Linkee-poo is going to Wichita, far from this opera for evermore

Jill Corcoran on researching agents (with lots o' links). Yes, I'll be needing this sooner than later (I certainly hope). And on that thought, something to avoid. Yog's Law, "Money flows toward the author." (both links grokked from Absolute Write, retreated by several friends)

When people talk to me about cameras I state my preference for having full control over the beasties. Not that I need it for everything, but I would certainly like as much control over my next camera as I did over my beloved (and dearly departed) Minolta T250. When they ask why I would want such things (long shutter speeds, full control over aperture, focal length, etc), I can now point to this. Yeah. That's why. Because I miss creating images like that. (And, yep, I know, the rig I really want will run me about $1k, they're coming down in price, but I'm still a cheap bastard)

The political stuff. While I'm concerned over what will happen with Egypt in the future, I'm not certifiably paranoid over it. Didn't we learn the lesson in Afghanistan that the enemy of my enemy is not necessarily my friend? Apparently not. I guess not all conservatives are tone deaf. I'd be happier if I didn't get the feeling the removal of the "forceable rape" language was just a "we'll do it later, when nobody is looking" thing. And history and race relations have never been his strong point. Bu then, when has reality ever trumped talking points?

Damn socialists.

Linkee-poo feels fooled again

Classes cancelled for tonight, which is good. I wasn't ready for the test. Not ready at all. Do give you a hint of how much I've been running and been busy, the "not read yet" list of the regular blogs I read is approaching 100 again.

Because I'm a total geek, things like this and this totally get me geared. Those are two self-funded, low-tech space launches (using balloons to get to the middle stratosphere). Of course, it's only cameras going up, but still damn cool. Somehow I feel like this will be the "egg drop" experiment (can you drop and egg from two stories up, onto concrete, and have it survive using only 45 straws and a role of tape) of the future. Really. Want. To. Do. This! (pointed out by Dan, both times, because I'm sure he's going to do it).

Thinking geeky, how to do your own SEO (Search Engine Optimization).

Brad Torgersen on on how writers don't quit. Having gone through this argument with myself over the past three months, yes. And Stacia Kane on the language of sex (writing sex scenes). Not work safe (no pictures though). Must read this when home. (both grokked from Miranda Suri)

In case it ever gets down to a your wackaloons are wackier than our wackaloons argument. Speaking of such, really (birther bills in CT and AZ), really (Huntsman shows some sense, and misses the point)? Well, we still have the high ground on duplicity. It's these kinds of things that make this satire possible. If only for the humor factor I would be secretly pushing the conservatives to greater heights. Unfortunately it may not be an asteroid that's coming for us, but their vision is just as devastating in the long run.

It's all fun and games until someone pokes an eye out. (moment by moment courage of Egypt's turn for the worse)

Heinous Fuckery

To all my "free-market" friends who like to go on about how companies are really good at heart and wouldn't ever hurt or take advantage of their employees or customers because that would just be wrong for business, I submit this for entry into the record.


And this is a lot more prevalent these days. This wasn't the only flyer offering "real world experience" for no pay on that board, but it was the one that got me. Also, notice that these postings have to be "approved" before going up (and really, why didn't the approval people catch this).

Say, isn't there a law forbidding unpaid internships? Why, yes there is. I believe this position fails on all 6 of the criteria. Fuckers.

Linkee-poo in the morning sunshine on this day of Ice-apocalypse

Tobias points out some food for thought regarding passenger rail systems. With some "just were does your tax money go." And to reiterate the point, I'd like to thank the taxpayers of Ohio for generously helping us repave 3 roads this coming summer. Trust me, they need it.

The ever delightful Catherine Schaffer talks about the perils of the writer being successful too soon. As I commented there, "Whew, dodged that bullet."

