Me: Reading SF&F since about age 9, friends with LGBTQ people since age 16, working in software/tech since I was 16, practicing Zen since 17 or 18, on Internet by late 1980s. I helped invent modern credit card terminals at Verifone in 1980s, founded small ISP LavaNet in 1994, back to sw dev from 2005 on. Usenet (talk.bizarre), Making Light, Twitter. "I'm normal by Cubetown standards." Mostly here to chat, banter, & boost my friends & favorite writers. Cis/bi, he/him, relaxed about it.
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2026-08-23T22:22:31Z Event JSON
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Last Notes npub1nmspangpmc9ep9cg8xtx0y535xe6wwekwqjd3n6vufhuttfspsqss3096n Clifton Royston @nprofile…7msc Sorry, I have read a *lot* of SF including plenty of '60s SF but I don't know that one. I boosted it and I'm replying mostly to add the hashtag someone in my feed recently proposed: #IdentifyThisBook npub1nmspangpmc9ep9cg8xtx0y535xe6wwekwqjd3n6vufhuttfspsqss3096n Clifton Royston @nprofile…d6ag Wait a moment, is it LinkedIn or LinkTree that's doing this? npub1nmspangpmc9ep9cg8xtx0y535xe6wwekwqjd3n6vufhuttfspsqss3096n Clifton Royston I think it's getting rapidly to "underground railway" and "hiding Jews in the attic" time in the US. (We don't actually have an attic, unfortunately.) So I just asked my wife if she's willing to shelter people in our house and she said yes. I'm putting it out there, if any trans person needs to get out of where they are fast, but can't get out of the US for whatever reasons, we will take you in until our house is full. Will other cis people step up to say the same, please? npub1nmspangpmc9ep9cg8xtx0y535xe6wwekwqjd3n6vufhuttfspsqss3096n Clifton Royston Americans live in a space and time when our popular websites are running reviews of the best gas masks to use when our government attacks us with teargas. npub1nmspangpmc9ep9cg8xtx0y535xe6wwekwqjd3n6vufhuttfspsqss3096n Clifton Royston @nprofile…pfuj I think Revelations completely glossed over the 5th rider - Stupidity. He had saddled up a donkey, mistaking it for a horse, and then he got lost on his way to the apocalypse. But he’s here now, inspiring our new government and the entire cabinet. npub1nmspangpmc9ep9cg8xtx0y535xe6wwekwqjd3n6vufhuttfspsqss3096n Clifton Royston @nprofile…x9tq I'd reject the phrasing that the United States is "slipping towards civil war" - it's not something that just happens by accident or that the public is being careless about. But yes, it certainly seems to me we might be within a few days of Donald Trump's government launching a war on most of the United States. It was clear last year that Trump wanted Hegseth in charge of the military because he would be happy ordering them to fire on American citizens. npub1nmspangpmc9ep9cg8xtx0y535xe6wwekwqjd3n6vufhuttfspsqss3096n Clifton Royston @nprofile…36ma Is that ... a sticker sheet with a collection of little stickers showing sticker sheets with collections of little stickers? That would be almost dizzyingly twee. Maybe I'm imagining too much here. npub1nmspangpmc9ep9cg8xtx0y535xe6wwekwqjd3n6vufhuttfspsqss3096n Clifton Royston @nprofile…4y4j This is also why I buy the non-"smart", non-programmable, non-WiFi version of something whenever possible. You see, I *have* a unsmart Juicebox - it charges my Nissan Leaf. When the company changed hands, I didn't need to know anything about it. When this software ultimatum went out, I never heard about it, as I had never used their website or services. They likely don't have my email or know I exist, and that suits me. It's still running just fine. May it run many years more. npub1nmspangpmc9ep9cg8xtx0y535xe6wwekwqjd3n6vufhuttfspsqss3096n Clifton Royston I am posting trivial comments because I am in despair for the future of the United States and the future of the world. npub1nmspangpmc9ep9cg8xtx0y535xe6wwekwqjd3n6vufhuttfspsqss3096n Clifton Royston @nprofile…d2rl Sympathies - my ADHD frequently takes the form of that sort of extreme executive dysfunction. Sometimes the meds help with it, and sometimes they just don't. The pattern for most of my life has been that eventually either last-minute panic pushes my anxiety and adrenaline level high enough to get past the ADHD block, or I dissociate to the point that I stop feeling anything and can plod through it mechanically. Neither of these is good. I hope you get through this