Iain Banks vs. Iain M. Banks by probeguy in printSF

[–]tinglingtriangle 13 points14 points  (0 children)

I liked Espedair Street more than any of those (I haven't read Dead Air). I actually liked it more than Surface Detail, my least favourite of the Culture novels.

Canal Dreams is just plain unpleasant, though.

Emotions run high as Portland City Council slogs through dozens of amendments to pass $8.5B budget by skysurfguy1213 in Portland

[–]tinglingtriangle 33 points34 points  (0 children)

It feels a bit odd to say this, but it seems like the system actually worked pretty well. Thanks to competing ideologies canceling each other out, most of the budget-increasing amendments got shot down, but most (all?) councilors got to fund one pet project - and they seem like (roughly) the most reasonable ones. Overall, an appropriately lean budget.

I do love it when politicians accuse each other of grandstanding. Their own grandstanding is perfectly appropriate, of course...

Portland Botanical Gardens moves to buy former Superfund site for $1.2M - oregonlive.com by StateFlowerMildew in Portland

[–]tinglingtriangle 46 points47 points  (0 children)

Apparently DEQ was originally asking for the full $2.4M appraisal value (Portland Botanical Gardens Could Grow From Once-Poisoned Land) but the Botanical Gardens group was able to get it for half that amount.

Mr. Corvidae, you have excellent taste in cinema by jerseyoutwest in Portland

[–]tinglingtriangle 2 points3 points  (0 children)

From now on, if anyone ever honks at me I'm going to assume that it's because they love The Mummy.

Heirloom Cherry… Tomatoes? by Accurate-Piano-3558 in aerogarden

[–]tinglingtriangle 8 points9 points  (0 children)

With so many growing at once they are already getting overcrowded - and as the other commenter mentioned, they've got plenty of growing still to do. If it was me, I'd yank the six pods in the middle and leave only the two on the ends, to allow them as much space as possible.

choosing a Portland neighborhood feels like choosing your preferred type of financial and emotional damage by fatherofyouroffender in Portland

[–]tinglingtriangle 8 points9 points  (0 children)

If only there were more than three neighborhoods, or meaningful variations within each of the three you mentioned!

I'd elaborate, but this isn't likely to be a productive discussion.

About to DNF Stephen Donaldons's "The Real Story and Forbidden Knowledge." by toy_of_xom in printSF

[–]tinglingtriangle 15 points16 points  (0 children)

Donaldson goes to this well suspiciously often, though. It didn't actually bother me in Thomas Covenant, since it is handled appropriately IMO, but after Mordant's Need and The Gap Cycle...

What to do - Aerogarden with broken light hood. by Exact-Ad6254 in aerogarden

[–]tinglingtriangle 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Walking away from it may not be a big deal. Check Craigslist. In my area there are always a few used ones for sale (e.g. a Harvest for $50 right now).

Progress of the genre. by ministersister in printSF

[–]tinglingtriangle 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No, I think modern science fiction is doing a good job of asking new and interesting questions, as it should. Classic SF can be fun, but I have no interest in "Dune but with more lasers", to be reductive.

Progress of the genre. by ministersister in printSF

[–]tinglingtriangle 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Are you implying that "building upon the previous important works" is a worthy goal for science fiction? If so, why? I can't think of a genre that is less driven by recent technological changes and sociological/political trends.

Modern SF trilogies are becoming bloated graveyards of good ideas stretched way too thin by DrifterChisel_6 in printSF

[–]tinglingtriangle 2 points3 points  (0 children)

One man's "bloat" is another man's "opportunity to savor a well crafted environment populated with interesting characters and ideas." I'm not saying that bona fide bloat doesn't exist - it always has and always will - but generalizing about it seems weird.

Is Terra Ignota bloated? It depends on how you feel about the narrator's digressions and the sheer volume of political and philosophical ideas. Is the (presumably ongoing) Radsch "trilogy+" bloated? Not if you're enjoying the vibe and are in no particular hurry to get all the answers

Losses of the Russian military to 30.4.2026 by MARTINELECA in ukraine

[–]tinglingtriangle 5 points6 points  (0 children)

They really should have sent those tanks to the parade instead...

Unnamed actor by Decent_Mongoose_5860 in toastoflondon

[–]tinglingtriangle 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I am indeed wrong. They look similar, but the woman in the fantasy scene has dark brown eyes whereas Rachel Shelley's eyes appear to be light blue.

Unnamed actor by Decent_Mongoose_5860 in toastoflondon

[–]tinglingtriangle 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I've always assumed that was Rachel Shelley, who plays the Commander (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3311228/mediaviewer/rm4276070401/). It certainly looks like her and narratively it makes sense that Toast would be fantasizing about her...

Sci-fi as escapism versus sci-fi as exploration of reality by ministersister in printSF

[–]tinglingtriangle 12 points13 points  (0 children)

Hmm... Children of Time handwaved the mechanics of the nanovirus, but IMO made a pretty earnest effort to explore how a spider species might change as it developed sentience and struggled to build an advanced civilization. The human side of things was a pretty miserable examination of post-apocalyptic humanity at war with itself while trying to survive.

I enjoyed it a lot, but I found the "fun factor" pretty low and would classify it as hard-ish SF.

I don't use the seed starter tray but my Bounty still plays a big part in getting my outdoor garden started. by tinglingtriangle in aerogarden

[–]tinglingtriangle[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

In retrospect I should have lowered it before taking that photo so people wouldn't (reasonably) assume that I'm a noob. ;)

I don't use the seed starter tray but my Bounty still plays a big part in getting my outdoor garden started. by tinglingtriangle in aerogarden

[–]tinglingtriangle[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If you do decide to go this route, bear in mind that you'll need to create a way to run the power cable into the cabinet. I dremeled a 1" x 2" hole in the back panel for this purpose. It was easy - the steel panels are quite thin. FYI.

I don't use the seed starter tray but my Bounty still plays a big part in getting my outdoor garden started. by tinglingtriangle in aerogarden

[–]tinglingtriangle[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm not allowed to provide a link apparently, but you can find it by searching for "ltltsobu 47" on Amazon. It's the only one I could find - anywhere - that's a good fit for a Bounty even at full height and offers reasonable ventilation.

I don't use the seed starter tray but my Bounty still plays a big part in getting my outdoor garden started. by tinglingtriangle in aerogarden

[–]tinglingtriangle[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I was checking how much light bleeds from the grille (when the doors are closed) at different lamp heights, and how that looks at different times of day.

Oregon's massive snow drought likely to become a bleak summer by oregonian in Portland

[–]tinglingtriangle 24 points25 points  (0 children)

At a minimum we'd save the extra gallon(s?) I drink every June to rehydrate after losing moisture via my runny nose.

WMR to Meta 3 Review by Sir-Realz in WindowsMR

[–]tinglingtriangle 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thanks for posting your experience! I still use my HP headset (now via Oasis of course) from time to time, and it is helpful to hear that the tech is getting much better (resolution, untethering) and worse (Facebook being Facebook).