RSS Parrot

Is Microsoft trying to commit suicide?

http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/2024/06/is-microsoft-trying-to-commit-.html

Published: June 5, 2024 09:42

The breaking tech news this year has been the pervasive spread of "AI" (or rather, statistical modeling based on hidden layer neural networks) into everything. It's the latest hype bubble now that Cryptocurrencies are no longer the freshest sucker-bait…

Harmless Fun

http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/2024/05/harmless-fun.html

Published: May 18, 2024 14:46

(I am still elbow-deep in the guts of The Regicide Report, hence paucity of recent blog entries.) I must admit that I used to be a big fan of conspiracy theories—or applied psychoceramics, as we called it back in the...

On mistaking a transient state for a permanent one

http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/2024/05/on-mistaking-a-transient-state.html

Published: May 2, 2024 13:41

It's quite apparent that right now we're seeing the build-out of a whole new communications technology that hasn't quite hit the public eye yet—ubiquitous satellite broadband and telephony. This is still in the very early stages. Right now my iPhone...

The Radiant Future! (Of 1995)

http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/2024/04/the-radiant-future-of-1995.html

Published: April 23, 2024 11:49

The AI hype in the media obscures the fact that we're clearly in another goddamn venture capital bubble right now. As the Wall Street Journal said earlier this month (article is paywalled), "... In a presentation earlier this month, the...

Announcement time!

http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/2024/03/announcement-time.html

Published: March 29, 2024 17:07

I am very pleased to be able to admit that the Laundry Files are shortlisted for the Hugo Award for Best Series! (Astute readers will recall that the Laundry Files were shortlisted—but did not win—in 2019. Per the rules, "A...

A Wonky Experience

http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/2024/03/a-wonky-experience.html

Published: March 2, 2024 13:19

A Wonka Story This is no longer in the current news cycle, but definitely needs to be filed under "stuff too insane for Charlie to make up", or maybe "promising screwball comedy plot line to explore", or even "perils of...

A message from our sponsors: New Book coming!

http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/2024/02/a-message-from-our-sponsors-ne.html

Published: February 15, 2024 16:01

(You probably expected this announcement a while ago ...) I've just signed a new two book deal with my publishers, Tor.com publishing in the USA/Canada and Orbit in the UK/rest of world, and the book I'm talking about here and...

Worldcon in the news

http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/2024/01/worldcon-in-the-news.html

Published: January 26, 2024 11:38

You've probably seen news reports that the Hugo awards handed out last year at the world science fiction convention in Chengdu were rigged. For example: Science fiction awards held in China under fire for excluding authors. The Guardian got bits...

Same bullshit, new tin

http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/2024/01/same-bullshit-new-tin.html

Published: January 24, 2024 12:55

I am seeing newspaper headlines today along the lines of British public will be called up to fight if UK goes to war because 'military is too small', Army chief warns, and I am rolling my eyes. The Tories run...

The coming storm

http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/2024/01/the-coming-storm.html

Published: January 16, 2024 11:48

(I should have posted this a couple of weeks ago ...) 2024 looks set to be a somewhat disruptive year. Never mind the Summer Olympics in Paris; the big news is politics, where close to half the world's population get...