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Cross-posting this from my other primary thread, the steam one: My stance on this after sleeping on it: I'm not leaving the forums; I want to see what the mods/admins/lowtax say about this. I will leave if nothing is done - but I'll post about it so if anyone wants to follow me or whatever I'll put up my discord. I recommend using an ad-blocker so you don't give lowtax more money by posting here. e: https://www.rainn.org/ StrixNebulosa fucked around with this message at 14:11 on Jun 24, 2020 |
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Jun 24, 2020 14:08
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Discord? (Still haven't jumped on Discord yet, the monlothic-ness of it seems very Facebook 2.0) What is Discord like in comparison to this site, or reddit or facebook? If this site does suddenly die, going to chime in on my SF-LOVERS Digest Vol 02 progress before it does. 9% completion, and it's a much harder read than Vol 01 since I am finding lots of things in it more interesting and forcing myself to not get too side-tracked when really interesting stories got mentioned (for example, Clifford Simak's Way Station). Matter teleportation chat kicked off Vol 02, which then morphed into "how do you transport the data site to site with matter teleportation" chat, which have currently morphed into debates about using Godel numbers for encoding/transmitting/deciphering data across interstellar distances to alien lifeforms/races. Godel numbers aka Godel numbering is a cool concept. Just not so sure how other races/lifeforms across the galaxies would instinctively "know" to factor down the Godel numbers into their prime components or even understand the numbering scheme used in the first place. quantumfoam fucked around with this message at 14:40 on Jun 24, 2020 |
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Jun 24, 2020 14:28
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quantumfoam posted:Discord? (Still haven't jumped on Discord yet, the monlothic-ness of it seems very Facebook 2.0) It's irc for the 2010s. Like slack but for gamers instead of business, if you're familiar with slack.
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Jun 24, 2020 14:37
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We do already have a Book Barn discord, here's a link: https://discord.gg/jgBDB25
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Jun 24, 2020 15:17
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T-man posted:since a lot of people only check bookmarks, you should know that our admin, lowtax, has been credibly accused of abusing his partner. Sounds like he never got that spine because only a coward would abuse their partner.
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Jun 24, 2020 15:43
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Joined Discord. I would be very sad if this site collapses but Book Barn is my main haunt these days so if it goes down I’ll still have some way to read what you guys have to say. I wish there was a way to save all the BotL critiques, maybe I’ll screenshot them all before the ship sinks.
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Jun 24, 2020 17:29
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I'm kind of struggling with Steel Frame and I'm wondering if my brain is just broken or my concentration is off for some other reason. I feel like I have to keep rereading passages to try go figure out what the author's attempting to describe, and even then the descriptions of the action aren't as exciting as I'd expect for a novel about mech fights in a cosmic superstorm. It's not quite the same feeling of "I don't get it but I'll just roll with it because things are moving" that I got with Neuromancer.
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Jun 24, 2020 17:37
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Steel Frame: The main character of Steel Frame isn't stable and grows less coherent and stable as the book goes on.
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Jun 24, 2020 17:46
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I got through Steel Frame okay and enjoyed it, but it definitely felt like a story whose events another author would have spun a ten book series out of. It kind of skipped establishing the background and setting, and got weird right away.
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Jun 24, 2020 18:10
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quantumfoam posted:Steel Frame: Normally I'd find that interesting but it's not great if that manifests as the character giving me lovely descriptions of where they are and blacking out whenever the mechs start fighting.
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Jun 24, 2020 18:14
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Fallom posted:Normally I'd find that interesting but it's not great if that manifests as the character giving me lovely descriptions of where they are and blacking out whenever the mechs start fighting. How far in are you in Steel Frame? It may be worth abandoning because that main character only gets worse in those areas. The aggravating stuff in Steel Frame for me was mainly "only this team is effective versus the enemy" (because the enemy doesn't use even a 1/4 of their normal abilities versus the hero team). The rest of things I had issues with in Steel Frame happened in the last 20%, where I was already rolling my eyes about how ham-fisted everything became.
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Jun 24, 2020 18:25
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quantumfoam posted:How far in are you in Steel Frame? About 50% in so far. I also picked up on the threat not seeming like it should be a big deal to anybody who's been jockeying as a day job.
