APPLE

2024-05-12 20:20:59

Happy Mother's Day to one of the few people in the world who can pull off looking good in High-Vis Orange
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/429/968/924/014/594/original/4c9b4a2317849b52.jpg

2024-05-11 03:40:24

Did I get to see the northern lights? I did! In Ohio!
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/420/368/897/969/370/original/e2b16209f0142b38.jpg

2024-05-10 16:10:29

Me, super enthused to be 55 today.
(Spoiler: I am actually having a pretty good day)
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/417/660/668/874/715/original/e191d050bbe7f0d3.jpg

2024-05-10 01:56:09

I'm happy to say that Starter Villain is a finalist for the Locus Award this year, in the category of science fiction novel. Here is the complete finalist list for my category, along with a link to the full award categories and finalist list. Congrats to everyone who is a finalist this year!
https://locusmag.com/2024/05/2024-locus-awards-top-ten-finalists/
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/414/303/152/252/521/original/47080b44521ea2d1.png

2024-05-08 20:05:22

ELON DEMANDS BLOOD TO KEEP HIM YOUNG
https://gizmodo.com/tesla-cybertruck-door-leaves-a-gash-in-owners-leg-1851463705

2024-05-08 00:00:25

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DISCLAIMER: The photo in previous post for entertainment purposes only. Sugar the cat is not in fact signaling, either overtly or secretly. Any action you undertake after seeing this photo is on your own recognizance and Sugar is neither legally nor morally responsible for your decisions. Make good choices. Be nice people. Pet a cat. Etc.

2024-05-07 23:58:37

Sugar has given you THE SECRET SIGN. You know what to do now.
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/402/514/930/118/492/original/134e3cd7dd546588.jpg

2024-05-07 12:23:25

Over at Uncanny Magazine, I have an essay about the aesthetics of spectacle, relating to the Dune films of 1984 and the 2020s: How spectacle in each film was treated and why, and what makes the look and feel between the eras so very different.
https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/scalzi-on-film-the-aesthetics-of-spectacle-a-look-at-dune-in-1984-and-2024/
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/399/782/981/422/222/original/7130a17af497a257.png

2024-05-05 23:36:35

This is my "Okay, but, really?" face
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/391/103/429/467/661/original/a788bb490c01b8aa.jpg

2024-05-05 01:02:02

Charlie is almost certain she saw a leprechaun.
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/385/778/318/531/565/original/897453981ea12949.jpg

2024-04-30 00:48:00

This Rabbit device and the Humane pin have the same problem, which is that literally anything they can (or ever could) do can be added into your smartphone for no additional cost, and then you only have to carry around one thing, which can also make, you know, phone calls
https://youtu.be/ddTV12hErTc

2024-04-27 18:42:33

Because they're pretty: Some wildflowers.
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/344/647/983/416/214/original/e9978114e81b64b5.jpg

2024-04-22 22:48:15

To be fair, it's easy to forget something that costs more than you were ever going to spend for it, to do things that your phone and/or laptop already do better
https://gizmodo.com/apple-vision-pro-already-forgotten-about-1851426564

2024-04-15 16:32:36

People are buying this stock not as a solid investment but as a symbol of allegiance, which is cult thinking. The stock is massively overvalued and these small retail investors are going to end up taking a bath that they can't afford to take. They're going to lose their retirements, all for a man who would loathe them individually and to whom their only value is the money they can give them. They're not even being (actively) defrauded. They're doing it to themselves.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2024/04/14/truth-social-investors-faith-trump/?pwapi_token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJyZWFzb24iOiJnaWZ0IiwibmJmIjoxNzEzMTUzNjAwLCJpc3MiOiJzdWJzY3JpcHRpb25zIiwiZXhwIjoxNzE0NTM1OTk5LCJpYXQiOjE3MTMxNTM2MDAsImp0aSI6IjA1ZDM5NTcwLTFmZWUtNDM1MC05MTNiLWNhYjRkOWY2YmI3ZSIsInVybCI6Imh0dHBzOi8vd3d3Lndhc2hpbmd0b25wb3N0LmNvbS90ZWNobm9sb2d5LzIwMjQvMDQvMTQvdHJ1dGgtc29jaWFsLWludmVzdG9ycy1mYWl0aC10cnVtcC8ifQ.NYOGXlrMhaG0zFW-9kwpWcjCV2_1gTWnqKaPObVb6b4

2024-04-02 01:30:13

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(Also Spoiler: We'll just make more)

2024-04-02 01:29:34

Perhaps the Most American Headline of All Time, from Reason Magazine
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/199/030/530/907/272/original/fab994bc6544299f.jpg