"(T)hen those are my stories, too." Greg van Eekhout on the "other." (Grokked form Dr. Doyle)
"This book may contain adult content including but not limited to orbital mechanics, advanced mathematics, and linguistic descriptivism." That's from disclaimers for books never written. (Grokked from the Slactivist)
John Scalzi's note to the self-appointed "gatekeepers" of geekdom.
"The Czech Republic is the second country to accept the cooking utensil as official religious head gear, following Austria when businessman Niko Alm won the right to wear a similar sieve on his driving licence photo. Many countries still refuse to accept the pasta strainer as such, and other people in counties such as Poland have failed." His Noodliness starts gaining recognition. This is what happens when you have silly laws about religion. I wonder when I can have my Ohio drivers license photo taken with my Jedi cloak? (Pointed to by John)
Some Xerox workcenters randomly alter numbers. At first I thought it was an OCR error, but turns out it's much worse. Skynet is just messing with our minds now. (Grokked from Phiala)
"Malware planted on the servers of Freedom Hosting—the 'hidden service' hosting provider on the Tor anonymized network… may have de-anonymized visitors to the sites running on that service. This issue could send identifying information about site visitors to an (IP) address that was hard-coded into the script the malware injected into browsers. And it appears the IP address in question belongs to… NSA." Well, there's a hand in the cookie jar. (Pointed to by John)
The stories we tell ourselves. In this case, why a bus driver didn't intervene to stop a student being beaten by bullies. I'll also comment that pepper-spray in the confines of a school bus, not a good idea. To stop the violence the driver may have needed to be violent as well. Imagine the headlines, "Bus Driver Loses Control, Beats Kids." Intervening is a tough thing. (Grokked from Wannbewriter06)
"Reuters reported on previously undisclosed documents showing that a secret Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) unit uses information collected by intelligence agencies—including the National Security Agency (NSA)—to build evidence for criminal cases." And other shoes begin to drop. Now this is the scandal the GOP was so desperately searching for last year. I wonder if they'll pick it up and run with it. Their problem is that it involves law enforcement, something which they've vigorously supported in the past. Did I ever mention how the Patriot Act was originally a drug enforcement act that was hurriedly rebranded after 9-11? (Pointed to by John)
Say, remember this? Boom-deyadda. Yeah, The Discovery Channel says "fuck all" to that. I caught the end of the replay of that show. Had to double check that I wasn't on Syfy. Seriously, WTF?
"The New-York Historical Society’s current exhibition 'AIDS in New York: The First Five Years' accomplishes a neat trick: it takes a black mark in New York City’s history — its homophobic, apathetic response to the early days of AIDS in the early 1980s — and transforms it into a moment of civic pride, when New Yorkers of all stripes came together to fight the disease." I seem to remember living through that time. It wasn't a bright chapter of American History. (Grokked from Morgan J Locke)
"Ben Shapiro, Breitbart.com Editor-At-Large, pushed a baseless conspiracy theory that the sale of The Washington Post to Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos revealed "crony capitalist" collusion with the Obama administration, because President Obama visited an Amazon facility in Tennessee a week before the sale was announced." Freeze-dried whackaloon quotient continues to rise. (Grokked from Tobias Buckell)
Tweet of my heart: @wilw Baseball players who used steroids have faced more meaningful consequences than bankers who wrecked our entire economy. #MURICA
Because after all that and the various news organizations agreeing that the 2016 Campaign is already underway, you need a cat, in a shark suit, riding a roomba.
Tuesday, August 6, 2013
Monday, August 5, 2013
Linkee-poo same trailer, different park
Over the weekend I went down the stairs on my tailbone. I don't recommend this course of action to anyone. Seriously not fun, and the inflatable donut doesn't help all that much.
Sure, you've heard all the arguments about "self-publishing", but here are five good reasons to go with a traditional publisher. And if I hear the false argument about how the music industry has changed and that means story writers need to do the same changes I think I'll spit. First off, just because they're both entertainments doesn't mean they're the same thing. Second, we consume and learn about the medium by different routes (seen any good book-trailers lately?). And while publishers' contracts can be as one-sided as the music industry contracts, there are a lot of differences (I've never heard an author say they're publishing under a pseudonym to avoid contractual obligations they signed to decades ago).
The care and feeding of the author/agent relationship. As always, follow Weaton's Law, don't be a dick.
Some people don't believe in the magic of writing. And, well, they have a point. I, again, often talk about the Muse, being inspired and "In the Zone." But here's the thing, you can't wait for those things (unless you know the way to the Zone, like we all knew how to get to Sesame Street, or you have your Muse on speed-dial). You need to write cold, uninspired, and when you're dead tired (here that advice, Steve, you better follow it). And then, during the process, that's where you find the zone and hear the Muse's voice (hopefully).
"The quality of books seems tied to this homogenization of knowledge… The result is that mainstream agents and publishers select new books based almost exclusively on what they believe will sell, and that means the internet-addicted public ultimately gets to make the choice of what gets published… It creates a vicious, unimaginative circle in which publishing has become trapped—agents and publishers won’t take on anything different because they’re afraid the market won’t buy it, and mainstream readers can’t buy anything different because they rarely get exposure to it." A little cynical, but you can see similar cycles in most other forms of entertainment (note recent link to article about how all the movies are becoming the same). Eventually someone takes an educated guess/chance on something new, and then that becomes the standard. It's the old academy vs. succession cycle.
Today saw the first public preparation of cultured beef. No word yet on if it tasted like chicken. Okay, update since I wrote this, we do have some taste evaluation. (Pointed to by Dan and John)
Why Millennials are leaving the church. For similar reasons that Baby-Boomers and Gen-Xers left the church. Coming of age brings exploration and a leaving of the parent's life, and now because of a rise in "Biblical Inerrancy", the younger people raised in that tradition become disenchanted when they discover the lies. Don't worry, Church people, many will return as they reach their middle 30s and have children of their own at an age to be confirmed. But it will be a decreased number.
John Scalzi talks about Matthew Chapter 6. I think there was a link to that chapter earlier.
"While Chief Kessler and his armed followers may be able to delude some people into believing that they are 'exercising their First Amendment rights,' there is no doubt these militia members are aware that their actions and speech are causing many others who live in the borough of Gilberton to feel threatened, intimidated and terrorized. When armed men stand in doorways, with the direct intent of interfering with the rights of other members of society, when they seek to deny the rights of other persons to participate in open public meetings, when they verbally or physically threaten other citizens who hold opposing political views, when they interfere with the rights of others to speak freely about their fears and concerns, and most importantly, when they use their weapons as a way to intimidate public officials, and members of the general public, there should be no doubt these people are terrorists and need to be treated as such." Just so it's on the record of which side drew first. What this will probably take is State Police Action, or Federal Action. You might remember this wingnut from a previous post. (Grokked from Matt Staggs)
"This is an example of CNN doing PR and stenography for the White House. They did it when Bush was president, and they’re doing it now."
As the joke goes, "You say we all look angry. This is not angry face, this is hot face. It is very hot. Put me in air-conditioning and I'm so happy. Rising temperatures tend to make us more aggressive toward each other (personally and as a group). Thing is, the Pentagon already knew this. They've been preparing scenarios for the coming rise in temperatures and sea levels for almost a decade now. (Grokked from Tor.com)
"According to Alpert’s analysis, 69% of the jobs created in the second quarter – and 57% in the first half of 2013 – were in the three lowest-paying sectors of the economy: retail trade, administrative and waste services, and leisure and hospitality. These jobs, which account for 33% of all private sector jobs, pay an average of $15.80 per hour." On why the economic recovery doesn't feel like one and why the GDP isn't growing faster. But hey, I'm sure if we remove the onerous restriction of the minimum wage, we all could have jobs that pay shitty-wages. (Grokked from Tobias Buckell)
On a side note, this is one of the reasons why I'm having so many sleepless nights. I'm trying to figure out a new career path that pays well, doesn't suffer from ageism, has enough growth that I can get a job in it, and is something I can do and train for. There's very few positions that meet all of these criteria. This is also why some of us are champions of raising the minimum wage. Not only does that improve the individual's personal economy, it also improves the overall economy.
Also, want some more authoritative pronouncement that raising the minimum wage would be a net positive? Yea, that right there. Also read those points closely, if you're tired of supporting the "welfare/entitlement state", you should directly supporting higher minimum wages.
Sure, you've heard all the arguments about "self-publishing", but here are five good reasons to go with a traditional publisher. And if I hear the false argument about how the music industry has changed and that means story writers need to do the same changes I think I'll spit. First off, just because they're both entertainments doesn't mean they're the same thing. Second, we consume and learn about the medium by different routes (seen any good book-trailers lately?). And while publishers' contracts can be as one-sided as the music industry contracts, there are a lot of differences (I've never heard an author say they're publishing under a pseudonym to avoid contractual obligations they signed to decades ago).
The care and feeding of the author/agent relationship. As always, follow Weaton's Law, don't be a dick.
Some people don't believe in the magic of writing. And, well, they have a point. I, again, often talk about the Muse, being inspired and "In the Zone." But here's the thing, you can't wait for those things (unless you know the way to the Zone, like we all knew how to get to Sesame Street, or you have your Muse on speed-dial). You need to write cold, uninspired, and when you're dead tired (here that advice, Steve, you better follow it). And then, during the process, that's where you find the zone and hear the Muse's voice (hopefully).
"The quality of books seems tied to this homogenization of knowledge… The result is that mainstream agents and publishers select new books based almost exclusively on what they believe will sell, and that means the internet-addicted public ultimately gets to make the choice of what gets published… It creates a vicious, unimaginative circle in which publishing has become trapped—agents and publishers won’t take on anything different because they’re afraid the market won’t buy it, and mainstream readers can’t buy anything different because they rarely get exposure to it." A little cynical, but you can see similar cycles in most other forms of entertainment (note recent link to article about how all the movies are becoming the same). Eventually someone takes an educated guess/chance on something new, and then that becomes the standard. It's the old academy vs. succession cycle.
Today saw the first public preparation of cultured beef. No word yet on if it tasted like chicken. Okay, update since I wrote this, we do have some taste evaluation. (Pointed to by Dan and John)
Why Millennials are leaving the church. For similar reasons that Baby-Boomers and Gen-Xers left the church. Coming of age brings exploration and a leaving of the parent's life, and now because of a rise in "Biblical Inerrancy", the younger people raised in that tradition become disenchanted when they discover the lies. Don't worry, Church people, many will return as they reach their middle 30s and have children of their own at an age to be confirmed. But it will be a decreased number.
John Scalzi talks about Matthew Chapter 6. I think there was a link to that chapter earlier.
"While Chief Kessler and his armed followers may be able to delude some people into believing that they are 'exercising their First Amendment rights,' there is no doubt these militia members are aware that their actions and speech are causing many others who live in the borough of Gilberton to feel threatened, intimidated and terrorized. When armed men stand in doorways, with the direct intent of interfering with the rights of other members of society, when they seek to deny the rights of other persons to participate in open public meetings, when they verbally or physically threaten other citizens who hold opposing political views, when they interfere with the rights of others to speak freely about their fears and concerns, and most importantly, when they use their weapons as a way to intimidate public officials, and members of the general public, there should be no doubt these people are terrorists and need to be treated as such." Just so it's on the record of which side drew first. What this will probably take is State Police Action, or Federal Action. You might remember this wingnut from a previous post. (Grokked from Matt Staggs)
"This is an example of CNN doing PR and stenography for the White House. They did it when Bush was president, and they’re doing it now."
