I'm a computer science professor from #Oregon. Hobbies include #fire #dancing, #boardgames (including #go), #drawing, and #GameDesign.

#introduction #introductions #SivaAfi #ComputerScience #DataScience #python #MachineLearning #scifi #pdx #portland #pnw #FlowArts #game #games #gamedev #MastoArt #DogsOfMastodon

Last Friday, July 26th, around Tillamook or Cannon Beach, Oregon my son lost his favorite stuffie and best friend, Bulbasaur. If by some chance someone finds Bulby, please let me know, we'd dearly love to have him back! 💚

A few days ago I lost my job due to the company I have worked for filing for bankruptcy. Now I am looking for a new, preferably startup, to work for.

If you think a full stack developer with 15+ years of C++ experience, 12 years of C#/.NET experience, and with additional experience in kernel development, Windows internals, reverse engineering, Qt and LLVM sounds interesting - please hit me up!

I am located in Sweden and looking for remote positions.

#fedihire #getfedihired

I'm sure this is a wildly long shot but I don't suppose anyone here on the fediverse lives in the Northern Utah area or has contacts here who would be willing to replace a throttle position sensor on an 18 year old Kia for charity so that a middle-aged queer struggling with mental health issues doesn't have to deal with a 3 hr round trip commute to work when it's a 60 mile commute?

📚 New Project Update
Think I'm towards the final third of book two of the Far North series. Very exciting! Greenhouse Museum is collected, edited, formatted, and ready to be released at the end of next month too. As for our forays into spiritual research? Once I get through this series, it's going on a pause. Lastly, talking about the fear at Twitch and the future of what our streaming time might look like.
Hope you check it out!
https://byrdbrnz.me/project-update-july-2024/
#Writing #WritingCommunity #Blog #Projects #ProjectUpdate

Now crowdfunding for Space Dragons: Luxorian's Crew!

Dragons pull spaceships at faster-than-light speeds in my new space fantasy novella.

It's Pay-What-You-Want and the book is fully written and edited. Please help me fund it!

https://ko-fi.com/post/Crowdfunding-Space-Dragons-Luxorians-Crew-A-cos-Q5Q0YG3UU

#vkofi

Fediverse, due to my wife's thyroid cancer returning we are relocating to Seattle (from Illinois) -- where we can receive familial support and she can get treatment.

To that end, I'm looking for #infosec jobs in the area, but I'm looking to step back from what I've been doing so I have a bit more flexibility to help her and our son. So, hybrid or even full remote, but probably not a senior level position.

I've been consulting and that's been good, but it's too unsteady and too much work on unknown schedules to continue while she is undergoing treatment. I'll also be applying through standard channels, but I hope someone here can lend a hand.

#getfedihired

If you follow me, you have a sense of humour. If you're reading this, you're a reader. I’ve put this story online, free, gratis and for nothing, it's a twelve minute read. If you like it, maybe you’ll be curious enough to risk 99p for one of my short story collections. Maybe you’ll be smart enough to save some money by buying a compilation. Maybe you’ll be brave enough to buy my novel. Whatever happens, I hope you enjoy ‘Vincent'. http://aarondavid.co.uk/Vincent.html #freeread #shortstory #funny #pleaseboost

I love sharing some of my author friends with y'all. Check out E.J. Russell

Fantasy, Paranormal, Sci-Fi

E.J. Russell –grace, certified geek, mother of three, recovering actor–writes romance in a rainbow of flavors. Count on high snark, low angst and happy endings.

Reality? Eh, not so much.

More Info: https://www.limfic.com/mbm-book-author/e-j-russell/

#AuthorSpotlight #Bookstodon @bookstodon #author

Book Promotion: Thrilling selection of stories - murder, mystery, suspense, thriller - that you can download free and discover your next favourite author in your favourite genres. #bookstodon #writing #goodbooks #steampunk #mystery #reading #action #amreading #fedibookfair #vigilante #amateur #guns #reader #murder #adventure #detective #private #future #readers #suspense #contemporary #whodunnit #sleuth #classic (9404) https://books.bookfunnel.com/gomery-kimber-mystery-suspense/q8jgfzgf9a?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=mastodon

The last two days of the Summer Fair for Low Spice & No Spice Romantasy!

Two days left to grab those fantasy romance books for free (in exchange for your email)! They all go away on August 1st.

Hop on over to BookFunnel and browse to your heart's delight.

https://books.bookfunnel.com/summerlowspiceromantasy/pvv6cd6lcn

Feel free to boost!

#Romantasy
#LowSpice
#ReadersOfMastodon

If anyone knows how to get in touch with author Y.M. Resnik (Cast of Wonders, Worlds of Possibility, khōréō, Interstellar Flight, Diabolical Plots, etc), please let me know!

We'd like to accept one of her stories but the email we have on file keeps bouncing back!

"Mr. & Mrs. Mahi" (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt16227342) started out looking like another great Raj Kumar Rao movie.

