@cstross__dup_483@wandering.shop

Charlie Stross @cstross__dup_483@wandering.shop

· 6mo ago

SF STORY PREMISE:

SETI program decodes an alien signal clearly targeting us.

Hi! We see you're still facing the Great Filter! We want to help! Based on your anatomy per broadcasts we decoded, here is a blueprint for a device that will solve your problem!

Humans: decode blueprint.

It's for an improved guillotine.

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Charlie Stross @cstross__dup_483@wandering.shop

· 6mo ago

RE: https://vox.ominous.net/@occult/116103841606429399

I miss the future.

vox.ominous.net

occult: "Computing in the year 2029 as depicted in UNIX WO…" - OMINOUS NETWORKS

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Charlie Stross @cstross__dup_483@wandering.shop

· 6mo ago

RE: https://infosec.exchange/@bontchev/116271481696841313 Oh good grief, this summary is both farcical and tragic: also, Trump has fucked air travel for at least the next two years, never mind automobiles and logistics. The supply chain shock will get as bad as 2022 within a couple of months—then keep getting worse.

infosec.exchange

VessOnSecurity: "This is a hilarious commentary on the US/Israeli …" - Infosec Exchange

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Charlie Stross @cstross__dup_483@wandering.shop

· 6mo ago

RE: https://infosec.exchange/@jerry/116242195809861609 I know what—I have an even worse business plan! Why don't we build all our new fission reactors IN SPAAACE? That way we'll be safe from the radiation and any meltdowns! Also me: I am a teapot, short and stout: this is my handle and this is my spout … /s

Quoting

Scary "Grampus" Jerry 👻

@jerry@infosec.exchange

I’m catching up on the news today and see that Nvidia forecasts $1T in GPU sales over the next 18 months. That is crazy. I don’t know how that works at any level.

Also on the nvidia news front, they are making a version of the gpu for orbital datacenters. Now I’ve been around for a long, long time and I’ve heard some pretty dumb ideas in that time, and I feel like orbital datacenters is at least in the top 10.

Open quoted post

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Charlie Stross @cstross__dup_483@wandering.shop

· 6mo ago

RE: https://mastodon.me.uk/@pikesley/116244381124234374 Marc Andreessen is proof that p-zombies exist: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophical_zombie

mastodon.me.uk

Chamfered Tetrahedron: "Psychopaths https://bsky.app/profile/moreperfect…" - mastodon.me.uk

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Charlie Stross @cstross__dup_483@wandering.shop

· 6mo ago

Replying to

@isaackuo@spacey.space Yep. For people who've never looked at a map (most Americans, apparently), my synopsis is, "Iran is Mordor". Big-ass empire surrounded on all sides by water or mountains. Also, it's on the other side of the world from the USA. Also-also, the littoral approaches are all naval death-traps. There's a REASON the Persian Empire didn't get conquered very often, and it's geopolitics!

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Charlie Stross @cstross__dup_483@wandering.shop

· 6mo ago

#writerscoffeeclub Mar 18 - What's a writerly gift you've received? An author whose book I volunteered a cover quote for once surprised me with a bottle of Irish whiskey. Fittingly, it was Writers' Tears (and a very nice wee dram it was)! (Frankly, getting an ARC of that book to provide a blurb for was its own reward. No, I'm not telling you who it was.)

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Charlie Stross @cstross__dup_483@wandering.shop

· 6mo ago

This seems very relevant to our current times (and very plausible in the context of the enshittification of social media and the emergent misalignment of almost all current LLMs). https://mikegodwin.substack.com/p/from-a-law-to-an-ethic

mikegodwin.substack.com

Godwin's Ethic, Part 1: From a Law to an Ethic

Introducing Godwin's Ethic--a framework for individual internet stewardship

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Charlie Stross @cstross__dup_483@wandering.shop

· 6mo ago

RE: https://things.uk/@eclectech/116269216462815652 That was indeed a banger of an opening line! @futurebird@sauropods.win

things.uk

eclectech (@eclectech@things.uk)

