2026.05.01
May. 1st, 2026 11:08 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lsandersonCinco de Mayo, May Day and a weekend of comedy and art across the Twin Cities
This weekend: Cinco de Mayo on St. Paul’s West Side, May Day at Powderhorn Park, comedy at Sisyphus Brewing and a group art show at Fresh Eye Gallery
by Myah Goff
https://sahanjournal.com/arts-culture/twin-cities-things-to-do-cinco-de-mayo-may-day-comedy-art/
MN Shortlist May 1-7: Musicals, a secret circus and an exhibition on Native American treaties
Alex V. Cipolle, Jacob Aloi and Emily Bright
https://www.mprnews.org/story/2026/05/01/mn-shortlist-may-1-7 ( Read more... )
This weekend: Cinco de Mayo on St. Paul’s West Side, May Day at Powderhorn Park, comedy at Sisyphus Brewing and a group art show at Fresh Eye Gallery
by Myah Goff
https://sahanjournal.com/arts-culture/twin-cities-things-to-do-cinco-de-mayo-may-day-comedy-art/
MN Shortlist May 1-7: Musicals, a secret circus and an exhibition on Native American treaties
Alex V. Cipolle, Jacob Aloi and Emily Bright
https://www.mprnews.org/story/2026/05/01/mn-shortlist-may-1-7 ( Read more... )
May 2026 Patreon Boost
May. 1st, 2026 09:24 amjames_davis_nicoll
James Nicoll Reviews offers readers reviews of a wide variety of works, as well as the opportunity to point out typos and broken links five days out of seven!
You can help fund James Nicoll Reviews in several ways.
May 2026 Patreon Boost
A Long and Speaking Silence (Singing Hills, volume 7) by Nghi Vo
May. 1st, 2026 09:12 amjames_davis_nicoll
A novice cleric is caught up in a refugee crisis.
A Long and Speaking Silence (Singing Hills, volume 7) by Nghi Vo
A Ransomware Negotiator Was Working for a Ransomware Gang
May. 1st, 2026 11:18 am![[syndicated profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/feed.png){kind=small}
bruce_schneier_feedSomeone pleaded guilty to secretly working for a ransomware gang as he negotiated ransomware payments for clients.
Fetch!
Apr. 30th, 2026 10:13 pmbillroperK finished her last final at Ball State this morning, so we headed down early this morning (not as early as I'd intended, but that's ok) to fetch her home from school. It turns out that I had managed to misconfigure Google Maps during my adventures in Canada two weeks ago with the result that we ended up taking a lot of back roads going to and from Muncie. I don't think this made things take a *lot* longer, but we certainly saw some entertaining countryside.
With help from Julie, Max, and Felix, everything was loaded into a *very* full van. The room was reconfigured for inspection and then we ran out to grab some lunch and hit the road home.
Calvin and Ruby were taken care of today by a dog sitter who made two visits to the house while we were gone. They seemed happy to see her if pictures can be believed. They were also happy to see us.
The library is now full of a half dorm room full of stuff which will have to be dispatched. Happily, this is not yet my problem. :)
With help from Julie, Max, and Felix, everything was loaded into a *very* full van. The room was reconfigured for inspection and then we ran out to grab some lunch and hit the road home.
Calvin and Ruby were taken care of today by a dog sitter who made two visits to the house while we were gone. They seemed happy to see her if pictures can be believed. They were also happy to see us.
The library is now full of a half dorm room full of stuff which will have to be dispatched. Happily, this is not yet my problem. :)
Bundle of Holding: Traveller JTAS (from 2024)
Apr. 30th, 2026 02:07 pmjames_davis_nicoll
The first 12 volumes of the Journal of the Travellers' Aid Society, the guides for the Traveller tabletop science fiction roleplaying game from Mongoose Publishing.
Bundle of Holding: Traveller JTAS (from 2024)
2026.04.30
Apr. 30th, 2026 12:19 pmlsandersonAI?
Yesterday, I gotta text from Park Nicollet that my doctor wasn't available for a May 20th appointment which said I should call them. I did, and 20 minutes later I was talking to a human about the appointment. "It's a glitch in our system," he said, "your doctor is available for that time. Should I rebook it?" How odd, I thought, and said yes. (It's 15 minutes earlier...
In Minneapolis, evictions are outpacing solutions
Advocates bemoan a lack of meaningful efforts to address the rising number of households facing eviction.
by Trevor Mitchell
https://www.minnpost.com/metro/2026/04/in-minneapolis-evictions-are-outpacing-solutions/ ( Read more... )
Yesterday, I gotta text from Park Nicollet that my doctor wasn't available for a May 20th appointment which said I should call them. I did, and 20 minutes later I was talking to a human about the appointment. "It's a glitch in our system," he said, "your doctor is available for that time. Should I rebook it?" How odd, I thought, and said yes. (It's 15 minutes earlier...
