Controversial Dilbert cartoonist Scott Adams dies aged 68
Jan. 13th, 2026 05:38 pm![[syndicated profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/feed.png){kind=small}
bbcnewsworld_feedHis ex-wife announced his death on Tuesday during a live stream of his podcast.
bbcnewsworld_feedLe Pen blames European Parliament in appeal that could decide political fate
Jan. 13th, 2026 05:34 pmbbcnewsworld_feed"We had no sense of having committed an offence," France's far-right leader tells an appeal to overturn a ban from contesting the next election.
Republicans vow to hold Bill Clinton in contempt as he skips Epstein testimony
Jan. 13th, 2026 06:51 pmbbcnewsworld_feedThe former president didn't show up on Tuesday to testify before a committee investigating Epstein, saying its subpoena wasn't enforceable
Bowen: Authoritarian regimes die gradually then suddenly, but Iran is not there yet
Jan. 13th, 2026 04:47 pmbbcnewsworld_feedThe regime's opponents will hope for more pressure to accelerate the process, writes the BBC's international editor.
Book notes
Jan. 13th, 2026 05:45 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
heleninwalesI said I'd post about books I've been reading, so here we go. Libriomancer by Jim C. Hines.
I really wanted to like this, but having got half way through, I've put it aside. Though the way the magic works is really cool, I had a couple of problems with it.
A libriomancer can use magic to pull items out of books into the real world. The main character, Isaac Vaino used to be a field agent, but now, after burning out on active service, is a librarian with a pet fire spider which originally came from a book. The book starts in media res to the extent that I actually checked that it really was book 1 in the series. There was a lot of back story piled into the first chapters that I don't think we actually needed to know until it became relevant. But my main turnoff was a) the vampires and b) Isaac doesn't seem to be able to meet anyone without ending up in a fight. Unfortunately I just don't like vampire stories. That's a me thing and anyone who was more vampire tolerant might well enjoy this book. However, every interaction ending up as a fight to the death felt like overuse of the "there must be conflict" advice. To say the book was fast paced was an understatement. The plot felt rather frenzied.
Having said all that, I may return to the book and finish it at another time. One reason for putting it aside was that it wasn't suiting my present mood, which at this time of year tends to be a bit dismal. The constant frenzied action felt jarring. Instead I've started reading Still Waters by E. C. R Lorac, a writer I very much enjoy. She writes mysteries and is more or less a contemporary of Agatha Christie, but IMHO write much more interesting stories. More about this book when I've finished reading it.
I really wanted to like this, but having got half way through, I've put it aside. Though the way the magic works is really cool, I had a couple of problems with it.
A libriomancer can use magic to pull items out of books into the real world. The main character, Isaac Vaino used to be a field agent, but now, after burning out on active service, is a librarian with a pet fire spider which originally came from a book. The book starts in media res to the extent that I actually checked that it really was book 1 in the series. There was a lot of back story piled into the first chapters that I don't think we actually needed to know until it became relevant. But my main turnoff was a) the vampires and b) Isaac doesn't seem to be able to meet anyone without ending up in a fight. Unfortunately I just don't like vampire stories. That's a me thing and anyone who was more vampire tolerant might well enjoy this book. However, every interaction ending up as a fight to the death felt like overuse of the "there must be conflict" advice. To say the book was fast paced was an understatement. The plot felt rather frenzied.
Having said all that, I may return to the book and finish it at another time. One reason for putting it aside was that it wasn't suiting my present mood, which at this time of year tends to be a bit dismal. The constant frenzied action felt jarring. Instead I've started reading Still Waters by E. C. R Lorac, a writer I very much enjoy. She writes mysteries and is more or less a contemporary of Agatha Christie, but IMHO write much more interesting stories. More about this book when I've finished reading it.
Researchers did a test for possibly beaming power from space!
Jan. 13th, 2026 10:22 amthewayneBaby steps first!
This test involved a Cessna turboprop flying at 5,000 meters in cross-winds of up to 70 knots - a bit bumpy! - and it successfully beamed power from the plane to ground-based receivers using wide-field infra-red light. It's low-density energy compared to microwave power, but it also isn't remotely dangerous in case the targeting system of the transmitter is compromised and used to hammer something other than the receiver!
There have been other demonstrations, CalTech did one a few years ago, this is the first using a moving platform against ground targets, which I think was a microwave test. But a really big problem with microwave? Radio spectrum. It's all allocated for 5G wireless and lots of other things. Infra-red light? Doesn't have bandwidth allocation issues.
