@athelstone
Active 3 hours, 26 minutes ago-
Athelstone replied to the topic Motor Racing's Blackest Day: Le Mans, 1955 in the forum Blogs 3 years, 3 months ago
Quite awful accident, Richard. I sought out some of the video and still-images after reading your blog, and I have to say that Hawthorn does look, physically, like the villain of the piece. Whether he was the actual villain or not, his face relaxes into a rather smug expression that does him no favours. I was reminded of the comedian Rob Beckett,…[Read more]
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Athelstone replied to the topic Monthly Comp – March 2023 in the forum Monthly Competition 3 years, 3 months ago
That Pixie gets everywhere. Well done Kate!
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🤣🤣
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Athelstone posted a new activity comment 3 years, 4 months ago
Absolutely not a waste of time, Richard. The paper has controls that enable them to reject specific advertisers. Now you’ve brought it to their attention I would expect the least they can do is prevent it appearing again. It’s the Guardian’s choice to use this advertising system, and ultimately it’s their fault entirely.
Having read a bit more…[Read more]
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Re the appearance of ads of any kind, I don’t get any ads, not on the Guardian site or anywhere else. I have Microsoft Edge set to the highest privacy setting, I use DuckDuckGo for all searches unless the results aren’t extensive enough and only use Google for YouTube and maps. I clear cookies every few days and mostly disallow them where I…[Read more]
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Athelstone posted a new activity comment 3 years, 4 months ago
Cookies are generally innocuous, but can be a royal PITA. Opt in on a site’s cookie policies and you can easily find yourself seeing advertising that you really don’t want to see, unless the site is particularly careful regarding what is set. I bought my daughter sports socks as a little Christmas extra. Since then I’ve been plagued with ads for…[Read more]
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Ah, so the ad wasn’t actually down to the Guardian, then, and my writing to them was a waste of time. But I get so angry at these vanity publishers (though I gather that phrase is out of fashion now). The way they exploit and trample on the dreams of aspiring authors is downright cruelty, if you ask me.
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Athelstone posted a new activity comment 3 years, 4 months ago
Just checked the article again, and I have to say that the ad-spot is a set of Google tags; Google is the Advertising Network managing this space, so it will be filled according to a set of priorities partly determined by your cookies. That’s why after checking Amazon for cat-toothpaste, every other page you visit wants to sell you the stuff. So…[Read more]
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Cookies are generally innocuous, but can be a royal PITA. Opt in on a site’s cookie policies and you can easily find yourself seeing advertising that you really don’t want to see, unless the site is particularly careful regarding what is set. I bought my daughter sports socks as a little Christmas extra. Since then I’ve been plagued with ads for…[Read more]
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Ah, so the ad wasn’t actually down to the Guardian, then, and my writing to them was a waste of time. But I get so angry at these vanity publishers (though I gather that phrase is out of fashion now). The way they exploit and trample on the dreams of aspiring authors is downright cruelty, if you ask me.
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Athelstone posted a new activity comment 3 years, 4 months ago
I read the Guardian seeing as it’s the only mainstream media outlet that even remotely approaches my political leanings, but I have to say that the approach is indeed often remote, and I’m not surprised to see them accept that advertisement. That said, they do make quite a big deal about promoting aspiring authors, and organise several courses and…[Read more]
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Libby, thanks for that link. It’s quite damning, and if I’d known about it I might have included it in my e-mail.
Ath, it never occurred to me that the placement of the ad might be random. It’s too much to ask of coincidence. I do hope that the acceptance of it was indeed due to lack of scrutiny. If I were to learn that they were at all aware of…[Read more]
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Just checked the article again, and I have to say that the ad-spot is a set of Google tags; Google is the Advertising Network managing this space, so it will be filled according to a set of priorities partly determined by your cookies. That’s why after checking Amazon for cat-toothpaste, every other page you visit wants to sell you the stuff. So…[Read more]
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Cookies are generally innocuous, but can be a royal PITA. Opt in on a site’s cookie policies and you can easily find yourself seeing advertising that you really don’t want to see, unless the site is particularly careful regarding what is set. I bought my daughter sports socks as a little Christmas extra. Since then I’ve been plagued with ads for…[Read more]
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Ah, so the ad wasn’t actually down to the Guardian, then, and my writing to them was a waste of time. But I get so angry at these vanity publishers (though I gather that phrase is out of fashion now). The way they exploit and trample on the dreams of aspiring authors is downright cruelty, if you ask me.
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Athelstone replied to the topic Monthly Comp – March 2023 in the forum Monthly Competition 3 years, 4 months ago
Dream of an electrician
The day that Colin first fell asleep in his van was as cold and unfriendly as a garden privy in the small hours of a winter’s night. Two long shifts, back-to-back, rewiring the mayoral offices in the town centre, saw him close to exhaustion. He had taken his supermarket sandwich down to the seafront and, with the windows c…[Read more]
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Athelstone replied to the topic Monthly Comp – March 2023 in the forum Monthly Competition 3 years, 4 months ago
Well, my vote is another month. If you’re up for it that is. If you’re OK with that, I’ll post an entry in the next few days.
