How about this little guy? I'd rather have a real cat, but that's a very cute little (cat-based) robot. That's fast on four legs because they based it off a...cheetah.
The Herschel space telescope has gone dark. Unfortunate, but there will be more cool space-based instruments in the future.
And another group of people are trying to phone Gliese 526. What will we do if somebody answers?
Tuesday, June 18, 2013
Monday, June 17, 2013
So...
...I'm back. Had a great con. (Although, as it turns out, you now seem to have to have a table to even give out literature at Origins, which just feels a bit greedy to me. It's a great con, but has always had a bit of that vibe to it).
Tuesday, June 11, 2013
Out of Town...
Tomorrow through Sunday, out of town at the Origins Game Expo to have a bit of fun. (I will have bookmarks, though. Packing some of them now).
Monday, June 10, 2013
Review: Future Lovecraft
I'm probably the wrong person to review this book - I've never really "done" Lovecraft. The heart of the problem is simple: The mythos doesn't scare me. I think part of it is that I'm so steeped in gamer culture, in which Cthulhu is more often a source of humor than fear (Maybe that's the only way to really deal with ultimate, alien evil).
If you want to scare me, don't wave tentacles in my direction. Point at a stone angel and yell "Don't Blink." That'll get me every time. So I'm not immune to monsters.
I do a lot better with non-mythos Lovecraft and, fortunately, there were quite a few non-mythos stories in this volume. Most of the stories editors Silvia Moreno-Garcia and Paula R. Stiles have chosen are short and there are a few poems. Lovecraft lends itself to being treated in poetry.
So, I found the mythos-based stories weaker, but that might be my personal bias. Some of them had the problem of being bleak, but not frightening or interesting and a couple left my suspension of disbelief at the door. Peter Rawlik's "In the Hall of the Yellow King" was definitely not one of my favorites...for just that reason. Lovecraftian horrors ruling the future doesn't work for me. What worked better was Ada Hoffman's "Harmony Among The Stars." That was actually one of my favorites.
The soviets on Mars story had the issue of feeling dated in the post Soviet world, but was very well done ("Trajectory of a Cursed Spirit" Meddy Ligner).
In all honesty - if you love Lovecraft, get it. There's some interesting material here. If you don't like Lovecraft, don't bother.
Three and a half stars.
(Review copy obtained at Balticon).
If you want to scare me, don't wave tentacles in my direction. Point at a stone angel and yell "Don't Blink." That'll get me every time. So I'm not immune to monsters.
I do a lot better with non-mythos Lovecraft and, fortunately, there were quite a few non-mythos stories in this volume. Most of the stories editors Silvia Moreno-Garcia and Paula R. Stiles have chosen are short and there are a few poems. Lovecraft lends itself to being treated in poetry.
So, I found the mythos-based stories weaker, but that might be my personal bias. Some of them had the problem of being bleak, but not frightening or interesting and a couple left my suspension of disbelief at the door. Peter Rawlik's "In the Hall of the Yellow King" was definitely not one of my favorites...for just that reason. Lovecraftian horrors ruling the future doesn't work for me. What worked better was Ada Hoffman's "Harmony Among The Stars." That was actually one of my favorites.
The soviets on Mars story had the issue of feeling dated in the post Soviet world, but was very well done ("Trajectory of a Cursed Spirit" Meddy Ligner).
In all honesty - if you love Lovecraft, get it. There's some interesting material here. If you don't like Lovecraft, don't bother.
Three and a half stars.
(Review copy obtained at Balticon).
Friday, June 7, 2013
Friday Updates
Worked a fair bit on the RPG this week. We've set a tentative end of the month deadline for the current batch of edits and additions.
I'll be at Origins Game Expo next week, but not as a guest. I'll be on vacation (although if you corner me I might just find my way to give you a bookmark).
I'll be at Origins Game Expo next week, but not as a guest. I'll be on vacation (although if you corner me I might just find my way to give you a bookmark).
Thursday, June 6, 2013
Review: Running With The Pack
This Prime Book anthology provides a mixed pack of werewolf stories.
