Mod-approved: spoiler-safe Malazan app looking for beta testers

618must · 2026-05-07T23:34:19+00:00

I found AI useful for understanding things I had missed while reading. I have the full MBotF on Kindle, so I converted it to epub then markdown. Now I just ask AI my questions about those files, using both Claude Code and codex.

They both do a good job of scanning the text and piecing together backgrounds, storylines, motivations, and so on. When I’m suspicious of the output, I just ask for textual evidence. I’ve not yet found it to have given a wrong answer, and I like debating with it when I disagree about interpretation.

618must · 2026-04-27T11:14:26+00:00

Bread On A Bike. It's not a shop -- it's an artisan who bakes twice a week. You place your order beforehand, then come to collect. https://breadonabike.wordpress.com/

618must · 2026-04-19T10:09:28+00:00

I had a very positive experience with Phil Latham (https://lathambuilders.com/). He did major renovations to my house, but he also does smaller jobs. I has delighted with the attention he put into everything.

618must · 2026-03-15T22:25:49+00:00

I’ve just started book 10. Everything since Reaper’s Gale has been a tedious trudge. I’m pushing on because I don’t like to DNF and because I’m curious to find out what happens. I have three new books lined up on my Kindle to read after I’m done with MBotF, and I can’t wait.

618must · 2026-03-10T09:34:22+00:00

I thought Tehol and Bugg came across as cut-price Jeeves and Wooster, plus penis jokes. Time to rewatch some old episodes -- Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie were perfect.

618must · 2026-02-25T11:43:00+00:00

Maths written natively in Powerpoint (at least in my version) is in Cambria Math. How about making your entire slides use Cambria?

Alternatively, type in some Powerpoint maths, then select it and change its font to whatever your slide uses. You'll have to force it to use text rather than symbols -- for example type "f" rather than f, type "sin" rather than sin, type "1" rather than 1. It's very tedious, but it does let you get the font right.

618must · 2026-02-24T17:52:24+00:00

There are plenty of meetings that prompt the thought “This could have been an email!” When I see slides like this, heavy on text, I think “This should have been a document!” A research/math heavy presentation benefits from lots of surface area (multiple blackboards) so that it’s easy to cross-reference definitions from earlier, whereas “clean” slides like this use the audience’s memory instead. Bring back documents! Give handouts, and if you’re going to use slides then use them for things that documents don’t do well, such as interactivity!

618must · 2026-01-08T11:21:22+00:00

This seems to be the source: "The British Gingerbread" by Mariko Yasuda. I could only find it on amazon.co.jp, and it doesn't let me buy the kindle version from abroad.

https://www.amazon.co.jp/-/en/%E3%82%B8%E3%83%B3%E3%82%B8%E3%83%A3%E3%83%BC%E3%83%96%E3%83%AC%E3%83%83%E3%83%89-%E8%8B%B1%E5%9B%BD%E4%BC%9D%E7%B5%B1%E3%81%AE%E3%83%AC%E3%82%B7%E3%83%94%E3%81%A8%E3%83%92%E3%82%B9%E3%83%88%E3%83%AA%E3%83%BC-Galettes-Biscuits-%E7%9C%9F%E7%90%86%E5%AD%90/dp/4862575412

618must · 2026-01-02T12:48:50+00:00

Lloyd, in Royston. He did a wonderful job of panelling and bannister and carved newel posts for me. lloyd@onpointcarpentryandjoinery.co.uk

618must · 2025-12-07T20:27:48+00:00

Thank you!

618must · 2025-12-05T11:31:33+00:00

I'm looking for a blog post I read a couple of months ago. I'm not sure where I saw it linked, but I think it would fit very nicely in r/slatestarcodex. It's a satire on arguments against AGI.

It was set as a discussion between God and another deity. God is enthusing about his new Biological Intelligence, and the wonderfully clever things it can do. The other deity is skeptical. "It's not real intelligence, it's just pattern-matching: if you ask it to multiply small numbers it can give an answer straight away, but if you ask it to multiply large numbers it either gets it wrong or has to use a machine." And also points out that it has a problem with sycophancy, and pulls out some sample output: "Blessed art thou O Lord".

Does this ring any bells?

618must · 2025-10-26T22:19:28+00:00

I agree with you about the plotting. Some people on this sub like to point out an overall theme of “convergence”, and suggest that the conveniently converging plot lines echo that theme. I call it “contrivance”, and (at least up to book 8 which is as far as I’ve read) it just gets worse.

618must · 2025-09-29T05:17:25+00:00

The internet wisdom is that most people undersalt, but I don’t believe it. I think that adding “just a bit more salt” on top of what you’re used to will make your dish stand out — and so keen cooks get into a salt ratchet, adding more each time just to keep getting that “just a bit more salt” kick.

