We're all about the cats this week. Cats everywhere: napping, making friends, hiding from the rain, and generally being decorative. Other creatures appear as well. Tavaron has found an intriguing snake in her garden. Paulh spotted some swans.
Meanwhile, Paigetheoracle takes us on a virtual tour of Norwich and its notable figures, including some you may not have heard of. Bluebottle has a sign we may wonder at, while Willem teaches us about elephant seals. It's an interesting world out there.
There's fiction: two ongoing stories and a one-off adventure involving a piano. The piano was our August challenge. This week we invite you take on a new one involving dogs. This prompt is rooted in history, but your imagination may take you anywhere you like. Let's see what you do with this inspiration from the Library of Congress.
There's the usual unusual: cinema (a must-read because even I didn't believe the premise of this story) and humour (for the millionth time, yes, these are jokes!) and a quiz and some stray thoughts from me. Some ducks will swim for your amusement. On this page, you'll notice, is a bunny. The bunny isn't doing a thing but twitch its nose. That bunny is very popular on Youtube. I supposed the AI algorithms can figure out what people like to look at on Youtube, and why, but it beats the life out of me. I only put the bunnies up for SashaQ. Never mind: I hope you enjoy the bunny.
Speaking of AIs, we have as you know been tormenting some of those critters to produce 'art' for our serial novels this year. In the same period, merry hell has broken out on social media, as outraged artists everywhere have protested vehemently about this kind of thing. We have good news on that front: in the US, at least, an 'artwork' produced entirely by AI cannot be copyrighted. These things are public domain, say the courts. And there is great rejoicing. I'd like to point out that the illustration for this week's episode of my novel The Building is not entirely the product of AI. I worked at that, friends: the goat belongs to Mrs Hoggett. I made the AI produce individual items and I cut, and copied, and pasted, and ran the results through numerous filters and programs and bent, folded, and mutilated. The one thing I did not do is draw, because I am incapable of such a thing due to various physical infirmities. I am satisfied that the result will not be mistaken for something produced by a Real Artist. But it will do to decorate a webpage. (These things will not show up in the print edition.) I hope honour has been satisfied on all sides.
So: read, enjoy, share (please!). Also please: don't comment unless you have something nice to say. Remember what your Aunt Hortense told you and be polite.
Have a great week and stay cool/warm/dry/out of the sun/rain, depending on local conditions. And pet those kitties.
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Quote of the Week: The economic system, which does nothing but dream in its own self-interest, may, in fact, be wondering how to turn most human beings into catfood or soldiers, since so few of them have any higher usefulness. It is time now for somebody somewhere, as I say, to come up with a better dream.
Kurt Vonnegut, foreword to Jailbird, 1979
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