43 thoughts on “Pixel Scroll 2/9/24 The FTL And The Furriest”

1. FIRST

   Arrrgh

2. 7) I don’t get this, since it’s been on Amazon Prime video for at least two months already.

3. (1) I’m going to have take a course in “how to detect AI on covers” before I go to the bookstore…

   (2) Ouch. Gall bladder surgery is one thing. But emergency gall bladder surgery and a return trip are truly sucky.

   (3) “Successfully.” To quote Inigo Montoya: “You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.”

   (8) Algis Budrys gave me one of my best personalized rejection slips. 🙂 I miss “Tomorrow Speculative Fiction” and was just trying to remember the title and author of a story I read there. (It was the one where humans who slept with the conquering aliens were called “Frog F**kers.” Does that ring a bell?)

   (9) Wow, that’s very meta.

4. (2) Wishing her all the best. Emergency gall bladder surgery is no fun (he says knowingly (

5. (2) I remember my mother getting hers removed. And the next week, being in the hospital overnight for something gastrointestinal. It took her another three weeks to recover. She was amused by the surgeon coming by while doing rounds, in his white coat, jeans, and cowboy boots, especially since he’s Turkish.

6. Re: (1) TOR ACCUSED OF USING AI ART COVER, AGAIN
   If you have any respect at all for human created art and literature, and the people who produce it, you will boycott these a–holes….

7. 13) WANT!!

8. RE: TOR Cover. Does that flower on the cover strongly resemble a cabbage, not a rose, or is it just me? (Yes, I know there were old-fashioned varieties that were called ‘cabbage roses’) But the petals look like real, thick, veined cabbage leaves. Plug ugly flower, anyway.
   Boringly formulaic Gothic cover, somewhat reminiscent of The Adams Family but Morticia and Wednesday had class!

9. (3) ‘the Worldcon has been successfully hosted in China in 2023’

   You keep using that word. I do not think that it means what you think it means.

10. @Mary A Bauer
    It looks like a rose to me. But hybrid teas don’t usually come in hide-everything black.

11. (1) Of course one of the big problems with AI art is that it can sneak in multiple places in the process. The editor might not know the artist used AI elements.The artist might not know some of the stock photos they used or referenced had AI elements.

    It’s like the occasional tracing scandals that show up in comics. One person makes an unethical choice, which then passes through multiple layers of people who sign off on it with no realistic chance of catching it before it goes to the public.

12. Best wishes to Kaja Foglio for a quick (and uneventful) recovery.

    When Hilde had her own gall bladder out, it wasn’t on an emergency basis, and there were no complications, so the most memorable thing about it was the surgeon coming to the waiting room to show off the Polaroid photos he’d taken of her removed gall bladder. Gee, Doc, thanks a — blecchhhh — lot.

13. 3) Translation: hey, you are white tourists. You’ll probably be fine. We know the value of international conferences! Wink wink.
    Of course, if you’re caught doing gay stuff, you risk the death penalty and there’s nothing we can do, but hey, what are the chances, eh?

14. 3) Also, the link ends up in a deleted post?

15. The link still works for me.

16. (3) “We also have seen a successful football World cup in Qatar”
    Yep, successfully deleting any sign, sight or sound of LGBTQ+ people.

17. (3) The Ugandan laws against homosexuality are among the strictest and harshest in the World. That alone should disqualify Uganda as a host. Would like to see Worldcon in an African country, but there are enough other options on the continent.

18. (3) Agree with ‘peer’ on this.
    From Responsible Travel’s website: “ Travellers of any sexual orientation are advised to avoid displaying affection in public, but Uganda has become an increasingly dangerous place for LGBTQ+ travellers. As of 2023, people are legally obliged to report any observations of “homosexual acts” – and those that don’t report it could face imprisonment. ”
    So maybe the con folk can ensure there will be no police inside but a public display of affection could still have dire consequences, never mind what could happen to folk who go off resort for a meal or sight seeing.

    And although concerns about the Hugo’s pale into insignificance, one could easily envisage circumstances in which nominated LGBTQ+ writers suddenly found themselves ‘ineligible’.

19. (8) Good to see Algis Budrys remembered. A Budrys Miscellany is a free ebook download at the TAFF site:

    https://taff.org.uk/ebooks.php?x=BudrysMisc

20. It should be noted that Budrys hated the publishers’ title The Rogue Moon (though I must admit it is catchy) and reverted to his original The Death Machine when he could.

    Also, ISTR reading that he was very angry about losing to Canticle (was he even second? or did they not publish the runner-ups’ order back then?), especially as it was a fixup of 1955–7 novellas and the book came out in 1959 and not 1960 like the other nominees. But, well, you can’t beat Canticle.

    I re-read Some Will Not Die comparatively recently, and it has some great writing – gotta love that opening:

    This happened many years after the plague, at about the same time there was already talk of reviving the American Kennel Club in the east and south. But this happened farther to the northwest:
    Night was coming down on the immense plain that stretched from the Appalachians to the foothills of the Rockies. The long grass whispered in the evening wind.
    (etc.)

