After some serious and heartfelt discussion, Nuremberg is standing down from the race for the 2028 Worldcon – https://nuremberg2028.de/ . There was simply too much to do in too short an amount of time. Please click the link for the detailed official announcement.

The Nuremberg in 2028 website has been re-launched with new information, new features and an updated look and feel!

See you there!

Shortly the bid website will be re-launching with a new look + even more information.

BTW, something I was confused about, Nuremberg is not the same as Nürburg (the town with the famous race track).

https://nuremberg2028.de/

One more thing. If you’d like to help out the bid, fill out the volunteer form, linked here!

Saturday, September 27, 2025,12-4 pm

161 Pawtucket Blvd, Lowell, MA

Come celebrate National Drive Electric Month in Lowell at Lowell Drives Electric. View, ride in, and drive some of the latest electric vehicles. Get all of your questions able electric vehicles answered.

So, I bought a membership and planned my personal schedule – https://bit.ly/mdm_readercon34

As you can see, I started out attending a discussion on the apocalyptic and anti-apocalyptic literature, led by author Tom Doyle, who interned at the BU’s (now defunct) Center for Millennial Studies and has published a book chapter, articles, and papers on premillennialist apocalyptic fiction. It was a very interesting presentation and subsequent discussion. I even got to chime in on Reverend Clyde Lott, the man who’s breeding, or has already bred, the heifers whose sacrifice is necessary for the purification of the third Temple of Solomon. The building of which would inevitably lead to a world-wide conflagration. Fun stuff!

Which was my favorite panel or event of the weekend? It really is hard to say. “The Works of Charles R. Saunders” introduced me to a sub-genre, “Sword and Soul” and an author who I was totally unaware of. Unfortunately, I did not find any of his works in the dealers’ room. After attending “‘Dhalgren’ at 50” I believe I need to re-visit this book. It’s been decades since I last read it. One revelation from that panel is that I’m surprised I read it while in high school. Where did I get a copy? Was it in the school library? I don’t remember. “‘The Female Man’ at 50” added yet another book to my ever growing lists of books I need to read. Yes, I’ve never read it. “Rod Serling: Centenary of Birth, 50th Anniversary of Death” was an excellent re-introduction to the man and his works. I did not remember that he died at a very young age. I need to get some Twilight Zone scripts to study. I think this panel was my favorite of the weekend.

Not only do I like attending panels, I really like meeting new fen. After all, fandom is my tribe. This year I met Jeremiah John, author of Thinspace, a cyberpunk novel based in neuroscience about the power of human dreams. It is a deeply thoughtful exercise in dystopianism. He gave me a copy to read. It is strong stuff. Once it is is published, I recommend giving it a read.

Unfortunately, P. Djèlí Clark had to leave the convention early. I hope all is well with him.

This is somewhat short, I know. I really should have posted just after the convention. Even better, during. Lesson learned. I’ll make sure to post during Arisia in January and Boskone in February.

All in all, I had a great time. I’ll be in the midst of a convention drought until Arisia in January, as I won’t be going to this year’s Worldcon in Seattle. There aren’t any local-ish conventions between now and the end of the year. Maybe I’ll start getting my fandom fix by attending NESFA meetings. After all, I’m a member. We shall see.

I’m going to attend NESFA‘s Boskone 62, February 14 – 16 at the Westin Boston Seaport District. I bought my membership a while ago and truthfully, I really need a few more days of unadulterated fandom right now. I’ll even be staying overnight Saturday to Sunday. Saved up for it an everything. Here is my preliminary schedule. There is simply too much I’m looking forward to experiencing. I haven’t been in the presence of Cory Doctorow in years. I’m eagerly anticipating reconnecting with fen from near and far, including Bob Eggleton (what does he think about the Monsterverse Godzilla?), Frank Wu, Charles Oberndorf, James Bacon, and many, many others.

I need this. I’m going to be there. Will you?

EVSE charging cable theft is on an upward swing. Why? Well, as of January 2025, the price of copper wire scrap ranges from $3.49 to $3.59 per pound – https://bit.ly/CuCost. FLO EV Charging estimates that the average L2 charging cable has around 5 lb. of copper, while a DCFC cable has around 20 – https://bit.ly/FloCuEst. That works out to a scrap value of $17.95 for an L2 cable and $71.80 for a DCFC cable. No wonder EVSE charging cables are targets for thieves. What can be done?

Read here – https://bit.ly/li_cu_theft – for my thoughts on the matter.

For a while now, I’ve been looking for an LLM that could ingest a bunch of related technical documents (installation & op. manuals, FAQs, white papers, etc.) and then answer questions about those docs with answers internally consistent with that set of documents. 2 days ago, Bob McIntosh published a LinkedIn post – https://lnkd.in/eQPnCeK8 – on Alphabet Inc.’s #NotebookLM. I was intrigued to say the least.

You can read the whole post here – https://bit.ly/mdm_NBookLM

I’ve posted an article on LinkedIn – https://bit.ly/EVChargeDeserts – with my thoughts on preventing EV charging deserts. Please re-post & please give it a read and let me know what you think in the LinkedIn comments. Thanks!

On October ninth I attended Recharge America’s Massachusetts Symposium at Boston University. What is Recharge America? It’s a national 501(c)(3) non-profit whose goal is to promote local economic development through community-wide investments in electric technologies. You can find my write-up of the event here – https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/2024-recharge-america-massachusetts-symposium-marlin-may-7qule/?trackingId=kNehvgMgSfy5grxT3epyvw%3D%3D – please read, comment, and share!

Ingredients

The Veggies

• 1/2 head green cabbage, thinly sliced
• 1/2 head red cabbage, thinly sliced
  • Kosher salt for the cabbage
• 2 large carrots, shredded or grated (2 cups)
• 1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced (1/2 cup)
• 2 cups corn kernels
  • 1 teaspoon smoked salt for the corn
• 1/2 red onion, thinly sliced (1/2 cup)
• Optional
  • 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
  • 1 jalapeno, halved and thinly sliced, seeds and ribs removed if desired

The Dressing

• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 1/4 cup white wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons lime juice
• Smoked salt
• Cracked black pepper

Preparation

1. Generously salt the cabbage with the kosher salt and drain in a colander for 3 hours. Rinse thoroughly and dry.
2. Toss the corn with the smoked salt and bake at 300°F for 20 minutes until lightly browned. Set aside to cool. 
3. In a large bowl, toss together the cabbage, carrots, bell pepper, corn, red onion, cilantro and jalapeno.
4. In a separate bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, mustard, wine vinegar, olive oil, honey and juices until totally evenly combined.  Add the smoked salt and pepper to taste.
5. Add the dressing to the vegetables and toss until coated.  Sprinkle with more smoked salt and pepper to taste. 
6. Refrigerate until time to serve.

Tips

This is best made in advance to allow the flavors to marry. The coleslaw can be made 4 hours in advance.

Do you know the whole story on apartment / condo dwellers and EV ownership? Prepare for a surprise. Click here – https://bit.ly/linkedin_mdm_CondoEV – to learn more.

Why should we transition from gas & diesel school buses to electric ones? Please read, comment on and share my electric school bus article on LinkedIn where I discuss the many benefits of electrifying our school bus fleet!