The Lensman's Children

2012-01-30T07:25:00.000-05:00

Pale Blue DotToday's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows our home planet from the recently-launched Suomi NPP satellite.

2012-01-30T07:19:00.000-05:00

Last StandHaving consumed independents (for the most part), Barnes & Noble scrambles to find a way forward.

2012-01-30T07:15:00.000-05:00

SETI Begs for MoneyAn interesting article about a private search for aliens and how if obtains funds. Maybe a Kickstarter campaign should be done?

2012-01-29T10:47:00.002-05:00

Great Dismal's EDCWhat is in William Gibson's pockets? Or what does he use for pockets?

2012-01-29T10:45:00.001-05:00

Thoughts from the Ambient HotelM. John Harrison and "...what he said..."

2012-01-29T10:44:00.000-05:00

Thoughts from the Ambient HotelM. John Harrison and "the implication of form"...

2012-01-29T10:07:00.003-05:00

The Economy Still SucksNow, maybe it is those horrid eBooks, or those horrid games or that horrid new-fangled television...but another bookstore in the area is closing.

2012-01-29T07:59:00.000-05:00

There's A Hole In Your SkyToday's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows a dark molecular cloud known as Barnard 68. Do the Moties hide behind such a cloud?

2012-01-28T08:25:00.002-05:00

Referencing the CanonA place that appears in Patrick O'Brian's H.M.S. Surprise is stumbled upon while cruising the internet.

2012-01-28T07:50:00.000-05:00

Joining MarketsWhat do you get when two brands beloved by misbegotten youth (or those trying to hang on to that youth) everywhere get together?

2012-01-28T07:47:00.002-05:00

It's Klaus, BabyKlaus Schulze performing in 1977. That would be about a year before I discovered his musical moves.

2012-01-28T07:31:00.001-05:00

All Around the PlanetToday's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows auroral activity in Sweden. It also uses one of those odd camera tricks that have been showing up of late: the person in the picture could be standing on a very odd little asteroid!

2012-01-28T07:16:00.002-05:00

50

Madeline L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time turns 50 this year. That was one of my favorite reads in my misbegotten youth. I'll have to give it a try again (and maybe The Young Lady will finally try it).

2012-01-27T21:16:00.000-05:00

Run, Come, See Jerusalem!

The SFE is back baby. Long may it grow and expand!

2012-01-27T21:11:00.002-05:00

Atomic Rockets

Hmmm...I sense a pattern in this Slash Dot posting. Do you think maybe you should consult the Atomic Rockets site if you are writing a Hard SF tale?

2012-01-27T21:04:00.000-05:00

Smith

Virgil Finlay contributes to Cordwainer Smith's Instrumentality of Mankind.

2012-01-27T20:49:00.002-05:00

Remnant Population

An article on what the Bible brings to literature. One could expand this to what much of literature has brought forward to newer literature. A good education is never wasted. And don't throw the baby out with the bath water.

2012-01-27T20:47:00.002-05:00

The Madness of Rocks

The geology of the Mountains of Madness. I'm still awaiting our first big blizzard. Then I'll do my semi-regular re-read of H.P. Lovecraft's classic.

2012-01-27T08:10:00.001-05:00

Field of Dreams

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows a beautiful rich field of galaxies, including a nice irregular in the forefront.

2012-01-26T20:39:00.001-05:00

Cold as Ice

Vesta is probably "dry" but is cold and dark enough for ice. Given recent data from Mars and our Moon (let alone the moons of the outer planets), I'm willing to bet there will be more ice there than we expect.

2012-01-25T15:33:00.001-05:00

Dogs and Cats Living Together

So a bunch of fantasy writers walk into a convention...no, seriously, a bunch of fantasy authors walk into a convention...

2012-01-25T09:58:00.002-05:00

Crystal Ball

William Gibson can't really predict the future. What's wrong with science fiction writers these days?

2012-01-25T08:30:00.001-05:00

Eight Years On

A ninety-day mission now enters its eighth year of continuous operations. Way to go, Opportunity! (Also today's Astronomy Picture of the Day...)

