It's preorder time again
I've moved into the new flat, which lacked a stopper for the kitchen sink. So I had to go buy one. Do you know how hard it is to just walk into a store and buy a sink stopper?
Regular retail stores don't have them, even the ones that ostensibly stock housewares. You can order them online, but mostly only in packs of 4 or more and you'll pay more in shipping than you will on the actual product. Instead I went on an arduous journey to the nearest big boy hardware store, where — after considerable time spent searching the aisles — I finally found what I needed. It was £1.
Anyway:
Preorder: "Jay Moriarty Has Seen You Naked"
The fourth story in The Casefile of Jay Moriarty, titled "Jay Moriarty Has Seen You Naked," comes out on July 9! It's up for preorder — from those among my vendors who allow preorders, anyway — here.
A spur-of-the-moment invitation brings Sebastian Moran along for the ride as Jay Moriarty recovers from surgery in a Spanish resort hotel. When Jay exploits a security vulnerability in the hotel network, he finds an array of exposed cameras — and comes across hints that one of the other guests is hiding a dangerous secret. A secret that, once uncovered, may put Jay and Sebastian's own lives at risk.
Ko-fi supporters who subscribe at the Early Access tier ($5 CAD/month) can download the book for free, right now. If you'd like to read the story early but don't have a spare $5 kicking around, you can also get a free advance review copy over on Booksprout.
This Week's Links
An attempt by the Consumer Aesthetics Research Institute to catalogue various "consumer aesthetics" of the last 70 or so years. Pretty useful if you need to describe a room or a building.
Reconstructing shredded paper money
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority visitor center sells souvenir glass containers full of shredded paper money. Each container (costing $100 HKD) is advertised as containing 138 complete $1000 HKD banknotes. Researcher Chunt T. Kong set out to determine whether he could use "computer vision" to reconstruct the shredded banknotes.
The Collapse Is Coming. Will Humanity Adapt?
Just a lighthearted little piece about the upcoming climate-induced societal collapse, and what comes after. Features Canadian hard sci-fi author Peter Watts, who I've mentioned on this newsletter before.
Most storefronts don't allow me to see if anyone's preordered a book until after release day. This is a system designed to make me insane.
-K
