Monthly Archives: December 2012
Quick Numbers Note
Posted on December 21, 2012 13 Comments
Today, Whatever passed 24 million recorded views since October, 2008 (i.e., when it switched hosting to WordPress’ VIP service). Also, if current traffic trends hold, by Christmas the site will pass eight million recorded views for the year, which would mean recorded traffic is up nearly 50% since last year. Not bad for a site […]
A Window to Winter
Posted on December 21, 2012 23 Comments
As I noted on Twitter this morning, at pretty close to the exact moment of the solstice, we got an automated call from my daughter’s school telling us that classes were cancelled due to snow. This means that Athena’s winter break starts a day early; she’s got until January 7th to hang about. It also […]
The Existential Exasperation of Being John Boehner
Posted on December 21, 2012 194 Comments
You might think I would have a little bit of schadenfreude at John Boehner doing a faceplant yesterday when his “Plan B” scheme for the fiscal cliff couldn’t even be brought to a vote, thanks to the intransigence of Boehner’s backbenchers in the House — and you’d be right! I do! But mostly what I […]
You Wish You Could Sample My Daughter’s Christmas Cookies
Posted on December 20, 2012 25 Comments
Why? Because they are delicious, that’s why. Trust me, I had a couple. Strictly for quality control purposes, mind you.
How’s Your Christmas Spirit This Year?
Posted on December 20, 2012 161 Comments
Because I’m curious, that’s why. If you want to explain your answer more fully in the comments, please by all means do so.
One For the Fan Club
Posted on December 20, 2012 21 Comments
Because I know the fan club was feeling neglected for a bit there. Well, here. Now that’s fixed.
What’s That? You Wish You Could See a Documentary On Morning Star? Here You Go
Posted on December 19, 2012 14 Comments
Morning Star being the video game I am working on, for those of you late to the party on that one. The embedded video takes a look at the Industrial Toys team (I show up briefly with an amusing cameo) and gives some sneak peaks at the game and its art. Enjoy, and expect to […]
The Big Idea: Ramez Naam
Posted on December 19, 2012 17 Comments
A mind is a terrible thing to waste — but might it also be a terrible thing to improve, if those improvements came from an outside source or technology? Or would it in fact be potentially amazing? It’s an interesting question to pose, which is probably why Ramez Naam poses it in his near-future novel […]
End of the Year Office Mess
Posted on December 19, 2012 50 Comments
So extensive that it requires a poorly-seamed panorama shot! Get this, this is straightened up a bit from what it was (I cleared a path to my computer). And yes, it will be cleaned at some point in the reasonably near future. All I need is to get the back hoe up the stairs.
Athena, 12/18/12
Posted on December 18, 2012 36 Comments
Before any of you say it: Yes, looking more like her mother every day.
The Results of My Fundraising Bribery Initiative + A Challenge to Jim C. Hines
Posted on December 18, 2012 74 Comments
As you may remember, Jim C. Hines challenged me to a pose-off last week as part of his fundraiser for the Aicardi Syndrome Foundation, wherein he and I both modeled a pose of a female character on a fantasy book cover. Having both made the pose, we then invited folks to vote on who did the […]
The Whatever Geographic Default Entry
Posted on December 18, 2012 64 Comments
This is one of those “post now for later reference” posts. Folks, I live in the United States and the bulk of my personal, political and economic life, including book sales, is tied into it. Also, while I am happy to see that almost 30% of my traffic to Whatever comes from other countries, over […]
“Rip-Off!” Audio Anthology Now Available; Also: Hey! A Contest!
Posted on December 18, 2012 12 Comments
I told you about Rip-Off! a couple of weeks ago: It’s an audio anthology in which science fiction and fantasy writers take he first line of a classic of literature and then go off on a tangent with it, creating all new stories from that snippet of source material. Aside from me, authors in the […]
Old Man’s War eBook $2.99 Today Only
Posted on December 18, 2012 32 Comments
The SEO-like headline says it all! My first published novel — which was sold to Tor ten years ago this month, more on that on the actual day — is available for just under three bucks. If for some unfathomable reason you as a reader of this blog have not read it, now’s your chance […]
The Hobbit at 48 Frames Per Second: A Review
Posted on December 17, 2012 141 Comments
As I am no longer a pro movie critic, I had to go see The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey after it came out like a common troll (get it? Get — ah, never mind). My local cinema had it at the standard frame rate, but there was a movie theater in Dayton showing it at […]
Writer or Spambot?
Posted on December 17, 2012 49 Comments
Got spammed by a writer this morning on Twitter. The fellow isn’t someone I follow, so he made sure it popped up into my queue by putting “@scalzi” at the front, followed by a generic plug for his book and a link to the page he made for the book. Given that the vast majority […]
Tobias Buckell Goes Deep and Comes Back With Data
Posted on December 17, 2012 11 Comments
Toby Buckell did a Kickstarter for his novel The Apocalypse Ocean, and being Toby Buckell, now that he’s done with it, he’s written up an extensive (i.e., 5,000 word) post-mortem on the project, which includes context for the Kickstarter, the choices he made before, during and after the Kickstarter, and the lessons he’s learned from […]
Sunset, 12/16/12
Posted on December 16, 2012 16 Comments
This is what I think sunset would look like every night, if I lived on a gas giant.
Sunday Dog Photo
Posted on December 16, 2012 15 Comments
It’s the dog’s day of rest. Well, every day is a dog’s day of rest. But Sunday even more so.
And Now a Thought From Justice Scalia
Posted on December 15, 2012 660 Comments
From the 2008 DC v. Heller ruling, written by Scalia, and one of the very few Supreme Court cases to touch on the Second Amendment at all: Like most rights, the Second Amendment right is not unlimited. It is not a right to keep and carry any weapon whatsoever in any manner whatsoever and for […]
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