In Minneapolis, evictions are outpacing solutions
Advocates bemoan a lack of meaningful efforts to address the rising number of households facing eviction.
by Trevor Mitchell
https://www.minnpost.com/metro/2026/04/in-minneapolis-evictions-are-outpacing-solutions/ ( Read more... )
April 2026 in Review
Apr. 30th, 2026 09:37 amjames_davis_nicoll
22 works reviewed. 12 by women (55%), 10 by men (45%), 0 by non-binary authors (0%), 0 by authors whose gender is unknown (0%), and 9 by POC (41%), one of which was my 1000th work by a POC. Also, I was nominated for two awards.
April 2026 in Review
Fast16 Malware
Apr. 30th, 2026 10:22 ambruce_schneier_feedResearchers have reverse-engineered a piece of malware named Fast16. It’s almost certainly state-sponsored, probably US in origin, and was deployed against Iran years before Stuxnet:
“…the Fast16 malware was designed to carry out the most subtle form of sabotage ever seen in an in-the-wild malware tool: By automatically spreading across networks and then silently manipulating computation processes in certain software applications that perform high-precision mathematical calculations and simulate physical phenomena, Fast16 can alter the results of those programs to cause failures that range from faulty research results to catastrophic damage to real-world equipment.”
Another news article.
Lots of interesting details at the links.
Hypershell Exoskeleton part 2
Apr. 29th, 2026 11:50 pmelizillaThe exoskeleton helps with the weakness, but it does not help with the awkwardness. I am still a huge fall risk. Maybe that will improve a bit, with practice, but for now I need something to steady myself.
I have this red rollator walker I use every day around the house, and for expeditions to places I can’t use a wheelchair. I like it because it is super lightweight and very stable. So I started with that. The problem is, that when the exoskeleton improves my posture, the red rollator is too low. And it is at its highest extension. There is a part that can make it taller, but back when I last tried to order that part, the pandemic supply chain snafus made it impossible to get. I need to try again.
I also have the Up Walker. This is a hand-me-down from a neighbor. It’s a rollator that supports under the elbows, specifically intended to make the user walk upright. It is a good position, but this particular unit feels rickety and unstable. I think it’s because I am at the very tallest adjustment point and this thing is old and beat up and was probably always flimsy. We improved the stability by tying a rope around it to brace it at the top, but it’s still iffy.
So I decided to try some arm crutches. The first pair I tried was awful, I felt like they pitched me forward. I sent them back to Amazon and got a different pair that let me bend my elbows. These felt great but I almost fell. I am going to keep them and try again if I get better at this. And perhaps wear a bicycle helmet.
I am going to go down to the local DME, one day soon, and test drive walkers. Maybe they have a larger and more solid version of the Up Walker.
I am also experimenting with AFOs for my dragging left foot. The best one I have found so far, doesn’t fit in my shoe. I am continuing to try other AFOs, but I also intend to look at some different shoes.
It’s easy to just give up when something fails to be a magic bullet. But adaptive devices are never perfect right out of the box. You have to work on it and figure out how to fix your problems. And I enjoy figuring it out, finding the right combination of things. I used to do this with my motorcycles. This is just a new focus for my urge to tinker with things and try out new gadgets. It is good to have a hobby!
I have this red rollator walker I use every day around the house, and for expeditions to places I can’t use a wheelchair. I like it because it is super lightweight and very stable. So I started with that. The problem is, that when the exoskeleton improves my posture, the red rollator is too low. And it is at its highest extension. There is a part that can make it taller, but back when I last tried to order that part, the pandemic supply chain snafus made it impossible to get. I need to try again.
I also have the Up Walker. This is a hand-me-down from a neighbor. It’s a rollator that supports under the elbows, specifically intended to make the user walk upright. It is a good position, but this particular unit feels rickety and unstable. I think it’s because I am at the very tallest adjustment point and this thing is old and beat up and was probably always flimsy. We improved the stability by tying a rope around it to brace it at the top, but it’s still iffy.
So I decided to try some arm crutches. The first pair I tried was awful, I felt like they pitched me forward. I sent them back to Amazon and got a different pair that let me bend my elbows. These felt great but I almost fell. I am going to keep them and try again if I get better at this. And perhaps wear a bicycle helmet.
I am going to go down to the local DME, one day soon, and test drive walkers. Maybe they have a larger and more solid version of the Up Walker.
