Escaping the AI Vampire Castle

February 23, 2024

...AI generated children’s stories. This is just part of a flood of scammy AI books on Amazon. The AI children’s books advertised on my Kindle combine titles that have an English-as-a-second-language vibe, vaguely Manga style cover illustrations and author names such as “Leanor Varelade” that either yield no search results or are close to the names of real people (Leonor Varela is a Chilean actress). In short these books are what you would get if you...

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Epic Rants and Raves

Mr. Homegrown

August 4, 2017

Thoughtstylings

2 Comments

...19th century summer reading? How about Abe Lincoln’s favorite non-fiction book, An Authentic Narrative of the Loss of the American Brig Commerce, which tells the story of a crew shipwrecked and enslaved by a Saharan tribe (thank you Futility Closet for the tip on that one). And if you’re looking for more seafaring tales there’s always Two Years Before the Mast. Lastly, if you haven’t read Moby Dick, well, what can one say about a book that spends...

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RIP Toby Hemenway

Mr. Homegrown

December 20, 2016

Gardening, Permaculture

2 Comments

...Mollison’s concepts for those of us with small spaces to tend. In his last book he merged permaculture with the City Repair movement and looked at ways we can improve our communities. We desperately need voices like Hemenway’s in this moment of crisis. He will be missed. Someone I greatly admire, Toby Hemenway needs our help. Hemenway is a permaculturalist and a gifted author of books such as Gaia’s Garden and The Permaculture City. In 2015 he was...

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Saturday Tweets: Squirrels and Other Stuff

Mr. Homegrown

January 14, 2017

Saturday Linkages

...e https://t.co/78VxfA1FNq — Root Simple (@rootsimple) January 13, 2017 New book of seminal essays and ideas from the iconic Whole Earth Catalog https://t.co/EzVRGlLMjl — Root Simple (@rootsimple) January 13, 2017 Researchers design a handheld centrifuge that only costs 20 cents to make https://t.co/j1aPLieniW — Root Simple (@rootsimple) January 13, 2017 DIY String Light Chandelier for $40 https://t.co/jYVj6Aayt2 — Root Simple (@rootsimple) January...

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Warning: This Blog is Based in a Mediterranean Climate

Mr. Homegrown

January 16, 2013

Gardening

24 Comments

...d Vegetable Planting Calendar and the Digitalseed Flower Planting Calendar Books: The New Western Garden Book: The Ultimate Gardening Guide (Sunset Western Garden Book) Pat Welsh’s Southern California Organic Gardening (3rd Edition): Month by Month And for those of you who live where it regularly freezes and snows, you’ll be amused to hear that in all of my years of gardening the first time that I’ve ever had plants get serious frost damage was ea...

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