skribeworks

Of course I was distrustful. Even moreso once I actually saw the place.

I checked the message, written on a slip of grimy paper. The purple ink smudged. The address was right. Yet all I saw was an alley beside an old bombed-out department store.

I knew the store. I was glad to see it destroyed. My mother used to drag me through it for hours when I was little. She never bought anything, she just liked to look.

I crawled over the chunks of rotting concrete, careful not to get snagged on the lengths of twisted rebar. Or worse, cut. The smell of blood might draw the dogs.

I am happy. The street is clean and damp. I wait for my succulent loaf of bread, and my 453.6 grams of wholesome milk. The queue is not long. The people are cheerful and consistent.

Oh no!

A reckless man brushes past a small child. She spills her milk. The nourishing and satisfying food wasted.

“How am I supposed to defeat even one giant let alone an entire empire?” En fretted.

“You must out-think them,” Kobanongar the hunchback, told him.

“Even If I had the heads of the six smartest people, in my father’s kingdom, a single giant would be smarter.”

“If you had the heads of the six smartest people, you’d be considered a tyrant and have even bigger problems.” The Hunchback said, wryly.

“Are you going to help me or not?” En snapped. “You’re a wizard.  Can’t you do something?”

“I am but as you see me, Highness” the hunchback bowed low.  “I can do much, but I cannot lead your father’s armies against this foe.”

En snorted.

I am happy. The economic bus is clean and quiet. I am going to work at my government appointed employment. My spirit is filled with incentive and inspiration. All my fellow bus riders are happy. Their spirits are filled with vigour and stimulus.

Oh no!

It’s been just over two weeks since I finished Ursula Le Guin’s, The Left Hand of Darkness.  I wanted to pen my thoughts on the matter.  I’ll try to keep spoilers to a minimum.  Although the novel is fifty plus years old, it managed to pass unheeded by me until now.

It is a science-fiction tale, although at its essence it’s a story about clashes of cultures, and finding common ground.  The story begins with a human envoy landing on a foreign planet (Gethen) in an attempt to arrange a trade treaty with the inhabitants.  However  negotiations are curtailed by the envoy’s lack of understanding of Gethen culture and politics, and this causes issues as he is used for the political purposes of others.

So, recently I coded up my first WordPress plugin. Nothing majorly impressive, but it did suddenly place me in some very rarified company, and that was a little intimidating.

I’ve recently joined Mastodon.  No I haven’t left  Twitter, but my engagement there is minimal (and has been for almost a decade).  It’s no longer the place it once was, and I have better things to do with my time.  Like writing some code (and maybe even another novel or ten).

One of the issues that Mastodon faces is that it’s so unknown.  Despite existing since 2016 it has only recently (Nov 2022) gained prominence in popular culture, as Twitter users sought an escape from the belligerence of Musk.  That means that there aren’t a lot of apps and other niceties that are common-place when using Twitter.  One of those is a widget that properly formats Mastodon feeds for display on WordPress.

Tæsca (tæːska) is the Murgaen name for the range of forested hills to the north-east of Harnsey, east of Milardus. The name is derived from the Davan word tásqa (tɑ:skʷɑ) meaning place of many shadows, an apt name given the many shadowy regions under its great boughs.

As the world becomes more and more technologically advanced, it’s no surprise that science fiction and fantasy novels are starting to incorporate artificial intelligence (AI) into their stories. AI chatbots, in particular, are becoming an increasingly important part of these stories.

In the past, AI chatbots were often depicted as simple, robotic characters that were limited in their abilities. They were often used as background characters or as a means of exposition, providing information to the reader or the main character. But as AI technology has advanced, so too have the capabilities of AI chatbots in fiction.

A few weeks ago I made this as part of my #CS50 computer science course. It’s a game made with Scratch.

The aim of the game is to avoid being killed by all the Aussie Terrors.

I really like Ifonsa as a character. If one can have a favourite child, then she’s mine. I love her for her attitude, but mostly because of how she has grown from the original concept.

In the primaeval myth, Ifonsa was an ever-dependable stalwart, never one of the stand-out characters like the other original four. She did her part, especially when a fight was in the offing, but she was generally just happy tagging along with the others.