Pentagon buyer: We're happy with our launch industry, but payloads are lagging
Feb. 23rd, 2026 10:14 pm![[syndicated profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/feed.png){kind=small}
arstechnica_feedDALLAS—The Space Force officer tasked with overseeing more than $24 billion in research and development spending says the Pentagon is more interested in supporting startups building new space sensors and payloads than adding yet another rocket company to its portfolio.
The statement, made at a space finance conference in Dallas last week, was one of several points Maj. Gen. Stephen Purdy wanted to get across to a room full of investors and commercial space executives.
The other points on Purdy's agenda were that the Space Force is more interested in high-volume production than spending money to develop the latest technologies, and that the military has, at least for now, lost one of its most important tools for supporting and diversifying the space industrial base.
Data center builders thought farmers would willingly sell land, learn otherwise
Feb. 23rd, 2026 09:48 pmarstechnica_feedIt seems that tech giants eyeing rural zones for data center development have underestimated how attached American farmers have grown to their lands in the decades they've been nurturing them.
Across the country, several farmers have firmly rejected eye-popping offers—sometimes in the tens of millions. These offers dwarf the value of their properties, but farmers have refused to put a price on the lands that they love most.
In a report on Monday, The Guardian highlighted a handful of cases nationwide where farmers' refusals have frustrated plans to build data centers in areas long deemed rural.
Panasonic, the former plasma king, will no longer make its own TVs
Feb. 23rd, 2026 09:16 pmarstechnica_feedPanasonic, once revered for its plasma TVs, is giving up on making its own TV sets. Today, it announced that Chinese company Skyworth will take over manufacturing, marketing, and selling Panasonic-branded TVs.
Skyworth is a Shenzhen-headquartered TV brand. The company claims to be “a top three global provider of the Android TV platform.” In July, research firm Omdia reported that Skyworth was one of the top-five TV brands by sales revenue in Q1 2025; however, Skyworth hasn’t been able to maintain that position regularly.
Panasonic made its announcement at a "launch event,” FlatpanelsHD reported today. During the event, a Panasonic representative reportedly said:
Me-and-media update
Feb. 24th, 2026 12:44 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
china_shopPrevious poll review
In the Fourth walls poll, 68.2% of respondents said "the one-way glass that stops TPTB seeing fannish activity" is important to them; 65.9% said "the one that shields fandom from public/media attention", and 61.4% said "the wibbly-wobby physics-defying thing that means celebs and fans exist in separate universes that just happen to occupy the same space-time". About one in five respondents love ALL the walls.
In ticky-boxes, ballooooooooons and golden sparkles won 54.5% of the vote, coming second to hugs (77.3%), but the other tickies made pretty good showings too. Thank you for your votes! ♥
Reading
I finished Courtney Milan's The Marquis Who Mustn't and enjoyed it very much. Such a kind, good-hearted series with a lovely sense of community and a spark of mischief. I'm looking forward to the next one.
Then I ploughed through one of my randomly selected library books, The Bookish Life of Nina Hill by Abbi Waxman. I found this a delightful read and very moreish. It's voicey, with a distractable, occasionally omniscient 3rd POV scattered with pop culture references. I appreciated it's acceptance of introversion and valuing of alone time. Also, the main character has anxiety, and it didn't really try to fix her.
Andrew and I are still slowly listening to Barrayar by Bujold, read by Grover Gardner.
Kdramas
Juuust enough has happened in One Spring Night that I'm into it. I mean, it's still going around in circles, but I'm most of the way through episode 14, and I'm definitely going to finish. The story relies heavily on respectability, parental authority, and conservative attitudes for its conflict (the leading man is a single dad, OH NO!!), which took me a while to get my head around.
Other TV
Our journey through Middle Earth continues. We're on the second disc of extras for The Two Towers, and the actors seem a bit punchy in their interviews, lol. Other than that, just The Pitt. ♥ (My brother watched a few episodes of The Pitt and said it doesn't have a plot, and I... don't know how to answer that. There are mini-storylines with the patients. The capital-P plot, maybe? such as it is? has kicked in at episode whatever-we're-up-to. I feel like it totally works without a driving plot arc, because there are character/relationship arcs, and rising tension/pacing, and theme. Maybe that's all you need?)
I'm amused that I have three streaming service subscriptions and we're spending so much time watching DVDs.
Audio entertainment
More Better Offline, Tech Won't Save Us (the one about humanoid robots), Writing Excuses, Letters from an American, Pod Save America, Cross Party Lines, Fansplaining.
