xenologer | Reading

Writing in a world where AI exists

Earlier today, someone sent me a screenshot. It was my essay about Bard the Bowman from Tolkien’s “The Hobbit,” fed through an AI detector, with a score blazing across the top: “100% AI-generated.” The essay opened with an anecdote about watching the movie with my best friend, explored Tolkien’s WWI trauma and how it shaped the character, and ended with the line “Sometimes you kill the dragon. Sometimes the town burns anyway.”

That's a logical fallacy: Appeal to Authority. In this case, imaginary, hallucinating authority, but still it's a case where someone doesn't address the content but simply dismisses it by pointing to someone or something official. Oh wait, there's a more specific version: Appeal to False Authority.

Everyone wrongly accused of using AI should respond with a "Logical Fallacy: Appeal to False Authority" and link to your favorite reliable source for logic references. If nothing else, it will help raise awareness of this very common logical fallacy, which would be very useful in today's baloney-filled society.

Also in venues you control, don't hesitate to disemvowel, strikethrough, or delete garbage comments. There's no need to leave verbal dog shit on the floor for other people to step in and track around.

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Current Mood: busy

This is an advance announcement about the plans for December.
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Current Mood: amused

Mismatch
By Dialecticdreamer/Sarah Williams
Part 1 of 1, complete
Word count (story only): 1415
[Sunday, May 10, 2020, night]

:: Regrouping leads to an unexpected insight. Plans change. Part of the Edison’s Mirror universe. ::

The crowd followed Aidan to the front door of the garage apartment. Shandiin murmured, “Are the kids asleep?”

“Vic isn’t. He’s keeping watch over Ed, who may not have gone back to sleep. If he isn’t asleep now, we’ll just stay home during the day to that he can try to nap at least once.” Aidan paused, hand raised over the doorknob.

He stepped back. “It’s your home,” he began.
( Read more... )

Current Mood: awake

I have made bingo down the N column of my 11-1-25 card for the Fairy Tales and Fantasy Stories Bingo. I also made 8 extra fills.

N1 (The deeds of ordinary folks keep the darkness at bay. Small acts of kindness and love.) -- "The Universal Assent to the World" (Polychrome Heroics: Officer Pink)
N2 (elves) -- "Revealing Itself at Its Most Brilliant" (Polychrome Heroics: Eric the Elven King)
N3 (WILD CARD: brownie) -- "Better Than Living Alone" (Monster House)
N4 (shadow) -- "Unicornis Memento Mori" (The Freaks Club)
N5 (Once Upon a Time) -- "Better Than a Million Dollars" (Alien Romance)

B4 (Fairy Ring) -- "Time and Relative Dimensions in Magic" (Doctor Who)

I1 (The Nightingale) -- "The Impermanence of Light and Life" (The Freaks Club)
I3 (Very little worth knowing is taught by fear.) -- "To the Rational Mind" (Doctor Who)
I4 (solitude) -- "Company in Solitude" (The Freaks Club)

G1 (vision) -- "A Vision That Visits Us" (The Freaks Club)
G2 (journey) -- "The Coracle in the Forest" (standalone)
G5 (I didn't want power. All I wanted was control. Over my life.) -- "A Clear Path of Freedom" (standalone)

O3 (fairies) -- "The Heart to Change the World" (Polychrome Heroics: The Big One)

Current Mood: accomplished

Signatures meant more in Mesopotamia than they do now − what cylinder seals say about ancient and modern life

In essence, a cylinder seal was a small sculpture that served a crucial utilitarian purpose: signing documents. It was generally made of a precious or semiprecious stone such as lapis lazuli, agate or chalcedony. Images and texts were engraved into the stone with a technique called intaglio. Notably, these engravings would need to be made in reverse of how the markings would look when it was used.

When rolled on a moist clay tablet, these engravings left low-relief markings, signifying that the object’s owner authorized the written document. In this respect, a cylinder seal’s impression is the ancestor of modern handwritten and digital signatures.

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Current Mood: busy

Today is cloudy and cold. Yesterday it snowed copiously, which wiped out our plans for Small Business Saturday. :( It was pretty for a while though. Then it rained. Then it froze again. O_O Now the snow looks a week old and there is plate ice over the road and parts of the patio.

I fed the birds. I hung up a peanut suet cake. I've seen one female and three male cardinals plus a dark-eyed junco. :D This is the first I've seen of my little snowbirds this year; the juncos are cold-weather birds here and don't appear in summer.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 11/30/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 11/30/25 -- I did more work around the patio.

EDIT 11/30/25 -- I did more work around the patio.

I've seen two female cardinals and the three boys again.

As it is getting dark, I am done for the night.

Current Mood: busy

Dreamwidth is running its December points event.

The standard explanation: For the entire month of December, all orders made in the Shop of points and paid time, either for you or as a gift for a friend, will have 10% of your completed cart total sent to you in points when you finish the transaction. For instance, if you buy an order of 12 months of paid time for $35 (350 points), you'll get 35 points when the order is complete, to use on a future purchase.

