Post Am6u19BRCPr3VM9xho by lachlan@mastodon.social
(DIR) More posts by lachlan@mastodon.social
(DIR) Post #Am6qX2AQQCarC5dSNc by foone@digipres.club
2024-09-17T23:19:33Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
The cool thing about @cstross's The Laundry Files series is that it posits that magic is a branch of applied computation.And if you understand how Turing completeness works, that means it's possible to summon Cthulhu by playing Magic the Gathering, or carefully organizing a couple million migrating crabs.I imagine The Laundry has a reoccurring problem of their techs treating it like the "Can it run Doom?" problem and doing Bad Ideas just to prove it's possible.
(DIR) Post #Am6qnVhMOQbBPttfxw by foone@digipres.club
2024-09-17T23:22:10Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@cstross "what happened to Steve? He was supposed to help me research this transformation matrix last week""oh, didn't you hear? He managed to summon The Time Worm on a TI-83 powered by a pile of moldy potatoes. Unfortunately it got summoned right into his head, so... He's out of commission, permanently.""oh, damn it. He was helping me see if I could cast a fireball from a pregnancy test. The CPU has JUST enough RAM to run the arcane algorithms..."
(DIR) Post #Am6qxvLjsR95rukWx6 by nev@bananachips.club
2024-09-17T23:22:01Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@foone @cstross have you read the short story "Down on the Farm", from the same universe?
(DIR) Post #Am6rjaCLowRgAW5G4m by nincodedo@ocw.social
2024-09-17T23:32:57Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@foone was it the regular TI-83 or the TI-83 Silver Edition? just so I can uh... avoid The Time Worm...
(DIR) Post #Am6rzWxfcfLglNp008 by foone@digipres.club
2024-09-17T23:35:48Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@nev @cstross yeah! I think that was included in my paperback of The Atrocity Archives.
(DIR) Post #Am6s74DQNoQxvTmftQ by foone@digipres.club
2024-09-17T23:36:07Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@nincodedo sorry, Turing Equivalence means it doesn't matter.
(DIR) Post #Am6u19BRCPr3VM9xho by lachlan@mastodon.social
2024-09-17T23:58:02Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@foone @cstross It's probably a bit sillier, but Off To Be The Wizard has a similar premise, but with a bunch of programmers finding the master file that controls the universe, and casting spells by hacking at it
(DIR) Post #Am6uuVKIZeB26ghUzw by PJ_Evans@mas.to
2024-09-18T00:07:24Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@foone @cstross He's done at least one gaming story in the Laundryverse. Then there's "Halting State", where it starts with a bank robbery in -game...
(DIR) Post #Am6zqdQF20VxpPSFLU by wotsac@mastodon.social
2024-09-18T01:04:04Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@foone @cstross it's making me think of some admin summoning a particularly eldrich entity by way of a gnarly business process spreadsheet they've been tinkering at for ages
(DIR) Post #Am70Oso4L61XO5vkjQ by flyingsaceur@ioc.exchange
2024-09-18T01:10:14Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@foone @cstross What if the events of Doom were caused by someone getting Doom to run on the teleporter on Phobos?
(DIR) Post #Am70UiTLfsXl4f1Jh2 by foone@digipres.club
2024-09-18T01:10:54Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@flyingsaceur @cstross definitely
(DIR) Post #Am73d6Ryi0XDcT4OnI by Hcobb@spacey.space
2024-09-18T01:46:10Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@foone @cstross Please don't break the simulation!That's where all my stuff is.
(DIR) Post #Am75ArTL0GHexwMofw by sabik@rants.au
2024-09-18T02:02:44Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@foone @cstross It only takes one turn of Magic to summon Cthulhu
(DIR) Post #Am7DoAOxME6ObKZS8O by liohong@mastodon.social
2024-09-18T03:40:21Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@foone Sounds like it would fit with Codex Inversus where animals also routinely practise magic as part of their daily survival
(DIR) Post #Am7Iz3ZTammINDVH9M by oblomov@sociale.network
2024-09-18T04:38:28Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@foone @cstross this reminded me ofhttps://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/comic/grrl-power-959-enchanting-101/
(DIR) Post #Am7NV5gBgmLJzmAn3o by gkrnours@mastodon.gamedev.place
2024-09-18T05:28:50Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@foone @cstross more people to guard the front door
(DIR) Post #Am7REsFUFuyvWZCt8a by isotopp@chaos.social
2024-09-18T06:10:45Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@foone @cstross these kind of things happen regularly to characters in the extended laundry universe.
(DIR) Post #Am7ZJKmGvZV8nRBC0O by cstross@wandering.shop
2024-09-18T07:29:07Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@PJ_Evans @foone You are waiting for "A Conventional Boy", coming out in January. Just saying.
(DIR) Post #Am7ZJLYU2K49Cxjh9U by foone@digipres.club
2024-09-18T07:40:48Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@cstross @PJ_Evans can't wait
(DIR) Post #Am7a7EfVumUoKRoU1g by A_denie@toot.io
2024-09-18T07:50:11Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@foone @cstross @PJ_Evans thanks for the reminder to pre-order my copy!
(DIR) Post #Am7aOxKb75ltlpTnVI by GinevraCat@toot.community
2024-09-18T07:53:25Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@foone @cstross They most certainly are!
(DIR) Post #Am7cnYtDK8fH77X22q by A_C_McGregor@topspicy.social
2024-09-18T08:20:08Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@foone @cstross I have tons of headcannon for the laundry verse. If and when Charlie ever finishes the series I might dump some of it.
(DIR) Post #Am7eUfAtvmVR0tvAGG by philpem@digipres.club
2024-09-18T08:39:19Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@foone I have literally just started reading this series and I'm loving it. I just wish there was a way to keep the Kindle app and my paperback copy in sync...
(DIR) Post #Am7oVXl1zbrrqAsYsq by Landwomble@mastodon.cloud
2024-09-18T10:31:31Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@foone @cstross "Crowdstrike AV managed to ship an update running at ring 0 in the kernel that has caused a world wide outbreak of Elder Ones"
(DIR) Post #Am7yovuxOCOFocPF2m by Dtl@mastodon.social
2024-09-18T12:26:33Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@foone @cstross "I imagine The Laundry has a reoccurring problem of their techs treating it like the "Can it run Doom?" problem and doing Bad Ideas just to prove it's possible."That's basically Bob's housemates in the first few books.
(DIR) Post #Am9jAgBDNAPGQTHI4u by truh@shark.community
2024-09-19T08:41:14Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@foone @cstross The Laundry got second sunrise banned?