Online life
From you I have been absent inthe spring February, quite a lot. My reading page seems pretty quiet, and I'm still having trouble keeping up; open tabs proliferate (that's the middle line of a haiku).
Writing/making things
I'm subsisting on alibi sentences. My creativity is sitting on a bench somewhere, staring blankly into the sky.
I keep failing to post the meta about adverbs in speech tags because it's so prescriptive, and who am I to say anything?
Life/health/mental state things
I don't know what I'm doing with my life. The world (mostly as presented by the above podcasts) is freaking me out. Yesterday I made fifty chicken dumplings and talked to my brother in NY.
Good things
Dumplings. Creativity is a tide. Sunshine. Grapes. Library books. Black cat lying on the very edge of a sunbeam. Independent media and reporting.
In the Fourth walls poll, 68.2% of respondents said "the one-way glass that stops TPTB seeing fannish activity" is important to them; 65.9% said "the one that shields fandom from public/media attention", and 61.4% said "the wibbly-wobby physics-defying thing that means celebs and fans exist in separate universes that just happen to occupy the same space-time". About one in five respondents love ALL the walls.
In ticky-boxes, ballooooooooons and golden sparkles won 54.5% of the vote, coming second to hugs (77.3%), but the other tickies made pretty good showings too. Thank you for your votes! ♥
Reading
I finished Courtney Milan's The Marquis Who Mustn't and enjoyed it very much. Such a kind, good-hearted series with a lovely sense of community and a spark of mischief. I'm looking forward to the next one.
Then I ploughed through one of my randomly selected library books, The Bookish Life of Nina Hill by Abbi Waxman. I found this a delightful read and very moreish. It's voicey, with a distractable, occasionally omniscient 3rd POV scattered with pop culture references. I appreciated it's acceptance of introversion and valuing of alone time. Also, the main character has anxiety, and it didn't really try to fix her.
Andrew and I are still slowly listening to Barrayar by Bujold, read by Grover Gardner.
Kdramas
Juuust enough has happened in One Spring Night that I'm into it. I mean, it's still going around in circles, but I'm most of the way through episode 14, and I'm definitely going to finish. The story relies heavily on respectability, parental authority, and conservative attitudes for its conflict (the leading man is a single dad, OH NO!!), which took me a while to get my head around.
Other TV
Our journey through Middle Earth continues. We're on the second disc of extras for The Two Towers, and the actors seem a bit punchy in their interviews, lol. Other than that, just The Pitt. ♥ (My brother watched a few episodes of The Pitt and said it doesn't have a plot, and I... don't know how to answer that. There are mini-storylines with the patients. The capital-P plot, maybe? such as it is? has kicked in at episode whatever-we're-up-to. I feel like it totally works without a driving plot arc, because there are character/relationship arcs, and rising tension/pacing, and theme. Maybe that's all you need?)
I'm amused that I have three streaming service subscriptions and we're spending so much time watching DVDs.
Audio entertainment
More Better Offline, Tech Won't Save Us (the one about humanoid robots), Writing Excuses, Letters from an American, Pod Save America, Cross Party Lines, Fansplaining.
Online life
From you I have been absent in
Writing/making things
I'm subsisting on alibi sentences. My creativity is sitting on a bench somewhere, staring blankly into the sky.
I keep failing to post the meta about adverbs in speech tags because it's so prescriptive, and who am I to say anything?
Life/health/mental state things
I don't know what I'm doing with my life. The world (mostly as presented by the above podcasts) is freaking me out. Yesterday I made fifty chicken dumplings and talked to my brother in NY.
Good things
Dumplings. Creativity is a tide. Sunshine. Grapes. Library books. Black cat lying on the very edge of a sunbeam. Independent media and reporting.
Poll #34285 spam SPAM spam
Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 6
How often do you check your spam folder?
View Answers
daily
0 (0.0%)
weekly
1 (16.7%)
maybe once a month?
0 (0.0%)
only when I'm looking for a specific thing
5 (83.3%)
never have I ever
0 (0.0%)
other
0 (0.0%)
ticky-box full of prescriptive writing advice
2 (33.3%)
ticky-box full of blanket cocoons and comfort food
4 (66.7%)
ticky-box full of putting clutter in boxes instead of sorting it
4 (66.7%)
ticky-box full of koalas in gum trees, chewing eucalyptus and judging us all
4 (66.7%)
ticky-box full of hugs
4 (66.7%)
TWELVE HOURS
Feb. 23rd, 2026 06:29 pmautobotscoutriella posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
purimgiftsGood timezone, Purimgifters! By my math, there are a little over TWELVE HOURS left until it is no longer February 23 anywhere in the world!