If you're gift-shopping for anyone on Dreamwidth, or you wish to support a favorite community here, points or paid time offer a great way to do that. Now is also a good time to buy them for yourself. Support the platform that keeps us connected here.

Current Mood: busy

( Links from and about partners shared at the Coffee Party USA/Citizen Connect Facebook page during November 2025 behind the cut. )

Current Mood: sick
Current Location: House in the woods at the edge of town
Current Music: Star Wars: The Old Republic

We made it to the end of November! \o/ If you have completed some of your yearly goals, and/or you're still chugging away at your ongoing goals, then pat yourself on the back. You worked hard for that. We are now well into autumn. If you're doing seasonal goals, share what you're working on for this winter.

This year I'm trying something new, continuing to track goals at the end of each month. So far it seems to be helping, so that's encouraging. I'm looking at my goal list more often and trying to keep ticking off more of them. The main drawback is that this update becomes more of a chore each month.

These are the previous check in posts:
New Year's Resolutions Check In January 4
New Year's Resolutions Check In January 10
New Year's Resolutions Check In January 17
New Year's Resolutions Check In January 24
New Year's Resolutions Check In January 31
New Year's Resolutions Check In February 28
New Year's Resolutions Check In March 31
New Year's Resolutions Check In April 30
New Year's Resolutions Check In May 31
New Year's Resolutions Check In June 30
New Year's Resolutions Check In July 31
New Year's Resolutions Check In August 31
New Year's Resolutions Check In September 30
New Year's Resolutions Check In October 31

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Current Mood: accomplished

To save their small town newspaper, they opened a cafe. Now their profits are up 40%

In 2024, Maine business owner Reade Brower was forced to sell off a majority of the newspapers that he owned. He then tried to salvage four weeklies by combining them into one paper: The Midcoast Villager.
( Read more... )

Current Mood: busy

Famous filker Leslie Fish has passed away. She wrote many of the greatest filk songs.

So, screw the moment of silence because we all know the Great Con in the Sky is bellowing "Banned from Argo." I got to hear her sing that one once, and it was glorious. But I think "Hope Eyrie" is more apt. Another timely one is "Freedom of the Snow," which I used to belt out when walking across campus after an evening class. Frat rats crossed the street to get away from me. \o/

Here's a good description of Leslie's impact on filk.

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Current Mood: pensive

Hello, friends! It's about to be December again, and you know what that means: the fact I am posting this actually before December 1 means

karzilla reminded me about the existence of linear time again. Wait, no -- well, yes, but also -- okay, look, let me back up and start again: it's almost December, and that means it's time for our annual December holiday points bonus.

The standard explanation: For the entire month of December, all orders made in the Shop of points and paid time, either for you or as a gift for a friend, will have 10% of your completed cart total sent to you in points when you finish the transaction. For instance, if you buy an order of 12 months of paid time for $35 (350 points), you'll get 35 points when the order is complete, to use on a future purchase.

( The fine print and much more behind this cut! )

Thank you, in short, for being the best possible users any social media site could possibly ever hope for. I'm probably in danger of crossing the Sappiness Line if I haven't already, but you all make everything worth it.

On behalf of Mark, Jen, Robby, and our team of awesome volunteers, and to each and every one of you, whether you've been with us on this wild ride since the beginning or just signed up last week, I'm wishing you all a very happy set of end-of-year holidays, whichever ones you celebrate, and hoping for all of you that your 2026 is full of kindness, determination, empathy, and a hell of a lot more luck than we've all had lately. Let's go.

Generations of Bearded Vultures Stashed Humans’ Treasures, Including a 650-Year-Old Sandal, in These Bird Nests

Bearded vultures are unusual birds. Their diet consists primarily of bones, which they sometimes drop from great heights to break into smaller, bite-size pieces. They deliberately change the color of their plumage by rolling around in reddish-orange mud. And they return to the same nesting sites year after year, with generations of the species even reusing nests for centuries.

( Read more... )

Current Mood: busy

Today is Shop for Good Sunday. This holiday highlights businesses whose goods and services support values, not just making money and shuffling junk around.

If you know what your friends and family value -- whether that's fair trade or sustainability or women-owned businesses -- then you can buy treats they might not ordinarily get because the good, responsible stuff tends to cost more. Pay attention to packaging: some companies just slap on a seal or few and call it good, but others really highlight the values aspect of their goodies with text or illustrations so your recipient will definitely notice it. The same goes for cards or gift wrapping in companies that offer that service.

Shop for Good Sunday banner with hands making a basket

Shop for Good Sunday banner with hands making a basket

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Current Mood: busy

The Search
By Dialecticdreamer/Sarah Williams
Part 2 of 2, complete
Word count (story only): 1166
[Sunday, May 10, 2020, night]

:: Searching for Liana leads to an unexpected encounter. Part of the Edison’s Mirror universe. ::

Donathea smiled at the man with dark skin and auburn hair. “It’s fine. I’ll be done in a minute.”