As the joke goes, "You say we all look angry. This is not angry face, this is hot face. It is very hot. Put me in air-conditioning and I'm so happy. Rising temperatures tend to make us more aggressive toward each other (personally and as a group). Thing is, the Pentagon already knew this. They've been preparing scenarios for the coming rise in temperatures and sea levels for almost a decade now. (Grokked from Tor.com)
"According to Alpert’s analysis, 69% of the jobs created in the second quarter – and 57% in the first half of 2013 – were in the three lowest-paying sectors of the economy: retail trade, administrative and waste services, and leisure and hospitality. These jobs, which account for 33% of all private sector jobs, pay an average of $15.80 per hour." On why the economic recovery doesn't feel like one and why the GDP isn't growing faster. But hey, I'm sure if we remove the onerous restriction of the minimum wage, we all could have jobs that pay shitty-wages. (Grokked from Tobias Buckell)
On a side note, this is one of the reasons why I'm having so many sleepless nights. I'm trying to figure out a new career path that pays well, doesn't suffer from ageism, has enough growth that I can get a job in it, and is something I can do and train for. There's very few positions that meet all of these criteria. This is also why some of us are champions of raising the minimum wage. Not only does that improve the individual's personal economy, it also improves the overall economy.
Also, want some more authoritative pronouncement that raising the minimum wage would be a net positive? Yea, that right there. Also read those points closely, if you're tired of supporting the "welfare/entitlement state", you should directly supporting higher minimum wages.
Saturday, August 3, 2013
Weekend Linkee-poo, odds are he won't see tomorrow
Chuck Wendig with ten thoughts on Story. "If you don’t understand why a character does something, you don’t understand the character." Yea, that.
No one told me women don't write Science Fiction. (Grokked from Tor.com)
"There are few overnight successes and many up-all-night successes." Tobias Buckell on time and where you spend it. Something I've been giving lots of thought to.
"Take yourself lightly. You're not J.K. Rowling, darling." A writer's life list in the various stages of life. (Grokked from Catherine Schaff-Stump)
"The list below contains 100 pieces of short (science) fiction – short stories, novelettes and novellas – by women writers, published between 1927 and 2012." (Grokked from the Slactivist)
Wil Wheaton explains what being a nerd/geek really means and why it's important while giving a message to a fan's infant daughter. (Grokked from Tor.com)
The epic epic-ness of the epic trailer. Pulls all the tricks and pushes all the buttons. As my favorite Doctor (Tom Baker) once said, "When in doubt, pull all the wires." I'm not sure if this trailer was meant to be satire and commentary on the current state of movie entertainment, but man does it hit the mark. (Grokked from tor.com)
Consider this pale blue dot. We're just a faulty pixel in the grand universe of, well, the universe. (Pointed to by Dan)
What might happen to you if you're swallowed by a whale. (Grokked from Matt Staggs)
The "science" of advertising. Nothing new under the sun. How and when the marriage of "psychology" and "advertising" came about.
Mastering the Landing Page. Filled with the necessary quota of eye-rolling concepts. But there are a few good points in there. Except for the big one, landing pages are dead. See, the "Landing Page" was a concept developed way back in the last Ice Age of HTML 2.0 as a good way to develop your "content is king" website. There were whole books written about this philosophy. And then people realized with deep links and the flexible nature of the web and how people actually like to navigate, the concept of landing pages was seen as a quaint, archaic throwback to when designers believed they could "direct your experience". Well, I guess it's better than resurrecting the "exit portal." Basically concepts like these are developed to sell books on how to do them (note numerous links to a book on designing websites which you can get for the low price of $80, which is a discount of some gazillion dollars so get 'em before we raise the price).
Turns out the Prisoner's Dilemma doesn't test out as well on actual prisoners. Or, in other words, prisoners are actually nicer to each other and cooperate more than those of us in the general population. Of course these are German prisoners, so YMMV. (Grokked from the Slactivist)
In case you're ever tempted to make editorial changes to your live website without having a developmental site to try things out on first, you need to read/see this. What goes wrong on the Chicago Tribune website stays on the internet forever. (Pointed to by John)
Jim Wright on the Bradley Manning verdict. And here I'll just say there's been lots of people talking about how "whistle blowers" are important to history and the role of Daniel Ellsberg (the Pentagon Papers in case you don't remember that). There are significant differences, including the fact that Daniel Ellsberg knew criminal prosecution was a definite outcome of his actions. Also, there is a difference between "keeping secrets" and "intentional lying" to the public. The Pentagon Papers showed the later was happening, and it was the reason why Mr. Ellsberg went down the path he did. Also, the papers were highly selected from the report on Vietnam relations and then washed through the analysis of the NYT. In Manning's case, much of the information seems to be just a indiscriminate data dump and there was very little analysis or selection in their publication on Wikileaks.
The problem: "But when it comes to a prescription for the party’s electoral ills, a majority of GOP voters said their leaders should move further to the right, not the center." Those cool, cool, considerate men. Always to the right, forever to the right, never to the left.
John Scalzi on Anthony Weiner and Bob Filner. Somebody really needs to go up to both of those asshats and saying, "That's it, you're done here." Both show that asshattery knows no political party allegiance.
"The 'numerous related assumptions' (about poverty) he says have 'fallen along the way' reads like a transcript form a 2012 Republican presidential primary debate." I think I've said this a few times that I can't believe we're still discussing some of this stuff in 2013, but people's world views are the hardest things to change.
Nuns, what can you do. "Rep. Reid Ribble (R-WI) indicted (nuns who were testifying before committee) and the Catholic Church for not doing enough to fix poverty on their own, asking, 'What is the church doing wrong that they have to come to the government to get so much help?'" What a wonderful human being. (Grokked from the Slactivist)
The cost of getting the drone campaign wrong (which we seem to be doing with alarming regularity). I've come out before in favor of drone strikes, and I still hold my position. Collateral "damage" is to be expected in some cases (war is a very messy business, even in our "smart bomb" era - smart is a relative term, not a definitive one). However, if we get this wrong and launch against innocents (for various definitions of "innocent") even if it is a 1 in 100 event, this campaign will do more harm than good. Already the drone war is being portrayed as a war against Muslims, and that thought is gaining a lot of traction in the world. Hopefully the transfer of responsibility for targeting and approval to the Pentagon from the CIA will help eliminate these errors. There are people in the world who wish to help us, who are doing their own part in this "war" of ideology. Killing them is a Bad Idea™. (Grokked from Wil Wheaton)
Tobias Buckell with a NASA animation of 130 years of temperature data. Yea, what what climate change.
"All of this information, the primary order says, is dumped into something called the "corporate store." Incredibly, the FISC imposes no restrictions on what analysts may subsequently do with the information. The FISC's primary order contains a crucially revealing footnote stating that "the Court understands that NSA may apply the full range of SIGINT analytic tradecraft to the result of intelligence analysis queries of the collected [telephone] metadata." In short, once a calling record is added to the corporate store, anything goes." The ACLU on some of the recent revelations about NSA pulling in all that "metadata" (note section of the link to Jim Wright's blog about Manning where all this "metadata" is sometimes more valuable than the actual content). Just in case anyone tries the old "progressives always stick up for wach other and march in lock step." (Grokked from Wil Wheaton)
Ah, well, at least they're no longer calling Obama the anti-Christ. Now he's just "preparing the way" as it were. And obviously this supposed reverend hasn't heard about how Obama is destroying his religious liberty by having passed Obamacare by fiat or something. (Grokked from the Slactivist)
Tweet of my heart: @austinkleon "Bread winner" is now "health insurance winner."
No one told me women don't write Science Fiction. (Grokked from Tor.com)
"There are few overnight successes and many up-all-night successes." Tobias Buckell on time and where you spend it. Something I've been giving lots of thought to.
"Take yourself lightly. You're not J.K. Rowling, darling." A writer's life list in the various stages of life. (Grokked from Catherine Schaff-Stump)
"The list below contains 100 pieces of short (science) fiction – short stories, novelettes and novellas – by women writers, published between 1927 and 2012." (Grokked from the Slactivist)
Wil Wheaton explains what being a nerd/geek really means and why it's important while giving a message to a fan's infant daughter. (Grokked from Tor.com)
The epic epic-ness of the epic trailer. Pulls all the tricks and pushes all the buttons. As my favorite Doctor (Tom Baker) once said, "When in doubt, pull all the wires." I'm not sure if this trailer was meant to be satire and commentary on the current state of movie entertainment, but man does it hit the mark. (Grokked from tor.com)
Consider this pale blue dot. We're just a faulty pixel in the grand universe of, well, the universe. (Pointed to by Dan)
What might happen to you if you're swallowed by a whale. (Grokked from Matt Staggs)
The "science" of advertising. Nothing new under the sun. How and when the marriage of "psychology" and "advertising" came about.
Mastering the Landing Page. Filled with the necessary quota of eye-rolling concepts. But there are a few good points in there. Except for the big one, landing pages are dead. See, the "Landing Page" was a concept developed way back in the last Ice Age of HTML 2.0 as a good way to develop your "content is king" website. There were whole books written about this philosophy. And then people realized with deep links and the flexible nature of the web and how people actually like to navigate, the concept of landing pages was seen as a quaint, archaic throwback to when designers believed they could "direct your experience". Well, I guess it's better than resurrecting the "exit portal." Basically concepts like these are developed to sell books on how to do them (note numerous links to a book on designing websites which you can get for the low price of $80, which is a discount of some gazillion dollars so get 'em before we raise the price).
Turns out the Prisoner's Dilemma doesn't test out as well on actual prisoners. Or, in other words, prisoners are actually nicer to each other and cooperate more than those of us in the general population. Of course these are German prisoners, so YMMV. (Grokked from the Slactivist)
In case you're ever tempted to make editorial changes to your live website without having a developmental site to try things out on first, you need to read/see this. What goes wrong on the Chicago Tribune website stays on the internet forever. (Pointed to by John)
Jim Wright on the Bradley Manning verdict. And here I'll just say there's been lots of people talking about how "whistle blowers" are important to history and the role of Daniel Ellsberg (the Pentagon Papers in case you don't remember that). There are significant differences, including the fact that Daniel Ellsberg knew criminal prosecution was a definite outcome of his actions. Also, there is a difference between "keeping secrets" and "intentional lying" to the public. The Pentagon Papers showed the later was happening, and it was the reason why Mr. Ellsberg went down the path he did. Also, the papers were highly selected from the report on Vietnam relations and then washed through the analysis of the NYT. In Manning's case, much of the information seems to be just a indiscriminate data dump and there was very little analysis or selection in their publication on Wikileaks.
The problem: "But when it comes to a prescription for the party’s electoral ills, a majority of GOP voters said their leaders should move further to the right, not the center." Those cool, cool, considerate men. Always to the right, forever to the right, never to the left.
John Scalzi on Anthony Weiner and Bob Filner. Somebody really needs to go up to both of those asshats and saying, "That's it, you're done here." Both show that asshattery knows no political party allegiance.
"The 'numerous related assumptions' (about poverty) he says have 'fallen along the way' reads like a transcript form a 2012 Republican presidential primary debate." I think I've said this a few times that I can't believe we're still discussing some of this stuff in 2013, but people's world views are the hardest things to change.
