I read The Walking Dead comics up to around issue 108 (I think), enjoyed them. I enjoyed the first season of the TV series too but after that they should have renamed it The Talking Dead. I suppose the economics of TV zombies are generally going to make it cheaper to film people arguing than action.
I’m not so sure.
I drove 3½ hours north to visit my sister in northern Tasmania yesterday, much of it on highways with 110 kph speed limit. I was doing between 90 and 100 mostly, especially when there were overtaking or double lanes. Almost never got overtaken even when there were 4 or 5 cars behind me. It was quite relaxing.
Iain M Banks should definitely be on any list of leftie SF authors. There’s a reason The Culture is sometimes described (rather reductively) as luxury space communism.
The popular association of ‘anarchism’ with ‘chaos’ and that organisation is anathema to anarchists has long been a source of humour. It’s a convenient misdirection for the ruling class who are directly threatened by an idea that humans can live without, you know, rulers.
I love great book covers and have great fondness for the covers of novels I love however I buy most books online and by reputation or review so rarely see a cover that arrests my attention.
Sounds wonderful. I recently had my writing—which is liberally sprinkled with em-dashes—edited to add spaces to conform to the house style and this made me sad.
I also feel sad that I failed to (ironically) mention the under-appreciated semicolon; punctuation that is not as adamant as a full stop but more assertive than a comma. I should use it more often.
I’ve long been an enthusiast of unpopular punctuation—the ellipsis, the em-dash, the interrobang‽
The trick to using the em-dash is not to surround it with spaces which tend to break up the text visually. So, this feels good—to me—whereas this — feels unpleasant. I learnt this approach from reading typographer Erik Spiekermann’s book, *Stop Stealing Sheep & Find Out How Type Works.
I agree. Subtly different but overall and surprisingly very similar.
PresAux are more hippy like and a little less like the academics in the book which I find just a little annoying but it’s OK (I’m an academic).
One of the things I’m really curious about is how they flesh out the contrast between the capitalist dystopia of the Corporation Rim and the clearly socialist Preservation Aux. I feel like it’s a politically charged topic in the current capitalist dystopia American context (at least that’s how it looks to me from outside America). I keep waiting for them to water it down but they haven’t done it so far. Good on em.
Thanks for sharing this. It seems quite balanced and the useful.
I read The Walking Dead comics up to around issue 108 (I think), enjoyed them. I enjoyed the first season of the TV series too but after that they should have renamed it The Talking Dead. I suppose the economics of TV zombies are generally going to make it cheaper to film people arguing than action.
We stayed with my sister and her husband for a few days over Easter. I don’t get to see my sister very often precisely due to the distance.
Anyway, it’s only anecdotal but I don’t usually see people driving below the speed limit unless they’re in a camper van so I thought it noteworthy.
I’m not so sure. I drove 3½ hours north to visit my sister in northern Tasmania yesterday, much of it on highways with 110 kph speed limit. I was doing between 90 and 100 mostly, especially when there were overtaking or double lanes. Almost never got overtaken even when there were 4 or 5 cars behind me. It was quite relaxing.
Thank you!
Did it help the sandfly situation? I’m curious.
Gorgeously weird birds. Love ‘em.
Iain M Banks should definitely be on any list of leftie SF authors. There’s a reason The Culture is sometimes described (rather reductively) as luxury space communism.
The popular association of ‘anarchism’ with ‘chaos’ and that organisation is anathema to anarchists has long been a source of humour. It’s a convenient misdirection for the ruling class who are directly threatened by an idea that humans can live without, you know, rulers.
Yes, at least it does on macOS now.
Disgusting overreach.
Good sir/madam, I read the whole thing thinking the very same and didn’t come to my senses until reading your comment. Thank you.
People forget that America was a penal colony before Australia.
I love great book covers and have great fondness for the covers of novels I love however I buy most books online and by reputation or review so rarely see a cover that arrests my attention.
This isn’t the same article but it’s relevant:
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-07-02/kanye-west-denied-entry-to-australia-after-antisemitic-song/105487620
The first game is set in North America but mostly looks like Iceland. I don’t have high hopes that Kojima’s Australia will be recognisably Australia.
Sounds wonderful. I recently had my writing—which is liberally sprinkled with em-dashes—edited to add spaces to conform to the house style and this made me sad.
I also feel sad that I failed to (ironically) mention the under-appreciated semicolon; punctuation that is not as adamant as a full stop but more assertive than a comma. I should use it more often.
I’ve long been an enthusiast of unpopular punctuation—the ellipsis, the em-dash, the interrobang‽
The trick to using the em-dash is not to surround it with spaces which tend to break up the text visually. So, this feels good—to me—whereas this — feels unpleasant. I learnt this approach from reading typographer Erik Spiekermann’s book, *Stop Stealing Sheep & Find Out How Type Works.
Laughs in Queensland
Plus there is a tiny little Texas inside Queensland.
I agree. Subtly different but overall and surprisingly very similar.
PresAux are more hippy like and a little less like the academics in the book which I find just a little annoying but it’s OK (I’m an academic).
One of the things I’m really curious about is how they flesh out the contrast between the capitalist dystopia of the Corporation Rim and the clearly socialist Preservation Aux. I feel like it’s a politically charged topic in the current capitalist dystopia American context (at least that’s how it looks to me from outside America). I keep waiting for them to water it down but they haven’t done it so far. Good on em.