If you’ve already posted, that’s fantastic! If you’ve already reached out to us about an extension or a backup, that’s also fantastic. Either way, now is an excellent time to check out our Posting Guide or our Embed Guide. For your mods’ sanity, please don’t wait until the very last minute to post! We’re happy to double-check tags, HTML, etc. for you; just send us a quick email.
If you’re not absolutely sure you’ll have your fics and art posted in the next 12 hours, you do still have a few options! Please email purim_gifts@yahoo.com ASAP if you think you need one of these.
Extension. If you’re absolutely sure you can complete your assignment, you just need another day or two, this option is for you. To request an extension, please email purim_gifts@yahoo.com!
Partial default. This option is for people who already know they can’t complete their assignment, but who want to post what they can complete. To request a partial default, please email purim_gifts@yahoo.com.
Full default. If you’re absolutely sure you can’t complete your assignment, this option is for you. You can activate it by emailing purim_gifts@yahoo.com, or by hitting the “Default” button at the AO3. Either way, you won’t be penalized for it; life happens, and we get that.
And finally, if you have questions about your options or just need a little encouragement, please email purim_gifts@yahoo.com ASAP. Don’t wait until the last minute to contact us! We’re happy to work with you, but we can’t help you if we don’t know what’s going on, and we do have to sleep at some point. Keep us in the loop and help us help you!
If you’ve already posted, that’s fantastic! If you’ve already reached out to us about an extension or a backup, that’s also fantastic. Either way, now is an excellent time to check out our Posting Guide or our Embed Guide. For your mods’ sanity, please don’t wait until the very last minute to post! We’re happy to double-check tags, HTML, etc. for you; just send us a quick email.
If you’re not absolutely sure you’ll have your fics and art posted in the next 12 hours, you do still have a few options! Please email purim_gifts@yahoo.com ASAP if you think you need one of these.
Extension. If you’re absolutely sure you can complete your assignment, you just need another day or two, this option is for you. To request an extension, please email purim_gifts@yahoo.com!
Partial default. This option is for people who already know they can’t complete their assignment, but who want to post what they can complete. To request a partial default, please email purim_gifts@yahoo.com.
Full default. If you’re absolutely sure you can’t complete your assignment, this option is for you. You can activate it by emailing purim_gifts@yahoo.com, or by hitting the “Default” button at the AO3. Either way, you won’t be penalized for it; life happens, and we get that.
And finally, if you have questions about your options or just need a little encouragement, please email purim_gifts@yahoo.com ASAP. Don’t wait until the last minute to contact us! We’re happy to work with you, but we can’t help you if we don’t know what’s going on, and we do have to sleep at some point. Keep us in the loop and help us help you!
ブランコみり。Swing Miri.
Feb. 23rd, 2026 11:00 pmmaru_feed時々ブランコに乗ってくれるみり。 Miri sometimes gets on the swing. ブランコに乗ってもしっぽブンブンなまるさんに対し、 みりのしっぽは軽くブランコに巻き付いて動かない。 MaruR […]
(no subject)
Feb. 23rd, 2026 05:51 pmflemmingsGood heavens. Sun! Blue skies! Brightness! Yeah, I did think the leaden winter would bring me down forever for a bit back there. But of course, with time sense so wonky, it was only a week ago that we last had sun. But that was a pale washy sun and this is glorious gold and blue. Of course it's because a cold front is blowing in. Made it out to Fiesta without much pain: the flurries of last night were indeed flurries even if they coated the sidewalk. But now must go down to the basement to turn taps on against tonight's -14C.
Long range forecast says things will warm up by mid-March. Really can't wait.
Was woken this morning before I wanted to be by a robo phonecall saying Pay your Enercare bill. That's my hot water heater. Bill comes in at month's end, I pay it immediately, what's your problem, Enercare? (I do not like them. Ages back I signed with them for my gas on an equal billing scheme and wondered vaguely why my gas bills were always so high, because I couldn't quite reconcile the total price with usage. Many many years later sawcan article comparing prices and found Enbridge was something like 10% cheaper. Thus good-bye Enercare, except for the damned heater.) Tried to go back to sleep and was jerked awake by robo Bell phone call-- or someone purporting to be Bell-- saying technicians would be installing fibre optics in my neighbourhood please book your call now. I already have Bell fibre. Screw that. But by then I was completely awake, so started on my morning routine. Oh, and when I checked my bank account just in case, oops, looks like I didn't pay Enercare last month. OK, fine. Now paid up and another bill will come in Wednesday-ish.
Long range forecast says things will warm up by mid-March. Really can't wait.