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Jun 24, 2020 18:49
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Then drop it and walk away. The Warhammer 40k vibe was cool, but those things we discussed are core parts of the book.
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Jun 24, 2020 19:02
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As much as I love Steel Frame, if you're not grokking it by now yeah it's not going to get "better".
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Jun 24, 2020 19:06
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Joined the Discord server HA linked to and as a newbie to Discord: Discord doesn't seem to suck (yet). Discord feels very similar to Slack, only there is no amusing Slackbot (tm) inside Discord that can be trained to respond to phrases in posts. Other than that the official Privacy Policy of Discord makes Facebook look like Glenda the Good Witch of Oz in comparison.....so if you're hesitant about creating a Discord ID, go install a standalone web browser you've never tried before and use that standalone browser JUST for Discord chat. actual thread content: SF-LOVERS Digest Vol 02 read update 2 20% completion, for the last twenty or so posts in the SF-LOVERS mailing list people have been ripping apart Robert Heinlein and it's glorious. Heinlein's Number of the Beast (@1980) was so self-indulgent it ripped the blinders off the eyes of many college-aged people that formerly tolerated or had fond memories of Heinlein stories growing up. Which is retroactively amusing slash interesting because the current tier of Big Name/Big Sales scifi genre authors like Ringo, Scalzi, and Stross were hitting their formative pre-teens -teens around 1980 and all of them ended up loving everything Heinlein has ever written/have rewritten multiple Heinlein stories/Heinlein book series.
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Jun 24, 2020 21:58
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At first glance Discord seems like it's going to be really ill-suited to the longer, multiple paragraphs sort of posting which is the drawcard of a forum like this.
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Jun 25, 2020 00:32
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freebooter posted:At first glance Discord seems like it's going to be really ill-suited to the longer, multiple paragraphs sort of posting which is the drawcard of a forum like this. I view the discord more as a stopgap until people settle on another place. Helps everybody keep in touch so the various posting communities don't scatter.
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Jun 25, 2020 01:03
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freebooter posted:At first glance Discord seems like it's going to be really ill-suited to the longer, multiple paragraphs sort of posting which is the drawcard of a forum like this. Truth. That was the main issue I encountered with Slack too. quantumfoam fucked around with this message at 01:20 on Jun 25, 2020 |
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Jun 25, 2020 01:06
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Yeah, it's pretty chill, but the chat just rolls by, there's no real memory, and larger analysis is pretty difficult because it's going to get buried even more than a megathread. It's fun as a general social circle, but book chat is best with forums.
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Jun 25, 2020 04:36
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drat. Same day we find out lowtax might be a serial assaulter, 2 authors I like make public apologies for being assholes to women at cons. I mean, I'm glad they apologized (with actual apologies, none of this"I don't recall this particular event you mention but if you feel hurt by this I'm sorry" non apologies) but drat man. Been one hosed up day. Guys, in case you are authors or, you know, in public with women, don't be creepy. It's pretty easy to do.
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Jun 25, 2020 07:18
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Stupid_Sexy_Flander posted:drat. Same day we find out lowtax might be a serial assaulter, 2 authors I like make public apologies for being assholes to women at cons. Which authors? D:
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Jun 25, 2020 08:11
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Basically any long existing static forum with some moderation will do. Let's all join the <INSERT FORUM NAME>, and start discussing <INSERT TOPICAL FORUM FICTION> for a while before taking over their General chat sub-forums with the 20 independent threads setup we currently have here. -PnP rpg forums -that weird fan fiction forum that got mentioned a few times in the Mil-scifi thread - mech2 dot org forum and Battletech fiction - Myth series forum thetain and Black Company fiction -hard dash light dot net and any future scifi/mil-scifi fiction Forums/sites I would never join are: -Good reads (amazon owned, datamined to hell and back by amazon, zero moderation) -RPGCodex dot net (a haven for all the gamer assholes too toxic and old-school for reddit) quantumfoam fucked around with this message at 10:53 on Jun 25, 2020 |
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Jun 25, 2020 10:19
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Hedrigall posted:Which authors? D: Sam Sykes, Myke Cole, and Mark Lawrence. I've seen a few people talking about how Sykes only got away with being really unpleasant for so long because his mother is a big deal. Edit: Lawrence might not actually have apologised, but those are the three names I've seen doing the rounds today.
