Denny Atkin

A former coworker on the #Xbox team posted that there are only 5 people left in #xboxsupport after last week’s layoffs. That’s gonna totally suck for Xbox customers. Hope that AI that I assume they’re counting on is amazing. (Narrator: That’s doubtful.)

A No-Reels, No-Junk Button for Your Facebook App In a shocking move, Facebook now supports a feed that lets you use the site to interact with friends

Facebook actually added an optional Friends button that gives a feed sans-Reels and suggested posts. Here’s a quick-and-easy guide to turning it on: open.substack.com/pub/editer/p... #Facebook #feed #lesscrap

And it’s on Game Pass, so if you subscribe you can try it at no extra cost!

As a cat guy, I couldn’t understand why Krypto was trying to kill #Superman.

It’s already started because Australia.

Liked it so much I wrote *more* about it. open.substack.com/pub/editer/p...

Denny's review of When the Moon Hits Your Eye 5/5: I was thrilled to get an early read of this novel—I’ve devoured almost everything Scalzi has written. He’s a versatile and consistently entertaining writer, whether he’s tackling serious stories ...

Just finished @scalzi.com 's latest, "When the Moon Hits Your Eye." When I read the premise, I wondered how he convinced his publisher to print a book that had to have been written to win a bet. But it ended up an enjoyable and surprisingly thought-proving read. www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

If you haven't seen Les Miserables yet, I highly recommend not going to the Broadway at the Paramount performance in Seattle in 2018. #timetravelreviews

LES MISERABLES: THE DENNY'S NOTES SYNOPSIS open.substack.com/pub/editer/p...

The Unfollow feature (covered in the series) is your friend there! If you don't want to unfriend them, you can unfollow them to avoid their ignorance showing up in your feed. They can still write dumb responses to YOUR posts, but those I just delete without responding, so it just wastes their time.

I haven’t found anyone else from the old crew here yet!

Home | Substack Discover and discuss great writing with the world’s smartest readers on Substack.

@scalzi.com , I wrote up a tutorial yesterday, showing folks how they can access the friends feed, which will eliminate toxic “suggested” posts.

editer.substack.com/p/make-your-...

Donate to Standing Up for Brittany, organized by Denny Atkin Our dear friend Brittany, a beloved member of Seattle’s improv and stand-up comedy communities, h… Denny Atkin needs your support for Standing Up for Brittany

The amazing folks in the improv community came together to support Brittany, who is battling blood cancer and needs a marrow transplant. Not only will the GoFundMe $ help her, but we also had 31 people at the show swab-and-register to be potential bone marrow donors! www.gofundme.com/f/standing-u...

Wait. You created this account HOW long before this episode aired? Are you a time traveler?

Hey #Seattle! There's a free #improv comedy show at Unexpected Productions in Pike Place Market Wednesday 1/15 at 7 pm. It's a benefit to raise money for our friend Brittany, who is about to undergo a bone marrow transplant. You can also register as a potential marrow donor! Tix: bit.ly/Brprov

Habitat for Humanity mourns the death of former U.S. President Jimmy Carter Habitat for Humanity joins the world in mourning the death of former U.S. President Jimmy Carter. A champion for affordable and decent housing, he and Rosalynn Carter donated their time and leadership...

I can’t think of a better way to honor Jimmy Carter than donating to Habitat for Humanity. He and Rosalynn first began volunteering with the nonprofit in 1984 — 3 years after leaving the White House. They volunteered every year until 2020, eventually helping to build and repair 4,390 Habitat homes.

Loved it start to finish. I hope you find a way to come back to Trek. And to bring your amazing LD team with you. Thanks for the laughs and tears! And for making me feel like I was watching friends getting each other’s backs.

@mikemcmahan.bsky.social Thanks to you and the team for the most joy-filled 28 minutes of entertainment ever. I squee’d multiple times and I am not a squee-er.

Agent Ransack. Super fast and powerful search app.

Oh, and I just discovered that Travis Baldree is here, and he's working on a third book in the series! Follow him at @travisbaldree.bsky.social

I also listened to Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir with Cassie during a road trip, having read the Kindle version when it was released. Ray Porter’s narration makes the audiobook a joy, and I highly recommend experiencing it in book or audiobook form before the movie comes out.

Honorary Mentions:
Not Until We Are Lost, book 5 in the Bobiverse series by Dennis E. Taylor. It’s currently only available on Audible, narrated by the superb Ray Porter, so I didn’t include it in the Top 5. Snarky nerd reborn as the brain of a spaceship and it just gets crazier from there.

Anansi Boys – Neil Gaiman
It’s Gaiman, so you know it’s going to be good. Set in the American Gods universe, but doesn’t require you to have read that book. I actually liked this more than I did American Gods – witty, sometimes frustrating, and always enjoyable. It’s on Kindle Unlimited, too.

A Prayer for the Crown-Sky – Becky Chambers
2024 was a year of sequels. This second “Monk and Robot” book is short and delightful and a wonderfully optimistic read.

Bookshops and Bonedust – Travis Baldree
Like the first book, this prequel to “Legends and Lattes” is an engaging story with wonderful characters. If you enjoy audiobooks, Baldree is a professional narrator and it’s a treat to hear the voices as the author imagined them. Highly recommend both books.

Babel – R.F. Kuang
Along with the engaging, if sometimes frustrating, main storyline, the book’s fascinating exploration of linguistics and translation makes it worth reading. It’s maddening that the China Worldcon controversy robbed this of a Hugo nomination.

I've read 30 books & 16 graphic novels in 2024, and these are my standouts:

Those Beyond the Wall – Michaiah Johnson
An engaging stand-alone sequel to the superb “The Space Between Worlds,” which you should also read if you enjoy alternate reality stories and extremely badass women protagonists.

A tabby cat stretched out with his chin resting on a hind leg.

Gus has perfected chilling. #catsofbluesky

Top Pot’s way better.

Stupidly stabbed my palm with my meat thermometer. Even more disappointing, I didn’t look at the temperature reading before I jerked it out. 

Yeah, using it as a coding tool is fine unless I’m missing some issues. It’s using it to replace writers/editors/artists/airplane pilots where there are uncountable issues.