There's a new book a coming in the Revelation Space series from Alastair Reynolds. I think next year will be time for a re-reading of the series. Bring on the Pattern Jugglers!

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 08:47 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I don't watch many food-related shows on television (I don't watch much television, period, but that's the subject of another posting). I think Top Chef is pretty silly (there is so little difference between this and Project Runway that I keep waiting for the crossover show): it appears that the contestants are chosen for egos rather than the reality of the kitchen. And what is so dang hard about pastry courses, anyway?

Most of my culinary viewing is Alton Brown, either through his show Good Eats or the occasional seasonal mini-series, Feasting on Asphalt. Most cooking shows have the host mumbling at you and going through the motions of food preparation. Brown tells you the science behind the cooking, and does it with a lot of humor as well. Good stuff! Asphalt's two seasons were road trips, featuring road food. In the first, he traveled across the US via Route 66. In the second, he traveled along the Mississippi, from south to north. Lots of great looking food in both seasons!

One show that has caught my attention is Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares, seen (by me) on BBC America. Each episode, Gordon Ramsay tries to turn a failing restaurant around. I am utterly amazed at the trainwrecks that have managed to stay in business long enough to these saving throws.

I'll have to be careful. I may end up getting a digital video recorder just to make sure I don't miss any episodes!

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 11:09 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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NASA Watch points us towards a very tiny taste of this production. It is inspired by the so-called Collier Space Program of the 1950's.

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 10:29 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Sir Arthur C. Clarke has released (a little early) his birthday greetings.

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 10:18 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Vaguely inspired by some of the posters I've seen for The Golden Compass, and vaguely inspired by this posting...I feel compelled to point towards this: squirrel-armor, anybody?

Why stop there? This site has a whole bunch of...stuff.

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 11:20 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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How would you like to have to deal with this much information at once?

I'd be willing to bet this is partly for show. Most of the screens probably only track a single stock, so this is more a "time saving device" so you don't need to flip between windows on a single screen. I'm willing to bet that there are studies out there that show how much information you can handle under stress...too many active windows would probably mean indecision rather than decisive action.

(And yes, this came out of some work-related research. So I can post while I'm at work!)

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 02:14 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Terry Pratchett has announced that he has early-onset Alzheimer's.

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On the approach to New York City you can see stacks of empty cargo containers. Stacks and stacks and stacks. It is still cheaper to build a new one in the originating country than it is to ship back an empty from the US.

What to do with all of these things? Here's a site with some interesting solutions. Need more space? A vacation home? A hidey hole?

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 10:01 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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After way too long a time, Elon Musk updates the SpaceX site with a writeup on progress, some nifty pictures and even embedded movies. Hey, look! They're building a rocket!

Is the Falcon IX going to beat the Ares I into space?

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 09:59 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Thanks to the extensive comments in the John Scalzi posting about the "fading" of Robert A. Heinlein, I've discovered two giggle-laden previous postings on his site about Ayn Rand and Christmas. Step away from your keyboard if you are ingesting liquids while reading.

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 05:50 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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One of our martian probes (the rover that won't quit) Spirit has found a patch of nearly pure silica on Mars. This could be a sign that that either a hot-spring environment or an environment called a fumarole, in which acidic steam rises through cracks.

Why is this important? Well, on Earth (the main source for our database) such environments teem with microbial life. Could we have found a prime target for the planned Mars Science Laboratory or a later mission?

Sounds like a big deal to me. NASA Watch wonders why NASA hasn't given this more attention. I wonder the same thing, the only notice I found was in a non-US media outlet.

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 10:59 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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An article implies that Robert A. Heinlein's influence is declining. The evidence? That the literati don't take him seriously anymore. Is being compared to Heinlein a help or hindrance to a new science fiction writer? One such writer speaks up (and to be honest, the main reason I picked up John Scalzi's books was because of the comparison to Heinlein!)

Looks like it is time to trot out this 1980 essay by Spider Robinson again! more...

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A virtual map of locations mentioned in the works of H.P. Lovecraft. Roll for SAN...

Oh boy! New Call of Cthulhu mugs! Tell me, have you seen the Yellow Sign?

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Balefires; David Drake (Night Shade Books, 2007, ISBN 978-1-59780-071-6, cover by Richard Pellegrino).

The review can now be viewed here.

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 01:27 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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A great online photo album of airplanes from various eras.

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I really hope my daughter does not see a commercial for this. It sounds, on the one hand, utterly amazing. A robotic dinosaur that can interact, cries when you mistreat it and more. (The price is a tad out of reach for me. $350.00. Ouch!)

On the other hand...she has some "virtual pets" already. I'd rather she interact with her real pets more. She seems to have finally gotten over the loss of our one dog, and is bonding with the other (the one dog was her favorite). But her fish are more my fish. I do most of the feeding and all of the maintenance. If "virtual pets" are supposed to act as teaching tools and help develop responsibility...the jury is still out!

Via BoingBoing, which has a link to a creepy video where one of these is "killed". Some interesting notes there, and a mention of a book co-edited by Douglas Hofstadter and Daniel C. Dennett that I need to pick up!

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 10:30 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Virgil Finlay's Strange Science; Virgil Finlay (Underwood-Miller, 1992, ISBN 0-88733-154-8, cover by Virgil Finlay).

The review can now be found here.

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 09:44 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Sometimes you need to unplug the internet connection in order to finish a book. Sometimes you need to stop playing games to do the same! SF author Iain Banks found his gaming habit overcoming his book writing habit recently.

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 11:23 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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...but you can't take the physicist out of the writer. Via SF Signal, SF writer (and all around nice guy) Alastair Reynolds is interviewed by Physics World on science fiction, science and writing.

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Here's an interesting variant for Legos: facing them with wood and engraving them!

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