Nuns, what can you do. "Rep. Reid Ribble (R-WI) indicted (nuns who were testifying before committee) and the Catholic Church for not doing enough to fix poverty on their own, asking, 'What is the church doing wrong that they have to come to the government to get so much help?'" What a wonderful human being. (Grokked from the Slactivist)
The cost of getting the drone campaign wrong (which we seem to be doing with alarming regularity). I've come out before in favor of drone strikes, and I still hold my position. Collateral "damage" is to be expected in some cases (war is a very messy business, even in our "smart bomb" era - smart is a relative term, not a definitive one). However, if we get this wrong and launch against innocents (for various definitions of "innocent") even if it is a 1 in 100 event, this campaign will do more harm than good. Already the drone war is being portrayed as a war against Muslims, and that thought is gaining a lot of traction in the world. Hopefully the transfer of responsibility for targeting and approval to the Pentagon from the CIA will help eliminate these errors. There are people in the world who wish to help us, who are doing their own part in this "war" of ideology. Killing them is a Bad Idea™. (Grokked from Wil Wheaton)
Tobias Buckell with a NASA animation of 130 years of temperature data. Yea, what what climate change.
"All of this information, the primary order says, is dumped into something called the "corporate store." Incredibly, the FISC imposes no restrictions on what analysts may subsequently do with the information. The FISC's primary order contains a crucially revealing footnote stating that "the Court understands that NSA may apply the full range of SIGINT analytic tradecraft to the result of intelligence analysis queries of the collected [telephone] metadata." In short, once a calling record is added to the corporate store, anything goes." The ACLU on some of the recent revelations about NSA pulling in all that "metadata" (note section of the link to Jim Wright's blog about Manning where all this "metadata" is sometimes more valuable than the actual content). Just in case anyone tries the old "progressives always stick up for wach other and march in lock step." (Grokked from Wil Wheaton)
Ah, well, at least they're no longer calling Obama the anti-Christ. Now he's just "preparing the way" as it were. And obviously this supposed reverend hasn't heard about how Obama is destroying his religious liberty by having passed Obamacare by fiat or something. (Grokked from the Slactivist)
Tweet of my heart: @austinkleon "Bread winner" is now "health insurance winner."
Wednesday, July 31, 2013
Linkee-poo same checks were always cashed, buy a little more distraction
Signal boost, Joshua Palmatier's kickstart project for CLOCKWORK UNIVERSE: STEAMPUNK vs ALIENS anthology is getting close to being fully funded.
The shy writers guide to surviving the cocktail party. Also good for general con going tips.
The more they complicate the plumbing, the easier it is to stop up the drain. Probably as a way to distract people from the fact that some implantable devices can now be hacked (the presenter conveniently dead), we now know that it's possible to hack our cars. Great. Oh, someone has already hacked your house.
Remember that coffin found at the burial site of Richard III? Well, turns out there was a sealed lead coffin on the inside. And now archeologists are trying to figure out how to open it without damaging what's on the inside. As the article says, "A wide variety of end-of-the-world scenarios begin with a tableau just like this. Nothing good can come of opening a lead coffin that somebody saw fit to seal within a stone coffin. It’s the medieval equivalent of the Yucca Mountain. Stay away." This is how the zombie apocalypse begins, just saying. Quick, someone send them a copy of The Mummy and The Mummy II with Brendan Fraser. (Grokked from the Slactivist)
Rethinking the Goldilock's Zone. Now that we have a better understanding of the physics of our atmosphere, we can run better simulations. And this way we know more about our universe (and the viability of exoplanets to harbor life) and the future of our own planet. (Grokked from Jay Lake)
Tobia Buckell reminds us of the wage morality of Henry Ford. Pay your people a living wage and it increases your own wealth. The good news is "The ratio of CEO pay to average worker pay is 273-1, down from a high of 383-1 in 2000, but up from 20-1 in 1965." But then, "CEO pay has increased faster than wages to high-skilled workers, suggesting that the salary market isn’t very efficient. 'Consequently, if CEOs earned less or were taxed more, there would be no adverse impact on output or employment,' the report (from the Economic Policy Institute) concludes." (Grokked from the Slactivist except for Tobias' article)
And this is why unions form. When a corporation disrespects it's employees, unions gain strength. And companies, like Walmart, has been disrespecting workers for decades now.
"Republican State Sen. Dave Lewis… wonders what that (Montana Free Clinic for State Employees) free price tag is actually costing the state government as well as the wider Helena community." Turns out, Senator, in it's first year of operation it saved the state $1.5 million. It's also providing more healthcare (catching more people with diabetes, hypertension/high blood pressure, and obesity), diagnosing people earlier (so treatment is less expensive and more than treating symptoms) and even the healthcare workers like the setup. Let's see, "free" (it's a part of the state employees's healthcare insurance, so their premiums go to pay for it), happier doctors and nurses, more employees using the system, catching diseases before they become big ticket expenditures, and reducing costs. I believe they call that a win-win-win scenario. Don't worry, I'm sure the conservatives will find something to bitch about, at the very least that it's to close to "socialism" and that it actually is state provided care. Also note the major reason for the cost savings is the removal of the mark-ups (ie. profit).
"I guess having two awesome parents who taught me to be a respectful young man paid dividends." Allen West on his never experiencing racism. We will ignore the race-baiting part of this quote and get to the main question, really? Hell, I've been with friends and seen the responses the president talked about. I'm going to add one more possibility to the thought train of this article (either he's lying or good for him) and add in the option of, "Maybe Mr. West is so wrapped up in himself he doesn't notice what goes on around him"? I'm sure he's also never had a problem hailing a cab, either. (Grokked from the Slactivist)
Sort of like this. "(A) report released Monday from the National Bureau of Economic Research finds that up to nearly 1 million workers may voluntarily leave their jobs because of the new health care law." Queue up the conservatives to say people will just go on the public dole. Note two quotes to this in the article. However, what it really does is it allows people to leave jobs they hate for ones they may love. In other words, it brakes the first chain in the wage-slave relationship most employees have with their employer. And that diminishes their power over you. And now you know why so many business people are freaking-the-fuck-out over it (looking at you, Pappa John).
"But that’s not really the debate here. The real debate is: they don’t deserve it." In case conservatives continue to wonder why progressives think they're cruel and heartless. And then there's the taking of millions in farm aid, then deny others food when they're hungry. (Grokked from the Slactivist)
Hey look, it's the "raise the minimum wage" argument again. Only this time the workers are getting involved. Rut' rho'. Fast food better be careful, this is how unions form. Also, that "profit margins are slim" and "we won't be able to hire more people" arguments are complete bullshit. This is like "NFL owners don't make any money." Yeah, right.
I guess when you tell one lie, the other come easier. That's a story debunking the "study of stress on women's reproductive cycle done by Nazis" (aka "women have a way of shutting that whole thing down") canard that I guess is making the rounds again. (Grokked from the Slactivist)
"Anyone with the capacity to Google 'ho chi minh thomas jefferson' would have been able to find all of this in seconds. Wait until Allen West and right-leaning editorialists discover that Karl Marx was a supporter of Abraham Lincoln and Ulysses S. Grant. Or that Margaret Thatcher supported the ultra-Maoist, genocidal Khmer Rouge in the 1980s." I think the writer of this misunderstands the label of "low information voter." Or "don't confuse me with the facts, I've got my outrage to get out." President Obama tells the historical fact that Ho Chi Minh was inspired by the Declaration of Independence and our Founding Fathers and the conservative echo chamber goes bat-shit crazy (again). (Grokked from Jay Lake)
Are we burning vinyl again? Seriously, a call to burn records (and by extension books) because of "Satanic" influences? Time to break out the "Time Warp" again and travel back to the 80s. Seriously, I know the social conservatives are a retro movement, but to be shown that the 1980s were too progressive for them is really… well, I guess expected. Also, pro tip, if you decide to "burn" cds, stand upwind. Just a hint. (Grokked from the Slactivist)
Fred Clark (aka the Slactivist) and his take on Pope Francis saying, "who am I to judge?" There's lots of links to good reading in there. I'm just happy to see a pope who appears to have read the Bible and understood the teaching of the Christ to be something more than, "womp on their asses." 'Cause I don't ever remember reading him saying that anyway.
The shy writers guide to surviving the cocktail party. Also good for general con going tips.
The more they complicate the plumbing, the easier it is to stop up the drain. Probably as a way to distract people from the fact that some implantable devices can now be hacked (the presenter conveniently dead), we now know that it's possible to hack our cars. Great. Oh, someone has already hacked your house.
Remember that coffin found at the burial site of Richard III? Well, turns out there was a sealed lead coffin on the inside. And now archeologists are trying to figure out how to open it without damaging what's on the inside. As the article says, "A wide variety of end-of-the-world scenarios begin with a tableau just like this. Nothing good can come of opening a lead coffin that somebody saw fit to seal within a stone coffin. It’s the medieval equivalent of the Yucca Mountain. Stay away." This is how the zombie apocalypse begins, just saying. Quick, someone send them a copy of The Mummy and The Mummy II with Brendan Fraser. (Grokked from the Slactivist)
Rethinking the Goldilock's Zone. Now that we have a better understanding of the physics of our atmosphere, we can run better simulations. And this way we know more about our universe (and the viability of exoplanets to harbor life) and the future of our own planet. (Grokked from Jay Lake)
Tobia Buckell reminds us of the wage morality of Henry Ford. Pay your people a living wage and it increases your own wealth. The good news is "The ratio of CEO pay to average worker pay is 273-1, down from a high of 383-1 in 2000, but up from 20-1 in 1965." But then, "CEO pay has increased faster than wages to high-skilled workers, suggesting that the salary market isn’t very efficient. 'Consequently, if CEOs earned less or were taxed more, there would be no adverse impact on output or employment,' the report (from the Economic Policy Institute) concludes." (Grokked from the Slactivist except for Tobias' article)
And this is why unions form. When a corporation disrespects it's employees, unions gain strength. And companies, like Walmart, has been disrespecting workers for decades now.
"Republican State Sen. Dave Lewis… wonders what that (Montana Free Clinic for State Employees) free price tag is actually costing the state government as well as the wider Helena community." Turns out, Senator, in it's first year of operation it saved the state $1.5 million. It's also providing more healthcare (catching more people with diabetes, hypertension/high blood pressure, and obesity), diagnosing people earlier (so treatment is less expensive and more than treating symptoms) and even the healthcare workers like the setup. Let's see, "free" (it's a part of the state employees's healthcare insurance, so their premiums go to pay for it), happier doctors and nurses, more employees using the system, catching diseases before they become big ticket expenditures, and reducing costs. I believe they call that a win-win-win scenario. Don't worry, I'm sure the conservatives will find something to bitch about, at the very least that it's to close to "socialism" and that it actually is state provided care. Also note the major reason for the cost savings is the removal of the mark-ups (ie. profit).