BIll O'Reilly on magical thinking. Okay, well, it's Bill O'Reilly giving a prime example of magical thinking, the God of the Gaps, being taken to school by Phil Plait. Not that Bill will actually notice. It's becoming a hallmark of the conservative movement to go beyond the "Know Nothings" and indulge in willful ignorance (IMHO) to maintain their world view. There's nothing like reality to either give one an object lesson in a low coefficient of friction (a lesson many people across the great white north are relearning today) or have the leopard take a hunk out of your haunches. Understand this isn't an argument against religion (of which, I'm sure, the full-on spin master O'Reilly will portray it as), it's about viewing the world as it is, not as we wish it to be. Bill is being willfully ignorant to maintain his world view. I'm willing to give anybody the benefit of the doubt when it comes to personal belief, but when it goes to this level, it's something else. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

But then it also helps when you forget forceable relocation of the Indians to "Indian Territory". Or that you've committed the same infraction you blame others for in a massive campaign to redefine yourself and you forget you have a past that is all too google-able.

Dudes, about the kool-aid, just say, "No."

Linkee-poo hunkers down for the storm

Some steampunkery goodness in the form of the lost world of aerial ropeways. (pointed out by Dan).

Who doesn't enjoy a good were-flamingo story? (Sotry by fellow VPXIII-er L.K. Herndon.

Elizabeth Bear (aka eBear, aka matociquala) weighs forth on the care and feeding of the speculative fiction writer over on the Clarion blog. "We suffer from vitamin D deficiencies," check, "and flabby muscles that cannot adequately support our spines," check, "and repetitive motion trauma," check (and "ouch!"), "and deep vein thrombosis," not sure I'm there yet, but I have had extremity pain while writing long periods of time.

And Jim Hines gets his zazzle on. Gotta do that myself one of these centuries.

Proud of the conservative wave yet? Dear Congress, it's about jobs, not this other bullshit. This just makes me want to point and laugh, unfortunately you're motives and intent leave me too sad and shaking with rage to play the clown. Hey, TP, remember when you said you'd hold these idiots accountable if they didn't cut the spending and reduce the size of government? How well are they doing so far? Yeah. It's beginning to look like the TP is just a feint by the social conservatives to mask their moves.

But then again, principled opposition never holds up in reality. And it always helps when you ignore the parts that don't fit the internal story.

Waiting for the storm

Yeah, I should probably clean my windshield.

Linkee-poo of one

Becomes sometimes it's just that good.

Friend and commentor Rick is starting up a new webzine. There will be more details to come, but so far it looks cool. Good luck, Rick.

Random Thoughts on a Sunday

Friday and Saturday was spent cleaning and freelancing. Today will be spent snow blowing, odd chores, and studying.

So, there's this meme going around about how auto-correct sucks. And I agree. As someone who uses some fairly rare words, and unusual spellings, it can be a severe pain if I'm not watching. There are times I have to rekey a word three times before the damn software stops trying to make it something else. Now, part of this is the fact that until college I didn't consider English classes all that important (and a young teacher who followed my class from 7th to 12th grade and imprinted my brain with the joys of the 80s sweater dress didn't help with my focus on the material). So my spelling and grammar skills are sub-par (although they've been improving).

However, there are some pretty simple words that are getting replaced. Like "bicycle" and "house". Seriously folks, if you all knew how to spell as least half as good as I do you wouldn't be having these problems. I mean, my bane is the homophone and from/form. But I do better than this.

Linkee-poo takes some exceptions as coupons

Superstars Writing Seminars with an audio of Tracy Hickman on why writers write. It's in the middle of the page. (Grokked from Miranda Suri)

Michael Chabon subbing for Ta-Nehisi Coates gives the best definition of writing and blogging I've seen yet. Yes. This. (pointed out by Dan through Daring Fireball)

On Magical Words they're going through the Hero's Journey. Always a fun time.

edited to add the next two links
The more things change the more the present looks like an aberration. If this Huff article on early 20th century clerical support for abortion services didn't track to history I've already research, I'd say thy had made it up. Unfortunately for reality, the history is real. And unfortunately it seems like we need to learn this lesson all over again. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

Kristine Kathryn Rusch on surviving the mid-list predations. It's a long post with links to other articles. I'm not through it yet, but I will read and devour this when I have time. (Grokked from Jay Lake)
end edit

Part of the myths we tell ourselves, and how they can be very hurtful. That's an article commenting on the Giffords' case and how "she's a fighter" and the assumption that will make her better. It's the popular myth about how we should not go gentle into the good night. And the final part of that article shows the logical flaw of such an argument. Grokked from Jay Lake who had his own experience with cancer. I have my own stories of cancer, most of which also break that myth.

