EDIT Sorry folks, I don't know why there's a double post. But since they've both been up for a while, I don't want to delete one just in case someone is linking to it. So, no, we're not having a stroke, but Blogger might be.
Every time I think Brexit can't get any stranger and melodramatic, I'm proven wrong. I wonder how US Anglophiles are doing these days?
F&SF is looking for slush readers. If I didn't already have 2 jobs, I would be so all over this.
Marie Vibbert on visualizing writing like music.
The Bloggess has some suggestions for labeling Facebook posts. It's funny because it's true.
"Climate scientists this week expressed alarm after 'unprecedented' data showed the Northern Hemisphere Jet Stream crossing the Equator." Remember a couple of years ago when a typhoon crossed the Arctic Circle and was strong enough to push the Polar Vortex down into the United States. I'm sure everything will be okay. What's this "'massive hits to the food supply' and 'massive geopolitical unrest'" you're talking about? We're boned. (Grokked from Robert J Bennett)
"In Workarounds to Computer Access in Healthcare Organizations: You Want My Password or a Dead Patient?, security researchers from Penn, Dartmouth and USC conducted an excellent piece of ethnographic research on health workers, shadowing them as they moved through their work environments, blithely ignoring, circumventing and sabotaging the information security measures imposed by their IT departments, because in so doing, they were saving lives." I can attest to this. Hospital IT is about the most bizarre and Rube-Goldbergian as it gets.
"Sick of getting your view blocked at live shows by people holding up their phones? Apple was granted a patent yesterday for technology that can disable those cameras — at least in specific places." I see no way this could be abused by overzealous officials and businessmen.
For a law and order standpoint this is exactly what you don't want to happen. "After that first warning (for Norristown, Pa's "nuisance laws"), Briggs — who also had a 3-year-old daughter — was reluctant to call the police when her boyfriend beat her up. But one night, when they got into a fight, he slit her neck open with a broken ashtray. When she woke up in a pool of blood, her first thought was not to dial 911." There is so much wrong here, and the real problem pops out in one of the interviews, but nobody acknowledges it. "'In addition to making sure that citizens in our city have the ability to live in neighborhoods free of nuisance activity, we also felt the need to recoup some of the costs of taxpayer funder services,' (Amanda Grieder who oversees compliance with a nuisance ordinance in Cedar Rapids, Iowa) says." No. Fucking no. Your law enforcement forces are never to be seen as a profit center. These services are already paid for by the taxpayers. There's no need to "recoup" your costs. This comes from your elected officials being too craven to properly fund and staff essential services and to tell those tax payers (of which Lakisha Briggs is one) that you need a little more or that you need to cut services. For proper policing you never want your citizens to think, "no matter what happens, don't call the police." "Since the Briggs case was settled… Norristown has taken a new approach… police and other local agencies now work more closely with residents to try to address the underlying problems that lead to excessive police calls — such as drug trafficking, domestic abuse or mental illness… crime has dropped as a result." Funny that.
"'Typically, in a major election year, we see a decrease in the number of abortion restrictions enacted,' said Elizabeth Nash, who tracks state policies at the nonprofit Guttmacher Institute, which supports abortion rights. 'But this year, we've seen a bit of an uptick.'" That and new gun laws (giving people more "freedom", like in Idaho where anyone over 21 can carry a concealed weapon without license or training), the social conservative train keeps rolling. This is the fallout of the 2010 redrawing of the electoral maps.
"A suburban Chicago gun shop is raffling a semi-automatic weapon to benefit victims of the nightclub shooting in Orlando." I'll take "Amazingly Poor Taste", Alex, for $500.
"Police in the U.K. have registered a noticeable rise in hate speech and complaints of racial abuse since last week's historic vote to pull Britain out of the European Union." Who could have seen that coming? Boy, I sure hope this isn't a sign of what's to come here in the US? (Yeah, don't look at the news, it's already here.
"In a series of interviews with The Associated Press, Klan leaders said they feel that U.S. politics are going their way, as a nationalist, us-against-them mentality deepens across the nation… Klan leaders say Donald Trump's ascendancy in the GOP is a sign things are going their way." Just in case anyone wonders where we get the "Trumpster is a Neo-Nazi/racist/bigot" idea from. We get it from the Neo-Nazis, racists, and bigots. Oh, and the terrorists just love him as well.
So, in the wake of two Obama administrations, how are race relations? "The report, titled On Views of Race and Inequality, Blacks and Whites are Worlds Apart, found that just 8 percent of black Americans say the changes needed to achieve racial equality for blacks in the U.S. have already been made, while nearly 40 percent of white Americans say the same thing." One of the major things that worries me about a Trump presidency is I have memories of crusty conservative white people congratulating random blacks on "their victory" when Obama won in 2008. I personally saw this twice and have heard about many more.
"But in the current political climate, some conservative Christians are struggling with how to apply religious freedom to other faiths — like Islam." Funny thing, if you take what a lot of social conservatives are saying about religious liberty, and it's pretty much an argument in favor of Sharia Law. Some of them are now realizing that. What you're witnessing is when the person who is making an argument is suddenly struck with the knowledge of the reductio ad absurdum. And this is why there should be a wall between Church and State (but then the conservative Christians wouldn't be able to force their agenda on the rest of us).
"The 270 Project, a handy tool where you can adjust voter turnout and margin of victory for five demographic groups — white women, white men, African-Americans, Latinos and others (Asian, Native American, mixed race) — to see what it would take for Trump or Clinton to win." Fairly crude, but interesting. At least they got it right to count electoral college votes and not just the popularity poles that are run on the news. The NPR story is long with lots of electoral math neppary, but worth the read (IMHO).
Bill Clinton and Attorney General Loretta Lynch had an unscheduled private conversation on the government jet she was flying on. It was only a few minutes, wasn't scheduled, and probably just about social niceties, but both of them are smart enough to know that if they saw each other, you wave… and then move on. The optics are very bad. And don't think the GOP won't make hay with this.
So, what will happen as the Trumpster is increasingly portrayed as the "Loser" (given current polling)? Well, one option is to walk away. This is his historical precedent, declare where you're at "victory" and walk away before total failure (you might recognize this tactic from other people's political campaigns). Or you could go with Ben Carson's Mom (according to Ben Carson) who probably would have shot many of the "dishonest reporters."
I think I've said this about the Trumpster's language before, that the people who support him are reading their own desires and fears into what he says, which isn't much of anything. But this article puts it better. "The objective correlative is like a Rorschach ink blot. People will see different things in it." The Trumpster is stupid about many things, but not about his language (the reverse of a previous President, which as I've also said was a cultivated appearance). (Grokked from Patrick Nielsen Hayden)
"Donald Trump said Wednesday that he thought his Republican primary opponents who vowed to support the Party's nominee should follow through or be banned from running for public office." You may remember the GOP gathered all of them together and strong armed them to sign the pledge mostly to make sure the Trumpster didn't run as a third party candidate. How's those loyalty pledges working out? Also, how will the Trumpster every be able to counter the Democrats without buying ad time? :: Points ::
Watchdog groups finally have enough and complain to the FEC about the Trumpster's fundraising which sent emails to foreign elected leaders. Who could have seen that coming?
Thursday, June 30, 2016
Linkee-poo worries over situations I know will be all right, perhaps it's just imagination
Every time I think Brexit can't get any stranger and melodramatic, I'm proven wrong. I wonder how US Anglophiles are doing these days?
F&SF is looking for slush readers. If I didn't already have 2 jobs, I would be so all over this.
Marie Vibbert on visualizing writing like music.
The Bloggess has some suggestions for labeling Facebook posts. It's funny because it's true.
"Climate scientists this week expressed alarm after 'unprecedented' data showed the Northern Hemisphere Jet Stream crossing the Equator." Remember a couple of years ago when a typhoon crossed the Arctic Circle and was strong enough to push the Polar Vortex down into the United States. I'm sure everything will be okay. What's this "'massive hits to the food supply' and 'massive geopolitical unrest'" you're talking about? We're boned. (Grokked from Robert J Bennett)
"In Workarounds to Computer Access in Healthcare Organizations: You Want My Password or a Dead Patient?, security researchers from Penn, Dartmouth and USC conducted an excellent piece of ethnographic research on health workers, shadowing them as they moved through their work environments, blithely ignoring, circumventing and sabotaging the information security measures imposed by their IT departments, because in so doing, they were saving lives." I can attest to this. Hospital IT is about the most bizarre and Rube-Goldbergian as it gets.
"Sick of getting your view blocked at live shows by people holding up their phones? Apple was granted a patent yesterday for technology that can disable those cameras — at least in specific places." I see no way this could be abused by overzealous officials and businessmen.
From a law and order standpoint this is exactly what you don't want to happen. "After that first warning (for Norristown, Pa's "nuisance laws"), Briggs — who also had a 3-year-old daughter — was reluctant to call the police when her boyfriend beat her up. But one night, when they got into a fight, he slit her neck open with a broken ashtray. When she woke up in a pool of blood, her first thought was not to dial 911." There is so much wrong here, and the real problem pops out in one of the interviews, but nobody acknowledges it. "'In addition to making sure that citizens in our city have the ability to live in neighborhoods free of nuisance activity, we also felt the need to recoup some of the costs of taxpayer funder services,' (Amanda Grieder who oversees compliance with a nuisance ordinance in Cedar Rapids, Iowa) says." No. Fucking no. Your law enforcement forces are never to be seen as a profit center. These services are already paid for by the taxpayers. There's no need to "recoup" your costs. This comes from your elected officials being too craven to properly fund and staff essential services and to tell those tax payers (of which Lakisha Briggs is one) that you need a little more or that you need to cut services. For proper policing you never want your citizens to think, "no matter what happens, don't call the police." "Since the Briggs case was settled… Norristown has taken a new approach… police and other local agencies now work more closely with residents to try to address the underlying problems that lead to excessive police calls — such as drug trafficking, domestic abuse or mental illness… crime has dropped as a result." Funny that.
"'Typically, in a major election year, we see a decrease in the number of abortion restrictions enacted,' said Elizabeth Nash, who tracks state policies at the nonprofit Guttmacher Institute, which supports abortion rights. 'But this year, we've seen a bit of an uptick.'" That and new gun laws (giving people more "freedom", like in Idaho where anyone over 21 can carry a concealed weapon without license or training), the social conservative train keeps rolling. This is the fallout of the 2010 redrawing of the electoral maps.
"A suburban Chicago gun shop is raffling a semi-automatic weapon to benefit victims of the nightclub shooting in Orlando." I'll take "Amazingly Poor Taste", Alex, for $500.
"Police in the U.K. have registered a noticeable rise in hate speech and complaints of racial abuse since last week's historic vote to pull Britain out of the European Union." Who could have seen that coming? Boy, I sure hope this isn't a sign of what's to come here in the US? (Yeah, don't look at the news, it's already here.
"In a series of interviews with The Associated Press, Klan leaders said they feel that U.S. politics are going their way, as a nationalist, us-against-them mentality deepens across the nation… Klan leaders say Donald Trump's ascendancy in the GOP is a sign things are going their way." Just in case anyone wonders where we get the "Trumpster is a Neo-Nazi/racist/bigot" idea from. We get it from the Neo-Nazis, racists, and bigots. Oh, and the terrorists just love him as well.
So, in the wake of two Obama administrations, how are race relations? "The report, titled On Views of Race and Inequality, Blacks and Whites are Worlds Apart, found that just 8 percent of black Americans say the changes needed to achieve racial equality for blacks in the U.S. have already been made, while nearly 40 percent of white Americans say the same thing." One of the major things that worries me about a Trump presidency is I have memories of crusty conservative white people congratulating random blacks on "their victory" when Obama won in 2008. I personally saw this twice and have heard about many more.
"But in the current political climate, some conservative Christians are struggling with how to apply religious freedom to other faiths — like Islam." Funny thing, if you take what a lot of social conservatives are saying about religious liberty, and it's pretty much an argument in favor of Sharia Law. Some of them are now realizing that. What you're witnessing is when the person who is making an argument is suddenly struck with the knowledge of the reductio ad absurdum. And this is why there should be a wall between Church and State (but then the conservative Christians wouldn't be able to force their agenda on the rest of us).
"The 270 Project, a handy tool where you can adjust voter turnout and margin of victory for five demographic groups — white women, white men, African-Americans, Latinos and others (Asian, Native American, mixed race) — to see what it would take for Trump or Clinton to win." Fairly crude, but interesting. At least they got it right to count electoral college votes and not just the popularity poles that are run on the news. The NPR story is long with lots of electoral math neppary, but worth the read (IMHO).
Bill Clinton and Attorney General Loretta Lynch had an unscheduled private conversation on the government jet she was flying on. It was only a few minutes, wasn't scheduled, and probably just about social niceties, but both of them are smart enough to know that if they saw each other, you wave… and then move on. The optics are very bad. And don't think the GOP won't make hay with this.
So, what will happen as the Trumpster is increasingly portrayed as the "Loser" (given current polling)? Well, one option is to walk away. This is his historical precedent, declare where you're at "victory" and walk away before total failure (you might recognize this tactic from other people's political campaigns). Or you could go with Ben Carson's Mom (according to Ben Carson) who probably would have shot many of the "dishonest reporters."
I think I've said this about the Trumpster's language before, that the people who support him are reading their own desires and fears into what he says, which isn't much of anything. But this article puts it better. "The objective correlative is like a Rorschach ink blot. People will see different things in it." The Trumpster is stupid about many things, but not about his language (the reverse of a previous President, which as I've also said was a cultivated appearance). (Grokked from Patrick Nielsen Hayden)
"Donald Trump said Wednesday that he thought his Republican primary opponents who vowed to support the Party's nominee should follow through or be banned from running for public office." You may remember the GOP gathered all of them together and strong armed them to sign the pledge mostly to make sure the Trumpster didn't run as a third party candidate. How's those loyalty pledges working out? Also, how will the Trumpster ever be able to counter the Democrats without buying ad time? :: Points ::
Watchdog groups finally have enough and complain to the FEC about the Trumpster's fundraising which sent emails to foreign elected leaders. Who could have seen that coming?
F&SF is looking for slush readers. If I didn't already have 2 jobs, I would be so all over this.
Marie Vibbert on visualizing writing like music.
The Bloggess has some suggestions for labeling Facebook posts. It's funny because it's true.