"I guess having two awesome parents who taught me to be a respectful young man paid dividends." Allen West on his never experiencing racism. We will ignore the race-baiting part of this quote and get to the main question, really? Hell, I've been with friends and seen the responses the president talked about. I'm going to add one more possibility to the thought train of this article (either he's lying or good for him) and add in the option of, "Maybe Mr. West is so wrapped up in himself he doesn't notice what goes on around him"? I'm sure he's also never had a problem hailing a cab, either. (Grokked from the Slactivist)
Sort of like this. "(A) report released Monday from the National Bureau of Economic Research finds that up to nearly 1 million workers may voluntarily leave their jobs because of the new health care law." Queue up the conservatives to say people will just go on the public dole. Note two quotes to this in the article. However, what it really does is it allows people to leave jobs they hate for ones they may love. In other words, it brakes the first chain in the wage-slave relationship most employees have with their employer. And that diminishes their power over you. And now you know why so many business people are freaking-the-fuck-out over it (looking at you, Pappa John).
"But that’s not really the debate here. The real debate is: they don’t deserve it." In case conservatives continue to wonder why progressives think they're cruel and heartless. And then there's the taking of millions in farm aid, then deny others food when they're hungry. (Grokked from the Slactivist)
Hey look, it's the "raise the minimum wage" argument again. Only this time the workers are getting involved. Rut' rho'. Fast food better be careful, this is how unions form. Also, that "profit margins are slim" and "we won't be able to hire more people" arguments are complete bullshit. This is like "NFL owners don't make any money." Yeah, right.
I guess when you tell one lie, the other come easier. That's a story debunking the "study of stress on women's reproductive cycle done by Nazis" (aka "women have a way of shutting that whole thing down") canard that I guess is making the rounds again. (Grokked from the Slactivist)
"Anyone with the capacity to Google 'ho chi minh thomas jefferson' would have been able to find all of this in seconds. Wait until Allen West and right-leaning editorialists discover that Karl Marx was a supporter of Abraham Lincoln and Ulysses S. Grant. Or that Margaret Thatcher supported the ultra-Maoist, genocidal Khmer Rouge in the 1980s." I think the writer of this misunderstands the label of "low information voter." Or "don't confuse me with the facts, I've got my outrage to get out." President Obama tells the historical fact that Ho Chi Minh was inspired by the Declaration of Independence and our Founding Fathers and the conservative echo chamber goes bat-shit crazy (again). (Grokked from Jay Lake)
Are we burning vinyl again? Seriously, a call to burn records (and by extension books) because of "Satanic" influences? Time to break out the "Time Warp" again and travel back to the 80s. Seriously, I know the social conservatives are a retro movement, but to be shown that the 1980s were too progressive for them is really… well, I guess expected. Also, pro tip, if you decide to "burn" cds, stand upwind. Just a hint. (Grokked from the Slactivist)
Fred Clark (aka the Slactivist) and his take on Pope Francis saying, "who am I to judge?" There's lots of links to good reading in there. I'm just happy to see a pope who appears to have read the Bible and understood the teaching of the Christ to be something more than, "womp on their asses." 'Cause I don't ever remember reading him saying that anyway.
Monday, July 29, 2013
Linkee-poo gets it all down on paper so it's no longer inside me, threatening the life it belongs to
A JayWake report. With more photos from the man himself.
Kurt Vonnegut's shapes of stories speech and infographic.
Why the world of publishing needs gatekeepers. That's Diana Peterfruend talking about rampant plagiarism in the "indie publishing" world, or at least the part Amazon controls. And Amazon has no interest in being the cop on the beat. Why? Think they make a little money on each sale? BTW, once someone realizes that makes them an accessory to selling stolen goods, watch out. Don't think that could be a problem, ask your local pawn shop owner.
"Let me tell you about Merrie Haskell, the best fantasy writer for middle grade audiences I’ve come across in years." I haven't read Mer's latest (hell, I haven't read much of anything other than textbooks for the past year), but I will.
One of the fairy tales this review mentions that Mer wraps up in her writing is Bluebeard. And that got me to thinking, I wonder how many of these people talking about "the fake geek-girl" (or those who threaten women with rape because they have their own ideas, dreams, and will - see link below or any of the conversations about women gamers, writers, or women who have blogs) have ever read that one, or Mr. Fox (or any of the variants of the story) and how they play into the same story and what their role is? Probably not many.
http://www.sfwa.org/2013/07/the-joy-of-failure-improv-and-writing/"But the route to this tension is to keep saying 'yes' to the 'offers' (the story stuff about characters and plot and location and motivation people introduce). You keep saying yes until you find something that someone values. Once an offer is noticed, you start building upon it." How saying, "Yes, and/but…" (which is the core of improv) can help you write fiction. If you've ever bounced ideas off of someone who can feed back into the loop, you've done this (full disclose, that's how the premise to the WIP came into being, thanks Dan).
Fred Clark on the rise of the corporate singularity. And he outlines some of the complications of treating corporations as people. It's a convenient fiction, corporations as individuals, but it already breaks down in law enforcement. You can't jail a corporation (and although in some case I would like to see them try, the resulting social chaos wouldn't be preferable, however I do think that officers of the company should be held liable by their actions while immune fiscally - that is their money and property is their own, but their time is already given to the company, if they commit crimes or allow them to be committed as an officer of the company, they should face incarceration for those actions). But now the question becomes, will corporations in the future send back terminators in the for of Summer Glau?
"Microsoft also uses some dubious rounding code that transforms the original voting data into misleading percentages. Indeed, developer tools reveal that the top five leaders in the Microsoft STEM education contest miraculously account for 130% of the vote. Let's hope the quality control is better for those Microsoft Surface voting machines!" Wait, Microsoft is hawking Surface tablets for voting? Saints preserve us. (Pointed to by Dan)
The sausage being made. While most conferences send out memos to their members on how to message, it seems as if the GOP has taken this to new levels. Here is the actual full memo the GOP conference sent to it's members with detailed plans, talking points, almost everything except telling their members to shower every day. Frankly if I were to receive this memo, I would write back to the conference leaders telling them not to insult my intelligence. But then, given what I've seen of my new local representative, I think this level of instruction is necessary for the people who have no idea how to act and behave. And seeing how some member have already gone off reservation, it's not surprising this memo had been written. (Grokked from Jay Lake)
Good thing we don't have any strict regulations on deer repellent and "fart gas". Because that would totally mess up the free market and stop kids at Bible camp from using chemical weapons on each other. In other news, "WTF is wrong with people?" (Grokked from Jay Lake)
Ah, those ever good social conservatives and how they behave. In this case calling a 14-year old girl a "whore" because she opposed the Texas law restricting abortion rights. Not to mention the ever present threatening rape or believing she was just giving it away for free (in this case with her Dad being the pimp). Stay classy, conservatives. Also note convergence with stories about The Conjuring in this linkee-poo. Having been there when abortion clinics were shouting matches, this behavior really doesn't surprise me. It's not okay, either. Or as I used to say, "You pray to your God with that mouth?" And when you're there on the line, you see what these supposed "Christian Minded" social conservatives are really about, control. And they're not afraid to use violence to "keep" that control. (Not sure who I got this link from first, Morgan J Locke I think)
"The data released today shows that Florida spent $118,140 reimbursing the overwhelming number of Florida TANF applicants (for mandatory drug testing)… who tested negative for drugs… at a net cost to the State of over $45,000… There are also the administrative costs, staff costs, and, of course, the litigation costs." Ah social conservative policies, costing you more to implement the same thing. But I'm sure the testing lab got to hire one or two more people for the four months the program was running. (Grokked from Jay Lake)
"The Conjuring reportedly plays up this religious aspect, and the movie studio has hired Grace Hill Media — the current go-to PR firm for this kind of work — to sell the movie to churchgoers." Roll on up for the price is right. Fred Clark on using "true horror" to put people in church pews (and money in the charlatan's pockets). The "true story" horror movie is the modern-day version of the miracle worker (before that title was used in other ways). Nothing like a little Hell and Brimstone to get the donations flowing again. Reminds me to make a t-shirt for the "Witchfinder's Army" because it'll obviously sell big to both the ironic and to those who are irony impaired. Also, from Fred Clark's followup, "Here’s the real 'true story' behind The Conjuring: Any time people get worked up about a menace they believe in but can’t actually see – demons, Commies, jihadis, hordes of hoodie-wearing thugs — they’re likely to take it out on the weakest and most vulnerable people in society." And those people often are women, children, and the dispossessed.
"Thus, on average, private-sector workers in the United States receive ten days of paid vacation per year and six paid holidays. This total still leaves U.S. workers last in the rankings even when compared with the legal minimums highlighted above. And many employers in these other countries also offer more paid leave than legally required." But I'm sure those employers will… you know, sometimes my own sarcasm fails on myself. America, home of the supposed entrepreneurial spirit, leading the way in screwing over your workforce. (Grokked from Jay Lake)
"The prices Marylanders will pay (for health insurance through the exchange) are lower than the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) anticipated, but do cost more than the bare-bones plans that are available today. Residents will have a choice of nine insurance carriers and three out of four people purchasing coverage through the exchange will qualify for tax credits, further reducing the cost of coverage." Sort of a mixed bag, but then these plans aren't the "keep me out of jail" plans they talk about as "bare-bones" (think $20,000+ deductibles). This is the kind of information the conservative congresspeople are trying to make sure you don't get. (Grokked from Jay Lake)
"Without him, we would not know how the National Security Agency (NSA) had been able to access the emails, Facebook accounts and videos of citizens across the world; or how it had secretly acquired the phone records of millions of Americans; or how, through a secret court, it has been able to bend nine US internet companies to its demands for access to their users' data." From an article about how the personalization of the Snowden (and Manning) case is just a smokescreen to keep us from talking about the real issues. Now I do quibble with this, frankly anyone who is paying attention already knew those things were happening. And both Snowden and Manning face serious charges for their leaking (and will probably face jail time), I also quibble about if they're "whistleblowers" or "spies" (I don't think this rises to the later, but as to the former, again, didn't we all know this?). But, yeah, we should be talking about the consequences of what they've leaked, not whose shirts they wear. (Grokked from Jay Lake)
Tweets of anger: @JackWelchMBA The Jack Welch Executive MBA provides immediately actionable practices to help you win in business today. Apply now.
And my respose @steve_buchheit @JackWelchMBA 1) start up Capital Division, give out loans and VISA cards, 2) gut everything else 3) retire before house of cards falls.
Kurt Vonnegut's shapes of stories speech and infographic.
Why the world of publishing needs gatekeepers. That's Diana Peterfruend talking about rampant plagiarism in the "indie publishing" world, or at least the part Amazon controls. And Amazon has no interest in being the cop on the beat. Why? Think they make a little money on each sale? BTW, once someone realizes that makes them an accessory to selling stolen goods, watch out. Don't think that could be a problem, ask your local pawn shop owner.
"Let me tell you about Merrie Haskell, the best fantasy writer for middle grade audiences I’ve come across in years." I haven't read Mer's latest (hell, I haven't read much of anything other than textbooks for the past year), but I will.
One of the fairy tales this review mentions that Mer wraps up in her writing is Bluebeard. And that got me to thinking, I wonder how many of these people talking about "the fake geek-girl" (or those who threaten women with rape because they have their own ideas, dreams, and will - see link below or any of the conversations about women gamers, writers, or women who have blogs) have ever read that one, or Mr. Fox (or any of the variants of the story) and how they play into the same story and what their role is? Probably not many.
http://www.sfwa.org/2013/07/the-joy-of-failure-improv-and-writing/"But the route to this tension is to keep saying 'yes' to the 'offers' (the story stuff about characters and plot and location and motivation people introduce). You keep saying yes until you find something that someone values. Once an offer is noticed, you start building upon it." How saying, "Yes, and/but…" (which is the core of improv) can help you write fiction. If you've ever bounced ideas off of someone who can feed back into the loop, you've done this (full disclose, that's how the premise to the WIP came into being, thanks Dan).
