Pajiba ([syndicated profile] newpajiba_feed) wrote2025-12-17 09:40 am

The 'Melania' Movie Is Going to Flop. Hard

Posted by Dustin Rowles

Given the historically unpopular approval ratings of the president, the general disinterest in the First Lady, and the track record for documentaries in theaters, Amazon's $40 million Melania was already facing significant headwinds. But the fact that not even the...

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Ars Technica ([syndicated profile] arstechnica_ip_feed) wrote2025-12-17 12:30 pm

US oil industry doesn’t see profit in Trump’s “pro-petroleum” moves

Posted by Skip York, The Conversation

As the Trump administration makes announcement after announcement about its efforts to promote the US fossil fuel industry, the industry isn’t exactly jumping at new opportunities.

Some high-profile oil and gas industry leaders and organizations have objected to changes to long-standing government policy positions that give companies firm ground on which to make their plans.

And the financial picture around oil and gas drilling is moving against the Trump administration’s hopes. Though politicians may tout new opportunities to drill offshore or in Arctic Alaska, the commercial payoff is not clear and even unlikely.

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Ars Technica ([syndicated profile] arstechnica_ip_feed) wrote2025-12-17 12:00 pm

“A Band-Aid on a giant gash”: Trump’s attacks on science may ruin his AI moonshot

Posted by Ashley Belanger

By executive order last month, Donald Trump launched his so-called “Genesis Mission.”

Described as a “historic national effort” to “invest in AI-enabled science to accelerate scientific advancement,” Trump claimed his mission would address key challenges to American energy dominance, innovation, and national security.

This mission, Trump boasted, would be a game-changer to science akin to putting a man on the moon or firing the first nuclear weapons. By building “an integrated AI platform” trained on “the world’s largest collection” of federal scientific data sets, he promised, the government could set off cascades of scientific breakthroughs.

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marcicat: (christmas tree 2010)
marciratingsystem ([personal profile] marcicat) wrote2025-12-17 09:02 am
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oh happy day!

Time to go have an outdoor adventure!
james_davis_nicoll: (Default)
james_davis_nicoll ([personal profile] james_davis_nicoll) wrote2025-12-17 09:11 am

Princess Jellyfish, volume 1 by Akiko Higashimura



Can a community of otaku save their apartment building from gentrification? Should a community of otaku save their apartment building from gentrification?

Princess Jellyfish, volume 1 by Akiko Higashimura
fred_mouse: cross stitched image reading "do not feed the data scientists" (data scientists)
fred_mouse ([personal profile] fred_mouse) wrote2025-12-17 09:17 pm

Life lived in dot points

The damn things continue to overlap

  • surgeon appointment: nothing new, but the margins on what was removed aren't big enough, back in surgery - that's my Friday.
  • the next step in the candidacy paperwork was in fact not my responsibility, and I now have an email to say I've passed that hurdle (here it is called 'Milestone 1').
  • Last Monday rehearsal of the year was this week; I tried bowing for one line of very long/slow notes and ow, nope, not yet. Was, however, good support for the other viola player, including singing some of the bits where the viola has the melody. We had a new violin player! I hope they come back, they seemed to be having fun.
  • Today was my last day on campus for the year. I will be working some over the shutdown, because I'm supposed to have my ethics drafted by mid January, and I still don't know what I don't know. Treated myself to curry and a fizzy drink for lunch.
  • Finished Building a second brain (Tiago Forte), which I've gained some useful ideas from. Recommended if you are needing a way to organise the information that is coming in to your life; not elsewise.
  • Youngest went bouldering with co-workers on Monday, and is learning yet again about not relying on hyperextended elbows to do the work (their grip strength isn't, and their forearms hurt "weirdly")
  • have woken up twice this week having done Something Stupid in my sleep. Monday it was the right hip not quite in the right place (went back in during rehearsal, I staggered in looking awful, I gather) and today it is something with the muscles of the right shoulder and halfway down the back -- I could barely move the shoulder this morning, and it has settled down to 'about half the time one or more muscles are spasming'.
dancing_serpent: (Actors - Cheng Yi - Xie Huai'an 02)
Phaeton ([personal profile] dancing_serpent) wrote in [community profile] c_ent2025-12-17 01:58 pm
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Quick Rec Wednesday

Rec time! Did you read/watch/listen to something you really liked and would love other people to know about, too? Don't have the time or energy to make a full promo post, or think such a small thing doesn't merit a separate entry?

Here's your chance to share with the class! Just drop a comment with a link and maybe a couple of words in description. No need to overthink things, it can be as simple as Loved this! or OMG, look at that!. (You don't need to keep it short, though, write as much as you want.)

