cjwatson: (Default)
2017-08-04 07:10 pm

Web fiction rec: 17776

I came across 17776 a little while back via [twitter.com profile] shockproofbeats. It's a startlingly original piece of web fiction: it's partly about the far future, partly about American football, and partly about the human condition and its affinity for play. I've heard it compared to Homestuck, although it's very much shorter - I think the main thing they have in common is that they're both making inventive use of the medium.

Some people mentioned they found it tough going at the start and gave up (the first episode is mostly a very long scrolling calendar, particularly bad on mobile, and there's quite a bit of embedded video and such; it may well work a bit better on desktop, although I read/watched the whole thing on my phone). It's worth persevering.

I reckon this is on my list of Hugo nominees for next year, if only I can work out what category to put it in.

cjwatson: (Default)
2014-12-11 06:03 pm

PSA: Mobile phone repairs

A while back I asked around for recommendations for mobile phone repair shops in Cambridge who could fix a cracked screen on [livejournal.com profile] ghoti's Nexus 4. At the time we didn't really get many good recommendations; we'd already tried Cambridge Laptop Repair on Arbury Road and been dissatisfied for various reasons; so I went into town on my day off on Monday and had a look around. Carphone Warehouse would have had to send it off somewhere else and quoted 14 days, but when I asked them for recommendations they said that Timpson on Petty Cury have started doing mobile phone repairs. I went there, they seemed helpful and competent, managed to get in touch with their supplies department to ensure they had the part despite it being just before 5pm, and we got it back today apparently now working fine. Not perhaps the cheapest possible (£140), but I'll take that for getting it done reasonably quickly and well.