But then towards the middle of the movie I started seeing issues. The main character is a guy who loved cricket but couldn't make it. He then realizes that his wife is great at cricket and starts coaching her.

However, the way the story goes, for most of the movie, the wife doesn't appear like a character on her own. She's just an extension of what her husband wants. His dreams, his desires.

When the wife makes it in cricket, the husband isn't happy for her success. Instead, all he cares is that he is not known as the architect of her success.

I became very annoyed at this point. Why couldn't the husband just support his wife? Why did he need everybody else to know that he was the reason his wife became a great cricketer?

I loved the movie up to that point because he'd found somebody with whom he shared something he loved. But when he started using his wife as a means to achieve his dreams and started resenting her, the movie just soured for me.

There are multiple issues with the movie was written — how the father treated his son, how the husband treats his wife, how the wife's father treats his daughter etc. And I do realize that they needed the conflict for the movie to have different notes and not be monotonous.

Once past that wobble though, the ending was great. So I guess overall, it's worth watching if you can bear the rough patch in the middle.

#Movies #Hindi #Sports #Cricket

I am going to bed in a moment because I start work at 5:30am tomorrow, but managed to stay awake long enough to post the latest chapter of City of Unnumbered Stars, and it is... the dinner!

https://archiveofourown.org/works/57429055/chapters/146946844

#writing #scifi #writingcommunity #originalscifi #ao3 #fiction #sciencefiction

The wife and I played more "No Man's Sky" this weekend. It's interesting to me that the new game update has been out maybe slightly over a week and it's already had two bug-fix updates on PS5 since then?

We originally had a couple of crashes while playing the game. Didn't have any crashes so far after the latest update. So maybe the crashes are fixed? I guess we'll see ...

But the game's still enjoyable 🙂And this is an 8 year old game.

#Gaming #PS5 #NoMansSky

Still looking for #LilyTheCat, who disappeared June 28 in West Menlo Park. She may have been accidentally or deliberately transported or force adopted.

She’s a very popular cat who has dog friends and even likes small children. For dozens of kids, she was the first cat they ever held.

If you see her, please help her come home so she can once again be the middle school yearbook mascot.

https://lilythecat.org

Fantasy, Lore, & More: The Secrets We Save

Hi, I'm indie fantasy author, Melinda Kucsera, and in this episode, Kel E Fox is joining me to talk about her book, The Secrets We Save. What's it about? In a world where humans live hundreds of years and can perceive deception as easily as breathing, it takes a rare magic called Whispering to tell a lie. Ursa has denied this magic to become a pilot, while Del embraced Whispering and left his family to work as a spy.

http://melindakucsera.com/2024/07/28/fantasy-lore-more-the-secrets-we-save/

In an island city where the Cat Men of the Thieves Guild rule supreme, DaVic, a private eye with more quips than credits, takes on a job for the Thieves Guild from a mysterious femme fatale. This job lands him on the on the run through the dark streets of Sir Lanka, trying to stay one step ahead of those who pursue him.

In trying to unravel the mystery, he ends up finding a sidekick in the form of a Thieves Guild Tea Leaf, KarJa. With her help, the duo start cracking the case and when Sir Lanka is brought to the brink of war by way of a clash of ideals between the Guild and a nascent revolution, would DaVic and Karja be able to stop a bloodbath? Or will they be too busy helping tree-like aliens who are wary of human contact, or dealing with a bunch of alien scientists who are conducting experiments in the very heart of Sir Lanka?

Find out in "Sir Lanka Files". Coming August 15th, but now available for pre-order on Amazon.

https://books.farook.org/sir-lanka-files/

#ScienceFiction #Humour #BookPromo #Bookstodon #FediBooks #Writing
A book cover titled "Sir Lanka …

TL;DR: HELP ME REUNITE WITH MY PENCIL BOX😭

I know this is a long shot but if you spot a pencil box that approximately looks like this stuffed with fountain pens, crochet hooks and a penguin key chain, please let me know?

Highly likely in Dublin City Centre by the River Liffey

It is not that valuable in money, but it does have my fountain pens and I am so sad. 😭 😭 😭

Mine is more maroon than rainbow but it looks like this.

BRB going to cry my eyes out

#mastodaoine #Dublin

🎉 August Queer Romance Club book pick - Dionysus in Wisconsin by EH Lupton 🎉

By a Mastodon author, @pretensesoup, it’s been shortlisted for the 2024 Lamba Literary Award in Gay Romance and the 2024 Midwest Book Award for fantasy.

Available on #Hoopla, #KoboPlus, all ebookstores and perhaps your library, or EH has kindly offered copies if access is difficult for you (DM her if so).

QRC is open to all, read at your own pace over the month and post about it under #QueerRomanceClub and @queerromanceclub — CW for spoilers if going into details but general observations can be open.

No rules: let’s hear reactions, theories, reviews, favourite quotes etc.

Please also feel free to tag EH in to your QRC post this month, and she’s open to Author Q&A so throw your questions her way.

#books #GayRomance @gayromance @bookstodon #BookClub #AuthorsOfMastodon #IndieAuthor