@futurebird@sauropods.win Ooh, OK. My starter. I think Iain M. Banks wrote slightly better books as Iain Banks, than Iain M. Banks. Controversial I know. He wrote my favourite opening line of a book ever. "It was the day my grandmother exploded"

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Charlie Stross @cstross__dup_483@wandering.shop

· 6mo ago

RE: https://dice.camp/@FredKiesche/116272837643264038 This is giving me a STRONG Onion "Interim Apple Chief Under Fire After Unveiling Grotesque New MacBook" vibe: https://theonion.com/interim-apple-chief-under-fire-after-unveiling-grotesqu-1819572211/

dice.camp

FredKiesche 🇺🇦: "I’m sorry, WTAF? https://futurism.com/robots-and…" - Dice.camp

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Charlie Stross @cstross__dup_483@wandering.shop

· 6mo ago

New: Why this blog update is late — http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/2026/03/why-this-blog-update-is-late.html

antipope.org

Why this blog update is late - Charlie's Diary

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Charlie Stross @cstross__dup_483@wandering.shop

· 6mo ago

Replying to on wandering.shop

I don't need a Macbook Neo. My current "cheap mobile writing machine" niche is filled by a M3 Macbook Air. But my newest iPad and iPhone are two generation old Pro models. I suspect … no new iPad for me in 2026/27, but *maybe* a spec-bumped Neo in Sept/Oct, which will cover a lot of the iPad use cases (and is cheaper). Then aim to run it forever. (I'm overdue for a complete re-think of what I do with my herd of computers, and therefore what I actually need.) /3 (end)

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Charlie Stross @cstross__dup_483@wandering.shop

· 6mo ago

Meanwhile, a thought about the Macbook Neo: The Neo uses an A18 Pro SOC, the 2024 iPhone Pro cpu—the iPhone 17 Pro runs on the A19 Pro. (The Neo soaks up their stockpile of high-end phone rejects.) Apple's about to ramp up for the 2026 iPhones, which will release in September on the A20Pro. Phones outsell laptops by a huge margin so I think the current Neo will be quietly replaced by an A19 Pro model in September, to use up the reject stockpile once as iPhone 17 sales tapers off. /1

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Charlie Stross @cstross__dup_483@wandering.shop

· 6mo ago

RE: https://mastodon.social/@arstechnica/116239891076377747 This is the point at which the line graphing my declining elderly hearing crosses over with the line graphing Apple's drip of extra features and I nope right off the upgrade ladder. Got a pair of USB-C AirPods Max 1 that are perfectly good and don't get enough use, do not need to pay the price of a new Macbook Neo for a pair of headphones!

Mastodon

Ars Technica (@arstechnica@mastodon.social)

Attached: 1 image Apple’s AirPods Max 2 bring H2 chip, boosted ANC in April for $549 Apple's over-head headphones gets an update after over five years. https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/03/apples-airpods-max-2-release-with-h2-chip-boosted-anc-in-april-for-549/?utm_brand=arstechnica&utm_social-type=owned&utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social

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Charlie Stross @cstross__dup_483@wandering.shop

· 6mo ago

Len Deighton has died (age: 97): https://www.thetimes.com/uk/obituaries/article/len-deighton-obituary-death-32565cvnk

thetimes.com

Verifying Device

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Charlie Stross @cstross__dup_483@wandering.shop

· 6mo ago

Replying to on circumstances.run

@davidgerard@circumstances.run Bursar's been at the Dried Frog Pills again, I see.

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Charlie Stross @cstross__dup_483@wandering.shop

· 6mo ago

#PennedPossibilities 959 MC POV: Complete this thought: "I wish I had paid more attention when…" Jum: "I should have listened to Tabitha when she had reservations about this job Jaeger offered us: if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is!" (Reader: yup, and I'm probably going to squeeze a sequel out of that.)

