Rick K

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Commented on Invisible Sun: signed copies and author events
Got my electronic copy today. I can't think of a book I've anticipated more. If I had died of COVID before reading it I would have haunted you, Charlie....
Commented on What happens now?
It does my heart good to see someone refer to Adm. Gallery. I don't think there are many left who remember Fatso Giannini, Curly Cue, et al....
Commented on Infomercial Interlude
I'm glad to hear that Invisible Sun is finally hashed out. You have really suffered through that book. From a selfish reader perspective it's better that it take a while than get completely shelved, like the third Eschaton book (Space...
Commented on Empire Games
(Spoiler alert!) I don't think that was actually Bruce Schneier. But seeing his name attached to the afterword was only one of several great little details, like Adam telling the Burgesons to bring democracy to the USA, or the title...
Commented on Empire Games sneak peek
Thanks for the link to the longer excerpt. After reading the first link Charlie posted, I wanted more. And this gave me a little more. The excerpt worked. Not only did I pre-order Empire Games, but I bought the first...
Commented on Brief hiatus
Deschutes is a good choice. Their Black Butte Porter and Obsidian Stout are among my go-to brews. If you go for kitchen-sink-style stouts, The Abyss is one of the things that started that trend. It might exacerbate the jet lag...
Commented on Where Have All the Women Gone?
In addition to OGH's latest novel, the topic of middle-aged (and greater) female invisibility came up to great comic effect in a recent episode of the Netflix show Grace and Frankie, with Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin. They had been...
Commented on Upcoming appearances, Amsterdam, Seattle and Spokane
Followup from the Seattle reading. I agree with you about Northwest IPAs. They're like listening to music with the treble turned up to 11. While you were at Pike I hope you tried the Kilt Lifter, which is eminently drinkable...
Commented on Upcoming appearances, Amsterdam, Seattle and Spokane
Looking forward to your Seattle appearance. If Bob starts using Windows 10 then we'll know that the Microsofties got to you yesterday, the culture change under Nadella notwithstanding. Or that your trope in that novel is possession. (inclusive OR: both...
Commented on A product review, and some musing
On the societal scourge of Macaholicism: as a Unix graybeard I used to feel pity mixed (I hate to admit) with a little bit of contempt for people who let themselves get hooked. Then I changed jobs and was issued...
Commented on A product review, and some musing
It's good to see you go back to your geek roots. Whenever someone says that using Perl ruins the brain, I bring you up as a counter-example. If only I could come up with a second one... Combing power and...

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Pigeon commented on Invisible Sun: signed copies and author events
Gaaah.... at last my copy is FINALLY supposed to be on its way, but fuck me what a saga it was just to get to that point. Go to Waterstones... they don't have it. Useless buggers. They had one copy of Dark State and one copy of Atrocity Archive, and that was it for anything by Charlie. Go to WH Smiths... they don't have it. Useless buggers. They don't have any of Charlie's books at all. But they do have a big rack of Amazon gift cards, to encourage people who can't find what they want to order it from...
Charlie Stross commented on Invisible Sun: signed copies and author events
I discover that if you can guess someone's Amazon password that's all you need to pinch their account. Only if they don't use 2FA rather than (weak) username/password security. Their default 2FA mechanism is a text message to an already-confirmed-to-be-yours mobile phone number but they also support authenticator apps. Only somewhere in the sequence of clicks that follows on the way to the checkout, the bloody weasel bastard remote system signs me up to fucking Amazon Prime. The first three months are free, IIRC, which means free next-day home delivery. I'd wait for the book to arrive before you cancel...
Moz commented on Invisible Sun: signed copies and author events
The chair thing: at some point Miriam had it explained to her that she would be physically carrying stuff through as a courier. And she was told why, and there was some emphasis on the carrying part. Later she was greatly inconvenienced by the need to lift/carry people etc. It just seemed weird that at no point did she ever think "you know, somehow the chair I was sitting on came through with me. What's up with that?"...
Moz commented on Invisible Sun: signed copies and author events
For me it just breaks the "Miriam is really smart and comes up with good ideas" thing. I enjoy thinking about this stuff, she apparently does too. She's all logic and problem solving and collect the facts. Like Sherlock Holmes not noticing that the chair isn't in the room any more... if the author mentions that you'd better believe it's important later. I mean, it sort of is, but in a minor side note that doesn't affect the storyline....
peteratjet commented on Invisible Sun: signed copies and author events
Finally ordered my copy from Waterstones. Paperback only. Pshah. Collect from the bijoux local shop in Didcot. For some reason Amazon wouldn't deliver the hardback to the local autoshelf system at the rail station, only the softback, so screw them. How big is the hardback? Is it leaking toxic fumes? Weird....

Responses to Comments from Rick K

Common Misconceptions About Publishing—a series of essays about the industry I work in.
How I Got Here In The End —my non-writing autobiography, or what I did before becoming a full-time writer.
Unwirer—an experiment in weblog mediated collaborative fiction.
Shaping the Future—a talk I gave on the social implications of Moore's Law.
Japan: first impressions — or, what I did on my holidays
Inside the MIT Media Lab—what it’s like to spend a day wandering around the Media Lab.
The High Frontier, Redux — space colonization: feasible or futile?
“Nothing like this will be built again”—inside a nuclear reactor complex.
Old blog—2003-2006 (RIP)

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