"Climate scientists this week expressed alarm after 'unprecedented' data showed the Northern Hemisphere Jet Stream crossing the Equator." Remember a couple of years ago when a typhoon crossed the Arctic Circle and was strong enough to push the Polar Vortex down into the United States. I'm sure everything will be okay. What's this "'massive hits to the food supply' and 'massive geopolitical unrest'" you're talking about? We're boned. (Grokked from Robert J Bennett)
"In Workarounds to Computer Access in Healthcare Organizations: You Want My Password or a Dead Patient?, security researchers from Penn, Dartmouth and USC conducted an excellent piece of ethnographic research on health workers, shadowing them as they moved through their work environments, blithely ignoring, circumventing and sabotaging the information security measures imposed by their IT departments, because in so doing, they were saving lives." I can attest to this. Hospital IT is about the most bizarre and Rube-Goldbergian as it gets.
"Sick of getting your view blocked at live shows by people holding up their phones? Apple was granted a patent yesterday for technology that can disable those cameras — at least in specific places." I see no way this could be abused by overzealous officials and businessmen.
From a law and order standpoint this is exactly what you don't want to happen. "After that first warning (for Norristown, Pa's "nuisance laws"), Briggs — who also had a 3-year-old daughter — was reluctant to call the police when her boyfriend beat her up. But one night, when they got into a fight, he slit her neck open with a broken ashtray. When she woke up in a pool of blood, her first thought was not to dial 911." There is so much wrong here, and the real problem pops out in one of the interviews, but nobody acknowledges it. "'In addition to making sure that citizens in our city have the ability to live in neighborhoods free of nuisance activity, we also felt the need to recoup some of the costs of taxpayer funder services,' (Amanda Grieder who oversees compliance with a nuisance ordinance in Cedar Rapids, Iowa) says." No. Fucking no. Your law enforcement forces are never to be seen as a profit center. These services are already paid for by the taxpayers. There's no need to "recoup" your costs. This comes from your elected officials being too craven to properly fund and staff essential services and to tell those tax payers (of which Lakisha Briggs is one) that you need a little more or that you need to cut services. For proper policing you never want your citizens to think, "no matter what happens, don't call the police." "Since the Briggs case was settled… Norristown has taken a new approach… police and other local agencies now work more closely with residents to try to address the underlying problems that lead to excessive police calls — such as drug trafficking, domestic abuse or mental illness… crime has dropped as a result." Funny that.
"'Typically, in a major election year, we see a decrease in the number of abortion restrictions enacted,' said Elizabeth Nash, who tracks state policies at the nonprofit Guttmacher Institute, which supports abortion rights. 'But this year, we've seen a bit of an uptick.'" That and new gun laws (giving people more "freedom", like in Idaho where anyone over 21 can carry a concealed weapon without license or training), the social conservative train keeps rolling. This is the fallout of the 2010 redrawing of the electoral maps.
"A suburban Chicago gun shop is raffling a semi-automatic weapon to benefit victims of the nightclub shooting in Orlando." I'll take "Amazingly Poor Taste", Alex, for $500.
"Police in the U.K. have registered a noticeable rise in hate speech and complaints of racial abuse since last week's historic vote to pull Britain out of the European Union." Who could have seen that coming? Boy, I sure hope this isn't a sign of what's to come here in the US? (Yeah, don't look at the news, it's already here.
"In a series of interviews with The Associated Press, Klan leaders said they feel that U.S. politics are going their way, as a nationalist, us-against-them mentality deepens across the nation… Klan leaders say Donald Trump's ascendancy in the GOP is a sign things are going their way." Just in case anyone wonders where we get the "Trumpster is a Neo-Nazi/racist/bigot" idea from. We get it from the Neo-Nazis, racists, and bigots. Oh, and the terrorists just love him as well.
So, in the wake of two Obama administrations, how are race relations? "The report, titled On Views of Race and Inequality, Blacks and Whites are Worlds Apart, found that just 8 percent of black Americans say the changes needed to achieve racial equality for blacks in the U.S. have already been made, while nearly 40 percent of white Americans say the same thing." One of the major things that worries me about a Trump presidency is I have memories of crusty conservative white people congratulating random blacks on "their victory" when Obama won in 2008. I personally saw this twice and have heard about many more.
"But in the current political climate, some conservative Christians are struggling with how to apply religious freedom to other faiths — like Islam." Funny thing, if you take what a lot of social conservatives are saying about religious liberty, and it's pretty much an argument in favor of Sharia Law. Some of them are now realizing that. What you're witnessing is when the person who is making an argument is suddenly struck with the knowledge of the reductio ad absurdum. And this is why there should be a wall between Church and State (but then the conservative Christians wouldn't be able to force their agenda on the rest of us).
"The 270 Project, a handy tool where you can adjust voter turnout and margin of victory for five demographic groups — white women, white men, African-Americans, Latinos and others (Asian, Native American, mixed race) — to see what it would take for Trump or Clinton to win." Fairly crude, but interesting. At least they got it right to count electoral college votes and not just the popularity poles that are run on the news. The NPR story is long with lots of electoral math neppary, but worth the read (IMHO).
Bill Clinton and Attorney General Loretta Lynch had an unscheduled private conversation on the government jet she was flying on. It was only a few minutes, wasn't scheduled, and probably just about social niceties, but both of them are smart enough to know that if they saw each other, you wave… and then move on. The optics are very bad. And don't think the GOP won't make hay with this.
So, what will happen as the Trumpster is increasingly portrayed as the "Loser" (given current polling)? Well, one option is to walk away. This is his historical precedent, declare where you're at "victory" and walk away before total failure (you might recognize this tactic from other people's political campaigns). Or you could go with Ben Carson's Mom (according to Ben Carson) who probably would have shot many of the "dishonest reporters."
I think I've said this about the Trumpster's language before, that the people who support him are reading their own desires and fears into what he says, which isn't much of anything. But this article puts it better. "The objective correlative is like a Rorschach ink blot. People will see different things in it." The Trumpster is stupid about many things, but not about his language (the reverse of a previous President, which as I've also said was a cultivated appearance). (Grokked from Patrick Nielsen Hayden)
"Donald Trump said Wednesday that he thought his Republican primary opponents who vowed to support the Party's nominee should follow through or be banned from running for public office." You may remember the GOP gathered all of them together and strong armed them to sign the pledge mostly to make sure the Trumpster didn't run as a third party candidate. How's those loyalty pledges working out? Also, how will the Trumpster ever be able to counter the Democrats without buying ad time? :: Points ::
Watchdog groups finally have enough and complain to the FEC about the Trumpster's fundraising which sent emails to foreign elected leaders. Who could have seen that coming?
Wednesday, June 29, 2016
Linkee-poo, go on, take the money and run
Another author's experience with self-publishing and "traditional" publishing (a "no-advance" deal). (Grokked from Kameron Hurley)
Project (and time) management for writers. Something at which I am failing miserably at. The beginning is a promo, but after a few paragraphs it settles down. (Grokked from Kameron Hurley)
Terri Windling with a recommend reading list of articles and papers. Man I wish I could read faster.
One-hundred and twenty-eight words you can use instead of "very …". (Grokked from Dan)
A Game of Thrones Battle of the Bastards VFX reel. Because, CGI allows you to do things you can't in real life.(Grokked from Dan)
The Note to Self podcast on becoming bored and getting brilliant. Or, put down the damn phone and live. As a note in there they talk about how people who don't take lots of photos tend to remember what they see better. I'm am 100% on that. In the last vacation I took about 5,000 photos (many redundant or on sports mode, so there's a lot of nothing in there). There are times I intentionally put the camera down and didn't take a photo and just experienced. This is something I realized going to Yellowstone, there was a lot there I didn't remember because my brain was working on "taking the good photo" instead of just being. Because of my training, that "good photo" is work, and takes up a lot more of my headspace than it does for most people, and that crowded out processing being in the space as an experience. Instead I processed the space to determine how to take the best photo. Part of my personal goals is to get back to being, existing in space and time, mindful.
"We've had a global shortage of helium for years now, but thanks to an aggressive search in Tanzania, scientists have just discovered 54 billion cubic feet of the gas, an amount that can last for several years." Peak Helium? Although I know have an image of a squeaky-voiced Indiana Jones in my head.
After nearly half a century of study you would think there wouldn't be much left to discover on the Antikythera 2,000-year-old shipwreck. You would be wrong about that.
"When security firm Sucuri investigated the source of a 50,000-request/second DDoS attack on a jewelry shop, they discovered to their surprise that the attacks originated on a botnet made of hacked 25,500+ CCTV cameras in 105 countries." And here I thought criminals would just hack those cameras to aid their own nefarious ends. Just remember this when someone tries to sell you a fridge that is connected to the web. Auto defrost anyone? (Grokked from Chuck Wendig)
"'We've found these (pear-shaped atomic) nuclei literally point towards a direction in space. This relates to a direction in time, proving there's a well-defined direction in time and we will always travel from past to present,' Marcus Scheck from the University of the West of Scotland told Kenneth MacDonald at BBC News." Okay, you all are having me on here, aren't you? So, the universe is not symmetrical? Somebody better do some hard math real damn quick now. (Grokked from John)
"For the past six years, ProPublica has tracked industry payments to doctors, finding that some earn hundreds of thousands of dollars or more each year working with drug and device companies. We've reported how the drugs most aggressively promoted to doctors typically aren't cures or even big medical breakthroughs."
"American trade policy could certainly be improved upon, but… nothing Trump or any other trade skeptic proposes is going to bring back the heyday of American manufacturing jobs, for the simple reason… the decline of manufacturing employment actually doesn't reflect a broader decline in the state of American manufacturing… the output… of the US manufacturing sector is higher than it's ever been, even as manufacturing employment has barely recovered from its recession-era lows." Welcome to automation. While I disagree with the overall conclusion, it's certainly a trend I've seen. What we have left is the "high-skills" manufacturing where the higher cost (relatively) employee produces more value than ever before. There are jobs that can come back, but it'll only happen when employers and owners accept lower profit margins (I remember when 5% was considered respectable, it's now 15-25%) and are willing to pay their skilled workers more. There is a second problem going on where the available employee base's skills don't match to the current employers' needs. That can only be solved with training (both on the job and off the job), and the problems that brings (workers not willing to invest without a promise of actual employment, jobs don't want to invest when workers can just leave at the end of their training) can only be solved with higher wages. See how we keep coming back to the same point? (Grokked from Robert J Bennett)
US Customs and Border Patrol wants to know your social media handle. I'm sure it's all… "The public and affected agencies are asked to comment on the request within 60 days of its publication (i.e until August 22, 2016), but haven’t offered an online form… the commenters are asked to write them down and send them via snail mail." Fuckstockings. (Grokked from John)
An escape tunnel is located in one of Lithuania's Holocaust sites. In other news, they also discovered what maybe the largest mass burial site in the area (and they already knew about a lot of them). "'If we had never discovered the tunnel, people would have thought in another 20 years it was a myth, and they would have questioned – What do we really know happened?' said Dr. Freund. 'This is a great story about the way that people overcame the worst possible condition, and still had this hope that they could get out.'" Out of the 80 or so Jewish forced laborers (who were excavating other mass burial sites to burn the bodies and rebury them in an attempt by the Nazi's to cover up the Holocaust) who went through the tunnel, 12 were able to escape, 11 survived the war.
Okay PM Cameron, time to come out and tell us all we've been punked. (Grokked form John)
"Many of the state’s residents may have flirted with the idea, but the news out of Britain revived the debate, inspired a Texit hashtag and raised the hopes of the Texas secession movement." Please Texas, just fucking leave already.
Remember during the Obamacare debate where the Democrats stood up and said the Republican healthcare plan boiled down to "hurry up and die"? Remember how much they were derided for it? So, Mississippi "State Rep. Jeffrey Guice [R-Ocean Springs] sent (a mother asking for help to meet the $2000 a month expense for her daughter's diabetes after Medicaid funds were cut) a short message reading, "I am sorry for your problem. Have you thought about buying the supplies with money that you earn?" Clueless privileged asshole. (Grokked from Ellen Datlow)
The Trumpsters new fundraising efforts go magnificently awry. Seriously, guys, there are professionals who can help with these things and the laws are pretty straight forward. Also, if you send out fundraising emails you can't continue to claim your independence. My guess is Donald Trump sold his business email list to his campaign and the people in the campaign forgot basic campaign laws. (Grokked from Dan)
The Trumpster in an attempt to solidify his street cred said that "If you want to know Hillary Clinton's honesty & judgement, ask the family of Ambassador Stevens." So, the New Yorker asked Amb. Stevens' sister. "But what was the underlying cause? Perhaps if Congress had provided a budget to increase security for all missions around the world, then some of the requests for more security in Libya would have been granted. Certainly the State Department is underbudgeted… I do not blame Hillary Clinton or Leon Panetta." Reality isn't the conservatives' strong point. (Grokked from Joshua Parker)
"Now it seems that the Trump campaign, at least in the person of one of his big-foreheaded gits, Eric Trump, is actively soliciting donations from British Members of Parliament." There are also reports of emails going to Iceland and France. This, BTW, is a felony. While I would normally say "never chalk up to criminal intent what can be explained by incompetence," I'm not entirely sure here. (Grokked from Dan)
Project (and time) management for writers. Something at which I am failing miserably at. The beginning is a promo, but after a few paragraphs it settles down. (Grokked from Kameron Hurley)
Terri Windling with a recommend reading list of articles and papers. Man I wish I could read faster.
One-hundred and twenty-eight words you can use instead of "very …". (Grokked from Dan)
A Game of Thrones Battle of the Bastards VFX reel. Because, CGI allows you to do things you can't in real life.(Grokked from Dan)
The Note to Self podcast on becoming bored and getting brilliant. Or, put down the damn phone and live. As a note in there they talk about how people who don't take lots of photos tend to remember what they see better. I'm am 100% on that. In the last vacation I took about 5,000 photos (many redundant or on sports mode, so there's a lot of nothing in there). There are times I intentionally put the camera down and didn't take a photo and just experienced. This is something I realized going to Yellowstone, there was a lot there I didn't remember because my brain was working on "taking the good photo" instead of just being. Because of my training, that "good photo" is work, and takes up a lot more of my headspace than it does for most people, and that crowded out processing being in the space as an experience. Instead I processed the space to determine how to take the best photo. Part of my personal goals is to get back to being, existing in space and time, mindful.
"We've had a global shortage of helium for years now, but thanks to an aggressive search in Tanzania, scientists have just discovered 54 billion cubic feet of the gas, an amount that can last for several years." Peak Helium? Although I know have an image of a squeaky-voiced Indiana Jones in my head.
After nearly half a century of study you would think there wouldn't be much left to discover on the Antikythera 2,000-year-old shipwreck. You would be wrong about that.
