Octopus Overlords

hepcat wrote: ↑Fri Feb 02, 2024 4:11 pm Side note: don't let the British writer at AP cover any future deaths of American football players. We don't say "footballer" for Christ's sake.

Chris Mortensen, an award-winning journalist who reported on the NFL for ESPN for more than three decades, died Sunday morning at the age of 72, his family announced.

Mortensen joined ESPN in 1991 and was a regular contributor to the network's NFL shows and "SportsCenter." He was a regular news breaker for ESPN, including the news in 2016 that quarterback Peyton Manning was retiring from the NFL.

In 2016, he received the Pro Football Writers of America's Dick McCann Award and was honored during the Pro Football Hall of Fame's enshrinement ceremony in August that year.

Ryan Koss, 35, who knew Williams, was given a one-year deferred sentence and as part of his probation will have his driving license revoked for a year and must complete a community restorative justice program on the misdemeanor charge.

One of the greats of the RPG industry passed away yesterday. Jim “Drawmij” Ward left an indelible mark on D&D and beyond.

Legendary designer James M. Ward, better known as Jim, passed away yesterday at the age of 72. Ward’s influence on the RPG industry is hard to overstate. From the earliest days of Dungeons & Dragons to the dizzying days of the collectible card game explosion, Ward played a huge role in creating memorable games.

Ward was a friend of Gary Gygax in the earliest days of Dungeons & Dragons’ development. Ward was a player in the Greyhawk game, which is where Gary Gygax developed much of D&D. He was one of the early employees at TSR. Ward’s character, as many of the original players were, was made canon in D&D as Drawmij, which is Jim Ward spelled backward.

M. Emmet Walsh, the character actor who brought his unmistakable face and unsettling presence to films including “Blood Simple” and “Blade Runner,” has died at age 88, his manager said Wednesday.

Roger Ebert once observed that “no movie featuring either Harry Dean Stanton or M. Emmet Walsh in a supporting role can be altogether bad.”

Walsh played a crazed sniper in the 1979 Steve Martin comedy “The Jerk” and a prostate-examining doctor in the 1985 Chevy Chase vehicle “Fletch.”

In 1982’s gritty, “Blade Runner,” a film he said was grueling and difficult to make with perfectionist director Ridley Scott, Walsh plays a hard-nosed police captain who pulls Harrison Ford from retirement to hunt down cyborgs.

Daehawk wrote: ↑Fri Mar 22, 2024 1:43 pm Hold on I got this, who??

Hrdina wrote: ↑Fri Mar 22, 2024 1:49 pm

Daehawk wrote: ↑Fri Mar 22, 2024 1:43 pm Hold on I got this, who??

There was a link right there.

TheMix wrote: ↑Fri Mar 22, 2024 1:51 pm

Hrdina wrote: ↑Fri Mar 22, 2024 1:49 pm

Daehawk wrote: ↑Fri Mar 22, 2024 1:43 pm Hold on I got this, who??

There was a link right there.

Good point. I initially assumed that Dae may have checked out the link and was just expressing that he was unfamiliar with Vinge. However, the question suggests that Dae wasn't even aware that Vinge was an author. Which probably means he didn't look at the link at all.

Punisher wrote: ↑Fri Mar 22, 2024 1:54 pm

TheMix wrote: ↑Fri Mar 22, 2024 1:51 pm

Hrdina wrote: ↑Fri Mar 22, 2024 1:49 pm

Daehawk wrote: ↑Fri Mar 22, 2024 1:43 pm Hold on I got this, who??

There was a link right there.

Good point. I initially assumed that Dae may have checked out the link and was just expressing that he was unfamiliar with Vinge. However, the question suggests that Dae wasn't even aware that Vinge was an author. Which probably means he didn't look at the link at all.

Didn't anyone ever tell you guys not to click links from strange people on the Internet?

TheMix wrote: ↑Fri Mar 22, 2024 1:51 pm Good point. I initially assumed that Dae may have checked out the link and was just expressing that he was unfamiliar with Vinge. However, the question suggests that Dae wasn't even aware that Vinge was an author. Which probably means he didn't look at the link at all.

TheMix wrote: ↑Fri Mar 22, 2024 1:56 pm Come on. It was Hrdina. Hrdina isn't a strange person!

TheMix wrote: ↑Fri Mar 22, 2024 1:48 pm Science fiction author, among other things. Won a couple of Hugo awards. I really liked A Fire Upon The Deep. I think I read A Deepness In The Sky, but I can't remember anything about it, so maybe not.

Edit: I looked at my library app. I don't have the second one listed, so I doubt I've read it.

Isgrimnur wrote: ↑Tue Aug 29, 2023 12:37 am

Pyperkub wrote:

Isgrimnur wrote:A Fire Upon the Deep

‘Twas a struggle to get through at times. I highly doubt I’ll go back the for sequel or prequel.

I had the same experience. It has some pacing issues, but it's interesting.

Sent from my SM-S908U1 using Tapatalk

I’m actually glad to hear that it’s not just me with brain issues.

Hrdina wrote: ↑Fri Mar 22, 2024 2:23 pm

TheMix wrote: ↑Fri Mar 22, 2024 1:48 pm Science fiction author, among other things. Won a couple of Hugo awards. I really liked A Fire Upon The Deep. I think I read A Deepness In The Sky, but I can't remember anything about it, so maybe not.

Edit: I looked at my library app. I don't have the second one listed, so I doubt I've read it.

Ironically, after all this discussion, looking at goodreads tells me that I'm one of only 5% of readers who wasn't too enthralled with A Fire Upon the Deep.

Hrdina wrote: ↑Fri Mar 22, 2024 2:23 pm For the few among us who want a one-liner describing who he was, how about: Vernor Vinge was a science fiction author who is largely credited and/or blamed for popularizing the term "technological singularity".