Charlie Stross
@cstross.bsky.social
SFF author, triple Hugo award winner (and three times Locus award too), over a million books sold.
Mostly on Mastodon: @cstross@wandering.shop
Blog: https://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/
Mostly on Mastodon: @cstross@wandering.shop
Blog: https://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/
Reposted by Charlie Stross
I would also happily support the reality TV game show “Sticking With The Kardashians” as teams of celebrity teams compete to escape the tar pits.
Another random fic idea, free to a good home:
A drama about a group of celebs who find themselves starring in a reality TV show (subtype: roughing it in the wilderness), some time after cloning and re-wilding of extinct species becomes a thing. Ominously, it's called:
Glamping with Smilodons
A drama about a group of celebs who find themselves starring in a reality TV show (subtype: roughing it in the wilderness), some time after cloning and re-wilding of extinct species becomes a thing. Ominously, it's called:
Glamping with Smilodons
November 10, 2025 at 8:47 PM
I would also happily support the reality TV game show “Sticking With The Kardashians” as teams of celebrity teams compete to escape the tar pits.
Grump! Does anyone know if Dropbox are having trouble sending 2FA SMS messages to the UK at present? I'm trying to authenticate a new device and I'm still waiting for that goddamn code; it's running Android 15 and I've got google authenticator but there's no longer an option to use that instead.
November 10, 2025 at 8:47 PM
Grump! Does anyone know if Dropbox are having trouble sending 2FA SMS messages to the UK at present? I'm trying to authenticate a new device and I'm still waiting for that goddamn code; it's running Android 15 and I've got google authenticator but there's no longer an option to use that instead.
Another random fic idea, free to a good home:
A drama about a group of celebs who find themselves starring in a reality TV show (subtype: roughing it in the wilderness), some time after cloning and re-wilding of extinct species becomes a thing. Ominously, it's called:
Glamping with Smilodons
A drama about a group of celebs who find themselves starring in a reality TV show (subtype: roughing it in the wilderness), some time after cloning and re-wilding of extinct species becomes a thing. Ominously, it's called:
Glamping with Smilodons
November 10, 2025 at 7:58 PM
Another random fic idea, free to a good home:
A drama about a group of celebs who find themselves starring in a reality TV show (subtype: roughing it in the wilderness), some time after cloning and re-wilding of extinct species becomes a thing. Ominously, it's called:
Glamping with Smilodons
A drama about a group of celebs who find themselves starring in a reality TV show (subtype: roughing it in the wilderness), some time after cloning and re-wilding of extinct species becomes a thing. Ominously, it's called:
Glamping with Smilodons
Reposted by Charlie Stross
How do you calculate the molecular weight of guacamole?
By using Avocado's Number.
By using Avocado's Number.
November 10, 2025 at 7:38 PM
How do you calculate the molecular weight of guacamole?
By using Avocado's Number.
By using Avocado's Number.
Reposted by Charlie Stross
If you ever use the men's toilets in a pub, bar or venue, you would understand this is unfortunately not an unpopular opinion at all
November 10, 2025 at 7:24 PM
If you ever use the men's toilets in a pub, bar or venue, you would understand this is unfortunately not an unpopular opinion at all
Reposted by Charlie Stross
No, I think the racism is fairly deeply held, alas. Though I’m not sure he realises he’s excluded both Churchill and HM the King from office (and the Prince of Wales too).
November 10, 2025 at 7:09 PM
No, I think the racism is fairly deeply held, alas. Though I’m not sure he realises he’s excluded both Churchill and HM the King from office (and the Prince of Wales too).
Went shopping this afternoon. Taking a shortcut on foot through a small local park, I encountered a fluffy white cat with very blue eyes walking its owner on a leash. It owned the footpath and *absolutely* wanted me to respect its right of way.
(Next time I shall take a photo.)
(Next time I shall take a photo.)
November 10, 2025 at 5:24 PM
Went shopping this afternoon. Taking a shortcut on foot through a small local park, I encountered a fluffy white cat with very blue eyes walking its owner on a leash. It owned the footpath and *absolutely* wanted me to respect its right of way.
