And it’s celebrating its new look by offering you a free story: “Space Hero” by Patrick Lundrigan, which by its very title alone you can tell is going to be perfectly Baen-tastic. Check out the new look and enjoy the free fiction, right there on the front page of the site.

So, what you have to do to become Time’s Person of the Year is make Friendster, only bigger, more annoying to use, and more contemptuous of the concept of privacy. Good to know.

Yeah, I’m not impressed with this particular selection. And no, I wouldn’t have picked Julian Assange either, although I would have ranked him higher up the chart than Zuckerberg, who wouldn’t have been on my list at all. And in fact Time’s entire list of runners-up strikes me as largely stunt casting.

So who would I pick as person of the year? Off the top of my head, I would submit to you John Boehner is a better pick than Zuckerberg. I didn’t vote for the guy, but I suggest that the man in charge of the House legislative agenda for the next two years, and who will have an immense impact on the legislation and direction of the country through to the next presidential election, is a much better realistic choice for Person of the Year than the guy who decided that when I say “No, I don’t want to friend this person,” I don’t really mean it, so Facebook will just put that down as a maybe. The latter annoys me and make me wonder why Facebook has difficulty with the concept of “No means no,” but the former will actually matter as to how the nation will function. This should be a no-brainer.

But John Boehner isn’t even a finalist this year. He wasn’t stuck down a mine, or the 21st Century version of the Free Silver movement, or the guy embarrassing our government by airing the laundry it was too stupid to keep private. And he certainly isn’t as nerd-sexy as a 26-year-old billionaire who has a movie about him, running a company that has replaced AOL as where your grandmother goes to embarrass you online. Time has magazines to sell and traffic to drive to its site. So: Mark Zuckerberg. Enjoy him, why don’t you.

Today’s the day my Hugo and Nebula nominated novella The God Engines is available in audio format from Brilliance Audio, who is making it available in several formats, including audio CD (several discs), mp3 CD (single disc) and download via Audible (no discs). I linked to Amazon there for the physical discs, but it’s also available via BN.com and will be in bookstores which carry audio — or you can special order it from your local store, which I’m sure they would like. The story is being read by a fellow named Christopher Lane, who does a fine job with all the characters and with the tale. He spooked my mother-in-law as she listened to it, so there you have it. If you like audio, and dark fantasy, then happy holidays, this is for you.

The book is also still available in printed form (I’ve been signing quite a few of them at Jay & Mary’s recently) and in electronic editions in several formats (including this one). Basically, however you want it, we’ve got it for you.

Oh, and remember, if you’re an audio fan, remember also that The Android’s Dream and Agent to the Stars came out in audio last week, read by the fabulous Wil Wheaton, and that link has an audio sample.

Also, buy my books, would you? Otherwise Athena will get dirt for Christmas. And not the loamy kind of dirt you can plant things in, but the crumbly, sandy dirt that made the Okies head for California. And we all know how that turned out.

There, that should be enough guilt.

(Note: Athena not really getting dirt for Christmas. Thank you for your concern.)