Sandstone

Weather Service is now hiring back hundreds of positions that got cut in the DOGE chaos | CNN The National Weather Service has received permission to hire 450 meteorologists, hydrologists and radar technicians just months after being hit hard by Department of Government Efficiency-related cuts...

good/lol www.cnn.com/2025/08/05/w...

Ooo a new EE Ottoman book in October!

Astal: The future according to Sega I know Astal is going to be special, right from the start.  No, that’s not quite right: Sega knows Astal is going to be special, right from the start. Without any fuss or hesitation the game …

"...being beautiful for the sake of it is always a good enough reason for something to exist, as far as Astal’s concerned."

Got a new article for you! :D

kimimithegameeatingshemonster.com/2025/08/05/a...

this is free, btw

I am *extremely* proud to make my @rascal.news debut with this piece covering the shared history of @magic.wizards.com and Final Fantasy, and examining the impact Universes Beyond as a narrative and game design tool.

@shmarr.bsky.social You might have already seen this but glad to see this getting a disc release!

RFK Jr. backs down all the time when he gets push back, so if anyone wants to call, here's the HHS number 1-877-696-6775.
I'd also call your senators/reps as well.

Thanks so much, it does look similar! I don't know Tracery but I have experience with programming so hopefully I can pick it up when I get that far ^^

Thank you! It's one of those "one of these days" projects but I will let you know ^^

Oh, I don't mean generating covers but just picking ones for real books from a folder and matching them up with the corresponding text which would hopefully be simpler (although compiling the list may take a while)!

I don't think so- it's a flow issue, the four Sports I've had over the years have all skipped terribly, while the Perkeos don't have that problem! I'm guessing the Sport has a different, more compact feed or something maybe

There's still time to apply! We are offering somewhere between 20 to 40 stipends, so don't hesitate!

That makes sense, thanks! I can see how alt would be difficult with procedurally generated content, but I've been thinking of something along the lines of a book bot that posts covers and a little bit of related text...

Is there a simple way to have a bot post a random image from a selection (ideally with corresponding alt text) or are images hard? I feel like I used to see image bots more on Twitter than I do around here and I was wondering if there are technical barriers for that

They’re here! 😍

The completed Stonebreaker series is now relaunched in ebook! Paperbacks soon, but ebook and KU are here! 🥰

If you love queer epic fantasy with lots of rainbow rep in a queer-norm world (and giant sapient bats!!!), check them out!

www.amazon.com/dp/B0FKPTJJG1

The great reasonably priced fountain pen mystery to me is why every Kaweco Perkeo I own writes so well and every Kaweco Sport I own writes so poorly...

This piece lays out all the reasons AI is ill-suited for historical work — getting facts wrong, relying on existing sources only, churning out banal claims in bland prose, etc — and then asserts we’ll all just have to use it anyway.

Yeah, no.

Top: Two screenshots of the Magic Knight Rayearth logo created for the animated series. Bottom: Title screen of the Saturn version featuring one of the images created for the animated series.

When TMS produced the animated adaptation of Magic Knight Rayearth (1994), the studio's parent company - Sega- asked AM3 to create the computer graphics for the opening sequence, which was later used in the Saturn game developed by Sega RPG Production.
xcancel.com/rew_w/status...

30+ ebooks, 30+ games, several assets for making your own games, a comic that really punches you in the gut while making you laugh... A little something for everyone, and you get to help provide relief from the communities impacted most by wildfires!

itch.io/b/3125/canad...

With ongoing pressure campaigns, not everyone can push 100% all the time

If you and maybe a friend or two can jump in "late"? You give people a chance to recharge their batteries, so they can take over again once you need to recharge yours

Its a marathon, not a race

Submit to Augur Magazine We're looking for surrealism, dream touched realism, and SFF! Now with higher pay.

Got a short story, flash fic, or poem sitting in your drafts? 👀📖

Submissions for Augur Magazine Issues 9.1, 9.2, and 9.3 AND @talesfeathers.bsky.social Vol 5 are ✨ OPEN! ✨

Visit augursociety.org/submissions/ to read our guidelines and submit!

A woman in red holds a lantern. "Welcome to the Night Market. The Market opens soon."

My new fantasy fiction magazine now has a website. We're still very fledgling, much baby. So please consider supporting us!

www.nightmarketmag.com

This isn't about criminal activity under Texas law. These aren't fugitives from felonies. It is a civil matter. The FBI cannot arrest people for non-criminal conduct. There is no reasonable belief that arresting them would prevent the commission of a federal crime. It's all pro-police state hogwash.

F.B.I. Is Asked to Arrest Texas Democrats in Battle Over House Seats

This is a demand for unconstitutional, arbitrary power. There is no offense against the United States here. The FBI has no role to assist the State of Texas in becoming an authoritarian enclave.

F.B.I. Is Asked to Arrest Texas Democrats in Battle Over House Seats www.nytimes.com/2025/08/05/u...

Against a background of navy, teal and pink patterned fabric dotted with stars, a flatlaid paperback copy of AN BREAKABLE WORLD by Ren Hutchings. The white Solaris logo is in the bottom left corner.

The praise keeps flowing in for @voidcricket.bsky.social 's AN UNBREAKABLE WORLD!

“Unmissable. Ren Hutchings is on my must-read list.” @garethlpowell.bsky.social
"An instantly engaging premise and unforgettable characters.” @rebeccafraimow.bsky.social

Out September 👉 geni.us/unbrw

Oh nice! I have the first one I haven't read yet but I'd thought it was a standalone, sometimes being a slow reader pays off for being able to read series all at once 😅

A copy of Teo’s Durumi by Elaine U. Cho. The cover shows two figures standing on the lunar surface in front of a house and garden, with the earth rising in the background.

Happy new book Tuesday! Here’s what I got: Teo’s Durumi by Elaine U. Cho, the sequel to Ocean’s Godori, which I liked a lot.

Forbidden Bodies: The Summer Hikaru Died and the Desperate Terror of Queer Adolescence  - Reactor Your best friend's been replaced by a eldritch entity... but that doesn't change your feelings for him.

Since we're all talking about the anime, it felt like a good time to revisit Leah Thomas's discussion of queerness, body horror, and consensual corruption in The Summer Hikaru Died

#thesummerhikarudied #tshd

reactormag.com/forbidden-bo...

Cover of Ekman's Urban Fantasy, which is mostly black, two hooded figures at the bottom, and a vertigo-inducing image of skyscrapers in the center.

Congrats to Stefan Ekman and his book Urban Fantasy: Exploring Modernity through Magic, published by us at @leverpress.bsky.social, for winning the 2025 Mythopoeic Award for Myth and Fantasy Studies! www.mythsoc.org/news/news-20...

I'm aware, but I also think it is one of those received wisdom beliefs about algorithms where I am not sure how much truth is in it (like the constantly changing magic number of Amazon reviews you need to get Picked Up By The Algorithm e.g.)