(Next time I shall take a photo.)
(Next time I shall take a photo.)
Whacky variations on a theme:
DEATH NOTE, only instead of a paper notebook it's a vintage Newton MessagePad 100 with non-upgraded handwriting recognition (and all the spelling whackiness that went with it). Also, no takesie-backsies.
DEATH NOTE, only instead of a paper notebook it's a vintage Newton MessagePad 100 with non-upgraded handwriting recognition (and all the spelling whackiness that went with it). Also, no takesie-backsies.
November 10, 2025 at 5:16 PM
Whacky variations on a theme:
DEATH NOTE, only instead of a paper notebook it's a vintage Newton MessagePad 100 with non-upgraded handwriting recognition (and all the spelling whackiness that went with it). Also, no takesie-backsies.
DEATH NOTE, only instead of a paper notebook it's a vintage Newton MessagePad 100 with non-upgraded handwriting recognition (and all the spelling whackiness that went with it). Also, no takesie-backsies.
Reposted by Charlie Stross
When someone explained the plot of Death Note to me my very first question was “do you have to write everyone’s name individually or can you describe a set of people and it work?”
This morning either way my carpal tunnel would be IMMENSE.
This morning either way my carpal tunnel would be IMMENSE.
November 10, 2025 at 1:44 PM
When someone explained the plot of Death Note to me my very first question was “do you have to write everyone’s name individually or can you describe a set of people and it work?”
This morning either way my carpal tunnel would be IMMENSE.
This morning either way my carpal tunnel would be IMMENSE.
Today would be a VERY BAD day to give me superpowers.
Right now I hate the world and want to destroy it.
Right now I hate the world and want to destroy it.
November 10, 2025 at 1:37 PM
Today would be a VERY BAD day to give me superpowers.
Right now I hate the world and want to destroy it.
Right now I hate the world and want to destroy it.
Reposted by Charlie Stross
Yes really — the “we asked this guy. He doesn’t actually know jack shit but he’s rich” model of reportage really needs to go
theres a whole category of newstertainment thats gotta go. and its "ask a really rich freak who is also evil and directly stealing from you what hes seen on the computer lately that has made him feel bad." the only -- ONLY -- story about this guy worth exploring is: he is getting rich spying on you
November 9, 2025 at 6:48 PM
Yes really — the “we asked this guy. He doesn’t actually know jack shit but he’s rich” model of reportage really needs to go
Programmers at Microsoft Hate This One Trick to Get Good at that Code
The Clickbait Headline Programming Language:
https://tabloid.vercel.app/
The Clickbait Headline Programming Language:
https://tabloid.vercel.app/
November 9, 2025 at 12:59 PM
Programmers at Microsoft Hate This One Trick to Get Good at that Code
The Clickbait Headline Programming Language:
https://tabloid.vercel.app/
The Clickbait Headline Programming Language:
https://tabloid.vercel.app/
Reposted by Charlie Stross
I don’t see any reason to defend the Beeb from their erstwhile allies, who are now attacking it. If you slam your dick in a car door, it’s going to hurt: the end. So it is with encouraging and pandering to wingnut cranks: you have richly earned the punishment you brought upon yourself.
The Sunday Telegraph featuring 'left-wing' Sonia Sodha.
Sodha currently writes for The Times, or was until the end of October.
Sodha currently writes for The Times, or was until the end of October.
November 9, 2025 at 11:47 AM
I don’t see any reason to defend the Beeb from their erstwhile allies, who are now attacking it. If you slam your dick in a car door, it’s going to hurt: the end. So it is with encouraging and pandering to wingnut cranks: you have richly earned the punishment you brought upon yourself.
Hand up! ✋
First thing I do on any phone/computer is turn off predictive text and autocorrect—my vocabulary is wider than any commercial product's dictionary coverage.
And I'm contractually forbidden from using LLMs for work. Seriously, I'd be in breach of contract if I used them in my writing.
First thing I do on any phone/computer is turn off predictive text and autocorrect—my vocabulary is wider than any commercial product's dictionary coverage.
And I'm contractually forbidden from using LLMs for work. Seriously, I'd be in breach of contract if I used them in my writing.