Fred Clark on the rise of the corporate singularity. And he outlines some of the complications of treating corporations as people. It's a convenient fiction, corporations as individuals, but it already breaks down in law enforcement. You can't jail a corporation (and although in some case I would like to see them try, the resulting social chaos wouldn't be preferable, however I do think that officers of the company should be held liable by their actions while immune fiscally - that is their money and property is their own, but their time is already given to the company, if they commit crimes or allow them to be committed as an officer of the company, they should face incarceration for those actions). But now the question becomes, will corporations in the future send back terminators in the for of Summer Glau?
"Microsoft also uses some dubious rounding code that transforms the original voting data into misleading percentages. Indeed, developer tools reveal that the top five leaders in the Microsoft STEM education contest miraculously account for 130% of the vote. Let's hope the quality control is better for those Microsoft Surface voting machines!" Wait, Microsoft is hawking Surface tablets for voting? Saints preserve us. (Pointed to by Dan)
The sausage being made. While most conferences send out memos to their members on how to message, it seems as if the GOP has taken this to new levels. Here is the actual full memo the GOP conference sent to it's members with detailed plans, talking points, almost everything except telling their members to shower every day. Frankly if I were to receive this memo, I would write back to the conference leaders telling them not to insult my intelligence. But then, given what I've seen of my new local representative, I think this level of instruction is necessary for the people who have no idea how to act and behave. And seeing how some member have already gone off reservation, it's not surprising this memo had been written. (Grokked from Jay Lake)
Good thing we don't have any strict regulations on deer repellent and "fart gas". Because that would totally mess up the free market and stop kids at Bible camp from using chemical weapons on each other. In other news, "WTF is wrong with people?" (Grokked from Jay Lake)
Ah, those ever good social conservatives and how they behave. In this case calling a 14-year old girl a "whore" because she opposed the Texas law restricting abortion rights. Not to mention the ever present threatening rape or believing she was just giving it away for free (in this case with her Dad being the pimp). Stay classy, conservatives. Also note convergence with stories about The Conjuring in this linkee-poo. Having been there when abortion clinics were shouting matches, this behavior really doesn't surprise me. It's not okay, either. Or as I used to say, "You pray to your God with that mouth?" And when you're there on the line, you see what these supposed "Christian Minded" social conservatives are really about, control. And they're not afraid to use violence to "keep" that control. (Not sure who I got this link from first, Morgan J Locke I think)
"The data released today shows that Florida spent $118,140 reimbursing the overwhelming number of Florida TANF applicants (for mandatory drug testing)… who tested negative for drugs… at a net cost to the State of over $45,000… There are also the administrative costs, staff costs, and, of course, the litigation costs." Ah social conservative policies, costing you more to implement the same thing. But I'm sure the testing lab got to hire one or two more people for the four months the program was running. (Grokked from Jay Lake)
"The Conjuring reportedly plays up this religious aspect, and the movie studio has hired Grace Hill Media — the current go-to PR firm for this kind of work — to sell the movie to churchgoers." Roll on up for the price is right. Fred Clark on using "true horror" to put people in church pews (and money in the charlatan's pockets). The "true story" horror movie is the modern-day version of the miracle worker (before that title was used in other ways). Nothing like a little Hell and Brimstone to get the donations flowing again. Reminds me to make a t-shirt for the "Witchfinder's Army" because it'll obviously sell big to both the ironic and to those who are irony impaired. Also, from Fred Clark's followup, "Here’s the real 'true story' behind The Conjuring: Any time people get worked up about a menace they believe in but can’t actually see – demons, Commies, jihadis, hordes of hoodie-wearing thugs — they’re likely to take it out on the weakest and most vulnerable people in society." And those people often are women, children, and the dispossessed.
"Thus, on average, private-sector workers in the United States receive ten days of paid vacation per year and six paid holidays. This total still leaves U.S. workers last in the rankings even when compared with the legal minimums highlighted above. And many employers in these other countries also offer more paid leave than legally required." But I'm sure those employers will… you know, sometimes my own sarcasm fails on myself. America, home of the supposed entrepreneurial spirit, leading the way in screwing over your workforce. (Grokked from Jay Lake)
"The prices Marylanders will pay (for health insurance through the exchange) are lower than the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) anticipated, but do cost more than the bare-bones plans that are available today. Residents will have a choice of nine insurance carriers and three out of four people purchasing coverage through the exchange will qualify for tax credits, further reducing the cost of coverage." Sort of a mixed bag, but then these plans aren't the "keep me out of jail" plans they talk about as "bare-bones" (think $20,000+ deductibles). This is the kind of information the conservative congresspeople are trying to make sure you don't get. (Grokked from Jay Lake)
"Without him, we would not know how the National Security Agency (NSA) had been able to access the emails, Facebook accounts and videos of citizens across the world; or how it had secretly acquired the phone records of millions of Americans; or how, through a secret court, it has been able to bend nine US internet companies to its demands for access to their users' data." From an article about how the personalization of the Snowden (and Manning) case is just a smokescreen to keep us from talking about the real issues. Now I do quibble with this, frankly anyone who is paying attention already knew those things were happening. And both Snowden and Manning face serious charges for their leaking (and will probably face jail time), I also quibble about if they're "whistleblowers" or "spies" (I don't think this rises to the later, but as to the former, again, didn't we all know this?). But, yeah, we should be talking about the consequences of what they've leaked, not whose shirts they wear. (Grokked from Jay Lake)
Tweets of anger: @JackWelchMBA The Jack Welch Executive MBA provides immediately actionable practices to help you win in business today. Apply now.
And my respose @steve_buchheit @JackWelchMBA 1) start up Capital Division, give out loans and VISA cards, 2) gut everything else 3) retire before house of cards falls.
Saturday, July 27, 2013
Weekend Linkee-poo pours one more for the road
Feedly decided to dump all my links more than 8 hours old. Wasn't that special. So I lost a lot of what looked to be good links. Here's some I've been gathering, though. Hope you enjoy them.
Recycling night for the Lovecraft household.
Because who doesn't have a spare $20,000 and 1000 hours to build a half-scale version of a tie-fighter in their garage. (Grokked from Tor.com)
Stone coffin found at burial site of Richard III. More than likely contains some knight burial (as the remains of Richard III were positively identified). But my money is on a Richard III mini-me. (Grokked from Mrs. Tad)
What I'll miss about the end of print media. If you've ever seen me discuss the "end of print" in person you may have noticed that quirky smile on my face. That's because as a designer I've been dealing with "the death of print" since 1990. Is print reduced? Yes. Is print what it used to be? No. Will print every go away? They keep saying it will, but we keep printing stuff and distributing it as hard copy.
Do no evil starts at home. "It turns out that, last year, Google hired a conservative former Congresswoman, Susan Molinari, to head up its lobby shop in DC. Since then, Google has been quietly passing donations to some of the most extreme politicians and right-wing causes" (when it comes to climate change). (Grokked from Morgan J Lock, I think)
Remember Fukushima? Yea, still a problem. (Grokked from Jay Lake)
"A new NBER working paper… finds that the population in iodine-deficient areas saw IQs rise by a full standard deviation, which is 15 points, after iodized salt was introduced." We don't need no stinkin' regulation and guberment telling us what to do. If I want a goiter, by God, I should be able to have one. BTW, "iodine-deficient areas" covers a large area. (Grokked from Dan)
"But what's so remarkable about the Burj Khalifa elevators is something that visitors neither felt nor saw: the elevators' brain. Capable of predicting human behavior with eerie precision, the ultra-intelligent elevators highlight a new direction in vertical transport." And let's look this up in the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. "Not unnaturally, many elevators imbued with intelligence and precognition became terribly frustrated with the mindless business of going up and down, up and down, experimented briefly with the notion of going sideways, as a sort of existential protest, demanded participation in the decision-making process and finally took to squatting in basements sulking… An impoverished hitch-hiker visiting any planets in the Sirius star system these days can pick up easy money working as a counsellor for neurotic elevators." Hahahahaha… oh, wait. (Grokked from Jay Lake)
Someone put signs up on some San Diego highways saying "Speed Enforced by Drones." And it wasn't the people responsible for putting signs up (which, BTW, is a crime). Also, those kind of signs (appears to be the same quality as regular road signs) aren't cheap to make, so someone put some money into this. I feel like Captain Louis Renault, "Round up the usual (conspiracy nut) subjects." (Pointed to by Dan)
"(As) our anonymous steward’s white coat reveal, the steward role was taken very seriously: they played an important role in an elite world. This would change with… the introduction of the female flight attendant during World War II. By the ’50s, many airlines would only hire women and the occupation would become increasingly feminized and trivialized, just like the once all-male activity of cheerleading." My wife and I have a habit of watching old movies. Another thing I've noticed is that prior to the 50's most wait staff in "restaurants" are all male. Women were "cigarette girls" or someone who brought your drink from the bar (maybe, most of them were also male, but if it was a club that person could be female). It was only when you got to the diner level that women were taking orders and serving food. (Grokked from Jay Lake)
"However, there is much work that still needs to be done, and this work is hindered by a lack of trained scientists." Strange how that happens when you're promoting Creationism. But, hey "Even now, (Institute for Creation Research) is making exciting discoveries in the fields of biology and geology, and we have started new research initiatives in the field of astronomy." Funny how they can do all that without trained scientists. (Pointed to by Dan)
"These data leave no question about whether voter ID laws have a disparate impact on non-white voters. In that sense, Democratic fears and Republican hopes are confirmed. But the North Carolina data also suggests that voter ID laws are unlikely to flip the outcome of a national election, even if it does have an objectionable, disparate impact on non-white and Democratic-leaning voters." Voter ID laws, brought to you by the people who want every vote to count. But only theirs, not yours. (Grokked from Jay Lake)
Well, isn't this guy a pip. A police chief in PA goes certifiably nuts. This is a guy who gives the police a bad name. And that his local elected officials support him isn't all that strange. They're either just as nutty or afraid of him. That's the way these sort of things go.
"TxDOT executive John Barton… announced that 12 short, farm-to-market road segments are in such rotten shape that they’re not worth repairing. TxDOT… plans to convert 83 miles of paved roads into gravel roads. Their speed limits would then be reduced from a typical 55 mph to 30 mph…" I'm sure some freemarket solution will present itself. (Grokked from Jay Lake)
Tweets of anger: @steve_buchheit @JackWelchMBA You 2 can degrade a world leading tech company until it no longer can make its own product. But man that Capital division, eh? (my reply to promoted "@JackWelchMBA "Leaders aren't born, they're made.” - Jack Welch. Become a better leader today.) Hey, Jack (yeah, I know it isn't actually you), real "Leaders" don't have to pay to promote their message, just sayin'.
Recycling night for the Lovecraft household.
Because who doesn't have a spare $20,000 and 1000 hours to build a half-scale version of a tie-fighter in their garage. (Grokked from Tor.com)
Stone coffin found at burial site of Richard III. More than likely contains some knight burial (as the remains of Richard III were positively identified). But my money is on a Richard III mini-me. (Grokked from Mrs. Tad)
What I'll miss about the end of print media. If you've ever seen me discuss the "end of print" in person you may have noticed that quirky smile on my face. That's because as a designer I've been dealing with "the death of print" since 1990. Is print reduced? Yes. Is print what it used to be? No. Will print every go away? They keep saying it will, but we keep printing stuff and distributing it as hard copy.
