Charlie Stross

@TerryHancock @dianea If your cat is a Maine Coon, the centi-cat is approximately one centimetre.

#WordWeavers Jul 5 - What songs are going on your antagonist’s workout playlist?

As the antagonist in my WIP is an imperial bureaucracy, if playlists even existed in this universe it'd probably be full of military brass bands playing marches—like Sousa only more offensively bombastic.

If they did this to a mammal it would be called animal abuse.

@futurebird @Sibtodon The USPS is indeed in the constitution … and so are presidential term limits: if Trump gets his third term it will mean the constitution is dead (and so is the post office). Silver lining: I don't expect him to live to see November '28.

@Sibtodon @futurebird That was a thing in the UK … before the Tories (wearing the flayed skin of Labour, under Tony Blair) privatised the Post Office.

I'm pretty sure that's one of the things Trump's backers will ask for during his third term.

@futurebird The reason search is enshittified is complex but boils down to: because, capitalism.

The web is huge. Scanning and indexing it requires enormous bandwidth and gigantic storage. For better or worse we chose to leave it to the "free" market, so our search tools are provided by advertising corporations (notably google) who use search as a lure, to attract eyeballs to ads.

Of course, google prefers to serve you ads than to service your search requests …

/1

At Eurocon, watching a discussion between Al Reynolds and Peter Hamilton, and when asked if their prose style was evolving, Pete said: "I think my novels are getting shorter!" while brandishing an 800 page paperback at the audience.

HELPFUL TIP: if you want to guarantee your newborn son is unpopular at school, name him Donald Nigel Adolf.

Congratulations to all my US friends on making it to the end of your epic 250 year experiment with democracy! May the subsequent imperial phase be mercifully brief and the aftermath painless.