Hands up if you've never used Chat GPT ✋
(I feel like Dozer and Tank in The Matrix right now - at first I didn't use it because, rather ironically, I'm lazy and stubborn (peak Taurus energy there) - literally no, don't make me use the new thing I don't wanna. Now I'm glad I didn't 😅)
(I feel like Dozer and Tank in The Matrix right now - at first I didn't use it because, rather ironically, I'm lazy and stubborn (peak Taurus energy there) - literally no, don't make me use the new thing I don't wanna. Now I'm glad I didn't 😅)
Probably a good way to tell right now if the job you’re applying for is run by absolute dumbfucks is to ask if they’re using AI.
November 9, 2025 at 10:21 AM
Hand up! ✋
First thing I do on any phone/computer is turn off predictive text and autocorrect—my vocabulary is wider than any commercial product's dictionary coverage.
And I'm contractually forbidden from using LLMs for work. Seriously, I'd be in breach of contract if I used them in my writing.
First thing I do on any phone/computer is turn off predictive text and autocorrect—my vocabulary is wider than any commercial product's dictionary coverage.
And I'm contractually forbidden from using LLMs for work. Seriously, I'd be in breach of contract if I used them in my writing.
Reposted by Charlie Stross
Never have. Never will. Not interested in going anywhere *near* a crap app built out of countless millions of hard-won words stolen from my colleagues, the use of which will (bonus!) begin progressively to degrade my cognitive skills and blunt the edge of the tool I’ve spent half a century honing. 🤨
Hands up if you've never used Chat GPT ✋
(I feel like Dozer and Tank in The Matrix right now - at first I didn't use it because, rather ironically, I'm lazy and stubborn (peak Taurus energy there) - literally no, don't make me use the new thing I don't wanna. Now I'm glad I didn't 😅)
(I feel like Dozer and Tank in The Matrix right now - at first I didn't use it because, rather ironically, I'm lazy and stubborn (peak Taurus energy there) - literally no, don't make me use the new thing I don't wanna. Now I'm glad I didn't 😅)
Probably a good way to tell right now if the job you’re applying for is run by absolute dumbfucks is to ask if they’re using AI.
November 9, 2025 at 10:15 AM
Never have. Never will. Not interested in going anywhere *near* a crap app built out of countless millions of hard-won words stolen from my colleagues, the use of which will (bonus!) begin progressively to degrade my cognitive skills and blunt the edge of the tool I’ve spent half a century honing. 🤨
Reposted by Charlie Stross
The headline is "GDR unveils reform package"
Since there is no alt text.
Since there is no alt text.
My annual post about how the Morning Star reported the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989
hatfulofhistory.com/2014/11/07/h...
hatfulofhistory.com/2014/11/07/h...
November 9, 2025 at 9:11 AM
The headline is "GDR unveils reform package"
Since there is no alt text.
Since there is no alt text.
Reposted by Charlie Stross
"The left will alway destroy itself with infighting whereas the right will always galvanise"
OK...MAGA is currently divided in to two factions: pro-Israel antisemites and anti-Israel antisemites. Pro-Israel MAGA is calling anti-Israel MAGA "Woke MAGA".
Trump has been President for under a year.
OK...MAGA is currently divided in to two factions: pro-Israel antisemites and anti-Israel antisemites. Pro-Israel MAGA is calling anti-Israel MAGA "Woke MAGA".
Trump has been President for under a year.
November 9, 2025 at 9:18 AM
"The left will alway destroy itself with infighting whereas the right will always galvanise"
OK...MAGA is currently divided in to two factions: pro-Israel antisemites and anti-Israel antisemites. Pro-Israel MAGA is calling anti-Israel MAGA "Woke MAGA".
Trump has been President for under a year.
OK...MAGA is currently divided in to two factions: pro-Israel antisemites and anti-Israel antisemites. Pro-Israel MAGA is calling anti-Israel MAGA "Woke MAGA".
Trump has been President for under a year.
Reposted by Charlie Stross
Pah. Leeds. Bloody Metropolitan elite. Try coming from Brighouse, then you'll know gloomy.