2012-01-25T08:24:00.000-05:00

I've Been Reading Waaaaaayyyy Too Much "Schlock Mercenary"

A dream I had this morning, right before waking...

"Hey, Mikey, watcha got there?"

"It's a death ray!"

"A death ray? Where'd ya get a death ray? Who are you? Cap'n Future?" (snorts)

"I got it from a cereal box, after sending in box tops!" (defensively)

"Sure, it's a neat toy."

"It ain't no toy!"

(laughter)

(ominous hum)

2012-01-25T08:23:00.000-05:00

Prime Mover

Hey you! You behind me! You with the "Live Free or Die" license plate and the "Yes We Can" bumper sticker!

Guess what? There's a reason I'm doing 35 MPH. You might be in a hurry, but this is a residential area with heavy pedestrian traffic. There's a reason there's a double yellow line so you can't pass me. Oh, look, there are about 75 cars in front of me, all also doing 35 MPH, so how far will you get?

Oh, look, utility vehicles along the side of the road, so you can't pass me on the right either. Want to try driving on the sidewalk maybe?

Putz. Go back to the shallow end of the gene pool.

2012-01-25T08:17:00.000-05:00

Politics

'I know they do: we have some hands from Shelmerston, decent men and prime seamen, who are little better than democrats - republicans, if you follow me - and would easily be led astray by a clever political cove with a fine flow of words: but the man-of-war's men, particularly the old Surprises, do not like him. They call him Monsieur Turd, and they will not be won round by smirking and leering and the brotherhood of man: they dislike his notions as much as I do.'

(Patrick O'Brian; The Wine Dark Sea)

2012-01-25T08:16:00.000-05:00

FRAGO: Bad Hair Day

As the enemy Sparhawk broke up in a expanding cloud of gas and debris, Major Scott Gordon knew he was in trouble. There was no way he was going to be able to maneuver his spaceplane out of the path of fragments without taking some hits. His vehicle might be a "fighter", but it wasn't armored (otherwise it would never get into orbit).

2012-01-25T08:14:00.000-05:00

The Boss

It reminded her of the time their soundman, Ritchie Nagel, had dragged a militantly disinterested Inchmale to see Bruce Springsteen at Madison Square Garden. Inchmale had returned with his shoulders hunched in thought, deeply impressed by what he'd witnessed but uncharacteristically unwilling to talk about it. Pressed, he would only say that Springsteen, onstage, had channeled a combination of Apollo and Bugs Bunny, a highly complex act of physical impression.

(William Gibson, Spook Country)

2012-01-25T08:13:00.001-05:00

Stream

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows intense star creation in a dwarf galaxy.

2012-01-25T08:11:00.001-05:00

Black Hole Region

"And yet we have all known flights when of a sudden, each for himself, it has seemed to us that we have crossed the border of the world of reality; when, only a couple hours from port, we have felt ourselves more distant from it than we should feel if we were in India; when there has come a premonition of an incursion into a forbidden world whence it was going to be infinitely difficult to return. Thus, when Mermoz first crossed the South Atlantic in a hydroplane, as day was dying he ran foul of the Black Hole region, off Africa. Straight ahead of him were the tails of tornadoes rising minute by minute gradually higher, rising as a wall is built; and then the night came down upon these preliminaries and swallowed them up; and when, an hour later, he slipped under the clouds, he came into a fantastic kingdom. Great black waterspouts had reared themselves seemingly at the immobility of temple pillars. Swollen at their tops, they were supporting the squat and lowering arch of the tempest, but through the rifts in the arch there fell slabs of light and the full moon sent her radiant beams between the pillars down upon the frozen tiles of the sea. Through these uninhabited ruins Mermoz made his way, gliding slantwise from one channel of light to the next, circling round those giant pillars in which there must have rumbled the upsurge of the sea, flying for four hours through these corridors of moonlight toward the exit from the temple. And this spectacle was so overwhelming that only after he got through the Black Hole did Mermoz awaken to the fact that he had not been afraid."