    Later parts are somewhat subservient to the conventions and (space) limitations of its time, but worth one’s time overall.

21. 1) Norman Rockwell was looked down on by other illustrators for painting from photographs. Now it’s a common and accepted practice.

22. (3)

    “This law is in courts of law and we can’t comment about it for fear of prejudice.”

    I have no idea what that means. Does Ugandan law also forbid commenting on the nation’s laws? Or forbid such comment only when it might create prejudice? What sort of prejudice? Is there a perceived risk that a judge applying a law might have been influenced by a random citizen’s opinion of it into making a prejudgement?

    But seriously, I would guess that the person who wrote that is indeed afraid, for the reasons why people living under oppressive regimes usually are afraid of voicing an opinion on touchy subjects. Supporting the law of the land would be the typical safe choice, but in this case, that would be counterproductive to attracting WorldCon voters. So better to say as little as possible.

    “These precedents will help inform Kampcon in planning mitigation measures.”

    A sentence that sounds eerier than might have been intended.

    Kampcon is a hard pass for me.

23. @John A Arkansawyer

    1) Norman Rockwell was looked down on by other illustrators for painting from photographs. Now it’s a common and accepted practice.

    I don’t think that’s the same thing as using AI to create “art.” There’s a huge difference between an actual artist (trained or untrained) using a photograph before painting something — and someone using prompts to create a picture. Both Rockwell and Boris painted from photographs, and no one would confuse their work (or confuse them from AI).

    There is some debate over whether it’s OK to use some AI tools in creative work. Not everyone is going to be on the same page.

    I don’t know much about art tools, so I’ll bring this to writing. Most people agree that it’s OK to use Grammarly when writing, even though that uses AI. (After all, most writers ignore — and even laugh at — many of the suggestions because they know their language well enough to ignore them.)

    The debate gets trickier when people talk about using AI for writing prompts. Let alone using AI to generate actual text. Besides, I’ve seen some of the text created by AI — surely it’s easier to write the text yourself than to waste time editing that stuff.

24. Trade between the two nations totaled over $1 billion in 2017, and I believe has not decreased by much.

    And Chinese companies have contributed to the building of infrastructure in Uganda. China also owns about 20% of Uganda’s debt (Roughly $1.6 billion.)

    Of course Chengdu was successful!

    “Soft Power” anybody?

    And you wanna bet the corporation that co-opted the 2023 Worldcon won’t help any Ugandan Worldcon?

    For some minor considerations, of course.

25. Ed Green said;

    Trade between the two nations totaled…

    Perhaps had I not had a senior moment and led with “Uganda is dependent on staying in China’s good graces.” My post might have made a tad more sense.

26. 10) Dammit, now see what you made me do. Click. Kerchung!!

27. #2 and gallbladder surgery. I was sick for weeks and was finally diagnosed when I visited the doctor, got sent to the ER for a CAT Scan and had the signal pleasure of the doctor telling me “we need to call your husband.”

    AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!
    When I had the surgery a week later, they discovered my gallbladder was in pieces so I ended up with a much larger incision than planned.

    And, I did NOT experience “some discomfort.” It was excruciating.
    My heart goes out to Kaja and the Foglio family.

28. I also had emergency gall bladder surgery, but/and my recovery was basically uneventful. The branch hospital nearest my apartment was where Columbia-Presbyterian did all their gall bladder surgeries, so experienced surgeons and very easy for Andy to visit me in the hospital before they sent me home.

    Best wishes for Kaja’s recovery.

29. When my husband had gall bladder surgery, the surgeon stopped by the recovery room after the procedure to show me a photo of the removed gall bladder. “As you can see, it’s a nice, healthy pink color. Which was, of course, the problem, because gall bladders are SUPPOSED to be green….” Quite the card, that doctor.

    Fortunately, my husband recovered quickly and with no complications. Unfortunately, despite the fact that the hospital and the surgeon were on our medical plan, there was a “surgical assistant” whom we never heard of, never met, and never authorized, who was not, and he sent us a four-figure bill which our insurance declined. That was an ugly, ugly fight. Those of you in England or Canada with a sane medical system, I envy you….

    My best wishes to Kaja.

30. 3: so those worried that the Ugandan law regarding “promotion of homosexuality” might cause problems with Hugo nominations, can rest easy; the post Chengdu interpretation of WorldCon rules means the conrunners can simply drop any novels with potentially unacceptable elements.

    Seriously, we kinda needed to fix this

31. Theresa P:
    To all those who have had abdominal surgery, I feel for you. A friend had his gallbladder out, and forever after, he could eat no greasy food. Forever after, he’d have to run to the restroom almost immediately if he did.

    I had a burst appendix, myself. The doctor didn’t admit me to the hospital, despite me telling him, “DON’T go by what pain you THINK I’m in, as I had previous surgery and have no feeling in my abdomen!” He ignored it.

