Monthly Archives: July 2009

Do You Like Clouds?

I like clouds. Here, have some clouds. In other news, I utterly failed not to re-download Photoshop. On the other hand, holy crap, is the 64-bit version of Photoshop CS4 so much faster than the version I was using before. I actually feel a little giddy about it. Expect a fair amount of Photoshoppery in […]

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Explaining the Hugos

First, yes, I’ve impaled a headcrab on my Hugo. Because I had to impale it on something. Thing was trying to eat my skull. Second, given the recent (yet, also, annual) contretemps concerning the Hugos and the shortlists thereof, and whether they truly represent the best of science fiction, and whether something needs to be […]

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Personal Work Minutiae, 7/30/09

Answers to various questions I’ve received relating to my own personal projects over the last several days: 1. Regarding That Project I Can’t Tell You About Yet: Sorry, still can’t tell you about it yet. Not trying to be a dick, I’m just not in a position to go into any detail about it at […]

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Don’t Panic: This is How it Works

I find it really hard to get terribly emotionally invested in the ups and downs of the health care reform legislation in Washington, not because I think we don’t need reform, but primarily because I find the play-by-play, who’s-up-who’s-down BS silly and perhaps a bit ahistorical as regards how legislation is done. I mean, really: […]

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A Little Bit of Fiddlery

Those of you obsessed with the sidebars here might have noticed me fiddling a bit with them today, and here’s what I’ve done: I’ve removed the “Recent Posts” section and replaced it with a “Last 100 Posts” section, which now resides below the “Blatheration of Others” section. I did this because I think it makes […]

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What You Have to Give Up to Write

Got a letter today from an aspiring novelist who is wondering if wanting to write means that one has to be willing to sacrifice a great deal for one’s writing and craft. Because one hears of writers who have made great sacrifices in order to work on their writing, including giving up jobs, friends and […]

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My Anticipation Schedule

For those of you heading to Montreal next week for Worldcon, here’s the schedule of what I’m doing there and when. Thu 14:00 @ P-524B Hollywood’s Favorite SF Writer David Weingart, Jason Bourget, Lou Anders, John Scalzi, Lenny Bailes Forty years ago it might have been Jules Verne or H. G. Wells.  Today it’s the […]

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And Now, the Last Post About the New Computer For a While

Because I figure you’re all bored with it by now. For those asking from whence the computer came, I bought it from IBuyPower.com. More specifically, it’s their Paladin XLC V2 computer, with some minor customizations. I bought it as a reward for finishing That Project I Can’t Tell You About Yet, and also (and as […]

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Meet The New Computer

Here it is, looking vaguely Darth Vadery. It’s a bit bigger than the previous computer, but not obnoxiously so, and while I specified not to have neon lighting jammed into it, they appear to have put it in for free. It’s not the minimalist package I would have preferred, but inasmuch as the whole thing […]

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And Of Course

The new computer arrived damaged. Because why wouldn’t it be. Update: Appears to be one of the hard drives was damaged in transit. Pulled one, the second seems to be working just fine. The computer maker is mailing me a replacement for the damaged one. Now to see how the rest of the computer is […]

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The Computer Situation

For those of you fascinated by the minutiae of my technological life, an update on these sorts of things: 1. The primary desktop computer is definitely dead, and I rather strongly suspect it’s the power plant. The plan at this point is to remove it from the desk, swap out the power supply and then […]

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Ice, Ice Baby

Via Elizabeth Bear on Twitter, the latest in the kerfuffle regarding whether Pluto is a real planet or not. You know, here’s the thing for me. Despite having a famously pro-Pluto daughter and also personally thinking the actual mechanics behind the Pluto demotion were a bit mean and not entirely rational, I have no problem […]

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Quick Note on Confluence

My experience with Confluence this weekend can be summed up thusly: What a lovely convention. It was well-run, the people who ran it were excellent and kept me well-stocked with Coke Zero, the attendees were very cool and seemed happy to see me, my co-panelists were all smart and engaged, and overall I had just […]

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Interesting Coincidence

I come home from Confluence to find that it looks like my desktop computer has just up and died. Fortunately, I ordered a new desktop computer a couple weeks back. Estimated delivery date via Fed Ex? Today or tomorrow. That said, I need to play with the current desktop to make sure it’s really dead. […]

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Saturday Update

Taking a little breather up in my room, on account that from 1 to 6pm, I’m pretty solidly booked with convention activities. So, hello, Internets. The convention is going nicely up to this point: Two panels yesterday, one on Twitter and one on MilSF, both of which went well thanks to smart co-panelists, and then […]

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And Now, the Obligatory Picture Out the Hotel Window

I know you’ve been waiting for it. No, a view of Bob Evans is not exactly inspiring. But aside from that, I have to say I’m very pleased with this hotel. The Internet’s free, the room service costs are not rapacious and the food (from the built-in restaurant) is good — the burger I had […]

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