Picture of me, long black hair in a tentacles shirt

Dalliance.net is Pre’s homepage, index of his projects, updates on his blog. That sort of thing. You can subscribe in various ways.

Projects

Blog

Blog header image, me silhouetted against an orange/yellow sunset

My blog, mostly monthly summaries of the Fediverse Account.

Visit at dalliance.net/blog

Or check out the categories index


Starship Schrödinger’s Destiny

A crew of five stand in a green field with a flying saucer behind them next to a planet like earth in the sky.

Ongoing: An Interactive Sci-Fi story for Virtual Reality about the adventures of the crew of a flying saucer.

Visit at starshipsd.com


Wordcloud Tarot

A spread of cards scattered around. Each has a picture, and also a world cloud in the background

Ongoing: My tarot decks have the meanings of the cards written on the card in a world-cloud. There’s also a video show with a reading about politics most weeks.

Visit at wordcloudtarot.com


Tentacles, After The End

A woman in a blue dress and a red and chrome robot flee from tentacle monsters chasing in the background

A 30 minute animated movie about the last woman alive on a planet ravaged by tentacle monsters from outer space.

Tentacles is complete, visit the archive at tentacles.org.uk


Book: Do Dream Sheep Bleat?

A white pocketbook with the icon of a black and white fat penguin

A short story book about magic and memes and reality.

Dreamsheep is complete, you can buy a copy or read it online at dalliance.net/dreamsheep


Book: Yes, The Conspiracy Really Exists, And Furthermore It’s All Your Fault.

A book cover with a starburst, pyramid and eye

A long rant about how stupid humans screw up humanity.

The book is complete, you can buy a copy or read it online at dalliance.net/yes


Loopy

Pre behind some keyboard

After the band broke up, I took to playing with myself via a loop pedal. Sometimes, very rarely, even in public.


Bookshelf

dusty old books in a bookshelf plus logo

An album of songs inspired by some of the best books on my bookshelf.

The album is complete, you can listen to the songs at dalliance.net/bookshelf


Handsome Jack’s Showband

A semi-circular logo and silhouetted crowd of arms

My punk cover’s band.

Despite some online-only gigs, the band didn’t make it though the pandemic, you can watch some old gig videos online at handsomejacks.co.uk


Joust Adventure

Screenshot of a game, made from pictures of plush toys and balloons

A little web-game I made back in 2011 with the hope people might pay me to make level 2.

I don’t think anyone ever finished level 1. Too hard.

Can you do it?

The project is abandoned, you can still play level one at dalliance.net/joustadventure. So far as I know, I’m the only person to ever complete the level. Let me know if you do!


  • Diary

    My diary from the Fediverse.
    Status at - Wed, 30 Jul 2025 19:14:53 +0000

    Watched all of "Ghosts US", the American version of the UK spooky sit-com.

    There's like seventy episodes that I watched in less than a week. This is how I like telly to be. Relentless.

    The show's weaker than the UK one in some ways but that shear continuity, the endless-seeming perpetuity of it, drove it into my brain.

    US Ghosts are always trying to cop off with each other. Sexy ghosts. Pairing up. Don't remember much of that in the UK one. Perhaps when you make it 5x longer you're left with little else in the way of story to write.

    Anyway, it's over now. I miss it in the way you might miss an infuriating neighbour if they moved out.


    Status at - Tue, 29 Jul 2025 11:47:39 +0000

    Still not seen any requests to get carded for my age on websites. Not on Discord, not on Reddit, not on porno.

    Presumably the VPN I routinely use means I'm not getting selected for it even though I generally have a UK exit-point.


    Status at - Fri, 25 Jul 2025 10:29:30 +0000

    User @TheDailyBurble@mastodon.social replied to this with a post and block thinking "boomer" was some kind of slur?

    Only way I could remove that comment from the thread seemed to be to suspend his account from the server entirely, so had to do that.

    So he's blocked from everyone on this server now. Sorry if anyone cared about whatever he said.


    Status at - Fri, 25 Jul 2025 10:14:45 +0000

    So in theory today is the day when all the site have to try and get their UK users to verify their age. Which is mostly done by verifying their ID.