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Jun 25, 2020 10:36
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cptn_dr posted:Sam Sykes, Myke Cole, and Mark Lawrence. For those who don't know, his mum is Diana Gabaldon, creator of Outlander.
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Jun 25, 2020 11:21
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quantumfoam posted:Forums/sites I would never join are: This dismays me because I'm an avid Goodreads user myself (mostly for TBR list compilation) and it would be sooooo much of a better site if there were more decent, smart people on it. I have a handful of really intelligent, readable reviewers I follow - although even then it's hosed because their algorithm is so wonky somebody will like a post one of them made in 2014 and all of a sudden it's back at the top of the feed. Also I don't know if even a Goodreads group would be a substitute, because then it's all brand new threads for whatever someone happens to be reading. And even within one big thread the design and layout sucks. I dunno, this all sucks. I joined SA in 2009 because I was teaching in South Korea and wanted to comment instead of just lurking in the South Korean teacher thread, and since then it's been a great forum which I basically just use as a control panel for like three different megathreads (this one, the aus politics one and the rarely-visited self-publishing one) but which also has a thread on pretty much whatever TV show I'm watching or whatever video game I'm playing or whatever coronavirus pandemic might be breaking out, which I can duck into and find conversation from mostly intelligent, interesting, but also funny people. There are so many different ecosystems here but I know that if there's pretty much anything I'm interested in, I can go hunting and find a thread for it. And it's gonna suck if we lose that because I don't think it can be replicated anywhere else. The internet has moved on to more of a constant flowing stream of information - even in places like Reddit with their insanely detailed subreddits - that this is like the last place where you can have a little community that you duck into from time to time.
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Jun 25, 2020 11:27
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Anomalous Blowout posted:For those who don't know, his mum is Diana Gabaldon, creator of Outlander. Sounds like he's more of a Jaime than a ... uhhh... errrr I never read Cross Stitch as it was known here.
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Jun 25, 2020 12:23
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tildes posted:It’s ok from my memory of it. The main character got a bit weirdly invested in high school drama for an adult person & I wasn’t totally into the ending, but overall it was not bad. Those also might just be my personal pet peeves. It mostly left me looking forward to the author’s next book- I feel like if they work out a few kinks their follow up novel could be great. That's how I felt about the hippo books she wrote. Great concept but the execution was off. Read the first novella, bought the second but have never felt the inclination to start it.
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Jun 25, 2020 13:56
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quantumfoam posted:Basically any long existing static forum with some moderation will do. Could someone create a forum using a site like this have it be the new SA, or are there limitations on amount of allowed users and hosting size? They say there's no size limit and unlimited bandwidth. https://www.proboards.com/create-free-forum
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Jun 25, 2020 16:01
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cptn_dr posted:Sam Sykes, Myke Cole, and Mark Lawrence. Somehow I am not surprised the guy who came up with "I don't like being angry, it makes me angry" and had some guy literally loving the planet ended up being a weirdo. Yes, Sykes and Cole were the ones I was taking about. By all accounts good dudes, but apparently you just don't really know people until you interact with em at a con.