(We now need two more Yorkshirepersons to continue this)
(We now need two more Yorkshirepersons to continue this)
I am not a goth.
Okay, so I wear only black clothes, listen to The Sisters of Mercy and other goth bands a lot, and am generally gloomy, but I am not a goth!
I'm just from Leeds.
Okay, so I wear only black clothes, listen to The Sisters of Mercy and other goth bands a lot, and am generally gloomy, but I am not a goth!
I'm just from Leeds.
November 9, 2025 at 8:58 AM
Pah. Leeds. Bloody Metropolitan elite. Try coming from Brighouse, then you'll know gloomy.
(We now need two more Yorkshirepersons to continue this)
(We now need two more Yorkshirepersons to continue this)
Reposted by Charlie Stross
I'm convinced huge swathes of 70s and 80s source code will never be revealed because huge portions of them are disassemblies of other people's code. It was the way stuff was done then.
November 8, 2025 at 9:54 PM
I'm convinced huge swathes of 70s and 80s source code will never be revealed because huge portions of them are disassemblies of other people's code. It was the way stuff was done then.
I will note that the first CD player in my family was the one I bought on a trip to Hong Kong when I was 22 (it was half the price there). Portable Toshiba unit the size of an old mono cassette recorded, could run for an hour on six C-cell batteries, sounded like The Future With Lasers! In 1986.
November 8, 2025 at 9:41 PM
I will note that the first CD player in my family was the one I bought on a trip to Hong Kong when I was 22 (it was half the price there). Portable Toshiba unit the size of an old mono cassette recorded, could run for an hour on six C-cell batteries, sounded like The Future With Lasers! In 1986.
Reposted by Charlie Stross
We joke about the Torment Nexus and all that, but...
The truth is science fiction warned us endlessly not to let fear control us.
"Fear is the mind killer"
"Fear is a path to the Dark Side"
etc.
Silicon Valley claimed to love SF, then built a machine to amplify fear as a means to control people.
The truth is science fiction warned us endlessly not to let fear control us.
"Fear is the mind killer"
"Fear is a path to the Dark Side"
etc.
Silicon Valley claimed to love SF, then built a machine to amplify fear as a means to control people.
November 8, 2025 at 7:49 PM
We joke about the Torment Nexus and all that, but...
The truth is science fiction warned us endlessly not to let fear control us.
"Fear is the mind killer"
"Fear is a path to the Dark Side"
etc.
Silicon Valley claimed to love SF, then built a machine to amplify fear as a means to control people.
The truth is science fiction warned us endlessly not to let fear control us.
"Fear is the mind killer"
"Fear is a path to the Dark Side"
etc.
Silicon Valley claimed to love SF, then built a machine to amplify fear as a means to control people.
I have never done (9) (it's anti-social), (13) (Blockbuster never operated in my country), or (20) (those things were *expensive*).
I am teh oldz.
I am teh oldz.
November 8, 2025 at 6:30 PM
I have never done (9) (it's anti-social), (13) (Blockbuster never operated in my country), or (20) (those things were *expensive*).
I am teh oldz.
I am teh oldz.
Reposted by Charlie Stross
Welcome to target. If you are neurodivergent we will fire you
November 7, 2025 at 8:18 PM
Welcome to target. If you are neurodivergent we will fire you
Target corporate are trying to GUARANTEE a 100% watertight boycott by autistic customers, aren't they?
"Store employees are now required to smile if they are within 10 feet of a shopper.
They also must make eye contact with and wave to or greet the customer.
If they’re within four feet, the employee should ask how the customer’s day is going or if they need help."
🙄 Won't stop the boycott, y'all.
They also must make eye contact with and wave to or greet the customer.
If they’re within four feet, the employee should ask how the customer’s day is going or if they need help."
🙄 Won't stop the boycott, y'all.
Target is now requiring its employees to smile more
As the holiday season fast approaches, Target is urging its employees to add a little more “jolly” to their work routine.
www.wilx.com
November 8, 2025 at 5:31 PM
Target corporate are trying to GUARANTEE a 100% watertight boycott by autistic customers, aren't they?