Elizabeth Porter Birdsall
@epbirdsall.bsky.social
Currently not doing much with this but that might change! Writer, FR>EN translator, general nerd about town. Same username in various realname-y places.
Reposted by Elizabeth Porter Birdsall
This essay about Cinder House is definitely the most vulnerable, personal thing I've ever written; it took me over a year to get to the point where I wanted to tell this particular story. Thanks to @booktrib.bsky.social for giving it a home! 🏠🔥
booktrib.com/2025/11/18/h...
booktrib.com/2025/11/18/h...
Housing the Heroine in “Cinder House” | BookTrib.
If you asked me today, and if you'd asked me two years ago, I'd tell you I'm very fond of my house. It's nothing special. It's a townhouse surrounded by other townhouses that look just like it, formin...
booktrib.com
November 18, 2025 at 10:31 PM
This essay about Cinder House is definitely the most vulnerable, personal thing I've ever written; it took me over a year to get to the point where I wanted to tell this particular story. Thanks to @booktrib.bsky.social for giving it a home! 🏠🔥
booktrib.com/2025/11/18/h...
booktrib.com/2025/11/18/h...
my beautiful wife, handing me this month's book club book, which happens to be by Ursula Le Guin: "what about DEEZ... possesseds"
November 14, 2025 at 4:26 AM
my beautiful wife, handing me this month's book club book, which happens to be by Ursula Le Guin: "what about DEEZ... possesseds"
Reposted by Elizabeth Porter Birdsall
oooh. Bookmarking this! "How to turn off AI tools in Apple, Google, Microsoft, and more." Step-by-step instructions from Consumer Reports.
How to Turn Off AI Tools Like Gemini, Apple Intelligence, Copilot, and More via @ConsumerReports
AI features are crowding into Google search, Gmail, iPhones, Windows laptops, and other products. If you're suffering from AI overload, these settings can help.
www.consumerreports.org
October 15, 2025 at 8:53 PM
oooh. Bookmarking this! "How to turn off AI tools in Apple, Google, Microsoft, and more." Step-by-step instructions from Consumer Reports.
Reposted by Elizabeth Porter Birdsall
I get that the news cycle is packed right now, but I just heard from a colleague at the Smithsonian that this is fully a GIANT SQUID BEING EATEN BY A SPERM WHALE and it’s possibly the first ever confirmed video according to a friend at NOAA
10 YEAR OLD ME IS LOSING HER MIND (a thread 🧵)
10 YEAR OLD ME IS LOSING HER MIND (a thread 🧵)
September 24, 2025 at 8:30 PM
I get that the news cycle is packed right now, but I just heard from a colleague at the Smithsonian that this is fully a GIANT SQUID BEING EATEN BY A SPERM WHALE and it’s possibly the first ever confirmed video according to a friend at NOAA
10 YEAR OLD ME IS LOSING HER MIND (a thread 🧵)
10 YEAR OLD ME IS LOSING HER MIND (a thread 🧵)
Reposted by Elizabeth Porter Birdsall
Hey authors, the official list of Anthropic works is available for searching.
secure.anthropiccopyrightsettlement.com/lookup
secure.anthropiccopyrightsettlement.com/lookup
Submit a Claim
secure.anthropiccopyrightsettlement.com
October 2, 2025 at 1:29 AM
Hey authors, the official list of Anthropic works is available for searching.
secure.anthropiccopyrightsettlement.com/lookup
secure.anthropiccopyrightsettlement.com/lookup
In other news, an easy fast to anyone dating tomorrow, and if you're observing Yom Kippur with or without fasting, may it be meaningful ❤️
October 1, 2025 at 9:55 PM
In other news, an easy fast to anyone dating tomorrow, and if you're observing Yom Kippur with or without fasting, may it be meaningful ❤️
I'm not someone who's usually much affected by the deaths of famous people I don't know, but the news today of Jane Goodall's #death hit hard. Dying at 91 of natural causes after a long life well and energetically lived is pretty much all one can ask, but still.
October 1, 2025 at 9:39 PM
I'm not someone who's usually much affected by the deaths of famous people I don't know, but the news today of Jane Goodall's #death hit hard. Dying at 91 of natural causes after a long life well and energetically lived is pretty much all one can ask, but still.
Reposted by Elizabeth Porter Birdsall
I don't object to this new feature existing as I'm sure filtering out unknown languages improves the experience for a lot of people, but I loathe that it was turned on for me by default.
IMPORTANT PSA: You will NOT see posts from non English speaking artists if your content language is set to English!
Make sure it's *unset*!!! If you're following Chinese artists or whatever and wonder why their posts never show up on your feed this is why!
Make sure it's *unset*!!! If you're following Chinese artists or whatever and wonder why their posts never show up on your feed this is why!