Interesting stuff.
https://spectrum.ieee.org/wireless-power-movin-airplane
This test involved a Cessna turboprop flying at 5,000 meters in cross-winds of up to 70 knots - a bit bumpy! - and it successfully beamed power from the plane to ground-based receivers using wide-field infra-red light. It's low-density energy compared to microwave power, but it also isn't remotely dangerous in case the targeting system of the transmitter is compromised and used to hammer something other than the receiver!
There have been other demonstrations, CalTech did one a few years ago, this is the first using a moving platform against ground targets, which I think was a microwave test. But a really big problem with microwave? Radio spectrum. It's all allocated for 5G wireless and lots of other things. Infra-red light? Doesn't have bandwidth allocation issues.
Interesting stuff.
https://spectrum.ieee.org/wireless-power-movin-airplane
icanhascheezburger_feedSometimes, we don't need to go looking for our cats. Our cats find us.
It always happens in the most unexpected ways. You may think that you are not ready for a cat, that it's not the right timing, not the right situation, not the right cat. But it always is. When a cat chooses you, it doesn't matter what you think about the situation. At the end of the day, the cat knows, and the cat makes you their home whether you expected it or not. That is what happened to the person in this story.
This poor freezing kitten was surrendered to a vet clinic. We don't know the circumstances, we don't know who had her before, and it doesn't matter. Whoever it was - it wasn't her human. It wasn't the human that she chose for herself. Her human was waiting for her at the clinic. Her human is one whose cat crossed the rainbow bridge barely a year ago - a cat who looked just like her. This person wasn't ready, but the cat knew that it was time. The cat knew that the cat-shaped hole in their hearts needed to be filled right meow.
Microsoft says it will pay the full energy costs for its new AI datacenters!
Jan. 13th, 2026 10:13 amthewayneIt also will not seek any tax abatements or incentives.
Well, that's one heck of a move!
MS has a new "Community First" initiative where it is paying the full costs of its data centers, which will cause no increase in costs for area residents. They have taken tax abatements in the past, that apparently will end. There's a lot of hate for the big tech companies right now, and justly so: "In data‑center hubs such as Virginia, Illinois and Ohio, residential power prices jumped 12–16% over the past year — noticeably faster than the U.S. average, according to U.S. government data — as grid operators scrambled to add capacity for large new facilities."
A certain moron last night spilled the news on his private social media platform and said that his administration is talking to the other major tech platforms about them taking responsibility to eat their own costs, as they should, we shall see what happens. They certainly have the money, but as we've seen so often in the past, it's always been 'privatize the profits, socialize the costs'.
https://www.geekwire.com/2026/microsoft-responds-to-ai-data-center-revolt-vowing-to-cover-full-power-costs-and-reject-local-tax-breaks/
https://it.slashdot.org/story/26/01/13/146211/microsoft-pledges-full-power-costs-no-tax-breaks-in-response-to-ai-data-center-backlash
Well, that's one heck of a move!
MS has a new "Community First" initiative where it is paying the full costs of its data centers, which will cause no increase in costs for area residents. They have taken tax abatements in the past, that apparently will end. There's a lot of hate for the big tech companies right now, and justly so: "In data‑center hubs such as Virginia, Illinois and Ohio, residential power prices jumped 12–16% over the past year — noticeably faster than the U.S. average, according to U.S. government data — as grid operators scrambled to add capacity for large new facilities."
A certain moron last night spilled the news on his private social media platform and said that his administration is talking to the other major tech platforms about them taking responsibility to eat their own costs, as they should, we shall see what happens. They certainly have the money, but as we've seen so often in the past, it's always been 'privatize the profits, socialize the costs'.
https://www.geekwire.com/2026/microsoft-responds-to-ai-data-center-revolt-vowing-to-cover-full-power-costs-and-reject-local-tax-breaks/
https://it.slashdot.org/story/26/01/13/146211/microsoft-pledges-full-power-costs-no-tax-breaks-in-response-to-ai-data-center-backlash
Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal - Consent
Jan. 13th, 2026 11:20 amsmbc_comics_feed
Click here to go see the bonus panel!
Hovertext:
Wonder Woman is the only superhero comfortable enough to incorporate her kinks into the costume.
Today's News:
multifandom icons.