(Antoine de Saint Exupery, Wind, Sand and Stars")

2012-01-25T08:10:00.000-05:00

Anabasis (Xenophon)

It was agreed that this was the most barbaric and outlandish people that they had passed through on the whole expedition, and the furthest removed from the Hellenic customs, doing in a crowd precisely what other people would prefer to do in solitude, and when alone behaving exactly as others would behave in company, talking to themselves and laughing at their own expense, standing still and then capering about, wherever they might chance to be, without rhyme or reason, as if their sole business were to show off to the rest of the world.

2012-01-24T17:54:00.002-05:00

Shelving Matters

I think I've found a bookshelf solution for me. Maybe Neil Gaiman will be nice enough to sell me his house, cheap.

2012-01-24T17:50:00.002-05:00

Distribution Modes

Ever comes across this quote?

The future is already here—it's just not very evenly distributed

So who said it?

2012-01-24T08:20:00.001-05:00

Aurora

With the news that multiple CME's have headed towards our pale blue dot, today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is very appropriate.

2012-01-23T17:38:00.001-05:00

Year of the Dragon

Drag, zoom and flip around in this panorama of the SpaceX Dragon Capsule, getting ready for a flight to the ISS.

2012-01-23T09:11:00.001-05:00

Blazing Skies

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is a beautiful long-exposure shot of the winter skies ("mouseover" the picture to see the constellations highlighted). If our skies looked like that to our naked eyes, would we pay more attention to the universe around us?

2012-01-22T08:29:00.002-05:00

Hexagon

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows one of the stranger features of the Saturnian system. No, not the rings, not the braiding of the rings even...a hexagonal cloud system at Saturn's north pole.

2012-01-21T07:13:00.001-05:00

Sunstreaks

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows a year in the life of the Sun.

2012-01-20T14:50:00.002-05:00

MilSF

It's Military SF week at Tor Dot Com! Here's David Drake's contribution to the line-up.

2012-01-20T14:36:00.003-05:00

Dreams of Flight

Depictions of space travel, from Saturn V on up. I especially love the Saturn V vs. the BIS Daedalus!

2012-01-20T09:52:00.001-05:00

Earth and Milky Way

Video from the ISS. There have been several of these posted and they are amazing. Wish NASA would do a better job of promoting them!

2012-01-20T08:38:00.002-05:00

Wolf Moon

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows the "wolf's moon" over the winter landscape of Sweden. Brrrrrr!

2012-01-19T13:51:00.001-05:00

End of an Era?

Is the mysterious visitor to Poe's graveside no more? The end of a tradition?

2012-01-19T09:27:00.002-05:00

Crouching Engineer, Rolling Rover

Engineers with three generations of Mars rovers. My, how they grow up!

2012-01-19T09:24:00.000-05:00

Eagle

A spectacular view of the Eagle Nebula.

2012-01-19T09:18:00.001-05:00

First Sight

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows the constellation Orion. That's usually the first place I visit if I am out with my telescope.

2012-01-18T11:52:00.001-05:00

Star Stuff

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows a large star-forming region known as Cygnus X. Click and enlarge and be amazed.

2012-01-18T11:51:00.001-05:00

Let's Have Another Cup of Coffee!

Can't NASA just buy an off-the-shelf coffeemaker at, say, a store?

2012-01-17T08:48:00.001-05:00

Witch Head

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is of the Witch Head Nebula. Sppooookkkyyyy!!!!

2012-01-16T20:40:00.002-05:00

The Space Review

In the current issue of The Space Review, a couple of articles of interest. Jeff Foust looks at the deadly dance between tightening budgets and growing instruments. Michael Listner looks at the recent distancing of the US from the proposed EU "Space Code of Conduct". A new plan in the works? A realization that the proposal was too restrictive? Or joining the bandwagon of other nations that have already shown disinterest? Jeff Foust jumps in with a book review (the wallet cringes!) on unmanned space probes. Looks like a good look at these workhorses. Finally, postcards from space. Andre Bormanis looks at the impact that photography from space has had.

