Story Bones

It's time we stop, hey… WTF?

2012-01-29T17:28:00.003-05:00

Gingrich telling you to be wary of all "those elites" in Washington and elsewhere (most notably, Mitt Romney) is like the wolf warning you about the foxes in your barnyard. Gringrich, if you'll remember, once had a half million dollar credit bill (not credit available, but stuff he and Calista ran up and then paid off) at Tiffanys. You know, the store that's right next to the TJ Maxx. Not. But part of that is an attack on the President, who was a Constitutional Law professor. While Newt was a History Professor. Or, you can think of it that Obama taught the class most lawyers will use regularly in their professions and Newt taught the class you had to take in college to get your degree, but never really liked and complained you'd never use. A PhD in history makes you uniquely qualified to, what, teach other people to have PhDs in history? Who is the elite here?

Linkee-poo gimps to the beat

2012-01-29T17:22:00.003-05:00

On declining book advances. While some of those people they're talking about would skew Tobias' advance survey toward the top end, I have a feeling the entire industry is skewing downward. Goes to prove the old adage, don't quit the day job. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

A businessweek article on the truth about the rich and job creators. "The annual earnings of people like me are hundreds, if not thousands, of times greater than those of the average American, but we don’t buy hundreds or thousands of times more stuff." And it's the consumers who help create jobs. Also there is the discussion about how taxing the wealthy to give breaks to the middle class and to create infrastructure builds the economy, and so the profits that go to the rich. Also there's a lot in there that I've pointed out before about how the historical data disproves the lie of "taxing the rich less creates jobs and prosperity." (Pointed to by Sheila)

Tobias Buckell talks about what happens when you drink pop.

Well, it appears the GOP finally realizes that Citizens United is a bad decision. Too late. I'm sure once their wives and daughters' lives might be in jeopardy from ectopic pregnancies and other birth problems they'll also decide to go forward with the abortion even though they've help trash any abortion rights in this country for everybody else. Just like Ricky Santorum did. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

Linkee-poo hobbles through the day

2012-01-28T19:54:00.000-05:00

A discussion of writing with, around, because of, and inclusion of music.

Because it's important to me now, Chuck Wendig's 25 things writers should know about agents.

And this just in, still no voter fraud in South Carolina. Look, it's becoming clear that voter ID and the other "anti-fraud" voter laws going around are only there to suppress voter turn out (among mostly Democratic voters). Can't we all call it that way now? Of course, it goes against the stories we tell ourselves that the one party that claims to be true Americans, and democracy's greatest defenders are actually the ones who are more than glad to dismantle the whole system to get their way. (Grokked from Tobias Buckell)

John Scalzi points out the flaw in the American Pricing system. It's examples like that that come to mind whenever I heard some business apologist talk about how companies aren't exploitive, provide product at the lowest cost possible, and are on the consumers side because "if they (screw the consumer over) they would be out of business." See also "free market economics."

Paul Krugman on some obvious things, which apparently are not so obvious to the reality disfunctional conservatives in our midst. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

Things aren't exactly the way conservative wing-nuts think they are? Could have knocked me over with a feather. There's this concept in some urban fantasy were two world (fairy and the real world usually) overlap and some people can see both. More typically they mistake what's happening and merge the two. I have a feeling a lot of this conservative blathering is exactly like that.

And just why do conservatives hate liberals so much (if you want to debate the point, go google the GOPAC memo first and then try and make your point)? Well, it could be because of this. (Grokked from Absolute Write) And here I'll point (again) to Eric's great post on defining liberalism (and libertarianism).

Tobias Buckell shares a lecture from Neil Degrasse Tyson demonstrating how much the US has fallen behind in the basic research of innovated science. Wake up call? Yes. But only for those people in a science based world.

Pop goes the calf muscle

2012-01-28T14:44:00.001-05:00

Well, that wasn't any fun at all. Last night, while bending over to give a welcome home kiss to Bette, my calf muscle popped. Not good. When I wasn't able to move my foot in a dorsiflexion manner while standing up without massive pain an hour later, it was time to go to the urgent care (before it closed).

Fifty dollars (our copay) and an hour and a half later and I have a prescription for Tylenol #3 and an order to see my orthopedist. The urgent care doc was pretty sure I did something to the Achilles Tendon, but couldn't determine the extent of the injury. But at this point we're discussing a healing time (and crutches) between a few months and half a year with possible surgery. Since I don't have weakness, we're hoping it's not going to be surgery.

I hate being laid up. And using crutches in the house sucks. Not to mention, it's my right leg, which means driving is going to be a problem. And did I forget to mention that since it's not been cold enough, the predominate weather condition on the ground equals slush. And all my classes are on the upper floors (but fortunately there are elevators).

Linkee-poo pets the wolf at the door

2012-01-27T12:35:00.002-05:00

Mary Robinette Kowal gives the month of letters challenge. I have to admit, I still get a thrill when I get a letter in the mail. (Grokked from Kelly Swails)

John Joseph Adams gives a run down of professional writer workshops.

The first episode of Helljumper based on Tobias Buckell's novella "Dirt" is live. Go watch if you like 1) military SF, 2) HALO, 3) semi-pro movies. It's just amazing what you can do these days without a large budget. Now, to my eyes, I often see the FX in movies, even the big blockbuster films. So I'm probably not the best person to judge, but some of their FX are pretty damn good.

Nathan pretty much nail the Newt, "Shocked, shocked I am…" response to being asked about his former wife's contention he asked for an open marriage (to validate an illicit affair that had been running for 6 years at that point). I wonder if all his "close friends" we the same ones who didn't tell his wife that Newt was screwing a staffer behind her back?

More urban archeology, this time on an abandoned theater in New York. (Grokked from Camille Alexa)

Repeat it with me, using the voice of stoner Jeff Spicoli, "Carbon-dioxide is an acid, man." (our A&P prof used to have us do that) Specifically, it is the first two (out of 3) reasons we breathe. To expel CO2 and regulate our pH. See, the ocean is this great big buffer for heat and aerosol chemicals. But here's the thing about buffers, while it takes a whole lot more acid to affect the pH level when a buffer is present, there comes a point where the buffer is all full up. pH drops precipitously right after that point. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

Since I bash the TP for many things, I'll praise them when they work toward their goals. Here's a story nominally about Newt Gingrich, but it's more about how the TP is changing the Republican Party. Now, here I could remind people about how the TP initially said they weren't party people, or conservatives in general. Or bang on about how Newt is dog whistling he way through the primaries. Instead, "Hey, look, the TP is changing the way the GOP operates. So they're sorta achieving one of their goals." (Grokked from Jay Lake)

Linkee-poo was killed by a cellular phone explosion, they scattered his ashes across the ocean

2012-01-26T13:12:00.001-05:00

EPIC Confusion epic link wrap-up. And finally, because it's my blog and this is all about me (damnit), Dr. Phil took a great pic of me in "relaxation mode" (see earlier link), but I like this one of me photobombing Christian Klaver the best. In fact, I think when I see someone photographing me in public (that tricky Al was sneaky and got me when I was looking for a few others in that collection) that I'll go for the photobomb look. (note to self, ask for permission to use photos as icons)

Cherie Priest wins the internets. How cool is that to have a tactical vest with "writer" on it? Now, if it was flame-proof, we should all just hand over the keys and go home. I mean, a lot of us lusted after one since dreamboat wears on on "Castle", but we didn't put the cash on the line as it were. Not that I think labeling yourself a writer will really help in public, in fact doing so might require wearing a bulletproof vest.

Jodi Meadows on why I ditched my draft. I'm facing the same issue with PRI. And I think that's part of my stalling. I know I should start from scratch, but just can't get over that hump. (Grokked from matociquala - whom I also wish I could have spent more time with at Confusion)

Part of why I loved HOW Magazine was their annual design salary survey. These days there's lot of tools for that (for regular salary, see indeed.com, which is also a cool jobs aggregator site), but for real specifics you have to go to industry sources (and design is notorious for underpaying people).

And speaking of income, kicking off what I hope will be another informative season of sharing, Jim Hines shares his writing income. Thanks, Jim.

Eric goes with the funny again, posting Newt Gringrich's appearance rider (a list of rules for Newt to appear).

And speaking of Eric, he let's us know there are a couple of ~~fruits~~ inspired people creating a Randian community. So, I have just one question. Instead of voting people off the island, can we vote to send people into the "Gaultian Years"? Also, I predict that "some salt-flat land in Texas" will soon replace "swampland in Florida" and the running real-estate joke.

Look, conservatives, when you keep doing this it's hard not to paint you as racists. "Oh no, the Arizona Immigration Law isn't racist." Okay, time to call bullshit on that. Because, when they came for the Latinos, we all had better speak up or it's us next. (Grokked from Rae Carson)

All that damnable government regulation interfering with business, how's an airline to make a profit when gubberment keeps standing in the way (of them ripping off the public with misleading ads). I mean, what's next, requiring food to not contain pathogens? Madness.

The GOP's crackpot agenda. Because I read it in the Rolling Stone. I think I've pretty much hit on all these points throughout the year. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

Tweet of my heart:
@neiltyson: Of course the volume of that pizza is: V = pi zz a "@Maz_Man_Utd: what about pizza volume if radius = z and thickness = a?"

Linkee-poo has a new computer and a bright future in sales

2012-01-25T12:54:00.002-05:00

Hard work versus working hard as it pertains to writing, the history of writing and novel, and to other things in general. Slightly on the side of "wtf are they doing with all those words when only 150 would do", but entertaining and somewhat enlightening. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

On creating languages in fantasy. (Grokked from Elizabeth Shack)

Nick Mamatas with ten bits of advice writers should stop giving to aspiring writers. As with all writing advice, YMMV. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

The 8-bit Generation. Back when we wore bearskins and used flint knives to put our bits together. (Pointed to by John)

And speaking of 8-bit computing, do you have a little hacker in the house? Well then, you could do worse that get them the maximite computer. It's like the computer us warheads used to use back in the day, but updated for modern peripherals and less than $10. And it comes with a BASIC compiler. (Pointed to by John)

Urban hacking for the sheer joy of it. (Grokked from Tobias Buckell)

Evolution, the greatest show on Earth.

When design goes bad. Have the aspirin ready to view that logo. It's going to hurt. Hey, whomever vomited that one out, um, you might want to look at color theory and realize what causes visual dissonance and why that can hurt your eyes (it's a feedback loop of signals in the eye). Anyway. Bad designer. No cookie. (Grokked from Tobias Buckell who sent it from Ferret Steinmetz)

Oh no, Citizens United couldn't possibly help one party more than another, could it? And Justice Scalia continues to remind me why he's a d-bag. Sorry, Scalia, there was a ban. But because you happen to think that the corporate fiction of personhood should extend all citizen rights to said corporation, mixed in with your radical philosophy that money=speech, and you helped create this madness. You don't get off the hook that easy. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

"He made Alinksy sound like a Republican." Not Obama, but Mitt Romney's father. (Grokked from Jay Lake) And if you want some other info about Saul, here's a Marketplace interview about him. Shouldn't be read by those who wish to have a boogieman to fear and have problems with reality. "Bob Bruno: You know, the Tea Party is definitely a very interesting phenomena. In many ways the leaders of a multitude of community groups have been trained in the theories and strategies that were developed by Saul Alinsky…" Heaven forfend.

We are the true Americans. Thanks, Mitt, for giving the satirical song from Christine Lavin more truth.

Tweet of my heart:
@splinister: Reminded of excellent quote from Get Shorty: "I once asked this literary agent what kind of writing paid the best." he said, "Ransom notes."

A Confusion of Pictures

2012-01-25T11:12:00.002-05:00

I is tagged! And I tagged right back, only harder.

Well, the Mayans did think the world wouldn't end anyway

2012-01-24T15:57:00.001-05:00

Actually, the Mayan calendar resets. But, for those of you feeling smug because you already knew that, do you know what the actual Mayan prophesy for the coming cycle really is? It isn't a fun time. A horrible leader arises who takes society down and dark road of war and economic ruin. And, no, I'm not making that up. Of course, they have 12 years to do it in. And thinking of such…

It's been noted that with Ginrich's win in SC last weekend, Democratic operatives have been having wet dreams for the last few days thinking about the prospect of Newt leading the ticket. Of course, I have a few thoughts. One, we shouldn't get cocky. After all a serial adulterer who is so far up into Washington politics he "get's tickled" every time DC has it's prostate examined (according to Jon Stewart) won a state that's highly social conservative and family oriented by running as the outsider. That, my friends, is some serious crack. Two, Romney took home about the same percentage as he has always been polling (mid to upper 20%). Newt's "surge" was a product of "the other Non-Mitt" candidates falling by the wayside. And finally, for my conservative friends, all your front runners are morally and politically compromised. Seriously, this is the best you all can do? Hell, save yourselves the money and just concede now.

Linkee-poo pretends it knows what all these little flashing lights mean

2012-01-24T12:59:00.000-05:00

Still way behind.

Paul Mcauley brings us some insight on how word processing altered how we write and why you should finish the first draft before revising. Again, as with all writing advice, YMMV. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

A judge rules you can be compelled to decrypt your files. This is an interesting case. I tried to find if the courts have ever compelled someone to decrypt ciphers on documents that were a part of a criminal case and failed to find out if such had happened. So is forcing a defendant to decrypt a laptop a violation of the Forth or Fifth Amendments? I would say if they were forced to disclose the password, that yes, that would be a violation. But in this case, the court is asking the defendant to decrypt the hard drive in a way that wouldn't disclose the password. As first blush I would say that this is a valid court order (it being a criminal case, and there is a specific warrant for the information on the hard drive). I know there are greater legal minds than my own who could shed light on this. (Pointed to by John)

Sandworms in the sky! Oh, wait, it's just another weird UAV design. Meet the Argus One, a blimp UAV surveillance platform. You're welcome, Toby. :)

A high-school student devises a scheme to target cancer cells and release drugs directly on the cells. Pretty darn interesting if it works in humans. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

Well, it looks like the Republican's managed to create more jobs. For government bureaucrats, which they profess to hate. If and when the Keystone Pipeline project is resubmitted, which the conservatives tried to hold Pres. Obama over a barrel (get it?) and he did what was responsible (because all the findings weren't in yet) by saying "no" to the plans as submitted, it will start the review process all over again. So more work for the EPA, DoE, and State.

In case you were wondering

2012-01-23T14:40:00.000-05:00

Dear Universe,

Yes I did have a fun time this weekend. I had a great time with friends. Yes, I didn't go for the cheapest thing on the menu and I had two beers each night instead of one.

You can cut this shit out right now, though. When I asked a coworker, "So, is it me or is it crazy today." She responded, "Nope, it's more like fucking crazy."

I do not like being driven to stress eat and hearing myself yell inside my head, "Don't do it," as I pick up the jalapeno potato chips in the snack room. Or the thoughts of, "Damn, I need another beer today." Cut it out, I say.

Me

Linkee-poo is playing catch-up and got hit with the ball

2012-01-23T13:13:00.002-05:00

You all were busy, busy beavers cranking out the good content while I was off doing the convention naval-gazing. Still working through the backlist. Until I get through, here's some cool stuff.

Oh, BTW, link salad and linkee-poo met and shook hands over the weekend. That the world didn't explode was a good sign. I'm still waiting to hear from NASA if we caused any planetary perturbations or if we'll see Comet Lake-Buchheit come wizzing by in 2015.

UPDATE According to SpaceWeather.com: "RADIATION STORM IN PROGRESS: Solar protons accelerated by this morning's M9-class solar flare are streaming past Earth. On the NOAA scale of radiation storms, this one ranks S3, which means it could, e.g., cause isolated reboots of computers onboard Earth-orbiting satellites and interfere with polar radio communications… ALMOST-X FLARE AND CME (UPDATED): This morning, Jan. 23rd around 0359 UT, big sunspot 1402 erupted, producing a long-duration M9-class solar flare. The explosion's M9-ranking puts it on the threshold of being an X-flare, the most powerful kind… This is a relatively substantial and fast-moving (2200 km/s) CME. Spacecraft in geosynchronous, polar and other orbits passing through Earth's ring current and auroral regions could be affected by the cloud's arrival. In addition, strong geomagnetic storms are possible, so high-latitude sky watchers should be alert for auroras." And yesterday's "JAN. 22ND CME IMPACT: Arriving a little later than expected, a coronal mass ejection (CME) hit Earth's magnetic field at 0617 UT on Jan. 22nd… the CME strongly compressed Earth's magnetic field and briefly exposed satellites in geosynchronous orbit to solar wind plasma. For the next 24 hours, Earth's magnetic field reverberated from the impact, stirring bright auroras around the Arctic Circle." And you though I was being facetious.

Jeff VanderMeer offers some good advice on how to handle a writing career.

Jim Hines posts his own con neurosis.

The slightly humorous s*it designers say video. Dudes, really, this is all you could come up with? Okay, well, you all look young. And I didn't even hear the word "juxtaposed" anywhere in there. Not trying hard enough.

Carol Elaine with some cool art production using a manual typewriter and special ribbons.

The legendary licked book of Epic Confusion. And, in case you're wondering, yes, this was talked of in hushed tones during the barcon. As in, "Legend says a warrior will come from the land of the rounded Hi, and he shall call forth and gather the saliva and ink…".

An NPR story on the myth of serotonin levels causing depression. This is what science looks like when money is involved. This is also an insight into how science evolves finding more sophisticate and elegant solutions, how science (especially pharmaceutical and medical science) can be blinded by the "but it has to be one thing" mentality, an expression of how science often doesn't work in reverse (the serotonin level relationship is like the melatonin relationship to sleeping, I believe I covered that earlier) and the power of story in society. The good thing is I expect a much more nuanced definition of depression (big-D) will come out of this. Also, that we'll see depression put on a spectrum scale (tip of the hat to Christine Purcell for that last one).

In case you're still belaboring under the notion that liberals are all swishy on muslims. Yeah, not so much. I would make the point about how this isn't just an action that could only occur in "Islam" but I've seen Christians pull the same shit. Being an ass about one's religion seems to cross all cultural boundaries. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

Janiece talks about her community become more diverse. As someone who lives in a predominately white community, yes to this. Considering that Don King's prime training camp is just a mile south of the village (within the township), it still feels strange when I encounter the vapid racism in my community.

Just who are the discouraged workers? I have often wondered just what I would be doing if I hadn't found this job. And how do people who become "discouraged" make ends meet? Of course, we need to add in the stories of people who "pulled themselves up by the boot=straps" and the person who took any job available because it was the only job available. Can't destroy too many of our cherished "stories we tell ourselves." (Grokked from Jay Lake)

Tweet of my heart:
@tnielsenhayden: Overheard in doctor's office this morning: "God has always blessed me with great insurance coverage."

Amid Confusion

2012-01-21T17:06:00.001-05:00

Every con I've been a part of, there comes a time that happens. It's just like the middle novel doldrums. And I'll say here this isn't a cry for attention or reassurance.

After bs'ing my way through panels and hobknobbing with my friends who are also writers, discovering just how woefully under-read and under productive i am that I feel I'm playing the pretender.

I know it's not really founded on anything more than my own feelings of inadequacy. All these people I look up to we're at similar places in their careers at some point. They were all knewbies and unpublished. It's not like John Scalzi sprang full formed, armored, and published from the riven skull of Patrick Nielsen Hayden.

But what is the difference between me and some super fans that are in the audience. Hell the guy in the Star Wars Stormtrooper getup with the amplified voice box feels like he's given more blood to the temple of writing than I have. Well, at least his sweat, probably.

Again, this isn't a call for reassurance or pity (I've got enough of that somewhere in the well of my soul). I'm putting it out there to share so others who may have the same feeling won't think that they're the only one in the crowd with the false mask of confidence and bragdagio.

Hello Confusion

2012-01-20T20:20:00.001-05:00

Moderated my firt panel and it didn't suck. So I think I'm off to a good start. Now safely ensconced at the bar. I'm in the cubicle to the far right if you want to say hi.

Linkee-poo the lost edition

2012-01-20T11:08:00.001-05:00

Here are two links I found from the lost edition. And that will be it for today's edition because of travels.