Vince makes with the funny. As Lewis Black said, "How could nobody in government see this coming? Everybody with a job could see this depression/recession coming, because somewhere around Nov. 2007, either you said this, or a coworker looked around the cubicle and said, 'Uh, I think we're fucked.'"

The Slactivist weighs in on some of the current idiocy being bandied about regarding abortion activists equating themselves with abolitionists. I could make a meta argument about the previous administration attempting the same thing with the Greatest Generation/WWII and neo-neo-conservatives/libertarians co-oping the Founding Fathers/Revolutionary War. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

And Paul Broun continues in his ignorance. Can somebody buy this guy a clue? I could make this a meta argument about how the right just doesn't understand the words coming out of their mouths. Tie in Sarah Pallin and a few others. No, really you all, grab onto a reality rope cause you're all about to sink into that morass.

Frying pan, meet fryer

There's been a lot of buzz about the protests in Egypt. I'm not so trilled. I'm no fan of Mubarak, and I'm all for the people revolting against a totalitarian regime, but the opposition in this case (IMHO) isn't a step forward. They're saying "Democracy!" at least for now. However I'm not sold that they won't exchange one totalitarianism for another.

I guess I shouldn't be so cryptic, should I? The main opposition is the Muslim Brotherhood, and organization devoted to reestablishing the Caliphate, and one with ties to white supremacists here in the US (seems strange, I know, but there it is). The Muslim Brotherhood is outwardly dedicated to "religion focused government" (ie. theocracy). Their hands aren't clean in this matter. They are a Pan-Arab organization, and as such has ties to terrorist organizations (Hamas, al Shabaab, and even al Qaeda). The ties are not strong or permanent, as far as I've seen, but they have been substantiated (more so than the terrorist ties to Saddam's Iraq).

If they gain prominence outside of the existing Egyptian Constitution, the US may be drawn into this to support Mubarak, and that would be bad. (War on Terror, Israel, Mubarak being legitimately elected - yes, I know, but they had elections, etc)

The media is connecting this movement with the Tunisia revolution (Jasmine, whatever, a revolution I think for the good, BTW). While the uprising in Tunisia (which is still not a fait accompli) can be seen as the spark for this fire (yes, that was intentional, ask me about the buddhist monks in Vietnam some day), other than timing and kicking out someone who has overstayed their welcome, there's not much else to tie them together.

So before we all start rooting for the underdog here we may want to look this horse in the mouth (to mix my metaphors). IMHO, Egypt is looking to trade a tyranny of one for a tyranny by committee.

Linkee-poo didn't spend $1500 on your damn dog's collar

Okay, I haven't read these writing posts yet, so consider this a parking post.
SF Signal Mind Meld on the future of publishing (e-books or print, my guess is that there will be a mix with print books being the predominate form for many reasons). (Grokked from Tor.com).

Tobias Buckell weighs in on piracy. It's a long post. What I've read so far tracks to my own perceptions on digital piracy. It's a very nuanced argument where most people confuse anecdote for data.

Jim Hines expands his thoughts on the piracy issue.

Miranda Suri holds forth on writer groups. What she said. Yes, Virginia, some groups are personality, motivation, and time vampires. Avoid them. But there are others who understand and work to help every individual ini the group progress to their highest level possible. Find the later and avoid the former.

I also had half a post written on social vampirism before a crash sucked it away. Ironic, no? We all occasionally require the energy and enthusiasm of others. When you realize it's a cycle and the more you give, the more you get back, your experiences become richer. However, and just ask any instructor or entertainer about this, there are times when you pour out your body and soul and the crowd gives nothing back. That hurts physically and mentally. But you pick yourself back up and try again (hopefully to a different crowd). This kind of energy is the preverbal loaves and fishes, you gain more by sharing. If you horde it you end up with a meager meal.