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Charlie Stross @cstross__dup_483@wandering.shop

· 6mo ago

Replying to on mstdn.social

@spaf@mstdn.social It's really sad that the satire site felt the need to watermark that pic/headline …

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Charlie Stross @cstross__dup_483@wandering.shop

· 6mo ago

Replying to

@j404@mastodon.social @rootwyrm@weird.autos @graydon@canada.masto.host As I've already said: the Neo consists of a cheap screen, a keyboard, a battery … and floor sweepings that would go out in the trash if they didn't use them in the neo. The brains of the neo are iPhone 17 Pro *rejects*. The Neo makes iPhone production more profitable just by existing.

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Charlie Stross @cstross__dup_483@wandering.shop

· 6mo ago

Replying to on zirk.us

@ChrisMayLA6@zirk.us Restart council house building. Only this time as starter homes for young folks, at low prices, to put a brake on the private/buy-to-let rental sector. Primarily studio/1/2 bedroom flats. Aim should be to enable young people in work to accumulate a mortgage deposit for something larger, without crippling the housing market (by deflating a lot of older folks' life savings), and to reduce housing-induced poverty. Need longer-term options for pensioners and the long-term disabled, too.

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Charlie Stross @cstross__dup_483@wandering.shop

· 6mo ago

Replying to on mastodon.online

@robertklaschka@mastodon.online @ChrisMayLA6@zirk.us But the WAY HS2 provides extra capacity is by taking high speed traffic off the rest of the network, thereby freeing up lots more slots for commuter/freight trains! High speed trains require greater spacing because their acceleration/braking distance scales as the square of the speed. This is idiocy.

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Charlie Stross @cstross__dup_483@wandering.shop

· 6mo ago

Replying to on masto.ai

@WellsiteGeo@masto.ai He's defected to SPECTRE.

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Charlie Stross @cstross__dup_483@wandering.shop

· 6mo ago

Replying to on raggedfeathers.com

@lilithsaintcrow@raggedfeathers.com There was this *great* kids' cartoon show in the 90s called I Am Weasel, about a super-genius superhero mustelid, and his idiot frenemy I. R. Baboon, an arrogant and stupid baboon. My headcanon for Trump is that he's basically the POTUS version of I. R. Baboon …

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Charlie Stross @cstross__dup_483@wandering.shop

· 6mo ago

Replying to on bsd.network

@sjmulder@bsd.network very silly!

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Charlie Stross @cstross__dup_483@wandering.shop

· 6mo ago

Replying to on weird.autos

@rootwyrm@weird.autos @graydon@canada.masto.host You missed an angle: Apple has a stockpile of not-good-enough-for-flagship-phones SOCs that are nevertheless adequate for low-end-laptop territory they previously ignored. Slap a cheap LCD screen, keyboard, and battery on it and it's a Neo. The chipset is *free*—otherwise they go in the trash.

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Charlie Stross @cstross__dup_483@wandering.shop

· 6mo ago

Replying to on mas.to

@su_liam@mas.to @bruce@darkmoon.social @dearlove@mathstodon.xyz That was a Heinlein shibboleth, back to the late 1960s I think (it was *definitely* in The Number of the Beast). So the Star Trek writers room was stealing ideas from elsewhere.

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Charlie Stross @cstross__dup_483@wandering.shop

· 6mo ago

Replying to on spacey.space

@isaackuo@spacey.space @NohatCoder@mastodon.gamedev.place Noted: Reagan's "star wars" pipedream was mooted in 1984. That's nearly 50 years ago! The tech arrived incrementally, in a steady drip. It still won't suffice to block a full-scale strategic attack by a superpower, but for anything much short of that, it's changed the rules of the game.

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Charlie Stross @cstross__dup_483@wandering.shop

· 6mo ago

Replying to on social.vivaldi.net

@ianbetteridge@social.vivaldi.net @ChrisMayLA6@zirk.us You can still see it live: I mean, is a band a tribute band if its front man is the original lead singer? (Look for Midge Ure touring with Band Electronica. Midge is still banging it out even though he's 70, but some of the others in the original line-up are older and retired for good, hence no more Ultravox after the 2011 tour.)