Check out the previous entries, too!
spikedluv: (winter: mittens by raynedanser)
it only hurts when i breathe ([personal profile] spikedluv) wrote2025-12-17 07:39 am

Wednesday Reading Meme & Books 101 & 111 of 2025

What I Just Finished Reading: Since last Wednesday I have read/finished reading: The Serpent on the Crown (An Amelia Peabody Mystery) by Elizabeth Peters and Killing Field (A Jack Reacher Novel) by Lee Child.


What I am Currently Reading: I haven’t technically started it yet, but the next book on my list is Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall.


What I Plan to Read Next: I have two library books to pick up, so probably one of those.




Book 110 of 2025: The Serpent on the Crown (An Amelia Peabody Mystery) (Elizabeth Peters)

I enjoyed this! spoilers )

I liked this book and have already requested the next. Sadly, I think it's the last in the series that doesn't look back at the ‘lost seasons'. I'm giving this one five hearts.

♥♥♥♥♥




Book 111 of 2025: Killing Field (A Jack Reacher Novel) (Lee Child)

I enjoyed this book, but I wasn't sure I was going to. The authors writing style, with all those short, choppy sentences, drove me nuts. spoilers )

I liked this book enough to check out the next in the series; I'm giving this book four hearts.

♥♥♥♥
antisoppist: (Christmas)
antisoppist ([personal profile] antisoppist) wrote2025-12-17 12:24 pm
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Advent calendar 17

This Christmas Day, the sixth of Sophie's life, started in the usual way. As soon as the grandmother clock in the hall struck seven, the twins ran, and Sophie plodded, into their parents' bedroom, and they all climbed onto the big bed to show what Father Christmas had brought them.

Then, after breakfast, came the ceremony of giving presents.

This was always done in the same way. Everybody sat down, in the living room, of course—at least the two grown-ups sat down with their cups of coffee, while Matthew and Mark danced around with excitement, and their sister stood stolidly beside the Christmas tree, beneath which all the presents were arranged, and waited for the others to sing "Happy Birthday, dear Sophie, Happy Birthday to you!"

Then the opening of the presents began, one at a time, youngest first, oldest last— Christmas present for Sophie, then one for Mark, then Matthew (ten minutes older), then Mummy, then Dad, and finally a birthday present for Sophie, before she began again on her next Christmas one.

This year, to Sophie's surprise and delight, word of her intention to be a lady farmer had somehow got around the entire family, and both her Christmas and her birthday presents reflected this.
Pajiba ([syndicated profile] newpajiba_feed) wrote2025-12-17 07:00 am

Sabrina Carpenter Sticks Foot in Mouth Out of the Gate On 'Day Drinking with Seth'

Posted by Dustin Rowles

Seth Meyers aired another edition of his popular "Day Drinking with Seth" segment last night, this time with Sabrina Carpenter, someone he admits he doesn't know that well but who is clearly a favorite of Lorne Michaels over on SNL....

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elisem: (Default)
Elise Matthesen ([personal profile] elisem) wrote2025-12-17 04:28 am

Yuletide progress: it is posted!

 I have met the deadline and posted the thing! Now we just have the week between today and Reveal Day, also known as "the week where I find all the hidden typos and fix them." Main Collection Reveal Day for the fics is the 24th, and is followed by Author Reveals on January 1.

This year was more work than previous years, for a very particular reason. I got COVID for the first time in October, and while I got very lucky (Paxlovid turns out to work for me, yay!), I am so easily drained to exhaustion, by pretty much anything including brain work, which has never been this bad before. Also, I'm used to multitasking, and hoo boy do I need different strategies and approaches now.

I'm planning for a very long recuperation, since it looks like that's the smart way to go. But here we are, and today is a milestone day. The story is a story, and it's posted, and now I can catch up a little on my Etsy shop (I hardly posted anything new while writing) and my eBay offers (I'm selling most of a half-century's worth of queer and related subjects library, since I'm not a working journalist any more and somebody really should get use out of these books and periodicals).

It's been a long time. I had forgotten the peculiar satisfaction that comes with meeting a deadline.
spikedluv: (winter: mittens by raynedanser)
it only hurts when i breathe ([personal profile] spikedluv) wrote2025-12-17 06:57 am

The Day in Spikedluv (Tuesday, Dec 16)

I hit Price Chopper, the Pharmacy, and CVS (for mom) while I was downtown.

I did three loads of laundry, hand-washed dishes, went for several walks with Pip and the dogs, cut up chicken for the dogs' meals, scooped kitty litter, and shaved. I made him cheese sausage for supper (one of the guys at work had it and he thought it looked good).

I watched two more eps of The Pitt. Secrets of the Zoo was my background tv in the evening.

