department of special projects

110 posts in “department of special projects

Learning to fly

Learning to fly

This entry is part 1 of 1 in the series CircusThis post should be read with the song “Learning to Fly”. Not the Tom Petty version or the Foo Fighters version (geez, there’s a lot of songs with the title “Learning to Fly,” aren’t there?); the Pink Floyd version. And, actually, ideally the Leæther Strip cover version. My partner and my daughter have been taking […]

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Community + Code

Community + Code

Sé Reed took this picture of my water bottle at PressConf. “That’s epic,” she said. I agree. I assume she saw in it the same thing I did when I found it — ourselves. The funny thing is, despite this sentiment being prevalent amonst those of us that have been in the WordPress community for […]

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A vast, dimly lit computational chamber housing the Deep Thought supercomputer from The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, resembling its original appearance in the BBC TV series. Deep Thought is an enormous, green, pyramid-like structure with glowing lights and an imposing presence. The room is immense, with towering, monolithic structures covered in cryptic symbols. The atmosphere is eerie and quiet, with the machine’s lights still faintly flickering after the recent conversation. The space is empty, save for the hum of inactive machinery and shafts of cold artificial light streaming through the towering structures. A thin haze of dust floats in the air, enhancing the illusion of an all-knowing machine that is merely a facade.

Truth (Flash Fiction February Day 3)

This entry is part 12 of 12 in the series Flash Fiction February“That was close,” Fleeb Mungwort said, wiping his brow after the two pan-dimensional hyper-intelligent beings left the massive computational chamber. “I can’t believe they bought the whole bit about the successor computer,” Ploox Vendarf said, tying her head tentacles back into a tail. “That bit about Earth? Truly a stroke of genius!” “The problem remains,” […]

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A close-up, unsettling but friendly portrait of Nurse Maya Brooks, a medical professional with cybernetic ocular implants. She has a warm smile but an unnerving gaze, with gunmetal gray eyes featuring a glowing blue light at the center where the retina should be. Surrounding the light, a mechanical aperture-like iris expands and contracts like a camera lens. She leans in toward the camera, holding a clipboard, as if addressing a patient. The medical room in the background is softly lit, with faint digital overlays hinting at an augmented reality interface.

New (Flash Fiction February Day 2)

This entry is part 11 of 12 in the series Flash Fiction FebruaryWhen Avery woke up, all they saw was dark. It was unnerving, but they tried not to panic. They had been assured that there would be a period of adjustment as all the systems came fully online. Instead, Avery took deep breaths to slow their heart rate, and continued to stare and perceive an inky […]

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A black and white, gritty, charcoal-style depiction of a driver mid-transformation into a werewolf, seen from the perspective of the passenger seat. The werewolf’s face contorts, fangs emerge, fur sprouts, and claws grip the steering wheel tightly. The freeway outside is shown correctly from the side, with cars traveling in the same direction as the werewolf’s vehicle, their headlights and taillights forming streaks of motion. The mood is dark and intense, with expressive brushstrokes capturing the raw, chaotic energy of the transformation.

Rage (Flash Fiction February Day 1)

This entry is part 10 of 12 in the series Flash Fiction FebruaryThe truck cuts in front of me and I need to slam on the brakes to not smash into the TRUMP bumper sticker on the fender. There’s a “LET’S GO BRANDON!” sticker in the corner of the cab window. It’s too dark to see the driver but his (I assume it’s a he) red taillights […]

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Create a 16:9 widescreen image for the novel 'Are You Awake', accurately depicting the main characters in the virtual world of DreamSpace. Lorelei Hawthorne, the protagonist, is a senior software engineer with a contemplative expression and short hair, reflecting her focused and pragmatic nature. She is shown in a state of inner conflict, torn between her work responsibilities and her curiosity about the virtual world. Beside her, Liz Bennet, a young femme lesbian developer with long hair and a stylish attire, is portrayed with a longing expression, indicative of her desire for a relationship with Lorelei. Include representations of AI characters, especially Nova, to symbolize Lorelei's engagement with DreamSpace. The setting is a surreal technofantasy landscape, embodying the novel's themes of technology, magic, and romance. The image should capture the emotional dynamics and potential romantic tension between Lorelei and Liz, set against the backdrop of the novel's fantastical world.

Ma.tt sent me

This entry is part 2 of 2 in the series Are You Awake?Well, not actually. But he did post this, and I figured, since I drafted and then scrapped a long Thread about where I ended December with regards to the novel I am writing, I figured this would be a good excuse to write a blog about it instead. So, where am I? I didn’t hit […]

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Experiments in Resin 3D Printing

Experiments in Resin 3D Printing

I have been using our Ender 5 FDM 3D printer pretty heavily over the last year or so primarily for making miniatures for Dungeons & Dragons. D&D minis can cost anywhere between $5 – $50 or more, so the most cost effective way of having a lot of miniatures at your disposal is, well, build […]

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Dashboard Changelog

Dashboard Changelog

I recently moved my site to a new host. And I’ve also added my partner’s site to the WordPress multisite stack running this site and a number of others on this domain and chrisreynolds.io. Previously she was using WordPress.com, but was frustrated by a lack of adequate support and persistent caching bugs that even I […]

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New site, who dis?

New site, who dis?

Hi. It’s been a while since I wrote anything on here. It’s been a while since I’ve wanted to write something on here, and largely that’s been due to not being able to upload files in my previous site setup. There’s technical things underneath, but basically I was using a free developer environment on Pantheon […]

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Binary Jazz

Binary Jazz

A few months ago, this happened: After several months of thinking, procrastinating, conjuring reasons to not start a podcast and waiting for the idea to sound like a bad one (it didn’t), we decided to get our act together and get serious about the idea. I put together some notes, we came up with a format, […]

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