Was woken this morning before I wanted to be by a robo phonecall saying Pay your Enercare bill. That's my hot water heater. Bill comes in at month's end, I pay it immediately, what's your problem, Enercare? (I do not like them. Ages back I signed with them for my gas on an equal billing scheme and wondered vaguely why my gas bills were always so high, because I couldn't quite reconcile the total price with usage. Many many years later sawcan article comparing prices and found Enbridge was something like 10% cheaper. Thus good-bye Enercare, except for the damned heater.) Tried to go back to sleep and was jerked awake by robo Bell phone call-- or someone purporting to be Bell-- saying technicians would be installing fibre optics in my neighbourhood please book your call now. I already have Bell fibre. Screw that. But by then I was completely awake, so started on my morning routine. Oh, and when I checked my bank account just in case, oops, looks like I didn't pay Enercare last month. OK, fine. Now paid up and another bill will come in Wednesday-ish.
第五年第四十四天
Feb. 24th, 2026 07:57 amnnozomi posting in guardian_learning部首
手 part 28
捕, to catch; 损, to damage; 捡, to pick up ( pinyin )
https://www.mdbg.net/chinese/dictionary?cdqrad=64
词汇
担保, to assure; 担任, to serve as; 担心, to worry; 承担, to bear; 负担, burden ( pinyin )
https://mandarinbean.com/new-hsk-4-word-list/
Guardian:
这样可以减少损害, this way we can reduce the damage
你担任摄政官这么多年, you've held the Regent's position this long
Me:
是你丢掉了呢，你自己捡起来吧。
别担心，都会好了。
手 part 28
捕, to catch; 损, to damage; 捡, to pick up ( pinyin )
https://www.mdbg.net/chinese/dictionary?cdqrad=64
词汇
担保, to assure; 担任, to serve as; 担心, to worry; 承担, to bear; 负担, burden ( pinyin )
https://mandarinbean.com/new-hsk-4-word-list/
Guardian:
这样可以减少损害, this way we can reduce the damage
你担任摄政官这么多年, you've held the Regent's position this long
Me:
是你丢掉了呢，你自己捡起来吧。
别担心，都会好了。
life
Feb. 24th, 2026 09:52 amtielanI need to sit up, no slumping.
Still no contract.
I wonder if the HR manager has pushed back against the client group manager...
--
Also, per my icon: you should do a search on "political" quilts at QuiltCon '26. There are a bunch of conservatives with their panties in a knot because "suddenly" the quilts are "political"...
--
We have two new chickens. Babies, 6 weeks old. We're keeping them inside for the moment, in a cage, mostly because the coop we'd put them in needs repair and I won't have proper time until Sunday (but am stealing lunchtimes and after work). We're also trying to get them used to cuddles.
Still no contract.
I wonder if the HR manager has pushed back against the client group manager...
--
Also, per my icon: you should do a search on "political" quilts at QuiltCon '26. There are a bunch of conservatives with their panties in a knot because "suddenly" the quilts are "political"...
--
We have two new chickens. Babies, 6 weeks old. We're keeping them inside for the moment, in a cage, mostly because the coop we'd put them in needs repair and I won't have proper time until Sunday (but am stealing lunchtimes and after work). We're also trying to get them used to cuddles.
Squidgie calls for aid! Can anyone retrieve a memetic photo of John Sheppard’s butt?
Feb. 23rd, 2026 05:27 pmfull_metal_ox posting in little_detailssquidgiepdx belongs to this comm, but he’s perpetually been some combination of sick and busy, so I’ve taken the liberty of helping him out.He’s trying to track down a particular BTS shot from Stargate: Atlantis:
And now on to the SGA Picture part of the deal. So I wrote a quickie story for
romancingmcshep about John Sheppard's ass (the fest goes until February 28th if you're interested!) and the whole story is based on a picture that NOBODY can find anymore. I KNOW! It's frustrating! Anyway, there's what I think is a "behind the scenes" shot of most likely S01E03 "Hide and Seek" or S01E05 "Suspicion" where it's focused on Joe Flanigan's butt. Like kinda blatantly. He's kneeling on the Gateroom floor over Rodney, I believe and you can see where his t-shirt is pulled up and the waistband of his BDUs are lower - showing some skin and some of his boxers. This is what I think the camera sees in that shot, as Sheppard is kneeling like that but I remember there being a whole lot more skin. Does anyone remember a BTS photo like this? SO FRUSTRATING that I can't find it when I know I've seen it a hundred times. His post: https://squidgiepdx.dreamwidth.org/341626.html
Book Review
Feb. 23rd, 2026 04:00 pmkenjariMadouc
by Jack Vance
This is the last book in the Lyonesse trilogy. Here we see the machinations of Casmir of Lyonesse and the ambitions of Aillas of Troicinet play out to their conclusions. Mages Shimrod and Murgen work against malevolent powers that seek to destroy everything. But that is largely a background for the adventures of Madouc, Casmir's half-fae changeling grandchild. Madouc has little tolerance for or interest in court protocol or marriage negotiations, preferring to pursue her own mischief. She ends up going on a quest to discover her parentage and ends up foiling a plot or two.