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Jun 25, 2020 16:24
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Ccs posted:Could someone create a forum using a site like this have it be the new SA, or are there limitations on amount of allowed users and hosting size? They say there's no size limit and unlimited bandwidth. Key thing is to always check the privacy policy of the hosting service. https://www.proboards.com/privacy Just at a quick glance, seeing lots of "geolocation information" and credit card information stuff in the beginning 1/3 of it. SF-LOVERS Digest vol 02 part 3 32% completion. Lots of stuff went down. -Arguments about Larry Niven's Known Space setting and Larry Niven's Ringworld books being incompatible or (my view) existing in alternate universes. Lots of the Ringworld books weirdness & it not meshing with Niven's Known Space stories passed me by whenever I read any of the Ringworld books because I was very creeped out by all the pervy sex fantasies Niven was one-handedly writing out. -First SF-LOVERS appearance of: Jerry E Pournelle, noted author, dream-weaver, visionary -Robert Heinlein Libertarianism starts getting name dropped/espoused more and more. And always in Heinlein-ian phrasing and using Heinlein-ian arguments, nothing original is allowed. -Someone's friend who never got into scifi watched Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, and made the valid arguments that: "There is no question that George Lucas is creating the mythology which will be coloring the subconscious of the growing generation, just like Walt Disney's characters are forever a part of my psyche. That's why The Empire Strikes Back makes me so angry. It is merely a rehash of old war movies with all their worst cliches and pat killings intact. But even John Wayne and Frank Sinatra, in all their male-buddy-kill-the-Krauts (or Injuns) showed some compassion - if for nothing else than their horses. But the Taun-Taun in TESB doesn't rate such compassion. It has the audacity to freeze to death and stink in the process. The whole film just glorifies killing....." Many many long-time SF-LOVERS posters rebutted back with, and I am paraphrasing here "No No No. You are wrong, do not insult my Favs, you are very wrong and need to grow up" For the record, I agree with the person who never got into scifi. quantumfoam fucked around with this message at 16:56 on Jun 25, 2020 |
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Jun 25, 2020 16:52
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freebooter posted:This dismays me because I'm an avid Goodreads user myself (mostly for TBR list compilation) and it would be sooooo much of a better site if there were more decent, smart people on it. I have a handful of really intelligent, readable reviewers I follow - although even then it's hosed because their algorithm is so wonky somebody will like a post one of them made in 2014 and all of a sudden it's back at the top of the feed. Have you considered librarything? It's an alternative to Goodreads which is not owned by Amazon. And afaik they have no particular interest in certain books being sold or not sold.
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Jun 25, 2020 17:15
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I love Library Thing for cataloging purposes, but it lacks a lot of the social features GR has.
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Jun 25, 2020 17:21
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Ccs posted:Could someone create a forum using a site like this have it be the new SA, or are there limitations on amount of allowed users and hosting size? They say there's no size limit and unlimited bandwidth. A 'feature' of SA that the alternatives are missing is the  pay wall. Without a pay wall there is no meaningful consequence for trolling as you can quickly create a new account after a ban and get right back to terrible posting.We need someone with the time and skills to set up a forum using free software and hack a payment gateway into the create account page. Then everyone who had been joining discords to stay in touch with their communities can join it. It could be free or cheap to start and encourage the exodus, but would need to go up to around eventually to keep the magic of this community alive.I have the skills but not the time. I'm hoping there's someone out there with both because I'll miss this community. On topic chat: I'm about half way through The Traitor Baru Cormorant and I love it so far. I usually prefer sci-fi over fantasy because most fantasy relies on inherited power which I get angry about. Baru doesn't have that and is much more political.
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Jun 26, 2020 00:57
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pseudanonymous posted:Have you considered librarything? It's an alternative to Goodreads which is not owned by Amazon. And afaik they have no particular interest in certain books being sold or not sold. I used Librarything heaps in the early 2010s, and vastly preferred it to Goodreads, but in the end the people had spoken and everybody in the world seemed to prefer Goodreads. LT just didn't have the userbase.
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Jun 26, 2020 01:17
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I think it's still more or less usable despite its userbase being a twentieth the size of Goodreads. Books with only 20-50 copies get robust-seeming algorithmic similarity recommendations, though obviously some stuff will fall below that cutoff.
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Jun 26, 2020 01:42
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Assuming everything goes through I look forward to posting in here with y'all for many years to come. Keep reading books and posting about it please and thank you!!
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Jun 26, 2020 02:25
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I just finished Murderbot, it was great, if I didn’t have SA to recommend me good books like Murderbot I don’t know what I would do.
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Jun 26, 2020 16:22
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Urcher posted:A 'feature' of SA that the alternatives are missing is the I believe breadnroses.net, the CSPAM-driven offsite, is free now but will be going to as soon as the initial flood of refugees is over. I agree that the pay gateway is what keeps this site as readable as it is, so that’s why I’m leaning that direction. While it came out of CSPAM, I’m pretty sure there it’s going to have most of the same sections, not just lefty politics.
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Jun 26, 2020 19:11
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More sex pests: https://www.alexandrarowland.net/single-post/2020/06/25/On-Scott-Lynch-and-Elizabeth-Bear
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Jun 26, 2020 21:25
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.... I've hesitated for years about owning the Dust trilogy by Bear without being able to say why, as I enjoyed reading them from library. Did my subconscious know? Huh. Either way 
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Jun 26, 2020 22:06
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