O h n o s e c o n d

Thu, 25 Sep 2003 23:01:40 GMT

Dig deep enough from this site and there are loads of great classic space illustration.

Dreams of Space is an enthusiastic and wonderful gallery of vintage space-related illustration from the 1890s to the 1970s, divided by era. Link (Thanks, Charles)

[Boing Boing Blog]

Thu, 25 Sep 2003 23:01:04 GMT

This isn't out in ebook format yet. I wish they'd hurry UP!

Inpsired by Quicksilver, his giant doorstop of a new novel, Neal Stephenson has put up a wiki where his readers can collaboratively annotate the ideas in the book:
My own view of the Metaweb is pretty straightforward: I don't think that the Internet, as it currently exists, does a very good job of explaining things to people. It is great for selling stuff, distributing news and dirty pictures, and a few other things. But when you need to get a good explanation of something, whether it is a scientific principle, a bit of gardening advice, or how to change a tire, you have to sift through a vast number of pages to find the one that gives you the explanation that is right for you. Generally this is not a problem with the explanations themselves. On the contrary, it seems as though a lot of people like to explain things on the Internet, and some of them are quite good at it. The problem lies in how these explanations are organized.
We have been looking for a way to get an explanation system seeded for a long time, and it occurred to us that a set of annotations to my book might be one way to get it started. At first, the explanations here will be strongly tied to characters and situations in QUICKSILVER and so may be of only limited interest to those who have not read the book. However, with a few clicks we might move on to more general explanations. For example, Robert Hooke and Robert Boyle appear as characters in QUICKSILVER, and so early on we might see annotations concerning specific things that they are shown doing in the book. But later these might link to explanations of Boyle's Law. Such an explanation need not refer to QUICKSILVER in any way, and so it could be useful to, say, a high school student who has never heard of me or my book but who needs to understand Boyle's Law and why it is important.
Link (Thanks, Jeremy!)
[Boing Boing Blog]

Thu, 25 Sep 2003 23:00:30 GMT

From BoingBoing, things I like to hear from Michael Moore.

Michael Moore has written a thorough response to the critics of his disheaterning, enraging film about American life, Bowling for Columbine, called "How to Deal with the Lies and the Lying Liars When They Lie about 'Bowling for Columbine.'" He promises to keep this page updated with responses to all his attackers, so, "if you hear something about me that doesn't sound quite right, check in here."
When you see me going in to the bank and walking out with my new gun in "Bowling for Columbine" – that is exactly as it happened. Nothing was done out of the ordinary other than to phone ahead and ask permission to let me bring a camera in to film me opening up my account. I walked into that bank in northern Michigan for the first time ever on that day in June 2001, and, with cameras rolling, gave the bank teller $1,000 – and opened up a 20-year CD account. After you see me filling out the required federal forms ("How do you spell Caucasian?") – which I am filling out here for the first time – the bank manager faxed it to the bank's main office for them to do the background check. The bank is a licensed federal arms dealer and thus can have guns on the premises and do the instant background checks (the ATF's Federal Firearms database—which includes all federally approved gun dealers—lists North Country Bank with Federal Firearms License #4-38-153-01-5C-39922).
Within 10 minutes, the "OK" came through from the firearms background check agency and, 5 minutes later, just as you see it in the film, they handed me a Weatherby Mark V Magnum rifle (If you'd like to see the outtakes, click here).

And it is that very gun that I still own to this day. I have decided the best thing to do with this gun is to melt it down into a bust of John Ashcroft and auction it off on E-Bay (more details on that later). All the proceeds will go to The Brady Campaign To Prevent Gun Violence to fight all these lying gun nuts who have attacked my film and make it possible on a daily basis for America's gun epidemic to rage on.
Link (via K5)
[Boing Boing Blog]

Thu, 25 Sep 2003 22:59:54 GMT

Also from BoingBoing. This looks like a good comic.

Stefan sez, "Oh, wow: 'Her!' is a delightfully nasty, minimalist web comic about a little girl, a pig, and various walk-ons." Link (Thanks, Stefan!)

