At BoingBoing, we are pointed towards Lego Mecha! The best of both worlds! And at Altair VI, a plan to help revive the economy.

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Links between St. Elsewhere and a large chunk of television. Some people have too much free time on their hands!

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The Last Centurion; John Ringo (Baen Books, August 200 .

Kumbaya.

I just finished reading this, in eARC (electronic Advanced Reading Copy) form from Baen's Webscription service.

Ringo has been steadily maturing as a writer. He has taken some chances, with Ghost and the other volumes of the Paladin of Shadows series, for example. I think the one thing that has kept him from a wider audience is the "science fiction stigma" and the generally (ahem) right-leaning orientation of the books.

No more. With The Last Centurion, he has moved firmly into the technothriller genre. That should attract more readers, as Ghost and its sequels did.

Kumbaya.

And...well...he pretty much manages to say something to anger just about everybody in the course of this book. Sure, the brunt falls on the Left, but keep reading. Everybody suffers at some point or another.

And maybe that is the point. As there is some stuff in here that ought to make you angry...and then make you think.

I'll give it another read when the final version is released.

Kumbaya.

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 08:03 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Book publishers are phasing out DRM on their audiobooks. Why? It just does not work. Now, how about eBooks?

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 08:16 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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The ESA has released a pair of maps generated from images taken by the SMART-1 probe. They show the area that is often mentioned as one of the prime landing sites for NASA's Project Constellation.

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A member of The Gunroom community shows off her efforts to build or otherwise acquire (capture, sink or destroy?) miniature versions of items used on the H.M.S. Surprise. Still waiting for somebody to the Lego version of The Canon...

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Bad reporting in science writing? Say it ain't so!

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Cats are better than dogs at preventing heart attacks? Say it ain't so!

More studies are needed!

And dog lovers shouldn't feel left out: Although the study found no such benefit from "man's best friend," that's probably because there simply weren't enough dog owners in the study to draw firm conclusions, the researchers said.

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...that should NEVER BE MADE!!!!

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There are 2 Versions—Read Both

Traditional Version:

The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter.

The grasshopper thinks the ant is a fool and laughs and dances and plays the summer away.

Come winter, the ant is warm and well fed. The grasshopper has no food or shelter, so he dies out in the cold.

Moral of the Story: Be responsible for yourself! more...

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 08:15 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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In his new book, The Last Centurion (out as an eARC), John Ringo has a good description of how much mass, in terms of supplies, a modern army uses. Think a football stadium. Actually a couple of football stadiums. Filled.

So how many vehicles are involved? Here's a good description (continued after the fold, due to one "not-kid-friendly" word):

more...

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 08:02 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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The Secret of Sinharat and People of the Talisman; Leigh Brackett (Paizo/Planet Stories, 2007, cover by Andrew Hou, ISBN 978-1-60125-047-6; $12.99).

In which I trod down the back alleys and dark corners of the Golden Age once again!

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It. Has. Arrived.

WE ARE EVERYWHERE. You know sf has conquered the world when a net pundit announces that 'Barack Obama is the Democratic Party's Kwisatz Haderach.' (SnarkyBastards.com) [LP]

Wot? Still no mention of the SF fandom marriage of the century? Wot?

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As mentioned previously, I've been re-reading Patrick O'Brian's Master and Commander as part of a group read at The Gunroom, the mailing list dedicated to The Canon (as it is called) "...and everything else..."

I found myself wanting to race ahead of my carefully-paced reading and note-taking...so, after resisting for a while, I just gave in and started reading for "fun" while taking notes for the group read.

Just finished the "fun" read, now back to note-taking!

August Update: I pretty much fell off the reading project for the series, due to work and family. So I've jump-started it again with another "fun" read of M&C. I'll push forward with "fun" reads of the series while doing the "in-depth read when I can.

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I read of the death of Gary Gygax many places, but The Order of the Stick has the best tribute I've seen so far.

I've been transcribing some old journals and writings of mine recently. Just tonight, I ran across this entry from November 1982, and thought it appropriate for the occasion:

I Know...

I know a dwarf. His name is Ixthos. I know a man. His name is Peldar. I know another man. His name is Ralt Gaither. I know yet another man, but he doesnÂ’t have a name. I know a pegasus. His name is Ariel. I know an animated box. His name is Tavtos. I know three horses. They donÂ’t have names.