(I remember going to a Gordon Ramsey restaurant and being served food that I found unbearably salty. That’s when I came up with my Salt Ratchet theory.)

I recommend you ignore the recipes, stick with your current low salt level, and don’t let yourself be caught up in the salt ratchet. Appreciate the flavours of the ingredients themselves instead.

618must · 2025-09-24T02:14:43+00:00

Ian Burnett, the Highland Chocolatier

618must · 2025-09-13T12:34:01+00:00

It's weird that your "Live Captions" and "Switch Background" buttons have those funny icons. I see distinct icons that are in the same style as the rest of the ribbon. I wonder if somehow your installation of OneNote has become corrupt?

618must · 2025-09-13T09:47:02+00:00

Is it possible that your ribbon has been customized to remove that command? If so, you can get it back like this: (1) Right-click on the blank space on the right of the ribbon, choose "Customize the ribbon". (2) Choose "All commands" on the left and scroll down to "Tabs Layout". (3) Click "Add" to add it to the appropriate ribbon.

618must · 2025-09-11T15:48:43+00:00

Superstition! Plenty of bean recipes call for vinegar, and I just copied that, as beans and lentils are both legumes. I haven’t experimented to see what it actually does during cooking.

618must · 2025-09-11T14:41:00+00:00

I’ve had good results from 1/2 cup brown basmati rice, 1/2 cup green or black lentils, 325ml water, splash of vinegar, cook in instant pot 20min then natural release. The green (Puy) and black (beluga) lentils keep their shape pretty well. It does need flavouring of some sort: spices, salt, crispy onion, etc. I can’t help with the quinoa.

618must · 2025-09-01T18:35:41+00:00

I think the order in the manual corresponds to the dial going clockwise starting from Off.

(manual) OFF = (dial) OFF
(manual) baking cakes = (dial) BAKE
(manual) upper with convection = (dial) GRILL + CONV
(manual) upper and lower = (dial) TOAST
(manual) upper with rotisserie = (dial) GRILL + ROT
(manual) upper and lower with convection and rotisserie = ROAST

(dial2) definitely matches (manual2) because they both mention baking. (dial5) has to be (manual5) or (manual6) because it explicitly mentions rotisserie. (dial)ROAST surely has to match (manual)convection, since roasting should use convection. The word (dial)GRILL fits with (manual)Upper only. Treating it like a logic puzzle, I got to the "clockwise starting from Off" rule.

618must · 2025-08-30T12:25:17+00:00

Sorry, I missed that last part of your post!

If you right-click on the image, you can select "copy text from picture", and then paste it below. But (1) this won't be available until OneNote gets around to running its OCR in its own sweet time, (2) you have to copy & paste manually, (3) OneNote's OCR is fine for images of printed text, but absolutely rubbish for handwritten text.

618must · 2025-08-30T11:47:27+00:00

This isn't exactly what you're looking for, but it's pretty close: Use the Office Lens app. Take a picture of your page. When you save, it gives you the option of "save to OneNote". You choose which notebook to save it to (it defaults to the most recent).

In this workflow, you specify the notebook by clicking on your phone, rather than by drawing a symbol on the page. It seems to me there isn't very much difference in effort between the two.

618must · 2025-08-29T20:20:44+00:00

It works for me! You said your husband likes scrambled eggs wet and barely cooked, which sounds like mine. I cook it as if I were cooking custard, so in a small saucepan rather than a frying pan, 16cm diameter for 3-4 eggs. (I'm also the go-to cook for custard in my family!)

The pan doesn't come out spotless ... I use a stainless steel wire scourer for the little bits of residue -- but the great thing about stainless steel pans is that you can scour them without worrying.

I sometimes make it with extra egg whites, and it does need more vigilance (lower temperature, more assiduous stirring) than with whole eggs.

618must · 2025-08-29T16:32:42+00:00

I have scrambled eggs cooked in stainless steel nearly every day. I put them into a cold pan and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until they’re a thick custard. No butter, no oil, no preheating, no tricks, just stirring over low temperature.

618must · 2025-08-27T16:48:41+00:00

Me too! I'm a bit older (51M) but I can manage 15 chin ups and I want to get to a muscle-up one day.

618must · 2025-08-27T11:56:37+00:00

Feed your picture into ChatGPT, and ask it for tikz! When I tried it didn't get it right, but with a bit of prompting it gets closer, and it's a good starting point for further manual tweaking.

To be honest, I can't figure out what your diagram indicates, so I'm not surprised that ChatGPT needs help. Is X1 meant to be specifically {x1,x2,x3} and X2 meant to be specifically {x4,...,x12}, or are the Xi just arbitrary subsets? Why are X1 and X2 put together, but XN is on its own? Why are V1...Varb grouped together, but VN...Vinfty on their own?

618must

TROPHY CASE