[Boing Boing Blog]

Thu, 25 Sep 2003 22:59:19 GMT

OK, I'm just going to be putting up a bunch of interesting links. This one's from Boing Boing.

Hasbro has released high-rez, printable PDFs of Monopoly money. Great stuff, especially if you're playing a Cheapass Game that needs currency-tokens. Link (Thanks, Zed!)

[Boing Boing Blog]

Sat, 20 Sep 2003 15:07:51 GMT

Via Making Light, this collection of stories is, well, different. And amusing. http://catenema.com

Catenema.com calls itself a weblog, but it’s more a collection of short stories, illustrated by the author with crayon drawings...
[Making Light]

Tue, 16 Sep 2003 19:10:03 GMT

Living in a house with two children (and with my wife and I being more than a little childlike ourselves), we frequently make use of the five second rule -- if food falls on the floor and you pick it up in less than five seconds, it's safe to eat. A study at the University of Illinois seems to bear this out. Thanks to Rebecca's Pocket.

Scientists weigh in on the five-second rule.
[what's in rebecca's pocket?]

Tue, 09 Sep 2003 21:30:03 GMT

This from Lockergnome's RSS Resource (link at bottom). In addition to the disclaimer message, I got both a "Current Conditions" message and a forecast for the next day:

I am proud to introduce the most complete and timely weather reporting service to ever offer RSS feeds. It is appropriately named RSSWeather.com. This bad boy can report the weather from Ben-Gurion International Airport, Israel all the way to Cairns Army Air Field / Ozark, Alabama. The good people at the weather channel have nothing on this site, let me tell ya.

[Lockergnome's RSS Resource]

Fri, 05 Sep 2003 16:39:03 GMT

References and Reaction On Alabama Tax Reform

Here are some references regarding the tax reform movement in Alabama. (Thanks to Yonmei, via Making Light).

PBS Interview with Prof. Susan Hammel

Her law review article, which started the whole thing (1.7MB PDF file)

Her book, "The Least Of These."

Doug Bandow's delightfully wrong-headed conservative argument against the reform plan. Like so many conservatives, this guy seems to be against fair taxes, and argues against the universal message of both the Old and New Testaments that demand the rich care for the poor.

Stephen Moore, like Bandow a fellow of the conservative Cato Institute, argues against it, questioning whether raising taxes will help the poor. Neither Moore or Bandow talks much about the actual provisions of the tax reform referendum, which will lower tax rates on the poorest and raise them on the richest (a concept the right seems unable to "get"). They characterize the reform plan as a "tax hike," but don't bother to mention that those who can most afford to pay more do so, and those who can least afford to pay, don't! D'oh!

Moore and Bandow both caution people to beware of those who use God as a reason for political reform, something President Bush is very good at doing. The latest issue of Sojourner's magazine has an excellent article on Bush's use of religous rhetoric. Normally I agree that God and politics are a questionable mix, since it's so easy to misuse religion (witness religious fundamentalists of all stripes), but it seems to me reform that truly helps the poor should be a universal human concern, not just a religious one.

Fri, 05 Sep 2003 16:04:12 GMT

From Making Light comes news... with lots of detail, especially in the comments... about the tax reform measure in Alabama that would change that state's regressive tax structure to actually make rich people pay more taxes. The reform movement, up for state-wide referendum at the behest of the state's right-wing, conservative Christian governor, is actually based on a correct reading of the Bible, which talks almost incessantly about justice for the poor. A lot of people think the measure is unlikely to pass, but the statistical and Biblical scholarship behind it are apparently impeccable.

From The American Prospect comes Divine Right, on an unlikely shift in conservative Christian sentiments in Alabama: Montgomery, Ala. —...
[Making Light]

Tue, 02 Sep 2003 20:59:14 GMT

My First Referral!

Teleread gave me my first referral today, mentioning my review of "Hunt Club."

