Ros Jackson @rosjackson@wandering.shop

@Gargron The Twitter Mastodon account just retweeted some far-right type encouraging people to join Mastodon. That would be exactly the worst outcome of the current goings-on in the US, and the response of other social networks.

Another lockdown will no doubt encourage predatory types, including loan sharks. Learn more about them or report them with Stop Loan Sharks, run by the Illegal Money Lending Team.

https://www.stoploansharks.co.uk/

#SharkFreeSurfing

Zoom is tiring, according to research: http://obcovid19files.s3.amazonaws.com/rivkin.pdf

So apparently some no-name guest made a suggestion about bombing Corbyn supporters on Have I Got News For You. I don't have a sense of humour about that stuff.

Here's the complaints form. I will be grateful to everyone who joins me in making a complaint.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/contact/complaints/make-a-complaint/#/Complaint

There's a news report about it here with the details: https://uk.news.yahoo.com/fin-taylor-bomb-glastonbury-joke-131250300.html

So Disney has decided they don't have to pay Alan Dean Foster (and who knows how many other authors?) royalties he's owed by contract for books he wrote. This can't be allowed to stand. It sets an awful precedent.
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/nov/19/sstar-wars-author-disney-royalties-alan-dean-foster

#DisneyMustPay

So my announcement that we shouldn't do paper Christmas cards this year didn't go down well with my son. I told him it was an infection risk, and email messages would be better.

Am I being too strict? What's everyone else doing?

Freaks is an interesting take on the superhero genre. My full review: http://www.warpcoresf.co.uk/freaks-youre-one-of-us-2020-film.php

My town was rammed today as everyone in England tries to stock up for lockdown 2. I just did my normal Saturday food shop, in shops that won't be closed because they're considered essential. They were still packed.

RIP Sean Connery. Such a fun actor in all of his roles.

New mask design.

Butter wouldn't melt...

I expect recycling is up because of more home deliveries. I find brown cardboard composts very well so long as you let it get wet and take off any glue strips or tape. Worms love it.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/oct/17/household-recycling-surge-raises-costs-england-councils

ALLi has issued a warning about OctaGroup, with a useful guide on how to avoid getting scammed by those targeting indie authors.

https://selfpublishingadvice.org/octalogo-writing-crew-watchdog-advisory/

Acedia seems like a useful word for this year.

It tastes a lot more bread-like than I was expecting. I'll definitely try it again, even though it was a bit of a clat to make.

This is my first attempt at keto bread. Almond flour, duck eggs, a bit of nutritional yeast for flavour, a tiny bit of coconut flour, bicarb, cream of tartar, salt. Now I'm waiting for it to cool and speculating how it will taste.

Eddie Van Halen, rest in peace. I'll be listening to Van Halen and remembering the good times and big hair rock.

How should we regulate and fund academic publishing? This petition was launched by librarians who are fed up of publishers price gouging UK libraries for academic ebooks.

I can see the other side, as many academic books can't expect a big audience. But books aren't *that* expensive to produce, and we should be doing all we can to make knowledge, especially academic knowledge, available students, and also to the general public.

https://academicebookinvestigation.org/

SERCO are sending out texts to lots of people asking them to download the App. I got mine this evening.

It comes from NHSTracing, and I suspect they're going out as a blanket text to every phone in the UK, whether you've downloaded or not, and whether or not your phone is compatible.