Elizabeth gives the perfect reason why there are outside-major required courses. I've told my nieces and nephews this, you never know where life is going to take you.

Okay, so, as I've said before, I'm really into decorating. But this is a little out of my league. Oh, those crafty Japanese. Who else would have thought to marry Festivius and Godzilla Appreciation Day.

Let us pray

2012-01-20T00:07:00.001-05:00

Oh Lord, if you're up there, it's me, Steve. Please, let it be Newt Gingrich. Because that would be fucking hilarious. And it would pretty well secure Obama's reelection. I mean, we'd just let the Newt talk all he wants. Not to mention the self written attack ads. Oh, wait, that would be the evening news repeating what he said that day. I mean, the opposition research wouldn't have to do more than have a TiVO fired up.

Abut the only thing better is to keep up the rope line conversations with the Mittster.

Scenes from a Morning Commute

2012-01-19T16:26:00.002-05:00

Red morning, sailors warning. And now, it's snowing to beat the band. Those darn sailors.

Linkee-poo skates through hurdles and jumps fast over thin ice

2012-01-19T13:26:00.003-05:00

Yesterday's linkee-poo didn't happen. Sorry about that. Seems that the Universe loves to make my life crazy just before I do anything for me (see earlier stories about Viable Paradise and note this weekend is Confusion). So busier than a one-legged man at an alligator farm. Or, something like that.

This is what the future of the web might bring with HTML5. While nice for a demo, it also has some interesting content. (Pointed to by Dan)

Patrick Nielsen Hayden expounds on SOPA/PIPA. Smart man he is.

25 things writers should start doing. From youknowwho.

The new American Family infographic of a Pew Poll."A new 'marriage gap'… is increasingly aligned with a growing income gap. Marriage, while declining among all groups, remains the norm for adults with a college education and good income but is now markedly less prevalent among those on the lower rungs of the socio-economic ladder. The survey finds that those in this less-advantaged group are as likely as others to want to marry, but they place a higher premium on economic security as a condition for marriage…" So, if you're a conservative who wants to "save marriage", I guess you need to line up with those who are for balancing out the income disparity, like OWS. You know, unless you're just blowing smoke about it and really don't care. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

In case you think we're all post-racism, think again. Having lived outside of Cincinnati (and worked inside) I can't say I'm surprised. (Pointed to by John)

Ah, the best health care system in the world at work. And just as a reminder, the ACA really won't change much of this. Except that instead of COBRA, you could get somewhat decent prices for individuals on state health care exchanges. While I haven't had the same problems to the same extent, I have dealt with the same problems with my own employer based health care (ie. not as a "former employee"). (Grokked from Jay Lake)

Romantic Comedies

2012-01-17T23:31:00.001-05:00

Okay, one of the problems of some writing advice is it can lead to the story of the caterpillar who was asked how he walked with all those legs. And so. Now thinking about it, wasn't able to walk.

As you know, Bob, the next book is going to be a romatic comedy. So I've been going through that whole "Hollywood Formula" thing for the plot. I'm at the point of dissecting other successful romantic comedies. And here I have to admit that it's a genre I'm woefully under educated in, and what little I have is from the movies.

Now, I have "When Harry Met Sally" down pretty well, but what other romantic comedies should I be studying? Movie or book recommendations are welcome.

Linkee-poo squanders his youth for a pocket full of dreams

2012-01-17T13:22:00.001-05:00

Susan MacGregor talks about writing violence. In her case, from the point of horror. There's plenty of violence outside of the horror genre. Heck, my book is filled with some pretty harsh stuff, and the body count gets pretty high. But I think what she's saying here, in a long about way, is the violence in our stories needs to mean something. It can't just be violence for violence sake (the shock of gore and spatter).

Fake movie posters for real movies and real actors but not the same people who worked on those movies. This is what designers do with their free time (mostly, some of us have other pursuits). (Pointed to by Dan)

Michael Gazzaaniga talks about the narrator in our heads. This is why we're drawn to story. Our brains are built to enjoy and process it. And here I'll note several studies on how much affects cognitive behavior as well, because we (most of us, anyway) are hardwired to process the musical rhythm and harmonic structures. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

And since we're talking about the brain. "According to research on expert performance by the psychologist Anders Ericsson, the best way to master a field is to work on the task that's most demanding for you personally. And often the best way to do this is alone. Only then, Mr. Ericsson told me, can you 'go directly to the part that’s challenging to you. If you want to improve, you have to be the one who generates the move. Imagine a group class — you’re the one generating the move only a small percentage of the time.'" And I'll concur that this is how I do my best studying. Which has led to some friction with my class mates who want me to joint their study group. Study groups don't work for me, in fact they often do my learning harm. So I'll help out when I can, but I don't normally go to the study groups. However, this article is making generalities from specific cases. And so, it's suffering form the same malaise it's decrying. Groups work for some people and some tasks, not so well for others and other tasks. Brainstorming, when done appropriately and moderated successfully, works magnificently for some tasks. It fails miserably at others. What the real problem here is attempting to fit an all or nothing solution to something that isn't one or the other. And considering the article calls the amygdala "a small organ in the brain" when it's part of your brain (which is an organ by itself) let's me know how in-depth this research has been. Of course the article isn't much more than a PR push for the author's new book. And now speaking of books, this is how a lot of writers write. At first, it's just them (individual in seclusion). Eventually they send it out for critical feedback (which starts the group phase of the project). (Grokked from Jay Lake)

Whenever the whole issue of women's rights comes up specifically in discussions of the treatment of women in islamic cultures, it's often misperceived that it's the religion that's at fault. If any of you have seen my argue on this topic, you should know by now that it's really society's mores that are the problem, not the actual religion. Case in point, the treatment of women by ultra-orthodox jews in Israel. You can also see the same things in social conservative evangelicals in this country ("Right to Life" isn't so much about abortion as it is about rolling back the sexual revolution and feminism). It's the cultural legacy of the dominance of patrilineal customs that rarely have any foundation in the actual dogma of a particular religion. (Grokked from Jay Lake, my interpretation is solely my own)

Here's an interesting article on a researcher being arrested for filming killer whales feeding. Only, she really wasn't arrested for filming (the writer chose this angle to make the charges seem even more silly), but for "feeding" the whales. Which, granted, is a felony, but I think they best case they could really make is that she "tampered" with their feeding (which might be a felony as well). The "tampering with evidence" charge (by giving the authorities an "edited" video of her normal activities) is an example of why you want a lawyer to help you when you're questioned by the authors, even if you feel you've done nothing wrong. But I will agree with the final premise of the article, most laws are written in a way that creates a lot of confusion for the average lay person (and being an actual marine biologist means she has at least a bachelors degree) and the law will use that ambiguity against you. This article also takes the position that you, the reader, won't really know how "research" is actually done. My guess is this scientist didn't have the proper permits to do this research, and that's what the charges stem from. You see, scientist don't just go wandering about, waiting for something to happen. There's a whole routine to set up research, acquire the proper permits and licensing (which can be just "yes, I'll let you gather things on my property" to the forms filled out in triplicate with stamps and ids), make sure all the authorities are notified, etc, blah blah blah. Veering off those permits, licensing, and timing even for "a once in a lifetime opportunity" can land you in hot water. (Grokked from Tobias Buckell)

Andrew Sullivan on Obama's long game. Not to be read by those who have problems with facts and actual history. It takes on the major criticisms of the Obama Presidency and puts truth to the fictions. As I said before, the conservative mind set seems ever more unhitched from reality these days. (Grokked from Eric)

"'Romney is not a moderate. He is a liberal. He is almost as far to the left as Barack Obama,' Phillips, who organized the first tea party convention in February 2010, said." Well, yeah, that kind of happens when you don't understand the words that are being used for rhetorical flourish. Obama is actually a moderate conservative (see earlier linkee-poo about how he's governing in that fashion, co-opting much of the conservative agenda). Now that he's been labeled a "liberal" all "moderate conservatives" are "radically liberal." (Grokked from Jay Lake)

Well, seems like there's more trouble for Project Veritas' latest "sting" video. One of the people they claimed was dead isn't. And not in a Monty Python "Bring Out Your Dead" way. Not to mention that going to the polls and requesting a ballot under a false name is a felony. Even if you don't actually cast a ballot.

Tweet of my heart
@fivethirtyeight: This is not the climactic week of the GOP nomination. It's the week when the show got canceled and all plot twists are hastily resolved.

Gulp!

2012-01-17T11:11:00.003-05:00

Fortunately, not my gas total (this is what was on the pump when I got there).

Linkee-poo will climb in its own way

2012-01-16T13:03:00.000-05:00

A short one for today.

Lego Saturn V. A friggin' 19 foot tall Saturn V rocket built of Legos.(Grokked form Tor.com)

Georgian conservative who sponsored bill requiring all welfare recipients be subject to drug test fails breathalyzer and field sobriety test after running a red light. Ah, the "all for me, none for thee" mindset emphasized by the real life examples of "do as I say, not as I do." (Grokked from Tobias Buckell)

Sacre bleu. We's all Europeans now? And "ZOMG, he speaks French!" (Grokked from Jay Lake)

Ah, that compassionate conservatism. That's a video of Romney being confronted by someone who has MS and for whom medical marijuana would help. And that's Romney saying he's against medical marijuana and walking away. (Grokked from Jim Wright)

White washing the US. Or, at least, Arizona. Tell me again how these conservative cultural progroms aren't racist. I keep forgetting. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

The Universe Strikes Back

2012-01-15T19:56:00.001-05:00

The power adapter for my ancient laptop just failed. Fortunately I can still get a replacement, now on the cheap. So I bought two. Just in case.

I have a lot of things backed up, but not everything. So, the book and writings are backed up, but I don't have a copy of my submission files or synopsis. Sigh.

We'll do a complete backup once the adapters arrive. Also. Ight try to jerryrig something in the mean time.

Linkee-poo runs out of time

2012-01-15T17:27:00.002-05:00

Spent most of yesterday at Al's funeral and catching up with relatives. Last night and today spent a lot of time trying to solve a neighbor's problem with their new iPad (can't seem to get out of the registration cycle - when they get back I'll try connecting it to iTunes and hold down the power and menu buttons - which seems to be the only solution I can find). So not much but some reiteration and commentary on links from Jay Lake.

This coming week will see the start of Spring Classes, which means my "free" time is over. and on the other side I haven't had time, yet, to do research on my panels for Confusion. And there's a big meeting on Wednesday for the day thing, with a "20 minute talk beforehand" by the boss. So another stressful week up front. And in case you haven't noticed with the story bones and other things, I'm also trying to get the next book moving.

And in the "let's find something even more crazy than Solyndra", I can't wait until this hits Fox News. Using dormant volcanoes as a source of geothermal heat by drilling injection wells and pumping them full of water. As Jay Lake says, "What could possibly go wrong." Just like deep frying a wet turkey. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

Just in case you're thinking that Mitt Romney would be a progressive's nightmare, you're right, but not for the reasons you think. Paul Krugman asks the legitimate question, "… (I)s there anything at all in Romney’s stump speech that’s true?" Pretty much not. G. W. Bush redux. More examples on how divorced from reality the conservative mindset has become. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

More Paul Krugman on Romney. Here he channels my thoughts about the Romney "I like to fire people" brouhaha. I understand what he was trying to say. I know that the quote will be used out of context. But, you know, most "normal" people don't think this way (see article). Also, when they do, they typically use the words "options" or the big conservative word, "choice." They don't reach for "fire" as their metaphor. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

Say, remember part of the conservative mantra of lower taxes = higher revenues that people will be less inclined to not report taxable income or attempt to get out of them all together. Well, if you remember the GE Tax Story, you'll know the later statement is false. Turns out the former statement is false too. People still don't report all their taxable income (and if I remember an NPR story correctly, the problem has grown since the Bush Tax Cuts).

Life is an object lesson

2012-01-15T13:38:00.002-05:00

On the ombudsman article in the NYT asking if they should report the "truth," here's an example. The BBC is reporting processed meat 'linked to pancreatic cancer'." (Grokked from Jay Lake) Note the quotes in the headline. This is a way of saying, "well, 'some people' are saying there is a link." Now, if you read that full article there's a hell of a lot of dancing going on in there. Is it the processed meats, is it red meat itself, or is obesity? The article and the people interviewed go round and round. Why? Well, because they all have their interests to protect.

Now, here's the truth, all three of those are linked to increased cancer risks (high intake of red meat, processed meats, and obesity). But all at different levels and for different types of cancers. And the research the BBC is reporting on links increased cancer risk to "processed meats." That means they normalized the results to compensate for those other factors. So while you could say, "this is just one study, and a small one at that," saying it could be something else is obfuscating.

Because here is the truth. Now, obesity brings about it's own problems, and a well selected sample study would eliminate that variable as a problem. Processed meats would have the same occurrence of cancer as red meat consumption except for one thing, what we add to the meats when we process them.

Nitrates have already been linked to cancer. Nitrates are used in most processed meats as a preservative. Nitrates are cheap, and are used as more than just a preservative (they're also used as bulking agents, or fillers).

So, you could lose weight (sure, it's a "good idea"), eat less red meat (protein is good for you, and meats are a good source of proteins), eat fewer processed meats (also a good idea, but I love 'em), or find processed meats who don't use nitrates. Which means fewer profits for the meat processors, and the destruction of an industry that is rarely talked about, the industrial chemical industry (and in truth, lower nitrate sales would just mean lower profits, not destruction, but in their mind it's the same thing).

So, what's the truth here? Well, it isn't the finger pointing that is going on in the article. More than likely it's another example of nitrates causing cancer. But that would require a reporter to 1) have encyclepedic knowledge of the subject they're reporting on, 2) and editor with memory, 3) fact checking that could find linkages and 4) not reporting "every view point" as valid.

So, what at first blush looks like a well rounded article is actually meant to leave the reader with the impression that nobody really knows what is going on. And that way the organization keeps both their advertising (when it's advertising driven), keeps their legal department happy, keeps their "contacts" within industries, and doesn't burn any bridges. It's perfectly safe.

RIP Alvin Delau

2012-01-14T23:02:00.003-05:00

Goodbye Uncle Al. I'll miss you.

One of my memories of Uncle Al is that he gave me my first digital watch. This was before the time of LCDs. You had to press a button to see the time. And it was a very expensive watch back then. Al saw me looking at it during a family get together and he took it off his wrist and gave it too me to take home. That was Uncle Al; generous, smart, with integrity to spare.

Linkee-poo goes like this, the 4th, the 5th, the minor fall, the major lift

2012-01-13T13:32:00.002-05:00

Dear 16 year old me. A PSA about malignant melanoma. Having had a sarcoma removed earlier this year, yes, this (it wasn't big enough or old enough or the kind that the dermatologist thought it was necessary to do any other checking and just froze it off). Check your skin (I'm almost OCD about checking my ears now). If you're in an intimate relationship, check your partner's skin (also, check for breast and testicular cancers). If you do it right, it can be a good thing. Fuck cancer. (Grokked from Jay Lake) Interesting synchronicity with today's graphic design post highlighting a poster to increase prostate cancer screenings.

Related to a recent story bone, Joshua Palmatier (aka Benjamin Tate) talks about magic systems.

The 50 things every creative should know. Yes. Dealing with #5 right now. For young creatives, #14, Never Take an Unpaid Internship, I can't emphasize enough. And, for me in my career, #24 "A good intern will find their reputation precedes them. Jobs are nearly always offered on this word-of-mouth evidence," has been a solid piece of advice. Your reputation is your brand. Nurture it. Also, after 20_ years, #39, "Clients fear arbitrary decisions — they want problem solving. Have a reason for everything, even if this is 'post-rationalised'," is so very true. I don't often explain a project, but I will explain how I arrived at the solution and how it will work for the client (even if I have to BS one or the other of these). (Grokked from Catherine Schaff-Stump)

The Science Fiction Oral History Association. Doesn't look like they've updated in a while, but there's some good older stuff there. (Grokked from Jeff Beeler)

Jim Hines has a follow-up to his poses post where he answers the common questions and has links to others of a similar vein.

Tobias Buckell shares the surprising truth about motivation and creativity. I've seen those studies before, and there is a lot of truth to them. In the audio the speaker gives two very important clues (that, IIRC, weren't included in part of the animation). First of which is that money not being a motivator for high cognitive tasks only works when the subject is already making enough to support themselves (ie. the task and reward involve don't mean the difference between starving or shivering in the cold). And all the creative fulfilling work exampled at the end comes after the job that pays the bills. Well, maybe that's just one point. Or, as explained on the Drew Carey Show, "We'll pay you $645.30 to (do this act that compromises some ethics)," says Mrs. Lauder. "Why that amount?" asks Mimi. "Because we spent millions of dollars to figure out what poor people like you consider a lot of money," replies Mrs. Lauder.

Also, I'll state here that for some time I tried to work to get that right level of exhaustion so I could enter a fugue state that is supposedly the "most creative state" (ie. the waking mind, or right before you go to sleep). You're more creative when you have had plenty of sleep. What I think both of these things show are once the Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs base levels are taken care of, you can get to the higher functions.

An inside look at the legacy and stigma of Guantanamo. Because you can trust the government. Just as the closest Indian or whale. As part of the political process I find it hilarious that those who advocate most vociferously for GITMO and it's processes are the same people who also spout off at the drop of a hat how government can't do or get anything right. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

Lisa Bufano, the Spiderwoman. A multiple amputee who takes advantage of her situation to make unique art and performance. (Pointed to by John)

Jay Rosen give a longer and more thought out essay on the subject of yesterday's open letter. (Grokked from Ferrit Steinmetz)

I can personally attest to this, we in the US are eating less meat. For me, it's just a desire level. I really don't yearn for a big steak (although I do like a well prepared steak, but those are expensive). Plus, for me, there's the prevalence of making the meat fattier (like fatty chicken, sure chicken always had fat, especially right below the skin, but lately I've seen big chunks). I tend either towards leaner cuts (and here I'll note that "marbled" beef is an entirely marketed concept, before the advent of feed lots and cheap corn, getting "fatty" meat was an anathema, but then the meat industry sold us on marbled meats because they were cheaper) or processed meats (grounds, sausage, formed patties). If I do have a steak, I cut out all the major fat and marbling. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

Readers Point the Way: Correcting Untruths

2012-01-12T13:19:00.000-05:00

And open letter to the NY Times on their public call for comments. (Grokked from Tobias Buckell and Ferret Steinmetz)

Dear Arthur Brisbane,

“(the reading public) worry less about reporters imposing their judgment on what is false and what is true… (i)s that the prevailing view?”
In the main, yes. Because, in the main, people understand that the supposed “biasness” of reporters is a false statement that typically comes form people who are biased.

“And if so, how can The Times do this in a way that is objective and fair?”
Don’t let anyone squeak through the cracks. Or start articles with, “the statements made by (person) have not been fact checked.” Also, do it BEFORE posting the story. It helps no one to post a story of an event, only to publish a “well, they were embellishing and misrepresenting” a week later. And perform this function on everybody, no matter what their position, political affirmation, or status. In other words, be objective and fair.

“Is it possible to be objective and fair when the reporter is choosing to correct one fact over another?”
Possible, but leads to charges if being biased. See earlier answer on not letting them get through.

“Are there other problems that The Times would face that I haven’t mentioned here?”
Oh, a host of them. Like doing audits to see how well you’re doing the checking. Checking the checkers. Not to mention decoupling the Times from the spouting of “news” leading to being “scooped” by other news outlets. And we’re not even discussing the costs associated, the huge “time suck” this would produce, and the extra people needed to pull this off, or the price of reporters who can do more digging, know where to dig, and come with an ability to remember history, fact, and trivia.

But, you know, one of the reasons people have been moving away from “established” news outlets and getting their information from elsewhere is that they see no difference between places like the NY Times and the Drudge Report. They can get the same quality of “news” from other places, and be entertained by them.

Stop being “blessed stenographers” who do little more than repeat what is told to you (usually in a mass communications way). Question the veracity of “experts.” Fail to play the games those who have the information/newsworthy want you to. And do the damn job an independent press was meant to do.

