Roundup: Some fiction after a grim week

Only a quick note from me in this week’s roundup. I flew to Europe as the US elections results were starting to come in — probably not so bad timing — and I’m still reflecting on the wider impacts for the US people, the tech industry, Canada (where I’m from), and so much of the rest of the world. I spent the weekend at a festival organized around data center opposition in Marseille, which I’m sure I’ll have some comments on in the future. But given the grim news, I figured it might be a good time to recommend some new short fiction that might give you a brief respite.

Tim Maughan is the author of the fantastic novel Infinite Detail (that you should absolutely go pick up if you haven’t already). His new story “Not My Problem” might be about AI, but don’t worry, there was no AI involved in its creation. Meanwhile, Aaron Thorpe is a co-host of Trillbilly Workers Party and new to the short fiction world. But that shouldn’t hold you back from checking out “New Meat City.” Both stories were published on October 31. Enjoy!

Over on Tech Won’t Save Us, I spoke with tante about some ongoing controversies in the open source community, including the mess with Wordpress and the new “open source AI” definition that doesn’t require being open about training data. I was really happy to have the discussion on the show, and probably not one I would’ve thought to do had tante not suggested it to me.

In the roundup, find some recommended reads on the impacts of a Trump victory — and a data center defeated in a surprising way. Plus, the usual labor updates and other news you might have missed!

Have a great week!

— Paris