Do no evil starts at home. "It turns out that, last year, Google hired a conservative former Congresswoman, Susan Molinari, to head up its lobby shop in DC. Since then, Google has been quietly passing donations to some of the most extreme politicians and right-wing causes" (when it comes to climate change). (Grokked from Morgan J Lock, I think)
Remember Fukushima? Yea, still a problem. (Grokked from Jay Lake)
"A new NBER working paper… finds that the population in iodine-deficient areas saw IQs rise by a full standard deviation, which is 15 points, after iodized salt was introduced." We don't need no stinkin' regulation and guberment telling us what to do. If I want a goiter, by God, I should be able to have one. BTW, "iodine-deficient areas" covers a large area. (Grokked from Dan)
"But what's so remarkable about the Burj Khalifa elevators is something that visitors neither felt nor saw: the elevators' brain. Capable of predicting human behavior with eerie precision, the ultra-intelligent elevators highlight a new direction in vertical transport." And let's look this up in the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. "Not unnaturally, many elevators imbued with intelligence and precognition became terribly frustrated with the mindless business of going up and down, up and down, experimented briefly with the notion of going sideways, as a sort of existential protest, demanded participation in the decision-making process and finally took to squatting in basements sulking… An impoverished hitch-hiker visiting any planets in the Sirius star system these days can pick up easy money working as a counsellor for neurotic elevators." Hahahahaha… oh, wait. (Grokked from Jay Lake)
Someone put signs up on some San Diego highways saying "Speed Enforced by Drones." And it wasn't the people responsible for putting signs up (which, BTW, is a crime). Also, those kind of signs (appears to be the same quality as regular road signs) aren't cheap to make, so someone put some money into this. I feel like Captain Louis Renault, "Round up the usual (conspiracy nut) subjects." (Pointed to by Dan)
"(As) our anonymous steward’s white coat reveal, the steward role was taken very seriously: they played an important role in an elite world. This would change with… the introduction of the female flight attendant during World War II. By the ’50s, many airlines would only hire women and the occupation would become increasingly feminized and trivialized, just like the once all-male activity of cheerleading." My wife and I have a habit of watching old movies. Another thing I've noticed is that prior to the 50's most wait staff in "restaurants" are all male. Women were "cigarette girls" or someone who brought your drink from the bar (maybe, most of them were also male, but if it was a club that person could be female). It was only when you got to the diner level that women were taking orders and serving food. (Grokked from Jay Lake)
"However, there is much work that still needs to be done, and this work is hindered by a lack of trained scientists." Strange how that happens when you're promoting Creationism. But, hey "Even now, (Institute for Creation Research) is making exciting discoveries in the fields of biology and geology, and we have started new research initiatives in the field of astronomy." Funny how they can do all that without trained scientists. (Pointed to by Dan)
"These data leave no question about whether voter ID laws have a disparate impact on non-white voters. In that sense, Democratic fears and Republican hopes are confirmed. But the North Carolina data also suggests that voter ID laws are unlikely to flip the outcome of a national election, even if it does have an objectionable, disparate impact on non-white and Democratic-leaning voters." Voter ID laws, brought to you by the people who want every vote to count. But only theirs, not yours. (Grokked from Jay Lake)
Well, isn't this guy a pip. A police chief in PA goes certifiably nuts. This is a guy who gives the police a bad name. And that his local elected officials support him isn't all that strange. They're either just as nutty or afraid of him. That's the way these sort of things go.
"TxDOT executive John Barton… announced that 12 short, farm-to-market road segments are in such rotten shape that they’re not worth repairing. TxDOT… plans to convert 83 miles of paved roads into gravel roads. Their speed limits would then be reduced from a typical 55 mph to 30 mph…" I'm sure some freemarket solution will present itself. (Grokked from Jay Lake)
Tweets of anger: @steve_buchheit @JackWelchMBA You 2 can degrade a world leading tech company until it no longer can make its own product. But man that Capital division, eh? (my reply to promoted "@JackWelchMBA "Leaders aren't born, they're made.” - Jack Welch. Become a better leader today.) Hey, Jack (yeah, I know it isn't actually you), real "Leaders" don't have to pay to promote their message, just sayin'.
Thursday, July 25, 2013
Home Improvement
Last weekend was about the first time I've had all year to do anything more than cleaning around the home. So I decided to make a little sawdust and make an erection… um, I mean get something up… uh, okay, let me think a second, okay build something in the yard. Still working on the back patio work, but that'll take a lot more time. This was something I could complete in a few hours. And, except for the 6" x 6" x 10' posts and some rock, I had all the other materials already (recycled from other projects).
Wednesday, July 24, 2013
Linkee-poo ain't seen the sunshine since I don't know when
David B Coe on getting the little details in world building right. Although, I'll point out, that riflemen wouldn't "fix" their bayonets to their muskets until given the order for defend or charge. There's several reasons for this, most notably 1) you don't want some bastard tripping and skewering the officers while on patrol duty and 2) firing a musket with a bayonet fixed could be quite disastrous (depending on both the mounting mechanism, the type of bayonet, and the trueness of the ball being shot). Fixing bayonets was left to almost the last minute when you would need them (like when you were out of ammo or the enemy's breath was blowing through your hair). But don't worry, most muskets of this time make great clubs (used that way more often that a bayonet charge - no matter what the movies say). Soldiers were often trained how to fight like that (hint, don't grab the barrel just after you shoot unless you have thick gloves on). Although it makes them sound tougher and gives them the air of desperateness/grittiness (which is why they were often painted that way).
Mer Haskell talks about the impostor syndrome.
Terri Windling has been on fire lately with her posts. In this one she talks about many things. When she discussed beauty, she's not talking about temporal beauty but something deeper. Something Robert Pirsig describes as Quality. She also talks about libraries, so, yeah, libraries.
Meg Rosoff on how to write. MY brain seems to be tracking the number of people who started in advertising or design and are now writing.
The online Graphis design annual. All the friends who have ever helped me move will be glad to see these competitions are now online (when designers do stuff for their own, we don't skimp on the little things, like paper - design annuals have been known to kill people when they fall off the shelves which collapse under their weight).
But also, here's something I really hate about design, and I can wrap it up with this. "Float like a butterfly," and then you're supposed to fill in "sting like a bee", but that's not a bee. That's a wasp. They aren't interchangeable. Clever visual, fucking falls apart in execution. But hey, it got an award. Stupid designers. It's the visual equivalent of intentionally misspelling a word or using bad grammar for no other purpose than to be cute.
"'The court did not agree, concluding that 'the evidence before the Court, at this stage, demonstrates something more and different than honest or even brutally honest commentary.' Elsewhere, it noted that, as phrased, the columns' argument 'questions facts—it does not simply invite the reader to ask questions.' All told, the columns 'are not pure opinion but statements based on provably false facts'." The suit Michael Mann (creator of the "hockey-stick" graph) brought against National Review for attempting to say the brouhaha surrounding Penn State's scandal with Joe Paterno's athletic team was a smoke screen to take pressure off of Michael Mann can go forward. While I agree this suit isn't applicable under SLAPP, if he wins I can't help but believe that certain "news" entities used to making shit up might need to clean up their act. At least for a little while. (Grokked from Jay Lake)
Ask Ayn. "Because Ronald Reagan has deposed Jimmy Carter, and I predict that by 2013 my influence will be profound, and a new generation of leaders will hallow my name, and devotion to self-interest and capitalism and the free market will not be the exception but the rule, and these leaders will naturally share my disapproval of religion, my support of abortion rights, and my love of Godiva chocolates." Hahahaha. (Grokked from Tor.com)
"The modern system of retail pioneered by Gilman (A&P stores)… was the first piece of what I’ve come to think of as the 'American cloud': the vast industrial back end of our lives that we access via a theatre of manufactured experiences. If distant tea and coffee plantations were the first modern clouds, A&P stores and mail-order catalogues were the first browsers and apps." When I worked in Las Colinas, Texas (between Dallas and Ft. Worth), the closest food to the office was a McDs along this artificial canal (I later realized it was meant to be like the river walk in San Antonio). The whole set up was meant to be a Spanish American, SW kind of small shop center (very small). We even got there using a monorail (ran between all the buildings in this office complex). The place was maybe 2 years old when I was there, but it was supposed to look like it had been there for a century. All of the graphics, the distressed concrete (for adobe), and the fake wood just screamed that they place was bogus. But my office mates loved it. They bought into every single trick the architects did. (Grokked from Jay Lake)
The history of the National Geographic Society's cartographic typefaces. With a little on what your graphic designer is thinking about as they set your communications in type (or what they should be thinking about). (Pointed to by Dan)
So long, and thanks for all the fish. Turns out dolphins have both group and individual names. Well, that'll set some people back on their heels. (Grokked from Jay Lake)
The access pin code-breaking robot. Which might not take as long as 20 hours to break your 4 digit pin-code when you apply a little statistical analysis to the job. (Pointed to by Dan)
"While many people never speak to their fellow commuters, one woman in Japan owes a great deal to hers after being freed from beneath a 30,000 kg train when fellow passengers pushed it off her." And that's a difference in cultures. (Grokked from Jay Lake)
Tweet of my heart: @AvoidComments I once showed a comments section to a man in Reno, just to watch him cry.
(Not directed at my commentators who are all well informed, insightful, and smell of spring flowers)
Mer Haskell talks about the impostor syndrome.
Terri Windling has been on fire lately with her posts. In this one she talks about many things. When she discussed beauty, she's not talking about temporal beauty but something deeper. Something Robert Pirsig describes as Quality. She also talks about libraries, so, yeah, libraries.
Meg Rosoff on how to write. MY brain seems to be tracking the number of people who started in advertising or design and are now writing.
The online Graphis design annual. All the friends who have ever helped me move will be glad to see these competitions are now online (when designers do stuff for their own, we don't skimp on the little things, like paper - design annuals have been known to kill people when they fall off the shelves which collapse under their weight).
But also, here's something I really hate about design, and I can wrap it up with this. "Float like a butterfly," and then you're supposed to fill in "sting like a bee", but that's not a bee. That's a wasp. They aren't interchangeable. Clever visual, fucking falls apart in execution. But hey, it got an award. Stupid designers. It's the visual equivalent of intentionally misspelling a word or using bad grammar for no other purpose than to be cute.
