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Simon Morden @comrademorden.bsky.social · 10h

a picture of a burning house with the words there was a spider

Alt: a picture of a burning house with the words there was a spider

media.tenor.com

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Simon Morden @comrademorden.bsky.social · 10h

I do a lot of semi-competative running, so tend to see a lot this. And every time...

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Simon Morden @comrademorden.bsky.social · 1d

Chichester

(iykyk)

Merriam-Webster @merriam-webster.com · 2d

What’s the word where you’re from that, when pronounced exactly as it looks, identifies a tourist immediately?

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Simon Morden @comrademorden.bsky.social · 1d

I can honestly imagine goats simply refusing to produce milk.

Like, "Nah, bro. No milk for you."

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Simon Morden @comrademorden.bsky.social · 1d

He doesn't have room for sheep in his flat, so my son orders in gallons of frozen sheep's milk and has them delivered (without warning to our front door, which we then have to try and fit into our freezers).

So that's an option if you want to start cheesemaking.

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Simon Morden @comrademorden.bsky.social · 2d

I keep seeing articles about how huge data centres consume vast amounts of electricity and water to the detriment of the local communities, and yet framed in such a way that said data centres are somehow an unstoppable force of nature that we just have to accept.

a cartoon character is holding a remote control in front of a building

Alt: Mr Burns plunges Springfield into darkness with his infernal machine

media.tenor.com

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Reposted by Simon Morden

Victoria Strauss @victoriastrauss.com · 2d

Authors whose works are in the LibGen pirate database downloaded by Anthropic for AI training & now subject of a massive class action settlement: @sfwa.bsky.social has an online survey to gather data on the impact (you don't need to be a SFWA member to participate) docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

Author Experience Survey: Did Anthropic Downloads Include Your Work?

SFWA is gathering information to share with the larger genre and literary community about our specific experiences with the LibGen dataset download. Do you have a story you'd like to share? Was one o...

docs.google.com

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Simon Morden @comrademorden.bsky.social · 3d

All their children will be going to university.

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Simon Morden @comrademorden.bsky.social · 3d

Do we have to guess which of the Tory front bench sent this fess in?

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Reposted by Simon Morden

Sunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · 3d

The Bishop of Birmingham has written to the Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick about his comments about Handsworth

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Simon Morden @comrademorden.bsky.social · 3d

(review here -> www.goodreads.com/book/show/23... )

(Authors note: I have never watched more than a couple of episodes of ST:Voyager - but I'm pretty certain that the writers stole the idea from someone else as shamelessly as I did!)

Goodreads

Discover and share books you love on Goodreads.

www.goodreads.com

Simon Morden @comrademorden.bsky.social · 3d

"So much science fictiony goodness, crammed into a short novel you can read in a couple of hours." (cheers @benjeapes.bsky.social )

Which is also nice.

www.newconpress.co.uk/info/book.as...

The History of the World, Simon Morden - Books - The History of the World

NewCon Press is a multiple award-winning independent publisher specialising in science fiction, fantasy, dark fantasy and horror.

www.newconpress.co.uk

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Simon Morden @comrademorden.bsky.social · 3d

*bin lorry catches fire*
*dumps contents on road*
*fire investigation reveals cause*

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Reposted by Simon Morden

Bookshop.org @bookshop.org · 3d

Can’t decide what to buy on Prime Day?

Try: absolutely nothing, and then go support indie bookstores instead 📚

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Simon Morden @comrademorden.bsky.social · 3d

Salem's Pot

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Simon Morden @comrademorden.bsky.social · 3d

I definitely need this.

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Simon Morden @comrademorden.bsky.social · 3d

But judges are not ordinary men!

The iconic comic panel of Judge Dredd driving his fist through the helmet of Judge Fear. GAZE INTO THE FIST OF DREDD!

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Simon Morden @comrademorden.bsky.social · 3d

I mustn't forget the tyre and brake particulates either! If you breathe them in, they enter the blood stream. If you don't, they get washed into our rivers.

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Simon Morden @comrademorden.bsky.social · 3d

That would be an interesting line of questioning on the Today program.

George Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 3d

It seems pretty clear to me now: Keir Starmer would rather lose to Reform than to the Labour left, which is his real enemy. Any policy that might recover lost ground with voters has to be struck down, as it looks like a concession to the Labour left. And he and his team cannot contemplate that.

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Simon Morden @comrademorden.bsky.social · 3d

It looks like a press release that's been copy and pasted. Sketchy when your local rag does it, but people get their actual news from CNN.

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Simon Morden @comrademorden.bsky.social · 3d

For context, there are 1.64 billion cars in the world, most of which run on fuel which, when burnt, causes or exacerbates respiratory diseases.

CNN @cnn.com · 4d

The people who are most vulnerable to the hard-to-breathe air that comes with climate change may inadvertently be adding to the problem, new research finds. https://cnn.it/4pWQMoh

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Simon Morden @comrademorden.bsky.social · 3d

My long-standing objection to CCTV is that it doesn't actually prevent crime. Not only is no one watching it, no one *can* watch it.

People who can intervene are the only deterrent, and they are more cost-effective than another half-dozen useless cameras.

Will Yeates @wyeates.bsky.social · 4d

The British Transport Police (BTP) says it will not investigate bike thefts outside stations where the bicycle has been left for more than two hours.

Bike thefts at stations 'decriminalised'

Bike thefts at stations 'decriminalised'

The British Transport Police will not investigate many categories of bicycle theft, the BBC learns.

buff.ly

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Reposted by Simon Morden

Ginger Nuts of Horror @gnofhorror.com · 4d

I really hate doing this, but when I had my breakdown last month, I took two weeks off from work, and they didn't pay me for my time off, and I am broke.

If you find it in your heart to tip even the minimum amount then I would be enternally grateful

ko-fi.com/gingernutsof...

Support GNofHorror

ko-fi.com

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Reposted by Simon Morden

Simon Spanton @simonguy.bsky.social · 4d

I have, in my time, asked SF writers to write non-fiction. The results have been, without exception, both brilliant and entertaining.

It's almost as if excellent SF writers are excellent writers full stop.

Aliya Whiteley
@adamroberts.bsky.social
@comrademorden.bsky.social

A photo of copies of The Red Planet by Simon Morden, It's the End of the World by Adam Roberts and The Secret Life of Fungi by Aliya Whiteley

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Simon Morden @comrademorden.bsky.social · 4d

"This is a must-read novella for all those interested in having realism in their science fiction and exploring interesting ‘what if?’ questions."

Which is nice...

sfcrowsnest.info/the-history-...

The History Of The World by Simon Morden (book review). - SFcrowsnest

After rescuing the human PurLeeDah from her falling-apart lightspeed spaceship and its murderous crew, the sentient ramship, Corbyn.

sfcrowsnest.info

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