Network [A Bug's Life]

The Friday Five for this week, since I suppose I feel like doing it for the first time in a very long time, and why not? Questions here.

1. What was the reason you began a Dreamwidth or LiveJournal account (or both)?
LiveJournal — because it was the Year of Our Lord 2003, and it was what everyone else in fandom was doing. I'd just turned sixteen and thought it was the bee's knees.

Dreamwidth — post-Strikethrough, saw the writing on the wall, made one under my (now defunct) lj username for writing-only (and God, what a long time ago that was!), then made this one after I realized that I didn't want to be known as a pun username for the rest of my life...

2. How many DW or LJ communities do you subscribe to?
A handful? Fewer than 10, definitely; I don't really use DW for that.

3. Do you have a favorite community or one you check out often to see what's new?
I'm fond of the book reviews that get posted in

booknook.

4. How did you pick your user name?
I wanted something that would be difficult to link directly to me, that was unlikely to be taken on most sites, and that was something that had meaning to me. "hafnia" is the common name for Hafnium (IV) oxide, a material used for high-k dielectrics (if this makes you go, "???", fear not, it's a semiconductor thing). It also happens to be one of the materials I worked with most during my PhD.

I'm hafnia or titania the web over. If I ever make another pseud on AO3 (...maybe? can't imagine what for), it'll be as zirconia, probably. Group IV all the way.

5. If you could change your user name, would you?
I'm fond of it, so, no, it stays!

There are 2 comments on this entry. (Reply.)

How has this month been going? I woke up to spring and didn't even realize. It looks the part: the occasional crocus, a faint fluff of clouds in a harebell sky. Hestia is absorbing the sun-flood from my desk. I will be celebrating the equinox with an MRI. My major accomplishment of yesterday was successfully wresting a permit from the Parking Department. I am filing a request for an intercalary year.

Music:: Boyracer, "Unknown Frequencies"

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We live on a street where about a quarter of the houses have Muslim families. This morning I watched our neighbours opposite, who moved in fairly recently and we don't know well, pose for photos outside their house all dressed up in smart clothes. Later on our next door neighbour, who we know well enough to have sent an Eid card, was outside with his toddler and wife, chatting with another neighbour, who is white and not religious AFAIK.

The weather is nice enough that I had the windows open - not enough to overhear any conversations but enough to know that there is chatter and happiness around me. It's nice.

ETA: Our next door neighbour just brought round some food and and a really cute little teapot for us!

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Posted by Dorothy

https://catandgirl.com/the-metaverse/

https://catandgirl.com/?p=10129

30 years ago in a secret government laboratory a team of top academics worked together to split the TRUTH into referrer and referent letting loose the Post-Modern Era. The master's philosophies serve the master's interests. So if the factory produces profit for the private equity firm instead of textiles - if luxury means the name printed on an object rather than the object's quality - if the feeeling that something should be true is more important than whether it is - it's not a tempest in a teapot. You can blame them. They made it happen. Everyone talks about the mad scientists - No one talks about the value of a well-rounded mad education.

https://catandgirl.com/the-metaverse/

https://catandgirl.com/?p=10129

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Posted by Zach Weinersmith

https://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/waiting

Click here to go see the bonus panel!

Hovertext:
I hereby release this to Hollywood.

Today's News:

https://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/waiting

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Posted by John Scalzi

https://whatever.scalzi.com/2026/03/20/today-in-look-at-this-dork-2/

https://whatever.scalzi.com/?p=59826

Krissy and I are on our way to the JoCo Cruise, and as you can tell, we are excited! Well, I am excited, Krissy is, as ever, tolerant. Also I have brought a tiny ukulele, because, after all, is it really a vacation without a tiny ukulele?

Don’t expect too much from me over the next week. Don’t worry, Athena will be around and posting good stuff. As for me, my plan is to get on a boat and not look at the rest of the world for a while. It’s a good plan, which is why I do it annually.