"When security firm Sucuri investigated the source of a 50,000-request/second DDoS attack on a jewelry shop, they discovered to their surprise that the attacks originated on a botnet made of hacked 25,500+ CCTV cameras in 105 countries." And here I thought criminals would just hack those cameras to aid their own nefarious ends. Just remember this when someone tries to sell you a fridge that is connected to the web. Auto defrost anyone? (Grokked from Chuck Wendig)
"'We've found these (pear-shaped atomic) nuclei literally point towards a direction in space. This relates to a direction in time, proving there's a well-defined direction in time and we will always travel from past to present,' Marcus Scheck from the University of the West of Scotland told Kenneth MacDonald at BBC News." Okay, you all are having me on here, aren't you? So, the universe is not symmetrical? Somebody better do some hard math real damn quick now. (Grokked from John)
"For the past six years, ProPublica has tracked industry payments to doctors, finding that some earn hundreds of thousands of dollars or more each year working with drug and device companies. We've reported how the drugs most aggressively promoted to doctors typically aren't cures or even big medical breakthroughs."
"American trade policy could certainly be improved upon, but… nothing Trump or any other trade skeptic proposes is going to bring back the heyday of American manufacturing jobs, for the simple reason… the decline of manufacturing employment actually doesn't reflect a broader decline in the state of American manufacturing… the output… of the US manufacturing sector is higher than it's ever been, even as manufacturing employment has barely recovered from its recession-era lows." Welcome to automation. While I disagree with the overall conclusion, it's certainly a trend I've seen. What we have left is the "high-skills" manufacturing where the higher cost (relatively) employee produces more value than ever before. There are jobs that can come back, but it'll only happen when employers and owners accept lower profit margins (I remember when 5% was considered respectable, it's now 15-25%) and are willing to pay their skilled workers more. There is a second problem going on where the available employee base's skills don't match to the current employers' needs. That can only be solved with training (both on the job and off the job), and the problems that brings (workers not willing to invest without a promise of actual employment, jobs don't want to invest when workers can just leave at the end of their training) can only be solved with higher wages. See how we keep coming back to the same point? (Grokked from Robert J Bennett)
US Customs and Border Patrol wants to know your social media handle. I'm sure it's all… "The public and affected agencies are asked to comment on the request within 60 days of its publication (i.e until August 22, 2016), but haven’t offered an online form… the commenters are asked to write them down and send them via snail mail." Fuckstockings. (Grokked from John)
An escape tunnel is located in one of Lithuania's Holocaust sites. In other news, they also discovered what maybe the largest mass burial site in the area (and they already knew about a lot of them). "'If we had never discovered the tunnel, people would have thought in another 20 years it was a myth, and they would have questioned – What do we really know happened?' said Dr. Freund. 'This is a great story about the way that people overcame the worst possible condition, and still had this hope that they could get out.'" Out of the 80 or so Jewish forced laborers (who were excavating other mass burial sites to burn the bodies and rebury them in an attempt by the Nazi's to cover up the Holocaust) who went through the tunnel, 12 were able to escape, 11 survived the war.
Okay PM Cameron, time to come out and tell us all we've been punked. (Grokked form John)
"Many of the state’s residents may have flirted with the idea, but the news out of Britain revived the debate, inspired a Texit hashtag and raised the hopes of the Texas secession movement." Please Texas, just fucking leave already.
Remember during the Obamacare debate where the Democrats stood up and said the Republican healthcare plan boiled down to "hurry up and die"? Remember how much they were derided for it? So, Mississippi "State Rep. Jeffrey Guice [R-Ocean Springs] sent (a mother asking for help to meet the $2000 a month expense for her daughter's diabetes after Medicaid funds were cut) a short message reading, "I am sorry for your problem. Have you thought about buying the supplies with money that you earn?" Clueless privileged asshole. (Grokked from Ellen Datlow)
The Trumpsters new fundraising efforts go magnificently awry. Seriously, guys, there are professionals who can help with these things and the laws are pretty straight forward. Also, if you send out fundraising emails you can't continue to claim your independence. My guess is Donald Trump sold his business email list to his campaign and the people in the campaign forgot basic campaign laws. (Grokked from Dan)
The Trumpster in an attempt to solidify his street cred said that "If you want to know Hillary Clinton's honesty & judgement, ask the family of Ambassador Stevens." So, the New Yorker asked Amb. Stevens' sister. "But what was the underlying cause? Perhaps if Congress had provided a budget to increase security for all missions around the world, then some of the requests for more security in Libya would have been granted. Certainly the State Department is underbudgeted… I do not blame Hillary Clinton or Leon Panetta." Reality isn't the conservatives' strong point. (Grokked from Joshua Parker)
"Now it seems that the Trump campaign, at least in the person of one of his big-foreheaded gits, Eric Trump, is actively soliciting donations from British Members of Parliament." There are also reports of emails going to Iceland and France. This, BTW, is a felony. While I would normally say "never chalk up to criminal intent what can be explained by incompetence," I'm not entirely sure here. (Grokked from Dan)
Story Bone
Maybe not so much of a bone as a rumination.
One of the major plot issues of dealing with immortality is working out the moral stance or the psychology of someone who doesn't die as they watch all around them dying. And there's some various workarounds for this, such as vampirism (which then creates it's own culture, which then has it's own problems… ah, the life of the writer). But I'm not sure I've encountered a story that solves the problem through amnesia (either intentionally caused or as a side effect of the immortality). Or through the use of a phoenix-like regeneration (although I have already written one story using this, that immortality is something you have to work to achieve, and it's a renewal process). Also, in the past it would have been much easier as an immortal to hide amidst those who are not. In this day, however, identity is much less malleable (although still capable through identity theft).
So how does the modern immortal navigate society and deal with their past? Are they like dorky parents who are consistently one step behind the times, or would they have developed keener senses to maintain their cover? Would they eschew property, or how would they handle it's transference to those new identities, or could they be identified by a public records search?
One of the major plot issues of dealing with immortality is working out the moral stance or the psychology of someone who doesn't die as they watch all around them dying. And there's some various workarounds for this, such as vampirism (which then creates it's own culture, which then has it's own problems… ah, the life of the writer). But I'm not sure I've encountered a story that solves the problem through amnesia (either intentionally caused or as a side effect of the immortality). Or through the use of a phoenix-like regeneration (although I have already written one story using this, that immortality is something you have to work to achieve, and it's a renewal process). Also, in the past it would have been much easier as an immortal to hide amidst those who are not. In this day, however, identity is much less malleable (although still capable through identity theft).
So how does the modern immortal navigate society and deal with their past? Are they like dorky parents who are consistently one step behind the times, or would they have developed keener senses to maintain their cover? Would they eschew property, or how would they handle it's transference to those new identities, or could they be identified by a public records search?
Tuesday, June 28, 2016
Linkee-poo never said you had to offer me a second chance
Let's check in with what's happening following the Brexit vote. Increased racial and ethnic tensions, broken promises (or more like "we never meant to enact all those things we told you we would"), economic collapse, higher taxes and lower services, and the EU basically saying "don't let the door hit you on the way out." So, about the same as before.
Mur Lafferty announces Netflix acquires right to the Shambling Guides. You go, Mur! This may mean something, this may mean nothing (still waiting for that OMW movie Scalzi!), but it means money for the writer so they can continuing writing (and podcasting).
Lessons learned in self-publishing with a company that failed to deliver on its promises. Just as a reminder, for most businesses there are no test or oversight boards to make sure they're following best practices. While the author of the post is reluctant to say it, I'm pretty sure she was scammed (either by intent or neglect, it doesn't really matter). (Grokked from someone, Wesley Chu I think, sorry, lost the link)
Is it live or is it Memorex? Can a computer write a poem like a human. Shakes Magic 8-Ball, signs point to no.
"One of the most surprising findings of the Reuters report is that news consumers on social media don’t necessarily watch video. Platforms and publishers alike have been pouring money into video sharing, such as Facebook Live." It's only taking those publishers and platforms who don't actually use their software are or engaged in social media from an actual user perspective. Also shows how media markets completely misunderstand how people use their site. (Grokked from Kameron Hurley)
To boldly go out of the gift shop. The USS Enterprise original series film model goes on display in the Flight Hall at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum.
"Now the Hubble Space Telescope has been officially granted a reprieve. The orbital telescope will remain operational until at least June 30, 2021, and is expected to continue beyond that point, according to a post on the NASA website. It'll operate alongside the James Webb Space Telescope, which will specialize in infrared imaging." Another five years of Hubble! That's fantastic… until you remember that its coolant is running out (and some of its systems have already been shut down). But five more years of visible light imagery is still worth being happy over. (Grokked from Steven Gould)
Jim Purdue sees the light when it comes to the lives of the chickens he sells. I especially like the concept of selling slower growing chickens. Frankly the current chickens we buy are tasteless and their meat has a weird texture, IMHO. For me, this has meant I eat more vegetables these days (although those are also not a tasty as they were). Oh, and just for comparison, that chicken you're eating probably hasn't seen a birthday. You're lucky if it's been alive for more than one season.
Rolling Acres Mall, once the happening place, goes to the City of Akron for potential redevelopment. (Grokked from Dan)
Man discovers a tracking device on his car. Now he wonders what to do with it. I have some suggestions. Tear it apart. Keep it in the car but go to really weird places, develop a storyline for yourself. Play "hot potato" with friends. Turn it in at a lost and found, like at a strip club. Go into your local police department/FBI office and ask them if they lost one. Put it on someone else's car, like a random car at the mall. Figure out what the garbage collection times are and toss it in a dumpster, or better yet, in the dumpster for a restaurant.
"It turns out that each body part has its own very distinct lifespan. The lining of the stomach, constantly under assault by digestive acid, is renewed every few days. But bones are refreshed once a decade. And there are a few parts of you that stay with you from birth to death."
"After the mass shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando… Twitter brimmed with news reports of the carnage. But some posts on the massacre that claimed 49 lives also included a curious phrase: 'false flag.'… The victims in the shooting? They were 'crisis actors' hired to promote the story as a pretext to impose tighter gun restrictions, the theory goes." You know, I'm starting to support the idea of FEMA re-education camps.
In a surprise move, House Republicans fault President Obama with the report from the seventh Benghazi committee. They've got nothing, and they know they've got nothing except the word "Benghazi." So the fault is the Obama administration "didn't move Heaven and Earth" to help Ambassador Stevens and his security team. You know, nothing about the House having slashed the line item for embassy security in their appropriations bill. The NPR reporting on the Benghazi committee report is a little more forgiving, saying that the report faults the military for not following the standing orders of the President and Secretary of Defense. The Fox News report "slams" the President and that Secretary Clinton mislead the American public. Because, you know, Fox News.
A Pakistani clerical council issue fatwah on transgender marriages in Islam. With some caveats, they say it's okay. Problem is, being transgender in Pakistan is still illegal/not recognized by the government. (Grokked from Deborah Beale)
"Can you imagine an America when a child’s life was so insignificant that he was intentionally put into the pen of a dangerous zoo animal? An America when a child was intentionally placed at the edge of alligator-infested waters to lure the ferocious beast for hunters?" Trigger warnings, but a part of American history. (Grokked from Patrick Nielsen Hayden)
The Red Cross distributes a pool safety poster that is pretty racist. This is why diversity matters. It's also why you need art directors that know WTF they are doing. I'm sure this wasn't intentional, but shows just how ingrained racism is in our society. Sure, there is ONE white kid doing something not cool (okay, and another white kid chasing an African American kid, but are listed as "Not Cool"), but the old "Cool" people are white. Hey American Red Cross, and the designer/illustrator who did this, Not Cool. Seriously, you need to make conscious choices. And if it was conscious, you deserve the shit storm coming your way.
The new push of anti-abortion, they're the ones who are pro-woman and pro-health of women. Yeah, right. It's just amazing the lies and twisted world-view the pro-life movement has been peddling. Also note the shift from "The Supreme Court is the final law" to "that's the last place these decisions should be being made." What a difference a heart attack makes.
The Huckster forks over $25,000 for use of "Eye of the Tiger" during his (presidential campaign) rally for Kin Davis. Dear campaigns, your use of music is considered a broadcast or performance, you need to secure rights to use it. If you don't understand that by now, you need new campaign managers. (Grokked from Dan)
Speaking of Ms Davis, a federal judge rules against Mississippi'e religious conscious bill saying "'the marriage license issue will not be adjudicated anew after each legislative session.'" Of course there will be an appeal. (Grokked from Dan)
You know how the Trumpster said he didn't want anyone critical of him to speak at the RNC? Turns out even before that qualification they're having a hard time filling the speaking slots. (Grokked from Lisa Morton)
The Trumpster again reiterates it's only "a ban on people from countries that have known links to terrorism." So, anybody want to explain Pakistan, India, Indonesia, and, oh, hey look at all those Americans who have joined al Qaeda, al Shabab, and even ISIS. Why, it's almost like we have known links to terrorism. Plus, Hamas operates in Israel. Man this this just keeps expanding. Also, that would mean cutting off access to people who translated for us, or helped our military integrate into places in Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen. Oh, and look at all that money that flowed our of Saudi Arabia to help what we designate as terrorist organizations. And can you say Sinn Féin? Ireland, you're right. Same old Trumpster, just as racists but trying to learn how to dog whistle. And he's not "changing" his policy, he's refining it. How reporters don't laugh in these people's faces is a testament to professionalism.
That research showed that Trump has a long-standing habit of promising to give to charity. But Trump’s follow-through on those promises was middling — even at the beginning, in his early days as a national celebrity. There's one real big reason, until now he's gotten away with the sham. Not that it'll affect his standing among his supporters. (Grokked from TPM)
Members of the white nationalist group involved in the Sacramento brawl says they're heading to Cleveland to protect Trump's supporters. The company you keep.
Mur Lafferty announces Netflix acquires right to the Shambling Guides. You go, Mur! This may mean something, this may mean nothing (still waiting for that OMW movie Scalzi!), but it means money for the writer so they can continuing writing (and podcasting).
Lessons learned in self-publishing with a company that failed to deliver on its promises. Just as a reminder, for most businesses there are no test or oversight boards to make sure they're following best practices. While the author of the post is reluctant to say it, I'm pretty sure she was scammed (either by intent or neglect, it doesn't really matter). (Grokked from someone, Wesley Chu I think, sorry, lost the link)
Is it live or is it Memorex? Can a computer write a poem like a human. Shakes Magic 8-Ball, signs point to no.
