The number one website currently cited in Google’s AI search mode? It’s Google.
The second? That’s YouTube, which is also owned by Google.
Google’s using circular hyperlinks in AI Mode to keep users locked into their platforms. My latest for @wired.com:
www.wired.com/story/google...
Site's been down for a couple of days due to a maintenance snafu but it's back up and we're about 50% of the way to the awards funding goal!
ignyteawards.fiyahlitmag.com/support/
The second book of The Astral Kingdoms Trilogy now has both a name and a cover!
DAUGHTER OF DESTRUCTION
Thank you so much, @magalivilleneuve.bsky.social, for such incredible artwork. I could not have envisioned a more perfect representation of Isabelle.
turns out people were interested in this — we sold out, and 100% of students said it was worth the cost. so we’re doing it again starting April 15! we’re opening registration tomorrow, but initially only to folks who have filled out our interest form: docs.google.com/forms/d/16cZ...
Invasive parasite that spreads its seed into other things that it then grotesquely puppets with the goal of sucking the planet dry and then repeating the cycle? Which is then spread willingly by irresponsible rich folk who believe it to be the next frontier of human evolution?
Yup, checks out.
Spoiler: Corporation hopes to keep exploiting writers until writers forget they're being exploited.
looking for your next spring read you say? 👀
🎐🌬️🌊A RIVER FROM THE SKY🌊🌬️🎐
⚙️natural engines duology ⚙️
forthcoming April 28, 2026 with @titanbooks.bsky.social 💫
cover: Natasha MacKenzie🎨
.
#fantasy #scifi #bookstagram #naturalengines #ariverfromthesky
I finally lost my shit about so-called AIs, LLMs, enshittification & everything fucking evil that @officialgrammarly.bsky.social is doing. I'm fucking furious, and not just about what 1 company has done. An open letter to Grammarly & the rest of the LLM hype machine www.moryan.com/an-open-lett...
Strongly encourage all academics, novelists, reporters, bloggers, whatever to just email this account and state that you want to opt out of this idiocy.
Overload them with emails and make them regret they ever tried this shit.
expertoptout@superhuman.com
2/ Maybe the lead is that the war goals DO NOT involve destroying Iran's nuclear weapons program. This is, uh...surprising...since Trump says over and over this is a key goal.
But then of course we already know air strikes can't wipe out their nuclear material.
Once again reupping my newsletter about JK Rowling and "separating the art from the artist"
buttondown.com/charliejane/...
an insult to McCarthy and Le Guin and whoever the others are, but also to everyone literate, and to life itself
Always nice to be back on the #SFF new book release beat! Lots of really exciting titles coming out this month!
“Tehran is burning. And smoke has filled the streets. It’s impossible to drive out of the city right now and even with the windows closed, heavy smoke is making its way inside."
Read every word.
THREAD: I got laid off from NYMag/Vulture after 14 years. The family lost 75% of income + medical. Now mzs.press bookstore, once a side project. is do-or-die for Judith & I. I feel weird telling you this because others are doing much worse. But if you could like or share this, we'd be so grateful!
Good news: my dragon is now on Netgalley!
It’s a different sort of dragon rider novel: one from the dragon’s POV. He’s just here for the free food, he swears.
If you are an ARC-ish sort, there is a Read Now window open through Friday.
OpenAI head of robotics just resigned over company deal with the Pentagon saying…
“Surveillance of Americans without judicial oversight and lethal autonomy without human authorization are lines that deserved more deliberation than they got”
Put another way, Google used to connect users with sites that had the information they wanted, working in tandem. Now its aim is to keep people on Google as long as possible without clicking out, regardless of whether its AI-generated slop is riddled with errors.
There's a reason I spend so much time thinking about how to "AI Overview-proof" the sorts of content we run now. Sites still need tools like Google and Google Discover for the traffic they can bring, but it's never felt more like navigating an inherently hostile entity than it does now.
There are already less people making the content Google needs to function well than there were 5 years ago, because so many media companies have been hit with unending rounds of layoffs. It's bleak to think about how that landscape will look in a few more years.
Google's entire purpose for decades was helping people get to sites that had the information they wanted, but now they've cut out the middle man, scraped all those sites for their value, and left them to die. Too bad we don't live in a world with any sort of working antitrust oversight!
Yep. Pretty much every site I know has been impacted by this to some degree, and it has been absolutely brutal. Google tries to play the data off as flawed in this article, but this is a very commonly understood truth for people who work in online media.
Share please! Attention #sff and #urbanfantasy writers! The #opencall for the WERE-2 #Kickstarter about were-creatures other then #werewolves is now open to submissions! Check out the guidelines and submit at zombiesneedbrains.moksha.io before May 31st. #fantasy #booksky #amwritingsff #writingsff
Looking for stuff to read and watch for Hugo nominations? Looking for creators to nominate? We at NOAF have you covered:
www.nerds-feather.com/2026/02/2026... (links in this one to more categories at the bottom)
If we survive this, I really hope parents take a long look at how they are teaching empathy to their children. It's so obvious that that is the missing ingredient in huge chunks of the population, amplified by social media algorithms and cultural rewards for reactions rather than thoughtfulness.
Hey, all. If you aren't aware, it seems we are experiencing a concerning (and much higher than average) number of manufacturer defects on the WoT leatherbounds. Give us a little time to:
1/?
Ladies and gentlemen... the weekend. (also: you are important and are not alone 🧡)
Just disgusting, immoral shit all the way down.