easier. npub1nmspangpmc9ep9cg8xtx0y535xe6wwekwqjd3n6vufhuttfspsqss3096n Clifton Royston "Over 50 years ago, NASA was able to get its Saturn V, a rocket nearly as large as Starship, to fly without ever having a failed launch over its 13-launch, six-year operational lifespan. This was a rocket designed with computers less powerful than a Casio watch, built with far less accurate techniques and materials, with check systems and procedures infinitely less sophisticated than anything today. Yet, engineers were able to ensure it never had a launch failure [...]" https://www.planetearthandbeyond.co/p/spacex-has-finally-figured-out-why npub1nmspangpmc9ep9cg8xtx0y535xe6wwekwqjd3n6vufhuttfspsqss3096n Clifton Royston @nprofile…ywqr Our current kitties, Maxwell and Faraday respectively. https://stockroom.wandering.shop/media_attachments/files/114/015/616/366/469/450/original/d10491eef2b41a8a.jpeg https://stockroom.wandering.shop/media_attachments/files/114/015/624/759/242/543/original/210d9362fd51e2af.jpeg npub1nmspangpmc9ep9cg8xtx0y535xe6wwekwqjd3n6vufhuttfspsqss3096n Clifton Royston @nprofile…yc9s Ditto with actual election fraud I fear. npub1nmspangpmc9ep9cg8xtx0y535xe6wwekwqjd3n6vufhuttfspsqss3096n Clifton Royston As for Musk, he’s likely one of Putin’s assets too - he’s praised Putin repeatedly, he’s said he thinks Ukraine should just fork over their territory to Russia, and earlier in the war he personally ordered Starlink service cut to sabotage a Ukrainian drone mission using it for navigation. My conclusion from these openly available bits of info: Every bit of disruption their activities cause the US, the collapse in US science research, all the deaths they are causing, are intentional. npub1nmspangpmc9ep9cg8xtx0y535xe6wwekwqjd3n6vufhuttfspsqss3096n Clifton Royston I don’t understand how anybody could be surprised that Trump has appointed a suspected Russian intel asset as head of US national intelligence, or that he’s preening himself about getting to be Putin’s errand boy in demanding Ukraine surrender. Have they forgotten his first term? Have they forgotten that over 12 years ago, even before he was first nominated, GOP politicians were talking in private about how Trump was probably working for Putin and treating it as a big laugh? npub1nmspangpmc9ep9cg8xtx0y535xe6wwekwqjd3n6vufhuttfspsqss3096n Clifton Royston @nprofile…6058 Most universities are no longer run by academics, if they ever were. They're run by the professional administrator class. They have no ideals and no idea of being against Anti-intellectualism or Fascism. They are against anything that would reduce their funding or their salaries. Remember all the university presidents and administrators last year who were accusing even Jewish faculty and students of "antisemitism" for protesting the genocide in Gaza? Same deal going on here. npub1nmspangpmc9ep9cg8xtx0y535xe6wwekwqjd3n6vufhuttfspsqss3096n Clifton Royston @nprofile…5lc3 It was just some loser replying to a couple of your posts with a boilerplate request for *somebody* to help him move some funds out of this great big trust account he can't access... I happened to notice it when I hit the "Report this as spam" on someone else he replied to. I thought it was pretty funny who he'd pick as his potential sucker. npub1nmspangpmc9ep9cg8xtx0y535xe6wwekwqjd3n6vufhuttfspsqss3096n Clifton Royston @nprofile…cgs9 One of my old friends used to work at Apple, starting a long time back when they let techies put whatever they wanted as their job title. So he had "Shover Robot" on his business cards, because why not? npub1nmspangpmc9ep9cg8xtx0y535xe6wwekwqjd3n6vufhuttfspsqss3096n Clifton Royston @npub1psd…9sr7 Yeah, same. People I like, too, who've swallowed all the exaggerated claims about it. npub1nmspangpmc9ep9cg8xtx0y535xe6wwekwqjd3n6vufhuttfspsqss3096n Clifton Royston @npub1psd…9sr7 Nice, now you're a noted "tech critic"! Somebody finally noticed! npub1nmspangpmc9ep9cg8xtx0y535xe6wwekwqjd3n6vufhuttfspsqss3096n Clifton Royston @npub1psd…9sr7 The readers, duh. npub1nmspangpmc9ep9cg8xtx0y535xe6wwekwqjd3n6vufhuttfspsqss3096n Clifton Royston @npub1lzz…jhl3 Don't forget Berlusconi! npub1nmspangpmc9ep9cg8xtx0y535xe6wwekwqjd3n6vufhuttfspsqss3096n Clifton Royston @npub1psd…9sr7 It would be a better world if more people were like you, Charlie. A much more scathing and deeply sarcastic world, very likely, but a better one. npub1nmspangpmc9ep9cg8xtx0y535xe6wwekwqjd3n6vufhuttfspsqss3096n