Are you going to lose in the short run? Yes. People will be pissed. Newsworthy people won’t give you press credentials. Some people will refuse to be interviewed by your reporters. But in the long run you just may regain the respect of the populace who will come to see you as a trusted broker and source for news. Once that happens, the other stuff will melt away.

Linkee-poo never mentions the word addiction, in certain company

2012-01-12T12:48:00.001-05:00

William Gibson holds forth on his process. Frankly, I think part of his description and reasoning is, "we have to be entertaining during an interview." (Grokked from Warren Ellis)

Jay Lake shares his outline for Mainspring. Actually, I think it's more of a synopsis, but still an interesting peak into another author's process.

Because it pings on my day job and night passion, Philip Jose Farmer's calling cards. (FYI, calling cards are slightly different than business cards) Proving, yes, you can have humor in your daily communications. (Grokked from Joe Hill)

"Nothing good gets away." A letter about love from John Steinbeck to his son. (Grokked from Camille Alexa)

Yo, is this racist? Or, if you have to ask, or start a comment with, "I'm not sure if this makes me racist," you can bet your last dollar, it's racist. (Grokked from Catherine Shaffer)

Another in the long line of friends lost to "the greatest healthcare system in the world." This is what it means to not have a universal healthcare system, people die before their times and alone. Like Random Michelle says, there's no guarantee that with screening our friend wouldn't have died, but it does mean that she wouldn't have died the way she did. Being poor means hoping the pain goes away. Fuck cancer.

And speaking of long lines, another new "promising" diet-in-a-pill. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

Evolution explained pretty damn well. It's the luck of the draw, there is no plan, and it follows the tautology of "what survives, survives." Just as side note, in a later paragraph there is the mention of one human point mutation that causes sickle cell anemia and how it's a "terrible disease." This is true in one sense (it's a very painful, debilitating disease that can lead to necrosis and death), however sickle cell provides natural immunity to malaria. So, another lesson is that sometimes a mutation can help, but still be a "bad" thing. Also not discussed is the various ways bacteria and (and early single celled life could) "trade" genes, which is another form of mutation. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

The Rush sees the problem with attacking Romney for being a greedy capitalist (because, that's pretty much 1 - his business plan and 2 - goes against the "GOP, we like rich, white people" slogan). Well, Rush, yeah, we can do better than that when we make our attacks on Romney ("Corporations are people, my friend" and "I like firing people" - the man writes better than we can outsource it). "'Newt is not sounding like a conservative when he’s making these attacks,' Limbaugh said Monday." Yes. Newt is attacking someone for being a corporate raider/1%er who was more interested in lining his pockets with crisp Benjamines every quarter instead of taking the long view, helping all boats rise, and growing businesses, jobs, and prosperity for all (or at least a larger percentage). I agree with Limbaugh here. That tact is very definitely not what conservatives are all about. You have to coddle the corporate raider/1%er, and screw everybody else. That's the conservative mandate.

And speaking of using conservatives own words against them. Sure, conservatives are all against government making the connection between inaction and commerce when it's the ACA, but when it was about marijuana growing, they argued in the opposite direction. While the article says this is to "box Scalia", I think they've quickly forgotten that shame, stare decisis, and logic have been excised from the conservative panoply.

Arizona has some money burning a hole in its governmental pockets, so it's going to buy its government buildings back. On the plus side, the real estate market has improved for Arizona, having sold their capitol in 2009 for $81 million (in a total $735 million deal), the company that owns it is willing to part with the property for a mere $105 million. The article doesn't discuss how much the State had to pay to lease back the properties for the past two years. Tell me again how Republicans are better business people (all this done under Jan Brewer and a Republican controlled legislature), 'cause I keep forgetting. (Grokked from Tobias Buckell)

A long but interesting look at South Carolina, the Tea Party maturation, Mitt Romney and the upcoming primary election. There's a lot of interesting psychology going on in there, all along the lines of "One of Us or Not One of Us." It's the absolutism and moral rectitude that I find so repelling in the TP. "As we sat in leather armchairs on either side of a coffee table, Loftis (S.C. State Treasurer, swept into office as a TPer) explained to me that, now that he was actually serving in elective office, he had come to understand how important it was to choose a candidate who could actually do the job in question, rather than one who said all the right things about slashing government and all of that." Strange how when you get more involved with something, a lot of the extraneous BS falls away and you look for ways to get things done.(Grokked from Jay Lake)

Story Bone

2012-01-12T12:35:00.002-05:00

"It is a simple system. If you mess with it, it will simply kill you. And then it will simply fail to notice it had done so."

Linkee-poo sees if this will swim

2012-01-11T12:58:00.002-05:00

An excerpt of Arctic Rising by Tobias Buckell. and if you like it, you can try to win an ARC here. Be the first kid on your block to know what happens next.

Jim Hines tries out posing like women on fantasy covers. And we'll put here that the covers are from books that are nominally "pro-strong-female" types and not ones that are exploitative (as their primary motivation). I don't think I can look at Jim in the same light again. Confusion is going to be interesting (btw, Jim is Toast Master this year). Also, I'll note here, this is actually one of the exercises that is used to "cure" people (mostly men) of "porn addiction" (that is, having the patient pose in similar positions as the models). As someone who knows (a very limited number of) fashion models, even your magazine and catalog poses can approach some of these problems (models holding their bodies in exceptionally painful and demanding poses). Not to mention what can be done to "enhance" (ie. retouch/photoshop) the images which makes them even more unreal. As a final note, I'll say here it's disheartening after some progress to normalcy in the middle 2000's that fashion photography seems to be heading back toward the "meth chic" look, and the 70s "violence toward women" aesthetic (granted, I'm not paying that close attention to it these days, so my impression maybe off).

What our logos would look like if comic sans was the only font in the world. And now you know why us designers hate it when a random computer screen font is used for actual printed materials (I'm look at you IKEA and your mistaken use of Verdana). We shall not discuss Arial.

Karl Schroeder has just one word for us, plastics. Polyethylenimine sounds pretty good. I'll have to look at it more closely when I have time because I'm reminded of a medical truism, "all drugs are toxic." At the very least they hammer your kidneys (nephrotoxicity), at the worse they can lead to a faster death. What you look for is an acceptable trade-off between the risks and benefits of the solution.

Just in case you still don't think that the conservative fuckery of the past year has had any effect. Fortunately it hasn't derailed the recovery, just delayed it. Except high heinous fuckery in the next few months. Why? Because it generally takes a quarter to half a year for people's emotional perception of the economy to change. So if a "good" (for relative values of good) economy is going to help Obama this fall, it's the economic news of the next 6 months that will make or break the impression of voters in the booth.

Paul Krugman makes my point about wanting a business man to run the country (or the "my business 'success' makes me uniquely qualified to be President" fallacy). Plus, you know, we tried that one before with the (shhh, don't say his name) Bush Presidency. Didn't work out so well did it? How are all those governors that were "business men" (like Ohio's own Kasich) work out this year? As you get to local politics it works better. Even on the Governor level it's not so bad. At the Federal Level, it's a handicap. Plus, you know what, all my life I've dealt with "successful business" types. I barely trust them to run a boy scout troop. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

What the Universe Wants

2012-01-11T10:59:00.000-05:00

Like yesterday, sometimes I complain to the Universe about what it's trying to do to me. There's several tricks the Universe plays. Like when I buy something nice for myself (ie. not something that is absolutely needed, typically more expensive that $25, and/or could be purchased to make my life easier - an example is I need new glasses) the Universe sends something that either 1) costs a whole lot more money and needs to be done (ie. car/home repair or something health related) or 2) bad news of some sort (like being informed that an employee has resigned, or needs to be fired, and I need to hire in the next person - although, ha ha, Universe, I don't do that anymore :: gives the Universe a raspberry ::).

The Universe also has this habit of trying to distract me from things I like to do.

Here's an example. I've listened to the Writing Excuses episode discussing the "Hollywood Formula" with Lou Anders a few times (episode 6:18, 10-02-2011). This morning I wanted to listen to it again and take notes (as this will help me keep the lesson in my head). I started trying to do this at 8:30am (I listen to podcasts and audiobooks while working, which is why sometimes detailed things in the audio get lost as I focus in on actual work, not what I'm listening to). Since then I've had 5 phone calls, had to go to someone's office twice, was interrupted in person three times, three IM conversations, and a few other things. The podcast is 20 minutes long. I've gotten 2 minutes in with all the distractions.

Understand I can go for weeks at a time without a phone call. The only times I normally go to someone's office is for information I need (instead of them calling me to their office). While I do get interrupted in person several times a day (ie. people coming to my cubicle), it's normally first thing when I get in, near noon, 3pm, or end of day. The IMing and email is ongoing, but much of it wasn't really about me, but other people's crisis (and other things).

I can hear you asking the question, "So, Steve, just how did you get time to write this post, then?" That's because this last time I came back to my desk, I didn't put my headset on. I didn't try to restart the podcast. That is, I'm not doing the thing I want to do to improve my writing (the Universe can be a bitch about my writing times and attention). So, because of that, it's now been the longest stretch of time today where I haven't been interrupted (about 10 minutes).

This is what I'm talking about.

Update in the 10 minutes after this post, I've had 8 emails, 2 immediate requests for help and 1 new project (which will bump back all the other projects). Because the Universe figured out I also like blogging.

Update 2 In the past 5 minutes of restarting note taking, 8 emails, one of which needs me to "call (someone) right now to solve problem." Which I'm about to do.

Update 3 It's now 2:20pm, finally finished the 20 minute podcast taking notes (I had to rewind a few times).

Dear Universe

2012-01-10T22:33:00.001-05:00

Okay, so it seems that this year is not going to be easy. You want to pile-on and see how far it can go before I crack. I understand.

Uncle.

You can stop it. Now.

I've had two weeks between major scheduling and the restart of classes and you decided to fill the empty spaces. Yes, thank you for the little text you sent my way. That's what I was more of, please. Not this other stuff.

I mean, sure. Okay, some of it is necessary. But there's plenty of this that is just gratuitous. Please stop with the extras and get back to the words.

Linkee-poo is like a restless wind inside a letterbox

2012-01-10T13:31:00.003-05:00

Sorry for the lightness lately. With everything going on, time to read has been sparse.

Rick Ferrel Moore on why we should spend time creating our characters. And not, you know, just paste them on the wall to throw plot darts at.

Benjamine Tate (ne. Josh Palmtier) and place as character.

Remember those "tipping points" of global climate change? Remember how one of those was when the snow/ice packs would grow darker, absorbing more solar energy and accelerating their melt? Oopsie. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

Stephen Colbert on the Senator Frothy didn't say "black people" controversy. I really wish more people were paying attention as the GOP dog whistles their way through the primaries. Dear GOP/Fox, you slips are showing. Let us not discuss the rampant homophobia on display as well.

Rehabilitating the legend of Japan's "lost decade." It's an interesting article with some deep economics (interesting because Japan's "Lost Decade" is a plot point in my novel, albeit an historical one). The headline and premise is a little wonky, IMHO. Japan's economy in the late 80s and early 90s was in bad shape (a result of a quick turn to austerity measures after a "failed stimulus" - sound familiar?). However, it's now 2011, some 21 years since Japan's economy hit the bottom. Also note on page 3 how Japan has used this perception to their advantage (and profit). (Grokked from Jay Lake)

Linkee-poo is still tied to that kitchen chair

2012-01-09T13:38:00.002-05:00

Jim Hines wins for the best "vote for" Hugo/Nebula blog post. With attendant link to Mary Robinette Kowal's post on self-promotion and award season.

Fellow VPer Kay Hankinson has a new blog. Good luck, Kat.

Tor.com has an excerpt of Ashes of Candesce by Karl Schroeder. I had a chance, several years ago, to hear Karl read from his Virga Series (I left late from a con to attend which made me late for other appointments, it was worth it). This is one series that I've been wanting to read for some time now.

Vince shares a cover of "Hallelujah". I think this is the song I've heard the most covers of, and it's a damn good song (that it survives such a wide range of artists doing their take on it is testament to the song's strength). Although, I'm not quite sure it's a true "Christian" song (sort of like singing "Mrs. Robinson" at church camp because it has the line "Jesus loves you more than you can know"). Although, it is a great song about the creative process and sorrow in love.

The "best" of the climate deniers of 2011. With ample (and easy) counter evidence to show them to be wrong, politically and financial motivated, and just trying to screw us all over so they can make an extra buck. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

It's a dog pile on Santorum. Okay, just reread that and "ew." A lest we forget the elephant in the room, the excised GW Bush. Hey, you know all those things the current crop of GOP hopefuls like to spout at the ~~guidable~~ conservative voters? Yeah, tried them. This sucky economy is the result (lower taxes, less regulation, aggressive foreign policy, denial of rights for women and minorities). Been there, done that. Can't even afford the t-shirt. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

Paul Krugman with a little sunshine on conservative economic ~~intentional lying~~ falsehoods. Oh, and how are those European economies that voluntarily embraced "austerity" measures (England, Germany, Spain) doing these days? (Grokked from Tobias Buckell, I think)

Wizards of the Coast are soliciting fan feedback for the 5th Edition of D&D. COnsidering I haven't played since the 3rd edition, I'm not sure I'm good for this. But you may be. Hey, look, a company that's listening (hopefully). (Grokked from Tor.com)

Story Bone - In the Grip of Stronger Stuff

2012-01-09T12:35:00.002-05:00

This is a story bone of a sort.

I've been catching up with my Writing Excuses feed. One of the shows I finally listened to (and I think this was from back in November) the writing prompt was to come up with a magical system. And my brain has been cranking on that ever since. So I'd thought I would share some.

For Bladesman, there is a magic system. However magic is very rare, especially on the west coast, and magic is hard. Those kids who show some little magical talent are in for a rough ride if they decide to pursue that course. The plus side, if they survive, is to become exceptionally powerful and quite wealthy. So here is how the magic works. First off, the person needs to show some native talent. Wild ability is very week, akin to bending spoons (only for realz), but not that powerful. If the child (or more likely the child's parents) decide to follow that path it means 12-15 years of training and the application of full body tattoos the old fashion way (a needle on a board that punches ink into the skin). It is a very painful experience which tends to warp the mind of the magician. And then you need to do something to juice up the batteries. Magic is human powered and magicians need a steady source of energy. That energy can be had a few different ways. You can kill people (not with magic, the laws of thermodynamics apply here) which is a very strong form of energy, but the magician needs to be the one that kills the person, and it's very fleeting. Most magicians go for sex magic. For this, they need to be around people having sex, and they soak up the energy pouring off them. What do you get at the end? Well, you join a very elite cadre of enforcers that are paid quite well and you get to bend the (classic) elements to your will. Typically you are bullet proof at that point, and phenomenally tough to kill. The Achilles Heel? The spells are the actual tattoos, you need to recharge the batteries, and iron and steel can negate your powers.

But I've been thinking of other systems.

Like, what if magical use was transferred the way vampirism is transferred? Or maybe like lycanthropy. I like that last one because of what werewolfism stands for within the literature, the release of the pure ego (Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is actually a werewolf story). But it's considered a curse, one which society would like to stamp out.

What if magic was something akin to highly addictive drugs, like meth (something is saying that this has been done already, and not just by Robert Jordan). At the start magic is very exhilarating. It provides a feeling of being more alive and triggers the pleasure centers in the brain. However, the more you use it, the more you have to use, the less satisfying the result is. And it's killing you all that time, robbing you of life and health (see, "Faces of Meth" for examples).

What if it's like shamanistic magic. Being a shaman isn't something you choose, it's chosen for you. Typically the proto-shaman experiences a life-threatening event (disease, loss of blood, sever trauma, etc) that results in a near-death event. Because the person has experienced the spirits (passing over and returning), they're seen as the conduit for those spirits to either help, translate, see the future, whatever. In this case, the profession picks you. What if magic users are only those who have "died" and returned? Are there a subset of people trying to enter the profession? What are they willing to do to get there? What happens if they fail?

What if magic was like bipolar disorder? In the manic phase you're able to perform magic, in the depressive phase you can't. If you've ever experienced this (seen it or experienced it yourself) you're already thinking, "That's pretty close to how you feel in the grips of it anyway." Well, yeah. That's kind of the point. For some people who suffer from this, the high points are too good to give up, and they remain untreated. Unfortunately, the down parts tend to take over after a time. What if it was reversed (the magic comes in the down phase)? Or you could use almost any mental disorder here. Would the cure be worth it to the individual? To society as a whole (here, think magic use tied to sociopathy)? Would the individual suffer through the disease to be able to tap into that magic?

I guess most of these end up with the question of if the price of magic is too much to bear? What if to gain magic use you had to lose yourself (family, friends, personal identity)? Remember here, that when Capt. Kirk was given the opportunity to do it all over, to be the captain, to go out and seduce all the green-skined ladies, to have his shirt ripped in every episode, to save the planet, he chose not to (Star Trek Generations).

By the time we got to Woodstock

2012-01-08T00:40:00.000-05:00

My Epic Confusion schedule:

Friday 7pm Salon F, Fantasy and Horror with Steve Buchheit, Peter V. Brett, Ferrett Steinmetz, Violette Malan, and Howard Andrew Jones.
Saturday 11am, Salon H, Killer Parties with Kameron Hurley, Cat Rambo, Steve Buchheit, Myke Cole, and Michelle Sagara West
Saturday 2pm, Salon H, The Shared Universe with Cindy Spencer Pape, Cat Rambo, Elizabeth Bear, Steve Buchheit, and Tobias Buckell
Saturday 4pm, Salon H, The Lure of the Undead with John Scalzi, DJ DeSmyter, Carrie Harris, Steve Buchheit, and Ferrett Steinmetz

Looks like I'll be busy. Come and see us if you're in the area. As a bonus, Jay Lake will also be there.

Linkee-poo wants to paint it black

2012-01-08T00:29:00.003-05:00

This won't end well. First cases of totally drug resistant TB are diagnoses in India. Good thing that evolution thing is a bunch of bunk, or we'd have to worry about stuff like this. (Grokked from matociquala)

To the guy in the big diesel truck with the bumpersticker "Annoy a Liberal, Get a Job" fuck you. Look, it's a damn stupid talking point. Here are those dirty, liberal, teachers who are wrecking our youth by filling them with liberal talking points like "we shouldn't pollute", or "smoking is bad for you," or the infamous, "i before e except after c…" You might also remember this past summer those horrible public workers that are driving us to socialism who continued to work, inspecting airplanes and airports after the Congress refused to reauthorized the FAA. And hence they worked and paid their own travel costs to make sure airplanes didn't fall out of the sky. Have you ever seen a conservative work without compensation (or promise of compensation)? Yeah, neither have I. (Grokked from Absolute Write)

It's amazing what can happen when you take the money out of politics. Not that everything the Connecticut government has done has been wunderbar, but it's a damn site better that what's going on elsewhere. (Grokked from Tobias Buckell)

The inside of an abandoned Soviet era rocket motor facility. So you can get your urban archeology and uberbigthings fix on.

On the "they's can't make us buy that damn dirty health insurance", "Others argue that the Constitution's framers could not possibly have envisioned a congressional power to force purchases. However, in 1790, the first Congress… required all ship owners to provide medical insurance…in 1798, Congress also required seamen to buy hospital insurance… (i)n 1792, Congress enacted a law mandating that all able-bodied citizens obtain a firearm. This history negates any claim that forcing the purchase of insurance or other products is unprecedented or contrary to any possible intention of the framers." A cogent legal discussion of the ACA's chances in the Supreme Court from the NEJM. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

The Guggenheim digitizes a lot of their out-of-print books and offers them for free on their website. I'm not sure I agree with how they did this, but free art books from the premier American collection of modernist art.

Hey, you know who the climate deniers like to say about how the world is too big for us to effect? Yeah, not so much. Seems the new study links human pollution patterns to stronger tornadic activity. And for those deniers who like to say, but that's only one study. Well, there is an older study that show why the east coast has rain on the weekends more often. Strangely enough it was also directly linked to human pollution patterns. Or the study that showed with our holding more water a higher latitudes (damns, pools, etc) was causing the Earth to spin faster (milliseconds difference, but still measurable). (Grokked from Jay Lake)

What Steve did on his Holiday Vacation - Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

2012-01-06T22:06:00.001-05:00

Over my extended vacation this past holiday, we went to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame to see their exhibit, Women Who Rock. I think I've said it before, some guy dig women with guns, women on motorcycles, women who like football, but for me there's very few things that can top a women in a rock and roll band. Fronting, playing guitar (of any stripe), drummers, whatever; they're damn sexy. So I totally expected this show to be fantastic.

