Boris Johnson is so pissed off right now that when he suggested this idea his PRs told him it was "too unprofessional even for you" and "would come across as grotesquely irresponsible at the height of a global pandemic."

The 6yo just coined the phrase "chalant" to mean "anxious or stressed."

It might not be ideal, and you ivory tower intellectuals might complain, but the reality of modern publishing is you can't expect a book to sell without the massive name recognition of that guy you just had to Google to make a joke about this news.

I meant to put a question mark on this. Trying to find holiday reads.

Good, not too epic novels about fictional cities.

Every American AC take is basically "These losers moaning about so-called 'catastrophic' flooding wouldn't last five minutes where I live, the ocean. In my house boat."

A short blog about being a writer and encountering that one hypothetical solution where an LLM might seem useful: chrisfarnell.com/that-one-sit...

This is an amazing event that I wish I could make it to. If you can, you absolutely should.

We are a simple people. We know not of "Thunderstorms", or your "Family-owned corner shops". We tremble in the face of delicacies like "Beef" and "Take Away Pizza". Please, do not seek to educate us. Instead, help us to preserve this fragile remnant of a bygone world.

imagining a grizzled hardboiled detective saying this while gripping some guy's lapels at a shady bar

Okay but seriously, we should consider this.

"To showcase the unique accuracy of our AI voice synthesis technology, we decided to mimic the one actor every man over 25 believes they can impersonate flawlessly after drinking 1 and a half pints."

I am backing this because, like many of you, I have just had too many Good Years recently and thirst for variety.

Trans filmmakers: I want to see your short films that are… • 5 min or less • Appropriate for all ages This is for programming consideration. Thanks! :-) savrodgers.com/contact

One of the best pieces of Star Trek fiction you will read. It will instantly enter your personal headcanon.

Are you even a Bluesky poster if you're not going to point out that actually, the Titanic sank in the Atlantic Ocean?

@louiestowell.bsky.social In further "reading Loki" news, this morning the 6yo greeted me with a Crime Board - Sarah and Sportsboy One are in it together apparently.

"Let’s pretend that realising a text or image is AI doesn’t make me feel like I’ve seen a person accidentally cut themselves, revealing not blood, but insides that are hollow as an Easter egg."

The sex industry - the first in and the last out of any technological era.

A short blog about being a writer and encountering that one hypothetical solution where an LLM might seem useful: chrisfarnell.com/that-one-sit...

Actors didn't go so far as to actually work with Stanley Kubrick so you could tell me that AI is "inevitable".

It's not even a subversion. They give your children what they want. Everything they want. They invite them to come and play for as long as they like, and there will always be something new and they never have to go to bed. And there's no catch.

That's right, friends! STARLOG is back and I'm the editor-in-chief. We have so much good stuff for you in our first issue, coming this November!! Science! Sci-fi! Fantastic weirdness! Plus you can subscribe now to our podcast hosted by @jhoffman.bsky.social and @da7e.com!

I don't really write for Den of Geek anymore so does anyone want to pay me to write 3,000 words on whether the production company that takes on Doctor Who will spell it "Gravity" or "Mavity"?

Science Fiction Writers (so tired): In my story I used "Quantum" technology because, frankly, I couldn't be arsed to look up any real science and most people only know that quantum mechanics is weird and hard to understand. Tech Company: Bro! Same.

Haha, nice one @privateeyenews.bsky.social !

If you haven't bought a copy before, do consider giving it a purchase. I think you'll like it (though I am biased). Direct link to the store here: store.filmstories.co.uk/collections/...

I wrote the last one in this list, which includes some great insight from Spec Ops - The Line, Blasphemous and The Stone of Madness level designer @enriquecoli.net after I made him watch a double bill of Irwin Allen disaster movies.

This email from my MP is the weakest possible tea, but as a connoisseur of weak tea (the five other emails I've received on the subject in response to eleven emails so far) this is a HUGE MARKED IMPROVEMENT. So, the ratios are: 11 emails (post election) 6 replies 1 action in response

I do wish that politicians in centre-left parties understood just how little they have in common with people who vote for centre-left parties.

If I want action sci-fi, I play an action sci-fi game. If I want romance, I'll buy one of those girly/queer dating sims. These are just two separate flavours that nobody wants combined.

‘Companions all (not you)’

The Eighth Doctor, facing death and regeneration, offers a final salute to the companions who have helped this incarnation...

Scratches fingers along blackboard at the back of the room like Quint in Jaws. "What if I told you I could solve all these problems in one go?"

My strongest memory of Starmer will be his 2024 conference speech, where he said "every child deserves respect", a young activist said "does that include the children of Gaza?", and he laughed and said "he's obviously got a pass to the 2019 conference".

"We're the stewards of that IP. We're not the owners, because really, the communities own those, and in another, more real and legally binding sense, we own those."

Me in 1768: I dislike the new Prime Minister and the Steam Machine is still too expensive. Me in 2026: I dislike the new Prime Minister and the Steam Machine is still too expensive.

It took 31 years, but we can finally watch Hackers the way its creators intended.

It's always fascinating to look at images like this and think "These are completely superfluous" and "You could get a machine to barf these out and nothing of value would be lost."

The "Y The Last Man"/"The Men"/"Afterland" apocalypse plot is bad for numerous reasons, but a big one for me is I'm less interested in what a female President would do then what men would do if women's labour disappeared.

I don't know the plot of Klara and the Sun. I don't know if it ends with a mass robot uprising or any major societal change. But if it doesn't, isn't this literally just "That slave we bought really taught our family to appreciate each other"?

I appreciate the subtle foreshadowing for the Nazi room in having a living room carefully laid out so to be uncomfortable for watching telly or talking to anyone. Just imagine the family, sitting here, at perfect right angles to one another but positioned so that nobody is looking at anyone else.

Just saw the trailer for Klara and the Sun and it looks good and has talent in it and behind it but I cannot see anything with a friendly robot character in it now that trigger an immediate "Are you are psi-op?" response.

It's all fun and games until The Onion comes for *your* country's hopelessly inept political leadership.

I'm going to miss Starmer.

I keep meaning to give Dark Souls a go.

I cannot express my admiration enough for the Game on display here. This entire press release is a list of tips for how to make your front door last longer.

Awww shit. The one thing I was actually hoping for out of all this was that Streeting's political career could finally be wiped up.

I want to write a political thriller where to crack open a government conspiracy that goes to the highest levels, the Green Party voter who left Labour because immigration is too high is forced to team up with the Reform voter who thought Labour was too right-wing.