    I expect the kids will have little trouble figuring out a way around this.

    The boomers will have more trouble though. Expecting calls from my folks asking what's going on and if they really have to scan their face and indeed how to do that and probably giving up and just not using the thing.

    I'll just be not using the things which demand it in general.

    About the only upside in all this is it might get the boomers off of Facebook I guess.


    Status at - Thu, 24 Jul 2025 18:48:23 +0000

    Content warning:"Outland" by Dennis E Taylor


    Read "Outland" by Dennis E Taylor, book one of the Quantum Earth series in which some college students figure out how to make a portal to parallell Earths just in time for their Earth Prime to suffer a supervolcano.

    Taylor is pretty good at this stuff, loved his Bobiverse books.

    Story was always progressing, even if it sometimes seemed to progress too slowly. Everyone's hip with all the literature so are comparing their situation to movies and TV shows all the time. Realistic cat-herding difficulties as they try and save as many people as they can and slowly realize that none of them will be going home and their home is doomed.

    Looking forward to the next one.


    Status at - Sat, 19 Jul 2025 22:29:10 +0000

    Went to see a Hoopla improv show at The Bell, a mix of half a dozen different groups doing different thin
    gs. "Shuffle improv" were basing their scenes on a shuffled playlist built by the audience on the way in
    and an interesting format from a improv-as-a-second-language group chatting about their experiences in a
    foreign land and basing their scenes off it. The group called "twelve people" only had six but were good
    chaotic fun.

    Lots of stuff about cooking and food.

    I found myself pondering optimum size for an improve group. In general the larger groups seemed more fun to me, with the exception of three-person "burn the script" who did excellent work. More than eight wouldn't fit in the tiny stage at that venue. In rehearsal I like to have the group split in half and perform for each other. Hard to do that with fewer than six. Still up in the air if our group will get off the ground or not. More people does mean more calendar clashes even if it makes for a cheaper-per-person room hire.

    Everyone has instagram pages, which are no use to me. Won't link or visit there. Interesting that nobody has a Twitter profile any more and of course nobody seems to have just a damned website which still strikes me as madness. Imagine not wanting to own your own space on the web?


    Status at - Thu, 17 Jul 2025 10:29:36 +0000

    Content warning:ukpol votes for teens


    They're going to allow sixteen year olds to vote in the next election, presumably so they can learn about futility and pointless hallow ineffectuality at a nice young age.

    The vast majority of those 16 and 17 year olds will be voting in safe seats where their votes amount to nothing and can change nothing.

    There are far more important electoral reforms which are of course not being done.


    Status at - Wed, 16 Jul 2025 10:26:46 +0000

    More than four years in prison for cutting down a tree?

    🤨

    It isn't in fact for cutting down the tree of course, it's for cutting down the meme of the famous tree.

    Four years in jail for cutting down a meme.

    Jail doesn't work and won't help here any more than anywhere else, but perhaps it's true that cutting down a meme is more serious than unlicensed logging.


    Status at - Tue, 15 Jul 2025 11:23:28 +0000

    Spam account applications increasing. Easy to tell on our server coz nobody is really allowed unless we already know them, and the spam accounts never even try to mention an existing user.

    Must be hard to tell for those with more open instances though.

    I'm a creative thinker who enjoys exploring quirky, fun, and offbeat
    communities. Boing.world caught my attention for its unique vibe, and I’d love
    to join to connect with others who appreciate humor, creativity, and
    unconventional conversation in a welcoming and playful environment.


    Status at - Mon, 14 Jul 2025 16:29:01 +0000

    Tesla shareholders will apparently get to vote on whether Tesla should bail out Xai/Twitter.

    Do Tesla shareholders want to give Musk more money in return for Tesla owning part of his nazi AI model and his nazi troll site?

    We shall see. My guess is yes! Tesla share owners will vote to dilute themselves in return for the chance to bail out the failing Twitter and Grok.

    electrek.co/2025/07/13/musk-wi


  • Bookmarks

    Things I have bookmarked lately.
    Surviving A Nuke With Quantum Mechanics - YouTube - Tue, 29 Jul 2025 14:34:26 +0000
    kurzgesagt video about the quantum immortality paradox. Looking forward to doing the experiment on my death bed but reckon I'll leave it until then.