"One of the most surprising findings of the Reuters report is that news consumers on social media don’t necessarily watch video. Platforms and publishers alike have been pouring money into video sharing, such as Facebook Live." It's only taking those publishers and platforms who don't actually use their software are or engaged in social media from an actual user perspective. Also shows how media markets completely misunderstand how people use their site. (Grokked from Kameron Hurley)
To boldly go out of the gift shop. The USS Enterprise original series film model goes on display in the Flight Hall at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum.
"Now the Hubble Space Telescope has been officially granted a reprieve. The orbital telescope will remain operational until at least June 30, 2021, and is expected to continue beyond that point, according to a post on the NASA website. It'll operate alongside the James Webb Space Telescope, which will specialize in infrared imaging." Another five years of Hubble! That's fantastic… until you remember that its coolant is running out (and some of its systems have already been shut down). But five more years of visible light imagery is still worth being happy over. (Grokked from Steven Gould)
Jim Purdue sees the light when it comes to the lives of the chickens he sells. I especially like the concept of selling slower growing chickens. Frankly the current chickens we buy are tasteless and their meat has a weird texture, IMHO. For me, this has meant I eat more vegetables these days (although those are also not a tasty as they were). Oh, and just for comparison, that chicken you're eating probably hasn't seen a birthday. You're lucky if it's been alive for more than one season.
Rolling Acres Mall, once the happening place, goes to the City of Akron for potential redevelopment. (Grokked from Dan)
Man discovers a tracking device on his car. Now he wonders what to do with it. I have some suggestions. Tear it apart. Keep it in the car but go to really weird places, develop a storyline for yourself. Play "hot potato" with friends. Turn it in at a lost and found, like at a strip club. Go into your local police department/FBI office and ask them if they lost one. Put it on someone else's car, like a random car at the mall. Figure out what the garbage collection times are and toss it in a dumpster, or better yet, in the dumpster for a restaurant.
"It turns out that each body part has its own very distinct lifespan. The lining of the stomach, constantly under assault by digestive acid, is renewed every few days. But bones are refreshed once a decade. And there are a few parts of you that stay with you from birth to death."
"After the mass shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando… Twitter brimmed with news reports of the carnage. But some posts on the massacre that claimed 49 lives also included a curious phrase: 'false flag.'… The victims in the shooting? They were 'crisis actors' hired to promote the story as a pretext to impose tighter gun restrictions, the theory goes." You know, I'm starting to support the idea of FEMA re-education camps.
In a surprise move, House Republicans fault President Obama with the report from the seventh Benghazi committee. They've got nothing, and they know they've got nothing except the word "Benghazi." So the fault is the Obama administration "didn't move Heaven and Earth" to help Ambassador Stevens and his security team. You know, nothing about the House having slashed the line item for embassy security in their appropriations bill. The NPR reporting on the Benghazi committee report is a little more forgiving, saying that the report faults the military for not following the standing orders of the President and Secretary of Defense. The Fox News report "slams" the President and that Secretary Clinton mislead the American public. Because, you know, Fox News.
A Pakistani clerical council issue fatwah on transgender marriages in Islam. With some caveats, they say it's okay. Problem is, being transgender in Pakistan is still illegal/not recognized by the government. (Grokked from Deborah Beale)
"Can you imagine an America when a child’s life was so insignificant that he was intentionally put into the pen of a dangerous zoo animal? An America when a child was intentionally placed at the edge of alligator-infested waters to lure the ferocious beast for hunters?" Trigger warnings, but a part of American history. (Grokked from Patrick Nielsen Hayden)
The Red Cross distributes a pool safety poster that is pretty racist. This is why diversity matters. It's also why you need art directors that know WTF they are doing. I'm sure this wasn't intentional, but shows just how ingrained racism is in our society. Sure, there is ONE white kid doing something not cool (okay, and another white kid chasing an African American kid, but are listed as "Not Cool"), but the old "Cool" people are white. Hey American Red Cross, and the designer/illustrator who did this, Not Cool. Seriously, you need to make conscious choices. And if it was conscious, you deserve the shit storm coming your way.
The new push of anti-abortion, they're the ones who are pro-woman and pro-health of women. Yeah, right. It's just amazing the lies and twisted world-view the pro-life movement has been peddling. Also note the shift from "The Supreme Court is the final law" to "that's the last place these decisions should be being made." What a difference a heart attack makes.
The Huckster forks over $25,000 for use of "Eye of the Tiger" during his (presidential campaign) rally for Kin Davis. Dear campaigns, your use of music is considered a broadcast or performance, you need to secure rights to use it. If you don't understand that by now, you need new campaign managers. (Grokked from Dan)
Speaking of Ms Davis, a federal judge rules against Mississippi'e religious conscious bill saying "'the marriage license issue will not be adjudicated anew after each legislative session.'" Of course there will be an appeal. (Grokked from Dan)
You know how the Trumpster said he didn't want anyone critical of him to speak at the RNC? Turns out even before that qualification they're having a hard time filling the speaking slots. (Grokked from Lisa Morton)
The Trumpster again reiterates it's only "a ban on people from countries that have known links to terrorism." So, anybody want to explain Pakistan, India, Indonesia, and, oh, hey look at all those Americans who have joined al Qaeda, al Shabab, and even ISIS. Why, it's almost like we have known links to terrorism. Plus, Hamas operates in Israel. Man this this just keeps expanding. Also, that would mean cutting off access to people who translated for us, or helped our military integrate into places in Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen. Oh, and look at all that money that flowed our of Saudi Arabia to help what we designate as terrorist organizations. And can you say Sinn Féin? Ireland, you're right. Same old Trumpster, just as racists but trying to learn how to dog whistle. And he's not "changing" his policy, he's refining it. How reporters don't laugh in these people's faces is a testament to professionalism.
That research showed that Trump has a long-standing habit of promising to give to charity. But Trump’s follow-through on those promises was middling — even at the beginning, in his early days as a national celebrity. There's one real big reason, until now he's gotten away with the sham. Not that it'll affect his standing among his supporters. (Grokked from TPM)
Members of the white nationalist group involved in the Sacramento brawl says they're heading to Cleveland to protect Trump's supporters. The company you keep.
Monday, June 27, 2016
What I did this weekend
In this age of plastic money, do children still know the joy of counting up change to see if you can afford something you want? I know, I could afford it no matter what, but there is something visceral in counting pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters that still brings a smile to my heart. Seeing all those shinies in stacks and piles, knowing the value of each, it still thrills me. I don't know if kids know that simple pleasure any more. I will note I was born at a time when you could get multiple packs of bubblegum for a penny (I remember when Bazooka went from 3 pieces to 2).
I'm not sure counting Chucky-E-Cheese tickets is the same thing. First off, they don't have the weight coinage has. There's also not the thrill of discovering a new facing on the money or an especially old date. Tickets don't weigh you down with their gravity. There's no real smell to tickets (or there shouldn't be) like coins smell as they're handled.
Oh, and it was $55.38, which means I can get my honey that gift. So there was also the joy in that. Yes, I was going to buy it anyway. It's an easier decision (and it made me feel a little younger) when I know I have the cash in hand (which will be translated into a gift certificate and then into the gift itself).
I don't use cash that often anymore, so I don't collect that much change. This would be the various pieces of change I've collected for almost two years now. Which is another thing I wonder if kids are missing. Cash was hard, real, in your face when I was young. Pricing, however, could be all over the board and wasn't very real (or realistic). Now money is the same way.
Oh, and since we're talking about it, "Git offa my lawn!" :: shakes cain in general direction ::
It wasn't all I did. It's not like I Scrooge McDucked into the piles ($55, mostly in quarters, isn't much of a pile to begin with). I also did cleaning and woodworking (rebuilt one of the tables, created a new one, smaller top but taller legs). Also I notice I couldn't keep the tally in my head as well as I used to. While I've always stacked them in denominations (quarters in dollar stacks, pennies in tens), I had always been able to keep track of what I had counted. This time I needed the stacks to confirm what I had in my head.
I'm not sure counting Chucky-E-Cheese tickets is the same thing. First off, they don't have the weight coinage has. There's also not the thrill of discovering a new facing on the money or an especially old date. Tickets don't weigh you down with their gravity. There's no real smell to tickets (or there shouldn't be) like coins smell as they're handled.
Oh, and it was $55.38, which means I can get my honey that gift. So there was also the joy in that. Yes, I was going to buy it anyway. It's an easier decision (and it made me feel a little younger) when I know I have the cash in hand (which will be translated into a gift certificate and then into the gift itself).
I don't use cash that often anymore, so I don't collect that much change. This would be the various pieces of change I've collected for almost two years now. Which is another thing I wonder if kids are missing. Cash was hard, real, in your face when I was young. Pricing, however, could be all over the board and wasn't very real (or realistic). Now money is the same way.
Oh, and since we're talking about it, "Git offa my lawn!" :: shakes cain in general direction ::
It wasn't all I did. It's not like I Scrooge McDucked into the piles ($55, mostly in quarters, isn't much of a pile to begin with). I also did cleaning and woodworking (rebuilt one of the tables, created a new one, smaller top but taller legs). Also I notice I couldn't keep the tally in my head as well as I used to. While I've always stacked them in denominations (quarters in dollar stacks, pennies in tens), I had always been able to keep track of what I had counted. This time I needed the stacks to confirm what I had in my head.
Linkee-poo wears my sunglasses at night so I can forget my name while you collect your claim
SCOTUS strikes down provisions in the Texas anti-abortion law as undue burdens. Sometimes the good guys win (also, yeah for domestic violence convictions meaning "no gun purchase" but boo for "quid-pro-quo must be direct").
An academic paper (PDF) on Victorian elves and Tolkien's elves. (Grokked from Terri Windling)
On the snake motif in Viking art. Also note close resemblance to Celtic art. As a designer, these early art forms always turn my knobs to 11. (Grokked from Terri Windling)
"On Friday, the Texas Supreme Court ruled in favor of a family that had been accused of not teaching their children anything because they were waiting to be 'raptured.'" What could possibly go wrong? (Grokked from Jim Wright)
"(T)ens of millions of Americans expressed their confusion to reporters Friday about a system of government in which a leader would resign after making a terrible decision." Never leave us, Onion. Or we'll hunt you down. (Grokked from Kameron Hurley)
Sacramento neo-Nazis rally and the "anti-facsist" counter-protestors attack each other. While my sympathies are with the counter-protestors (and right now it looks like they were the ones who took the brunt of the violence), and I most certainly understand their anger against the neo-Nazis (as well as their fear of losing their hard won rights), this is exactly what the neo-Nazis and Trump Supporters are looking for (the neo-Nazi rally was in support of Trump's candidacy - the people you keep company with). It is easy to meet hate with hate and violence with violence (and given the reports from non-trump supporters who have attended the rallies outside of the "media pens", yes, the Trump supporters, those who go to the rallies, are full of hate and violence). And it does feel like "weakness" to not respond. But you were 400 to their 30. It's easy to allow "anarchists" to drive the mood of the crowd (they train for this). Having seen a few KKK marches I know first hand the desire to knock some heads. Organize, plan, let them know what they do can no longer be done in ignorance and in the dark. But violence is their calling card, don't give them what they want.
Former Governor Jan Brewer doesn't understand what people are calling Donald Trump and his ilk racists and bigots. Well, Gov. Brewer, seeing as the side that calls the democrats idiots and degenerates is throwing stones, let's just say if the shoe fits.
The problem with running a campaign where "breaking the rules" is considered a strong point is that then everyone believes that have a right to break the rules. The Trumpster says he won't let anyone who doesn't endorse him speak at the RNC, and the party is placing "stalwarts" in positions to try and keep a delegate rebellion in check.
"In a baffling segment Saturday, the Donald Trump supporter told CNN’s Brian Stelter he doesn’t think fact-checkers — as in, people who verify whether politicians are using actual facts or just making stuff up — have a place in today’s political campaigns." When the facts aren't with you, kill the fact-checkers. (Grokked from Jim Wright)
An academic paper (PDF) on Victorian elves and Tolkien's elves. (Grokked from Terri Windling)
On the snake motif in Viking art. Also note close resemblance to Celtic art. As a designer, these early art forms always turn my knobs to 11. (Grokked from Terri Windling)
"On Friday, the Texas Supreme Court ruled in favor of a family that had been accused of not teaching their children anything because they were waiting to be 'raptured.'" What could possibly go wrong? (Grokked from Jim Wright)
"(T)ens of millions of Americans expressed their confusion to reporters Friday about a system of government in which a leader would resign after making a terrible decision." Never leave us, Onion. Or we'll hunt you down. (Grokked from Kameron Hurley)
Sacramento neo-Nazis rally and the "anti-facsist" counter-protestors attack each other. While my sympathies are with the counter-protestors (and right now it looks like they were the ones who took the brunt of the violence), and I most certainly understand their anger against the neo-Nazis (as well as their fear of losing their hard won rights), this is exactly what the neo-Nazis and Trump Supporters are looking for (the neo-Nazi rally was in support of Trump's candidacy - the people you keep company with). It is easy to meet hate with hate and violence with violence (and given the reports from non-trump supporters who have attended the rallies outside of the "media pens", yes, the Trump supporters, those who go to the rallies, are full of hate and violence). And it does feel like "weakness" to not respond. But you were 400 to their 30. It's easy to allow "anarchists" to drive the mood of the crowd (they train for this). Having seen a few KKK marches I know first hand the desire to knock some heads. Organize, plan, let them know what they do can no longer be done in ignorance and in the dark. But violence is their calling card, don't give them what they want.
Former Governor Jan Brewer doesn't understand what people are calling Donald Trump and his ilk racists and bigots. Well, Gov. Brewer, seeing as the side that calls the democrats idiots and degenerates is throwing stones, let's just say if the shoe fits.
The problem with running a campaign where "breaking the rules" is considered a strong point is that then everyone believes that have a right to break the rules. The Trumpster says he won't let anyone who doesn't endorse him speak at the RNC, and the party is placing "stalwarts" in positions to try and keep a delegate rebellion in check.
"In a baffling segment Saturday, the Donald Trump supporter told CNN’s Brian Stelter he doesn’t think fact-checkers — as in, people who verify whether politicians are using actual facts or just making stuff up — have a place in today’s political campaigns." When the facts aren't with you, kill the fact-checkers. (Grokked from Jim Wright)
Sunday, June 26, 2016
Linkee-poo, well I am death, none can excel, I'll open the door to heaven or hell
I'm sure this Brexit thing is all economic and not a totally "We older white people are afraid of you younger brown people" thing. Yeah, totally sure it's not about racism. Noted that, just like Trumpster supporters, not everyone who voted for "Leave" was a racist douchebag, but I'm pretty sure all the racist douchebags voted for "Leave." The company you keep. (Grokked from Annalee Flower Horn)
"So, here’s the thing. This was never a referendum on the EU. It was a referendum on the modern world, and yesterday the frightened, parochial lizard-brain of Britain voted out, out, out, and today we've all woken up still strapped onto this ghost-train as it hurtles off the tracks. Leave voters are finding they care less about immigration now that their pension pots are under threat. Maybe one of the gurning pundits promising them pride and sovereignty should have mentioned that, but they were too busy lying about the NHS. " (Grokked from Patrick Nielsen Hayden)
The Sixth Annual Maureen "AJ" Ramey Memorial Summer Reading Program brought to you by Hot Chicks Dig Smart Men is up and running.
