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[personal profile] andrewducker
Ooh, I thought, that's a really cool t-shirt! And the price is only £24, that's actually pretty reasonable!

Except no, it's £24 plus £6 tax plus £7 shipping *that takes up to 6 weeks*.

And this for an item that's print on demand. Which means, theoretically, they could print it in the UK in the first place and not have to presumably ship it to me by alpaca from Kazakhstan!

Shame, really, it's a nice t-shirt. But not £37 nice.
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The Central Plaza Mansion tower offers palatial 900 square foot apartments for a mere ¥35,000,000. It is a deal too good for the Kano family to turn down... although they should have.


The Graveyard Apartment by Mariko Koike
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A week and a half ago I ordered a couple of K-Pop Demon Hunters hoodies for the kids from Amazon. I didn't realise quite how much of a trip they'd be making:

8th - Taken from warehouse in Shenzhen (China) and handed to massive chinese shipment company SF Express.
8th - Driven an hour up the road to Dongguan shipment centre.
11th - Transported (presumably by road) 1,100 km to Ezhou (SF Express hub airport, also China))
12th - Flown to Liège Airport (Belgium), stopping over in Almaty International Airport (Kazakhstan)
14th - Flew in to Heathrow
14th - Then arrived in Stansted for customs
15th - Then handed to Hermes in London
16th - Who got it to me in Edinburgh the next day

Total cost, including shipping: £24 (£12 per top).

I am both impressed and somewhat aghast.

Photo cross-post

Sep. 16th, 2025 09:58 am
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[personal profile] andrewducker


No, daddy, it's definitely not a "pointy duck"! Have you even read the sign?
Original is here on Pixelfed.scot.

Spread Me by Sarah Gailey

Sep. 16th, 2025 09:09 am
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If not friend, why friend-shaped?

Spread Me by Sarah Gailey

Bundle of Holding: Dread Laironomicon

Sep. 15th, 2025 02:17 pm
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[personal profile] james_davis_nicoll


100 lair entries in two succinct pages apiece, from Aboleth's Sunken Lair to Wyvern's Nest.

Bundle of Holding: Dread Laironomicon

Clarke Award Finalists 2014

Sep. 15th, 2025 10:17 am
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2014: Creationism is banned in British schools, the first same sex marriages in the UK are conducted, and Canadian Mark Carney helps the UK navigate challenging times. What ever happened to Carney, anyway?

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 71


Which 2014 Clarke Award Finalists Have You Read?

View Answers

Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie
68 (95.8%)

God's War by Kameron Hurley
24 (33.8%)

Nexus by Ramez Naam
10 (14.1%)

The Adjacent by Christopher Priest
5 (7.0%)

The Disestablishment of Paradise by Phillip Mann
1 (1.4%)

The Machine by James Smythe
3 (4.2%)



Bold for have read, italic for intend to read, underline for never heard of it.

Which 2014 Clarke Award Finalists Have You Read?
Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie
God's War by Kameron Hurley

Nexus by Ramez Naam
The Adjacent by Christopher Priest
The Disestablishment of Paradise by Phillip Mann
The Machine by James Smythe

Transit

Sep. 14th, 2025 06:38 pm
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[personal profile] james_davis_nicoll
So, yesterday, the wheelchair ramp on the Rt 8 bus I was on developed a bug. Or the system that detects if it is deployed did. The ramp retracted correctly but the bus thought it had not, and would not move.

Ha ha! I pick my routes to maximize alternatives in case of break-downs. I just disembarked and talked over to the LRT. Which, I discovered, was having a minor service delay.

My contingency plans can handle two delays, but not three. Good for me there were just the two. It did mean I was only a little early for work.

On the way home, just after I disembarked from the LRT, an SUV cut the LRT off so the SUV could reach the parking lot ten seconds earlier. If the train had not stopped, I'd have had to stick around, both as a witness and because the accident would blocked the sidewalk between me and the stop I needed to get to.

Less than five minutes after the LRT near-miss, three SUVs tried to turn into the same lane at the same time. I don't think they hit each other but there was a short discussion between the drivers before they all left. I'd have had to stick around for that as well, because it would have blocked the route my bus uses.
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[personal profile] james_davis_nicoll


Bureau of Sabotage agent Jorj X. McKie is assigned a legal and ethical trap: a planet of victims, who, whether rescued or left to their impending doom, present a danger to the ConSentiency.

The Dosadi Experiment (ConSentiency, volume 2) by Frank Herbert
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[personal profile] james_davis_nicoll


Six works new to me: two fantasy (one a roleplaying game), four science fiction. The roleplaying game is part of a series but otherwise, they all seem to be stand-alone.

Books Received, September 6 — September 12


Poll #33608 Books Received, September 6 — September 12
Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 46


Which of these look interesting?

View Answers

Daughter of No Worlds by Carissa Broadbent (October 2025)
8 (17.4%)

Outlaw Planet by M.R. Carey (November 2025)
20 (43.5%)

Champions of Chaos by Calum Colins, et al
1 (2.2%)

Slow Gods by Claire North (November 2025)
24 (52.2%)

The Divine Gardener’s Handbook: Or What to Do if Your Girlfriend Accidentally Turns Off the Sun by Eli Snow (August 2026)
22 (47.8%)

Death Engine Protocol: Better Dying Through Science by Margret A. Treiber (April 2025)
13 (28.3%)

Some other option (see comments)
0 (0.0%)

Cats!
30 (65.2%)

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[personal profile] james_davis_nicoll


I'd been posting reviews to LiveJournal since April of 2014 but on September 12, 2014, James Nicoll Reviews went live, with a review of Robert A. Heinlein's Between Planets.
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[personal profile] james_davis_nicoll


It's time for Bo to leave doomed San Francisco behind... just as soon as she completes one final task.

Awake in the Floating City by Susanna Kwan

April 2017

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