Unfortunately it was full of fail. Not the women themselves, not even the local photographer's pictures that weren't displayed with the actual show, but 4 floors away in a side room, but the actual displays, which mostly consisted of dresses and album covers. Now, I'm sure the curation, research, and organization were just fantastic, but you really couldn't tell. See, they put the show on the top two floors (which used to be the actual Hall of Fame part, which was much better when it was there, BTW) which are the smallest spaces they have. Just one of the galleries on the lowest level hold more square footage than both top floors (the place is a pyramid, they were big when the place was designed and IM Pei was trying to redeem himself from the Louvre glass pyramid controversy). So it made for a very cramped space to hold a major show. With the number of people viewing the displays, and placing the actual informational text at the bottom of the full length displays, it was nearly impossible to read all that curation stuff. Then, because of the cramped space, objects were severely overlapped so it was difficult to see the album covers, sheet music, and other random artifacts displayed on the walls behind the dresses.

Plus, it was so cramped it was difficult to move around. Didn't you all at the Hall expect this to be well attended? I mean, you cut off half the entrance way by a pop-up scrim, which also decreased the natural light flowing into the space. And the Hall has been open for, what, over a decade now and you haven't been able to solve the heating problem on the top level? Seriously, it was broiling up there. Put in adequate ventilation, that would solve the problem. And placing the two video screens (noticeably inadequate compared to other displays) in exactly the wrong places and positions so people viewing what was on the screen blocked other people trying to view items in the display cases behind them (there was no place else for the people viewing the video to stand), fail.

And since we're talking about the physical space and traffic flows, just WTF were you thinking with the minimal spacing between the display cases in the middle of the floor? Also, I know there's another exit from the top floor that leads back down to where you now have the HoF. I couldn't find it. And I knew it was there, but I had to go back down through the display to leave. I wasn't the only one.

And then there were the display graphics. Really? Putting the major advances of women in R'nR on 12" paper "records" and pasted at different heights along the wall? Are we in grade school? Are we doing a bulletin board at the local YMCA? And did you forget that at the top of the circular stair there are no lights so you couldn't read the last few? And then there's the quotes along the stairwell wall on the top floor. They stretch too far around the circular low wall that you can't read the entire quote from one standing position, and they often run behind the standing display cases, so you can't read those. Then the sitting platform that runs around the wall was the only sitting spot in the show. When people who were tired of climbing and affected by the heat would sit down, they would block the quotes even more. People sitting on the seats obviously were often bored because they peeled off some of the letters, which again made them hard to read. And the screen on the top level slowed down the traffic circling in the cramped space which made the heat worse as well as trying to see the actual displays. Then there was the lack of indication of which way we should go to leave the exhibit.

Look, this stuff isn't hard. I know you have professionals on staff, did you let the interns run wild on this one? It was very amateurish. The flow of people in the exhibits, the design of the exhibits, the lighting, the sound space, and the access to the space - fail, fail, fail.

That's all before we get to the prize of your show, the Lady Ga Ga Meat Dress. Not impressed. Especially with painting it "to make it look fresh." It didn't. In fact it made it look completely artificial, like it was plastic. I know the drying processes darkened the meat to a jerky like appearance, but that would have been better (maybe with a photo of it "fresh").

Then we get to the general Hall flow. I appreciate that with the escalators (hey, there's 6 floors, you need to use them a lot) you wanted people to walk the long way around so visitors will look at all the exhibits or something. It kept throwing me off. I expected to get off the escalator, make a 180 turn and get on the next one going my way. Instead, while going up say, the escalator right next to the top of the escalator going up was the bottom of the escalator coming down from the floor above. Instead you need to walk the long way around to the opposite side of the escalator column to get either the next one up, or to go back down. This goes against every other escalator set up I have ever used. It's called "learned behavior" and you're screwing with it. Again, I wasn't the only one who had this problem.

That the final down escalator dumps you into the gift store really isn't a problem, although by that point it's like the final insult, instead of feeling "natural." And then lets talk about the gift store. And here let me say I know you outsource the actual running of the store to FYE (formerly Camelot, IIRC). But, it's still in your building and is allowed to represent you).

While I normally wear sold color t-shirts, I really do love a good designed t-shirt. And you had some excellent ones. Not in my size. And yet there were some t-shirts in my size (so it's not like you don't offer 4-5x sizes, just not in the t-shirts I really liked - like the lightning guitar shirt). And then I wanted a show t-shirt. Okay, you're graphics for the show weren't all that good (at this point that was the least of the fails, hey, I'm available and I'm relatively cheap), but like I said above, women in rock and roll = roawr roawr. But you didn't offer a show t-shirt for men. You only offered a princess cut t-shirt for the "Rocker Girls." Fail. Didn't you think that there are actual guys who like women rockers? Did you think only "the chickeroos" would come to the show? Fail. Fail, and did I mention, Fail. Oh, and how long ago was the Elvis show and I can still buy items for that one?

Then no postcards of the show, no mugs, no magnets either. And then when we ask a sales person, he explains that, "we had them, but we sold out, and the show only goes for another week or two." Fail. Major epic fail because at that time there were still two months of show time (so, fail because you didn't have enough stock and/or enough brains to reorder and fail because the staff don't fucking know the show went for another two months, not weeks)

I know I screwed up because at the time you were building I didn't spend the $100 to get a lifetime membership. At this point, I may be willing to pay twice that. See, at the time I was just starting my career and $100 was a bit steep (just a note to show you how much we love R'nR, my Mom bought a lifetime membership). So now every time I come to your house, I have to pay the $22 a piece. When I pay more for entrance to someplace less than an acre and that can be gone through in a few hours than I would pay for a single entree, I expect a little more. You're other displays show me you know what you're doing. Why couldn't you have come up to 50% for a Special Exhibit (ie. "come and spend your money with us again"). Display graphics are damn cheap. How about full wall size displays wallpapered to the open areas? Custom wallpaper has been available for over a decade now. How about using the head space for other information (instead, except for the top floor video display, all that space was wasted)?

As a staunch supporter of the R'nR HoF being in Cleveland (hey, NYC, if it wasn't in Cleveland it should have been in Detroit; NYC and LA don't have as strong a claim), it's really disappointing. My guess is it'll be several years before I go back.

Last night's sunset

2012-01-06T15:51:00.002-05:00

The colors of sunset just kept getting deeper until full night cloaked the sky.

Likee-poo is double dog tired this morning

2012-01-06T13:28:00.001-05:00

Stayed up too late last night writing my buns off. And then had about two hours of calming down time, so not much sleep was had. I also had to run errands over lunch, which means not too much time to look on these here interwebbies.

More proof our world is weirder than you think, fish mimics a mimic octopus for it's own protection. I believe that falls into the triple-spy realm of, "Huhn? What?" (Grokked from Jay Lake)

I'm a big believer in families of choice of heredity, but when older siblings stick up for their younger siblings this way, it makes the world a little nicer. (Grokked from Janiece)

Dissection of a winning map. Also, some great examples of what it means to be a designer and how the little choices we make can dramatically alter the impact of the medium. Not only could our clients use such knowledge, but unfortunately many designers also don't get this. Design = Communications, it isn't just making pretty pictures. "You have no doubt that every tiny decision on Imus’ map was made for a reason." Should all our designs receive such praise. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

"Romney’s plan cuts taxes at greater rates for wealthier people. The average millionaire would thus pay $145,568 less in taxes in 2015 than they do today… Per (the Tax Policy Center), 'The Romney plan would reduce federal tax revenues… by $600 billion in calendar year 2015…" All while raising taxes on those who make less than $30,000. The current crop of republicans running are a joke. A bad joke being made at our expense. But then, they can't even tell the truth from fantasy (that's Paul Krugman's analysis of Romeny's jobs claims). There's helpful charts in each article.

"The real Rick Santorum is indeed a frothy mixture -- of self-interest, loose ethical standards, and careerism in a career that's been largely devoted… (to) the interests of big corporations and the wealthiest 1 Percent of Americans. It's a shame that more voters don't know that yet. That is the 'Google problem' that Santorum actually deserves." A Philadelphia Inquirer blog post outlining Santorum's career. Not a shining star of the people, but a corporate toady who lacks any real social values (except mouthing those that will get him elected). This is your champion, social conservatives? You ought to be ashamed (but we know you won't be). (Pointed to by John)

The Washington Post nails my thoughts about Newt Gingrich's concession speech. The angry Newt, disconnected from his own self-love, spewing venom become someone dared to mention his shit has a little odor, that's the Newt I remember. Glad to see I was right and that Newt hasn't changed one little bit. "(Newt) went so far as to suggest that the negative ads against him were not worthy of the sacrifices of American men and women in combat." It's called "narcissism", it's a sin, BTW (vanity if you didn't know), and it's something Newt has by the metric butt load. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

Linkee-poo hears the sound of the things you said today

2012-01-05T13:09:00.003-05:00

"In this series, which appears in three installments this week on Places, we look at fairy tales through the lens of architecture." And don't miss part two and part three. Wish that Rapunzel Tower graphic was enlargeable to we could read the text. But, uh, yeah, Bob. (Grokked from Random Michelle)

So, do you, like me, remember the days way back when… when we had to manually set our computer preferences with dip switches? Then you might like this watch to relive the heady days of when video games took actual quarters (and usually only one). It was a simpler time when we programmed wearing bear skins and using flint knives. We celebrated with SCSI voodoo dances wearing chicken feathers and bone necklaces to placate the Gods of Peek, Poke, and Call. Oh, you kids have it so easy. (Pointed to by John)

And another toy to keep you occupied, Cubelets. A modular robotics kit. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

Montana thumbs its nose at Citizens United. (Grokked from Paolo Bacigalupi) And in related news, Portland petitioners ask their government for a resolution saying, "corporations are not people and that money is not free speech." (Grokked from Jay Lake) It's like there some backlash against something or other.

One of the funny things, Rick Santorum rants against government trying to tell you how to live and taking away your freedom (which I haven't really noticed in the past few years - also, no, really, that's what he said in his "not a concession" concession speech), but thinks it's perfectly okay to deny you birth control because, "It’s a license to do things in a sexual realm that is counter to how things are supposed to be." Tell me again who wants to take my freedom away and tell me how to live my life, 'cause I keep forgetting. The radical right, irony impaired since 1980. (Grokked from Mur Lafferty)

Or to be more coarse, if social conservatives get their way, they'll force you to go "bare back", if liberals get their way, it's up to you. The same thing with abortion, etc. It's all right to believe what you do and act the way you want under a progressive government (until your rights interfere with someone else's rights). It's only "not alright, and by golly we'll put you in jail" under a social conservative (especially in questions of "morality"/ie. "Our God tells us we're right"). Do we all get this yet?

A very persuasive argument why some people shouldn't be allowed near the internets. Alternatively, why you should read the best and worst rating comments before making a decision based on Amazon ratings. (Grokked from Camille Alexa)

The poor foo bar. (Pointed to by John)

Linkee-poo dances in the rain from a shattered comet

2012-01-04T13:25:00.002-05:00

Jim Hines on writing about rape. What he says. Although, in the current novel there is a rape, but it happens off-camera, is not committed against a main character, and is implied the main evil bady-guy did it. However, it is part of the story and makes sense in context. The victim acts like a victim of abuse. Our hero isn't there to rescue her, but does because that's how he's put together. He doesn't however, carry her from the building and form some sort of bond with her. He views her as another victim of what the bad guys are doing (and then he kills the bad guy). I did take that part out, but then the scene felt incomplete. So I put it back in.

Mur Lafferty talks about her big-D depression. I don't think I've talked about it more than once or twice this year, so some of the new people don't know. While I don't have a "diagnosis" of depression, I do suffer from the big-D (it's just not on any medical chart - but I take Wellbutrin, which always leads to the question). I finished my novel while taking my meds. I was afraid they might take my writing away, but the prospect of falling into another 3-4 years of big-D was to much of a scary thing. I like not being depressed. I like myself when I'm not depressed. Sure, I still have some bad habits (denigrating myself when something goes wrong, or feeling guilt or shame for something done 10+ years ago). But I laugh, I can smile, and, to quote Monty Python, "I feel happy." If you also suffer from big-D (and I didn't think I was until near the end of that bout) don't be afraid to get help from professionals. My doctor listened to me and immediately said, "We can help." I was lucky and hit it out of the park on the first try, if the first path doesn't work, there are plenty more. To quote Mur, "You are not alone."

More proof the world is weirder than you think. Including the discovery of the first hybrid shark (viable offspring of two related species) in the wild. (Grokked from Jay Lake and Jeff Beeler)

There was a comment in the blathering news the other day about "liberals (being) 'angry' at (Ron) Paul for forcing them to confront their hypocrisy and therefore obsess over his 'character defects'." But I think what Eric has to say later, including his quotes from other on their idiocy, is much more to the point. And it brings words to something I was intuiting lately. There is a fundamental schism in the mindset of the populace on what role government should play. Eric pretty well lays out the liberal view.

Tobias Buckell gets optioned (and helps write the script) adapting a short story of his. Congrats, Tobias.

Freeze-dried whackaloon, Rep. Steven King (R-IA) admits all this brinksmanship has just been a negotiation strategy. Yep, that's the new politics for you. No principals, no "promoting the general welfare", just willing to fuckup the country just so they can keep tax-breaks for the rich. I said it back in August, I think it's time the dems just walked away from the table. Make a big play in the press about the GOP "intransigence" and let them shut the government down. This, in the game of chicken, is known as "committing." (Grokked from Jay Lake)

Oh, no, our frenzied work around immigration and all those new "tougher" laws couldn't harm anyone who isn't guilty. Surely they wouldn't deport a teenager who gave a false name so the police wouldn't return her home after running away. Nah, that couldn't happen. (Grokked from Tobias Buckell)

Running down Paul

2012-01-03T22:56:00.002-05:00

Well, with almost 90% of the vote in, it looks like I'm wrong. Looks like Paul will take 3rd place, with Santorum and Romney battling it out for 1st (Ricky is holding a lead of less than 50 at the moment). Unfortunately this means we will be subjected to the bizarre, misogynistic, neo-paleolithic conservative mindset that is Frothy the No-man for at least another month.

Story Bone

2012-01-03T14:47:00.002-05:00

So, you all know how with string theory (or M-theory) there are an infinite number of universes. And how in all those universes it is statistically possible there are multiple yous doing slightly different things. Now most SF people focus on this last point and start doing the the "character crosses over into alternate universe/reality and must 1) realized what happened and 2) adjust or get back to their home universe."

But what they miss is that with the infinite number of universes it is also statistically possible that if you could actually jump from one universe to another (or from one brain to another), chances are you'll end up in a completely unknown place that may not even play by the same rules of physics (this is sometimes used as the "hyperspace" to get FTL travel). Within an infinite number of universes, the universes with alternate Earths, and specifically you, in it is still a vanishingly small number (infinity is a really huge number, I mean, really, really huge).

For this experiment we'll ignore the also highly likely chance that you aren't anywhere near each other if you were able to build a bridge between those membranes.

However, if there are an infinite number of other yous out there, surely another one of them (at least) is/are also trying to get to you. How could you (as the mad scientist you are, chancing the possibly of paradox issues and creating massive-Earth-eating blackholes) work in collaboration with that other you who has also realized another you may be trying to reach them to build a membrane/universe bridge that will allow them to meet.

Or in other words, you're not building the bridge one way across the divide. You're goal is to meet that other you halfway.

Bonus points Okay, write it as first person or tight/limited third. However, switch between yous every break. Figure out how to signal to the reader which you they're following quickly and clearly. Then, when the "break through" discovery happens, switch characters mid chapter (alternating them in a few fashion). Finally, when they meet, they see each other as completely different (ie. not in the "one of us" manner most universe switching deals with). And while the reader knows they are the "identical twin", the characters don't realize that.

Linkee-poo was born in a cross-fire hurricane

2012-01-03T13:14:00.001-05:00

So far, no rejections. I take that as a good sign. (Oh sure, harsh my mellow by pointing out that it's only the first official work day since I submitted, shut up.)

Chuck Wendig and 25 things writers should stop doing (emphasis mine). Yes! To all of them. Writers looking for some NY Resolutions could do a whole lot worse than promising themselves they won't do any of these. (Yes, it's a goose and gander thing, shut up).

(Here I'll note when I type "shut up" you should hear it in a high, whiny voice with all the drama that can be infused into it - like sounding out all 6 syllables of that phrase-, along with an ornery grin afterward)

It's book day for Benjamin Tate and Leaves of Flame. Congrats. You go Jos*(cough)* I mean, Ben.

A Writer Beware look back on 2011.

Sword-master Bob Anderson died yesterday. If you like movie sword fights that aren't all sword against sword (that is, the enactors work to hit their opponents sword), you owe real sword play (or close enough) in the movies to Bob Anderson's influence. (Grokked from several sources)

A kickstarter for a consumer 3d printer. (Not an endorsement, but a, "well, that's interesting" pointer). (Pointed to by John)

Why 2012 is looking a lot like 1932. While a little alarmist, frankly I've been having the same thoughts myself. Add another voice whispering on the wind, "Revolution." (Grokked from Jay Lake)

"… when people in D.C. talk about deficits and debt, by and large they have no idea what they’re talking about — and the people who talk the most understand the least." Paul Krugman on the debt scare. Lots of truth, not sure it's being heard in the halls of power (or the Iowa Caucuses for that matter - where they barely acknowledge Pres. G. W. Bush tenure or that Reagan raised taxes - shades of Frost/Nixon with that last one, which I did see live - and the right double downing on the Southern Strategy). (Grokked from Jay Lake)

Think that last claim is a bit too far? Okay, many republicans were for things Pres. Obama has put forward, until he put them forward. One of the things that disturbs me most about this current election is the GOP isn't coming out saying, "We've got better ideas", it's all about "beating Obama." True, elections are often about "beating the other guy/gal", but I've never seen it so entrenched in the general public before. It's like Obama is the anti-Midas to the conservatives. (Grokked from Tobias Buckell)

Tweet of my heart:
@TalkPolitical: IF THE $5.15 HOURLY minimum wage had risen at the same rate as CEO compensation since 1990, it would now stand at $23.03.

Condensing 90,000 words into 800 or less

2012-01-02T22:31:00.000-05:00

If the first draft of the novel or story is allowed to suck, so too is the first draft of the synopsis allowed to suck. I have to remember this.

I'll also have to rewrite the synopsis. And if history is any guide, then rewrite again. And then again. And then polish before I have something acceptable.

I thought you preferred I-O-Wa?

2012-01-02T18:44:00.000-05:00

Rick Santorum may win? Oh, please. One, okay, no, he's not going to win the Iowa Caucus. Ron Paul will. But really, conservatives, do you want "President Frothy Discharge"? (although I expect if he goes forward he will play up the whole "conservative victim of liberal ideology" angle, which will work for 3 weeks)

Not fair, I know, there's still those who were hoping Sarah Palin might jump in (BTW, the Sarah hasn't endorsed anybody yet. Why? Because she doesn't know who will win yet. Once it's very clear, you'll see her endorsement. Why? Because she's a coward.). But that ain't going to happen (or, to play the liberal, "Oh please, oh please, oh please run Sarah").

Like I said, Ron Paul will win (or at least take second). Which is unfortunate. If Paul wins, the race will continue with all the same names (okay, Gary Johnson, Fred Karger and Buddy Roemer may drop out, what, you haven't heard of them either?). Now, if Romney somehow wins, I expect only four names to go forward (Romney, Gingrich - he hasn't sold all his books yet -, Paul and Santorum - I'm expecting Perry to come in 4th or worse, which will be the end of his bid, even if he goes forward).

Of course, I could be completely wrong. It's happened before. I am hoping to be very surprised if Huntsman (the only not completely wacky candidate) finished in the top 4 (if so, I see him getting the VP nod, sort of the anti-Palin gambit).