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Athelstone replied to the topic Close to Home in the forum Blogs 3 years, 5 months ago
What a fabulous place. The film suggests a strong sense of community. Do you feel part of it as an “incomer”?
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Athelstone replied to the topic The book trade and older readers in the forum Coffee Shop 3 years, 5 months ago
Not sure I’m representative, even though I am also (considerably) beyond 45. I don’t read as much as I did when I was, say, in my late-teens or early twenties. Then I could easily clear 3 or 4 books a week, sometimes 1 a day. I read pretty much every day. At the moment I am reading a book by somebody I know to provide a review. I have a vast pile…[Read more]
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Athelstone posted an update 3 years, 5 months ago
Best part of 4 days to vote, but that’s it. Still nothing conclusive.
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I’m sure that’s a reflection on how good the entries are.
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Though in the light of certain recently proposed legislation the word ‘Führer’ might be more appropriate.
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You call them leaders??
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On reflection…
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Though in the light of certain recently proposed legislation the word ‘Führer’ might be more appropriate.
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Athelstone posted an update 3 years, 5 months ago
Just over a week to go. Votes are coming in. We have leaders, but everything could change.
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A bit like UK politics
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You call them leaders??
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On reflection…
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Though in the light of certain recently proposed legislation the word ‘Führer’ might be more appropriate.
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Athelstone replied to the topic Monthly Comp – February 2023 in the forum Monthly Competition 3 years, 5 months ago
Great story Alex!
Thanks for the prompt @Seagreen. Gave me a chance to work out the back-story for one the main antagonists in my WIP.
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Athelstone replied to the topic Monthly Comp – February 2023 in the forum Monthly Competition 3 years, 5 months ago
Ted
The things that made Ted happy got a bit broken when he was little. After a while he grew accustomed to the fact that things wouldn’t go well for him, mainly because they often ended in bruises, or even the occasional broken bone. Nevertheless, in spite of everything, he grew strong. He soon discovered that if he didn’t want to go hungry he…[Read more]
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Athelstone replied to the topic Monthly Comp – February 2023 in the forum Monthly Competition 3 years, 5 months ago
OOPS, sorry, bad Ath posting as Admin!!!
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Athelstone posted a new activity comment 3 years, 6 months ago
I do admire you for taking this view of things and for taking positive action to work through it. I think these sound like hard decisions.
My writing has picked up, a little, after a very slow few years. I’m about 70% into the first draft of a novel, although that in itself is a bit tricky as I wrote a fair bit and then abandoned it – so…[Read more]
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Athelstone posted a new activity comment 3 years, 6 months ago
Well, you’ve been busy. Feel free to post a link to your website whenever you want to. Maybe in the Podium or Coffee Shop groups so it doesn’t vanish with the activity stream (although that may take a while anyway with the way activity here has slowed down).
The books sound fascinating and the sequel sounds familiar. Is it one you were working on…[Read more]
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Thank you, Athers. They are both a result of unpacking The Blackbird Effect, the novel that landed me an agent (for a while) in 2012 without attracting a publisher – and thereby making Harry hopping mad, because he backed it as the Next Big Thing. I wasn’t so surprised: it had too many themes and too too much business, leaving lots of passages s…[Read more]
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I do admire you for taking this view of things and for taking positive action to work through it. I think these sound like hard decisions.
My writing has picked up, a little, after a very slow few years. I’m about 70% into the first draft of a novel, although that in itself is a bit tricky as I wrote a fair bit and then abandoned it – so…[Read more]
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Athelstone posted a new activity comment 3 years, 6 months ago
John, what are the novels you’re self-publishing – and where’s the website?
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Hi there. The website is ‘under construction’ but should go live in the next couple of weeks. I’ll post a link, if I may. The first two novels in the Apples in the Dark series should come out about 6 months apart this year. They’ll be in e-book on several platforms and print-on-demand via IngramSpark. I don’t want to get locked into the Amazon…[Read more]
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Well, you’ve been busy. Feel free to post a link to your website whenever you want to. Maybe in the Podium or Coffee Shop groups so it doesn’t vanish with the activity stream (although that may take a while anyway with the way activity here has slowed down).
The books sound fascinating and the sequel sounds familiar. Is it one you were working on…[Read more]
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Thank you, Athers. They are both a result of unpacking The Blackbird Effect, the novel that landed me an agent (for a while) in 2012 without attracting a publisher – and thereby making Harry hopping mad, because he backed it as the Next Big Thing. I wasn’t so surprised: it had too many themes and too too much business, leaving lots of passages s…[Read more]
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I do admire you for taking this view of things and for taking positive action to work through it. I think these sound like hard decisions.
My writing has picked up, a little, after a very slow few years. I’m about 70% into the first draft of a novel, although that in itself is a bit tricky as I wrote a fair bit and then abandoned it – so…[Read more]
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