BBC special for 50 years of The Avengers

So I got nominated for a Sunshine Blogger Award.
And already I hear you say, Man, this is Karavansara, we’re all adventurers and swashbucklers here!
This blog once got a Boomstick Award!
What’s a Sunshine Award? Some kind of touchy-feely new-agey thingie?

But Jessica Bakkers, the freelance writer that owns the eponymous blog (), did nominate me and Karavansara, and I’m quite happy with it. So here I will try to follow the rules and do my part – once again thanking Jessica for her kindness.
So…

What is the Sunshine Blogger Award?

The Sunshine Blogger Award is given to those who are creative, positive and inspiring while spreading sunshine to the blogging community.

How Does It Work:

Thank the person(s) who nominated you in a blog post and link back to their blog
Answer the 11 questions sent by the person who nominated you
Nominate 11 new blogs to receive the award and write them 11 new questions
List the rules and display the Sunshine Blogger Award logo on your post and/or on your blog

Easy – even if I will have to rack my mind to find 11 blogs here in this neck in the woods. Continue reading →

10 May 2017
by Davide Mana 2 Comments

What Facebook thinks I like, Part 2

I’m sad to report that cleaning up my preferences and stuff last night did not help as much as I hoped, and actually made things, if possible, worse.
Here are my Top 12 Hobbies and Activities according to Facebook right now.

Selection_650

… because naval warfare is not a spectator sport.

But really what offends me, as a former airman, is finding Infantry listed under “Education”.
Maybe dropping out of the frigging Facebook is not a bad idea after all.

9 May 2017
by Davide Mana 11 Comments

What Facebook thinks I like

OK; a moment of utter silliness…
Last night I saw a piece in New Statestman – you can find it here – about Facebook and what Facebook knows about us.

The basic idea is, you click “Like” on Facebook, their computers collect and collate the data, and they build an in-depth profile they use to aim their advertisement at you.
Yes, Facebook advertisement… those weird ads about stuff you couldn’t care less that pop up once in a while.

So, basically, you log in on Facebook, and then direct your browser here

https://www.facebook.com/ads/preferences

and start laughing.
Because, admittedly, you realize how far we are from artificial intelligence – and how close we are to artificial dorkness. Continue reading →

Davide Pringle interviews Angela Carter in 1979 – beautiful!

Exclusive New Interview with Angela Carter

3 May 2017
by Davide Mana 1 Comment

Bikini wax from Barsoom (or something)

I consider it a token of the growing popularity and success of Karavansara the fact that we are being hit by spam in the comments. Spam so vicious that our spam-killer can’t actually kill it, and must be eliminated by hand.

I found the following, particularly hilarious,

What we did, the behavior we engaged in, might be frowned upon by some extra conservative members of society, but not by us. Most salons enforce their estheticians to check for STDs when they perform a bikini wax.

considering it was posted under this image

mastermindofmars