Judging by the cover, the book would appear to be female dominated - the female editor, Ekaterina Sedia, has chosen to highlight Laura Anne Gilman, Carrie Vaughn, and C.E. Murphy. The TOS does indeed skew female - out of 22 stories, only seven are written by men (including Mike Resnick, who's recent "fame" has been less than positive on the gender relations front). I doubt this was deliberate, though.
Highlights included "The Dire Wolf" by Genevieve Valentine (Can a werewolf and a human really love each other?). I also liked "Take Back The Night" by Lawrence Schimel, which was probably the most overtly feminist story in the batch. Mike Brotherton's "The Pack and the Pickup Artist" was highly amusing - I can't say why without spoilers, but it's a riff on something very classic in human relations. "Inside Out" (Erzebet Yellowboy) had an interesting variant on dealing with the curse of the werewolf, and whether it should be battled...or embraced.
The stories are overall good. I had the biggest problem with "Gestella" by Susan Palwick, and that's me: I can't stand second person. I wasn't too fond of Molly Tanzer's "In Sheep's Clothing," which read like a thinly disguised anti-Monsanto tract. "Are You A Vampire Or A Goblin?" by Geoffrey H. Goodwin made little sense to me.
Everything I haven't mentioned ranged from good to very good. Sedia is an award-winning editor and it showed. If there's a theme, it's the relationship between man and beast - be it internal or external (more than one of the stories are frankly romances). I've read better anthologies, but I did enjoy this one.
Four stars.
(Disclaimer: I picked up a free copy of this at Balticon)
Judging by the cover, the book would appear to be female dominated - the female editor, Ekaterina Sedia, has chosen to highlight Laura Anne Gilman, Carrie Vaughn, and C.E. Murphy. The TOS does indeed skew female - out of 22 stories, only seven are written by men (including Mike Resnick, who's recent "fame" has been less than positive on the gender relations front). I doubt this was deliberate, though.
Highlights included "The Dire Wolf" by Genevieve Valentine (Can a werewolf and a human really love each other?). I also liked "Take Back The Night" by Lawrence Schimel, which was probably the most overtly feminist story in the batch. Mike Brotherton's "The Pack and the Pickup Artist" was highly amusing - I can't say why without spoilers, but it's a riff on something very classic in human relations. "Inside Out" (Erzebet Yellowboy) had an interesting variant on dealing with the curse of the werewolf, and whether it should be battled...or embraced.
The stories are overall good. I had the biggest problem with "Gestella" by Susan Palwick, and that's me: I can't stand second person. I wasn't too fond of Molly Tanzer's "In Sheep's Clothing," which read like a thinly disguised anti-Monsanto tract. "Are You A Vampire Or A Goblin?" by Geoffrey H. Goodwin made little sense to me.
Everything I haven't mentioned ranged from good to very good. Sedia is an award-winning editor and it showed. If there's a theme, it's the relationship between man and beast - be it internal or external (more than one of the stories are frankly romances). I've read better anthologies, but I did enjoy this one.
Four stars.
(Disclaimer: I picked up a free copy of this at Balticon)
Wednesday, June 5, 2013
So...
...we have the most advanced technology in the history of the world, right?
Maybe in some areas, but those Romans weren't stupid. They were the absolute masters of one particular art: Making concrete.
Their concrete was far more durable than any we make today. There's a 2,000 year old breakwater under the Med that's still in decent condition. On top of that, making concrete is responsible for 7% of industrial carbon dioxide.
I'm not going to go into details because I'd just be repeating this article, but we have finally worked out how they did it. In fact, that breakwater? The Romans had a way to make concrete that is made stronger by long-term exposure to seawater - how about using that to reinforce levees around New Orleans?
This, ladies and gentlemen, is why archaeology matters.
Maybe in some areas, but those Romans weren't stupid. They were the absolute masters of one particular art: Making concrete.
Their concrete was far more durable than any we make today. There's a 2,000 year old breakwater under the Med that's still in decent condition. On top of that, making concrete is responsible for 7% of industrial carbon dioxide.
I'm not going to go into details because I'd just be repeating this article, but we have finally worked out how they did it. In fact, that breakwater? The Romans had a way to make concrete that is made stronger by long-term exposure to seawater - how about using that to reinforce levees around New Orleans?
This, ladies and gentlemen, is why archaeology matters.
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