Jan. 13th, 2026 07:05 pmwickedgame posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
iconsFandoms: 9-1-1, Cobra Kai, Crazy Handsome Rich, Dead Boy Detectives, Heated Rivalry, Legend of the Seeker, Maxton Hall, Ransom Canyon, Stay By My Side
rest HERE @mundodefieras
rest HERE @
mundodefieras Sometimes things actually work
Jan. 13th, 2026 04:39 pmoursinAt least, I found a whole foods supplier which had - among other things like wheatbran which looked like it would not be like the sawdusty stuff Ocado have lately been purveying under that name - things like Medium Oatmeal! Wheatgerm! and POMEGRANATE VINEGAR!!! which I have been complaining everywhere were No Can Haz. Also kasha (I did have kasha but on recently examining the package found that its BBF was way back last summer).
And conveyed to me with remarkable expedition even if I didn't pony up for the expedite delivery option.
Slight whinge at DPD for just leaving it on the step and not even ringing the bell.
Also, I discovered that my library card for Former Workplace expired several years ago. On emailing about renewal (as I have a need to Go In and Consult Things) got a next day response saying they can renew if I send in scan of appropriate ID and address verification, and pick up card when I go in.
This somewhat makes up for:
a) the two reviews I did last year which still sit in limbo with the relevant editors.
b) the two feelers put out for books to review, ditto, such that I am hesitant to put out another for a different book to a different journal in case I end up yet again with stack of books for review.
c) local history society which I contacted last year apropos 2 volumes of its proceedings which are Relevant to My Interests and which after some initially encouraging response has gone silent.
Am still miffed about either inadvertently deleting or not being sent Zoom link for the last Dance to the Music of Time discussion.
and am baffled by the ongoing situation 'The server is taking too long to respond' of the Mastodon instance I frequent, which has now pertained for nearly 5 days.
2026.01.13
Jan. 13th, 2026 10:48 amlsandersonICE enforcement: Via MinnPost
–The federal government has made more than 2,000 arrests in Minnesota in the immigration enforcement surge that began this month, MPR reports. Federal officials did not say how many people face deportation or provide other details.
https://www.mprnews.org/story/2026/01/12/latest-monday-on-ice-shooting-in-minneapolis
-Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara criticized ICE tactics in an interview with the New York Times, the Star Tribune reports. On the Times’ “The Daily” podcast, O’Hara said the shooting death last week of Renee Good by an ICE agent was “predictable and entirely preventable.”
https://www.startribune.com/in-new-york-times-interview-minneapolis-police-chief-brian-ohara-rails-against-ice-tactics/601562616
-A video captured ICE agents ramming a door and pushing their way inside a home to arrest a man in the Twin Cities. The AP report says a document agents that handed to a woman in the house is different than a warrant signed by a judge and does not authorize forced entry into a private residence.
https://www.twincities.com/2026/01/11/video-captures-minneapolis-immigration-arrest-in-a-city-on-edge-after-shooting-of-renee-good/ ( Read more... )
–The federal government has made more than 2,000 arrests in Minnesota in the immigration enforcement surge that began this month, MPR reports. Federal officials did not say how many people face deportation or provide other details.
https://www.mprnews.org/story/2026/01/12/latest-monday-on-ice-shooting-in-minneapolis
-Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara criticized ICE tactics in an interview with the New York Times, the Star Tribune reports. On the Times’ “The Daily” podcast, O’Hara said the shooting death last week of Renee Good by an ICE agent was “predictable and entirely preventable.”
https://www.startribune.com/in-new-york-times-interview-minneapolis-police-chief-brian-ohara-rails-against-ice-tactics/601562616
-A video captured ICE agents ramming a door and pushing their way inside a home to arrest a man in the Twin Cities. The AP report says a document agents that handed to a woman in the house is different than a warrant signed by a judge and does not authorize forced entry into a private residence.
https://www.twincities.com/2026/01/11/video-captures-minneapolis-immigration-arrest-in-a-city-on-edge-after-shooting-of-renee-good/ ( Read more... )
(no subject)
Jan. 13th, 2026 11:37 pmmichifuguJust finished my endoscopy!
I ended up tired and sleeping without realizing I woke up at midnight (I sleep at 7 pm)
thankfully, there's nothing bad and just good ol' gerd.
I ended up tired and sleeping without realizing I woke up at midnight (I sleep at 7 pm)
thankfully, there's nothing bad and just good ol' gerd.
NS: "Dilbert" creator Scott Adams dies
Jan. 13th, 2026 11:37 amcygnia posting in scans_dailyhttps://www.dailycartoonist.com/index.php/2026/01/13/scott-adams-rip/
https://www.rawstory.com/scott-adams-2674879009/
"Scott Adams, the conservative creator of the Dilbert comic strip, has died at the age of 68.
https://www.rawstory.com/scott-adams-2674879009/
"Scott Adams, the conservative creator of the Dilbert comic strip, has died at the age of 68.