2012-01-16T07:15:00.003-05:00

The False Dawn

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows something that I've only seen once or twice, and something you'll never see from a city (if even a suburb): a vast cloud of interplanetary dust, lit by the Sun, and appearing in the sky as if dawn were approaching; the zodiacal light.

2012-01-15T07:31:00.001-05:00

New Light

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows the Large Magellanic Cloud as imaged by the Spitzer Space Telescope in infrared light. A vastly different view!

2012-01-14T08:37:00.003-05:00

Little Ghost

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows NGC 6369, discovered by Sir William Herschel, and quickly dubbed by amateurs everywhere as "The Little Ghost Nebula". Of course, this Hubble Space Telescope image is more detailed than any of us small instrument views can obtain...but it is still an odd sight in any instrument.

2012-01-13T15:20:00.001-05:00

Moon Shot

You can build anything with Lego. Anything.

2012-01-13T13:46:00.001-05:00

An Ocean of Glass

Following upon a story that reminded me of a certain story by Samuel R. Delany, Rudy Rucker posts a site with glass jellyfish and more!

2012-01-13T12:58:00.002-05:00

Help the Author!

Diane Duane gets the BoingBoing effect. Hopefully enough will respond to help!

2012-01-13T12:50:00.001-05:00

Last Call

Last Call by Tim Powers is featured at BoingBoing. I was there first!

2012-01-13T09:38:00.002-05:00

Long Distance Runner

Over at Neil Gaiman's "Tumblr", the Evolution of a Time Lord.

2012-01-13T09:24:00.002-05:00

Paint Your Wagon

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is a Cassini orbiter image of Saturn's enigmatic moon Iapetus. I prefer Japetus. Why enigmatic? Go back to Sir Arthur C. Clarke's 2001: A Space Odyssey!

2012-01-12T14:14:00.002-05:00

Help the Writer

Genre author Diane Duane was robbed. Seriously. She needs to raise funds, and she's putting her eBooks up for sale. Use coupon code DDGOTSKIMMED .

2012-01-12T07:34:00.004-05:00

Locked Room Mystery

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows us "planetary nebula" SNR 0509-67.5. Where is the companion star? Did Professor Plum do it with a wrench in the library?

2012-01-11T14:19:00.003-05:00

Thumb Piano

William Gibson: Distrust That Particular Flavor (Penguin Books; 2012; ISBN 978-1-101559-41-3).

Made up of: Introduction—African Thumb Piano; Rocket Radio; Since 1948; Any 'Mount of World; The Baddest Dude on Earth; Talk for Book Expo, New York; Dead Man Sings; Up the Line; Disneyland with the Death Penalty; Mr. Buk's Window; Shiny Balls of Mud: Hikaru Dorodango and Tokyu Hands; An Invitation; Metrophagy: The Art and Science of Digesting Great Cities; Modern Boys and Mobile Girls; My Obsession; My Own Private Tokyo; The Road to Oceania; Skip Spence's Jeans; Terminal City; Introduction: "The Body"; The Net is a Waste of Time; Time Machine Cuba; Will We Have Computer Chips in Our Heads?; William Gibson's Filmless Festival; Johnny: Notes on a Process; Googling the Cyborg.

Counts as twenty-six (26) entries in the 2012 Year in Shorts (collection completed).

2012-01-11T09:00:00.001-05:00

Strange Sight

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is a strange view of our home planet and Comet Lovejoy.

2012-01-10T15:52:00.001-05:00

Star Wars

That's no Moon, that's a space...oh, wait...that's a Moon and a space station!

2012-01-10T15:50:00.001-05:00

App

Hey, kids, remember when NASA used to launch people to the Moon? Now all they seem to do is make slides and produce "smartphone apps".

2012-01-10T13:13:00.001-05:00

In Deepest Night

What happens in bookstores at night?