September 29, 2025 at 10:24 PM
I don't object to this new feature existing as I'm sure filtering out unknown languages improves the experience for a lot of people, but I loathe that it was turned on for me by default.
CAN'T WAIT
Coming in October 2025: CINDER HOUSE, a queer Gothic retelling of Cinderella in which our titular character is a very frustrated ghost! 🔥 Fire, skeletons, fairies, intense epistolary friendships, and lots of feelings about ballet.
Preorder US - bit.ly/CH-buyUS
Preorder UK - bit.ly/CH-buyUK
Preorder US - bit.ly/CH-buyUS
Preorder UK - bit.ly/CH-buyUK
September 15, 2025 at 12:54 PM
CAN'T WAIT
I hate vulture capitalism and I hate everything about this but fyi, sewing friends
the big 4 sewing pattern brands are being sold off for parts. if you want patterns, get them *now*.
(if you're secretly a zillionaire who likes sewing patterns, call the liquidator immediately with your chequebook)
craftindustryalliance.org/parent-compa...
(if you're secretly a zillionaire who likes sewing patterns, call the liquidator immediately with your chequebook)
craftindustryalliance.org/parent-compa...
Parent Company of the Big 4 Sewing Pattern Brands Sold to a Liquidator - Craft Industry Alliance
The legacy sewing pattern brands Simplicity, Butterick, McCalls, and Vogue, commonly referred to as the Big 4, have been sold to a liquidator.
craftindustryalliance.org
September 1, 2025 at 6:35 PM
I hate vulture capitalism and I hate everything about this but fyi, sewing friends
Reposted by Elizabeth Porter Birdsall
Quit doomscrolling and come watch Crunchyroll get their ass handed to them in the comments of this innocuous-seeming post! It's a good time for everyone!
Share a piece of anime lore that lives rent-free in your head.
August 28, 2025 at 3:47 PM
Quit doomscrolling and come watch Crunchyroll get their ass handed to them in the comments of this innocuous-seeming post! It's a good time for everyone!
it was a genuinely fascinating double header! both extremely fun but VERY different takes on the music industry, lol
the last two pieces of media we watched were, respectively, KPop Demon Hunters and the last two episodes of We Are Lady Parts. in the words of @epbirdsall.bsky.social, really funny accidental wine pairing
August 26, 2025 at 3:53 AM
it was a genuinely fascinating double header! both extremely fun but VERY different takes on the music industry, lol
Reposted by Elizabeth Porter Birdsall
She doesn’t need a hero, she is the hero we need. 🤩
August 17, 2025 at 4:41 PM
She doesn’t need a hero, she is the hero we need. 🤩
Reposted by Elizabeth Porter Birdsall
Every award ceremony should have this.
A few logistical notes to consider for future Hugo ceremonies:
It wouldn't be a bad idea for future Hugos to invest in a trained transcriptionist at $60/hr or whatever rather than relying on risible autocapture.
Some of these folks type 120 wpm with exceptional accuracy.
It wouldn't be a bad idea for future Hugos to invest in a trained transcriptionist at $60/hr or whatever rather than relying on risible autocapture.
Some of these folks type 120 wpm with exceptional accuracy.
August 17, 2025 at 3:16 PM
Every award ceremony should have this.
Reposted by Elizabeth Porter Birdsall
Congratulations to all of the #HugoAward finalists and winners!!
Hugo, Lodestar, and Astounding Awards Winners
The winners of the Hugo Awards, the Astounding Award for Best New Writer, and the Lodestar Award for Best Young Adult Book were announced on August 16, 2025 by Seattle Worldcon 2025, the 83rd World…
locusmag.com
August 17, 2025 at 5:56 AM
Congratulations to all of the #HugoAward finalists and winners!!
Congrats again to all the Hugo nominees, and HUGE CONGRATS to all the Hugo winners!!
...And extra huge congrats to Emily Tesh and my beautiful wife Rebecca Fraimow for HUGO-WINNING BEST FANCAST podcast Eight Days of Diana Wynne Jones!!!
...And extra huge congrats to Emily Tesh and my beautiful wife Rebecca Fraimow for HUGO-WINNING BEST FANCAST podcast Eight Days of Diana Wynne Jones!!!
August 17, 2025 at 3:20 PM
Congrats again to all the Hugo nominees, and HUGE CONGRATS to all the Hugo winners!!
...And extra huge congrats to Emily Tesh and my beautiful wife Rebecca Fraimow for HUGO-WINNING BEST FANCAST podcast Eight Days of Diana Wynne Jones!!!
...And extra huge congrats to Emily Tesh and my beautiful wife Rebecca Fraimow for HUGO-WINNING BEST FANCAST podcast Eight Days of Diana Wynne Jones!!!
