2010 December at Tobias Buckell Online

Archive for December, 2010

Interesting article taking a new look at Biosphere 2

December 22nd 2010 at 12:13 pm

Biosphere 2, ridiculed by the press, is years later helping ecological science by allowing it a large test lab that continues to yield dividends. The first thing Langdon set out to do was balance the chemistry of Biosphere’s ocean. It had gone acid, absorbing carbon dioxide from Biosphere 2′s atmosphere and forming carbonic acid as [...]

A Grateful Time

December 21st 2010 at 3:35 pm

Last night Emily looked at all the presents stacked under the tree and said how grateful she was and how fortunate we were. After a crazy couple years of dealing with the after affects (financially and healthwise) of my heart defect, becoming new parents of twins, shifting freelance gigs, the wider economy, and so on, [...]

Apple TV sales to hit 1 million this week

December 21st 2010 at 2:01 pm

Often people disparage Apple products by saying ‘fanboys’ will ‘buy anything’ Apple sells. Never mind that since Apple stores opened to let people see product themselves that 50% of sales are to first timers, I used to point out the Apple TV as an example of an Apple product that people just didn’t take to. [...]

How to apologize

December 20th 2010 at 1:47 pm

Apropos of the last entry, here’s a look at how to apologize from Wikihow, which includes this: Take full responsibility for the offense, without sharing the blame with anyone else, and without presenting mitigating circumstances. Admit that you were wrong emphatically, unreservedly, and immediately. An incomplete apology often feels more like an insult. An apology [...]

She ain’t no Anthony Bourdain

December 20th 2010 at 1:35 pm

This account of the making of the infamous Kwanzaa Cake is a reminder that, above and beyond the issue of being at least somewhat sincere and sensitive to culture, that just plain old taking pride in your work and doing things right is worth it. Ms. Lee called and though we were done with the [...]

Best Science Fiction Stories gives Jar of Goodwill top 10 props

December 20th 2010 at 11:58 am

Best Science Fiction Stories put my short story A Jar of Goodwill, published earlier in the year at Clarkesworld Magazine, on their top 10 short stories of the year list. I’ve been rather delighted by the mail and comments that one has received. You can read it here at Clarkesworld.

Cory Doctorow on being his own publisher

December 20th 2010 at 10:45 am

Cory summarizes what it was like to be his own publisher with his recent short story collection: With a Little Help has helped me realize something: whatever I do next, I don’t want to be in charge of all these moving parts. I can’t be both a Zen, let-it-all-happen-at-its-own-pace writer and an aggressive, deadline-pushing publisher. [...]

Website up, website down

December 19th 2010 at 1:18 am

So I was linked to by the Instapundit, which was generous and awesome of him. My webhost’s response was to suspend my account for too much traffic. They wouldn’t let me back up until I agreed to a dedicated server package. I’m no expert, it seems overkill to me (I have a hard time believing [...]

You can now buy signed and personalized books direct from TobiasBuckell.com

December 17th 2010 at 2:59 pm

Thanks to the talents of Jeremy Tolbert at Clockpunk Studios, we now have an integrated shopping cart and shopping system here at the site. Which means I can now sell those of you who asked signed books. Personalized books, even! The store is at www.TobiasBuckell.com/store. Signed and personalized copies of Crystal Rain, Ragamuffin and Sly [...]