Monthly Archives: July 2004
Note to the (Not Unduly) Paranoid
Posted on July 31, 2004
Here my question to everyone who is worried that electronic voting systems without paper trails will steal your vote in the upcoming election: Didn’t I hear you say that you were traveling on Election Day? And wouldn’t that mean you’d need an absentee ballot? And didn’t I hear you say that everyone else you know […]
Kerry’s Speech
Posted on July 29, 2004 1 Comment
Unlike the other speeches of the Democratic Convention, which I caught after the fact on streaming audio, I pulled myself away from the computer and my book deadline long enough to watch John Kerry’s speech. I figured, as a politically-involved American, I owed myself that much. I thought the speech was excellent — it did […]
Getting Geeky
Posted on July 29, 2004
Like many sad pathetic gaming freaks, I will be rushing out sometime next week to grab a copy of Doom 3 from my local store, not doubt beating other pasty geeks over the head for the last remaining copy. Prior to doing so, however, I want to give some consideration to upgrading my video card, […]
2004’s “Let Them Eat Cake” Moment
Posted on July 29, 2004
Someone remind the DNC to send this nice young lady a fruit basket: WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A campaign worker for President Bush said on Thursday American workers unhappy with low-quality jobs should find new ones — or pop a Prozac to make themselves feel better. “Why don’t they get new jobs if they’re unhappy — […]
No-Show at JournalCon
Posted on July 28, 2004
Some depressing news: Do to an unavoidable schedule conflict, the details of which I prefer to keep personal, I am unable to attend JournalCon this year. This really bums me out; I was really looking forward to seeing friends as I always do, and, of course, singing badly at karaoke. But I know y’all will […]
Satellite Internet Sucks
Posted on July 27, 2004 3 Comments
Venting. I want somebody to give me a broadband alternative to satellite. Now. One of the disadvantages to living out in the middle of nowhere is that there’s no cable, no DSL, no nothin’. So I’m stuck with satellite if I want broadband. The reason satellite sucks is that it’s not that fast (most of […]
My Wildly Overpacked Noreascon Panel Schedule
Posted on July 26, 2004 1 Comment
I just got sent my Noreascon panel appearance schedule, and let me just say: Holy buckets, am I on a lot of panels. I’ve got eight of them, plus a reading. This is a bit of an upgrade from last year, in which I was on two panels and had a reading. So if you […]
A Chilling Tale of Terror in the Skies!
Posted on July 24, 2004 2 Comments
Turns out that the person on Annie Jacobsen’s infamous flight from Detroit to LA that most worried the air marshals was Jacobsen herself: Undercover federal air marshals on board a June 29 Northwest airlines flight from Detroit to LAX identified themselves after a passenger overreacted to a group of middle-eastern men on board, federal officials […]
The Writing Flight Deck
Posted on July 22, 2004
One of the contributors to a recent rather long comment thread asked me if the Whatever, and keeping track of the subsequent comment threads, is taking away from my book writing. Well, no. Playing Unreal Tournament 2004 instead of writing is taking away from my book writing. The Whatever doesn’t take time away because any […]
I, Hollywood
Posted on July 20, 2004 1 Comment
Over on his journal, science fiction writer Bill Shunn has got himself worked up on principle over the I, Robot movie, which is based on the Issac Asimov book of the same name roughly in the way a store-brand grape soda is based on an actual grape. Shunn is personally boycotting the film and thinks […]
Whoops
Posted on July 16, 2004
Note to self: From this point forward, remember that it’s the 1/4″ attachment you use on your hair clippers, not the 1/8″ attachment. Alas, by the time I realized I was using the wrong attachment I had already buzzed off a big fat swatch of hair; there was nothing to do but finish it up. […]
In Defense of Marriage
Posted on July 16, 2004 5 Comments
E-mail from various people asking me what I think about the anti-gay marriage amendment being batted back in the Senate: Well, obviously, I’m very pleased about it. Any day a bunch of politically opportunist homophobes get stuffed back into their holes — and on a procedural note, meaning they didn’t even get the showboating vote […]
Wonder Twin Powers Activate
Posted on July 15, 2004
Folks who knew me when I was younger — a lot younger — have told me that Athena is the spitting image of me when I was her age. While I think there is of course family resemblance, I remained neutral on the matter, since I don’t particularly remember what I looked like at that […]
Shadows and Clouds
Posted on July 13, 2004
Sunset this evening, and we were treated to a very odd shadow on the clouds, which you can see here. I have no idea what caused it, although I suspect it was another cloud in front of this one (but out of sight from me) blocking the path of the light onto the cloud. Whatever […]
Election Notes
Posted on July 13, 2004 2 Comments
I’ve spent the last day or two trying to write something about the election, but every time I do, it’s as if someone sticks an industrial-sized plastic jug of mayonnaise over my head and then beats on the jug with a rubber mallet: I get a sickly, suffocating, pain-inducing feeling and a bad, eggy taste […]
Copyedit
Posted on July 11, 2004 1 Comment
Pictured: The manuscript to Old Man’s War (the first time, incidentally, that I’ve ever seen the whole thing in hard copy form), onto which the copy editor assigned by Tor has made (I’m presuming the sex here) her copy edits, which I’ve either accepted or rejected, the latter being noted by me scribbling “STET” in […]
The Art of Comments
Posted on July 7, 2004
I’ve been thinking quite a bit about Daniel Drezner’s recent post regarding comments, which was inspired, I think, by the recent removal of the commenting ability on several “big name” blogs. There seems to be an anecdotal observation going around at the moment that as a blog’s popularity goes up, the overall quality of the […]
Your Suggestions, Please:
Posted on July 7, 2004
I’m putting together some articles for Book of the Dumb 2 on really bad TV shows. So: Any suggestions you have would be appreciated. Criteria: 1. A show that was clearly a bad idea in its own (and indeed in any other) time. 2. A show that actually failed (i.e., one season or less). No […]
Mail Woes
Posted on July 7, 2004
Just got another “can’t send mail to AOL” message, which means two things: 1. Now I really am going to change my hosting — two of those in the same month suggests things are going to get worse, not better; 2. There’s a reasonably good chance all my mail is kind of screwed, so if […]
Kerry/Edwards
Posted on July 6, 2004 4 Comments
First, a cheap laugh at the New York’s Post’s expense: Bwa ha ha ha ha ha ha! Of course, screwing up a major story this badly will just make the Post even more vindictive toward Kerry, Edwards and the Democrats — if that’s at all possible — and that’s probably no good, but for the […]
Whatever Everyone Else is Saying