delibby

I have never quite managed posting pics here, gonna give it another shot! Because it is my birthday and yet that didn't stop my old black cat from lying on me, giving me a cranky look, and demanding that I get up and feed him breakfast. And when I didn't, yes, he got off me while pressing all the power of his 14 pounds firmly through one paw onto my pelvic bone. So you're older, I'm hungry! Lol.



Had tea with friends yesterday and family dinner last night, going out to tea again today with my sister and the nephews. It's been a lovely celebration.

 

This one has multiple genres.

Books for sale, mostly $1 to $3

Hit the "Genres" button at the top of the page to narrow your search.

Happy reading!

ETA: Jesse_the_k notes that "This is a meta-search engine, compiling deals from Amazon, Apple, Barnes & Noble, Google and Kobo." I didn't realize that was note-worthy, but yeah. Whatever platform you use to read, you're covered.

 

The online zoom convention of Escapade 35.5 is this weekend! If you feel like mingling with fellow fans and discussing fannish issues, join in! It snuck up on me, so I'm not sure I'll be attending (Friday and Saturday are out but I might join for a couple of panels on Sunday).

Here's the panel schedule, if you'd like to check it out:

https://escapadecon.net/virtual-con/schedule/

The rest of this is snagged from Amedia, thanks Amedia!

Here is the link to register:

https://escapadecon.net/escapade-35-5-registration-online/

Keep that link handy, because you'll have to sign into your account (or create one) on the website before you can register. Once you sign into your account, be sure to come back to that registration link.

BTW, when you reach the registration page through that link, and it says to pay for your registration by clicking on "the link above," they mean the two words at the end of this sentence, in the first paragraph under Step 1: The first step is to purchase your registration. It took me a couple of minutes to figure that out, so I'm passing it along. The direct link for payment is: https://escapadecon.net/shop/register-online-escapade-35-5.

But don't forget, after you pay for your registration, you still need to go back to the first link (yes, that registration link again) to sign up for the convention.

 If finances are preventing you from attending Escapade this weekend, have I got great news for you! We have a scholarship fund. If you would like to nominate yourself or a friend, please go to: https://escapadecon.net/scholarship/

The bill passed the Commons 314-291 and now goes to the Lords, and I don't have a clue what happens there.

The bill is fairly simple in operation. If you have a terminal condition and six months to live, you have the right to end your life. Two doctors go before a three-person panel who must approve your application, and that seems to about it. The original legislation had the two doctors going before a judge, fears of further clogging up the judiciary had them change it to the panel. No information on how the panel is constituted.

Canada, Spain, New Zealand, most of Australia, and clinics in Switzerland support assisted dying, along with the USA states Oregon, Washington, and California.

https://edition.cnn.com/2025/06/20/uk/uk-assisted-dying-commons-vote-gbr-intl

https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/06/20/1354239/lawmakers-in-britain-narrowly-approve-bill-to-legalize-assisted-dying

do so many creators not understand that Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings and No Archive Warnings Apply are inherently contradictory?

If a creator tags No Archive Warnings Apply, they are stating that their fic does not contain
Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con, or Underage Sex. Those are the archive warnings, they're all listed right in the same place when a creator is posting a work.

If they tag Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, they are saying that they will not provide spoilers for their fic, so in fact the work MAY contain Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con, or Underage Sex. Or it may NOT. It's a tag that says Reader/viewer, indulge at your own risk.

If a Creator is saying that no archive warnings apply, then there's no reason to say they're choosing not to warn! They are indeed CHOOSING TO WARN!

*sigh* IDK, I guess they've not been in any kind of discussion on the meanings of the tags, and so are uncertain and so over compensate? So far whenever I'd read something with both tags, it always seems like No Archive Warnings Apply is the correct one.

This is one of those things that with the sheer volume of creators loading works to AO3, it's always gonna be an issue. It just continues to weird me sometimes when I'm snoozing in bed and looking for something good to read to delay getting up. Why creators why?

 Come one come all and check out the Online Escapade 35.5 Panel Schedule! New to this year’s Online Escapade is programming for Friday night. Start planning your weekend! 

Escapade is near! Vid Show submission deadline is Saturday, June 21, 2025 at 11:59 PM PST!  If you have a vid you think would be perfect for the vid show, send it to us now!

I actually went looking for The Lurch, as I'd seen it mentioned in a Facebook reel. If you have an affection for The Addams Family TV series, go check it out, but too grainy and not really amusing enough to me for a post.

YouTube offered, because of course it does, a car ad featuring Mark Strong, so I thought, okay. But it's more than Mark Strong! And now I want an AU where Loki tries to take over the Earth again, with Trevor from Shang-Chi as his hapless adviser and Strong's villain from Shazam was his co-villain? Or competitor?

(Actually I went first to Loki having survived death at Thanos' hands, because of course he does, and being found by Trevor and the two of them survive the snap and start a two man traveling company entertaining all the devastated people. And maybe help heal Strong's villain after the end of Shazam. But that seemed sorta sad and contrary to the spirit of the ad.)

 
Hooray! I saw this in time for people to get in on the deal.

"On Friday, June 20, 2025, get a curated offering of free romance books at your preferred ebook retailer, no strings attached. This is just a helpful collection of free-for-a-limited-time romance ebooks!"

https://www.romancebookworms.com/

Feel free to share this wherever.

 

Scammers have found an interesting trick via Google ads, and thus far it only seems to work with them, no other online ad company. They buy an ad, for example, for Microsoft.com, that says 'Call us toll free at 805-xxx-xxxx' and it pops up as a banner at the top of the page!

So you're browsing for whatever, and this page pops up and the URL looks completely legit, and there's a phone number just below the top of the page, do you trust it?

Well, looks like these days you shouldn't.

Might want to spread the word, and article, to your more gullible friends and older relations.

https://arstechnica.com/security/2025/06/tech-support-scammers-inject-malicious-phone-numbers-into-big-name-websites/

The European Union, on top of France's recruiting efforts, is investing €500 million to lure displaced/disaffected American scientists to the other side of the pond. France has a head-start, having begun their program pretty much as soon as the Ketamine Kid and his goon squad started axing programs. The EU amount is about $570m USD, I'm not sure how many jobs that represents. What they need to do is relax visa restrictions to allow people to move without having direct job sponsorship: give them longer to find employment if they can't fall in directly to their recruitment program.

This paragraph makes me wonder if this program replaces the French program:
"The plan, originally proposed by the French government, also proposes creating long-term “super grants” for outstanding researchers, to provide them with financial stability; these would last for seven years. The program also plans to double the amount of financial support available this year for those who decide to move to the European Union."

I'm not really clear on the matter. But since they're not likely to be looking for telescope operators, we're not likely to fall into this program.

https://arstechnica.com/science/2025/05/europe-launches-program-to-lure-scientists-away-from-the-us/


Japan's program is throwing a cool ¥100 billion ($693 million) into the program. Meanwhile, Great Britain is throwing a whopping £50 million ($67 million) to attract top talent!

I can see Japan increasing their spend as they have a serious population problem: a shortage of young families with children. By bringing in more scientists, they may well give extra priority to those that might shore up that base, giving long-term benefit to the country.

https://www.theregister.com/2025/06/16/japan_has_a_yen_for/