Mythaxis Review Platform, Issue 1

The inaugural issue of Mythaxis Review Platform, featuring an article on changes to Amazon's KDP Reports beta site, is now out. In addition to my thoughts on Amazon's potential replacement for their current author-publisher reporting screens, there are other articles about indie and trad publishing, along with reviews of technology, art, and science-fiction including: ‘The …

Cucku

A poetry community to which I belong selected one of my haiku for October Poem of the Month. Which obviously brought me joy, but also highlighted how subjective the experience of poetry can be. A little cuckoo Echoes from beneath my feet A cave in winter The haiku is part of an ongoing series shaped …

What Time Is Now?

Is midday in the morning or the afternoon? Is it more believable that midday is in the morning or the afternoon? And why might that make the moon landings seem implausible? I took a brisk walk to a nearby business park this morning because the closest health food shop to me rents a unit there. …

Toxic Egotism

I'm fortunate enough not to have any allergies or intolerances that might kill me. However, that doesn't mean they aren't just someone else's problem. I read an article yesterday that complained about "no food please" rules for school events: the thesis was that children without allergies shouldn't have to have another pencil instead of some …

ImmerseOrDie Might Be Too Mellow

One of the accusations levelled at ImmerseOrDie is that Jeff, Bryce, or I look for reasons to fail a book, that readers don't judge books the way we do. I've never been inside Bryce's head, but I feel a deep joy when a book makes it to the line; and we're not alone in noticing …

Not Letting the Dice Decide

While sexual harassment in roleplaying games isn't front page news in the same way that the rags and tatters of Hollywood pretence are, it happens. And, unlike the real world, it can sometimes seek to excuse itself by relying on not having happened in reality. However, I don't think something is automatically acceptable just because …

The Cost of Being Seen

While the web might have started out as excited amateurs building their little corner then sharing it with others, it's now also home to large companies and content professionals. Which has made recouping the cost of running sites and creating the pages on them a major driver of "normal" website structure. The usual models are …

Dogged by Error

An interesting talk, both from the hard science perspective and the softer one of difference being illusion. https://www.ted.com/talks/anil_seth_how_your_brain_hallucinates_your_conscious_reality Whoever perceived a need for an algorithm that adds dogs to a situation was clearly not seeing straight though.

+1 Blade of Universe Slaying

Had an interesting offline debate about adding weapons and armour to Cthulhu Dark. So, continuing my intermittent thoughts and hacks of the system, I thought I'd share a little in case it proved helpful for explaining to players used to equipment bonuses why there aren't any. My interlocutor, brain clearly as fuzzy as his muttonchops, …

Advertising’s a Dirty Business

The postman delivered an Amazon parcel. As I was out at the time, they left it in a secure location. Using the wonders of GIMP and a couple of minutes of my time, I've replicated the most important parts of the sight that met my eyes when I went to recover it. What are your …