Earlier this year, Adams announced that he had been approved for the drug Pluvicto to treat metastasized prostate cancer. His death was confirmed on his Rumble video site.
"But they have dropped the ball in scheduling the brief IV to administer it, and I can't seem to fix that. I am declining fast," Adams wrote earlier this month. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told Adams that President Donald Trump wanted to help overcome his difficulties with an insurance company."
Оливер Кромвель-2
Sep. 24th, 2024 06:34 pmmirrinminttuВ Или Кромвелю мирно не жилось. Поскольку согласно его воззрениям общение между Богом и человеком не требовало церемоний, он стал ругаться из-за проведения церемоний со служителями кафедрала, который был буквально за стеной, при этом оставаясь для пылкого пуританина пустым местом. Поскольку он ненавидел несправедливость, он ввязался в довольно скандальное дело об осушении Фенских болот (заболоченной низинной равнины на границе Восточной Англии и Мидлендса, расположенной к югу и западу от бухты Уош).
( Read more... )
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Оливер Кромвель-1
Sep. 14th, 2024 06:32 pmmirrinminttuМало кому пришлось умереть дважды и быть казненным после смерти. Кромвелю это удалось, как удалось и многое другое, противоречащее здравому смыслу. В конфликте парламентаристов и роялистов, приведшем Англию к состоянию гражданской войны в 1640-х, фаворитов у меня нет. Обе стороны внесли в него свою неприятную лепту, и ни одна не была в своих действиях высокоморальна (впрочем, мораль и гражданская война фатально далеки друг от друга). Но тот, кто мог визуально увидеть тот разор и уничтожение национальной культуры, который был осуществлен под руководством и с одобрения Оливера Кромвеля, поймет, почему я ненавижу его страстно. Тем не менее, для общей эрудиции попробую кратко разобраться, как этот человек, считавший себя честным и праведным, дошел до такого вандализма, что его современник прокомментировал пышнейшие и шумнейшие похороны Лорда-Протектора словами: "Самые веселые из похорон, которые я видел. На них не плакал никто, кроме собак".
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Викторианское Рождество
Dec. 21st, 2025 06:27 pmmirrinminttuДо правления королевы Виктории, которое началось в 1837, бедняжка Англия как-то обходилась без Санта-Клауса, рождественских открыток и хлопушек. Всем хватало диковинного микса язычества и христианства в украшениях и обрядах, да вкусной еды. Особенно после того, как в кромвелевские времена Рождество было подчеркнуто под запретом празднования с весельем. Георгианская эпоха праздники реанимировала, а Виктория решила добавить в происходящее размаха и пользы. Она-то елку посещала и раньше - супруга Георга III, королева Шарлотта Мекленбург-Стрелицкая, наряжала ее неукоснительно, но всеобщей модой это как-то не стало. Тем не менее, позднее она говорила, что идея принести праздник и чувство ожидания чуда в каждый дом - это была общая их с Альбертом мечта, родом из их детства. Так что в 1843 году принц Альберт поставил елку в Виндзоре, газеты тут же растиражировали сцену с королевским семейством около этой ёлки, и начало новому праздничному ритуалу было положено.
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Оливер Кромвель-22
Dec. 16th, 2025 06:24 pmmirrinminttuОт привычной для большинства парламентариев армии новая армия отличалась тем, что солдаты в ней были приучены думать и осмысливать. Нет, многие из солдат с превеликим удовольствием забрали бы свое жалование и вернулись бы к тому, от чего их несколько лет назад оторвали, но очень многие - нет. Они изменились. С самого начала "железнобокие" были солдатами, чья адаптация в армии и мотивация к борьбе были густо приправлены религиозными проповедями и рассуждениями о вещах весьма глобальных. Тогда с ними работали проповедники, и эти проповедники свое дело знали, иначе их никто и слушать бы не стал. Потом, буквально после первых военных действий, проповедники вернулись к мирной жизни и своим прихожанам, и работа по осмысливанию происходящего в частности и жизни вообще легла на самих солдат. Интересно, что эти духовные междусобойчики создали не фанатизм и нетерпимость, а известную толерантность ко взглядам друг друга - вспомним разброс убеждений среди командиров полка самого Кромвеля.
Солдат-пуританин проповедует
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Солдат-пуританин проповедует
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