Notices by Annalee Newitz 🍜 (annaleen@wandering.shop)

I am in #vancouver! I will be here for a couple of months. Any recommendations for good Chinese noodle places (literally any kind of noodle, from any part of China) or hikes or both?

Need some climate hope today? @Grist has just published stories from the 12 winners of the "Imagine 2200" climate fiction contest. I was a judge, w/Omar El Akkad, and we loved these brilliant stories from around the globe. They're full of memorable characters and inventive scenarios for humanity's long-term survival on a healthy planet. Free to read! Enjoy!
https://grist.org/imagine2200-climate-fiction-contest-2025/

I'm going on a 3-month vacation to Canada with my partner, who needs a biologic to, you know, stay alive. Despite everything I know about how fucked up the US insurance system is, I am still gobsmacked at how cruel they are in their attempts to block his 90-day supply. They gave him a one-week window to fill his prescription with a "vacation override" -- and every day they cancel the pharmacy orders, using various bullshit excuses. It's day 5 and he's still trying to get his prescription filled.

I think LLMs may wind up being remembered the same way we remember 19th century Spiritualism. A bunch of scientists and rich people bought into Spiritualism, too -- until they didn't.

Today I'm making shortbread with a layer of caramel and a layer of chocolate on top. Usually that's called "millionaire's shortbread" but I'm really not in the mood to celebrate millionaires or billionaires. So I'm calling it Ultra Tasty Fuck Yeah Shortbread, which is accurate and evidence-based.

@evan yes!! That's it. I let my nephew raid it for stickers. 🤩

@evan do you know what happened to Srini? Is he here on Mastodon?

@evan I still have a giant art book full of those stickers (minus the ones on this laptop)

I am going through my own personal computer history museum, wiping and disposing of 25 years of my old laptops, phones, and tablets. It's an emotional journey that involves ancient Linux distros, forgotten passwords, and stickers from the organizations that time forgot. I will post pictures when I'm done!

Here is the one I'm erasing now -- my Sony Vaio from 2001-2004, complete with Srini stickers, EFF propaganda, and various stickers I got at Defcon. It is running an ancient version of Red Hat Linux and Windows under VMware

A scenario that Schrödinger never addressed #caturday #catsofmastodon

We cannot let this one pass. New bathroom bill would essentially make it illegal for trans people to use bathrooms in American airports. Don't be surprised when it's followed by national bills preventing people from being trans in public. https://www.erininthemorning.com/p/nancy-maces-federal-trans-bathroom

@fraying that's what I was thinking about yeah ... I feel like the entire idea of a friendly community is being demonized by the right

@fraying Highly recommend the latest newsletter by Emily St. James on this very topic https://episodes.ghost.io/echo-chamber-bluesky/

COVER REVEAL! It's my next book, "Automatic Noodle," a cozy, near-future story about a group of food service bots in an abandoned ghost kitchen who take over their own delivery app account. They rebrand as a neighborhood lunch spot, and start making tasty hand-pulled noodles. Set in San Francisco after a horrible war, this is about rebuilding and finding love after political disaster.

Coming 8.5.25!⁣ Please pre-order! https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250357465/automaticnoodle
⁣
Art by Eric Nyquist ⁣
Design by Christine Foltzer

I've been talking about this book a lot on here as I've been writing it, and some of you even provided suggestions for me when I asked what kind of personality a self-executing contract might have. Yes, your suggestions made it into the book! Plus, it's a future where everyone is using federated social media. It's my love letter to San Francisco, and to all of us here, trying to make the online world a nicer place.

The thing I didn't realize I needed last night was to watch (finally) the 2023 flick Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem! Amazing animation, incredible soundtrack, Jackie fucking Chan as Splinter (!!!), hilarious dialogue ... plus, a wholesome message about why journalism is good and how high schools should accept all kids, even if their bodies don't fit the norm. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHvzw4Ibuho

TONIGHT, Thurs. 11/7 -- Join me for a virtual talk and discussion about the future of disinformation in America. 7pm EST/4pm PST, hosted by Cary Library in Lexington, MA. I'll discuss successful strategies for resisting propaganda, based on historical examples. Register: https://carylibrary.assabetinteractive.com/calendar/virtual-stories-are-weapons-psychological-warfare-and-the-american-mind/

Hey folks. If you missed my talk on the history and future of disinformation in America, you can watch it now! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QE08IcUEXjA&t=2642s

What should we hope for now? Greater Good Magazine asked me and an amazing group of thinkers this question on the day after the election. I wrote about how backyard parties can become a model for resistance, because joyful, unplanned gatherings -- outside the influence of corporations and authorities -- can be a model for reimagining our public sphere. https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/whats_giving_us_hope_right_now