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Charlie Stross @cstross__dup_483@wandering.shop

· 6mo ago

Replying to on c.im

@Verain@c.im I don't outline: I visualize a destination and then have fun navigating from waypoint to waypoint.

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Charlie Stross @cstross__dup_483@wandering.shop

· 6mo ago

Replying to on mstdn.social

@bjn@mstdn.social @Mikal@sfba.social @futurebird@sauropods.win It *definitely* triggered The Irish Times literary reviewer going by the cover blurb Iain proudly extracted from his hit piece!

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Charlie Stross @cstross__dup_483@wandering.shop

· 6mo ago

Replying to on weatherishappening.network

@wordshaper@weatherishappening.network @Colman@mastodon.ie Same. Also, I "want" a Macbook Neo (the shiny!) but I *don't* want a Neo (I've got a perfectly good Macbook Air M3 which out-does it in every imaginable way except cheapness). It feels really weird! What might be a risk factor for Apple is that if my last-but-one generation Air were to die or be stolen I might *replace* it with a Neo (I mainly work on my desktop). If enough multiple-Mac owners think likewise, Apple may cannibalize a few of their sales.

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Charlie Stross @cstross__dup_483@wandering.shop

· 6mo ago

Replying to on berlin.social

@slowtiger@berlin.social @mwop@phpc.social The privatization subplot in The Delirium Brief was originally going to be the main matter of the book, but then the Brexit referendum happened and I realized I'd massively low-balled the chaos implied by the crisis at the end of The Nightmare Stacks. So I ended up having a coup and installing the New Management. Turns out I was consistently unable to predict the insanity of the following decade. (So now I'm fleeing, screaming, back to nice predictable space opera.)

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Charlie Stross @cstross__dup_483@wandering.shop

· 6mo ago

Replying to on wandering.shop

@KaylaAllen@wandering.shop I have provisional plans for more New Management—specifically, a novella that might turn into a novel (if my publishers will take it). Imp needs money fast, so he takes a RED digital cinema camera on tour to Narnia to make amateur action furry porn. Only when he gets there via the ghost roads it turns out he's arrived in a version of Narnia that seems to have been written by William S. Burroughs …

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Charlie Stross @cstross__dup_483@wandering.shop

· 6mo ago

Replying to on weird.autos

@rootwyrm@weird.autos @graydon@canada.masto.host In my case: if the Air was to be my main machine with a monitor hookup on my desk, I'd buy it. If I already had a desktop, and wanted a cheap travel note, I'd buy the Neo. (I've already got the mouse/keyboard/monitor/external SSDs plugged into my desktop.)

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Charlie Stross @cstross__dup_483@wandering.shop

· 6mo ago

Replying to on mastodon.ie

@Colman@mastodon.ie I'm increasingly dissatisfied with my 11" iPad Pro M2 as a writing-on-the-go machine. It's not the hardware but the software that lets me down, every time. The mobile versions of the desktop apps *that I need* are inevitably inferior to the real thing. And I don't much like traveling with anything that expensive.

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Charlie Stross @cstross__dup_483@wandering.shop

· 6mo ago

Replying to on mstdn.social

@bjn@mstdn.social @ChrisMayLA6@zirk.us Nope. I see it as a way to set the parking brake on the housing bubble, not as w fuel to it!

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Charlie Stross @cstross__dup_483@wandering.shop

· 6mo ago

Replying to on mstdn.social

@bjn@mstdn.social @ChrisMayLA6@zirk.us Did I suggest selling them off? Read again!