Now, I don't expect Paul to get anywhere near the actual nomination (or, to play the liberal again, "Oh please, oh please, oh please nominate the fruit-bat crazy great-grandpa, with sugar on top). I don't expect Gingrich to get the nomination either (and if he does, Obama should accept his Lincoln-Douglas debates, and just sit back and say nothing and let the man implode). Bachmann right now, IMHO, is shooting to be 2012's Sarah Palin. And I expect the same electoral response if she is put on the ticket (at least most US citizens know the rule of not getting into bed with anyone crazier than they are).

What I do think is hilarious is the anti-Romney ad which claims he's the choice of the "liberal Republican establishment." That's right, the whackaloons are subdividing and claiming the most conservative leadership evar in the RNC is actually too liberal for them.

Personally, I blame all this on the budgetary decisions of the States to close their mental hospitals and put all those people back out on the streets.

The best part of this whole process is that as the "Not-Romney" candidate rises to the top, they get more exposure. The voters get to see more of them. Hear more of their ideas. And because of that (more exposure and attention), they start falling in the polls.

Linkee-poo shovels the snow

2012-01-02T17:55:00.001-05:00

It's not the first snowfall of the year. It's not even the first snowfall to stick. But it is the first snowfall I had to shovel (it wasn't deep enough to use the snow thrower, or at least half the driveway wasn't deep enough). Tomorrow it's back to work. We find out if anything changed over my absence. Joy and happy day.

On the plus side, no rejections yet.

Proof there are holiday decorations for everyone. (Grokked from Camille Alexa)

The joy of quiet. Or, why in the future we will pay out the nose for a little piece and quiet being off the grid. Or, the Amish are right. Much of this was prophesized by various writers, including the book Information Overload. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

Janeice shares some important insights about holding your own self accountable.

The name of my next band tumblr. (Grokked from John Scalzi)

"Myths are propagated and embellished according to how they appeal to the prejudices of those who hear them…" That article is on the myth of the bra burning feminist, but that line will probably be applicable to several news stories/press conferences/political rallies this year at a rate of at least 3 times per week. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

The sounds of horns, the baying of dogs

2012-01-01T22:46:00.001-05:00

Not in time to make my last year's resolutions, but just in time for this year's, I've sent off my query letter to the first batch of three agents. I don't have the synopsis done yet, but fortunately there's a number of good agents that just want to see the query letter first.

Three, it's a magic number. So we're off on the great agent hunt.

I didn't keep track of how many time I rewrote the boilerplate part of the query letter. I'm hoping that I didn't commit any blunders or grammatical faux pas.

Also, I'm scared out of my mind. But on the flip side, I feel like a real writer again. I wasn't feeling that this past Fall.

Breathe in. Breathe out.

Okay, back to the regularly scheduled programming.

Linkee-poo of one, because it's important

2012-01-01T19:49:00.003-05:00

"Some scientists argue the danger (from back-scatter x-ray devices, the ones the TSA is rolling out) is exaggerated. They claim low levels stimulate the repair mechanism in cells, meaning that a little radiation might actually be good for the body." (Grokked from Tobias Buckell) The first part of that last sentence is true. X-ray radiation is ionizing radiation, in this case it means that when this radiation does damage to your DNA, it breaks the DNA chain. Your DNA can repair itself from such damages. This is called "dark repair" (in contrast to UV/non-ionizing radiation which causes the hydrogen atoms at the edges of your nucleotides - T and A IIRC - to kick into a higher energy level creating new hydrogen bonds between adjacent nucleotides, which can be repaired by a process called "light repair"). So, yes, the damage can stimulate the "dark repair" process. However, to say this is "good for the body" is complete and utter bullshit.

One, it costs you energy, your DNA needs to make the proper enzymes, and the repair isn't always correct. See, this is exactly the mechanism that causes X-rays to cause cancer. If your DNA remains broken, the cell is broken and won't function properly which leads it (in most cases) to apoptosis (or programmed cell death). However if that "dark repair" mechanism switches out some nucleotides while it's repairing that damage, which is possible (the "repair" is just meant to rejoin the DNA), that way can lay cancer.

Just in case you think the government establishes regulations willy-nilly, as in what the conservative Republicans want you to think, don't miss this line: "'Establishing a mandatory standard takes an enormous amount of resources and could take a decade to publish,' said Dan Kassiday, a longtime radiation safety engineer at the FDA." And then there is this line, "… since the mid-1990s, Congress has directed federal safety agencies to use industry standards wherever possible instead of creating their own," and this one: "The government used to have 500 people examining the safety of electronic products emitting radiation. It now has about 20 people. In fact, the FDA has not set a mandatory safety standard for an electronic product since 1985."

Feel safe, yet?

Well, you know, these things (the scanners) should be inspected for safety? Right? "Instead, annual inspections are done by Rapiscan, the scanners’ manufacturer." Because you can trust the person selling you the equipment to let you know when there's a problem with that equipment. Especially when that problem may not appear for years and may not be discernible from the background levels of cancer (see earlier comment about Chernobyl and how many cancers it may have caused).

"Some TSA screeners are concerned about their own radiation exposure from the backscatters, but the TSA has not allowed them to wear badges that could measure it…" Good thing we're not allowing them to form unions. There's a line here about, "if there's no reason to worry, why not let them wear exposure badges?" You know, if you haven't done anything wrong…

It's a good article with lots of info about how the government really works, and the influence of money in politics, the security theater, and just what your representatives (on all sides) are willing to sell your health out to get.

Linkee-poo begins the countdown

2011-12-31T20:01:00.001-05:00

Filled with some final outrage for a year full of outrages expecting a New Year with even more outrages to come. I'll try and keep it clean, but I don't promise.

Neil Gaiman shares his new years wish for us all. Yes, that.

My own wish for us all, may we achieve all that we're possible of. May the world become a better place for our passage through it.

Vince's daughter comes up with a great idea for a tax. Every time one of our elected officials do or say something dumb, they have to pay $5. Vince, I think your daughter is being pessimistic about her plan, I think we'd have half the debt paid off in a month. It's an election year after all.

Jim Wright shares a great photo. Oh, yeah, it's also a part of his year end post about how nothing happened. Okay, well, at least all that bad crap those right-wings nuts said would happen, happened. I would ask if it was becoming incredibly obvious that the conservative blathering class is continuingly wrong, but I think there's a portion of our population that is addicted to that particular brand of kool-aid. About 30% of the population to be exact.

Oh for fuck's sake, now the Girl Scouts are suspect of "being lefty"? But then this is coming from a political party whose moderate candidate's son thinks it's funny to repeat a joke about President Obama releasing his birth certificate and grades (already did, and stupid conservative conspiracy crap) before his father will release his tax returns (mandated by law). And form a party that labels a president governing from a right-centrist position (Grokked from Jay Lake) as the "most liberal president EVAR!" And let us not forget that the whackaloon quotient of the far right continues to mount (Grokked from Jim Wright). Why people would listen to Victoria Jackson on politics, I don't know, but there it is.

Dear Universe

2011-12-31T10:49:00.002-05:00

It's my last day as an elected councilman. Don't screw it up. kthxbai

The Mortgage

2011-12-30T16:51:00.000-05:00

So I'm looking at refinancing our home mortgage since rates are at an all time low. Talked with one bank and could get 3.5%, which is an excellent rate and 3 points below our current mortgage. But, as you remember I make extra payments, which throws us into an interesting quandary. Which is, refinancing, after you factor in the closing costs (which seem exorbitant considering the amount) doesn't save us very much. In fact, if we would apply the closing costs to our current loan as a one time payment the difference is less than a rounding error. However it does lower our minimum monthly payment.

If our current personal economy continues at the same level, it doesn't make much sense to refinance. However, if it has a chance of souring, it makes sense to refinance to have the lower monthly minimum.

So right now I'm in a quandary. Should I commit the funds for a short term lost for a small long term gain, but with the possibility of a securer future should things go south. Or keep on the current plan and save funds for the near future.

Edit, 12-31-11 11pm I think I'm going to go forward with the refinance.

Linkee-poo gears up for the New Year

2011-12-30T14:46:00.002-05:00

Infographic on the history of Science Fiction. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

Some HOW design post I missed that they had in their top 10 posts of the year post. Like the infographic of a day in the life of a graphic designer. Oh, so true. That pretty much sums up the life at a big studio. And a more serious 29 things a young designer needs to know. Good luck with that.

If you're completely bored and miss arts & crafts, welcome cubecraft.com. There you can get free 3d paper doll patterns. (Grokked from Tor.com)

Why no, we don't need to regulate businesses. I mean, after all, they all act in totally responsible ways. Not. That's an article on the use of shell companies by Chesapeake Energy to make a vast land grab, all while avoiding liability and reputation damage when it then cancelled its leases without paying the signing bonuses. (Grokked from Tobias Buckell)

Eric gives us an well reasoned discussion about the Rick Perry idiocy outlined in this article. Now, Eric (and others) focus on the one quote about Canada not being a foreign country. But there's plenty of Perry's own brand of stupidity to go around in there.

Tobias with some great solar power links. And in other news, the South Pole reaches highest temperature ever recorded (grokked from Jay Lake).

"As 2011 slithers to its end, none of the major problems that led to the crisis point three years ago have really been solved… The Street and its ministries of propaganda have fallen back on a Big Lie as old as capitalism itself: that all that has gone wrong has been government’s fault." A little "viva la revolution" for the coming year. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

Linkee-poo watches the snow, because it's up to something

2011-12-28T13:11:00.002-05:00

Chuck Wendig with the top 25 posts (mainly of "25 whatevers for whatever") of the year. Lots of writerly stuff in there.

The simplest pranks are the best ones. (Grokked from George Takei)

Lynn Ward woodcuts. Telling a story through pictures, before "graphic novels" were an actual thing. (Grokked from Tobias Buckell)

What 5mrgs of storage used to look like. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

"The (DoJ) will block the voter ID provisions of an election law passed in South Carolina earlier this year because the state’s own statistics demonstrated that the photo identification requirement would have a much greater impact on non-white residents…" Oh no. I'm sure it's about the almost non-existant "voter fraud" problem. No, I'm sure disenfranchising 30%+ of voters will be worth it. At least to re-afirm the prejudice and world view of a minority of white people (his comment would have be okay, somewhat, if he hadn't followed it up).

Springtime for toxic pollution. Paul Krugman on why finally implementing the EPA mercury standards will be a good thing. But, again, most of these arguments are all about cost shifting. Lots of people don't see the $90 billion from reduced health care and other problems as connected to the toxic waste coming out of the smoke stacks. So they don't see that paying $10 billion will save them selves $90 billion. They just see the $10 billion.

Paul Solman and a discussion on higher or lower taxes and economic prosperity.

"'Virginia ballot access rules are among the most onerous… in a multi-candidate election,” Perry spokesperson Ray Sullivan said… 'We believe that the Virginia provisions unconstitutionally restrict the rights of candidates and voters by severely restricting access to the ballot, and we hope to have those provisions overturned or modified…'" Yep, that's right, Rick Perry, Mr. "States Rights RULEZ!", is suing the state of Virginia in Federal Court because he doesn't like Virginia's state rights. Right there is the conservative mind set. It's all about what they want, screw consistent political platforms. This is indicative of the "Got mine, screw you" mind set so prevalent in conservative politics these days. Basically what the Perry Campaign is saying, "We want the Fed out of the States hair, as long as those States do what we want. If not, we'll force them by using the power of the Fed." (Grokked from Jay Lake)

Well, that's 9 years

2011-12-27T22:59:00.000-05:00

Tonight was my last meeting as a councilman for the Village of Orwell. Unless there's an emergency. Thus ends an era in my life.

So what things have I learned? Patience. Lots and lots of patience. Nine times out of ten whatever the rumor is, it's completely wrong. That last one out of ten, just 90% wrong. If someone in government is found embezzling funds, lots of people have to have screwed up. Government accounting is the weirdest contraption know to modern accounting. Most people's conception of government and how it works is completely backassward and incomplete.

I've been involved in most aspects of the local government. I was liaison for Parks, BOPA (water), and backup liaison for SCAD (our ambulance service) and a few other things. Served on Streets and Lands and Buildings, Finance, and have been chairman of Streets/LB and Safety. I've been involved with the purchase of most of the vehicles the village currently uses. I've hired seven people, fired/let go two. And I have missed approximately 8 meetings that whole time (most of them over the past two summers because of classes). Pushed legislation, fixed legislation, helped get legislation passed.

All in all, I guess it was worth it.

In that time I've missed family events, missed writer events, and generally have had the wind constantly knocked out of my sails. Just when I think I would get my feet under me, something would come along and require more attention than things really should take. I would be into the rhythm of writing, and then some temporary crisis would arise that would take my time and attention.

No more. Now I can have my life interrupted by the normal things. You know, things that other writers friends have already dealt with and have tips of how to overcome. Have I mentioned how much this council thing sucked away my time and brain?

Would I recommend getting involved with your government? Yes. Citizens getting involved is what it's all about. Plus, you'll never know what you'll learn about the process. I've loved a lot of it. The people involved wiht our local government are hard working and do this work because they feel responsible for the village. It's been my great pleasure to have worked with them. I've learned more about my community that I ever would have other wise (and it's not like I wasn't involved before, being a member of the planning commission and a director in Ruritans (or local service club).

But, okay, I've done my bit for king and country. Actually, this is my second go at that well. It's time for others to step up to the plate.

Linkee-poo has holiday hang-over

2011-12-27T13:14:00.004-05:00

Just a short one for today, but high quality.

Kelly Link with tips for writing. Kelly Link is one of those writers I wish I would be compared with. In a favorable sense. Not in the, "never could be like" sense. Anyway, she also references the great book, Storyteller. Lots of stuff in there (and some good review if you've already gone over these concepts). Also, as a side note, what she (and Kate Wilhelm) call the Silent Partner is what I call "the Muse." Yes, I know their description is closer to reality. But isn't it easier to say "the Muse" than to go into the pedantic arena with how we are actually subconscious beings with a veneer of consciousness icing on top? (Grokked from Paolo Bacigalupi)

Because unlimited money and campaign contributions can't possibly buy votes or legislature's loyalty. Ah, the Koch Brothers are at it again. While funding PBS science programs like NOVA, they're also working to undermine any chance we have at actually halting global climate change by getting politicians to deny science and reality. Also, they're big TP supporters (because with the TP, they know they'll never have to change or pay for their intransigence). There's your third party. (Grokked from Morgan Locke)

Remember the conservative campaign ads about "Liberals are cutting your Medicare"? Well, what they're trying to cut is the 10% extra they have to pay for private insurers to run Medicare Advantage plans. Yes, again, the private/free-market always costs more than the government to do exactly the same thing (in in this case, less). Oh no, this industry doesn't need any changing. But, hey, I never did get to sell my Wellpoint stock, so thanks, taxpayers, for your part of my $54 in dividends this past year. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

Home in time for after the holidays

2011-12-27T02:01:00.003-05:00

Ah, back home. Bet you didn't know I was gone. Actually, yes, I was. I spent the weekend doing family stuff and not paying attention to myself. So, now I have a cold and an ear ache. Fabulous.

But now we're home and can have our Xmas. Well, tomorrow. It's late.

Helped Mom with some home things. Went bowling (broke 100 for both games, which is a good thing). But that also means my fingers hurt. I have big hands. Most "lane balls" that have holes that fit my fingers are at the 14 lbs range. So I'm either throwing a ball at least 2 lbs greater than I like, or I'm mashing my fingers into lighter balls. My fingers feel like they have rheumatoid arthritis in the distal joints.

Then there was the in-law Xmas, which after the "oh noes, how will we set this up" conversation I just started carrying tables myself. And even though the nieces and nephews are of age, it was just us adults cleaning up. Next time, yeah, I think I'm going to say something to them.

So, we're alive. Hope you had a great holiday if you celebrate. Tomorrow the weather turns nasty and the snow will arrive. Of course, I keep my decorations up until New Years at least. Sigh. Was hoping maybe not to freeze my tuckus off while taking down the decorations. Not to be.

A Pilgrim's Way

2011-12-26T10:19:00.000-05:00

A poem for the holidays. Not by me, but one I've come to love over the years.

I do not look for holy saints to guide me on my way,
Or male and female devilkins to lead my feet astray.
If these are added, I rejoice - if not, I shall not mind,
So long as I have leave and choice to meet my fellow-kind.
For as we come and as we go, and deadly-soon go we!
The people, Lord, Thy people, are good enough for me!

Thus I will honour pious men whose virtue shines so bright
Though none are more amazed than I when I by chance do right,
And I will pity foolish men for woe their sins have bred
Though ninety-nine per cent. of mine I brought on my own head.
And, Amorite or Eremite, or General Averagee,
The people, Lord, Thy people, are good enough for me!

And when they bore me overmuch, I will not shake mine ears,
Recalling many thousand such whom I have bored to tears.
And when they labour to impress, I will not doubt nor scoff;
Since I myself have done no less and sometimes pulled it off.
Yea, as we are and we are not, and we pretend to be,
The people, Lord, Thy people, are good enough for me!

And when they work me random wrong, as oftentimes hath been,
I will not cherish hate too long (my hands are none too clean).
And when they do me random good I will not feign surprise.
No more than those whom I have cheered with wayside charities.
But, as we give and as we take – whate'er our takings be –
The people, Lord, Thy people, are good enough for me!

But when I meet with frantic folk who sinfully declare
There is no pardon for their sin, the same I will not spare
Till I have proved that Heaven and Hell which in our hearts we have
Show nothing irredeemable on either side of the grave.
For as we live and as we die - if utter Death there be -
The people, Lord, Thy people, are good enough for me!

Deliver me from every pride - the Middle, High, and Low -
That bars me from a brother's side, whatever pride he show.
And purge me from all heresies of thought and speech and pen
That bid me judge him otherwise than I am judged. Amen!
That I may sing of Crowd or King or road-borne company,
That I may labour in my day, vocation and degree,
To prove the same in deed and name, and hold unshakenly
Where'er I go, whate'er I know, whoe'er my neighbor be
This single faith in Life and Death and to Eternity:
The people, Lord, Thy people, are good enough for me!

Rudyard Kipling

Have a great holiday, everybody. We're on the downhill run to the New Year.

Linkee-poo branches out this holiday

2011-12-25T08:00:00.000-05:00

Hope you're having a fabulous holiday, if you celebrate.

Jim Hines is a geeky holiday decorator.

Or the portal Xmas treet. (Grokked from John Scalzi)

Then there is the fire breathing Godzilla tree. We're not worthy.

Or trees of unusual color.

And there are completely unique trees.

Or these trees, which are sometimes only trees in the implied sense. Don't miss the cojoined tree at the bottom.

Then there are trees that are jewels, or at least covered in them.

Oh Great Internet Brain - Christmas Light Effect

2011-12-24T15:29:00.002-05:00

Oh Great Internet Brain, I have two questions regarding Christmas Lighting Effect.

The first one if for controller boxes. What I would like to do is set up several large "ornaments" (3-4' stars with strings of lights to illuminate them) and have them go on and off in a random fashion. Has anybody done this, or do they have experience with any of the commercial boxes available?

This year I've noticed a new trend. For large trees and boughs of garlands, ie. commercial displays, there are lights that have a strobing effect. This is like watching stadiums at sports events and seeing all the flashbulbs going off distributed throughout the audience. I haven't been able to find any such lights. There are random twinkle lights, but they don't have the power of whatever these places are using. Does anybody know what these lights are called or how I could set up the same effect?

As always, TIA.

Linkee-poo knows it's Christmas (somewhere) afterall

2011-12-24T13:29:00.003-05:00

NORAD's Santa Track.

Santa's workload calculated. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

John Scalzi shares eight things you didn't know about your favorite holiday music.

Forgot to mention the Dan has his internet-age car stickers for sale now.

Comet Lovejoy continues to dazzle the southern hemisphere.

