My life is a work in progess

July 15, 2026 - Activist group "Everyone Hates Elon" installed a guerrilla ad subverting Meta's advertisement campaign for its dystopian surveillance glasses for perverts and stalkers, near Meta's London headquarters.

The lenticular poster changes Kylie Jenner to a They Live style monster with Meta's true message: "WE'RE ALWAYS WATCHING". [link]

Anthropic illegally downloaded some 500,000 titles, and 92% of those eligible for an award—both authors and publishers are entitled to payment—had opted into the class action. Martínez-Olguín denied all but two requests to opt out of the agreement. “We applaud the court’s final approval of this settlement, which represents an important victory in the larger battle to hold big tech accountable for its unscrupulous appropriation of intellectual and creative properties that clearly belong to authors and publishers,” said Maria Pallante, president and CEO of the Association of American Publishers, in a statement. Pallante praised the court for recognizing that downloading from pirate sites “is not a choice we should simply accept as an efficiency for the infringer; on the contrary, it’s abhorrent conduct that should never be normalized.” She also argued that fair use should not be extended to allow tech companies to copy copyrighted materials, and that tech giants should look to licensing agreements to train their AI models.

Now we'll see how long the payouts take to come through. I had between a half and two-thirds of my lifetime output stolen by these schmucks, but payouts from many of those thefts will be split 50/50 with the publishers. (Which strikes me as fair enough.)

Say hello to Calumma krystalae! A new species of chameleon we just described from Madagascar!

This new species belongs to a group of chameleons with big flaps behind the head called occipital lobes, which they can flare out to the sides when threatened.

In the study (request PDF here) in which my colleagues and I describe this species, we reveal just how complicated the taxonomy of this 'group' is (turns out the flaps have evolved or been lost repeatedly!), especially for a couple of species called Calumma brevicorne and C. crypticum. We found out that there is a bad mismatch here between the species (i.e. biological units) and the names we use for them—but correcting it is going to be suuuper complicated. This is a problem for conservation reasons, but also for the pet trade, where both of those 'species' are established. But solving this puzzle is too complex for right now, so we contented ourselves with the description of a clearly distinct new species that isn't closely related to this complex from northern Madagascar.

Calumma krystalae, named in honour of renowned chameleon biologist Krystal Tolley, is closely related to a widespread species from Eastern Madagascar, Calumma malthe.

The first specimens of the new species was collected at least 21 years ago (2005) on the mountain of Marojejy in the northeast of the island. But in the intervening time, more material has been collected from several more sites across northern Madagascar. Among that material are some specimens I was able to collect in 2015 on an expedition to Ampotsidy in the Bealanana District, and a specimen we collected on an expedition back to Marojejy in 2016.

This is by far the largest chameleon I have had the pleasure to help to describe. It stands out from others primarily in colour, head shape, and some details of the scales. I find the eyes particularly beautiful.

I am super relieved to finally be able to understand the diversity of these chameleons a little better, but at the same time it feels like we have unearthed a can of worms in the taxonomy of the rest of the group. Still, it is an exciting prospect to see this resolved over the coming years!

If it asks for garlic, add that much ginger, and twice that much garlic.

If it asks for cinnamon, add 1 1/2 times as much cinnamon, and a small amount of nutmeg. If the MAIN flavour is cinnamon, also add a small amount of cloves and allspice.

If it asks for vanilla, also add a SMALL amount of almond extract. (Usually up to a few drops.)

If it asks for onions, also add some garlic, but add it 1 minute before you're either done cooking, or you add liquid

If the spices are pretty much only oregano or parsley, add both, as well as a small to medium amount of basil, thyme, summer savory, tarragon, and/or marjoram (the earlier two are great in beef, chicken and tomato dishes, while the others are good with pork, chicken, most vegetables, and pretty much anything else you can think of with a 'lighter' flavour)

if it asks for cheddar or mozzarella cheese, also add a bit of feta and parmesan

MORE Fanfiction Classics! Yes I am currently obsessed with this. Don’t worry, I do have other binds in the works 😅

Berlin Angel by de_sire

Kill Your Darlings by messermoon

Stealing Harry by @copperbadge

Well on my way to a shelf full. I may have some pretty unhinged plans. I meant it when I said 2026 was going to be the year of the paperback.

You need to eat some vegetables in your diet or you will become a lich.

You have to wear a life jacket or you will literally drown and die.

You need to be able to exist in public spaces with children.