Notices by Dilman Dila (dilmandila@mograph.social)

#SilentSunday #clouds #cloudscape #naturephotography

"...the hottest thing in AI these days is hiring humans, because they're getting to be cheaper than AI — and are needed for quality control on AI's output anyway. "

The AI vibe shift is real: Why the backlash is growing | Mashable
https://mashable.com/tech/ai-backlash-vibe-shift

This novella has grown by like 50% (if my math is right), a first for me. Normally, the final word count shrinks after the first draft, but I started writing it as a perk to those who contributed to #WindShortFilm and then it took a life of its own, and in the rewrite I found more material. It's now at 35k words (up from 22k) and I've uploaded a complete first chapter for you to sample and pre-order

https://www.ododopress.com/novellas/the-blossoming-of-the-big-tree/

#books #bookstodon #sff #solarpunk #scifi #writingcommunity #writing

In about three weeks, I'll launch my new novella, about an old woman with social anxiety who finds herself organising the defence of a decentralised nation when colonisers invade to steal the tech that makes her village a #solarpunk utopia. It is available for pre-order in all major stores (I think), but you can also get it from my small press, and there is a sample chapter available.

https://www.ododopress.com/novellas/the-blossoming-of-the-big-tree/

#books #bookstodon #book #SolarPunkSunday #scifi

I'm set to shoot #windShortFilm a #solarpunk comedy in June, so this last mile campaign is to cover basics like food, transport, etc. We made all costumes, props, and set constructions from scratch and it strained our budget since it is a futuristic story with no central governments, and no #capitalism Everyone participates in running the country. Help me make it!

120/500

Details: https://www.dilmandila.com/donate/wind-a-solarpunk-short-film

#mutualaid #sff #scifi #buyIntoArt #creativetoots #crowdfund #writing #writingcommunity

This is a little overwhelming, in a very pleasant way. About 20% raised within the first eight hours of this stretch goal to make a #solarpunk short film about a future without central governments, no politicians, and no #capitalism We start production in two weeks time and your support means a lot! Boost, or donate. :-))

110/500

Details: https://www.dilmandila.com/donate/wind-a-solarpunk-short-film

#mutualaid #sff #scifi #film #creativetoots #buyIntoArt #writing #writingcommunity #climate

People were posting about mother's day yesterday, and I was afraid to share this folk tale. I don't know if it sits well with the spirit of the day, since it leans more toward horror and is further proof that folk tales were not made for children. Nor were they purely for educative purposes .

This is a very dark one, though I'm sure when it was told around the evening fire, it was meant to make people laugh.

https://www.ododopress.com/african-folk-tales/the-baby-sitter/

#folklore #folktale #writingcommunity

As an artist I spend a lot of time writing grant applications. I wish I could live entirely on sales and crowdfunding, but this makes a very small bit of my total income. Yet those applications are murder! I think I spend about 40-60% of my time on applications rather than creating art. Like right now, I have to fill this questionnaire, and it has 12 sections, each with more than 7 questions that require lengthy responses. NGRRR!

Following recent changes on policies of Draft2Digital and Barnes and Noble, I thought I should share my experience on how to set up a cost effective writer website, with one-time-fee-plugins that give you a shopping cart and a squeeze form to grow your newsletter, and so keep your costs manageable. Take a look!
"What I Learned From Setting Up An Online Bookstore With WordPress Plugins – Dilman Dila"
https://www.dilmandila.com/cheap-and-easy-online-bookstore-with-wordpress-plugins/
#blog #writing #wtitingcommunity #writers #writer

@GinevraCat @bmacDonald94 Yes, it will be in paperback too. I'm still trying to figure out the best way to do it, so doing the math of printing and shipping from Uganda (which would mean quite a high mailing cost especially to the US which now is under a global postal ban, but if it improves then shipping might be around $10, so total cost might be $20) versus using a POD service, which would mean setting a very high price, around $30, which I know might put off some readers.