The six really lame reasons why aliens invade us and the reasons why they really wouldn't invade us for those reasons. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

Linkee-poo thinks it's beginning to look a lot like Easter

2011-12-23T13:19:00.001-05:00

Some snow today. Just enough to make the deck look like a powdered donut. It's pretty much melted on the streets and lawn. Ah, global warming. Family has been visiting so I haven't had much time to go a-reading across these here intertubuals.

Edit, link is fixed As @fran_wilde said, I love how Pluto's all 'bet you wish I were in your boring planet club now, don'tcha?'" (Grokked from Steven Gould)

"Don’t worry about Best Buy, though. The retailer isn’t hurting its bottom line by canceling orders en mass. The Wall Street Journal quotes an analyst stating 'It’s a hiccup for the company' and 'It probably won’t make a big difference for Best Buy’s holiday sales.' Oh good. Because Best Buy’s earnings were the first things I thought of when this story broke. Screw the customers. They don’t matter anyway." (Grokked from Vince)

Filed under "those in glass houses just shouldn't" Vince shares Rachael Maddow taking Fox News and Sarah Palin to task on their criticism of White House Xmas card. I made the comment the other day that with the standard conservative wackiness, the jokes just write themselves.

So, you've been indefinitely detained. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

Linkee-poo sinks, drowning in the inkiness of the longest night

2011-12-22T21:37:00.000-05:00

When do you know you're a writer? One of the answers is when another writer calls you one.

Jay Lake is going to ConFusion. Hmm, when Link Salad and Linkee-poo meet in real life, will it be like particle and anti-particle or Indiana Jones and Renne Belloq? "I am but a shadowy reflection of you…" (actually, I have met Jay Lake in real life, for like 5 minutes at World Fantasy, I doubt he remembers, he was focused on other things)

A brief history of changelings. The article is specifically about one novel and their take, but some good general info about the belief.

Yes, Virginia, there are people without a clue. (Grokked from Tobias Buckell)

Gay community apologizes to Amy Koch for ruining her marriage. (Grokked from @random_michelle)

Kenimer Mound in Georgia a 1,100 year old Mayan ruin and one of the seven cities of gold? (Grokked from Tobias Buckell)

Random Holiday Advertising Thoughts

2011-12-22T12:24:00.001-05:00

Stop it with the Carol of the Bells already. No, really, there's like a thousand other holiday songs/Christmas Carols. How about a little The Holly and the Ivy, or something like Good King Whatshisname. It's not that hard.

So is it just me, or does anybody else thing the elves in the T-Mobil commercial are actually singing, "Walking in an Orgy Wonderland"? I know it's supposed to be "4G", but that "f" is real soft. Might have chosen a different song.

Or, in other words, changing a holiday song to fit your product? Don't be a jerk, okay?

Give Santa a break. I mean it's not like we don't work the poor guy to death one day out of every year. But you guys aren't helping.

It's also about the Anglo-Germanic-Nast-ian view of the holidays, isn't it? Even the whole "Bad Santa" sub-genre. There are plenty of other traditions that include Santa and holiday decorations, how about we mine those a little?

If you attempt to do the "tear-jerker" routine, I'm turning the channel. Thanks, already have enough of that in real life, don't need it on the TV. (I'm looking at you, Sarah McLachlan)

The whole "older son in (college, military, other state) coming home for a surprise Christmas visit" has also been done to death. And given the prevalence of both home security systems and concealed carry laws, your premises don't work very well. Plus, you know, most of those kids are living at home these days because of the economy.

Giving a car for Christmas? Wow, are you talking to the top 10% or what. Or, in other words, "fuck you, nobody who has a real life does this."

The "save so much so you can…" or just in general the "give yourself a gift at Christmas" ploy? Glad we're not being cynical about American Culture here.

The longest night

2011-12-21T21:58:00.000-05:00

It always amazes me that there is a subset of people who like to celebrate the exact moment of things. I think these are the people who wait until the actual hour of their birth (waking up in the middle of the night if necessary) to wish themselves a happy birthday. There's now a thread of our culture that likes to celebrate the exact moment of the changing of the seasons (full moon, tide crest, etc). Like it's all that important. And that time that is given for the change of the seasons has little to do with events on Earth, but with our orbit around the sun. See, the time is the specific time of a specific event (like when certain stars appear out of the corona of the sun - or as our orbit finally takes us to a paralax when we can view the star without having our Sun in the way).

I blame the digital watches, myself.

Our ancestors didn't celebrate the exact time of the solstice (except maybe sunrise and sunset since solstice and equinox celebrations are distinctly tied to solar worship/observance as compared to moon worship/observance which typically predates a focus on the sun). To them, knowing kinda sorta around the right day was enough.

And so, welcome Solstice Night. A time to light candles and fires. To sing the songs of our ancestors. Drink fortified wine, beer, cider, whatever you want. Eat the stores of food. And celebrate.

May the coming of the sun bring us our warmth and life. May it bring prosperity, fecundity, and success.

Ring out those solstice bells.

The Laughing Coyote Guide to GOP Debates

2011-12-21T12:58:00.002-05:00

Okay, for you all, I think I'll just save you all the time of actually watching the debates. Pretty much all the candidates are going to say the same thing from now until the Iowa Caucus (except for Ron Paul who appeals to those who flunked economics, Ron has his own brand of crazy). All the candidates are trying to rack up as many endorsements as they can, mostly from the thousands of groups who are committed to ending the persecutions of the Christians in this country who obviously are forced to praise God in secret, forming house churches that are two steps from being outed by their neighbors (for the noise) and dragged off to the FEMA Re-Education Camps.

You can pretty much insert this text for the "blah blah blah" they're going to say. Again, except for Ron "End the Fed" Paul. This is offered as a time saving exercise.

"Brothers! Oh, brothers. We have all gathered here, to preserve our hallowed culture and heritage. We aim to pull evil up by the root, before it chokes out the flower of our culture and heritage. And our women, let's not forget those ladies, y'all. Looking to us for protection. From darkies, from Jews, from papists, and from all those smart-ass folks say we come descended from monkeys. That's not my culture and heritage. Is that your culture and heritage?!" - Homer Stokes

Then add in the stock arguments of "evolution is teh evil" and "we don't see no global climate change" and you pretty much got it. What I keep hearing from the right isn't so much, "We've got better ideas" as it is, "Keep Obama a one-term president."

Linkee-poo rings out those Solstice Bells

2011-12-21T12:45:00.002-05:00

Catherine Shaffer shares her plan for world domination. Okay, well, maybe just winning literary/genre awards.

Jim Hines explains in comic form why budding authors are often exercised from their family.

It's interesting to see a revival of type as design element. There was also a dancing type link, of which I've apparently lost.

Catherine Shaff-Stump is looking for blogging suggestions. Yes, I think we might have to remedy that glaring omission.

Eric shares the Count being censored. Yep, as parents you really should be watching what your kids are watching. You never know what insidious message is getting through.

You know, one of these days Jim Wright is going to say something that pisses me off, or he'll post a dude. But, that isn't today.

Linkee-poo has garlic in its soul

2011-12-20T13:11:00.003-05:00

If you're looking to hone your writing chops, Strange Horizons is looking so a slush reader. Slush reading is one of those milestones some people talk about in their writing careers. (Grokked from Cat Rambo)

What's the value of cancer treatment? Some inside baseball into the UK's National Health Service. When we talk about "controlling the cost of health care" in this country, all these problems play out here as well. However, it's not negotiated and planned by "experts". There's a handy infographic that sums up the stakeholders and the positions. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

The 10 happiest jobs which also includes a list of 10 most hated jobs. (Grokked from Miranda Suri)

Some private insurance insanity which I have also experienced. Yeah, we don't need to reform that industry, not at all. Because it's not wasteful. Know what major provision of the ACA the insurance industries hate? The requirement that 80% of your premiums must go toward coverage of medical expenses. They're currently lobbying the rule righters to have "marketing" covered in medical expenses. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

Sailing cards.

Sarah Palin is not ready to endorse any GOP presidential candidates. Why? Well, she says she just doesn't "feel" it yet. More than likely it's because the race keeps changing and she doesn't know who the winner will be. It's awfully much more convenient to keep your high success rate when you pick the foregone winner from the pack. Don't worry, I'm sure she'll choose sometime right before the RNC nominating convention.

And this way lies tyranny. Seriously, if that just didn't make his history PhD committee say, "maybe we should re-evaluate our decision", I don't know what would.

The Brandeis Tax. And interesting proposal, but I doubt it will ever see the light of day. The top 1% feel "victory" is in their grasp (note equivalent emotion of ultra-conservatives). What they've forgotten is their history. "'We may have democracy, or we may have wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we cannot have both (said Louis Branseis).' Brandeis lived at a time when enormous disparities between the rich and the poor led to violent labor unrest and ultimately to a reform movement." History may not repeat, but it surely rhymes. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

Fear the new light bulb. The baby Jesus is weeping. Look, the standard incandescent light bulb is a huge money waster. It's a huge drain on our already outdated electrical grid. Asking for a 25% improvement in efficiency (with 5 years notice) is not a big thing. Just another example of the radical right having lost its mind.

Paul Krugman on the GOP monetary madness. I think I've made similar points in person (and somewhat on this blog). Remember all the sturm und drang about the bailouts of Fed monetary policy. Well, if the GOP were correct, we'd all be pushing our wheelbarrows of greenback to the grocery by now. I don't expect them to have a contemplative thought of, "Oh, hey, I guess we were wrong about that. Wonder what else we were wrong about?" Especially not in an election year. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

The questions that vex us

2011-12-19T16:51:00.002-05:00

So, there's an re-emerging trend within audio productions (both songs, and in many cases, movie trailers). I call it the, "just barely conscious signal", in which the audio or video skitezes you, flickers between frames with lots of static-y sounds and visuals. You know. Like you used to get when TVs and radios had knobs you had to turn which moved a connection along a coil to "tune-in" a signal.

You can sometimes get the same effect now-a-days when you have a regular FM/AM signal and there's an intense lightning storm in the area. When I was young, this was a staple of life. The hiss and whine of broadcast signals. It's often used in horror to have the effect of, "emergency broadcast that you can just barely pickup or hear."

It takes me back to my childhood and knowing how to finesse a dial to get a clearer signal. But, you know what? We don't do that anymore. How does this translate to the target audience (12-24 year olds) who all grew up in the digital tuner/cable (and now digital signal) age?

Is it a cultural legacy? Societal anachronistic short hand we all accept (like "dialing" a phone, I remember dialing, my nieces and nephews have never dialed a phone)? Is it part of our genetic memory (the way chickens will scatter when the shadow of a hawk passes over them, even if they've never experienced a bird of prey before)?

And yes, this is what writers stay up past the witching hour contemplating. Because, we must know. How else to play upon your emotions, dear reader, than to know not only what makes you tick, but how.

Linkee-poo likes the running of the deer

2011-12-19T13:14:00.000-05:00

Win all The Wheel of Time audiobooks.

Added to the "Things I Didn't Know", Random Michelle K has a reading blog and Jim Wright has an Etsy store (although he only has pens there right now).

Weird thought of the morning, when I get to be a rich and famous writer who can't go out into public for fear of being mobbed by my fans, I might resort to hiring a locations scout to fill out scenes in my worlds.

Vintage science posters. (Grokked from Tor)

A good article on male privilege in geekdom. "The idea that perhaps the way women are portrayed in fandom is aleetle sexist is regularly met with denials, justifications and outright dismissal of the issue. So regularly, in fact, that there's a Bingo card covering the most common responses… We will now pause for the expected responses…" Yes, that. (Grokked from Tor.com)

Well, that could explain why OWS isn't sweeping the nation like a brush fire. BTW, just as a statistical nature exercise, it is highly unlikely that anybody reading this post is in the 1%. In the top 10%? It depends (I'm not tracking individuals here, but I know one or two who "know" about this blog). But the top 1% is right out. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

In relation to yesterday's link on it not being okay to not know how the internet works, I deleted a few lines about what else it isn't okay to say these days. One of those was it's not okay to say being gay is a choice. There's a whole list of things that we could state here ("your people", "AIDS is a gay disease", "poor people want to be poor", "welfare queen", etc). I just thought I should recreate a portion of the list here for future reference. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

Scenes from a Morning Commute

2011-12-19T08:32:00.001-05:00

Linkee-poo has the Sunday Blahs

2011-12-18T17:16:00.003-05:00

So, this morning I was watching "Meet the Press" and John Boehner. He was asked about his opinion of Newt Gingrich, as Newt is the current front runner. The Speaker of the House, someone who worked closely with Newt back in the day (and lost his position for opposing Newt) declined to comment. Actually, what he said was "I have a busy job and I don't have time to pay attention to the political race," or something like that. Really? The Republican who holds the highest elected office in the party, and office that is two-steps away from the Presidency, who has the time to send an aid to meddle in Ohio's redistricting, he isn't paying attention? He doesn't have an opinion of a person he work with for years? Complete and utter bullshit.

John Scalzi is gathering feed back on Whatever. Go let him know what you think of this past year's performance. Cry havoc and let slip the comments of snark!

The reverse gender gap. Not sure I completely agree with some of the "why is this happening" speculation in the article, nor with the "zomg, it's everywhere" or with what people may take from it. Namely, "well, we solved that gender inequality thing, no need to worry about it." Not that this is surprising to me, I'm pretty sure (without adding it up), I've reported to more women than I have to men in my career. As to the quote, “We’ve arrived at the top of the staircase… only to discover a cavernous room at the tail end of the party, most of the men gone already, some having never shown up — and those who remain are leering by the cheese table…", that's a whole 'nother problem. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

And, as a surprise to no one, Joe Arpaio claims the DOJ allegations are a "sneak attack" and just politics. Given all the crop of the past year, we all know this drill, don't we? We all have our Scumbag-Claims-He's-A-Scapegoat Bingo Cards ready, right?

Fox News intentionally reports rumors/speculation as facts? Shocked, shocked I am…

So, have you noticed, that for the GOP to shout from the TV Talk Show roof-tops that America deserves a government that doesn't kick the can down the road, every since they got the majority in the House, that's all they've been doing? You did notice that we had another "potential government shutdown showdown" last week, right? Yeah. Neither did many people. The boy has officially cried "wolf" one too many times. And remember the push that bills should be about one subject or that you'll have 3 days to read the final legislation before there's any vote on it in the House? How's the GOP doing on any of those promises? How's the Tea Party doing holding their GOP representatives to keep to those promises?

Thinking of the failures of our elected representatives, it's not longer okay to not know how the internet works. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

Snowy Saturday

2011-12-17T21:11:00.002-05:00

Spent the day at a play downtown. Okay, well, I did do other things. Like I went to a client's to take some photos. See snowy day comments and the photos were to be of his horses. This is the third time we tried. So I left my camera with him so he could get them while he could (the problem with working all the daylight hours). Then we ran errands for recyclables and cat food (there was a sale, on the cat food, not the recyclables).

Did I mention it was snowy?

So it took some time to get downtown. It was well worth it. Playhouse Square was finely done for the holidays. And the Allen Theater looked fabulous. The play itself started off slowly, but the second act picked up and ended very well. The characters started off somewhat cardboard thin, but go interesting in the second act. Lots of Shakespeare in the play, which is always enjoyable. And while I had the end of the play by the start of the second act, there were enough twists to keep me engaged.

However the tickets we $70 a piece, and we were in the very last row. There were $50 tickets, and I'm wondering just where those were. Like I said, we were in the last row of the balcony. Peasants, w(h)ine for Caeser.

Had dinner in Mentor on the way home, while we ran some more errands. The food was excellent, and given the crowd at 5pm, obviously very popular. Although I had a fairly light dinner (chicken piccante), I feel a little heavy from it. Weird.

So that was the day. How's your weekend going?

Healthy, Wealthy and Wide

2011-12-16T22:22:00.001-05:00

Or something like that. It's been a while since I've done a health update. In general, I'm doing okay.

On the weight side of things, there hasn't been much progress. Okay, there was, but my week at an Indian Casino and sitting in a seat most of the day lead to a major rollback. I had been down to 301 in the middle of November (last weigh in with doctor), but as of monday I was at 315. Not good. And unfortunately my regular exercise (15 minute fast walk at noon, and walking up 3 stories every Monday and Wednesday for class) is no longer happening. On top of that I'm taking Claritin as a prophylactic to keep my nose clear. Allergy medicines are becoming known for helping put on the weight. Since the was smoking at the casino, I was taking a pill several times a day. I need to get back to using the Wii. It's been over a year since I've been able to use it regularly. the good news is weight goes up, but weight goes down too. That's good news, because as long as the weight is moving it means I can still lose weight (without severe dieting). The other good news is that when I can control the snacking at work (we have free snacks, it's a poisonous thing) and drink my own tea, I lose weight.

The big D has been at bay this year. There's been a few little d episodes, but those are normal. Given the levels of stress this past year, I think that's somewhat of a miracle. There have been two weeks when I haven't had Welbutrin (scheduling issues with getting refills and having most evenings scheduled). And each time I haven't felt the edges of the big D. I would have stretched the experiments longer, but both times were high-stress moments (see not being able to stop at the drug store on the way home because of being busy). Maybe in the New Year we'll try to go off for a long time and see if the big D comes stalking at my door.

It's now been about two months with the CPAP machine. I'm definitely sleeping better. In fact, there has been dreaming (of the normal type). But now I have some experience with the machines, so here is what I've learned. The different companies that produce machines and masks have very different products. Between the sleep tests, my wife's CPAP, and finagling samples, I have been able to try out a lot of equipment. IMHO, Philips Respironics is leading the pack (and I would avoid Fisher & Paykel - just my advice). I have their CPAP machine (with warm mist - technically a BiPAP - which means the machine adjust pressure as I breath out), and have pretty much stayed with their masks. I didn't think with my allergies and nose problems I'd be able to use just a nose mask, but I really love my ComfortGel Nasal Mask (large). I don't have much of a "red line" problem, or nasal soreness with it. There have been a few nights where I've had to switch to a full mask (I have a couple of those). Even with the warm mist, I get dry mouth very quickly. And if I have to breathe through my mouth with the mask, I feel like those guys doing the G testing in centrifuges (with the lips and checks flapping). the full face mask I like to use is a ResMed. Between the two masks I have more leak problems with the ResMed. I have more issues with the Fisher & Paykel.

There are several things to keep in mind with the masks. They should fit comfortably. I typically wear them higher than I think they're supposed to be worn, but then I also don't have a sore nose bridge either.

Another thing to think about with masks is how they come apart for cleaning. This may not seem like a big thing, but trust me on this one. And, again, the Respironics has the engineering advantage. The ComfortGel mask easily separates into components that are easy to wash and easy to put back together. The ResMed is a little less easy. The F&P is the worse. Also, cleaning the machine shows the same breakdown (in fact, the F&P machine that my wife has is a pain in the arse to clean). While the manuals say to clean everyday, I do it about once a week and we're doing fine (if I go longer, I'll add a little vinegar to the dishsoap mix).

Another thing to keep in mind is how to adjust the mask. You might be tempted to make the mask as tight as you can stand to keep the seal. I would advise you to adjust your mask to be as loose as possible, but still not leak.

So there it is. Lots of ups and downs, but pretty well averaged over the year.

It's beginning to look a lot like Xmas

2011-12-16T15:16:00.001-05:00

I'm sure some of you have been saying, "Oh sure, Steve, but what do your decorations look like this year?"

So here is as wide a shot as I can get. You can just barely see the large ornaments hanging from the tree.

And here is just the deer on the righthand side.

Then there is the side yard display. Note the new wreath hanging on the storage barn in back.

And here is a closer shot of the front of the house. Most of these lights are new, as is the garland around the doors (I've really been wanting to do that for years - this isn't really what I wanted to do, but it's what I could afford this year, and it doesn't look much different from the street).

And then there is a partial view of my neighbors lawn (he's added more things since this shot, and well as several inflatables to the right, and a few to the left). My neighbor feels we're in some kind of competition with each other. Which led me to almost get the 12' inflatable Santa. Just because that would be my trump card this week. But I refrained.

So there's a few new things this year. I also have garland wrap around the mailbox (so it looks good during the day). I've relamped 2 of the deer this year with LEDs (warm whites, which are a nice addition as they only look slightly different from the others, unlike the deer I relamped in cool whites, which look blueish).