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Charlie Stross @cstross__dup_483@wandering.shop

· 6mo ago

Replying to on awful.systems

@gerikson@awful.systems You could run a lottery where the prizes were control over one of the FPV killer drones hunting him. Require a direct hit with an injector loaded with about 30% of a lethal dose of something excruciating, so everyone can get their stabby on and no one person is technically guilty of murder. (Subject to common cause doctrine in your jurisdiction, but anyway … )

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Charlie Stross @cstross__dup_483@wandering.shop

· 6mo ago

Replying to on awful.systems

@fullsquare@awful.systems He'll absolutely need that capability when the bubble bursts and he needs to make a hurried exit in the direction of the extinct volcano lair he's bought through a shell company in Polynesia!

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Charlie Stross @cstross__dup_483@wandering.shop

· 6mo ago

Replying to on mastodon.social

@WTL@mastodon.social @kelson@notes.kvibber.com @pikesley@mastodon.me.uk Aaaand yet again: p-zombies are a thought experiment in cognitive philosophy (how can we tell whether someone is conscious?), not an actually plausible thing! Save us from people who can't think on conditional abstractions …

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Charlie Stross @cstross__dup_483@wandering.shop

· 6mo ago

Replying to on fe.disroot.org

@abhijithb21@fe.disroot.org Yes, that's exactly what they're doing. (Snow Leopard looked identical to Leopard on top, but worked better under the hood. It was consolidation and refinement—and it was needed.)

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Charlie Stross @cstross__dup_483@wandering.shop

· 6mo ago

Replying to on digipres.club

@philpem@digipres.club Run it as a variation on Scrapheap Challenge, only with a fully-equipped makerspace (and a stockpile of rockets, motors, and small drone rotor assemblies).

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Charlie Stross @cstross__dup_483@wandering.shop

· 6mo ago

Replying to on masto.ai

@WellsiteGeo@masto.ai Nope. I'm pretty sure if the boys in blue got into my notes they'd only read as far as the phrase "Building black holes out of skulls!!!" before giving up and handing it off to psych. Who, due to the NHS backlog, might not get around to seeing me before I die of old age.

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Charlie Stross @cstross__dup_483@wandering.shop

· 6mo ago

#WritersCoffeeClub March 17. What's an experience or sensation you've struggled to convey to a reader? I've been arguing with myself over how to answer this prompt and took a while to realize that I don't even try to convey experiences or sensations: that's not what writing is for, in my books. I'm about ideas, and insights, and emergent emotional reactions to these.

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Charlie Stross @cstross__dup_483@wandering.shop

· 6mo ago

Replying to on masto.ai

@WellsiteGeo@masto.ai @Verain@c.im At that point I pick a new destination!

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Charlie Stross @cstross__dup_483@wandering.shop

· 6mo ago

#WordWeavers 17 March: Did you ever receive formal education in creative writing? Not beyond English 'O' levels in school back in the very early 80s. I'm an autodidact (and probably AuDHD on top). So it took me a lot longer to get moving than somebody neurotypical who came up through an MFA course.

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Charlie Stross @cstross__dup_483@wandering.shop

· 6mo ago

Replying to on awful.systems

@smiletolerantly@awful.systems Iain was thinking of Elon Musk when he wrote the character Joliet Veppers in "Surface Detail". That's all you need to know about his opinion of techbro billionaires. And that was back in 2009-ish. Musk was already toxic.

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Charlie Stross @cstross__dup_483@wandering.shop

· 6mo ago

Replying to on mastodon.ie

@Colman@mastodon.ie @wordshaper@weatherishappening.network Yes, and also: headphones that are $50 cheaper than a *new laptop*?!?

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Charlie Stross @cstross__dup_483@wandering.shop

· 6mo ago

Replying to on mastodont.cat

@jguillaumes@mastodont.cat @jlargentaye@mas.to @lorry@infosec.exchange I bought a Pi 500+ before the current lunacy got started. Luckily.

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Charlie Stross @cstross__dup_483@wandering.shop

· 6mo ago

Replying to on mstdn.social

@tclark@mstdn.social I'm pretty sure they'll change it! (I think it was pointed out immediately on the L&L forums.)

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