Yeah, in in my 60s, so old. When I was in my mid 20s, I was in a bad marriage and needed some escapism. One of my coworkers was a reviewer for Locus Magazine, which is a major SF publication. I asked him for recommendations, so he went with me to the bookstore and said “Try that one, that one, to and that one.” One of those first was Neuromancer. I chewed through them, and it became a routine to go to the bookstore with him.

I eventually got divorced, and didn’t need the escapism anymore. My reading went way down, maybe a few books a year. Now I’m heading towards retirement and I’ve been reading more than ever.

More detail than you wanted.

I’ve read them all, but Count Zero and Mona Lisa Overdrive I haven’t read since the late 80s, so I don’t remember them well. Broadly, I think they were all worth reading. Count Zero was nominated for all the big SF awards, but I didn’t think Mona Lisa was as well received. I’m not sure I could even tell you the plots of them other than the second book has a lot about AIs, and the last one about online identities or something.

Great, I’m glad you liked it. I hope you like neuromancer, it’s one of my favorites. Stay away from the audiobook read by Gibson though, it’s awful.

From a more flattering angle

“Important to be” is the wrong language, but it’s absolutely fine if someone doesn’t find someone else attractive because of their height, color, or anything else. Attraction is subjective.

Attraction is subjective. There are norms, but everyone has their own preferences. Never listen to anyone who claims to speak for any giant group of people (gender, race, culture, whatever). Most women aren’t going to tell you that, but there are assholes in every group. If they’re speaking for themselves, that’s fine though: no one is obligated to disregard any of your attributes.

When I went bald, there were women who said bald guys aren’t attractive. But then there were some who said they were especially attractive, and most just didn’t care.

KSM is definitely detail oriented. I sometimes think that’s just part of hard SF: they want to make sure everything is explained, and it doesn’t stop at the science.

I like those books, but I get that they aren’t for everyone. Contact is different, as is neuromancer.

I’m still around. Was it the giant cast of characters or politics that put you off? It’s been a long time, but I read through the series.

Contact is a wonderful book. Also been many years since I read it.

You know, on the page I found it, it says it’s a sand fly, but I think you’re right. Sand flys are really small, and I’m not sure I’ve seen a magnified version of them. Looking for other images, I think this is really one and the other is mislabeled:

We always called those “sand crabs” and these sand fleas

Those are also called “sand flies,” and they actually bite and suck blood and stuff. The things linked really are little crabs - we used to fish with them.

Yep, I looked them up just to see but, like you said, the fact that it exists doesn’t mean anything. I didn’t find anything (good or bad) associated with that phone number - could be spoofed.

Really? I wonder why. Though I’ve always assumed the one on my phone was from Verizon, not the app or the OS.

For sure don’t in any way respond, just report spam and block the number. Lots of these things are phishing attempts, trying to get you to give personal information (or even money), and aren’t connected to the things they mention.

Agreed, I was thinking the same.

Sure looks that way.

I’m slightly claustrophilic, so it wouldn’t bother me psychologically, but it seems like it would be annoying trying to reach around to wipe and stuff. Plus it looks narrower than my shoulders, but that could be the lens.

Looks like it. I thought for a moment there was some Tim Curry, but I think just the two.

What they knew then, that people can’t seem to grasp now, is that kids just don’t care about the adult stuff - it either goes over their heads or they think it’s funny. Now people lose their minds if an adult joke is made in front of kids, or people of the same sex kiss, or whatever.

I’ve never had a migraine headache, but my wife gets them like three or four times a year, usually pieces by a visual aura (and sometimes if she just goes into a dark, quiet room, she only gets the aura). She always described it as an “electric caterpillar” crawling from the side. I was glad she had told me about it in detail because several years ago I got one, and that’s the only reason I knew what was happening. Mine wasn’t as colorful as what she described, but otherwise the same.

Here’s a short video simulating one, and it’s very similar to my experience (and, apparently, hers).

I was looking at that too. Hard to say for sure, I’m not a digital forensic, but it looks kind of that way. Which would explain how he had the full details of the man behind her.