Clifton Royston @npub1kxp…lt8h Do you have anybody you can team with on that? Some people just love working on the visual look and style of text. npub1nmspangpmc9ep9cg8xtx0y535xe6wwekwqjd3n6vufhuttfspsqss3096n Clifton Royston @npub15cd…3mv2 Do you have these hosted somewhere that I could give as a more permanent link than a mastodon reference? This is delightful and I’d like to share it with someone. npub1nmspangpmc9ep9cg8xtx0y535xe6wwekwqjd3n6vufhuttfspsqss3096n Clifton Royston I just unintentionally typed "Microsot" in a query to the IT department, and this might be my favorite typo ever. Go home Microsoft, you're drunk, and take your Copilot with you. npub1nmspangpmc9ep9cg8xtx0y535xe6wwekwqjd3n6vufhuttfspsqss3096n Clifton Royston @npub1psd…9sr7 @npub14y2…vm8x I think the Cesium-137 vapor amply makes up for that. npub1nmspangpmc9ep9cg8xtx0y535xe6wwekwqjd3n6vufhuttfspsqss3096n Clifton Royston @npub1psd…9sr7 @npub15dm…nd6f You're probably both right & both wrong: The Ukrainians recently designed and (I think) built some built-to-purpose long-range submarine attack drones, as opposed to the earlier improvised drones which Charlie mentioned. These are designed to spend most of the time underwater (making them hard to detect) with a radio antenna that can be poked up above the waves to exchange status and receive commands. I skimmed an interesting article on it in the last couple weeks. npub1nmspangpmc9ep9cg8xtx0y535xe6wwekwqjd3n6vufhuttfspsqss3096n Clifton Royston @npub1psd…9sr7 @npub1pc7…r46d I think he's more referring to rich techies drunkenly saying to their followers that all the SF city council members should "die slowly" while putting millions into funds to recall them. If it weren't for the concentration of tech $$ in Silicon Valley, I think we'd be seeing a bigger problem with this all over the country. npub1nmspangpmc9ep9cg8xtx0y535xe6wwekwqjd3n6vufhuttfspsqss3096n Clifton Royston @npub1psd…9sr7 How long until somebody writes a v smol spreadsheet app for this processor? npub1nmspangpmc9ep9cg8xtx0y535xe6wwekwqjd3n6vufhuttfspsqss3096n Clifton Royston @npub1psd…9sr7 " Do they have no curiousity whatosever about the interior life of the person they married?" Ding-ding-ding-ding! We found a winner. npub1nmspangpmc9ep9cg8xtx0y535xe6wwekwqjd3n6vufhuttfspsqss3096n Clifton Royston @npub1zdp…vqv8 Pica has been sending me alumnus email for her University of Cat, soliciting donations. This didn't bother me so much, but recently she has begun sending emails asking me to add her to my will. I am getting concerned that she may have plans involving me. npub1nmspangpmc9ep9cg8xtx0y535xe6wwekwqjd3n6vufhuttfspsqss3096n Clifton Royston @npub1zdp…vqv8 What, the inside of my head? Yes, absolutely. Don't know what the hell they're doing in there to to make all that racket. npub1nmspangpmc9ep9cg8xtx0y535xe6wwekwqjd3n6vufhuttfspsqss3096n Clifton Royston @npub1zdp…vqv8 @npub14jj…nnf8 It doesn't work on human... excuse me, I need to go see what the cat wants. npub1nmspangpmc9ep9cg8xtx0y535xe6wwekwqjd3n6vufhuttfspsqss3096n Clifton Royston @npub1psd…9sr7 I like this, but I'd be somewhat satisfied if society just started prosecuting corporate homicides as homicides. Consider for example the spate of illnesses and deaths in the last few years due to bacteria-contaminated asthma inhalers and other medical products, this year with eyedrops. I haven't heard of anybody in those companies being prosecuted for negligent homicide even when investigations showed grossly unsanitary conditions, not an unavoidable accident. npub1nmspangpmc9ep9cg8xtx0y535xe6wwekwqjd3n6vufhuttfspsqss3096n Clifton Royston @npub1zdp…vqv8 This is a very normal thing to post. I post normal things like this all the time. npub1nmspangpmc9ep9cg8xtx0y535xe6wwekwqjd3n6vufhuttfspsqss3096n Clifton Royston @npub1psd…9sr7 Sorry I don't have anything helpful to contribute here, but 1. My sincere sympathies, 2. I hate that this is my first reaction, but this is fascinating. There's so much we're still just beginning to learn about how the brain and internal signaling system works. npub1nmspangpmc9ep9cg8xtx0y535xe6wwekwqjd3n6vufhuttfspsqss3096n Clifton Royston @npub1psd…9sr7 @npub1sja…lyt3 I have known many cats who for some reason get obsessed with getting at fresh cantaloupe, and not a few who go after fresh sweet corn (maize, for my European friends.) But on the whole, yes - not that interested in our vegan