Courtesy of catsitter friend, please behold Mina when she sneaks up behind you on the bed and judges you for not playing with the string toy already
August 13, 2025 at 4:59 PM
Courtesy of catsitter friend, please behold Mina when she sneaks up behind you on the bed and judges you for not playing with the string toy already
#uspolitics The direct line to the HHS secretary's office is 202-690-7000, as mentioned in a reply this; I just called and left a polite but emphatic voicemail about RFK Jr's horrific decision about mRNA vaccine research funding. Let's give 'em hell about this.
RFK Jr. backs down all the time when he gets push back, so if anyone wants to call, here's the HHS number 1-877-696-6775.
I'd also call your senators/reps as well.
I'd also call your senators/reps as well.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announces he will cancel $500 million in vaccine development projects.
August 6, 2025 at 3:13 AM
#uspolitics The direct line to the HHS secretary's office is 202-690-7000, as mentioned in a reply this; I just called and left a polite but emphatic voicemail about RFK Jr's horrific decision about mRNA vaccine research funding. Let's give 'em hell about this.
I was complaining to/with friends about how I'd like a number-go-up kind of challenge to get me to walk more but I don't want my data auto-synced to a corporation about it! I just want a step counter! Not to be a health tracking surveillance big data point!
August 5, 2025 at 6:05 PM
I was complaining to/with friends about how I'd like a number-go-up kind of challenge to get me to walk more but I don't want my data auto-synced to a corporation about it! I just want a step counter! Not to be a health tracking surveillance big data point!
Reposted by Elizabeth Porter Birdsall
LOOK AT HER! THIS IS THE VISION!!! the bubble skirt and big faux-innocent eyes .... thank you so much @sqbr.bsky.social, I'm in love with this
#fanart of Ruthi from @rebeccafraimow.bsky.social's "Lady Eve's Last Con", playing the innocent ingenue and about to have her schemes wrecked by the hottest butch this side of Pluto.
August 3, 2025 at 4:09 AM
LOOK AT HER! THIS IS THE VISION!!! the bubble skirt and big faux-innocent eyes .... thank you so much @sqbr.bsky.social, I'm in love with this
Really enjoyed this perspective!
This week on Planetside…
“Translating Speculative Fiction into a Language with Many Dialects” by @jdharlock.bsky.social shows us how to translate tech jargon and alien lore into a language spoken in hundreds of forms. Part of Perspectives in Translation.
Read at www.sfwa.org/2025/07/29/t...
“Translating Speculative Fiction into a Language with Many Dialects” by @jdharlock.bsky.social shows us how to translate tech jargon and alien lore into a language spoken in hundreds of forms. Part of Perspectives in Translation.
Read at www.sfwa.org/2025/07/29/t...
July 29, 2025 at 8:58 PM
Really enjoyed this perspective!
Reposted by Elizabeth Porter Birdsall
July 23, 2025 at 12:36 PM
omg I'M STOKED
AMAZING NEWS!
apple tv has just announced a NEW pleistocene-focused series of #prehistoricplanet! streaming on november 26th
apple tv has just announced a NEW pleistocene-focused series of #prehistoricplanet! streaming on november 26th
July 29, 2025 at 5:47 PM
omg I'M STOKED
I have one (1) go-to digital preservation joke but staying funny means making it lots of times in lots of locations--
"Lots Of Starlings Keep Stuff Safe" -- my very funny wife @epbirdsall.bsky.social who has heard me give the basic digipres spiel far too many times
Holy shit. This guy saved a PNG to a bird.
(he drew a bird into a spectrogram, played that sound to a starling, and the starling reproduced it back to him with enough accuracy he got his bird drawing back in their call's spectrogram) www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCQC...
(he drew a bird into a spectrogram, played that sound to a starling, and the starling reproduced it back to him with enough accuracy he got his bird drawing back in their call's spectrogram) www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCQC...
July 28, 2025 at 5:38 PM
I have one (1) go-to digital preservation joke but staying funny means making it lots of times in lots of locations--
Reposted by Elizabeth Porter Birdsall
I never thought to see something like this in my lifetime, what a profound joy
Well, I'll be damned.
It's royalty free and there's already six, generic manufacturers lined up.
newatlas.com/infectious-d...
It's royalty free and there's already six, generic manufacturers lined up.
newatlas.com/infectious-d...
The first 100% effective HIV prevention drug is approved and going global
An epidemic that's been sustained for 44 years might finally be quelled, with the milestone approval of the first HIV drug that offers 100% protection with its twice-yearly injections. It's a landmark...
newatlas.com
July 28, 2025 at 2:59 AM
I never thought to see something like this in my lifetime, what a profound joy