2012-01-10T11:39:00.003-05:00

Man's Best Friend

A moving posting about a dog by a recently-discovered (by me) author, Tim Akers.

2012-01-10T09:35:00.002-05:00

RETCON

The first SF convention? The first SF convention in the UK? The first SF convention in Europe?

The debate rages...

2012-01-10T09:02:00.001-05:00

Dwarf and Star

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows Regulus in Leo nearly overpowering the dwarf galaxy Leo I. Poor Leo I!

2012-01-10T08:44:00.002-05:00

NASA is Clueless

NASA has sued, or publicly attacked, a number of Apollo astronauts over the years regarding the possession or sale of items that they carried on their flights. Considering how long these "artifacts" have been in the personal possession of these astronauts, it is ludicrous that NASA never came up with a coherent policy about the artifacts.

The most recent situation should not have gotten to the point where it did. It is nice to see that NASA's Administrator is finally acting, but i should not have gone this far. Get a clue, NASA.

2012-01-09T12:23:00.001-05:00

Launch Code

Hey, anybody have a couple of spare million they can give me so I can buy a new house (with a missile silo)?

2012-01-09T10:20:00.001-05:00

Chasing Salandar

A new "chapter" about the Dragon Girl. Publisher mines the tailings for a few bits of silver.

2012-01-09T10:19:00.001-05:00

More Reading

Or rather, places to read in!

2012-01-09T09:57:00.000-05:00

A Fine Dry Place

Where William Gibson likes to read. A well-lighted place.

2012-01-09T09:55:00.001-05:00

Double Vision

"Jack" Schmitt looks at the country's space policy and it's (lack of) vision. (And amusingly, he is the "last man on the Moon"...didn't his crewmate write a book with that name?)

2012-01-09T09:52:00.001-05:00

Bookshelf P0rn

Oh. My. Oh, so beautiful!

2012-01-09T08:54:00.001-05:00

Another Great Spiral

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is another fantastic spiral galaxy: NGC 6946 in Cepheus.

2012-01-08T06:36:00.001-05:00

Two Lights

Two lights highlight today's Astronomy Picture of the Day: one falling, one protecting.

2012-01-07T07:02:00.001-05:00

Grand View

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is spiral galaxy NGC 1232. What a view!

2012-01-06T15:50:00.001-05:00

Lego-Mania

You can build anything with Lego. Including the LHC.

2012-01-06T12:40:00.001-05:00

Cover Story

This looks interesting. The titles are mostly (all?) public domain works, but I like the covers and the interior artwork!

2012-01-06T12:34:00.001-05:00

Military Industrial Complex

The Girl Who Snuck Into the Rocket Factory. If she snuck in...how many have snuck into steal technology?

2012-01-06T12:33:00.003-05:00

Phone Home!

Signs of E.T.? Probably not, but it'll be something to watch as they look at these signals.

2012-01-06T12:31:00.001-05:00

Aother Candidate

Another addition to Mount Toberead! So many books, so little time, so many ex-lover's to bury...

2012-01-06T12:30:00.001-05:00

Hind Commander

A review of a miniatures game for helos. Only helos. All that ground-pounding and treadhead stuff is just incidental. Could be interesting!

2012-01-06T10:08:00.002-05:00

THEY'RE...BACK...

Hey, we poor deprived colonials finally get to see the AbFab reunion show. Now I only have to wait until May to see the second series for Sherlock!

2012-01-06T08:29:00.001-05:00

GalCen

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows us our galactic center. Can you see the Mantis?

2012-01-05T15:27:00.001-05:00

The Writing Life

David Drake's latest newsletter has been posted. Can't wait for April to see if Captain Kiesche of the RCN makes another appearance!

2012-01-05T15:13:00.002-05:00

Ansible!

It. Has. Returned.