I met all of them once while strolling through a hilly, rolling countryside. There were towns, people, good ale, and warm beds. But not all things were so good. Aye, there were dangers--dragons, orcs, goblins, and worse still.

There were swords, sorcerers, monsters, friendly yet stupid barkeeps, beautiful wenches, blue skies, and projects which needed doing. Yes, projects which needed doing such as killing hydras, riding dragons, finding treasures, and cleaving orc heads.

I met them all on a Sunday at 12:00PM and left them at 5:00PM, promising to be back at the same place at the same time within the next few weeks. Yes, I know them all. They come from the realms of my imagination.

His creations brought me weeks, nay, months of fun during some critical times of my life. RIP.

Posted by: JohnL at 10:53 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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1 I liked the one from the OoTS, PvP had a decent webcomic on it too. The best blog post I've come across was this one: http://playthisthing.com/e-gary-gygax-fails-his-last-saving-throw

Posted by: owlish at March 07, 2008 01:15 AM (dk0SG)

2 Sorry, I lied. Penny Arcade had the Gary Gygax tribute, not PvP. And the Play This Thing post is next-to-best, compared to anything on TexasBestGrok, of course.

Posted by: owlish at March 07, 2008 01:26 AM (dk0SG)

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A recent effort. No formal instruction consulted ahead of time, just made up based on past experience.

1 package of stew meat (I used beef, pork would work, I don't know about chicken...might break down too much).
1 16 oz can of stewed tomatoes.
1 can of pitted black olives.
2 cups of beef stock (previously made from scratch).
1 large onion.
1 package of mushrooms, sliced.
Olive oil.
Salt and pepper.
1 bay leaf.
1 bottle of red wine.

1 skillet. 1 crockpot. 1 larger skillet or other stove top pot. more...

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 02:27 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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Roasting in Hell's Kitchen: Temper Tantrums, F Words and the Pursuit of Perfection; Gordon Ramsay (Harper, 2007, cover by FBC, ISBN978-0-06-119198-5).

When it comes to books about cooking, I prefer cookbooks. This is just as it is when it comes to television: I prefer a show like Alton Brown's Good Eats to Emeril, a show where I'm going to learn some techniques, some science, some background and history as well as be entertained.

Top Chef pretty much left me cold; I could not see how most of those people would survive in any ordinary business, let alone a kitchen where you need some modicum of cooperation. So when I first started seeing bits from a show called Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares, I chuckled and moved on.

But...I came back. Gordon Ramsay, known equally well for his sharp tongue as well as a string of award-winning restaurants, swoops in on a failing restaurant and tries to turn it around. Sometimes he succeeds, sometimes he fails, and you are constantly amazed at the people who run and work in those establishments. What were they thinking of when they opened those businesses? Amusing stuff and you can probably do a Kitchen Nightmares Drinking Game where you take a swig for every bleeped out word and two swigs for every word that either isn't bleeped out or bleeped so poorly you can figure it out. more...

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 06:17 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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John's Reading Report (February 200

Here's what I've read since my last report:

Bill Bryson's The Life And Times of the Thunderbolt Kid.

Anthony Bourdain's Kitchen Confidential. I love his show No Reservations, and reading about life in the "culinary underbelly" was simultaneously fascinating and funny.

Orbit, John J. Nance. Surprisingly entertaining. I had low expectations, but the story grabbed me about half the way through and I couldn't put it down.

In progress:

Flashman, George MacDonald Fraser.

Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid, Douglas R. Hofstadter.

Consciousness Explained, Daniel C. Dennett.

On deck:

Suite Francaise, Irene Nemerovsky. One offered up by the Amazon algorithm based on product searches and past purchases. I hope it is as compelling as the author's own story.

The Forever War, Joe Haldeman. I've been meaning to read this for, like, forever.

Soul Made Flesh: The Discovery of the Brain--and How it Changed the World, Carl Zimmer.

Still about five months' worth of Analog magazine.

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Fred's Reading Report (February 200

Leap Year! An extra day of reading! Nope, just an increased number of hours at work, alas...

Books? 11, year-to-date.

Short works? 74, year-to-date.

Currently being read:

Poul Anderson: The Earth Book of Stormgate. Trader to the Stars. The Trouble Twisters. more...

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