Trotify. Because you need it. (Grokked from Dan)
Happy. Lately I've been thinking a lot about this, how to increase happiness (rather than just stave off depression). Sort of looking at this dog playing with its automatic ball tosser (grokked from Jim Hines). That kinda happy. The end of "On Writing" by Stephen King kinda happy. (Grokked from Janiece)
So, you know when you go before a judge it helps to behave and be contrite, especially in criminal proceedings. Then there's the other way of doing it. So, that worked out well. My guess is there's some undiagnosed mental issues there.
President Obama dedicates the Stonewall National Monument in New York City. Commence right-wing whackaloon freakout in 3… 2… 1…
Hey look, now that TSA has made it hell to go through their lines and people are literally missing their flights because of it (even though they arrive 2 hours early), Pre-Check applications are up. Also, private company who was hired to handle is is now "scrambling" to keep up. Remember when we decided to outsource these things? "Private businesses can easily adapt" they said. "Private business is infinitely flexible" they said.
"'It would be horribly tragic if my ability to protect myself or my family were to be taken away,' Sheats wrote in March on her Facebook page, 'but that's exactly what Democrats are determined to do by banning semi-automatic handguns.'" And then she used her guns to kill her two daughters and was then shot by the sheriff when she refused to drop her weapon. Texas. (Grokked from Annalee Flower Horne)
"'What is the EU?" is the second top UK question on the EU since the #EURefResults were officially announced" I'm sorry, as you'll read in the syllabus, we deduct one full letter grade for every day your homework is late. (Grokked from Mur Lafferty)
The fall out from the Trumpster continues as George Will changes his party affiliation from the GOP. Welcome, George, we have jackets. Also, maybe now is the time to re-examine what you thought were the basis of your former party to see exactly how those policies affect the lives of the people you live with.
The Trumpster moderates his "ban on all muslims" to just those from "terrorist countries." The Trumpster also doesn't understand that we live in a globalized world and doesn't understand why Brexit is affecting US stocks. So, how's that smart businessman thing working out?
The ACLU negotiates a smaller "event zone" for the RNC.
"So, here’s the thing. This was never a referendum on the EU. It was a referendum on the modern world, and yesterday the frightened, parochial lizard-brain of Britain voted out, out, out, and today we've all woken up still strapped onto this ghost-train as it hurtles off the tracks. Leave voters are finding they care less about immigration now that their pension pots are under threat. Maybe one of the gurning pundits promising them pride and sovereignty should have mentioned that, but they were too busy lying about the NHS. " (Grokked from Patrick Nielsen Hayden)
The Sixth Annual Maureen "AJ" Ramey Memorial Summer Reading Program brought to you by Hot Chicks Dig Smart Men is up and running.
Trotify. Because you need it. (Grokked from Dan)
Happy. Lately I've been thinking a lot about this, how to increase happiness (rather than just stave off depression). Sort of looking at this dog playing with its automatic ball tosser (grokked from Jim Hines). That kinda happy. The end of "On Writing" by Stephen King kinda happy. (Grokked from Janiece)
So, you know when you go before a judge it helps to behave and be contrite, especially in criminal proceedings. Then there's the other way of doing it. So, that worked out well. My guess is there's some undiagnosed mental issues there.
President Obama dedicates the Stonewall National Monument in New York City. Commence right-wing whackaloon freakout in 3… 2… 1…
Hey look, now that TSA has made it hell to go through their lines and people are literally missing their flights because of it (even though they arrive 2 hours early), Pre-Check applications are up. Also, private company who was hired to handle is is now "scrambling" to keep up. Remember when we decided to outsource these things? "Private businesses can easily adapt" they said. "Private business is infinitely flexible" they said.
"'It would be horribly tragic if my ability to protect myself or my family were to be taken away,' Sheats wrote in March on her Facebook page, 'but that's exactly what Democrats are determined to do by banning semi-automatic handguns.'" And then she used her guns to kill her two daughters and was then shot by the sheriff when she refused to drop her weapon. Texas. (Grokked from Annalee Flower Horne)
"'What is the EU?" is the second top UK question on the EU since the #EURefResults were officially announced" I'm sorry, as you'll read in the syllabus, we deduct one full letter grade for every day your homework is late. (Grokked from Mur Lafferty)
The fall out from the Trumpster continues as George Will changes his party affiliation from the GOP. Welcome, George, we have jackets. Also, maybe now is the time to re-examine what you thought were the basis of your former party to see exactly how those policies affect the lives of the people you live with.
The Trumpster moderates his "ban on all muslims" to just those from "terrorist countries." The Trumpster also doesn't understand that we live in a globalized world and doesn't understand why Brexit is affecting US stocks. So, how's that smart businessman thing working out?
The ACLU negotiates a smaller "event zone" for the RNC.
Friday, June 24, 2016
Linkee-poo you say Franz Ferdinand was shot?
"What happens to England and Wales now?… Short version: economic turmoil caused by the uncertainty. An upswing in right-wing xenophobia as the utterly odious crypto-fascist Nigel Farage makes hay while the Sun shines on his project." Charlie Stross on the Brexit vote. 'Cause here's the lesson of history, fascists weren't only in Germany and Italy at the start of WWII. (Grokked from John Scalzi)
Remain calls "Do over!" (Grokked from Robert J Bennett)
Also, the Brexit is exactly the same economic phony-baloney that US conservatives are trying to sell you. They're quite happy the UK's economy is about to drag everyone down. Well done, GOP.
On of the major issues of any advertising/marketing department in this modern "just-in-time" manufacturing (bullshit) culture is not having an actual product to shoot when you need to develop marketing materials (this is relatively less common in the "olden days" when we actually built things in this country and knew how to run businesses). So, enter the Mill's Blackbird video rig. It's basically a chassis that can be programmed to mimic the performance of (almost) any car and so can be taken on the road to get footage and then you can add the car through CGI in post. Brilliant. Also, advertising lies. In case you needed a reminder. Also, yes, this fills a very real need. (Grokked from John)
Muscle memory. Okay, well, there is a link between exercise and brain functions, and now they think they may have identified part of that link, cathepsin B. But with all silver linings, there is the inevitable cloud. "(Cathepsin B is) produced by tumor cells and has been linked to the brain plaques associated with Alzheimer's." Kinda sucks, doesn't it?
Some magnificent photos from Cassini. I could look at those all day. Also, fodder for your space opera novel. (Grokked from Jim Hines)
"When telling this story (of how 12 girls came to "live" with Kaplan, plus one who was "gifted" and gave birth to 3 of the other girls) to the detective, Stoltzfus and Kaplan appeared to believe nothing was wrong, said Bucks County District Attorney David Heckler." Abusers never think what they do is wrong. "Cary Hall and Alexander Tuttle said. "Until all the facts are in, we (Cary Hall and Alexander Tuttle, lawyers for Savilla Stoltzfus) ask that the court of public opinion hold its judgment of our client as well." Yeah, I think I'm going to go ahead and judge this one now, if that's okay with you all.
The Trumpster forgives his campaign the $50M loan he gave to himself. Well, that was kind. Also, wow, that really frees up some of that cash. Also, "'Unlike the all talk, no action politicians that have failed the American people for far too long, Mr. Trump is not beholden to the special interests that have corrupted Washington, D.C,' the statement read. 'Mr. Trump will continue to put America and our people first.'" But he's now asking for donations. Like he did before. Like he denies he needs. And while I love Twitter, I also know exactly how much value it has. So for the campaign to rely of the Trumpsters social media presence, wow. Much ignorance. Such narcissism. He's also banking on the free TV he's gotten so far. That's good, because word on the street is any TV advertising slots between now and November are very few and far between.
This is hilarious. "Donald Trump on Friday morning praised Britain's decision to leave the European Union, drawing a parallel to the 2016 presidential election in the United States." And then "Donald Trump on Friday said that President Barack Obama bore some responsibility for the UK’s historic decision to leave the European Union." The Trumpster is patting himself on the back over "correctly calling it", however "As recently as June 1, Trump seemed unfamiliar with the term 'Brexit,' but he has maintained throughout the last few months that he thought a departure would be beneficial for the UK."
In case you're looking to see if the Trumpster has really thought out the ramifications of his economic and immigration policy, "They don't know,' he said (referring to Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew and Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen’s concerns that the Brexit would negatively impact the U.S. economy). 'Look, we have to see how it plays out.'" And there you have it, "Hey, it's a crap shoot, you put your dollar down, roll your dice and see what happens." Great way to plan for business success, don'tcha think?
Tweet of my heart: @QUEENWlTCH my heart goes out to any aspiring dystopian fiction authors who keep having their ideas stolen by the conservative party
Remain calls "Do over!" (Grokked from Robert J Bennett)
Also, the Brexit is exactly the same economic phony-baloney that US conservatives are trying to sell you. They're quite happy the UK's economy is about to drag everyone down. Well done, GOP.
On of the major issues of any advertising/marketing department in this modern "just-in-time" manufacturing (bullshit) culture is not having an actual product to shoot when you need to develop marketing materials (this is relatively less common in the "olden days" when we actually built things in this country and knew how to run businesses). So, enter the Mill's Blackbird video rig. It's basically a chassis that can be programmed to mimic the performance of (almost) any car and so can be taken on the road to get footage and then you can add the car through CGI in post. Brilliant. Also, advertising lies. In case you needed a reminder. Also, yes, this fills a very real need. (Grokked from John)
Muscle memory. Okay, well, there is a link between exercise and brain functions, and now they think they may have identified part of that link, cathepsin B. But with all silver linings, there is the inevitable cloud. "(Cathepsin B is) produced by tumor cells and has been linked to the brain plaques associated with Alzheimer's." Kinda sucks, doesn't it?
Some magnificent photos from Cassini. I could look at those all day. Also, fodder for your space opera novel. (Grokked from Jim Hines)
"When telling this story (of how 12 girls came to "live" with Kaplan, plus one who was "gifted" and gave birth to 3 of the other girls) to the detective, Stoltzfus and Kaplan appeared to believe nothing was wrong, said Bucks County District Attorney David Heckler." Abusers never think what they do is wrong. "Cary Hall and Alexander Tuttle said. "Until all the facts are in, we (Cary Hall and Alexander Tuttle, lawyers for Savilla Stoltzfus) ask that the court of public opinion hold its judgment of our client as well." Yeah, I think I'm going to go ahead and judge this one now, if that's okay with you all.
The Trumpster forgives his campaign the $50M loan he gave to himself. Well, that was kind. Also, wow, that really frees up some of that cash. Also, "'Unlike the all talk, no action politicians that have failed the American people for far too long, Mr. Trump is not beholden to the special interests that have corrupted Washington, D.C,' the statement read. 'Mr. Trump will continue to put America and our people first.'" But he's now asking for donations. Like he did before. Like he denies he needs. And while I love Twitter, I also know exactly how much value it has. So for the campaign to rely of the Trumpsters social media presence, wow. Much ignorance. Such narcissism. He's also banking on the free TV he's gotten so far. That's good, because word on the street is any TV advertising slots between now and November are very few and far between.
This is hilarious. "Donald Trump on Friday morning praised Britain's decision to leave the European Union, drawing a parallel to the 2016 presidential election in the United States." And then "Donald Trump on Friday said that President Barack Obama bore some responsibility for the UK’s historic decision to leave the European Union." The Trumpster is patting himself on the back over "correctly calling it", however "As recently as June 1, Trump seemed unfamiliar with the term 'Brexit,' but he has maintained throughout the last few months that he thought a departure would be beneficial for the UK."
In case you're looking to see if the Trumpster has really thought out the ramifications of his economic and immigration policy, "They don't know,' he said (referring to Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew and Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen’s concerns that the Brexit would negatively impact the U.S. economy). 'Look, we have to see how it plays out.'" And there you have it, "Hey, it's a crap shoot, you put your dollar down, roll your dice and see what happens." Great way to plan for business success, don'tcha think?
Tweet of my heart: @QUEENWlTCH my heart goes out to any aspiring dystopian fiction authors who keep having their ideas stolen by the conservative party
Thursday, June 23, 2016
Linkee-poo can give you what you want, but you gotta come home with me
Justine Larbalestier on how her evolving views on writing the Other with some good points for any white writer who is thinking about writing a protagonist of color.
Brandon Sanderson's BYU lectures on writing SF/F, now with more production values. Can't attend a writing workshop? Here's a good alternative. Although the change in audio quality is sometimes jarring, but at least is recognizable. (Grokked from John Scalzi)
These days, nothing you see in a movie is there by accident. How directors use color to manipulate your emotional response.
A BBC radio report about a model of a bewitched ship and the prevalence of witches in the 16th century. Also a good primer for why the campaign against immigrants is the new witch hunt. (Grokked from Ellen Kushner)
British Columbia is experiencing what we're all seeing as heroin is being replaced with Fentanyl and W-18 (that later one is still mostly in Canada). And this could be why we see spikes in overdoses.
"It probably started because I did a few dilation and evacuations on labor and delivery for women at 22 or 23 weeks with ruptured membranes, infections, and fetal demise. It’s technically a very hard procedure when there is an infection and helping a woman not need a hysterectomy to save her life is something only people who have learned how to do late-term abortions can do. It’s nerve wracking because with infection the uterus is like soft butter and you are using hard instruments. And it’s all by feel. In those days we didn’t use ultrasound." Why teaching abortion to Ob-Gyns and in general is a needed skill. (Grokked from Annalee Flower Horne)
A giant octopus kite taking flight. Wow.
The Brexit in four easy charts. Well, pretty much the first one tells you what you need to know.
The population demographic of Texas in four easy charts. Hmm, I sense a trend. (Grokked form Robert J Bennett)
"I'm where I am in part because of my mother's sacrifice, in part because I also had a white middle-class father a few miles away who was active in my life and invested in my education. I worked hard, sure, but nobody works harder to survive than poor people. I just got some good breaks and so did many of my ancestors." About the same, except for the Dad part, it was mostly my Mom. An opinion piece about the disappearing middle-class written by a person who clawed their way into it from the working-poor. Also pointed to because of this line, "I think most Americans love the rich — as long as they can convince themselves it's possible to join their ranks." So true.