Temps started out at 21.4(F) (it was supposed to be 10, so that was a nice surprise; still cold, though) and reached 31.3. It immediately started going down, but there was no wind (and no more snow clogging the trails) so the walks were actually nice.


Mom Update:

Mom was doing about the same today. more back here )
sabotabby: (books!)
sabotabby ([personal profile] sabotabby) wrote2025-12-17 06:50 am
Entry tags:

Reading Wednesday

Just finished: Censorship & Information Control: From Printing Press to Internet by Ada Palmer. This was really good. Feels like even though it's pretty recent and deals mostly with history, it could use an update as the technology for censorship has advanced rapidly in the past few years, so I hope she/her students are still doing some work around it.

Currently reading: The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann. Usually in December, after I've hit my Goodreads goal, I read something that's gratuitously long and would otherwise fuck up my goal if it didn't spill over into January (yay for anything and everything in my life being quantified and gamified, love that for me). This year's winner is my high school English teacher's favourite book, which he recommended but said that we wouldn't get until we hit middle age. Well, now I am middle aged so I'm reading it.

It's a curious book. I always hit the literary classics and go like. Oh. Haha. This is stranger and funnier than I imagined.

Me: I guess I will finally read literary classic The Magic Mountain.
 
Thomas Mann: Allow me to introduce my himbo failson, Hans Castorp. He is pure of heart and dumb of ass.

Am I enjoying it? I dunno, as much as you can enjoy a 1000+ page book which goes into detail about the breakfast, second breakfast, rest period, lunch, dinner, second dinner, etc. of the character. Which is the point, really—the mountain in question is a liminal space where in theory, the tuberculous patients can leave, but don't. But it's a slog.
chacusha: (cozy)
chacusha ([personal profile] chacusha) wrote in [community profile] latetreatbonanza2025-12-17 10:31 am
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1 week until deadline!

Hi everyone! Sorry, I meant to post a reminder earlier. I feel like it's a bit of a busy period in exchange land at the moment, but this is just a reminder that the collection for Late Treat Bonanza will be opening a little bit more than one week from now (countdown)!

Be sure that your works are ready to go live by then. We currently have 5 late treats in the collection!

Sign-ups are also still open. It's a bit last-minute to sign up, but you can go ahead and do it before LTB ends for the year!

Useful links:
Schedule & sign-up post
Late Treat Bonanza 2025 AO3 Collection
Searchable sign-up spreadsheet
Event rules & FAQ
luzula: a Luzula pilosa, or hairy wood-rush (Default)
luzula ([personal profile] luzula) wrote2025-12-16 09:14 pm
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Write every day: Day 16

Oops, I had the draft of this post open yesterday evening, but forgot to post it! How did your writing go? I, um, opened my document and looked at it, but there was no writing. Unless I count the course plans I worked on for my job, which I will not.

Tally:
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Day 15: [personal profile] sylvanwitch, [personal profile] trobadora, [personal profile] brithistorian, [personal profile] badly_knitted, [personal profile] goddess47, [personal profile] the_siobhan, [personal profile] cornerofmadness, [personal profile] carenejeans, [personal profile] china_shop, [personal profile] sanguinity, [personal profile] chestnut_pod

Day 16: [personal profile] china_shop, [personal profile] brithistorian, [personal profile] sanguinity

Bonus farm news: Housemate is sawing up a section of a large oak trunk that we got when the neighbors had a tree cut down. Among other things, he plans to make a large oak table for the living room out of two of the (very wide and heavy!) planks. Which will now need drying for two years before said table can be made, but I think it will be gorgeous.
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
ysabetwordsmith ([personal profile] ysabetwordsmith) wrote in [community profile] journalsandplanners2025-12-17 12:42 am

Photos: Testing Pens on Plant Labels

This year I've been running an experiment to see which type of pen lasts the longest for labeling plants outdoors. I have compiled links to the previous posts and added pictures from each month where I hadn't already posted them. Results: Sharpie Oil Pen lasted longest, Craft Smart Oil Pen was still legible at the end of the year, and Sharpie Permanent Marker faded very fast. If you're labeling plants outdoors, buy an oil paint pen, preferably Sharpie.  If you want to test how colorfast or fugitive your journal inks are, you can run the same kind of test indoors on paper that is in a window with sunlight.

These are the other posts regarding the labels.
1/3/25 Photos: Testing Pens on Plant Labels
2/3/25 Photos: House Yard and South Lot
3/3/25 Photos: House Yard and South Lot
4/4/25 Photos: South Lot
5/6/25 Photos: South Lot
6/2/25 Photos: House Yard
11/3/25 Photos: Lantern Terrarium Assembly Part 2 Testing the Fit (labels at bottom)
Photos: House Yard 12-16-25

Let's do science to it... )