My next novella is available for pre-order, set in a #solarpunk world somewhere in Africa, and revolves around an old woman who must organize the defense of her nation, though it has no weapons or army and no central government, when a colonizer invades to steal the technology that makes them an egalitarian utopia. You can find a sample here and it's available in all stores.
https://www.ododopress.com/novellas/the-blossoming-of-the-big-tree/
#book #books #bookstodon #writing #writingcommunity

"Part of what made the “old” Internet so good was the process of discovery. There were no streams or feeds. No “For You pages”. No “Discover” tab. When you found something good, it was usually after hours idly clicking between loosely connected websites. That’s what made every discovery feel so special. That’s why those first websites you went to are seared into your memory.

We used to surf the Web."

The Old Internet is Still Here
https://tylergaw.com/blog/the-old-internet-is-still-here/

Whew! I guess I have to stop tweaking this site. It won't get any better than this, but yay! I'm announcing my venture into small press publishing with a new novella! Now on PRE-ORDER!!! (available in major stores too!). It's a #solarpunk about a seventy-something year old woman, probably autistic, who has to organize the defense of her decentralized country when a colonizer invades. See a sample chapter here https://www.ododopress.com/novellas/the-blossoming-of-the-big-tree/

#books #bookstodon #writing #writingcommunity #sff #scifi

Sometimes I think my #solarpunk ideas are very original. Decentralized countries. 3D printers manufacturing anything. Biophotovaltic panels that grow in backyards to power homes. And then I read an article like this and I remember that a lot of other writers like me are reacting to our present dilemmas and troubles, and we probably grew up on the same kind of scifi stories so we most likely end up with the same solutions. See #books to read inside.

https://www.motherjones.com/environment/2026/02/solarpunk-sci-fi-books-literary-genres-climate-change-optimism-technology/
#bookstodon

@HauntedOwlbear This is cool! Though I wonder about copyrights, if they would mind....?

Does anyone else have songs from artists who perhaps never made it beyond a handful of fans? I have some songs I treasure, got the CDs from the musicians or friends over 10yrs ago, but they've dropped out of the radar and I can't find them anywhere. Just their voice haunting my speakers like a sweet ghost. There's also an mp3 I got off a yahoo group, around 2005. I like the song, but it has no artist name, no title, just a voice and a guitar, perhaps home recorded.

#music

If you develop for #linux please make offline installation possible, for people in countries with restricted internet. Came back home last night and today I want to install Luminance HDR but their only option for linux is via the terminal, and yet, while I can access full internet on my phone using a VPN, I can't access any on my laptop/workstations, so I can't install this program, unless I use Wine. I'm in #Uganda They cut off internet during elections and it has now been partially restored.

RE: https://sfba.social/@jeridansky/115816077450379662

Perhaps the #fedi needs an automatic backup tool to periodically exports your data so you have a starting point if your instance suddenly goes offline. it will keep happening since they are run by ordinary folk whose lives can change in a wink. I was on a fairly big and well managed PeerTube instance that also just went dark without warning, yet I was hosting my films there professionally. Would also be nice to get an email notification once this happens.

#mastodon #fediverse

Fedi hive mind, I'm writing a story. The MC investigates a Luo folk song (re: oral history, Uganda/South Sudan) that has clues saying 500 yrs ago an astronomer from China visited and documented Luo space travel technologies (portals to the stars). This knowledge is now lost and my MC has to unravel the clues, but what clues could point to China without usung racist stereotypes? Perhaps a word, a name, a description, something?

Context in the next toot.
#writing #writingcommunity #sff

Excerpt from a book I'm reading, Slow Poison, by Mahmood Mamdani, father of Zorhan Mamdani.

"FBI agents knocked on
my door...they asked what I thought of Marx. I said I had
never met him. Not surprisingly, this Ugandan Muyindi had never heard of Karl
Marx. “He’s dead.”

I said, “I'm sorry, what happened?”

“No, he died long ago.”

I wondered why, then, the question. “Why, then, are you asking me?”
Later, I would remind myself: the FBI introduced me to Karl Marx! "
#books #bookstodon #book