"… because the US welfare state is 'submerged' and sliced up among a variety of different programs, many of which operate indirectly rather than directly, it is mostly invisible to US citizens… The fact that nearly half of Social Security recipients do not believe that they have benefited from a government social program, and that the same is true of some 40% of G.I. Bill beneficiaries and Medicare recipients is a rather extraordinary one." With a list of programs listed by the percentage of the populace that uses them that denies they are using any government program. (Grokked from Ferrett Steinmetz)
Congressional Democrats stage a sit-in on the floor of the House to demand votes on gun-control issues. I would feel a lot better if 1) they had any chance of passing and 2) would fix the lists they want to use to exclude people from buying guns. How about we just focus on closing the private sale/gun show loop-hole? Or maybe repeal the Dickey Amendment? I appreciate that it's good optics, but I want real fucking change and something that has a chance of both passing and actually doing something.
So now that the GOP has recovered their "healthcare thoughts and prayers" from the past 6 years and tried again to say it's an actual policy and actionable legislation, how is Obamacare doing? "The US is spending trillions less than expected on health care — and uninsured rates are at an all-time low… Medicare alone has cost $455 billion less than expected." Now you know what every single idiot who claims they want to rollback Obamacare is actually for, increased spending by the government and for you. (Grokked from Fred Clark)
You know, whenever I see these "Trump supporters and hangers-on/white-supremist" stories I wonder if we're all just being punked or that they're some piece of performance art. Unfortunately it's all true. Including the desire to go full retrograde and take the country "back" to an time where they imagined everything was okay. "'(The) Leave it to Beaver time when there were no break-ins; no violent crime; no mass immigration,' (Tennessee's 3rd Congressional District independent candidate Rick Tyler) told the news station." His billboard's actual headline was "Make America White Again." But of course he doesn't hate anybody. Of course not. (Grokked from Dan)
Brandon Sanderson's BYU lectures on writing SF/F, now with more production values. Can't attend a writing workshop? Here's a good alternative. Although the change in audio quality is sometimes jarring, but at least is recognizable. (Grokked from John Scalzi)
These days, nothing you see in a movie is there by accident. How directors use color to manipulate your emotional response.
A BBC radio report about a model of a bewitched ship and the prevalence of witches in the 16th century. Also a good primer for why the campaign against immigrants is the new witch hunt. (Grokked from Ellen Kushner)
British Columbia is experiencing what we're all seeing as heroin is being replaced with Fentanyl and W-18 (that later one is still mostly in Canada). And this could be why we see spikes in overdoses.
"It probably started because I did a few dilation and evacuations on labor and delivery for women at 22 or 23 weeks with ruptured membranes, infections, and fetal demise. It’s technically a very hard procedure when there is an infection and helping a woman not need a hysterectomy to save her life is something only people who have learned how to do late-term abortions can do. It’s nerve wracking because with infection the uterus is like soft butter and you are using hard instruments. And it’s all by feel. In those days we didn’t use ultrasound." Why teaching abortion to Ob-Gyns and in general is a needed skill. (Grokked from Annalee Flower Horne)
A giant octopus kite taking flight. Wow.
The Brexit in four easy charts. Well, pretty much the first one tells you what you need to know.
The population demographic of Texas in four easy charts. Hmm, I sense a trend. (Grokked form Robert J Bennett)
"I'm where I am in part because of my mother's sacrifice, in part because I also had a white middle-class father a few miles away who was active in my life and invested in my education. I worked hard, sure, but nobody works harder to survive than poor people. I just got some good breaks and so did many of my ancestors." About the same, except for the Dad part, it was mostly my Mom. An opinion piece about the disappearing middle-class written by a person who clawed their way into it from the working-poor. Also pointed to because of this line, "I think most Americans love the rich — as long as they can convince themselves it's possible to join their ranks." So true.
"… because the US welfare state is 'submerged' and sliced up among a variety of different programs, many of which operate indirectly rather than directly, it is mostly invisible to US citizens… The fact that nearly half of Social Security recipients do not believe that they have benefited from a government social program, and that the same is true of some 40% of G.I. Bill beneficiaries and Medicare recipients is a rather extraordinary one." With a list of programs listed by the percentage of the populace that uses them that denies they are using any government program. (Grokked from Ferrett Steinmetz)
Congressional Democrats stage a sit-in on the floor of the House to demand votes on gun-control issues. I would feel a lot better if 1) they had any chance of passing and 2) would fix the lists they want to use to exclude people from buying guns. How about we just focus on closing the private sale/gun show loop-hole? Or maybe repeal the Dickey Amendment? I appreciate that it's good optics, but I want real fucking change and something that has a chance of both passing and actually doing something.
So now that the GOP has recovered their "healthcare thoughts and prayers" from the past 6 years and tried again to say it's an actual policy and actionable legislation, how is Obamacare doing? "The US is spending trillions less than expected on health care — and uninsured rates are at an all-time low… Medicare alone has cost $455 billion less than expected." Now you know what every single idiot who claims they want to rollback Obamacare is actually for, increased spending by the government and for you. (Grokked from Fred Clark)
You know, whenever I see these "Trump supporters and hangers-on/white-supremist" stories I wonder if we're all just being punked or that they're some piece of performance art. Unfortunately it's all true. Including the desire to go full retrograde and take the country "back" to an time where they imagined everything was okay. "'(The) Leave it to Beaver time when there were no break-ins; no violent crime; no mass immigration,' (Tennessee's 3rd Congressional District independent candidate Rick Tyler) told the news station." His billboard's actual headline was "Make America White Again." But of course he doesn't hate anybody. Of course not. (Grokked from Dan)
Wednesday, June 22, 2016
Linkee-poo, when I die and they lay me to rest, gonna go to the place that's the best
On why there are so many new publishing imprints. (Grokked from Mrs. Tadd)
"'It's the biggest timber frame structure in the world,' the Ark's founder, Ken Ham, told me on the top deck of the Ark -- which will include an upscale restaurant." You know, like Noah had in the "original" Ark. So I'll wait for the first lawsuit regarding Ham's hiring practices. The Ark was built with some state funds.
So, a few years ago Mississippi promised to get to the bottom of the murders of civil rights activists that inspired the movie Mississippi Burning, they're throwing in the towel. "'It's just gotten to the point that it's 52 years later and we've done all we can do,' Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood said Monday." Fancy that. Look, the international court just convicted what will probably be the last Nazi brought to justice while alive. I think we can do better.
Apparently with the RNC coming to Cleveland, the Sherwin-Williams company is going to replace the Lebron James sign on their building. I'm sure this won't cause any problems within the local community (quickly invests in touches and pitchforks). (Grokked from Dan)
The Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant is now scheduled to close in 2025. Having been built near several fault lines in California, this plant has always been a major issue. But now maybe we will have a discussion about what to do with all the waste from nuclear power's "clean" energy production.
"'As much as I appreciate everyone's concern over our finances, when you look at it in totality year-over-year, we're doing really, really well.'" Well, yes, compared to last year when the campaigns were just starting, $1.3M is doing really, really well. You now, compared to $0. But June's fundraising has just been "incredible." That's probably true, it's incredibly low as many of the main cash cows are sitting it out. However, they then have that much more to plow into their various Super PACs.
The problem with an society overly entranced with sports, "'The main reason that I'm (prosecuting two athletes for marijuana and weapons charges) is that I refuse to ruin the lives of two young men who have spent their adolescence and their teenage years working and sweating while we were all home in the air conditioning,' (District Attorney Jerry) Jones said." Unfortunately when people talk about how our system is broken, they're not talking about this.
NC Governor's office sets up hotline to shame Attorney General for being difficult to find while the governors office ignores several public records requests. So "missing in action" isn't something the governor's office should be criticizing. (Grokked from Mur Lafferty)
"But the 37-page white paper falls far short of a full-scale replacement proposal for 'Obamacare' and leaves key questions unanswered, including the size of the tax credits, the overall price tag of the plan, and how many people would be covered." The Republicans would offer a replacement plan without providing specifics? Shocked, shocked I am… And is it just me or does any plan you purchase with "tax credits" sound a lot like "buy more, save more" incentives? Basically it means you have to pony up the cash first and then, if you make enough, you can deduct it on your taxes. "This report is the beginning of the conversation, not the end," the report authors state. Uh, guys, it's been six fucking years since Obamacare was enacted. This isn't the beginning of anything.
"'I am encouraging patriots and Trump supporters and those that support liberty and freedom to come lawfully armed with lethal and non-lethal weaponry,' said Jim Stachowiak, a right-wing activist and former police officer, in a video posted on his YouTube channel." Yeah, I'm sure this will turn out well. On the plus side, the last rally he called for drew exactly one person. So here's to the successful one. I love the Onion, but when reality starts imitating their story style I being to question their influence. Whackaloon quotient already sky-high. (Grokked from Jim Wright)
"The moderator, former Republican presidential hopeful and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, told Trump this would not be an 'inquisition,' but rather people had come because they want someone who will 'lead this nation out of the abyss.'" Or in other words, Mikee knows if the conservative Christians look too closely, or examine the Trumpsters answers as compared to reality, they won't like what they see. And the GOP absolutely needs these "conservatives" (i.e. social conservatives) to win anything. This is why the GOP is in the shape they are now, thanks to Reagan's compromise to bring the Christian conservatives into the fold. Also, you may remember me saying that the social conservative love the Trumpster because they see him as taking action, but not caring really what action he may take and is willing to be led. So here's this part of that article, "(Ben) Carson told the crowd God is like a 'grandmaster' chess player, and seemed to compare Trump to a chess piece that's usually considered the weakest one: 'Sometimes he uses a pawn; sometimes he does things in a way that is not very apparent to us. And that's where faith comes in.'" They fully accept that they can swing the Trumpster, that he's their man. Also note the audio from the report covers different things than the written article.
Tweet of my heart: @DKElections Florida Man rejected for dream job, decides to reapply for job he hates.
"'It's the biggest timber frame structure in the world,' the Ark's founder, Ken Ham, told me on the top deck of the Ark -- which will include an upscale restaurant." You know, like Noah had in the "original" Ark. So I'll wait for the first lawsuit regarding Ham's hiring practices. The Ark was built with some state funds.
So, a few years ago Mississippi promised to get to the bottom of the murders of civil rights activists that inspired the movie Mississippi Burning, they're throwing in the towel. "'It's just gotten to the point that it's 52 years later and we've done all we can do,' Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood said Monday." Fancy that. Look, the international court just convicted what will probably be the last Nazi brought to justice while alive. I think we can do better.
Apparently with the RNC coming to Cleveland, the Sherwin-Williams company is going to replace the Lebron James sign on their building. I'm sure this won't cause any problems within the local community (quickly invests in touches and pitchforks). (Grokked from Dan)
The Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant is now scheduled to close in 2025. Having been built near several fault lines in California, this plant has always been a major issue. But now maybe we will have a discussion about what to do with all the waste from nuclear power's "clean" energy production.
"'As much as I appreciate everyone's concern over our finances, when you look at it in totality year-over-year, we're doing really, really well.'" Well, yes, compared to last year when the campaigns were just starting, $1.3M is doing really, really well. You now, compared to $0. But June's fundraising has just been "incredible." That's probably true, it's incredibly low as many of the main cash cows are sitting it out. However, they then have that much more to plow into their various Super PACs.
The problem with an society overly entranced with sports, "'The main reason that I'm (prosecuting two athletes for marijuana and weapons charges) is that I refuse to ruin the lives of two young men who have spent their adolescence and their teenage years working and sweating while we were all home in the air conditioning,' (District Attorney Jerry) Jones said." Unfortunately when people talk about how our system is broken, they're not talking about this.
NC Governor's office sets up hotline to shame Attorney General for being difficult to find while the governors office ignores several public records requests. So "missing in action" isn't something the governor's office should be criticizing. (Grokked from Mur Lafferty)
"But the 37-page white paper falls far short of a full-scale replacement proposal for 'Obamacare' and leaves key questions unanswered, including the size of the tax credits, the overall price tag of the plan, and how many people would be covered." The Republicans would offer a replacement plan without providing specifics? Shocked, shocked I am… And is it just me or does any plan you purchase with "tax credits" sound a lot like "buy more, save more" incentives? Basically it means you have to pony up the cash first and then, if you make enough, you can deduct it on your taxes. "This report is the beginning of the conversation, not the end," the report authors state. Uh, guys, it's been six fucking years since Obamacare was enacted. This isn't the beginning of anything.
"'I am encouraging patriots and Trump supporters and those that support liberty and freedom to come lawfully armed with lethal and non-lethal weaponry,' said Jim Stachowiak, a right-wing activist and former police officer, in a video posted on his YouTube channel." Yeah, I'm sure this will turn out well. On the plus side, the last rally he called for drew exactly one person. So here's to the successful one. I love the Onion, but when reality starts imitating their story style I being to question their influence. Whackaloon quotient already sky-high. (Grokked from Jim Wright)
"The moderator, former Republican presidential hopeful and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, told Trump this would not be an 'inquisition,' but rather people had come because they want someone who will 'lead this nation out of the abyss.'" Or in other words, Mikee knows if the conservative Christians look too closely, or examine the Trumpsters answers as compared to reality, they won't like what they see. And the GOP absolutely needs these "conservatives" (i.e. social conservatives) to win anything. This is why the GOP is in the shape they are now, thanks to Reagan's compromise to bring the Christian conservatives into the fold. Also, you may remember me saying that the social conservative love the Trumpster because they see him as taking action, but not caring really what action he may take and is willing to be led. So here's this part of that article, "(Ben) Carson told the crowd God is like a 'grandmaster' chess player, and seemed to compare Trump to a chess piece that's usually considered the weakest one: 'Sometimes he uses a pawn; sometimes he does things in a way that is not very apparent to us. And that's where faith comes in.'" They fully accept that they can swing the Trumpster, that he's their man. Also note the audio from the report covers different things than the written article.
Tweet of my heart: @DKElections Florida Man rejected for dream job, decides to reapply for job he hates.
Tuesday, June 21, 2016
Linkee-poo, we dip and dive a drunken jive, falling as a pair
Posted here in case I need it, the June 21 Writers Almanac with the poem Still, I Give Thanks by Marie Reynolds. Fuck cancer.