"'The court did not agree, concluding that 'the evidence before the Court, at this stage, demonstrates something more and different than honest or even brutally honest commentary.' Elsewhere, it noted that, as phrased, the columns' argument 'questions facts—it does not simply invite the reader to ask questions.' All told, the columns 'are not pure opinion but statements based on provably false facts'." The suit Michael Mann (creator of the "hockey-stick" graph) brought against National Review for attempting to say the brouhaha surrounding Penn State's scandal with Joe Paterno's athletic team was a smoke screen to take pressure off of Michael Mann can go forward. While I agree this suit isn't applicable under SLAPP, if he wins I can't help but believe that certain "news" entities used to making shit up might need to clean up their act. At least for a little while. (Grokked from Jay Lake)
Ask Ayn. "Because Ronald Reagan has deposed Jimmy Carter, and I predict that by 2013 my influence will be profound, and a new generation of leaders will hallow my name, and devotion to self-interest and capitalism and the free market will not be the exception but the rule, and these leaders will naturally share my disapproval of religion, my support of abortion rights, and my love of Godiva chocolates." Hahahaha. (Grokked from Tor.com)
"The modern system of retail pioneered by Gilman (A&P stores)… was the first piece of what I’ve come to think of as the 'American cloud': the vast industrial back end of our lives that we access via a theatre of manufactured experiences. If distant tea and coffee plantations were the first modern clouds, A&P stores and mail-order catalogues were the first browsers and apps." When I worked in Las Colinas, Texas (between Dallas and Ft. Worth), the closest food to the office was a McDs along this artificial canal (I later realized it was meant to be like the river walk in San Antonio). The whole set up was meant to be a Spanish American, SW kind of small shop center (very small). We even got there using a monorail (ran between all the buildings in this office complex). The place was maybe 2 years old when I was there, but it was supposed to look like it had been there for a century. All of the graphics, the distressed concrete (for adobe), and the fake wood just screamed that they place was bogus. But my office mates loved it. They bought into every single trick the architects did. (Grokked from Jay Lake)
The history of the National Geographic Society's cartographic typefaces. With a little on what your graphic designer is thinking about as they set your communications in type (or what they should be thinking about). (Pointed to by Dan)
So long, and thanks for all the fish. Turns out dolphins have both group and individual names. Well, that'll set some people back on their heels. (Grokked from Jay Lake)
The access pin code-breaking robot. Which might not take as long as 20 hours to break your 4 digit pin-code when you apply a little statistical analysis to the job. (Pointed to by Dan)
"While many people never speak to their fellow commuters, one woman in Japan owes a great deal to hers after being freed from beneath a 30,000 kg train when fellow passengers pushed it off her." And that's a difference in cultures. (Grokked from Jay Lake)
Tweet of my heart: @AvoidComments I once showed a comments section to a man in Reno, just to watch him cry.
(Not directed at my commentators who are all well informed, insightful, and smell of spring flowers)
MBAs and Reputations
Oh Great Internet Brain,
Since I've dealt with many an MBA in my day, but never really considered one myself, I'm at a loss to answer these questions. If the Great Internet Brain could be of assistance, that would be fabulous.
I know that some business school MBAs are highly sought after (Harvard, Weatherhead (Case), U of Chicago, etc), but those are probably out of reach for me (both distance and cost). Are there sub-tiers of acceptance? Would a State U MBA be worth more than a smaller college MBA? And where does an MBA from someplace like the University of Phoenix fit in? Are there places and programs I should run away from (other than the diploma mills)?
I'm sure it's also dependent on the focus of the program. While I think accountancy would be cool, that really requires a BA in Accountancy. So this would be for either Management, Marketing, or Communications. But is there a focus that is more preferred than others? A for instance would be could be a marketing manager, but having a Marketing MBA isn't as preferable to a Business Management MBA for the position.
Any information you have, articles I should read, magazines I should get, websites to read, etc, would be greatly appreciated in this manner. Mostly what I'm seeing in my searches are sales pitches for specific programs, not so much the hard data of why I would want to go there (other than, "don't you really want to have this (name) behind your degree" or "we'll work with you" etc). And none of the information that would say, "sure, you can get a great MBA education there, but nobody is going to hire you" or vice versa.
TIA
Since I've dealt with many an MBA in my day, but never really considered one myself, I'm at a loss to answer these questions. If the Great Internet Brain could be of assistance, that would be fabulous.
I know that some business school MBAs are highly sought after (Harvard, Weatherhead (Case), U of Chicago, etc), but those are probably out of reach for me (both distance and cost). Are there sub-tiers of acceptance? Would a State U MBA be worth more than a smaller college MBA? And where does an MBA from someplace like the University of Phoenix fit in? Are there places and programs I should run away from (other than the diploma mills)?
I'm sure it's also dependent on the focus of the program. While I think accountancy would be cool, that really requires a BA in Accountancy. So this would be for either Management, Marketing, or Communications. But is there a focus that is more preferred than others? A for instance would be could be a marketing manager, but having a Marketing MBA isn't as preferable to a Business Management MBA for the position.
Any information you have, articles I should read, magazines I should get, websites to read, etc, would be greatly appreciated in this manner. Mostly what I'm seeing in my searches are sales pitches for specific programs, not so much the hard data of why I would want to go there (other than, "don't you really want to have this (name) behind your degree" or "we'll work with you" etc). And none of the information that would say, "sure, you can get a great MBA education there, but nobody is going to hire you" or vice versa.
TIA
Monday, July 22, 2013
Linkee-poo doesn't know it is a shooting star
Catherine Schaff-Stump talks about writing and the work ethic. She covers many of the thoughts I've been having for the past six months, only she gets to answers where I'm still groping.
Twenty-three tips from famous writers for new writers.
Joshua Palmateir is starting a new publishing venture, Zombies Need Brains, which (IIRC) was also the name of the party he through at a World Fantasy years ago. That steampunk octopus illustration looks wicked.
The plot scenario generator. Sorta like the Edgar Wallace plot wheel. (Grokked from Chuck Wendig)
Kristen Lamb on why we need good antagonists.
Chuck Wendig talks about staking your story through its heart. Or planting stakes in the garden. Anyway, there's 25 things about the how you handle the stakes in your story.
Some tips on approaching agents from an agent.
Some British weather terms. You know, for good local character for your next story set in the isles. (Grokked from Jay Lake)
Uh-oh, the secret is out. There is a Hollywood Formula and it seems a lot of movies are following it… page for page. And that's the problem with formulas. The people who understand know that they're more like guidelines (read that in a Geoffrey Rush voice). But when the bean-counters and MBA suits get ahold of it, bammo! Gotta follow the formula until the milk that sucker dry. This even came up at Comic Con. To understand a little about this (in a novel writing sorta way), I recommend the Writing Excuses episode with Lou Anders where he explains the formula. (Pointed to by Dan)
Need the ambiance of a coffee shop, but don't really need the baristas giving you the stink eye for nursing one cup for three hours. Well, now you can have the sound effects to help your writing. (Grokked from Dr. Doyle)
Jay Lake has been sharing photos of Comic-Con. I point this post out because of my undying love for that bottom photo. My black little scribner's heart want to see this at every Westboro Baptist protest.
"I mean, you expect representatives elected by corporate campaign funds to go to bat for the 1%. But they didn’t used to be so mean about it." (Grokked from Jay Lake)
A Norwegian woman working in Dubai accuses a man of rape and gets sentenced for 16 months for having extramarital sex and consuming alcohol.. The man got 13 months. Note that the excuse for this is Dubai "remains a deeply conservative region." (Pointed to by Dan)
Strange how providing a supportive environment instead of one that pre-emptively punishes and dehumanizes children they respond by being human. (Grokked from Jay Lake)
"On the heels of reports that the Justice Department is placing a hold on all evidence in the case, including the Kel-Tec PF-9 9mm pistol Zimmerman used to kill unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin, the Buckeye Firearms Foundation announced that it is raising money to buy the former neighborhood watch captain a new gun." Way to go, Ohio. Just in case you're still belaboring under the delusion that this case wasn't about gun laws. (Pointed to by Dan)
"But let’s face it – the man was a racist. Not just a creature of his times. Not a youthful indiscretion. Not just viewed with a modern lens. Not just misinformed. A barking mad racist. To him, pretty much all peoples who are not rock-ribbed white New Englanders were inferior, and the less you resembled Lovecraft, the worse you looked to him." And many writers have taken his mantle, and several have attacked this issue head-on to overturn that bigotry. This is an important point. (Grokked from Jay Lake)
SOme of the damage that can be done by preaching the sexual purity gospel. And don't for a second believe it isn't intended. "In case you were wondering, no, this isn’t healthy, and the result of these teachings has been a generation of Christian youth with warped and toxic ideas about sex, dating, and even their own bodies." (Grokked from the Slactivist)
"Freedom of religion has become the biggest hoax placed upon the Christian people and on our Christian nation… When reading the writings of our Founding Founders… (I)t was very clear that freedom to worship meant the freedom to worship the God of the Bible in the way you wanted, and not to have a government church denomination dictate how you would worship… This is why we must continue our heritage as a Christian nation and remove all other gods." Would be much of a problem except this is the Republican candidate for Roanoke County Board of Supervisors. Welcome to a theocracy of idiots. Also note how this idiot is willing to bankrupt his county for the sake of his ideology. (Grokked from Jay Lake)
"If you believe in the Bible, then abortion is never an option — it’s a requirement. And it must be performed by a member of the clergy in the house of God, just as the Bible says… If you’ve got a problem with that, don’t argue with me — your real argument is with the literalistic clobber-text hermeneutic and what it says we must say the Bible says." Fred Clark knows his Bible. I, personally, would never want to be on the opposite side of a Biblical argument from him.
We're number one! We're number one. We're… oh, wait. We're number one in income inequity, beating out many countries we used to call Banana Republics. (Grokked from Jay Lake)
"Likewise there is never any collective guilt involved in such crimes; 'Christians' are not tasked with 'controlling' the violent impulses of their young men and not depicted as agonizing over how they managed to produce bombers despite the peaceful character of their religious precepts." (Grokked from Jay Lake)
Twenty-three tips from famous writers for new writers.
Joshua Palmateir is starting a new publishing venture, Zombies Need Brains, which (IIRC) was also the name of the party he through at a World Fantasy years ago. That steampunk octopus illustration looks wicked.
The plot scenario generator. Sorta like the Edgar Wallace plot wheel. (Grokked from Chuck Wendig)
Kristen Lamb on why we need good antagonists.
Chuck Wendig talks about staking your story through its heart. Or planting stakes in the garden. Anyway, there's 25 things about the how you handle the stakes in your story.
Some tips on approaching agents from an agent.
Some British weather terms. You know, for good local character for your next story set in the isles. (Grokked from Jay Lake)
Uh-oh, the secret is out. There is a Hollywood Formula and it seems a lot of movies are following it… page for page. And that's the problem with formulas. The people who understand know that they're more like guidelines (read that in a Geoffrey Rush voice). But when the bean-counters and MBA suits get ahold of it, bammo! Gotta follow the formula until the milk that sucker dry. This even came up at Comic Con. To understand a little about this (in a novel writing sorta way), I recommend the Writing Excuses episode with Lou Anders where he explains the formula. (Pointed to by Dan)
Need the ambiance of a coffee shop, but don't really need the baristas giving you the stink eye for nursing one cup for three hours. Well, now you can have the sound effects to help your writing. (Grokked from Dr. Doyle)
Jay Lake has been sharing photos of Comic-Con. I point this post out because of my undying love for that bottom photo. My black little scribner's heart want to see this at every Westboro Baptist protest.