Aidan nodded. “Would it help if I spoke with another employee? There is no time to waste.”

The customer studied Aidan’s worried expression. “What’s wrong?”

“There’s a teenage girl missing, seen getting into a car that may have come to the ferry,” Aidan explained quickly. “I am asking if anyone has seen her.”
( Read more... )

Current Mood: cold

Florida’s Hot Spot for the Crocodile’s Comeback Is…a Nuclear Power Plant?

As it turned out, the 168 linear miles of cooling canals Turkey Point relied on to condense steam and produce energy also provided an ideal habitat for crocodiles: High berms allowed females to safely deposit eggs; the isolation protected them from pesky humans; and plenty of fish and fowl flourished in the waterways to sustain a growing population.

O_O Oh, because there's no way for THIS to go terribly, horribly wrong. Somebody save this to throw in as a prompt in any relevant prompt call.

Current Mood: busy

Xenoparity happens when an organism gives birth to members of a different species.

Scientists recently discovered that Iberian harvester ant queens (Messor ibericus) mate with males of another species, the builder harvester ant (Messor structor). When they do, the M. ibericus queens store the M. structor male’s sperm, then use it to fertilize some of the eggs they lay. Researchers think the M. ibericus queens remove their own genetic material from the eggs’ nuclei, so that when those eggs hatch, they effectively turn out to be M. structor male clones.

This has a lot of potential for science fiction. :D

Current Mood: busy

NASA discovers ‘clearest sign of life that we’ve ever found on Mars’

Detailed analysis of images of speckled rocks found by NASA’s Perseverance rover has found a “potential biosignature.”

The rocks, or mudstones, are composed of finely packed sediment and covered in specks resembling poppy seeds and leopard spots. The colorful features, the study found, are minerals that — on Earth — have traditionally been created from microbial activity.

:D 3q3q3q!!! This is exactly the kind of life sign I would expect to find on most life-bearing planets: microbial or other very simple life. The next step up is things like biofilms, hair algae, fungal nets, and if life gets really clever, crustose forms such as lichens. Seriously, you can get a great leg up on xenobiology by studying marginally habitable places on Earth like mountain rocks, hot springs, or ironbound coasts. In cities, examine sidewalks, parking lots, and the sides of buildings.

Current Mood: excited

US-19 Exposes the Failure of Federal Investment in Transportation Infrastructure

US-19 in Pasco County, Florida, is one of the clearest examples of how federal transportation policy creates dangerous, expensive, and economically destructive outcomes.

Federal transportation policy lacks clarity and direction. What are we trying to accomplish with national infrastructure spending? Are we focused on efficiently moving goods across the country? Supporting commuters? Stimulating economic development for big-box retailers? Fostering local entrepreneurship? Creating construction jobs? Addressing climate change and environmental degradation? Promoting equity and social justice?

The current answer seems to be "yes" to all of it. Federal transportation policy is attempting to solve every national issue through a single policy mechanism. This ambition, while politically convenient, creates incoherence in practice.

This is a great opportunity for local councils. They have a lot of influence over development, thus can impede or block outright projects which are dangerous and/or unprofitable. As a citizen, you can point out flaws in projects like this -- especially if you excel at math well enough to show how low-density high-infrastructure hemorrhages money. Ideally, do a revenue/expense map of your locale. Once you have shown that the low-density development loses money, then you can lobby for whatever project(s) you fancy in the area that actually makes money. Lots of place already have revitalization projects for downtown and poor neighborhoods (where the money is) so you can usually find some to promote if you look.

Current Mood: busy

I haven't been outside yet. It's snowing! Fat, fluffy flakes are drifting down which indicates a wet heavy snow. There's already a solid layer on the ground and snow stuck to branches. Pretty, but it wipes out our Small Business Saturday plans. :(

It's four-bird cold out. A huge flock of sparrows and house finches has descended on the forest garden. I've also seen a mourning dove and a lady cardinal there. I need to fill t he suet feeder when I go out.

EDIT 11/29/25 -- I fed the birds. I've seen more sparrows and house finches plus a male cardiinal.

I put out warm water for the birds.

It had stopped snowing for a while but is now coming down quite briskly.

I am done for the night.

EDIT 11/29/25 -- I found 4 sprouted seeds in a Pink apple, which I planted in two pots on the windowsill. :D

Current Mood: busy

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Page generated Dec. 1st, 2025 04:28 am

Me.

This Will All Be Very Useful

Reading

Artificial Intelligence

December 2025 plans

#47 Mismatch (part 1 of 1, complete)

Bingo

History

Birdfeeding

Dreamwidth Points

Links from and about partners shared at the Coffee Party USA Facebook page during November 2025

New Year's Resolutions Check In

News

Moment of Silence: Leslie Fish

Look! I remembered to post before December started this year!

Science

Shop for Good Sunday

#46 The Search (part 2 of 2, complete)

Wildlife

Vocabulary: Xenoparity

Space Exploration

Safety