I’m thinking about the whole should-we-or-shouldn’t-we dilemma regarding the release of research into genetically-modified avian flu. I’m reading about pros and cons. I’m trying very hard to make sure that impartial empiricism doesn’t get overwhelmed by my visceral desire for a planet-scouring megademic (there: that ought to provide enough fodder to keep Lanius happy for […]
Pretending* I Am A Republican
Category: neuro, sentience/cognitionI am not, nor have I ever been, a citizen of the US (hell, these days I’m not even allowed to visit the place). Even in theory, though, the thought of being a Republican is not one that appeals to me. I’ll grant you that Obama’s record on privacy, civil rights, and transparent government is […]
The Excesses of Philip K. Dick
Category: UncategorizedHappy new year, mammals. I’m too busy meeting next month’s Nowa Fantaskyka deadline to get a proper post into the queue today, and I’m undecided which subject to settle on anyway: the one where we explore the irony of launching an eradication program against a species that’s just been taken off the Endangered Species list, […]
The Inspirational Undead.
Category: eulogyApparently this is the day when the blogosphere and the twitterverse and everybody who thinks the world is holding its breath to hear their latest breadfruit recipe weighs in on What Happened This Year and What This Portends for Next Year and how everyone should Dream Big And Hug Someone. If that’s what you’re looking […]
Everything I Needed to Know About Christmas I Learned From My Grandma
Category: misc, rantChristmas in a household of professional Baptists has always been a time to think about the joys of giving. In my particular case this has proven to be a double-edged sword, the flip side being that it is not a time to think about “getting”. Devoting any neurons to the contemplation of what one might […]
The Doomed, Glorious Rearguard Battle of Christopher Hitchens
Category: ass-hamsters, miscI am by no means a compulsive student of Christopher Hitchens. I’ve yet to read God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything, although I certainly agree with the sentiment. (I haven’t read Dawkins’ The God Delusion either; not that I wouldn’t get off on the inevitable preaching-to-the-choir reinforcement, but one tends to learn more […]
Looking for DVR advice
Category: UncategorizedI’m looking for a no-strings-attached DVR — basically the digital incarnation of a VCR, capable of accepting input from cable, composite, what-have-you and storing it on a hard drive (I don’t care whether it has a DVD burner or not, so long as I can read and copy what’s on the drive). What I’m finding, […]
Fans, Favors, Finance & Fur.
Category: misc, writing newsEvidently Starfish has sold in Russia. I know this because I’ve just received a bunch of questions from a Russian translator. You might think that I might have heard earlier — at the offer stage, perhaps, or during contract negotiations — but Tor retains the overseas rights to that title, and they tend to leave […]
Ghosts with Shit Jobs.
Category: ink on artJim Munroe could squeeze lymph out of granite. You may remember me going on a few years ago about “Infest Wisely”, a “low-fi sci-fi” movie made on a budget of about $700. It was uneven, it was coarse, it had production values two steps up from those of a backyard puppet show. But it rocked […]
Bright Eyes.
Category: Dumbspeech, fibletIt was a window in the crudest possible sense: a solid pane of transparent alloy, set into the rear bulkhead. You couldn’t zoom it or resize it or lay a tactical false-color overlay across its surface. You couldn’t even turn it off, unless someone on the other side brought down the blast shield. It was […]