Monthly Archives: April 2012

Apr 30 2012

My Favourite Web Comics


Image © Not Invented Here LLC. Used with permission.

I’m going to do something a little different today (which has nothing to do with the tax deadline being midnight tonight and me not being done 8^)…

Do you follow any web comics? A long time ago, when I used to get my news from an actual newspaper, I always looked forward to the comics page. A good laugh is a great way to start the day.

Now I have a list of web comics I follow in my RSS reader. It’s grown and shrunk over time, but there’s a core set that I’ve been reading for quite a while. I still enjoy starting my day with these. So without further ado, here are my favourite web comics (in alphabetical order): Continue reading →

Apr 23 2012

Is Amazon Evil?


Amazon

Amazon (Photo credit: edgeplot)

I want to talk today about Amazon and how it exercises its self-interest.

There’s been a lot of ranting discussion about Amazon lately. Various news articles and blog posts more or less accuse them of being evil for, among other things:

Continue reading →

Apr 19 2012

Publishing is Not a Job, It’s a Button


Clay Shirky at the 2006 O'Reilly Emerging Tech...

Clay Shirky at the 2006 O'Reilly Emerging Technology Conference. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I am paraphrasing the eminent Professor Clay Shirky in his post on the Findings.com blog: - How We Will Read: Clay Shirky. The bulk of the post is about his view of social reading and annotations (and seems intended to promote Findings.com). But his view of publishing is what really caught my attention:

Publishing is not evolving. Publishing is going away. Because the word “publishing” means a cadre of professionals who are taking on the incredible difficulty and complexity and expense of making something public. That’s not a job anymore. That’s a button. There’s a button that says “publish,” and when you press it, it’s done.

Continue reading →

Apr 17 2012

Writing Challenge: Write 1 Sub 1


Writer's Stop

Writer's Stop (Photo credit: Stephh922)

I just came across this writing challenge Write 1 Sub 1. Here is the description:

  • Write and submit a short story or poem every week (or month), starting the first week of January and ending the last week of December.
  • Goal: 52 new submissions in 52 weeks (or 12 in 12 months).
  • You don’t have to write and submit the same story within the same week — although that’s what Bradbury did. Often it pays to set a story aside for a while and come back to it.
  • The length of your story can be as short as Twitter fiction (140 characters) or as long as a novelette (15,000 words). Any style, any genre: whatever you write.
  • Every week, we post a “check-in” where you can tell the world about your progress. Share your triumphs and disasters — we’re all in this together.

Continue reading →

Apr 12 2012

The Sex Trade


Stop the Traffik, aanklacht tegen de mensenhandel

Stop the Traffik, aanklacht tegen de mensenhandel by Stijn Vogels, on Flickr

Have you ever seriously thought about the women in the sex trade? How they got there? What they feel about it?

This blog entry got me thinking: An Ex-Hooker’s Letter to her Younger Self. This is a very moving story of Stella Marr’s successful effort to get out of prostitution and start a new life. She links to a similar post by another ex-prostitute: A Thankyou Letter to Punters. This woman’s story is equally moving.

But what really led to my post is this: The Sneaky Language of the Sex Industry Lobby. You may have noticed they don’t call it prostitution anymore. It’s now the Sex Trade, like it’s a legitimate trade, just like plumbing or carpentry. I don’t think they teach it at our local trade school. Continue reading →

Apr 9 2012

Flash Fiction: A New Beginning


A picture about the spring.

A picture about the spring. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I have a new short story available. I’ve submitted it to the Show Off Writing Contest: Spring Edition, so I can’t post it here (at least not until I find out whether I’ve won—if I lose I’ll post it here). In the meantime, you can read it here.

If you enjoyed it, please consider liking it or leaving a comment on the contest page. It might not count for much in the judging, but it doesn’t hurt 8^)

Update: I lost. Not particularly surprising since I’m so new at this. The announcement is here. Now I can post the story here . Continue reading →

Apr 6 2012

Google Testing non-Borg Heads-Up Display Glasses


Wow, talk about science fiction becoming fact, you have to watch the video in this article:

Google testing heads-up display glasses in public, won’t make you look like Robocop — Engadget.

Actually, this video by rebelliouspixels is probably more like what we can expect from Google:

 

This depicts the evolution of wearable compute...

This depicts the evolution of wearable computers. See http://wearcam.org/steve5.htm for the original JPEG file. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I’ve been keeping an eye on the augmented reality field since I first read about Steve Mann‘s work on wearable computing and computer-mediated reality in the 1980s (now there’s a true geek, walking around in public looking like one of the Borg). It’s been a steady progression since then, and Google’s is one of the most advanced yet. Continue reading →

Apr 5 2012

Why We Need Big, Bold Science Fiction


The Best Science Fiction Stories: 1949

The Best Science Fiction Stories: 1949 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I just found this interesting article (via this post on the The Passive Voice):

Why We Need Big, Bold Science Fiction – Popular Mechanics.

I don’t think I’ve mentioned before, but science fiction is my favourite genre (also thrillers, and particularly techno-thrillers), so this caught my attention.

In short, the article asserts that SF has gone from the optimism and big science of the Golden Age to a darker, more skeptical, dystopian tone, and that this mirrors a change in the general public’s view of science, which in turn has led to a decline in actual technological development. Engineers are going to work for web start-ups or investment firms instead of building space colonies and such. On the other hand, science is now far ahead of what is being written about in SF, rather than SF leading science.

It’s an interesting hypothesis. I can see SF inspiring (or not) young people to go into science and technology fields to a certain extent. But it’s no doubt a complex issue. Continue reading →