this post was submitted on 20 Jul 2026
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TechTakes

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Big brain tech dude got yet another clueless take over at HackerNews etc? Here's the place to vent. Orange site, VC foolishness, all welcome.

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For actually-good tech, you want our NotAwfulTech community

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Have a sneer percolating in your system but not enough time/energy to make a whole post about it? Go forth and be mid - welcome to the Stubsack, your first port of call for learning fresh Awful you’ll near-instantly regret.

Any awful.systems sub may be subsneered in this subthread, techtakes or no.

If your sneer seems higher quality than you thought, feel free to cut’n’paste it into its own post — there’s no quota for posting and the bar really isn’t that high.

The post Xitter web has spawned so many “esoteric” right wing freaks, but there’s no appropriate sneer-space for them. I’m talking redscare-ish, reality challenged “culture critics” who write about everything but understand nothing. I’m talking about reply-guys who make the same 6 tweets about the same 3 subjects. They’re inescapable at this point, yet I don’t see them mocked (as much as they should be)

Like, there was one dude a while back who insisted that women couldn’t be surgeons because they didn’t believe in the moon or in stars? I think each and every one of these guys is uniquely fucked up and if I can’t escape them, I would love to sneer at them.

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[–] swlabr@awful.systems 5 points 20 hours ago (3 children)

Am seeking suggestions on audiobooks to listen to! I think I’d like to start with the works of Ursula K. Le Guin, tho I don’t know what order to go with, or if that matters.

[–] gerikson@awful.systems 3 points 8 hours ago

If the queer experience on the 90s island of Harris intrigues you, we're halfway through Douglas Stuart's John of John and really enjoy it. Narrator has a Scots accent though, if you find that hard to deal with.

[–] macroplastic@sh.itjust.works 5 points 19 hours ago* (last edited 19 hours ago) (1 children)

For the Hainish Cycle books the order doesn't matter too much, they're not direct sequels.

I started with (and would recommend starting with) The Left Hand of Darkness. The first 3 Hainish novels are also her first novels and she was still developing her style, in my opinion. I think The Dispossessed is her finest work, although I still haven't read all of her novels.

[–] swlabr@awful.systems 2 points 8 hours ago (1 children)
[–] gerikson@awful.systems 3 points 8 hours ago (1 children)

The Earthsea novels are not to be missed either. Maybe pass on the fifth.

[–] rook@awful.systems 4 points 8 hours ago

Tales from Earthsea is also good.

I didn’t mind The Other Wind… it isn’t as good as the others, but that’s a tough act to follow. It does draw together a bunch of plot threads from the previous books and provides a kind of closure, which I appreciated. There was more to say of Earthsea, but le Guin wasn’t going to have the time or energy for that.

[–] blakestacey@awful.systems 2 points 18 hours ago (1 children)

Barbara Rosenblat's recordings of the Amelia Peabody novels are fun.

[–] swlabr@awful.systems 3 points 8 hours ago