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(By the way, NYRB has no connection to the New York Times Book Review, they just have similar names.)
The decision to strip chapters from books that had already won the approval of the stateβs Republican-controlled board of education represents an escalation in how local school boards run by ideological conservatives influence what children learn. propublica.org/article/texas-cβ¦
I just finished reading @pluralistic's latest book "picks & shovels". I enjoyed it a lot and it's definitely my favorite in the Martin Hench series so far. The connection it draws between the early PC boom in the mid-80s and today's rampant enshittification makes for a very entertaining read.
While reading it, I also often thought of the AMC series "Halt and Catch Fire" which I watched a couple of years ago. Maybe it's time to watch the first season again. #books
Just finished "Picks & Shovels" from @pluralistic and really enjoyed the ride, though it didn't end in the way I was expecting, which is always a good thing. I love the Martin Hench novels, I can feel the old-man nostalgia all through them and I can really relate.
On to another of my too-large "To-Read" list, "The Autobiography of Malcom X."
π The Locus Awards have been celebrating the best in speculative fiction for decades! π§ββοΈ Whether youβre a long-time fan or new to the genre, make your voice heard by voting before April 15! π
The book βsold a staggering 1,000 hardbacks a day in the first three days on sale in the UK, despite Metaβs legal tactics to silence the bookβs authorβ, said Joanna Prior, CEO of publisher Pan Macmillan. βThis early success is a triumph against Metaβs attempt to stop the publication of this book.β
Sarah Wynn-Williamsβs account of her seven years as a Facebook executive is number one on the New York Times bestseller list and has flown off the shelves in the UK
I want to talk about money.
(Ugh, I know. How crass.)
Specifically, how much money authors make, or more accurately, donβt.
I signed my publishing deal in 2023. My advance was Β£2,500. Thatβs it.
Facebook Whistleblower Demands Overturn of Interview Ban - as Her Book Remains a Bestseller - The latest Facebook whistleblower, a former international lawyer, "cannot grant an... - news.slashdot.org/story/25/03/β¦ #books
The latest Facebook whistleblower, a former international lawyer, "cannot grant any of the nearly 100 interview requests she has received from journalists from print and broadcast news outlets in the United States and the United Kingdom," reports theβ¦
In film: @josephinelee writes that these librarians are risking their safety and livelihood to speak up for First Amendment rights, intellectual freedom, and, most of all, for the students who tell them βbooks have saved them.β texasobserver.org/librarians-mβ¦
I'm about halfway through the book and I wish I could be in a book club to discuss it. The anecdotes about Facebook's top leaders and their ineptitude / selfishness are so delicious. Fair and fierce attacks, in beautiful prose.
The concept of community and sharing has been lost in our society. Libraries are great because they are for the community. Buy a book for everyone to share. The selfishness is disturbing and shameful.
Thanks to the magic of the Streisand effect, I just heard about #CarelessPeople - a book by former Meta employee Sarah Wynn-Williams.
Apparently the company is FREAKING OUT and seeking legal ways to stop its promotion. I can see why. This article about it in the Times made my jaw drop: web.archive.org/web/2025031022β¦
βI consider that a man's brain originally is like a little empty attic, and you have to stock it with such furniture as you choose. A fool takes in all the lumber of every sort that he comes across, so that the knowledge which might be useful to him gets crowded out, or at best is jumbled up with a lot of other things, so that he has a difficulty in laying his hands upon it.β
On the 20th anniversary of Never Let Me Go, the Nobel prize-winning novelist talks about the role of the author in a post-truth world β and why heβs βnot a great writer of proseβ
![Photograph of Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin (1900-1979) at Harvard College Observatory Local number: SIA Acc. 90-105 [SIA2009-1326]
Taken during the early to mid-20th century, the image portrays Payne-Gaposchkin in a thoughtful pose, dressed in a modest sweater, with natural light softly illuminating her face. In the background, shelves and filing cabinets filled with papers and scientific documents suggest an academic setting deeply immersed in research and discovery.](https://friendica.hellquist.eu/photo/preview/640/4542214 "Photograph of Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin (1900-1979) at Harvard College Observatory Local number: SIA Acc. 90-105 [SIA2009-1326]
Taken during the early to mid-20th century, the image portrays Payne-Gaposchkin in a thoughtful pose, dressed in a modest sweater, with natural light softly illuminating her face. In the background, shelves and filing cabinets filled with papers and scientific documents suggest an academic setting deeply immersed in research and discovery.")