— JS

https://whatever.scalzi.com/2026/03/20/today-in-look-at-this-dork-2/

https://whatever.scalzi.com/?p=59826

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If you love dice-rolling and superheroes, you're in for a treat...

Four New Superhero RPGs to Watch Out For

There are 2 comments on this entry. (Reply.)

James Davis Nicoll: Let’s Talk This Over: What We Are Seeking by Cameron Reed

Yes I pre-ordered it blind, have you even met me.

There are 3 comments on this entry. (Reply.)

An assortment of stories from the author of Severance.

Bliss Montage by Ling Ma

There is 1 comment on this entry. (Reply.)

http://www.qwantz.com/index.php?comic=4449


archive - contact - sexy exciting merchandise - search - about

We can't even say for sure that the meaning of life isn't to get smushed by an asteroid. i'm gonna go lie down, and then i'm gonna write one HELL of a got dang treatise

← previous

March 20th, 2026

– Ryan

http://www.qwantz.com/index.php?comic=4449

There are no comments on this entry. (Reply.)

1. What was the reason you began a Dreamwidth or LiveJournal account (or both)?
I started LiveJournal in 2002 when a new friend (soon girlfriend) heard me saying that I wanted to write more and suggested LiveJournal. "What's LiveJournal?" I said, and she gave me an invite code, and here I am.

I moved to DW in 2011, I can't remember which exact thing made me do it but it was after Strikethrough, before things got very Russian but I think they were getting pretty Russian.

2. How many DW or LJ communities do you subscribe to?
Five.

3. Do you have a favorite community or one you check out often to see what's new?
I mean, they're all on my reading page. Most are pretty quiet; one I made for covid-cautious people and don't use much myself any more either (its name is a pun based on "herd immunity," that's how old it is...). The best are thisfinecrew, for U.S. political actions people can taken (often online or relatively low-spoons) and thissterlingcrew, the British version of the same thing. Very useful communities to have In These Times.

4. How did you pick your user name?
This one was picked by D and another friend (I now cannot remember who) independently when I was looking for a new one.

5. If you could change your user name, would you?
It's clearly from a very specific time in my life, when I was using the name Cosmo and studying linguistics.

As for changing it, I mean, I could. I have. My LJ went through a couple of names too. I almost never re-use user names either; I just use whatever sounds like a good idea at the time. I can barely remember what it was before, and would probably prefer that one now. I did make a concerted effort to get away from puns, things based on my real-life first name, or both; no wonder this is what my friends suggested for me, this is my Brand.

While I'm here, another point I've been meaning to make under this tag for a bit but haven't gotten around to: having been writing about my life for half of it now, I find myself wishing there was a way for tags to become, like, dormant or something. There are lots of tags that I want to keep having but am not going to add new entries to, so I wish I didn't always have to look at them in the list or when I'm choosing tags.

There are 5 comments on this entry. (Reply.)

If you have dyslexia, what strategies helped you master writing? Was there anything that helped when you were of school age? If you weren't able to deal with it during school, how have you dealt with it since then?

If you have kids with dyslexia, how have you helped them with the task of writing?

There are 12 comments on this entry. (Reply.)

And every one of those recs is better than the books. Well, I've shared my opinion on the books, the problems and characterization are insufficiently balanced for dual viewpoints.

But anyway, that's not what I'm thinking about. What I'm thinking about is Fabian and his generically shitty parents who clearly don't care about him very much. ( Read more... )

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This seems like a good idea...

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2026/03/20/japan/japan-roaming-service-disasters/

Update: When I raised the question on Bluesky, reporter David Reevely pointed out to me that it was already in place to some extent:

https://ised-isde.canada.ca/site/emergency-communications/en

Mood::

contemplative

There are 4 comments on this entry. (Reply.)