cuisine. npub1nmspangpmc9ep9cg8xtx0y535xe6wwekwqjd3n6vufhuttfspsqss3096n Clifton Royston @npub1upk…tcwy The perils of social media... I did read some of your writing on the topic and have been trying to be sensitive to it and careful about it. Even on Twitter there was a hazard of not seeing all the replies to a "big" account, and here the siloing of instances makes that worse. npub1nmspangpmc9ep9cg8xtx0y535xe6wwekwqjd3n6vufhuttfspsqss3096n Clifton Royston @npub1upk…tcwy Thanks, I'll read it. My apologies for presenting this as if arguing - that wasn't my intention and I'll work on that. As you say, my context is very different, and yours is clearly near optimal for what you're trying to do. npub1nmspangpmc9ep9cg8xtx0y535xe6wwekwqjd3n6vufhuttfspsqss3096n Clifton Royston @npub1upk…tcwy You're probably right. Most of the people quibbling with you are in the experienced admin category and from an older generation, so have seen more professionally administered systems and also more weird exceptions. My main point though was that "echo $SHELL" is simple, works for your suggested shells and more besides, and should be reliable for anyone who hasn't changed their shell since logging in - so should be good for the same group of beginners. I agree your way is more fun. npub1nmspangpmc9ep9cg8xtx0y535xe6wwekwqjd3n6vufhuttfspsqss3096n Clifton Royston @npub1upk…tcwy @npub1pc7…r46d They're certainly among the most likely but IMO you really can't count on it being either of those, even for beginners. AYK, different systems and distributions over time have had different defaults, and the sysadmin of a particular system may set the default for new users to something they prefer. "echo $SHELL" should tell you the *login* shell for at least the following: sh, zsh, bash, csh, tcsh, skh (these are all the shells preinstalled on the system I'm checking here.) + npub1nmspangpmc9ep9cg8xtx0y535xe6wwekwqjd3n6vufhuttfspsqss3096n Clifton Royston @npub1psd…9sr7 I have to share this, which is better yet, quoting RT's take on the cause of the crash: It was Covid vaccination wut done it https://mastodon.social/@HalvarFlake/110944336062021008 npub1nmspangpmc9ep9cg8xtx0y535xe6wwekwqjd3n6vufhuttfspsqss3096n Clifton Royston @npub1psd…9sr7 "Readovka has this *very interesting* report, citing Wagner sources. If Utkin is, in fact, dead, Wagner leadership will set off a dead man's switch, releasing...who knows what. This is all pretty murky, but it is nevertheless pretty interesting." https://mastodon.online/@justinling/110940431027887325 (This Justin Ling guy, apparently an independent journalist, seems to have all the good dope very fast.) npub1nmspangpmc9ep9cg8xtx0y535xe6wwekwqjd3n6vufhuttfspsqss3096n Clifton Royston @npub1psd…9sr7 On the farcical side, "A statement from Russia's air transport regulator says they've opened a criminal case regarding the downed aircraft, for violating air traffic safety rules." Will the official line be "Nothing personal, we had to shoot them down for their own good, they were violating traffic air safety rules." npub1nmspangpmc9ep9cg8xtx0y535xe6wwekwqjd3n6vufhuttfspsqss3096n Clifton Royston @npub10sg…kdya and friends, I thought you might enjoy this surprise juxtaposition I noticed late last night or the night before. It speaks for itself, I think. HPL was already dubious about the Irish anyway, but this would clinch it. https://stockroom.wandering.shop/media_attachments/files/110/932/889/717/707/922/original/01f524f36aa8399c.jpeg npub1nmspangpmc9ep9cg8xtx0y535xe6wwekwqjd3n6vufhuttfspsqss3096n Clifton Royston Hey everybody, this is a good deal on a good read - get on it! It's @npub1psd…9sr7 so you can be sure it's dark as fuck, but it's excellent, will have you sputtering about all the places it goes, and does an amazing job of tying up the loose ends of the previous two novels. Doubly recommended for any fan of 'The Prisoner', FYI https://wandering.shop/@cstross/110922579361592111 npub1nmspangpmc9ep9cg8xtx0y535xe6wwekwqjd3n6vufhuttfspsqss3096n Clifton Royston @npub1psd…9sr7 @npub1rv4…ft5j @npub1cda…ud3k I can't see why he would object to severing one of his spermatophores and floating it across to her like any normal sapient being would do. npub1nmspangpmc9ep9cg8xtx0y535xe6wwekwqjd3n6vufhuttfspsqss3096n Clifton Royston @npub1psd…9sr7 Feersum. npub1nmspangpmc9ep9cg8xtx0y535xe6wwekwqjd3n6vufhuttfspsqss3096n Clifton Royston @npub1psd…9sr7 That's just one of many choice quotes.