"I mean, you expect representatives elected by corporate campaign funds to go to bat for the 1%. But they didn’t used to be so mean about it." (Grokked from Jay Lake)
A Norwegian woman working in Dubai accuses a man of rape and gets sentenced for 16 months for having extramarital sex and consuming alcohol.. The man got 13 months. Note that the excuse for this is Dubai "remains a deeply conservative region." (Pointed to by Dan)
Strange how providing a supportive environment instead of one that pre-emptively punishes and dehumanizes children they respond by being human. (Grokked from Jay Lake)
"On the heels of reports that the Justice Department is placing a hold on all evidence in the case, including the Kel-Tec PF-9 9mm pistol Zimmerman used to kill unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin, the Buckeye Firearms Foundation announced that it is raising money to buy the former neighborhood watch captain a new gun." Way to go, Ohio. Just in case you're still belaboring under the delusion that this case wasn't about gun laws. (Pointed to by Dan)
"But let’s face it – the man was a racist. Not just a creature of his times. Not a youthful indiscretion. Not just viewed with a modern lens. Not just misinformed. A barking mad racist. To him, pretty much all peoples who are not rock-ribbed white New Englanders were inferior, and the less you resembled Lovecraft, the worse you looked to him." And many writers have taken his mantle, and several have attacked this issue head-on to overturn that bigotry. This is an important point. (Grokked from Jay Lake)
SOme of the damage that can be done by preaching the sexual purity gospel. And don't for a second believe it isn't intended. "In case you were wondering, no, this isn’t healthy, and the result of these teachings has been a generation of Christian youth with warped and toxic ideas about sex, dating, and even their own bodies." (Grokked from the Slactivist)
"Freedom of religion has become the biggest hoax placed upon the Christian people and on our Christian nation… When reading the writings of our Founding Founders… (I)t was very clear that freedom to worship meant the freedom to worship the God of the Bible in the way you wanted, and not to have a government church denomination dictate how you would worship… This is why we must continue our heritage as a Christian nation and remove all other gods." Would be much of a problem except this is the Republican candidate for Roanoke County Board of Supervisors. Welcome to a theocracy of idiots. Also note how this idiot is willing to bankrupt his county for the sake of his ideology. (Grokked from Jay Lake)
"If you believe in the Bible, then abortion is never an option — it’s a requirement. And it must be performed by a member of the clergy in the house of God, just as the Bible says… If you’ve got a problem with that, don’t argue with me — your real argument is with the literalistic clobber-text hermeneutic and what it says we must say the Bible says." Fred Clark knows his Bible. I, personally, would never want to be on the opposite side of a Biblical argument from him.
We're number one! We're number one. We're… oh, wait. We're number one in income inequity, beating out many countries we used to call Banana Republics. (Grokked from Jay Lake)
"Likewise there is never any collective guilt involved in such crimes; 'Christians' are not tasked with 'controlling' the violent impulses of their young men and not depicted as agonizing over how they managed to produce bombers despite the peaceful character of their religious precepts." (Grokked from Jay Lake)
Taking the money from Paul to refund Peter
With the Detroit bankruptcy the media is trolling out the conservative line about public employee pensions being a burden and how we can't and shouldn't ever pay this money to retirees.
Let me say first off this is complete bullshit. This isn't money we need to pay to people who aren't working, this is money these people earned while they were working. This was a part of their contracts, this was a part of the deal we made to get their labor. We agreed to take care of them later as long as they worked for a little less now. Oh, and they needed to put their own money on line as well as their employers committing funds to the pension. This is their money.
If the pensions are underfunded the real reason for this is not that the employees failed on their part. It's that the employers often failed to send in their part of the deal (and in some case, send in the money taken from the workers' pay).
And while I haven't done a scientific study on this the exact same people who are saying public employees should accept lower pension payouts than they were promised seem to be the very same people who told us we couldn't deny Wall Streeters their bonus payments, deny executives their deferred compensation, tax capital gains as income, and every other scheme where the 1% also "take lower pay now for money in the long run" because, after all, they "earned that money." Even if canceling one year of bonuses, or denying one executives deferred package could fully fund the pension programs those same companies then dump on the taxpayer through the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation. And yes, many times one executive's deferred compensation and/or golden parachute payment could make most pensions full funded, and then would serve thousands of employees.
And did I mention that many of those mechanisms for the 1% are taxed at a lower rate than pension payments (except when those payments are so small the pension recipient qualifies for social welfare programs).
So when these conservatives (and they are almost always conservatives) talk about how these pensions are putting a large liability on government and your tax money keep in mind that as they're stealing money from these employees who have already earned it, they're also making sure all their buddies get their deferred payments. Finally, most of those people in public employee pension programs don't qualify for Social Security (also part of the deal they signed on to, but oddly never talked about as an option since we're changing the rules of the contracts they signed).
Let me say first off this is complete bullshit. This isn't money we need to pay to people who aren't working, this is money these people earned while they were working. This was a part of their contracts, this was a part of the deal we made to get their labor. We agreed to take care of them later as long as they worked for a little less now. Oh, and they needed to put their own money on line as well as their employers committing funds to the pension. This is their money.
If the pensions are underfunded the real reason for this is not that the employees failed on their part. It's that the employers often failed to send in their part of the deal (and in some case, send in the money taken from the workers' pay).
And while I haven't done a scientific study on this the exact same people who are saying public employees should accept lower pension payouts than they were promised seem to be the very same people who told us we couldn't deny Wall Streeters their bonus payments, deny executives their deferred compensation, tax capital gains as income, and every other scheme where the 1% also "take lower pay now for money in the long run" because, after all, they "earned that money." Even if canceling one year of bonuses, or denying one executives deferred package could fully fund the pension programs those same companies then dump on the taxpayer through the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation. And yes, many times one executive's deferred compensation and/or golden parachute payment could make most pensions full funded, and then would serve thousands of employees.
And did I mention that many of those mechanisms for the 1% are taxed at a lower rate than pension payments (except when those payments are so small the pension recipient qualifies for social welfare programs).
So when these conservatives (and they are almost always conservatives) talk about how these pensions are putting a large liability on government and your tax money keep in mind that as they're stealing money from these employees who have already earned it, they're also making sure all their buddies get their deferred payments. Finally, most of those people in public employee pension programs don't qualify for Social Security (also part of the deal they signed on to, but oddly never talked about as an option since we're changing the rules of the contracts they signed).
Saturday, July 20, 2013
Weekend Linkee-poo, six feet of water in the streets of Evangeline
San Diego State University is soliciting to build a large SF collection.
Paul and Storm perform "Write Like the Wind" at Wootstock, G.R.R. Martin responds. Hahahaha.
Firefly as a MOPRG. Well, that could do very well. I wonder if they'll give you the opportunity to join the Alliance or play as a Reaver? (Pointed to by Dan)
Why do some people think oriental feudalism is so much more exciting than European feudalism? Because of things like this.
Marrying an electric knife (not the kind you carve meat with at home) and a mass-spectrometer to get instant feedback readings for cancer surgery. They're always thinking of something new. (Grokked from Jay Lake)
Troubleshooting CSS. Or, as anyone who has tried to make a single page with CSS work in Firefox/Safari/Chrome and IE, how to avoid the urge to take it out hunting one last time and put a bullet in its head. As another website once declared, "Give up and do it with tables" ("work a frustrating 50 minutes with CSS to get it to work, give up and do it with tables in 5 minutes, take a 5 minute coffee break"). And I love that mug. If I start programing websites more, I might have to get me one. (Grokked from Dan)
Use a fan to keep mosquitos away. (Grokked from Jay Lake)
How a Tesla Model S is made. All in one place. Very cool. But then, that's also why they're facing a lot of political pushback. (Grokked from Dan)
An NPR story on bias and it's silent and subtle alteration of our world. Also with lots of research on how to counter it (hint, seeing people in the roles they want to be in outside of the current social norms is about the best way).
"That's it? That's just a Cheerio's commercial." Yea, what they said. "Didn't Martin Luther King fix this?" (Grokked from the Slactivist)
"According to these benchmarks, the federal minimum wage peaked in 1968." (Grokked from Morgan J Locke - I think)
Just in case you think all this garment rending and cheering of the appointment of Richard Cordray to the CFPB is leaving you wondering why, where some sample letters from the CFPB to use in case a debt collector is hounding you (also, I remember a study where over a third of debt collectors use practices that hit or are slightly over the line of what is legal). Your government, working for you. And that's why some were so damn set against confirming anyone to the CFPB. Just keep in mind who had your back. (Grokked from the Slactivist)
"Again, it’s telling that Bachmann should phrase her fear the way she did. And it’s enlightening, the parts of religion that she embraces. It’s a case here of do unto others before they do unto you, I guess, given that Bachmann is front and center on efforts to reform voting rights in order to disenfranchise the very people she fears. How, exactly, election law could be changed to prevent Republicans from winning she didn’t bother to explain, apparently she’s afraid that Barack Obama will use Executive Orders to make it illegal for rich old white men to vote (if only). Meanwhile, Tea Party republicans in nearly every state with the willing collusion of the Supreme Court are working diligently to to bring back Jim Crow specifically in order to nullify the traditional democratic base." Looks like Jim is going to miss Michelle Bachmann just like I am.
Paul and Storm perform "Write Like the Wind" at Wootstock, G.R.R. Martin responds. Hahahaha.
Firefly as a MOPRG. Well, that could do very well. I wonder if they'll give you the opportunity to join the Alliance or play as a Reaver? (Pointed to by Dan)
Why do some people think oriental feudalism is so much more exciting than European feudalism? Because of things like this.
Marrying an electric knife (not the kind you carve meat with at home) and a mass-spectrometer to get instant feedback readings for cancer surgery. They're always thinking of something new. (Grokked from Jay Lake)
Troubleshooting CSS. Or, as anyone who has tried to make a single page with CSS work in Firefox/Safari/Chrome and IE, how to avoid the urge to take it out hunting one last time and put a bullet in its head. As another website once declared, "Give up and do it with tables" ("work a frustrating 50 minutes with CSS to get it to work, give up and do it with tables in 5 minutes, take a 5 minute coffee break"). And I love that mug. If I start programing websites more, I might have to get me one. (Grokked from Dan)
Use a fan to keep mosquitos away. (Grokked from Jay Lake)
How a Tesla Model S is made. All in one place. Very cool. But then, that's also why they're facing a lot of political pushback. (Grokked from Dan)
An NPR story on bias and it's silent and subtle alteration of our world. Also with lots of research on how to counter it (hint, seeing people in the roles they want to be in outside of the current social norms is about the best way).
"That's it? That's just a Cheerio's commercial." Yea, what they said. "Didn't Martin Luther King fix this?" (Grokked from the Slactivist)
"According to these benchmarks, the federal minimum wage peaked in 1968." (Grokked from Morgan J Locke - I think)
Just in case you think all this garment rending and cheering of the appointment of Richard Cordray to the CFPB is leaving you wondering why, where some sample letters from the CFPB to use in case a debt collector is hounding you (also, I remember a study where over a third of debt collectors use practices that hit or are slightly over the line of what is legal). Your government, working for you. And that's why some were so damn set against confirming anyone to the CFPB. Just keep in mind who had your back. (Grokked from the Slactivist)
"Again, it’s telling that Bachmann should phrase her fear the way she did. And it’s enlightening, the parts of religion that she embraces. It’s a case here of do unto others before they do unto you, I guess, given that Bachmann is front and center on efforts to reform voting rights in order to disenfranchise the very people she fears. How, exactly, election law could be changed to prevent Republicans from winning she didn’t bother to explain, apparently she’s afraid that Barack Obama will use Executive Orders to make it illegal for rich old white men to vote (if only). Meanwhile, Tea Party republicans in nearly every state with the willing collusion of the Supreme Court are working diligently to to bring back Jim Crow specifically in order to nullify the traditional democratic base." Looks like Jim is going to miss Michelle Bachmann just like I am.
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