I am also experimenting with AFOs for my dragging left foot. The best one I have found so far, doesn’t fit in my shoe. I am continuing to try other AFOs, but I also intend to look at some different shoes.
It’s easy to just give up when something fails to be a magic bullet. But adaptive devices are never perfect right out of the box. You have to work on it and figure out how to fix your problems. And I enjoy figuring it out, finding the right combination of things. I used to do this with my motorcycles. This is just a new focus for my urge to tinker with things and try out new gadgets. It is good to have a hobby!
Round and Round
Apr. 29th, 2026 09:18 pmbillroperI have managed to get all of the critical items set up and configured on Gretchen's newly Linux Minty fresh laptop, so that's one thing done.
The thing that I failed to accomplish today is getting an appointment at our local Social Security office. This is important, because it appears that even if I sign up for COBRA, they will not pay anything, because they want us to have Medicare, which we do not yet have, because we have never needed it, because we had employment-based health insurance.
This might actually be illegal, but one of the things that I am sure of in life is that Larry Ellison has bigger lawyers than I can afford to engage.
We are driving down to pick up K from school tomorrow. While I am driving, Gretchen will get on the phone and see if she can get an appointment so that we can provide the appropriate documentation to go along with our application.
Whee.
The thing that I failed to accomplish today is getting an appointment at our local Social Security office. This is important, because it appears that even if I sign up for COBRA, they will not pay anything, because they want us to have Medicare, which we do not yet have, because we have never needed it, because we had employment-based health insurance.
This might actually be illegal, but one of the things that I am sure of in life is that Larry Ellison has bigger lawyers than I can afford to engage.
We are driving down to pick up K from school tomorrow. While I am driving, Gretchen will get on the phone and see if she can get an appointment so that we can provide the appropriate documentation to go along with our application.
Whee.
Bundle of Holding: Traveller Great Rift (2022)
Apr. 29th, 2026 02:37 pmjames_davis_nicoll
The Traveller Great Rift Bundle features void-spanning campaign sets for the Second Edition Traveller tabletop roleplaying game line from Mongoose Publishing.
Bundle of Holding: Traveller Great Rift (2022)
2026.04.29
Apr. 29th, 2026 11:06 amlsandersonUS supreme court ‘demolishes’ key Voting Rights Act provision that prevented racial discrimination
Justices rule in landmark 6-3 decision that Louisiana will have to redraw its congressional map
Sam Levine
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/apr/29/supreme-court-louisiana-congressional-map-case-ruling
Inver Grove Heights is joining several other Minnesota cities in switching back to the old state flag after the city council voted 3-2 on Monday night to make the change, following more than an hour of public comment, MPR News reported. The decision came on the same day that eight House DFL lawmakers introduced a bill that would impose a 10% reduction in state aid on cities and counties using a state flag other than the one approved by the State Emblems Redesign Commission in 2024, KTTC reported. Via MinnPost
https://www.mprnews.org/story/2026/04/28/old-minnesota-state-flag-inver-grove-heights-switches-back
https://www.kttc.com/2026/04/28/house-bill-introduced-penalize-minnesota-cities-not-flying-current-state-flag/ ( Read more... )
Justices rule in landmark 6-3 decision that Louisiana will have to redraw its congressional map
Sam Levine
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/apr/29/supreme-court-louisiana-congressional-map-case-ruling
Inver Grove Heights is joining several other Minnesota cities in switching back to the old state flag after the city council voted 3-2 on Monday night to make the change, following more than an hour of public comment, MPR News reported. The decision came on the same day that eight House DFL lawmakers introduced a bill that would impose a 10% reduction in state aid on cities and counties using a state flag other than the one approved by the State Emblems Redesign Commission in 2024, KTTC reported. Via MinnPost
https://www.mprnews.org/story/2026/04/28/old-minnesota-state-flag-inver-grove-heights-switches-back
https://www.kttc.com/2026/04/28/house-bill-introduced-penalize-minnesota-cities-not-flying-current-state-flag/ ( Read more... )
Is Science Fiction Better Off Without Torchships?
Apr. 29th, 2026 10:19 amjames_davis_nicoll
It's a case of limitations leading to more interesting plots and settings...
Is Science Fiction Better Off Without Torchships?
Dragon Sword And Wind Child by Noriko Ogiwara (Translated by Cathy Hirano)
Apr. 29th, 2026 09:06 amjames_davis_nicoll
Saya's infatuation with Prince Tsukishiro is but another move in a long-running struggle on whose outcome existence itself depends.
Dragon Sword And Wind Child (Tales of the Magatama, volume 1) by Noriko Ogiwara (Translated by Cathy Hirano)