Recently updated blogs

It’s finally the weekend — and perhaps, the last bit of calm before the holiday storm. We’re relaxing with our standard open thread poll. Talk about anything you like — the fragrance you’re wearing today, the fragrance that helps you keep calm despite various holiday hassles, whatever. Or, ask a question about fragrance, then see if anyone else has asked a question that you can answer… Read the rest of …

In The Dispossessed, the people of Annares—a moon colony founded by exiled anarchists—speak a language called Pravic. It is an invented language, created by the first settlers, who one imagines were interested in the ways in which language both circumscribed and made possible different ways of being with one another. In Pravic, ammar (plural ammari) means “brother” or “sister.” It is genderless, and used to refer to anyone regardless of …

Ten years ago today my astronaut friend Samantha Cristoforetti began her first space flight. On November 23, 2014 she was launched aboard the Soyuz TMA-15M spacecraft for a mission to the International Space Station. I had the privilege of helping Samantha with a public outreach project to share this adventure. Shortly after the announcement of her mission in early July of 2013, Samantha decided on a way to tell the …

Little known outside of Italy and Europe, chestnut flour (farina de castagne) has been a staple crop in Northern Italy for thousands of years. At roughly four times the price of wheat flour it's a very special ingredient worth getting to know. Today we'll go over what it is, how homemade flour differs from store-bought,... Read More The post How To Make Chestnut Flour, And What To Do With It …

Brian Collins is among the most provocative bloggers writing about science fiction and fantasy today. They should be considered for a Hugo for best fanwriter.Through their blog, the 28-year-old New Jersey native tackles topics that vary wildly between more staid fare such as the value of reading old science fiction, to more incendiary ideas such as the role that military science fiction has played in rationalizing genocide. Their work tends …

LEGO Insiders Weekend is starting today! LEGO is kicking off the Holiday season with a bunch of rewards, gifts, and more before Black Friday/Cyber Monday, just for LEGO Insiders. Check out some of the exciting member-only gifts and promotions available this weekend! FREE #40699 LEGO RETRO RECORD PLAYER: LEGO Insiders who spend $250 or more […]

I mean, it’s impossible to write about The Fast Show without quoting it. So let’s get them out of the way. Brilliant. I like this, when comedy worlds collide and remind me that sometimes shows that seem from different eras actually shared a schedule. Which is nice. The Stage – Thursday 13 November 1997 This one is more interesting from a TV history point of view. I’m amazed they were …

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AI Can Now Create a Replica of Your Personality James O’Donnell | MIT Technology Review “Imagine sitting down with an AI model for a spoken two-hour interview. A friendly voice guides you through a conversation that ranges from your childhood, your formative memories, and your career to your thoughts on immigration policy. Not long after, a virtual replica of you is able to embody your values and preferences …

This caught my eye in the New York Times the other day: That word, “cleaner,” wasn’t familiar–I imagined it meant what Americans would call a cleaning lady, a cleaning person, a custodian, a janitor, basically, something that sounded a bit fancier than what the job really is. “Cleaner” felt British to me, along the lines of “carer,” also not found in the U.S. (We would say “companion,” “care-giver,” or, wordiest …

“[45] In India there are wild asses as large as horses, or even larger. Their body is white, their head dark red, their eyes bluish, and they have a horn in their forehead about a cubit in length. The lower part of the horn, for about two palms distance from the forehead, is quite white, the middle is black, the upper part, which terminates in a point, is a very …

Having abandoned the decorator thread for now, I propose to test-drive a forwarding mechanism based on descriptors. It goes quite nicely.

According to the multiverse theory, we are likely to find ourselves in a universe particularly suited to the emergence of life. According to a new paper, though, that’s not the case given how it’s expanded over time. But does that mean the multiverse theory has also been invalidated? Let’s take a look.

Murder While You Work by Susan Scarlett aka Noel Streatfield This book is one of twelve written under the Susan Scarlett pseudonym and in some ways it is a romance, but certainly not of the delicate sort. It combines a murder mystery with elements of a domestic thriller, as well as observations of conditions in the Second World War. Bombs do not rain down on this English village, but there …

Welcome to another edition of The Weekend Stream, The Second Disc's review of notable catalogue titles (and some new ones, too!) making digital debuts. We've got Beach Boys covers with some fascinating history related to the band, a tribute to one of the greatest musical icons we lost this year, a new single from a […]

By Yochai GalSelf PublishedCairn Two weeks ago, Aldra, the beloved butcher of Isthmus Town, suddenly vanished without a trace. Some days later, a local teen reported seeing a man swallowed up by the earth near Deadmill. Others have also gone missing. Now, the townsfolk are left wondering: Who might be next? This little 24 page digest adventure presents a classic setup: a small village with some shit going on for …