[...] I posit: Kovid betrayed us with Calibre 8.16.2, and we as a community never should have let that happen, never have placed such a burden on individual generosity. The synthesis of these two truths, then, is nearly self-evident. There must be a new effort, free from AI encumbrances, that is built from the ground-up as a community effort. Something that can outlive the decisions of any one participant, something that does not place any one individual under an untenable load.
The rereading Project aims to do precisely this.
I'm interested to see where this project goes. It's unfortunate that Calibre is really the only widely-used/available cataloging system (I know there's other options but not if you a) want to use Linux and b) have thousands of things to catalog) so another option or two would be great!
I've rounded up a pool of younger people who have agreed to let me expose them to classic works of science fiction and assembled a list of older works I think still have merit. Each month my subjects will read and react to those stories; I will then post the results to this site. Hilarity will doubtless ensue!
Fab topic! I'd add this to my rss reader except there's no rss feed.
Gemini is a new internet technology supporting an electronic library of interconnected text documents. That's not a new idea, but it's not old fashioned either. It's timeless, and deserves tools which treat it as a first class concept, not a vestigial corner case. Gemini isn't about innovation or disruption, it's about providing some respite for those who feel the internet has been disrupted enough already. We're not out to change the world or destroy other technologies. We are out to build a lightweight online space where documents are just documents, in the interests of every reader's privacy, attention and bandwidth.
I want to make a Gemini version of my site! For fun!
Every time there's news from Mozilla we see a lot of takes around here along the lines of: they're clueless, their heads are in the sand, they don't know their userbase.
Alternative interpretation: We're looking at another case very much like Bluesky - a corporation with somewhat-openwashed branding which knows exactly who their userbase is, hates it, and wants a different one.
The rationale is clear enough; the browser is just a massive opportunity for datamining. The "AI" startups can only dream of controlling a browser with even the marketshare of Firefox. In that light, it's no use having a userbase of technically competent, privacy-aware dissidents who can work around the extractive dark patterns. Let's face it people, we're not profitable to surveillance capitalism
Lightning fast and privacy-friendly, Kavita is a self‑hosted digital library for EPUB, PDF, comics and manga — with built‑in readers (single, double page, and webtoon mode), OPDS, and rich metadata. Install and share your server in minutes.
Like Plex but for books/comics!
Quill OS is an open-source, fully-functional standalone OS for Rakuten Kobo's eReaders.
Update June 2026: this now says it's for PineNote ereaders?????
On January 1, 2026, thousands of copyrighted works from 1930 enter the US public domain, along with sound recordings from 1925. They will be free for all to copy, share, and build upon. The literary highlights range from William Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying to Agatha Christie’s The Murder at the Vicarage and the first four Nancy Drew novels. From cartoons and comic strips, the characters Betty Boop, Pluto (originally named Rover), and Blondie and Dagwood made their first appearances. Films from the year featured Marlene Dietrich, Greta Garbo, the Marx Brothers, and John Wayne in his first leading role. Among the public domain compositions are I Got Rhythm, Georgia on My Mind, and Dream a Little Dream of Me. We are also celebrating paintings from Piet Mondrian and Paul Klee.
Yay, public domain day! Also noted is another Lord Peter Wimsey book going PD this year.
The Winter Solstice is an astronomical phenomenon that marks the shortest day and the longest night of the year. In the Northern Hemisphere, the Winter Solstice occurs on 21 or 22 December, when the sun shines directly over the tropic of Capricorn. At sunrise on the shortest day of the year, for 17 minutes, direct sunlight can enter the Newgrange monument, not through the doorway, but through the specially contrived small opening above the entrance known as the ‘roof box’, to illuminate the Chamber.
The live stream will be available on this page from 08:40 UTC, Sunday 21 December at the player above.
Another Solstice stream, this one at the Newgrange monument.
Wherever you are in the world, join us for a free livestream as the sun rises over Stonehenge on Sunday 21 December. Watch the sunrise over the Stone Circle as people celebrate. Our stream begins at 07:30 GMT, with sunrise occurring at 08:08 GMT (this is 03:08 EDT/EST).
Fun! I think that's 1am my time, so not sure I'm going to make it live.
Some fab projects completed AND a great list of videos about crafting history/feminism/activism to watch at the end.
Truly one of the oddest feelings is reading a fic that is so out of character but the writing and plot is so compelling. Like yeah I came here for the characters but yeah you know what I will read your original novel with the serial numbers plastered on
lol
America has blown 80 years of accumulated goodwill and trust among its allies, our American moderator was told. A rock-steady assumption of allied defence and security planning for literally generations has been that America would act in its own interests, sure, but that those interests would be rational, and would still generally value the institutions that America itself worked so hard to build after the Second World War. America’s recent actions have destroyed the ability of any ally to continue to have faith in America to act even within its own strategic self-interest, let alone that of any ally.
The officer then said that even a swift return of America to its former role won’t matter.
Because “we will never fucking trust you again.”
via @alisx
If you run an organisation of any kind (non-profits, businesses, clubs etc), this guide is aimed at helping you get the most out of being on Mastodon and the Fediverse. The Fedi works a bit differently to social networks you may be used to, and has some unique advantages as well as unique challenges.
As an alternative to depending on Facebook and Instagram, perhaps!
omg these cookies are amazing! I love the ones that look like Greek pottery shards, and the medieval tile ones!
via @colossal@mastodon.art
Companion video from cookie creator: https://youtu.be/XDmaO-Ptvss?si=nUkfAzt7uX_EJMNk
To identify organizations that removed DEI language from the mission statements in their tax filings, ProPublica developed its own list of about 20 DEI-related terms, including “disadvantaged” and “underrepresented.” About three quarters of the changes made to the mission statements explicitly removed at least one word on the list. The other organizations made more subtle edits to remove an emphasis on diversity and inclusion.
via @conuly.dw
Drop letters into place to spell the headline and reveal the story. Every day is a new installment and every week is a new story arc.
via @radiantfracture.dw
You can collaborate in creating the largest public orchard in the world. Participate in this collective artwork by planting a fruit tree in front of your home, business, school or community centre. Take care of the tree and share it with everyone by mapping it on endlessorchard.com. The Endless Orchard collectively creates the world’s largest public artwork – a noncontiguous public fruit orchard planted, mapped, shared and cared for by everyone who participates.
Very cool!
Falling Fruit is a massive, collaborative map of the urban harvest. By uniting the efforts of foragers, freegans, and foresters everywhere, the map already points to over a half million food sources around the world (from plants and fungi to water wells and dumpsters). Our rapidly growing user community is actively exploring, editing, and adding to the map.
Whaaat this is so cool!
20,000 words. 100-ish pages. Everything I knew about taking a bunch of disorganised stuff and turning it in to a Johnny.Decimal system. Lovingly edited and laid out by Lucy. We were really happy with it. We still are. It stood the test of time.
“I felt like Jason and the mods cared more about Claude than the welcoming community they built. Considering Jason is the owner of the server, I wouldn't trust him to be able to put the community first before putting AI first,” ML told 404 Media.
(Need free account to read full article or else here: https://archive.is/Ypur6)