    Jack Dorsey pumps $10 million into a nonprofit focused on open-source social media - Thu, 17 Jul 2025 08:34:36 +0000
    As a result, the team at “and Other Stuff” is determined not to build a company but is instead operating like a “community of hackers,”

    The entire history of English in 22 minutes - YouTube - Sun, 13 Jul 2025 13:50:19 +0000
    Nice 20 minute history of the English language. How is it that the King James Bible is translated into "english" if so many of the words in it weren't english words till it was written? 🤔

    Practically-A-Book Review: Byrnes on Trance - Sat, 12 Jul 2025 12:17:33 +0000
    Scott reviews a series of blogs about the nature of consciousness and self. The homunculus model in which the brain models itself as having a central decider making decisions is no more valid than one in which it models itself as being in the control of a hypnotist or god.

    This column does not express support for Palestine Action – here’s why | Owen Jones | The Guardian - Wed, 09 Jul 2025 20:58:19 +0000
    "Millions of people are aware that their
    government has facilitated a grave crime, and to protect themselves from
    scrutiny and accountability, the powers that be must silence those
    challenging the crime. Democracy becomes ever more imperilled.Remember:
    it is an offence to show support for Palestine Action, which is deemed
    legally equivalent to al-Qaida and IS. If that law is broken, prison
    awaits. The proscribed organisation promotes civil disobedience and
    non-violent direct action in protest at genocide. This column has been
    checked over with that in mind. Ask yourself if this is normal in a
    self-described democracy. Then ask yourself searching questions about
    where this is all headed."

    The destruction of Palestine is breaking the world | Israel-Gaza war | The Guardian - Mon, 07 Jul 2025 10:24:49 +0000
    The implications of this collapse are profound for
    international, regional and even domestic politics. Political dissent is
    repressed, political language is policed, and traditionally liberal
    societies are increasingly militarized against their own citizens.

    Whatever You Do, Don’t Make Them Uncomfortable - Tue, 01 Jul 2025 13:16:42 +0000
    The Bear: "The real scandal isn't the chant - it's The Mail on Sunday's
    deliberate fabrication. Turning "Death to the IDF" into "Death to
    Israelis" wasn't sloppy journalism. It was character assassination
    designed to transform political protest into genocidal incitement. When
    major newspapers can simply invent quotes and attribute them to public
    figures without consequence, we've moved beyond press freedom into press
    lawlessness."

    Is a Glastonbury chant the real problem, or Israel's genocidal violence in Gaza? - Mon, 30 Jun 2025 16:53:54 +0000
    "By arming Israel, by organising spy flights over Gaza from RAF base
    Akrotiri on Cyprus, and by providing diplomatic cover, Starmer has
    effectively glorified Israel’s slaughter of Palestinian children in the
    enclave. Bob Vylan’s chants of “Death to the IDF” have a far more
    dangerous counterpart in Starmer’s recital of Israel’s “right to defend
    itself” when that “defence” involves Israel mercilessly starving Gaza’s
    population of food, water and power. Bob Vylan are a punk band;
    Starmer is the British prime minister, the man who directs Britain’s
    foreign policy and directs its army."

    You Cannot Negotiate with the Zionist West - Craig Murray - Mon, 23 Jun 2025 10:37:39 +0000
    "Israel attacked Iran during negotiations between Iran and the US, with the next scheduled meeting just three days away – including assassinating the lead negotiator.
    Trump then gave Iran a two-week ultimatum
    to agree a peace deal. Iran held one foreign-minister-level meeting
    with the UK, Germany and France and scheduled a second meeting. Trump
    then attacked Iran with 11 days of the ultimatum still to run.
    Plainly the Zionist West not only has zero interest in peace, it is
    engaging in morally abhorrent levels of dishonesty and deception,
    attacking under a false flag of truce. The idea that Iran should now
    return to “negotiation” with such appallingly deceitful interlocutors is
    risible."

    She Won. They Didn't Just Change the Machines. They Rewired the Election. - Wed, 18 Jun 2025 08:24:24 +0000
    evidence of election rigging?

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