I enjoyed this book and liked the way it wrapped up the threads of the previous volumes. Madouc is a wonderful character - she is headstrong, a little mischievous, and quite clever. Her quest was very entertaining, and I liked the way Vance used the conventions of the medieval legend and fairy tales to construct it.
by Jack Vance
This is the last book in the Lyonesse trilogy. Here we see the machinations of Casmir of Lyonesse and the ambitions of Aillas of Troicinet play out to their conclusions. Mages Shimrod and Murgen work against malevolent powers that seek to destroy everything. But that is largely a background for the adventures of Madouc, Casmir's half-fae changeling grandchild. Madouc has little tolerance for or interest in court protocol or marriage negotiations, preferring to pursue her own mischief. She ends up going on a quest to discover her parentage and ends up foiling a plot or two.
I enjoyed this book and liked the way it wrapped up the threads of the previous volumes. Madouc is a wonderful character - she is headstrong, a little mischievous, and quite clever. Her quest was very entertaining, and I liked the way Vance used the conventions of the medieval legend and fairy tales to construct it.
double poem day
Feb. 23rd, 2026 05:11 pmursulaTwo of my poems were published today! They're both science-and-technology poems about immigration in the US in the past year. Secondary Filters is up at Strange Horizons, and an audio version of Leaning on the melting point is on the PoetTreeTown Soundcloud.
Overreach
Feb. 23rd, 2026 09:05 pmpennyarcade_feedThis sort of thing is mega-codified these days, turnkey as it were; he hasn't bit the bullet yet, but he's taking it so Goddamn serious that he's begun requesting fit checks from electronical strangers.
I didn't actually pay for a coach but I sure could use some advice! I play tank, Rein and Ram and I am a silver player but would like to get better. Gonna drop a few replays here and if any of you guys want to help an old man improve please do. N1J8YT NVZE6B HN720N
— Gabe (@cwgabriel.bsky.social) February 23, 2026 at 9:37 AM
(no subject)
Feb. 23rd, 2026 04:44 pmflamingswordI take the MBLEx on Friday, but it would be so much easier to study if I didn’t have a headache …
Today has kinda sucked. Yesterday, instead of giving me two massages, a break, and then two massages, student clinic put my last three hours back to back. I went over budget on spoons and am sore, tired, and a general mess today. Also it’s cold again which adds half a point on the ten scale of my pain, so today was a 5, even before my head started hurting and I had to pop two aspirin and a cup of caffeinated tea. So my sleep tonight will be messed up, so I need to put a sleeping pill in my meds so I get real sleep as much as possible. I got shit to do tomorrow.
But despite pain etc. I got my physical, and I got blood drawn, and I called a friend, and everything else has been … sitting in a dim quiet room. I don't have enough of a brain to _knit_ right now … ugh. Hope your day is going better than mine.
Today has kinda sucked. Yesterday, instead of giving me two massages, a break, and then two massages, student clinic put my last three hours back to back. I went over budget on spoons and am sore, tired, and a general mess today. Also it’s cold again which adds half a point on the ten scale of my pain, so today was a 5, even before my head started hurting and I had to pop two aspirin and a cup of caffeinated tea. So my sleep tonight will be messed up, so I need to put a sleeping pill in my meds so I get real sleep as much as possible. I got shit to do tomorrow.
But despite pain etc. I got my physical, and I got blood drawn, and I called a friend, and everything else has been … sitting in a dim quiet room. I don't have enough of a brain to _knit_ right now … ugh. Hope your day is going better than mine.
[ SECRET POST #6989 ]
Feb. 23rd, 2026 04:40 pmcase posting in fandomsecrets⌈ Secret Post #6989 ⌋
Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.
01.
( More! )
Notes:
Secrets Left to Post: 01 pages, 24 secrets from Secret Submission Post #998.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.
Crafting night
Feb. 23rd, 2026 04:36 pmunicorndukeHey all, if you'd like to join the crafting hangout, it is tonight from 6-8pm ET!
Video encouraged but not required!
Topic: Crafting Hangout
Time: Mondays 6:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting
Meeting ID: 973 2674 2763
