December 04, 2025

149: Real-Time Toilet Monitoring

1 hour 1 minute

John is going to Smofcon, Alison has FOMO, and Liz is a horrible person.

An uncorrected transcript of this episode is available here. Please email your letters of comment to [email protected], join our Facebook group, and tag @OctothorpeCast (on Bluesky or on Mastodon) when you post about the show on social media.

Content warnings this episode: None

Letters of comment

Andreas Davour (email)

Chris Garcia (email)

Ed Morland (BlueSky on 147, 148)

Cyclo-cross

Mathmo.org

Emily January (email)

Karen Schaffer (email)

Literal antivirus

Paul Weimer (email)

Centrale Montemartini

We also heard from Alan Fleming, Ali Baker Brooks, Andrew Thompson, Brian Nisbet, Bridget Bradshaw, DC, Duncan MacGregor, Ivan Sinha, Jan Harley, Kev McVeigh, Malcolm Hutchison, Mike Scott, Neil Ottenstein, Shi Lala, and Tommy Ferguson

Famous Belgians: Simon Stevin

Smofcon 2025: Smofcon 42 in Stockholm, Sweden

Smofcon Q&As

Salute of the Jugger

How to stream it in the UK

John would like to thank Glasgow 2024 for a travel bursary allowing him to attend!

Novacon 2026: Novacon 55 in Buxton

Una McCormack

Picks

John: The Truman Show

Alison: Pluribus

Liz: The Summer War by Naomi Novik

Credits

Cover art: ”Archaeologists“ by Alison Scott

Alt text: John and Alison, dressed in clothes reminiscent of The Mummy, look down some stairs upon Liz’s tomb, in which her skeleton still holds her Hugo Award, framed by stonework. The words “Octothorpe 149” appear at the top of the image.

Theme music: “Fanfare for Space” by Kevin MacLeod (CC BY 4.0)

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