Tue, 02 Sep 2003 00:56:53 GMT

Biblical Equality

Rebecca's Pocket brings an interesting story from the Christian Science Monitor on equality of women in the Chrisitian Church. It seems that even some conservative Christian denominations are finally seeing that women are equal and should not be "subject" to men. I'm happy to say I attend a church that is "conservative" in its view of the gospel (probably a good deal more conservative than I am) yet has women active in all roles in the church. For me there has never been any difference between my feminist leanings and my view of the gospel...I've always seen Paul's admonitions that women take secondary roles to men as being strictly first century cultural artifacts.

I was especially amused by one quote in the article from a conservative church leader who said his wife was concerned about equality between sexes in the church twenty years ago, but he "never paid any attention" until the last few years. Unfortunately, his fellow conservatives seem to be digging in their heels on this one...

Mon, 01 Sep 2003 19:15:10 GMT

A Ray of Light in Baghdad?

In today's Seattle Times, Ayad Rahim gives a look at what's going right in Baghdad. Rahim is an Iraqi expatriate living in Cleveland, and if we believe him, the media is telling us only the bad news (but what else is new?). I remain opposed to the war (and Mr. Bush), but there was no doubt Saddam had to go, if only for the sake of the people. If Rahim's assertions are true, it's good news.

Mon, 01 Sep 2003 19:00:19 GMT

Ebook Reviews: Hunt Club

Most of my reading these days is in electronic format, so in an effort (albeit small) to promote ebooks, I'll review them as I finish them. I reserve right to review paper books, too!

The first book on my list is a "pure" ebook, "Hunt Club," by Ed Howdershelt. Ed has thirteen ebooks for sale on his Abintra Press website in most of the major ebook formats, including Acrobat, Palm, MS Reader, Gemstar and Franklin. Some of Ed's work is fiction, some semi-fiction, with what appears to be a tendency to use his own experiences as a soldier, mercenary and science fiction writer. He even has a disclaimer saying nothing he writes is clear of security problems.

Hunt Club is a vampire story, set during the Viet Nam conflict. The first person narrator, a combat medic, has been transformed by a virus into a vampire. He needs to drink blood, but in return he can make himself invisible, fly, and heals so quickly he's immortal. Along with two Army nurses, the "hunt club" of the title, he regularly heads out into the bush to kill Viet Cong, fulfilling his need for blood and secretly helping American forces at the same time. Feeding seems to make vampires terminally horny, so the fraternization is quite intimate. As the author says, it's not porn!

Howdershelt's an engaging writer, though I had some problems with his story. The ending was a complete dud...I prefer an ending with a bit of punch to it, but in this story the characters simply go their own separate ways. True enough in life, but fiction isn't life. The prologue, though it grabbed my attention, was not tied to the rest of story, raising questions that remain unanswered.

Howdershelt was an Army medic during 'Nam, and I trust the detail of Army life is accurate. The level of Army life minutia might be tedious for some, but I found the storytelling overcame that. I'm reasonably sure he wasn't a vampire, but his details of vampire life are well thought out and consistently presented. I do wonder how realistic it is to have a buck sergeant fraternizing with two nurses (commissioned officers) as much as the protagonist does, but everyone else in the story wonders, as well, and there are plenty of justifications given. Being vampires certainly required ingenuity on the part of the hunt club's members, and the threat of being questioned too closely about time off-base is a constant thread through the novel.

I wrote to Howdershelt and found out he's doing all right with his e-publishing business. With the figure he's given me for his online sales I'm sure he's not making his living off his ebooks, but sales in five figures since 1999 is nothing to sneeze at. He markets heavily, making appearances at science fiction conventions and selling through several online partners (the Abintra Press website has a page on marketing).

It'll take reading at least one more of Howdershelt's books to see if "Hunt Club" was a fluke. It wasn't too much of a financial burden to buy up the whole lot, however -- he'll sell you a CD of all his stories in the format of your choice for $15, or give you unlimited download rights for $10.

Grade: B+