AS OTHERS SEE US. An unusual analysis of sf trends: 'One way you can describe the collapse of the idea of the future is the collapse of science fiction. Now it's either about technology that doesn't work or about technology that's used in bad ways. The anthology of the top twenty-five sci-fi stories in 1970 was, like, "Me and my friend the robot went for a walk on the moon," and in 2008 it was, like, "The galaxy is run by a fundamentalist Islamic confederacy and there are people who are hunting planets and killing them for fun."' (PayPal cofounder Peter Thiel, profiled in The New Yorker, 28 November 2011)[MMW]

2012-01-05T10:57:00.002-05:00

The Space Review

In the current issue of The Space Review, a couple items of interest: Jeff Foust on the current crop (thinning quickly) of presidential candidates and their positions (or lack thereof) on space. Mary Lynne Dittmar finishes her series on NASA and human spaceflight (where next, Columbus?). (Part 01. Part 02. Part 03. Part 04.) She also looks at some of the recent news about an attempt to revive (privatize) the space shuttle.

Go forth and read.

2012-01-05T10:10:00.002-05:00

Living in a Science Fictional Universe

Read (or re-read) Sir Arthur C. Clarke's Saturn Rising while keeping today's Astronomy Picture of the Day on your screen. Wowza. Just wowza.

2012-01-05T09:55:00.000-05:00

Splashdown

A beautiful picture of coffee, splashing.

2012-01-05T08:17:00.001-05:00

Sharp Vision

An amusing bit about putting your life in perspective...when it is seen by others.

2012-01-04T10:32:00.002-05:00

New Year's Wish

A nice bit by Neil Gaiman on the New Year.

2012-01-04T08:57:00.002-05:00

Mr. Brown (On Reading Too Much William Gibson)

Several times a year I visit the Great Wall Supermarket. Built in the shell of an A&P "superstore" which then folded and was converted into a generic on-the-cheap supermarket, which then opened and was driven out of business by the local Stop & Shop, it survived initially because it flew low under the radar. Filled with cheap cookware, bulk rice, bad decorations and frozen items (I have never seen so many brands of dumplings in my life), it started with a small produce section that grew and grew. And attracted many non-Asians as we tired of the same-old, same-old of the produce at Stop & Shop. (I have never seen so many kinds of, say, bok choy, in my life...makes the standard vegetable units at S&S pale in comparison).

I last went in on New Year's Eve to try and pick up some vegetables and find several excellent choices. Faced with long checkout lines (some too many who appear to celebrate multiple yearly changings), I shopped some more and picked up some Mr. Brown.

Mr. Brown is canned coffee. Made in Taiwan, shipped to the USA, sold in several variants (in this case, Blue Mountain Blend) and sporting (get this) an ISO 9001 stamp, it is one of those things that you just won't find in other stores in the area.

8.12 fluid ounces (240ml) of ready-to-drink coffee, slightly sweet. Even with the temperatures below freezing, I grasp the can in my shaking hand and cold-wrinkled fingers and swig it on the way to the car.

8.12 fluid ounces delivered right to the gut, ready to reboot the system. Suck it, S&S.

2012-01-04T08:18:00.001-05:00

Starburst

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows IC 10, a young and energetic neighbor to our more "sedate" Milky Way.

2012-01-03T08:31:00.002-05:00

Wild Sky

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows some wild auroral skies over Norway. My skies are so, so boring in comparison!

2012-01-02T07:35:00.001-05:00

Moon Hunt

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is a treasure hunt. Can you find our Moon?

2012-01-01T08:57:00.001-05:00

2012: The Year in Video

Number of video items viewed: 12 (as of January 22, 2012).

Harry Potter and the...: Sorcerer's Stone. Chamber of Secrets. Prisoner of Azkaban. Goblet of Fire. Order of the Phoenix. Half-Blood Prince. Deathly Hallows Part 01. Deathly Hallows Part 02.

Sherlock: A Study in Pink. The Blind Banker. The Great Game.

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy: On the edge of our seats throughout. Four shots fired. No explosions. No flying cars. One fist thrown. Moderate blood, some guts. Excellent movie.

2012-01-01T08:56:00.000-05:00

2012: The Year in Audio Shorts

Number of audio shorts listened to: 0 (as of January 1, 2012)