Genreville with the Nebula list. Note the refrain, "Zero self-published stories." Also, because I guess the trolls have come out in force, "@EllenDatlow: For those who feel there are female and 'non-white male' cooties all over the Nebulas: Shut the fuck up." Yea, I think that about sums it up.
Chuck Wendig gives pointers on how to read like a writer.
Beth Wodzinski on the magic that is writing retreats. What she said.
Students correctly identify the Achilles-heel of the grading curve. By boycotting the test, they spiked the A's. (Grokked from Dan)
Steam-powered robots and other hacks. (Grokked from Tor.com)
The problems of living in the future, two people born from artificial insemination who married each other find out they're siblings. There's another letter farther down that questions the legitimacy of the situation, and I have to say it hit all the points that also had me questioning it, but as the help columnist points out, it is very possible. (Grokked from Dan)
How inhouse designers can work with the outside agency, when the rest of the company doesn't realize you should. Not like I've ever know about that, especially the "getting the agency to work with you" part.
Eric with some more of the insanity that prevailed during the Cold War. I hope the Russians love their children too, as the song goes. Also, I have been thinking about one of the points Eric brings up, "I don't have much idea what kids these days are afraid of." Or as I said to someone who was young back in the early 2000's, "Sure, Saddam is a bad actor on the world stage, but is it worth screwing over your generation to remove him?" It's also but gnawing at the edges of my conscious of what we did to the next generation forcing them to deal with the fallout of our misbegotten adventures (what had become of Afghanistan). This is also why we need to finish the job there. I don't want to mess up another generation.
"No matter how wrong Dorner may or may not have been done, nothing justifies his actions." I've thought about making a post regarding Christopher Dorner, but Jim Wright beat me to it. As usual, Jim pretty much explains my position as well. The only thing I will add is that I do blame Dorner for the LAPD shooting the civilians in the two trucks. See, Dorner went down the path of the terrorist. The goal of a terrorist is not so much the killing they do, but provoking a disproportionate response from the target (and the target is always political), which then breaks the social contract. Dorner engaged his target, the LAPD, in such a way it put them all on notice that they, as individual officers, may be next. And they would have no warning. Dorner knew what that would do to their psychology. Cop killers get special attention from the police. That the LAPD would draw their weapons and shoot first given any perceived threat is exactly what he wanted. And the public reaction Jim points out is exactly the reaction Dorner was hoping for. It's the reaction all terrorists hope for, that the public will be injured by those sworn to protect them, which generates anger, which then turns the public against the terrorist's target.
Also here I'll point out that Dorner had weapons, weapons training, motivation, and "survival skills" that a lot of people would admire. Not to mention police procedure training. So, for those gun supporters who like to talk about how owning lots of guns will keep the government "afraid" to… well whatever they're afraid the government is going to do, how did all of that work out for Dorner? Sure kept the government in its place, didn't it? Also note that this was all handled by local police. The Federal Government didn't need to bring any of its forces, technology, or skills to bear. The cabin more than likely caught fire from a tear gas container. Not like they needed a Predator or Global Hawk to toss a Hellfire Missile into it. Just something to think about as you try to keep your fantasies alive.
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