my employer should pay my dog for her contributions to my productivity.

the cool kids keep giving me swirlies and stuffing me in my locker but i just think of it as engagement

Did you know that Lego makes special kits for use in hospitals, for building models of MRI machines and radiotherapy suites, so that medics can use them to help explain scanning and treatment to children? Making the treatment process less frightening, especially if they're going to have to be in rooms with big scary machines. I saw one at the Science Museum back in May.
https://www.brusselstimes.com/170401/lego-set-makes-treatment-easier-for-child-cancer-patients-therapy-tom-depuydt
#Lego

*Looking for news of the weird* Oh, here we go:

Erling Haaland's image found on cocaine packages in Ecuador drug bust.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/world/articles/erling-haalands-image-found-cocaine-181913737.html

(boosts okay) SEEKING ADVICE FOR DRAWING FAT CATS, ESPECIALLY IN COMBAT SITUATIONS

I know there are some librarians on here following me, and I was ranting in a private group chat about how I feel about pulping of books for AI information, and a person who was not sold on my concerns told me "maybe you should talk to a librarian about that". And well, I have

But librarians of the fediverse, I know there are quite a few of you, feel free to weigh in: what are your thoughts on this, or other AI oriented subjects? Please elaborate!

“Whatever her cause of death is, one thing is certain: Hollywood failed to protect Hayden Panettiere. Hopefully, her death will serve as a reminder to the industry’s powers that be that young girls and women need to be heard, need to feel safe, and need to be shielded from its more sordid characters.”

https://variety.com/2026/film/news/hayden-panettiere-death-hollywood-sexual-predators-1236836037/

Notable U.S. Book releases tomorrow August 18, 2026:

Immortal Rose, Alexandra Bracken

The Calamities, Chuck Wendig

The Salt King, Natasha Pulley

God's Country, William Kent Krueger

📚️ 🇸🇾

Aleppo bookseller, 91, keeps city’s history alive with 1M books

🔗 https://www.turkiyetoday.com/lifestyle/aleppo-bookseller-91-keeps-citys-history-alive-with-1m-books-3226253

#Books #Bookstodon #Booksky #Aleppo #Syria

One thing I would encourage any reader to do is to be vocal about the works of any author that they enjoy.

We exist (in most cases just barely) in arguably one of the most challenging and competitive professions out there, and that requires positive word of mouth among readers.

#bookstodon #booktodon #readers #reading #books #readingcommunity

Post film festival screening reading break in the Filmhouse café-bar. I'm enjoying Nikita Gill's Styx even more than her Hekate (the feminist angle also feels even stronger here, no bad thing)

.

#books #livres #AmReading #bookstodon #mythology #NikitaGill #Styx

Right now I'm reading "Evolution's Rainbow - Diversity, Gender, and Sexuality in Nature and People" by Joan Roughgarden, and I love it ! If you're into nature, animals, and queerness (or if you're just curious about nature's diversity), I totally recommend it !! The author is a biologist and is also trans. 💚

#books #queer #biology #nonfiction #naturelovers

finished "everyone in my family has killed someone" this weekend. a perfectly serviceable murder mystery with a chatty narrator (something i don't usually like but is executed well here) and a fun meta frame.

recommend for fans of the genre. #books

Yet another reason for me to be disgusted with Amazon. Why am I not surprised?
https://www.404media.co/we-tracked-a-shipment-of-rare-books-it-ended-at-an-amazon-ai-training-facility/
#books #authors #writers #Amazon #DataPrivacy #AI #SurveillanceEconomy #DataScraping #CopyrightInfringement #PreserveCulture #AntiAmazon #AmazonSucks

AI companies look to the ocean as a place to put more data centres
https://theconversation.com/ai-companies-look-to-the-ocean-as-a-place-to-put-more-data-centers-289180

Depth charges anyone...?

Finished reading Katabasis. It was fine, but I wouldn't go out of your way for it.

Destroying all the world’s books is here to stay, so you better embrace it. If you don’t want to be left behind, you’d better go out there and destroy all the world’s books. If you have ethical concerns, just destroy a smaller bunch of local books.

(rant on) Seriously? Where do you want them to go? They pay off their house... no where to downsize to anyway. 🙄 (/rant off)

Once again, I woke up at 4AM to fill some containers with water. Scheduled water rationing means I won't have running water for the next two days.

The water coming out of the pipes is so warm. It feels unnatural. Unnerving.

I wonder how far away, how close, we really are to wet bulb temps.

And again, I dont blanket blame humans but capitalism. Billionaires. The Epstain class.

They kill us slowly so it is okay. They kill us slowly so it doesn't count as violence. It's just good business.

#mondayrandom10 songs

1) Children (Dream version), Robert Miles

2) Que' Onda Guero, Beck

3) Come Fly Away, Benny Benassi (Soha and Adam K remix, featuring Channing)

4) Fortune, The Glitch Mob

5) Me & U, Ultra DJs

6) Bring Your Love Down (Didn't I), Yazoo

7) I Have The Touch, Peter Gabriel

8) It Ain't What You Do, It's the Way That You Do It, Ban
nanarama & Fun Boy Three

9) A Fog Lit Street, Sp33fy M@n

10) Miracle, Blackmill