"Large-scale brain-like machines with human-like abilities to solve problems could become a reality, now that researchers have invented microscopic gadgets that mimic the connections between neurons in the human brain better than any previous devices." Hype hype hype, blather, blather, blather. It's still a 0 or 1 transaction (not in reality, but in processing). Okay, look, the synapse is the space between the neuron's axion and the next neuron's dendrite. The neuron itself has many dendrites and a few axions. And because of the chemical signals that transfers across the synapse the neuron knows where to route the signal and at what strength to route that signal. And then you have to deal with the fact that we still don't have a good grip on where sentience comes from. Is it a hardwired part of the brain, or an emergent property of the brain? We're learning more and more of how the brain distributes its work load, but we still don't understand how those nodes are constructed and why they work they way they do (this is what President Obama's brain mapping initiative hopes to find out. But it's still a question when we understand the physical makeup of the brain will we understand how it truly works. (Grokked from Paolo Bacigalupi)
"'If people are going to be eating burgers in 50 years, they're not going to be made from cows,' said (Stanford biochemist and Impossible Foods' founder and CEO Patrick) Brown. 'We're saving the burger.'" Soylent brown? The "fake" meat products continue to advance. I've tried some of Beyond Meat's products and they're not bad, but their also not really a substitute yet. But while this industry isn't exactly new (Boca burger for example was started in 1979) it still hasn't matured ("artificial" meat is still more expensive than "real" meat). And while Beyond Meat didn't sway me to switch, it was close enough for me to give it and their competitors another try as they improve.
"'If you were unfortunate enough to be an oxygen ion in the upper atmosphere of Venus then you have won a terrible, terrible lottery,' said Collinson, 'You and all your ion friends will be dragged off kicking and screaming into space by an invisible hand, and nothing can save you.'" An "electric wind" has stripped Venus of it's water. (Grokked from Warren Ellis)
Just a reminder, your work computer belongs to your job and anything you type or use it for may be monitored by IT or HR and/or requested by law enforcement.
"With southeast Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy behind bars as he and his four sons await trial, the Bureau of Land Management announced Friday that it plans to resume work in the Gold Butte region for the first time since an armed standoff near Bundy's Bunkerville ranch in spring 2014." And it looks like they've got a lot of work a head of them.
Teaching the next generation of Ob-Gyn doctors about abortion in Texas. While the Pro-Lifers will think this is great, no matter which side you're on there are times when it is absolutely necessary to induce an abortion to save the life of the mother (such as when a miscarriage goes wrong). Doctors need to know how to save lives. This isn't a case of, "well, if we close all the abortion clinics our doctors don't need to know how to perform abortions."
Party before country. They GOP is going to have a hard time explaining their support of the Trumpster as anything else.
Why is it when oil prices are low oil industry insiders always talk about closing our strategic petroleum reserves. Dear US Government, buy low, sell high. Also, while there is a lot of untapped oil in our country (thanks to fraking), it's not easily recoverable and in this slow down those oil rigs we would need are rotting out on the prairie. I also suspect that the same thing will happen this year as has happened in past years when our domestic oil industry has slowed, those rigs will be sold off and moved out of the country, we'll lose our domestic steel tube industries, and the number of people qualified to actually work on the rigs will plummet. Which means the next time oil prices rise dramatically it'll take another decade before we can successfully tap our domestic production capability.
"A week after Orlando was rocked by the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history, a Florida state senator and congressional candidate launched a contest to award a constituent with a AR-15 semiautomatic rifle." Guess which party. Aw, it's no fun if you don't guess. This is what's known as the Part of "I Don't Give a Damn." And of course he has an NRA rating of A+. Good job, Evers.
Not sure if I said it on the blog or in a tweet last week on how the NRA was being reasonable in the wake of Orlando when it came to gun control and if that would translate to them not lobbying to scuttle any legislation down the time line. Welp, here's the answer. Of course they're going to try and sink any legislation. You can sell more guns (and that's the business the NRA is in, making sure gun manufacturers can sell all the guns they can). (Grokked from Jim Wright)
"This is it. This week House Republicans will unveil their plan to replace Obamacare… Except by 'plan' they mean be a 'broad outline,' and by 'replace' they mean without giving any specific dollar amounts that would show how far they'd go to guarantee that Americans don't lose coverage, according to a report last week in The Hill." Won't get fooled again.
"The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Monday that courts need not suppress evidence of a crime, even if it was obtained through an illegal stop." Fuckstockings. Sure, there are those who say, "Well, they were criminal, so alls well that ends well," except what this does is gives police a license to stop anyone at anytime and then check to see if there's an outstanding warrant and if they're able to find evidence of another crime while they've stopped that person, that evidence can also be admissible in court. This over turns a lot of existing law that states if the police obtain evidence in an illegal manner that it cannot be used in a court (because it's only a few steps from illegal procedures to simply planting evidence to justify an arrest). While the ruling is specifically for one case, the president it sets is one of the building blocks of a police state. And if you think this will only be used against "those people", you really don't know how the police operate.
"In a new ad to be aired on television this week, Florida businessman and GOP Senate candidate Carlos Beruff says he's tired of 'hyphenated Americans.'" After, you know, touting his Cuban-American heritage. Because in Florida being Cuban-American can't hurt. So, anybody else getting the vibe that Race in 2016 will be what Rape was in 2012?
"Donald J. Trump has fired his divisive campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, a move that comes as the presumptive Republican nominee faces challenges as he heads into the general election." Munches popcorn waiting for the Dunning-Kruger fireworks. Not that I think he was a good guy, but all accounts he's an ass. Although to be fair to the Trumpster, it's not at all uncommon for a major shakeup in the candidate's organization just before the convention.
"'If people are going to be eating burgers in 50 years, they're not going to be made from cows,' said (Stanford biochemist and Impossible Foods' founder and CEO Patrick) Brown. 'We're saving the burger.'" Soylent brown? The "fake" meat products continue to advance. I've tried some of Beyond Meat's products and they're not bad, but their also not really a substitute yet. But while this industry isn't exactly new (Boca burger for example was started in 1979) it still hasn't matured ("artificial" meat is still more expensive than "real" meat). And while Beyond Meat didn't sway me to switch, it was close enough for me to give it and their competitors another try as they improve.
"'If you were unfortunate enough to be an oxygen ion in the upper atmosphere of Venus then you have won a terrible, terrible lottery,' said Collinson, 'You and all your ion friends will be dragged off kicking and screaming into space by an invisible hand, and nothing can save you.'" An "electric wind" has stripped Venus of it's water. (Grokked from Warren Ellis)
Just a reminder, your work computer belongs to your job and anything you type or use it for may be monitored by IT or HR and/or requested by law enforcement.
"With southeast Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy behind bars as he and his four sons await trial, the Bureau of Land Management announced Friday that it plans to resume work in the Gold Butte region for the first time since an armed standoff near Bundy's Bunkerville ranch in spring 2014." And it looks like they've got a lot of work a head of them.
Teaching the next generation of Ob-Gyn doctors about abortion in Texas. While the Pro-Lifers will think this is great, no matter which side you're on there are times when it is absolutely necessary to induce an abortion to save the life of the mother (such as when a miscarriage goes wrong). Doctors need to know how to save lives. This isn't a case of, "well, if we close all the abortion clinics our doctors don't need to know how to perform abortions."
Party before country. They GOP is going to have a hard time explaining their support of the Trumpster as anything else.
Why is it when oil prices are low oil industry insiders always talk about closing our strategic petroleum reserves. Dear US Government, buy low, sell high. Also, while there is a lot of untapped oil in our country (thanks to fraking), it's not easily recoverable and in this slow down those oil rigs we would need are rotting out on the prairie. I also suspect that the same thing will happen this year as has happened in past years when our domestic oil industry has slowed, those rigs will be sold off and moved out of the country, we'll lose our domestic steel tube industries, and the number of people qualified to actually work on the rigs will plummet. Which means the next time oil prices rise dramatically it'll take another decade before we can successfully tap our domestic production capability.
"A week after Orlando was rocked by the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history, a Florida state senator and congressional candidate launched a contest to award a constituent with a AR-15 semiautomatic rifle." Guess which party. Aw, it's no fun if you don't guess. This is what's known as the Part of "I Don't Give a Damn." And of course he has an NRA rating of A+. Good job, Evers.
Not sure if I said it on the blog or in a tweet last week on how the NRA was being reasonable in the wake of Orlando when it came to gun control and if that would translate to them not lobbying to scuttle any legislation down the time line. Welp, here's the answer. Of course they're going to try and sink any legislation. You can sell more guns (and that's the business the NRA is in, making sure gun manufacturers can sell all the guns they can). (Grokked from Jim Wright)
"This is it. This week House Republicans will unveil their plan to replace Obamacare… Except by 'plan' they mean be a 'broad outline,' and by 'replace' they mean without giving any specific dollar amounts that would show how far they'd go to guarantee that Americans don't lose coverage, according to a report last week in The Hill." Won't get fooled again.
"The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Monday that courts need not suppress evidence of a crime, even if it was obtained through an illegal stop." Fuckstockings. Sure, there are those who say, "Well, they were criminal, so alls well that ends well," except what this does is gives police a license to stop anyone at anytime and then check to see if there's an outstanding warrant and if they're able to find evidence of another crime while they've stopped that person, that evidence can also be admissible in court. This over turns a lot of existing law that states if the police obtain evidence in an illegal manner that it cannot be used in a court (because it's only a few steps from illegal procedures to simply planting evidence to justify an arrest). While the ruling is specifically for one case, the president it sets is one of the building blocks of a police state. And if you think this will only be used against "those people", you really don't know how the police operate.
"In a new ad to be aired on television this week, Florida businessman and GOP Senate candidate Carlos Beruff says he's tired of 'hyphenated Americans.'" After, you know, touting his Cuban-American heritage. Because in Florida being Cuban-American can't hurt. So, anybody else getting the vibe that Race in 2016 will be what Rape was in 2012?
"Donald J. Trump has fired his divisive campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, a move that comes as the presumptive Republican nominee faces challenges as he heads into the general election." Munches popcorn waiting for the Dunning-Kruger fireworks. Not that I think he was a good guy, but all accounts he's an ass. Although to be fair to the Trumpster, it's not at all uncommon for a major shakeup in the candidate's organization just before the convention.
Monday, June 20, 2016
Old McDonald had a brand, e-i-e-i-o
Because it's starting to surface in the consciousness of writers again, I thought this time I'll actually write that post on Brand.
Wait, wait, come back. See, I actually know a little of what I'm talking about here, unlike most of the people spouting off about Brand. And I'm going to try and explain this as simply as I can and try and blow away the clouds that surround brand and show you what it is and a little of how it works. And since the focus of this blog is mostly toward writers (yes, I know, politics as well, but that's because as Han Solo said in the Return of the Jedi, "Hey, it's me.") But there's something you need to know first.
Everybody has a brand.
I'm not joshing you. The only way to not have a brand is to not engage with anyone else. Ever. In any fashion. And that, for a writer, means you're dead. You can escape having a brand. When I hear authors scream "I am not a brand!" what they're really saying is, "I am not a commodity," which is a fair enough sentiment (it's wrong, but I understand). Why does everyone have Brand?
A brand is the emotional response others have toward you or in reaction to something (physical object, a process, or even another emotion).
This is not all commercial (although brand is mostly thought of in the commercial sense). Do your friends like it when you show up? That's your brand. When a reader encounters your name (or genre, or book cover type) do they have a positive or negative reaction (like "ooo, another Stephen King novel" or "ugh, not another Stephen King novel").
A little discussion on why people get confused on brand.
First up, everybody who says "Brand" is lying because they say "Brand" when they mean a whole host of other things. There is Brand (which is not a thing that can be held or pointed to), brand name, brand item, brand identity, brand switching, brand migration, brain maintenance/management, a whole panoply of brand concepts all of which are often referred to by the shorthand of "Brand" (all of which I could write a few thousand words on each). I don't blame you for being confused because the people who work with brands, who should understand then, often confuse it all up in their own head mostly because they're lying when they say they understand brand, very few people do. And here's the little design world secret, even those design gods who walk among us get it wrong. There's a whole subspecies who understand it (much better than I do) and they demand top dollar (and by top dollar I'm talking a few thousand a day) to consult with other designers/marketers. It's like the world of reinsurers (or underwriting), there's this whole other sphere of the business world most people don't even know exists.
When most lay people say brand they really mean "brand name" or "brand item." And this is what writers often declare they are NOT. And those people are fools or believe they are "artists" which they wrongly believe is the antithesis of "commercial." Art is commerce. Okay, granted, I'm a Graphic Designer by training, trade, vocation and advocation. In the art world that means I'm a whore. But everyone of those little assholes who call us that would sell their grandmothers as chattel to get a good gallery to show their work. Why? They'll say it's for the exposure or fame, but it's about the money (why else get exposure or fame, which are both commercialized concepts).
You are a brand (name).
So yes, little scribbler, you are not the commodity, you are not the brand. Except you are. Or at least your name is a brand name (and you should be damn glad it works that way). Take a look at all those writing heroes you love. Look at their books. Are their names set larger and more noticeable than the title of the book? Why? Because they are brands and the publishers know their name is what will convert that inked pulp into cash. Your name has become the brand name. And it'll either sell books, or it won't. It's in the crux of that conjunction where pseudonyms are born.
Is a pseudonym anything other than a brand name? And, to the reader at least, the person who is putting their money up in exchange for your entertainment, is there any difference between the author's actual name or a pseudonym (note, this is not a discussion on when people's pseudonyms are outed like JK Rowling's "Robert Galbraith" book, but more of Joe King writing as Joe Hill)? The answer to that is ten-thousand pages of commercial psychology and marketing studies that say, no, there is no difference.
A side note here on the effects of brand. When Robert Galbraith was outed as JK Rowling, the sales spiked. Why? Because of Rowling's brand. People who love her Harry Potter books wanted to read more by her even if it wasn't Harry Potter (and there is the confusion between brand name and branded item). The brand is tied to JK Rowling, it was built on the success of Harry Potter, which is one of her "brands" (actually a branded item). HP is it's own brand, which has been slapped on everything, although JK Rowling was very particular in the beginning because she knew (my guess would be overtly if not intuitively) how quickly a brand can sour because of poor brand management. On the other hand, how many more books and stories could Joe Hill have sold if he put his real name on it? The answer is easy to find because it's an open secret. That sales bump is the result of brand transfer from his dad's brand to him which, IIRC, he explicitly did not want to build his career on (and he didn't), but his agents and publishers were certainly glad when that secret dropped.