And then comes the politics. I think several people went off their meds this past week.

Ted Haggard comes out as bisexual. Except that he doesn't, 'cause he's found God or is too old or something like that. Goes to my theory that most people who think "you can choose" your sexuality are actually bisexuals, but society doesn't accept them yet. So they feel they need to go one way or the other. In other news, the sun rises in the East.

$50,000 for thank you letters? Okay, I'm in the wrong business, again.

Sarah Palin once again proves she doesn't know WTF she's talking about. And people still think they should listen to her? Especially when she talks about history?

But, Rep. Paul Broun looks so normal to be batshit crazy. And then he goes and double-dog dares it. I'm coming to the conclusion that conservatives just don't understand how far in right field they've gone. That and they don't understand the definition of the words they're using.

Hey, a Republican proposal I can get behind. Yes, if you want to do something serious about cutting government spending, 2008 wasn't a very good year to model on. Now, 1998 is something else. I agree. You want to do this, do it whole heartedly. Don't wittle the edges, cut deep. Although he's just a candidate (and it's damn easy to say things when a candidate and just a representative), in Ohio it looks like we may just have to do that strategy. So far Kasich has a majority saying, "Yes," but then he hasn't actually said what he'll cut. When the reality switches from "cut them over there" to "OMG, we're all gonna die from these cuts," I expect to hear the howling from here.

linkee-poo misses you like an ache misses its tooth

First up the writing posts.

Fellow Hamster Ferrett has been doing post on the Clarion Blog on five things about Clarion. For those of you who don't know, here's the Clarion website. If I had the time and money, or was young and dumb (as in, willing to take risks without having much to lose), I'd do Clarion. It's six weeks and from what I hear, fantastic if you can make it. I didn't have 6 weeks to blow, and wouldn't be able to fit it in (cue the "but you must sacrifice for your art" crowd in 3… 2… 1…), but I did have 1 week and instead went to Viable Paradise. You don't need either to have a healthy a full writing career, but they certainly help. If not for the actual information you get out of it, but for the camaraderie and kinship you can develop. Writing, like Death, is a lonely business. It helps to have friends that are doing the same thing you are. It's also why I like listening to the Writers' Almanac when I can (it's only 5 minutes, and includes poetry).

And, yes, I enjoyed writing, "Fellow Hamster Ferrett." It tickles the writing wonk in my head.

Jim Hines with the writer funny. 'nough said.

And then to politics

Well, the verdict on the financial crisis is in. Guess it wasn't all those bums taking about bad loans after all or the government "encouraging homeownership." As you read that article, you can see how some people's world views don't change easily. Take heart, that in reality, nobody leaves the table unscathed. But we don't need no stinkin' regulations I can hear the shouts from here.

And speaking of regulations, there seems to be a renewed attack on them (if only government would just get out of the way we could all be living shorter lives and eating fingers with our dinners). So, here's a story of just why we have them. It's also a story about how "trial lawyers" really aren't the bugaboo certain conservative cyclists want you to believe. One of the earliest (and some considered onerous and idiotic) regulations concern food product. There are regulations for everything, like how many tomatoes are needed before you can call "sugared red sauce" ketchup. See, there's also regulations on just how much cow you need before you can call something "beef." It's 70%, in case you're wondering. To call something "spiced taco meat filling" it needs to be 40% beef (or "flesh of the cow"). Seems Taco Bell's beefy filling is somewhere around 35%. If so, they can't use the words "beef" or "taco meat filling." And yet they use "beef" in their advertising, while internally calling it "taco meat filling." When it's neither. But, you know, we don't need any regulations to keep up, the consumers, safe.

And facts just destroy political theater. Although, Michelle Bachmann is that "magic projector" kind of theater anyway (with an under current of the "suburban horror" genre). While watching her rebuttal of the rebuttal of the SOTU, I started doing a mashup of her and the Church Lady. It made her speech much more tolerable. Dear TP, please get leaders who are both reality based and have a brain so they don't embarrass themselves on national TV. I want to take you seriously.