#WritersCoffeeClub 10/10. Do you have a guiding principle as a writer? What is it? (Or why not?)

Don't be boring.

#writing #writingCommunity

I have recently had a glimpse of the other side of this. One of my other colleagues is highly dependant on Claude for everything, and has been working with a couple of contract programmers on creating some new telescope automation software for a couple of their projects. I got asked to help a bit on the hardware side and came away low key horrified.

While the systems they had created mostly worked most of the time it was apparent that none of them had any idea how it worked and could not do anything new with it without getting Claude to do it for them. At one point I asked what I thought was a trivial question, "how do I see the serial numbers of the currently connected hardware?" and the answer was "I'll ask Claude." What followed was 10 minutes of the chatbot trying random stupid things with a running commentary of fake post-hoc justifications masquerading as a thought process until it by chance stumbled upon something that seemed to work and some numbers came out. I pointed out that a quicker check was needed, so Claude was prompted again and eventually spat out a shell script that appeared to do the same thing.

This brute force automated trial and error approach to producing software had produced some superficially impressive results in a short period of time, but the whole thing seemed incredible fragile, utterly dependant on continued unfettered access to Claude in perpetuity and completely unmaintainable otherwise.

I remain convinced that If you generate code by throwing-shit-at-the-wall-and-seeing-what-sticks at scale then the end result will inevitably be a big mess.

Wait, why isn't vibecoding called cuckoding instead? You're watching someone (something) else code your project instead of you

I’d like to invite you to vote in our Fantasy Band Poll

Singers: Second Round Match-Up #1
Annie Lennox v Beth Gibbons

Keep in mind that our fantasy band will cover songs from across the music spectrum, so please vote accordingly👇

#Music #PopMusic #RockMusic #Songs #Poll #SoulMusic #RockNRoll #1990s #1980s #1970s #1960s #1950s #FantasyBandPoll

I’d like to invite you to vote in our Fantasy Band Poll

Singers: Second Round Match-Up #2
Kate Bush v Patti Smith

Keep in mind that our fantasy band will cover songs from across the music spectrum, so please vote accordingly👇

#Music #PopMusic #RockMusic #Songs #Poll #SoulMusic #RockNRoll #1990s #1980s #1970s #1960s #1950s #FantasyBandPoll

I’d like to invite you to vote in our Fantasy Band Poll

Singers: Second Round Match-Up #3
Shirley Bassey v Bonnie Tyler

Keep in mind that our fantasy band will cover songs from across the music spectrum, so please vote accordingly👇

#Music #PopMusic #RockMusic #Songs #Poll #SoulMusic #RockNRoll #1990s #1980s #1970s #1960s #1950s #FantasyBandPoll

I’d like to invite you to vote in our Fantasy Band Poll

Singers: Second Round Match-Up #4
Paul McCartney v Stevie Wonder

Keep in mind that our fantasy band will cover songs from across the music spectrum, so please vote accordingly👇

#Music #PopMusic #RockMusic #Songs #Poll #SoulMusic #RockNRoll #1990s #1980s #1970s #1960s #1950s #FantasyBandPoll

I want to get an idea of how many people on Fedi have or have not seen Game of Thrones... so Please boost to increase the pool size!

Have you seen Game of Thrones? #GameOfThrones #Poll

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The newsletters aren't just about me and always include other book promotions. #action #fantasy #goodbooks #steampunk #adventure #readers #scifi #fedibookfair #mystery #reading #boost #amreading #newsletter (604f) https://www.subscribepage.com/voidships?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=mastodon

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The podiatrist said I have nice feet.

Nobody's ever said I have nice feet before.

Also there's nothing wrong with my foot or leg circulation.

Which is nice (especially when you're 68.)

And I have nice feet. (It may take me a while to get over this.)

No, I will not be posting a picture of my feet.

#WritersCoffeeClub 10/9. How does your own sense of mortality influence what you write?

It doesn't, I don't fear death - not that I want to pop-off, just to be clear, too much to do.

My characters do not dwell on death (at least, not very often).

#writing #writingCommunity

#ScribesAndMakers 10/9. Our next featured creator is a 'relentless optimist.' How full is your glass?

Overflowing. (See my curiously relevant #WritersCoffeeClub response.)

Also, this: https://mastodonapp.uk/@NaraMoore@sakurajima.moe/117408127559355954

How AI model collapse works in real time.

Technically, I describe the problem here

https://www.theregister.com/software/2025/05/27/ai-model-collapse-is-not-what-we-paid-for/1505941

Or you could just watch this video.

‘Might have just been an innocent bystander, sir,’ said Carrot
‘What, in Ankh-Morpork?’
‘Yes, sir.’
‘We should have grabbed him, then, just for the rarity value.’
(Guards Guards)

#TerryPratchett #quotes #quote #bot

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#WritersCoffeeClub 10/8: "Tell us about someone who supports you on the sidelines."

Sarai Pahla, a woman who immigrated to Germany from South Africa. We have been friends for more than a decade now. As she is a translator for Japanese medical texts, she understands the field of #translation very well. And she is always delighted when I share some of the German folk tales I translate with her, or tell her about other other German cultural or historical tidbits.

This is a bit of a long shot, but given the vagaries of the translation business, she is currently trying to build a new business in medical #regulatory affairs. If you have any useful connections or knowledge in that field, please look her up on LinkedIn!

https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarai-pahla

Today's #TheMuppetShow GIF of the Day is...