There's plenty I wanted to get, but the cost was a little too high. We'll check out the after Xmas sales (depending on other factors going on).

Linkee-poo knows it's a long way to the top if you wanna rock 'n roll

2011-12-16T13:29:00.002-05:00

Stick a fork in it, the intertubules have been won. (Grokked from everywhere)

We all have our million dollar ideas. Here's Dan's. I have to admit that I'm often puzzled by what these car stickers mean (yes, I know they're country codes from the EU, but that's not how we use them here in the US). At least these I'll understand. Plus, Dan's looking for feedback while he's in the testing phase. Any ones he should include, ideas for his commercial site, whatever?

I hate it when Hollywood does fairy tales. Why? Because they intentionally fuck it up. Jack and the Bean Stalk is not the same Jack in Jack the Giant Killer. Sure, they have the same first name, but then I have the same first name with Stephen Hawking. And I doubt anyone would confuse the two of us. Jack is an all purpose name for "everyman hero" in the fairy tales of the British Isles.

Oh Noes! Another Ghost Rider movie. Look, I saw the first one really, really wanting it to be cool. I mean, come on; motorcycle, flaming skull, demonic fighting with a flaming chain, Nic Cage, Peter Fonda, and Sam Elliot… it should have been damn awesome. How can you screw up such a thing? But screw up they did. It was one of those movies that you end up continuing to watch just to see how bad it would suck, and it even failed that test. Okay, I admit, I was really tired when I watched it. Like, "Oh, the remote is all the way on the other side of the couch, I'll never turn the channel again," tired. But still, blech.

Kelly Swails shares a holiday greeting. As she says, "It's Serratia marcescens and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, in case you're wondering."

"Into the kitchen rushes a Lubavitch SWAT team of three rabbis and an intern." An article on making the White House Kitchen Kosher for the Holidays (and you know which ones I'm talking about). "During the tumult, Rabbi Baron reviews a Hebrew passage from Shulchan Aruch, the venerable code of Jewish law. He finds it on his iPad." (that last is a personal note to me to rewrite "Grace" to send out). (Grokked from Jay Lake)

The newsworthy events of 2011 in Lego. I wonder if the OWS will become a commercial set? (Grokked from Jim Hines)

So, just who are the job creators? (Hint: No, it ain't the rich). No need to worry, that banging sound is someone trying to shatter of world views of the GOP (they're particularly hard headed). And here I'll just point out that I hope you're all noticing that the GOP isn't for tax breaks for everybody (like the payroll tax holiday that affects all working people), they're just for tax breaks for the rich (those of you in the other 9% of the top 10% just get the benefit of being close, but the GOP isn't looking out for you either). (Pointed to by Sheila)

Oh, hell no. Those anti-immigration laws can't be about just brown people. So, besides driving Alabama's agricultural industry into the ground, it's also affecting all those industries that Alabama lured in to increase their tax base. But I'm sure they're not looking to revise their law just because some non-brown people were "inconvenienced." No, I'm sure they have some better reason to rethink their idiotic, racist, Jim Crow wannabe crap law. (Grokked from Tobias Buckell)

Ta-Nehisi Coates with and interesting squib on cultural and our inherited baggage. I've also experienced the same thing he did and had been wondering about it. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

Tweet of my heart:
@seriouslyemily: The correct algorithm to find the serving size of Doritos is your height divided by your sad.

Synchronicity

2011-12-15T14:43:00.003-05:00

Saw Captain America for the first time last night (yeah, I know, but I've been really busy). The one thing I want to comment about, thought, is I'm now in love with Steve Viola. He's the designer behind the end title sequence. They used vintage propaganda posters to develop the titles and, I'll admit, left me in total designer squee mode. So that's why it's sad to hear that Joe Simon passed on the day before I saw the modern movie based on his creation.

Linkee-poo decking the halls with boughs of holly

2011-12-15T13:07:00.000-05:00

Oh, to be back in the days of the innocence of yore. 1561 should be good for some clean, wholesome, entertainment. Yeah. Right. Mmm, sexting through the use of Chaucer. And next, kiddies, we'll dissect some of my favorite Shakespeare, who also never wrote about sex. wink (Grokked from Jay Lake)

What was Kurt Vonnegut like as a teacher? Yeah, that's one of the reasons I like him.

Comet Lovejoy's suicide may become visible with the naked eye. The comet will be grazing the sun at such a close distance it will most probably be destroyed. As it does so, its magnitude of brightness is growing greater than predicted. If things work out right, you might be able to see the comet next to the sun in broad daylight.

Augmented reality hits the toy shelves. New tech tends to have two routes into the world, porn or toys (okay, well, military/space is another one). It's interesting to see this, I'm not so sure the Cars tie-in will workout (driving or manipulating a physical toy that has to be in close contact with the gaming screen isn't much different that just playing the game, IMHO, kinect is more AR, but in reverse is you see what I mean). And the Skylander's aren't so much augmented reality as platform agnostic game info storage devices. However, I see the Skylander's tech as more viable. Imagine if you had these for your RPG characters? You could merge video game play (online and solo) with table-top RPG experiences. You could reorder how gaming conventions are run (as in, real game changer). As a side note, AR has been in toys for about four years now. There's a stuffed toy you can buy that comes with a code to allows you to unlock an online experience, also there have been AR readers (show icon to camera, see animated 3d model on screen) in games for at least two years. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

Ah, well, good thing somebody is getting nice raises these days. Too bad it's the same 1% that's been getting all the raises for the past three decades. (Grokked from Tobias Buckell)

Punks arrested in Jakarta and given "re-education." Long-haired hippy-freaks need not apply. (Pointed to by John)

And what comes as a surprise to nobody, the DoJ investigation into Sheriff Joe Arpaio finds extreme ethnic bias in his policing practices. Cue the diner signers to another chorus of, "but they commit all the crimes."

If Money=Political Speech, only 58 of us are doing 80% of the speaking through SuperPACs. (Grokked from Tobias Buckell)

Priebus's Army? Like Dumbledore's Army, but less competent and more angry.

For Jim, because

2011-12-15T09:01:00.004-05:00

We know how much Jim Wright loves this song. (Grokked from ticia42)

Linkee-poo knows it's all run by a big eastern syndicate

2011-12-14T12:50:00.001-05:00

Spent the morning at the courthouse, only to have the judge dismiss one count, and the state drop their prosecution of the other count. So, thanks Universe. I think that was meant to be a good thing.

George Takei, broker of intergalactic peace. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

Tor is sending Tobias Buckell on the road for his new book, Arctic Rising. So happy for my friend, you just wouldn't believe. Ah, I think I've found the Christmas Spirit early. Oh, wait, that's just the hard cider. All the events are on the other coast. (Congrats, Tobias.)

How doctors die. Having watched too many people go through a rough end of life, there is something to be said for Hospice (although, please note, not everyone there goes gently into the night either). (Grokked from Jay Lake)

Sure, you've seen the cats playing with the Friskee's app, but can they play a real video game like this bearded dragon? I think not. (Pointed to by John)

When the "free market" goes too far. Amazon once again shows the dark side of the force. Now, I'll admit, I've made purchases through Amazon after seeing something in a brick-and-mortar store. I've even made the comment to my wife, "I bet I could get a good deal on-line for (whatever see's looking at)." So I'm guilty. However, that's the consumer doing price shopping (and here I'll also say that I've gone the other way saying, "I could probably save a buck buying this online/outside my local shops", but then realizing what I'd save I would spend in doing that runaround, just purchased the item - there's several scenarios around this). This app is industrial espionage at an exceptionally course level. If Amazon went out and gathered this info (more difficult than just walking into a store with a pen and paper - see stories from Best Buy about doing that), and then set its price accordingly, I'm okay with that. But enlisting the consumer to do the dirty work? There's a line back there that we crossed. (Grokked from John Scalzi)

Paul Allen goes for the full Howard Hughes. Okay, well, launching rockets after taking them close to orbit by another means (aircraft, ballon) isn't a new idea. The old space launch company he funded (now Virgin Galactic) did the same thing with White Knight and SpaceShip One.

You know how climate scientists talk about "tipping points." Well we might have just passed one. It's already been seen that the melting permafrost in Alaska has been releasing methane, but this is a whole different scale. You know how we all get worried about CO2 releases? Yeah, methane is about 20x worse. Of course, the other side is all pictures or it didn't happen. Unfortunately, I can't find that the AGU has released the papers presented, yet. Considering this scientist has been talking about this for 5 years (that I can remember) and has more scientific cred that the deniers, I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt. But measurements would be nice (as I remember, though, methane research isn't what he's doing, these are just incidental sightings). (Grokked from Tobias Buckell)

Lies, damnable lies, and infographics. Serious face palm going on over at Fox News. Really, dudes, when it's only drawing grid lines to show how much you faked the chart, you're not even trying. And yes, I've been asked to make charts like that in previous positions, there are better ways of doing this work which don't intentionally show the lie (like how the chart goes from 8.0 to 10.0, which flattens out the line). Oh. Wait. I get it. This is the "Help, I'm being held prisoner in a fortune cookie factory" message. (Grokked from Phiala)

Another Tennessee house burns as firefighter watch. I'm of two minds about this, being Chairman of Safety (for only a few more weeks). It's damn expensive to run a fire department (you wouldn't believe the cost of equipment and the training necessary). So I understand the thinking behind the "the fire service is for our municipality, if you want it outside of that line, you need to buy into the service." $75 is chicken feed, btw, for such insurance. But I also understand there are people for whom $75 is a hardship. The way to settle this is property tax in the form of a levy to buy into the local municipality's fire service (we have two such arrangements, while the millage is the same, because of the increased value of property inside the village, we still pay they lion's share, not to mention tossing in extra income tax dollars). If you don't believe in taxes, then you have to go to fee for service. But then you have these types of things. And, yes, the firefighters will watch the blaze (not welcomely, they'd rather fight it) to make sure it doesn't spread to other properties that have paid the fee (or for which they could get reimbursed by federal agencies, like preventing a forest fire). (Grokked from Tobias Buckell)

I hope you'v all be working out, keeping this calluses in good shape, because this election year is going to be a doozy of a face palm season. Not to mention a rehash of the has-beens of the last election. I might want to stock up on the pepto bismol. (Grokked from Jim Wright)

When Rick Perry's campaign started off with his Day of Prayer, I worried a little. Then when it was exposed that the people behind his Day of Prayer were the New Apostolic Reformation, I got concerned. Then with his video, "Strong" Rick Perry proved he was a tool. Dear Texans, if you have the recall, I'd start doing it now. No, really, Rick has jumped the shark. The whole, "Obama's war on Christianity"? That takes some serious reality disconnect to get to. Rick shouldn't be allowed to operate a motor vehicle while taking such strong stuff, let alone being handed keys of power. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

Tweet of my heart
@God_Damn_Batman: The holidays are the most stressful time of year. What with all the shopping and armies of penguins with tiny missiles on their back.

Late breaking heads

2011-12-13T22:01:00.000-05:00

So, the last month on Council just can't be an easy one, can it? Thanks, Universe, for more heartbreak on the way out.

Well, we had one officer resign (which I already knew about). So I need to hire another this month (almost solved). I mean, they couldn't wait another month?

But then there's more health problems around Council. If you happen to think that there's all this giving away of the house by the government when it comes to health care, think again. Because of the regulations instituted by Congress attempting to cut their liability, one of our own is suffering more than necessary. They need a necessary procedure, but unfortunately are just outside the approved level to be helped. So, instead, we have a few more expensive hospital visits instead of fixing the problem. Saving a few pennies to spend a few dollars. Great.

Then someone goes through a stop sign and takes out the sibling of another of our workers. Funeral was yesterday (so I missed all of it).

Then there's our State Attorney General who feels that pursuing a former employee for overpayments which had already been discovered and "approved" by the elected board members (different body) 6 years ago is now worth pursuing to bring money in for the state. Dollar amount is below $500, the clerk had already been disciplined, the error was caught and corrected before the audit, the elected members of the board absolved the debt. In an attempted to drive revenues, the AG isn't hearing any of it and required response immediately. Six years ago. So our choice was to force the former employee (who is facing medical and financial problems of their own) to repay, force the Clerk to pay, or tap our Bond (which at least will increase our costs, might lead to loosing it). And we had to decide tonight, or let the AG make the choice. Have we talked about how the OAG is also looking at getting welfare recipients to repay government overpayments from up to 25 years ago? Can we pick a swell bunch in this state or what.

Also, I have jury duty tomorrow. Freaking fantastic. Every other year I've been called for duty, but haven't had to serve (dismissed the night before). Hey, thanks a load.

Dear Universe, I don't know what I did to piss you off, but you can stop it now.

Scenes from a Morning Commute

2011-12-13T15:25:00.000-05:00

And if you're wondering how the week back is going, do this give you a clue?

Never let them tell you that designers don't do math (that's just from this afternoon, this morning's figures took up a whole page and are in the trash now).

Linkee-poo is sold by volume, not by weight

2011-12-13T13:17:00.003-05:00

The Greater Cleveland Aquarium opening January 21, 2012. It's been a long, damnable wait. And $22 for an 1.5 experience?

Catherine Schaff-Stump shares what she learned this NaNaWriMo. Also demonstrating that just because you write one way one day, doesn't mean you can't mix it up the next. Heck, you may have to.

MiB3. 'nough said.

Nathan would like to share with you some of the lesser known heros of the "War on Christmas". At least I now know where my annual desire to eat potato knishes comes from.

And open letter from (some of) the truck drivers affected by OWS's shutdown yesterday. "We love being behind the wheel. We are proud of the work we do… But we feel humiliated when we receive paychecks that suggest we work part time at a fast-food counter. Especially when we work an average of 60 or more hours a week…" Just simple justice. Also, a nice essay on what happens when you deregulate and allow "the market" to set the terms. (Grokked from Tobias Buckell)

Siri fails at family planning. It's one thing to have a missing piece of data, it's a different thing to have specific black holes of information, while providing in-depth information for topics just adjacent (ie. if you know Viagra, you should know Plan B). (Grokked from Jay Lake)

Vince shares a video that might upset some of you. NSFW (explicative laden), you are warned. I don't agree totally with it (extenuating circumstances), but from the angle the ranter is coming from, yes.

The epidemic of autism. The the article reports, it's mostly an epidemic of diagnosis. "Indeed, some parents pursue it doggedly… because it can open the door to publicly funded services." It also can create distinct advantages, especially for students. With the mainstreaming of students who used to be relegated to special ed, general ed make allowances for them: special tutoring, longer times to take tests, readers, etc. That second part, longer time frames for test taking, has been extremely attractive to parents (and students). There are a lot of people out there diagnosed with "developmental disabilities" who really don't have them, but their parents bullied doctors into making the diagnosis so they could get those benefits. That's why ADD diagnosis's spiked in the 80s and 90s, and now autism is the flavor of choice. (that is not to say all the increase is because of this, or even a majority of the increase is because of this, but there are some percentage points that fall into the "give my kid a better chance" category). "… cases were concentrated in places where parents were highly educated and had easy access to treatment." You could also link this spike to the same factors that made Lyme disease the horror of the 80s. Basically it was at that time doctors finally realized, "Hey, this might actually be a disease." Some of you might remember that before then, people complaining of Lyme disease were often dismissed with, "It's all in your head." (Grokked from Jay Lake)

As a side note, the true silent epidemic in this country is Hepatitis C.

A graphical representation of the effect of Newt Gingrich's tax plan (or, if you want the data from the Tax Policy Center). Good thing he doesn't believe in redistributing wealth, because then we'd all have to watch our wallets. Welcome to what a regressive tax policy looks like. Not to mention, it'll add $850B to the deficit in the first year (where as Perry's plan would only add $570B). Remember when conservatives were about ending deficit spending? Well, that doesn't count when you can give your friends a few hundred thousand more a year, does it now. (Grokked from Morgan Locke)

And just in case you think I don't want Newt to win, think again. I want Newt for the same reason I wanted Cain. Boy howdy would my side win. "Please, Brair Fox, don't throw me in that briar patch." (Grokked from Jay Lake)

Because sunlight is the best disinfectant for political bullshit (Grokked from Jay Lake). Your liberal media at work. Sometimes I just don't understand Log Cabin Republicans. Yes, I know a few personally. They're all about smaller government, lower taxes, etc, all the things the Republicans say they're about. But they've missed that the social conservatives have hijacked the party and flung it deep into ultra-wacky-right-land. And those social conservatives aren't about those things (although they'll mouth the words), they're about the hate for others. They're tired of the world showing them they're wrong, and so they will fight to their last breath denying all of reality. So, to my Log Cabin friends, that party has abandoned you, too. It's time to wake up and smell the closet that the social conservatives just want your money and they don't give a flying fig about you. You might think you've won the war on this issue (also grokked from Jay Lake). Really? How's Roe v. Wade doing these days? This is the conservative theme. They never admit defeat and will keep fighting to make the world they way they perceive it should be, and there's no room in that warped reality for you.

Micro in the bag

2011-12-12T22:47:00.001-05:00

Tonight was the finals, and because of being out of state last week, I had to do both the Lab and Lecture final. Since we were both there early, I took the Lab first and scored 21/20 (22 total possible points). There were a few questions that it took me a while to get the correct answer, and one I totally pulled out of ass (what is albumin's role in plasma - it's to regulate osmotic pressure in case you're wondering). On the Lecture test I scored an 83%. My lowest score of the semester. Considering I missed 2 out of the 3 lectures that covered the material, I think I did okay. There were a few that I changed my answer to the incorrect answer (none that went the other way, that is, I didn't change any to the correct answer), one that I marked the wrong box, and a few that I debated between two answers and chose the wrong one.

If I've done my math correctly, even with the automatic 10 point deduction for missing class last week, I think I still made an A. Not my highest A, in fact I think this is my poorest performance to date. But it's an A. The GPA doesn't care if I blew out the top end or barely scrapped by.

Small Aggravations

2011-12-12T13:46:00.000-05:00

Okay, so, for exotoxins of microbes (the toxins the microbes create and shed, as compared to the toxins formed within the microbe that are released as the microbe is lysed - destroyed - which are endotoxins), there can be a two part system referred to as A-B. They're two different toxins (proteins), but here the B helps the A into the cell. The B has the receptors to attach to the cell wall, which then causes phagocytosis - the cell "eats" it. The A part attaches to the B part, so when the B gets eaten, so does the A. Now, in most cases, the B doesn't do much of anything else. It's the A protein that causes the problems (acts as the toxin).

With me so far?

Clostridium difficile (C. diff), has two enterotoxins (toxins that work in your GI tract) called A and B.

Sigh. Really? REALLY? We couldn't call them C and D (you know, for C. diff)? One of the reasons this shit is so hard. Don't even get me started on "di-" versus "bis-" prefixes.

Linkee-poo jangles your jingle bells

2011-12-12T12:57:00.003-05:00

Kim Wright expounds on the "just" parts of axioms. In this world, you never "just" have to do something. You have to do all the other parts. Same goes for writing and publishing. As someone once said, "I have two hobbies. The first one is writing. The second is submitting." And here I'll reiterate a widely dispersed theme, don't be a dick about marketing (ie. if all you have to say is, "buy my book" people will tune you out and turn you off).

A gift list for the writers in your life. And also, just like Jay Lake, wants.

Edward Gorey and things you're not (officially) allowed to do on envelopes anymore. From back in the glory days when people processed the mail.

Iceland, apparently, isn't fooling around. Instead of allowing bonuses to be paid, they've arrested executives of failed banks. Although, it appears, the Icelanders have direct evidence of corrupt practices (stock purchases for loans and bad investments). (Grokked from Tobias Buckell)

NPR goes on a hunt to find those millionaire job creators who would suffer from the surtax. After checking in with the Republican Congressional Offices to get someone to talk to, and then the lobbyists working against the surtax and coming up with bumpkiss, they turn to Facebook. There they get a few nibbles, all of whom who say the tax rates don't even come into their decisions to hire or not hire. Republicans trot out the line that they could have gotten the millionaires that would be affected to talk, but they didn't wanna. Say, remember the "Estate/Death Tax" debate about how all these family farms would be hurt if it wasn't repealed? Remember how, when pressed, Republican's couldn't produce a single family farm that was affected by the estate tax? What do you call people who consistently can't tell the truth? (Grokked from Jay Lake)

It's a Christmas (Carol) Miracle

2011-12-11T19:38:00.001-05:00

Okay, well, maybe epiphany is more the like.