    Long story short, I had surgery after loads of antibiotics,and they found my appendix had not only ruptured, but disintegrated! I was about six hours away from being dead. He came in to my room in intensive care after, and said, “You didn’t FEEL that?!” I’d have strangled him if I could have gotten out of bed!

    Twelve years later, I got an umbilical hernia from that surgery, and was sent to the same doctor! He said he didn’t remember. I told him, “You sure would have remembered if I’d sued you for malpractice, or my relatives had sued you for wrongful death!”

32. I had a staphylococcus infection that had settled in my left forearm a decade back. I was working a food pantry when I noticed it was bleeding, so it got to my primary care provider where the medical assistant said I should get to ER.

    When I got there, an RN looked at it, turned a whiter shade of pale and put an IV shunt in me , an hour later, a physician admitted they could see bone. An hour after that I’d had a MRI followed by surgery to clean out the infection and then rebuild the elbow.

    That was followed by fifty days in-hospital getting antibiotics.

33. @Cat: …When I got there, an RN looked at it, turned a whiter shade of pale and put an IV shunt in me…

    Major props for working a Procol Harum reference into such a horrifying story.

34. (1) It “felt” a little off to me, and the closeup confirmed it. AI might be improving, but so is people’s ability to detect it. I’m still seeing extra fingers being rendered in illustrations. This “art” is also boring — the Solaris cover is pretty.

    (2) Ow ow, ugh, ugh. The people I know who had them out didn’t have problems, but it wasn’t an emergency, they scheduled it weeks in advance. Best wishes to Kaja.

    (3) Pull the other one, it’s got bells on. And while you’re at it, how about putting in some elevators and allowing guide dogs?

    And referencing Qatar and Chengdu is the opposite of reassuring.

    (7) I’m agreeing with @rochrist. And a lot more people have Amazon than Peacock. Any damage that was going to be done, has already been done. Got a feeling that no one but super-duper-nerds are going to watch 30 ‘tedious’ episodes with only subtitles. I certainly haven’t bothered.

    (9) I’ve wondered that too, but presumably it was a separate crime.

    (11) Make it happen, Beeb.

    (12) I read that article at the time. Functional AND decorative.

35. PhilRH says Major props for working a Procol Harum reference into such a horrifying story.

    Thanks.

    I got a second staphylococcus infection from my first forty or in-hospital after I fractured the right knee after blacking out and collapsing on a City street. (I have brittle bones.) So I got another fifty days in-hospital for the treatment of that infection.

    That was precisely the beginning of the Pandemic, so I spent the first four months of it save ten days hospitalised.

36. Could be worse; a friend of mine spent I don’t know how long in the hospital (definitely over Christmas and New Year) with, as he so subtly put it “Flesh-eating nard disease”. You can imagine the pain, even with all the drugs available. He still woke up years later with nightmares about debridement Down There. Only bright side was it got him to AA.

    I knew a guy in college who’d gotten staph in one of his knees — as an athletic teen! He ended up with much-reduced athleticism, and a long gnarly scar.

37. “We also have seen a successful football World cup in Qatar, the Worldcon has been successfully hosted in China in 2023”

    Pretty sure this statement torpedoes any remaining support western WSFS members might have for Uganda’s bid. Barring another vote rigging, this bid is DOA.

38. @lLurkerype I actually quite enjoyed it, and I expect it’s a lot more …I don’t know, ‘honest’? than the Netflix version will be? Also, some pretty edgy stuff re: China and the CCP considering it’s a Chinese product.

39. Lurkertype says Could be worse; a friend of mine spent I don’t know how long in the hospital (definitely over Christmas and New Year) with, as he so subtly put it “Flesh-eating nard disease”. You can imagine the pain, even with all the drugs available. He still woke up years later with nightmares about debridement Down There. Only bright side was it got him to AA.

    I knew a guy in college who’d gotten staph in one of his knees — as an athletic teen! He ended up with much-reduced athleticism, and a long gnarly scar.

    I didn’t get the flesh eating nard disease but I did that long gnarly scar as both of the first two surgeries required extensive hardware to hold the knee together while it healed up. Really extensive hardware.

    Bonus points for the surgeons office for forgetting they took it out so every time I get a MRI, and please don’t ask how often that is and why so, I get asked by the MRI pre-screening staff if I’ve hit a chrome knee cap as their records show that I indeed have one.

40. (1) Stepping aside from the issue of AI being used to ‘create’ this design
    (great forensic examination by Emma Skies, btw), I found it quite dull and generic, reminiscent of a straight-to-bargain-bin DVD cover. Shockingly unimpressive for a “special edition”.

41. (8) Budrys: Big fan of ROGUE MOON and WHO?, in my stash/short-stack of his books; my personal favorite (and in my ten-ish short-list of “sf books to reread roughly once a year”) is MICHAELMAS. I got to meet him at a ReaderCon; he bought me a hamburger, and subsequently (he was then editor of TOMORROW) bought a story from me. Good burger, too.

42. I remember liking Who very much, but it’s very much a Cold War piece. Not sure how it would read to anyone born after the Berlin wall came down.

43. (10) You’re costing me money …

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