Archive for October, 2010
The high cost of free parking
October 28th 2010 at 10:01 am
‘Free’ parking is folded into the cost of your goods via the initial outlay in having to purchase way more real estate than a business may need. It’s mandated by building codes in many areas, so all those empty lots may not even have been desired by the builders. The customer pays for it bit [...]
Steampunk and Pastoralism
October 27th 2010 at 10:11 am
Charles Stross has this great takedown of steampunk, noting that it glorifies a time when: Life was mostly unpleasant, brutish, and short; the legal status of women in the UK or US was lower than it is in Iran today: politics was by any modern standard horribly corrupt and dominated by authoritarian psychopaths and inbred [...]
Metatropolis: Cascadia narrators
October 26th 2010 at 1:20 pm
The launch date for Metatropolis: Cascadia is November 16th. That’s like three weeks away, and I can now reveal the narrators for the stories, and the fact that they’re all Star Trek actors. check it: THE BULL DANCERS by Jay Lake Narrated By: Rene Auberjonois (“Odo”) WATER TO WINE by Mary Robinette Kowal Narrated By: [...]
Supersized drinks
October 26th 2010 at 10:00 am
Cory Doctorow has pics of advertising showing ‘King sized’ beverages then, and now. Then, 12 oz is a supersized soda. Now, it’s 32 oz. Case in point, one of my trips to a movie theatre resulted in this picture: A 12 oz can of Sprite (which I hit occasionally), is 159 calories. 32 oz is [...]
Twins on a green chair
October 25th 2010 at 4:57 pm
Here are the twins in October of last year. October of this year taken five minutes ago. Their positions are swapped below.
Africa’s middle class
October 22nd 2010 at 3:21 pm
Boing Boing has a link to a pictorial essay about Africa’s middle class, something that many westerners are not exposed to (or even realize exist) due to reporting.
Ocean floor mining equipment
October 22nd 2010 at 2:17 pm
Next big future looks at some plans for ocean floor mining, something that I find rather intriguing. Frankly, I like the vision of people living down on the ocean floor, like outer space. But I’m imagining robotics and ROVs and long drills will be more likely. Still, a boy can dream…
A good point about density and public transport
October 21st 2010 at 2:02 pm
One thing people talking about rail and public transport always talk about is density. This is also used against public transport (usually in US circles) to explain why public transport and intercity rail can’t work (USA is too spread out, it’s claimed, though in truth, the population densities of many eastern seaboard and midwest states [...]
Final art for The Executioness
October 20th 2010 at 4:00 pm
The final cover art for The Executioness is up at Subterranean’s pre-order page for the novella. Love it:
A draft of Arctic Rising is done
October 20th 2010 at 3:39 pm
I’ve finished a draft of Arctic Rising. This is my 6th novel written, which is pretty cool. I’ve mailed off the file to my editor and agent and will be looking forward to their comments. The next question I get is ‘when can I read it?’ That’s a trickier question. I have to wait until [...]