Posted by Bruce Schneier

https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2026/03/proton-mail-shared-user-information-with-the-police.html

https://www.schneier.com/?p=71749

404 Media has a story about Proton Mail giving subscriber data to the Swiss government, who passed the information to the FBI.

It’s metadata—payment information related to a particular account—but still important knowledge. This sort of thing happens, even to privacy-centric companies like Proton Mail.

https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2026/03/proton-mail-shared-user-information-with-the-police.html

https://www.schneier.com/?p=71749

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For

minoanmiss

There are no comments on this entry. Comments are disabled.

Dear Carolyn: My friends think I’m stupid. I’m a high school junior, and I go to a highly academically competitive school, where it is expected by my peers that you are supposed to take at least three AP classes. My closest friends are taking five. They are constantly stressed, overworked and burned out. My peers believe the only way to get into a “good” college (whatever that means) is to take as many AP classes as possible and to get the highest SAT score as possible. This, I know, is ridiculous on so many levels, but I stay out of it.

Lately, however, my friends have been shaming me for only taking one AP class, and for taking one standardized test vs. the other. I am going to college for musical theater, and admissions for those programs rely primarily on auditions, not grades. So why on earth would I put myself through so much stress if it won’t affect my college admissions? I’ve tried to explain this to my friends, but they think they know better than I. Additionally, they equate my taking only one AP class with being stupid. In the AP class I do take, my friend consistently shuts down and mocks my ideas with her other friends.

I’ve tried to mention the reasons I don’t take too many hard classes, but it’s like talking to a wall. I’ve also explained that since I was diagnosed with ADHD a year ago, I am now more aware of what I can handle. When all else failed, I even mentioned once that I have an IQ of 135 (tested when I was diagnosed with ADHD). I am actually quite smart. My friends stared at me and said, “Yeah… I think they lied to you.”

This hurts my feelings and happens so often that I’ve even started to believe I am stupid, despite all evidence to the contrary. Now I’ve started subconsciously playing into the “token dumb friend” stereotype because that is all I’m surrounded with. Should I not respond and ignore it?
— Stupidly Smart

( Read more... )

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Posted by Dan Fidler

https://blog.apnic.net/2026/03/20/your-elected-leaders-shaila-sharmin-policy-sig-co-chair/

https://blog.apnic.net/?p=99835

From ISP engineer to policy leader, Shaila Sharmin reflects on her journey into the APNIC community and her vision for inclusive policy development across the Asia Pacific.

https://blog.apnic.net/2026/03/20/your-elected-leaders-shaila-sharmin-policy-sig-co-chair/

https://blog.apnic.net/?p=99835

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It's challenge time!

Comment with Just One Thing you've accomplished in the last 24 hours or so. It doesn't have to be a hard thing, or even a thing that you think is particularly awesome. Just a thing that you did.

Feel free to share more than one thing if you're feeling particularly accomplished! Extra credit: find someone in the comments and give them props for what they achieved!

Nothing is too big, too small, too strange or too cryptic. And in case you'd rather do this in private, anonymous comments are screened. I will only unscreen if you ask me to.

Go!

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https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260319.html

There are no comments on this entry. (Reply.)

A Bug's Life

the Friday Five...

Shaking off the echoes of yesterday

Eid

The Metaverse

Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal - Waiting

Today in “Look at This Dork”

Four New Superhero RPGs to Watch Out For

NEW CAMERON REED NOVEL OUT APRIL 7. THIS IS NOT A DRILL.

Bliss Montage by Ling Ma

okay i admit: i was thinking of the "&butiwouldratherbereading=thelastdinosaurcomicever" url secret

Friday Five

Questions: Dyslexia

There sure is a lot of Heated Rivalry fic being recommended every day

In Case of Canadian Disasters?

Proton Mail Shared User Information with the Police

gingicat has posted links to the obituary and charitable donation information

(no subject)

Your elected leaders: Shaila Sharmin, Policy SIG Co-Chair

Just One Thing (20 March 2026)

(no subject)

September

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