Monthly Archives: November 2008
A Public Service Announcement: I Go Other Places Online. Don’t Be Alarmed
Posted on November 23, 2008 71 Comments
As advance warning, this entry might be douchebaggishly egotistical, but, well. You should be used to that by now. Take as given, if you will, that I am a person with a certain level of notability online, both as an author and as a blogger of long standing: I am famous enough that a) I […]
Hey Everybody, I’m Blogging From Red Lobster!
Posted on November 22, 2008 47 Comments
I’m still in the “I’m feeling silly about my netbook” phase of the relationship, clearly. On the other hand, the wifi connection I’m using at the moment is from a hotel across the highway. Which is a pretty good reception from a teeny little computer, I have to say. I didn’t just bring the netbook […]
Reinvoking the Law
Posted on November 21, 2008 62 Comments
For various reasons, I think now is a fine time to reacquaint people to The Law of Internet Invocation. It really does work this way, people.
I’m Doing My Part to Stimulate the Economy
Posted on November 21, 2008 89 Comments
Meet the new toy: It’s an Acer Aspire One netbook computer, which as you can see by the Coke Zero can set there for scale, is actually quite the tiny tiny little thing. I’ve decided that my other laptop is simply too gargantuan to hoist around whilst I travel, and I needed something cute and […]
Technology Changes, People Not So Much
Posted on November 21, 2008 128 Comments
At the risk of sounding condescending, I found the conversation here about my AMC column this week sort of endearing. In the column, you might recall, I said that despite all the ginchy near-science fictional technology we have at our disposal, our lives are not like living in a science fiction movie, because ultimately who […]
Been So Low
Posted on November 20, 2008 47 Comments
To give some perspective on where the markets are at the moment, the last time the Dow Jones Industrial Index S&P 500 was at this level, Athena was a gamete (two, actually). I clicked over late in the day to see where the stocks were, saw they were down 400 points, and actually yelled “Oh, […]
Sweet Home Chicago
Posted on November 20, 2008 68 Comments
The New York Times has a nice piece on Chicago today, talking about what the election means to the town (being that Barack Obama is a hometown boy), and how his being from there puts the city in a new light for the rest of the US. Naturally I’m pleased about this; I have very […]
Whack Whack Whack
Posted on November 20, 2008 175 Comments
The Economist takes a plank to the Republican Party, in effect calling it the party of, and for, stupid people. And me without a fresh-baked Schadenfreude Pie. Sigh. Oh, don’t look at me like that. I don’t think individual Republicans are stupid (or even ignorant, which is not the same thing), but it’s pretty obvious […]
Feeling Science Fictional
Posted on November 20, 2008
Over at AMC, I’m asked if I ever pause to reflect on the fact that modern life, in many ways, is like a science fiction movie. Well, now that you mention it, he said, pausing for a second before he entered his words on an information terminal connected to a massive global data repository, maybe […]
Man, If Blowing the Heads Off of Zombies With a Scoped Rifle is Wrong, I Don’t Ever Want to Be Right
Posted on November 19, 2008 57 Comments
Seriously, man. I’m doing them a favor. They’re zombies, after all. It’s not like they have rich internal lives. The time for book clubs and PBS has passed for them, you know? And anyway, there’s something oddly soothing about going to a high place with a scoped rifle and picking off their shambling asses. I […]
Why You Totally Want to Come to Loscon Next Week
Posted on November 19, 2008 82 Comments
So you can catch the live show of this: Me, to Wil Wheaton, via IM: Confirming: We’re going to see you next week at Loscon? Wil Wheaton: I haven’t been able to get anyone on the horn in an official capacity, but I’m still planning on crashing it, if nothing else. Do you have an […]
The Big Idea: Dave Freer
Posted on November 19, 2008 13 Comments
There are a lot of stars out there in space — and as we’re constantly discovering, lots of planets around those stars. But how many of those planets are “earth-like”: that is, good for us? And what will it take to reach them? And what if we get there and discover the planet’s not as […]
Been a While Since I Put in a Sunset, So:
Posted on November 18, 2008 17 Comments
There you go. Enjoy.
World Wide Wheaton; Book View Cafe
Posted on November 18, 2008 14 Comments
Two bits of interest for the science fiction geek crowd: * Wil Wheaton’s got himself a new gig as a columnist at LA Weekly, and that doesn’t suck. He’s writing, as far as I can tell, about basically whatever the hell we wants to, and that doesn’t suck, either. Go ahead and click through to […]
Think Good Thoughts for Toby Buckell
Posted on November 18, 2008 22 Comments
He could use them right about now. Thanks.
Silly Thought
Posted on November 18, 2008 47 Comments
I’m warning you ahead of time the following is not a deep thought: I do get occasionally amused at being a poster child for Science Fiction’s Digital Future when I live in a rural town of 1,800 people with agricultural fields directly to my east, south and west, and Amish buggies clopping down the road […]
A Moment of Minor Humiliation, Coupled With a Request Regarding Books
Posted on November 17, 2008 23 Comments
As I’ve noted earlier, I’m fantastically disorganized, and that’s not been helpful in the particular case of sending out books to people I’ve promised them to. However, just the other day, my super-efficient and otherwise incredibly awesome wife delivered unto me a whole bunch of shipping boxes and envelopes, so that I can finally send […]
The Pulps and the Electronic World
Posted on November 17, 2008 30 Comments
PBS’ MediaShift Web site has an article called “Pulp Magazines Struggle to Survive in Wired World,” in which I am quoted rather extensively (indeed, I have my own section in the article) about science fiction print magazines, their online counterparts, and what it all means in the long run for literary science fiction. You’ll not […]
Quick Thoughts on the Obama Interview
Posted on November 17, 2008 124 Comments
You know, the one that ran on 60 Minutes last night. 1. The dude’s got seriously wacky ears. I mean, I knew before that they were large and stuck out from his head — you can’t miss that — but during the interview I found myself unaccountably fascinated with them. They just, you know, don’t […]
Me Not Here Online
Posted on November 17, 2008 9 Comments
Want me in someplace not here? Today, you have two options: 1. There’s a brief interview with me at Barnes & Noble’s Book Club area, discussing Agent to the Stars. Go here and scroll down to the ninth message and you’ll find me. 2. Time Traveler has audio of me and Jeff deLuzio talking on […]
Whatever Everyone Else is Saying