Interesting Links for 01-01-2026

[andrewducker]

1. Denmark becomes first country in world to end letter delivery

(tags:mail Denmark )

2. Ken MacLeod on the life and work of the late sc-fi legend Iain M. Banks

(tags:IainBanks scifi video history KenMacleod )

3. There is yet another Russian exodus from Livejournal to Dreamwidth

(tags:livejournal dreamwidth russia )

Comments

[toothycat]

I saw the DW message to incoming Russians and had a look around for anything related to this, but an admittedly cursory search found no relevant news or blog posts. Does anyone happen to know what triggered it?

[andrewducker]

Russia is about to make it mandatory to have ID linked before you can post or comment.

[toothycat]

Thank you, that helped me locate the exact trigger :)

[juan_gandhi]

#3 - yes, people are coming. New migrants. Lots of friends that are already on dream, are reviving their account and posting something. Feeling like a New Year Party. Funny how some of them show up and suddenly unsubscribe. One even banned me, although we didn't discuss anything for probably a decade or so.

[soemand]

A longer post describing the LJ situation. https://bsky.app/profile/rahaeli.bsky.social/post/3mbebi2xfxc25 from Denise.

Also, having had lived in DK, there is rarely a reason to get mail delivery. The public services are digitized with eboks for direct mailbox in the cloud.

[andrewducker]

Thank you!

And yes, the only letters we've posted in the last year are Christmas cards.

[rhythmaning]

Thanks for sharing the Iain M. Banks video - very interesting! I've only read one (maybe two) of the scifi works, but I love Banks' "mainstream" fiction.

[andrewducker]

I'm not a big fan of Consider Phlebas, but I love most of the others, and I really like how they slowly build on each other, even if they don't have a shared plot.

[rhythmaning]

Consider Phlebas is the one I've read. I thought starting at the beginning would be the best place. I admit it didn't work for me!

[andrewducker]

I would try the first chapter or two of Player of Games. If that doesn't work for you then it's not for you, but generally speaking I've found it's the best starting point.

[rhythmaning]

I'll see if it comes into the bookshop! I've got into the habit of reading random books whilst I'm there - I see it as a kind of advertising! ;)

[bens_dad]

I have seen articles suggesting that publishers should pay bookshops to display books, precisely as a form of advertising.

I have also heard that some of the big publishers dump books on bookshops for the same reason.

Of course it isn't good for the bookshops if people find books in the store then buy them more cheaply online.