For those of you new to my blog you may not know this, but Dickens's A Christmas Carol is one of my favorite stories and has been very informative on my psyche. I know I haven't done much on it in the past few years. I have a feeling that there will be more this year.

But it just occurred to me that I now understand the conservative mind a little more. This whole "War on Christmas" thrust has been confusing to me. I mean, you could just chalk it up to the feelings of martyrdom envy, the perceived persecution of "christians" (which, in this case, has always translated as "conservative privilege"), and a need to feel that it's "us against those dirty liberals". However, I finally just got it.

See, if you promote free-market capitalism, the belief of being overtaxed, living in a welfare state, and promoting the concept that those people on the "have not" side of the equation should just go out and get a job already… well then, those are the people who are cheering Scrooge as he snuffs out Christmas Past with her cap. Don't believe me? Go and reread the Stave 1 in A Christmas Carol. Scrooge is a market capitalist, to the nth degree. When approached for charity, he complains about his high taxes supporting the welfare society and certainly that is enough for him. If those people who are in "want" don't like the Treadmill or the Work Houses, well then, they should die and decrease the surplus population.

So the "War on Christmas" (or, the War Against a Non-Existent Foe) is actually a preemptive strike to avoid that label of "Scrooge" being applied to them. See, "we's all about the Jebus and Christmas, so obviously we can't be Scrooge."

As the song goes, "but don't you believe it." Dickens wrote his little yarn because capitalism was driving Christmas into being just another work day.

"And yet," said Scrooge, "you don't think me ill-used, when I pay a day's wages for no work."

The clerk observed that it was only once a year.

"A poor excuse for picking a man's pocket every twenty-fifth of December!"

If that's not a complaint about not letting capitalism run it's own course without interfering government and societal, long-haired hippy notions, I don't know what is.

Never vacation at a casino

2011-12-11T16:22:00.001-05:00

Because I gained 6 pounds last week. Damn. I think it was the smokey atmosphere (it was an Indian Casino, so exempt from local laws regarding smoking), the 5 hours of sleep (if I was lucky), jet lag, and not access to the food I would have liked. The bad part of this is that after Monday, I no longer have my major exercise event (walking up to the third floor of the building for class).

Linkee-poo is back home

2011-12-10T19:50:00.001-05:00

Okay, I think I missed posting one of the linkee-poos this week. I'll need to check everywhere it might be to see what happened. Also, just ordered tickets for a play down at Playhouse Square. Each time I do this, the lingering feeling that I've been fleeced after having a jailhouse romance are reasons I don't do this more often. First up is the ordering system that doesn't let me choose the seats (I'm a large guy, sitting in the middle would make a bad experience for me and my neighbors, especially since theaters love to put in small seats, so they can fit more). After $70 a piece for the back of the balcony ($50 second balcony tickets were no longer available, and when I say "back" I mean the last row), then they add the fees on top of it. Including the "shipping and handling" charge… when I have them at "will call" (don't worry, the fee didn't change even if I selected the "print out your own tickets").

Some iPad apps for designers.

Jim Van Pelt on voice. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

John Joseph Adams gets a starred review in Publishers Weekly for Lightspeed: Year One, a compilation of the magazine he edits (and now publishes).

I've never really gotten into LARPs (live-action role-playing), although I find it interesting to see people do it in real life (ie. not a part of a game). But in case you were interested, heres some basic rules of how not to be. What happens inside the LARP, stays inside the LARP. Although some of the problems Michele Reznik points out are basic problems with any gaming group (board games, RPGs, monopoly tournies, scrabble enthusiasts).

Ta-Nehisi Coates takes Rick Perry to task. The more I watch the Republican Primary, the more I see Coates's main point reiterated. The Old Order has collapsed and people who were quite comfortable in their bubble now have to live in the real world. They don't like it and don't want it. For many reasons, including the general denial when world views are shattered, but also because they know the rules they set up were fundamentally unfair for those in the under-class. And now they realize, they may end up there themselves. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

Then, of course, it's not just Rick Perry who is living in their own fantasy land, Ricky Santorum believes that nobody has ever died from lack of health insurance. That's not merely living in your own bubble, that's active denial. Newt Gingrich, the history professor, is busy rewriting his own history. Only someone in their own bubble can live two and a half decades in Congress, attain the office of Speaker, engineer the "Republican Revolution", become a highly-paid lobbyist and political commentator for Fox News try to run as an outsider. And if you think the conservatives living in bubbles only affects them, you don't understand their delusions force the rest of us to live in their world. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

Erich points out how warped the conservative view of history is. In this case, about how the Minority Leader of the Senate has a complete misunderstanding of what the Constitution really says. Not that I support the movement Mitch McConnell is bashing, but that he should do it on reality based arguments. But that would require the argument about equality.

Symptoms of a Malignant Disease

2011-12-08T13:54:00.001-05:00

Chris Armstrong talks about some obvious (to me) design issues for websites. Well, it's mostly about how we (the design industry) typically prototypes and generate comps for the client. Much of what he is talking about transcends much of the design industry and also works for print and TV. What he's talking about are legacy industry issues (I've only recently run into design shops that still have the old rigid job hierarchies, really, dudes, ADs that don't understand or can't do production? Get with the 90s.). I can't tell you how many times I've been in meetings where I've made the comment, "Hey, that's fabulous. It doesn't work that way in the real world."

And here I will make the comment that I've broken new paradigms and have a knack for figuring out tough production problems. And it's a matter of pride that at my last day job I only had to go back to a client once to tell them, "Not possible" (although I have had to tell them that doing a 3-sided bleed on an envelope just isn't going to happen without converting the envelopes, which costs more and wasn't in the quote - or things similar to that, which goes back to actually understanding production). What I did tell them was, "I can make this effect you're looking for (which, BTW, your production solution was the worst concept) in two-color. I can do it in four color, like how you prototyped it, but two-color doesn't work that way."

But with web design, I've been in teams that have experienced more of the, "this doesn't look like the prototype/demo" meetings. It's all related to doing design work without an understanding of how the work will be produced in the real world. BTW, this is also a major failing of software instruction seminars/manuals. Most of the instructors and manual writers have never produced work in the products they make or train on. So they make basic mistakes, which they then convince their students are "just the way it is."

For similar concepts see yesterday's link regarding standardized testing in education. The people doing the front end, management, training, and consulting only have a basic academic understanding of what they're doing. They've never done the work themselves, so they make rookie mistakes. But just like the garage passing through a computer, because they're being paid big dollars, nobody questions their shit.

When I worked at Wendy's, one of the many shifts I worked was late night/prep. Every newly minted manager would be given that shift. After the third jerk came through with the, "We're going to make late night a money maker because, obviously, you've all just been lazing around and I've got ideas." They would all fail and usually mean we'd have to work extra hours to make up for the time they wasted. So the last two managers I trained on that shift, as they started their, "We're all a team" speech, I stopped them and said, "Work with us for a week. If you have ideas to improve the process after that, we're all ears."

Dear business managers, please learn the production side of the work you're involved in. It will save you so much time and money you just wouldn't believe it.

Linkee-poo came out even at the slots, called it a day

2011-12-08T03:10:00.001-05:00

Still in California. Still way behind on studying. Only having as minute amount of fun.

Chuck Wendig talks about self publishing and reality assessments. Lots of good concepts in there, including a list of what not to do. Well, okay, more of, "these are not the droids you're looking for" kinds of tests. Not a 25 items list.

Alma Alexander talks about how to treat your audience and what you can expect back. And I like to echo those thoughts, although not everybody feels the same. As is obvious from a lot of TV, some people like being spoon-fed their entertainment. It's been my experience that the more successful works of communications are the ones that trust the viewer to keep up.

Jim Hines follows up on his earlier post with a post on those comments that you most often hear in response to being confronted with abusers of others. I lost another link that explained this a little more, but words have meaning. Jim gives you what the real meaning behind the script.

Vince gives some historical texts on how our "true Christian founders" of this country felt about Christmas. News to current conservatives, they started the War on Christmas, and they were very successful (for their time). And as an opposite side, I'll just remind us all that one of the reasons Dickens wrote A Christmas Carol was that businesses were demanding their employees work on Christmas, and that the observance of the holiday were diminishing.

Tobias Buckell has a post on Denver voting to go green for energy. His thoughts pretty well nail the difference between green and carbon based forms of energy production, localized (community to point source) versus distance production. When the costs of producing electricity were enormous, it made more sense to have distance generation (it placed the generative capability near their sources, and away from population centers). Now that the cost of energy is being reduced (and green sources are coming down), and generation is having a lighter footprint (see green), it makes more sense to localize energy production. And this is why "big" coal is fighting like hell. They can't make money that way.

Jim Wright nails the mental space Bachmann and her like dwell. This is one of the major things about the social conservative movement that drives me batty. BEcause to do what they really want, they require a much more invasive and controlling government. Of course for them, it won't seem like it because they were already going to behave a certain way. But for the rest of us, it would be like having to pass aTSA screening every thirty minutes. And that's on a good day.

On the fallacies of standardized testing. As someone who is going through consultant hell right at the moment, hey, education, welcome to the world we've been living in for two decades. Yes, it's bs. But it's MBA bs, which has its own shine on the shinola. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

Linkee-poo runs at periscope depth

2011-12-06T19:06:00.001-05:00

Getting a little more used to using the iPad as a working device. Also hitting several roadblocks (combination on limits of device and internet apps *cough*microsoft*cough*). In general, the iPad isn't a viable laptop replacement for what I'm doing. Now I'm just seeing how productive can I be with it (and finding things I could change to make it more productive). So, still fiddling.

Also, let me state the obvious, I'm way behind on reading and keeping up to date.

Tobias Buckell and Dave Klecha's co-written story, A Militant Peace is being picked up for Dozois' Year Best. Fargin' cool, guys. Congrats on the score.

Jim Hines talks about how to support victims of sexual harassment. And here I'll say that his points are also pretty good about any harassment, including your standard bullying (which is a form of harassment) .

Once again, my friends are channeling my own thoughts. This time about Newt Gingrich. I should mention at some point, I don't always agree with Eric and Jim, but sometimes they elucidate my own thoughts better than I can.

Fox Business News (besides being completely ignorant of real business practices) has officially jumped the shark. Again. And let's give as good as we get, shall we. Okay. Obviously Fox News is against small, entrepreneurial business because their against the Muppets getting a small business back up and running. A business that offers more job opportunities, is local, supports their community, and provides a needed service. Instead, FNB is all about the monopolist who will rape local resources and provide nothing back to the community (including no long term jobs, no support, no local responsibility). (Grokked from wannabewriter6)

You Million Dollar Money Maker iPad App Idea of the Week

2011-12-05T12:06:00.001-05:00

Okay, there's a lot of music apps for the iPad, but very few set up for live band performances. So here's your idea, go ahead and use it. If you make it a pais app I only ask for a free copy for a friend.

There is a need for an app for bands that perform live music. There are some that work as music controllers and the like, mostly a lot of home rolled apps, but I'm talking about something else. What would be helpful is if a band could set up their playlists with lyrics and maybe tabulatures or notes all tied to the individual song. Then save them as cards, say (just an organizational idea). Then for their live performances the ability to juggle the songs as playlists, doing a preset for the order of songs with the ability to change on the fly (so, read cards in order, but can quickly flip between all cards).

That's the basic idea. If you could tie in things like, say, a tuning app, maybe a music washing section (like adding effects to a local channel), a sound board app (that could be it's own app, a commercial release would be cool), maybe a sound visualizer might be helpful.

Anyway, the song/playlist app would be th emain thing. Go forth and make your millions.

Linkee-poo gets ready

2011-12-03T19:14:00.001-05:00

Tomorrow we'll be flying off to the left-coast for business. I'm not sure what connectivity I'll have, or how much time I'll have, so things may be light until next Saturday. Depending. Of course, you know, this means you're in for record output over the next week, right? If you need me, I'll be here. It wasn't my choice, and it's a business event. This weekend Celtic Women are playing, next weekend is Ron White. This week, some jazz guy I've never heard of. Sigh.

Also, finished up the decorations outside. I'm not at the level of having a separate electrical box to handle the outside load, but I could get there if I wanted. This year we relamped two dear, two garlands, and a wreath. We have new sets of lights and decorations on the trees outside. Yes, I'll need to get pictures. Will probably do that next weekend.

How lucky are the 1%? An arrow to the heart of "hard work" myth. (Pointed to by Sheila)

Rachel Aaron shares how she went from 2000 to 10000 words per day.

How far away can the ansible be when we can quantum entangle larger items. That's a story on how entangling diamonds will vibrate together. While scientifically I think this should bring plenty of cool technology, I fear it'll just be used for porn. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

Scenes from a Morning Commute

2011-12-02T13:04:00.001-05:00

Welcome to the Seven Seas of Rime

Linkee-poo la's all its fa's at least eight times

2011-12-02T13:03:00.001-05:00

Nuthsells, dollhouses of the damned. Before CSI, we had crime scene doll houses to help train investigators. Cool history. (Grokked from Phiala)

Operation Track Santa is back up and operating. We'll get the bastard this year. If not, our plan to flood him out by removing the ice under his secret layer will be complete in about 10 years. Either way, Kringle will bite the big one. This is the true war on Christmas. (Grokked from Absolute Write)

Wait a sec, Herman Cain is running an ad about how we should elect him as "America's CEO" so he can create jobs. Hey, isn't he running for the nomination of the party that believes Government can't create jobs? Shark is jumped. Oh, and the "apologize for America" thing has been well debunked. Hey, conservatives, could we have some options from people who aren't into conspiracy theories and maybe have been paying attention for the last four years?

Okay, Dear News Outlets, because a crime is committed and then tweeted doesn't mean the story is about twitter and who is following what. It's that a felony occurred and should be prosecuted. That the idiot bragged to Gov. Walker on twitter about his ripping up a petition (an actual felony election crime), is only germane in that he bragged about it in a sycophantic way. Not that it was a tweet.

Just in case I haven't completely disabused you of the "greedy borrowers caused the collapse" myth, a former Chase executive talks about targeting the naive and less savvy borrowers for sub-prime (ie. high commission) mortgages. (Grokked from Tobias Buckell)

Tweet of my heart:
@jimchines: How long before Congress authorizes the military to detain suspected enemy combatants in the War on Christmas?

Double dip tweet
@ChuckWendig: Writer tip: find that number one excuse you parade about like an ugly pony, the one that keeps you from writing. Then fucking burn it alive.

Linkee-poo wouldn't touch the Grinch with a 39 and a 3/4 foot poll

2011-12-01T12:52:00.001-05:00

Linkee-poo would like to take this moment to wish Jay Lake's computer a speedy recovery. How are we to keep up the pretense of actually being witty, urban, and well read without his daily feed?

Cherie Priest's future is so bright, she'll have to wear sun-goggles. Also, her follow up to answer your questions. Somewhat a synchronicity as a fellow student in class just started reading Boneshaker and I got to play "knowledgable writer person" about it. Fellow student was duly impressed, but I think mostly that he met another sf/f person.

Copywriting, the number one skill for authors. Well… (yeah, no matter what your fiction style, you should be able to string words together in the standard fashion for non-fiction correspondence)

While I often suffer from the feeling I'm a "very witty boy", Grue save me from coming off as a snob.

"For the sweet sake of Saint Fuck, keep on writing." Chuck Wendig on the end of this year's NaNoWriMo. Congrats for those of you who made it to the end, even if you didn't make the word count. Also, what makes you think you can stop now?! Bwahahahaha. The first hit is always free, suckers.

And now that you have your novel, Chuck has 25 things you should know about it. Also, because I have one in the barn, as it were, very relevant to me. Maybe it is to you as well.

Steve Martin corrects Fox New concerning galaxies and solar systems. Okay, 1) Kewl! Photos of extra-sol planetary systems! 2) Steve Martin is actually a pretty sharp cookie (even if he plays the banjo). And 3) When you're a news organization and you're being corrected on a factual basis by a professional comedian, you've jumped the shark. (Grokked from Tor.com)

Researchers find a "latent" virus that aids HPV cervical cancer cells commit apoptosis. It's far from certain this will pan out, but an interesting step forward. Also note, it was a random step forward, and something unexpected. (Pointed to by John)

In case your Xmas shopping isn't done yet, Tor.com has your Cthulhu Xmas shopping guide. You know, for all your tentacularly undead goodness. (And yes, I've been saving up that word for a long time and now I get to use it) Ah, nothing says Xmas like bronze tentacle ornaments hanging from the unholy green, glowing, spectral pine tree (that will be next year's hot tree color, BTW).

It's a war of words, and most of them are lies. Some people don't remember when the RNC had a meeting to discuss how they would stop using "liberal" and instead use "socialist" (as in, "Obama, the most socialist president evar!") Here's another meeting where these decisions are being made. Only this time it's about how not to be "seen as defenders of quote, Wall Street, end quote, we’ve got a problem (says Frank Luntz, the person who brought you such goodies as the "Death Tax")."

Michelle Bachmann is still running for President?

Tweet of my heart:
@SamSykesSwears: From now on, I'm going to say "yeah, I've been meaning to do that, if only I had the time" when someone tells me what their job is.

2011-12-01T11:50:00.001-05:00

There's a store in Hermitage, PA, that is a local draw this time of year for their holiday displays. It's called Kraynaks. And that's where we went last weekend. It's fairly popular, and there's always a wait to get in.

But, that's not the whole line, once you get around the front you can see the rest of the line.

And then once you're in the door it's another 15-20 minutes before you get to the actual displays. Which can be worth it.

The TV set is a little snow covered village diorama. It's pretty good and seemed to be a stopping point for people to have their photos taken with it. But then there's the standard stuff.

Like the bumbles and your basic tree setup

But some of the things are pretty good. I'm not sure the palm trees will take off (they sold some smaller versions of theme).

They're more traditional, the manger having had been wired only the year before Mary and Joseph showed up, so the lights were still in good shape that night.

Then there are plenty of the creative class of decorations. Which some are quite impressive. And pink.

The in thing for trees this year is the ribbon topper. Which, strangely enough, they didn't sell although they had plenty of ribbon for sale at a fairly high price. I did buy ribbon that will go with the tree we're setting up this year, but I bought it at Michael's where it was on sale.

And then there are the variations on a theme. Like the white decorations.

And this one. There were a lot of good ideas, especially if you want to spend hundreds on tree ornament sets (I prefer the "homegrown collection" look myself). There was only one thing that really got me going.

WANTS. That would look so cool in my yard.

The odd decoration that I've just been seeing this year is the Charlie Brown (musical) tree. I think if I was in an apartment, I'd be tempted to get this. Or maybe as a joke office decoration. However, I'm not sure how it will fit within most people's decorating schemes. But it was interesting to look at. (This was one of a humungous assortment of brand tie-in products, not my most favorite concept)

As you may (or may not) know, I'm pretty in to decorating my house for the fall and winter holidays. So I keep track of what's happening when it comes to trends. This year the LED light is fairly well entrenched and fortunately they're offering "warm" white mini lights now (one of the major criticisms of LEDs are the "cool" light - ie. skewed to the blue spectrum). I relamped two of my white-wire deer with these and am please with how they look.

But the major thrust this year is the color changing LED lights. There's several products from C9 bulb sets, to stick luminaries, to tree-toppers, all are being sold on their "the lights change colors" properties. All of them being sold with the appropriate premium price points.

The display is free, if you're in the area. Of course, it empties you out into the area where they're selling all their decorations. I did see a lot that I wanted, but didn't get. There were new garland forms, the 6' wreath I've been dreaming of, some pencil tree decorations I could use for my entry way (but they were the wrong shapes and sizes). I did add some things, but not as much as I could have or wanted to. To much else needed to be purchased (like 2 heavy duty timers).

Once I get it all up outside I'll take some pictures.