Your name, as the author, if your brand name, not the book title (which could be it's own brand name, but 90% of the time isn't, here I'm thinking about Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys/Sweet Valley High kinds of series). The book is not your brand, it is a branded item. Your brand exists in the mind and emotions of the reader. If that reader really likes your writing and stories, congratulations, you've got yourself a little brand. Do you yourself like to read certain authors because you know how their stories are going to affect you? Will you give authors you like more leniency when it comes to suspension of disbelief because you know they're going to bring it all around and satisfy you at the end? (To new authors, there's the rub, and it's why you need to be better than those authors)
To those authors who love to pound their books on the tables at conventions and shout, "this is my brand", you're entirely wrong. The book is not your brand, but a branded item (and your brand is quickly on it's way to "asshole"). To those authors who shout, "I am a brand" you're entirely wrong. You are the manufacturer of the branded item. To those authors who shout "I am not a brand" you're entirely correct. And you're doomed to failure. You are the brand identity, the brand builder, the person who does the branding, and your name (or pseudonym) is the brand name. How people perceive you affects your success because it affects your brand, the emotion the reader holds in their head.
So, as an author (or anyone selling anything) you should be grateful and proud if you have a strong, good brand. Many people would kill (and I'm not being fanciful here) for a good brand. Millions of dollars are spent every single day (probably every hour) to build good brands; to either instill positive thoughts about a brand that you might not have experience with or to reverse negative thoughts about a brand, or to reinforce a brand message. Having a good brand is literally gold. But you should also beware of developing a negative brand.
When established authors encourage new authors to go to conventions and make friends, be positive, be nice, this is what they're encouraging. Nobody wants to work with dicks. The only exception (because talk to almost any editor and you'll get stories) is if your books sell well before they discover you're a dick. And then it's the brand in the readers' heads the publishers will be buying. But if you start out with a good brand, where people like to work with you, where they know you'll be professional, half your work is done.
And that is the power of Brand. It does the work for you. Is selling a book hard work? Just ask any of your author friends who have published. And you want to develop a readership. You want to leave a positive impression in those readers (reviewers, other authors, other editors and publishers) heads. You want that very much. Because that means for your second book, half of your work is already done. The readers who loved your first book will buy the second, they'll talk about you, they'll generate hype entirely on their own. That doesn't mean you shouldn't work as hard as you did the first time. Quite the opposite, but that's a different discussion on brand building and market penetration.
This is why you want to embrace your brand. Nurture it. Feed it. Make it the best brand you can because that brand will bring about sales of your book (branded item) because your name (brand name) is on it. Success building on success. It may not get any easier if you're expanding the base, but you don't have to work so hard to keep what you've already gained.
This didn't go exactly where I wanted it, but I think that's a good primer.
Finally, I'd like to leave you with a case study of an author who "gets it." James Patterson. And he should, he used to work in advertising/marketing. He's an industry. Most of his books are now ghost written (with varying degrees of his input). And while that may seem a little sketchy to "artist" who may decry his blatant commercialism, he can't hear you in his Palm Beach mansion where he Scrooge McDucks into piles of money. Okay, I don't think he does that because, man, the paper cuts alone… But he makes what I believe the bankers call a "shit-ton of money". And he pays his ghost writers well (at least that's what I hear). He is, by all accounts, a good guy. And people buy his books. All of them. Because of his brand, and it's a good brand (when it comes to the book buying populace). And he understands that and nurtures his brand.
Frankly if you offered me the chance to either labor away in a garret apartment overlooking the Seine to get the next thing agented and published or working my ass off on a luxurious estate (and have no doubt, he's still working his ass off) to sell a few million books I know which one I would choose.
Wait, wait, come back. See, I actually know a little of what I'm talking about here, unlike most of the people spouting off about Brand. And I'm going to try and explain this as simply as I can and try and blow away the clouds that surround brand and show you what it is and a little of how it works. And since the focus of this blog is mostly toward writers (yes, I know, politics as well, but that's because as Han Solo said in the Return of the Jedi, "Hey, it's me.") But there's something you need to know first.
Everybody has a brand.
I'm not joshing you. The only way to not have a brand is to not engage with anyone else. Ever. In any fashion. And that, for a writer, means you're dead. You can escape having a brand. When I hear authors scream "I am not a brand!" what they're really saying is, "I am not a commodity," which is a fair enough sentiment (it's wrong, but I understand). Why does everyone have Brand?
A brand is the emotional response others have toward you or in reaction to something (physical object, a process, or even another emotion).
This is not all commercial (although brand is mostly thought of in the commercial sense). Do your friends like it when you show up? That's your brand. When a reader encounters your name (or genre, or book cover type) do they have a positive or negative reaction (like "ooo, another Stephen King novel" or "ugh, not another Stephen King novel").
A little discussion on why people get confused on brand.
First up, everybody who says "Brand" is lying because they say "Brand" when they mean a whole host of other things. There is Brand (which is not a thing that can be held or pointed to), brand name, brand item, brand identity, brand switching, brand migration, brain maintenance/management, a whole panoply of brand concepts all of which are often referred to by the shorthand of "Brand" (all of which I could write a few thousand words on each). I don't blame you for being confused because the people who work with brands, who should understand then, often confuse it all up in their own head mostly because they're lying when they say they understand brand, very few people do. And here's the little design world secret, even those design gods who walk among us get it wrong. There's a whole subspecies who understand it (much better than I do) and they demand top dollar (and by top dollar I'm talking a few thousand a day) to consult with other designers/marketers. It's like the world of reinsurers (or underwriting), there's this whole other sphere of the business world most people don't even know exists.
When most lay people say brand they really mean "brand name" or "brand item." And this is what writers often declare they are NOT. And those people are fools or believe they are "artists" which they wrongly believe is the antithesis of "commercial." Art is commerce. Okay, granted, I'm a Graphic Designer by training, trade, vocation and advocation. In the art world that means I'm a whore. But everyone of those little assholes who call us that would sell their grandmothers as chattel to get a good gallery to show their work. Why? They'll say it's for the exposure or fame, but it's about the money (why else get exposure or fame, which are both commercialized concepts).
You are a brand (name).
So yes, little scribbler, you are not the commodity, you are not the brand. Except you are. Or at least your name is a brand name (and you should be damn glad it works that way). Take a look at all those writing heroes you love. Look at their books. Are their names set larger and more noticeable than the title of the book? Why? Because they are brands and the publishers know their name is what will convert that inked pulp into cash. Your name has become the brand name. And it'll either sell books, or it won't. It's in the crux of that conjunction where pseudonyms are born.
Is a pseudonym anything other than a brand name? And, to the reader at least, the person who is putting their money up in exchange for your entertainment, is there any difference between the author's actual name or a pseudonym (note, this is not a discussion on when people's pseudonyms are outed like JK Rowling's "Robert Galbraith" book, but more of Joe King writing as Joe Hill)? The answer to that is ten-thousand pages of commercial psychology and marketing studies that say, no, there is no difference.
A side note here on the effects of brand. When Robert Galbraith was outed as JK Rowling, the sales spiked. Why? Because of Rowling's brand. People who love her Harry Potter books wanted to read more by her even if it wasn't Harry Potter (and there is the confusion between brand name and branded item). The brand is tied to JK Rowling, it was built on the success of Harry Potter, which is one of her "brands" (actually a branded item). HP is it's own brand, which has been slapped on everything, although JK Rowling was very particular in the beginning because she knew (my guess would be overtly if not intuitively) how quickly a brand can sour because of poor brand management. On the other hand, how many more books and stories could Joe Hill have sold if he put his real name on it? The answer is easy to find because it's an open secret. That sales bump is the result of brand transfer from his dad's brand to him which, IIRC, he explicitly did not want to build his career on (and he didn't), but his agents and publishers were certainly glad when that secret dropped.
Your name, as the author, if your brand name, not the book title (which could be it's own brand name, but 90% of the time isn't, here I'm thinking about Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys/Sweet Valley High kinds of series). The book is not your brand, it is a branded item. Your brand exists in the mind and emotions of the reader. If that reader really likes your writing and stories, congratulations, you've got yourself a little brand. Do you yourself like to read certain authors because you know how their stories are going to affect you? Will you give authors you like more leniency when it comes to suspension of disbelief because you know they're going to bring it all around and satisfy you at the end? (To new authors, there's the rub, and it's why you need to be better than those authors)
To those authors who love to pound their books on the tables at conventions and shout, "this is my brand", you're entirely wrong. The book is not your brand, but a branded item (and your brand is quickly on it's way to "asshole"). To those authors who shout, "I am a brand" you're entirely wrong. You are the manufacturer of the branded item. To those authors who shout "I am not a brand" you're entirely correct. And you're doomed to failure. You are the brand identity, the brand builder, the person who does the branding, and your name (or pseudonym) is the brand name. How people perceive you affects your success because it affects your brand, the emotion the reader holds in their head.
So, as an author (or anyone selling anything) you should be grateful and proud if you have a strong, good brand. Many people would kill (and I'm not being fanciful here) for a good brand. Millions of dollars are spent every single day (probably every hour) to build good brands; to either instill positive thoughts about a brand that you might not have experience with or to reverse negative thoughts about a brand, or to reinforce a brand message. Having a good brand is literally gold. But you should also beware of developing a negative brand.
When established authors encourage new authors to go to conventions and make friends, be positive, be nice, this is what they're encouraging. Nobody wants to work with dicks. The only exception (because talk to almost any editor and you'll get stories) is if your books sell well before they discover you're a dick. And then it's the brand in the readers' heads the publishers will be buying. But if you start out with a good brand, where people like to work with you, where they know you'll be professional, half your work is done.
And that is the power of Brand. It does the work for you. Is selling a book hard work? Just ask any of your author friends who have published. And you want to develop a readership. You want to leave a positive impression in those readers (reviewers, other authors, other editors and publishers) heads. You want that very much. Because that means for your second book, half of your work is already done. The readers who loved your first book will buy the second, they'll talk about you, they'll generate hype entirely on their own. That doesn't mean you shouldn't work as hard as you did the first time. Quite the opposite, but that's a different discussion on brand building and market penetration.
This is why you want to embrace your brand. Nurture it. Feed it. Make it the best brand you can because that brand will bring about sales of your book (branded item) because your name (brand name) is on it. Success building on success. It may not get any easier if you're expanding the base, but you don't have to work so hard to keep what you've already gained.
This didn't go exactly where I wanted it, but I think that's a good primer.
Finally, I'd like to leave you with a case study of an author who "gets it." James Patterson. And he should, he used to work in advertising/marketing. He's an industry. Most of his books are now ghost written (with varying degrees of his input). And while that may seem a little sketchy to "artist" who may decry his blatant commercialism, he can't hear you in his Palm Beach mansion where he Scrooge McDucks into piles of money. Okay, I don't think he does that because, man, the paper cuts alone… But he makes what I believe the bankers call a "shit-ton of money". And he pays his ghost writers well (at least that's what I hear). He is, by all accounts, a good guy. And people buy his books. All of them. Because of his brand, and it's a good brand (when it comes to the book buying populace). And he understands that and nurtures his brand.
Frankly if you offered me the chance to either labor away in a garret apartment overlooking the Seine to get the next thing agented and published or working my ass off on a luxurious estate (and have no doubt, he's still working his ass off) to sell a few million books I know which one I would choose.
Linkee-poo has seen some changes, but it's getting better all the time
Invisibilia is back! And their first episode is posted, on how learning to be vulnerable can make life safer. It also increases productivity. The transcript/text story is just part of the podcast. (Grokked from Cat Rambo)
"The reversed (light) pulse not only propagates backward, but it releases a forward pulse out the far end of the fiber. In this way, the pulse that enters the front of the fiber appears out the end almost instantly, apparently traveling faster than the regular speed of light." My brain hurts. My initial take would be it's some form of quantum entanglement going on in the doping of the fiber with erbium. But still, ow-ee ow-ee ow-ee. (Grokked from Dan)
Exercising while depressed. "The fitness industry talks a lot about 'exercise lifehacks for depression!!!', but it seems to be coming from a place of ignorance about the cold war going on in the average depressed person’s head." Yup. (Grokked from Xeni)
"The list of major U.S. companies that plan to scale back funding for the Republican National Convention or avoid it altogether keeps growing as the July event in Cleveland draws closer." Don't worry, GOP, the sex-workers have already started showing up.
"Leadership doesn't just end like that." Jer gets what most managers fail at.
So when the progress of our economy comes up this election season, sure we aren't growing as fast as the old days. But we're doing better than most of the rest of the world. Gee, when did 2% GDP become the goal? Well, back in the 70s we started busting unions and neoliberalism took hold of some people's brains. "But the study also concluded many problems have worsened: income inequality has widened; gains in educational performance have slowed; entrepreneurship is down; productivity is declining and public infrastructure spending is inadequate."
For every one of those idiots who say people are environmentalists because it's "politically correct" or "where the money is." "A report released Monday by the nonprofit watchdog group Global Witness claims that 2015 was the deadliest yet for people who sought to protect their land, forests and rivers from mining, logging and dams." People are dying to protect the environment. And while many aren't being killed in the US, don't for a second think there isn't massive intimidation going on. (Grokked from Paolo Bacigalupi)
"The reversed (light) pulse not only propagates backward, but it releases a forward pulse out the far end of the fiber. In this way, the pulse that enters the front of the fiber appears out the end almost instantly, apparently traveling faster than the regular speed of light." My brain hurts. My initial take would be it's some form of quantum entanglement going on in the doping of the fiber with erbium. But still, ow-ee ow-ee ow-ee. (Grokked from Dan)
Exercising while depressed. "The fitness industry talks a lot about 'exercise lifehacks for depression!!!', but it seems to be coming from a place of ignorance about the cold war going on in the average depressed person’s head." Yup. (Grokked from Xeni)
"The list of major U.S. companies that plan to scale back funding for the Republican National Convention or avoid it altogether keeps growing as the July event in Cleveland draws closer." Don't worry, GOP, the sex-workers have already started showing up.
"Leadership doesn't just end like that." Jer gets what most managers fail at.
So when the progress of our economy comes up this election season, sure we aren't growing as fast as the old days. But we're doing better than most of the rest of the world. Gee, when did 2% GDP become the goal? Well, back in the 70s we started busting unions and neoliberalism took hold of some people's brains. "But the study also concluded many problems have worsened: income inequality has widened; gains in educational performance have slowed; entrepreneurship is down; productivity is declining and public infrastructure spending is inadequate."
For every one of those idiots who say people are environmentalists because it's "politically correct" or "where the money is." "A report released Monday by the nonprofit watchdog group Global Witness claims that 2015 was the deadliest yet for people who sought to protect their land, forests and rivers from mining, logging and dams." People are dying to protect the environment. And while many aren't being killed in the US, don't for a second think there isn't massive intimidation going on. (Grokked from Paolo Bacigalupi)
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