Jay Lake: Writer

[links] Link salad overflows the bowl

Poetry, Politics, Law or Fiction — Urban fantasy author J.A. Pitts with a moving essay on why he became a writer.

The Trivialities and Transcendence of Kickstarter — Crowdfunding creative projects. Hmm. See also @timpratt‘s efforts in this regard.

Glorious Socialism: Chinese Ladies in Propaganda Posters — I wonder if I should show these to the_child?

Experimental Mach-20 aircraft set for launch at Vandenberg AFB

Genetically-Engineered Spermless Mosquitoes Offer Malaria Hope — “Spermless Mosquitoes” would be a great name for a rock band.

Surprise! Underwater volcano has erupted — Right here in my neighborhood. (Thanks to danjite.)

Amazon UK’s riot gear sales soar: Aluminum bats up 6,000%

By Helping a Girl Testify at a Rape Trial, a Dog Ignites a Legal Debate

God and Psychology

Evangelicals Question The Existence Of Adam And Eve — Evangelicals have to either face up to it or they have to stick their head in the sand. And if they do that, they will lose whatever intellectual currency or respectability they have. Um… (Via @MatchesMalone.)

Health care reform rules have GOP mum — Except for the Tea Party/lunatic fringe that controls their agenda, of course.

Why Michele Bachmann is no Sarah Palin — Bachmann’s a smart politician with batshit policy positions that border on the insane.

Federal taxes minus spending — Hey, look! The red states mostly take in more money than they generate. Freeloading conservatives! (Also stone idiots, if they really want taxes cut further.)

?otD: How much wood could a woodchuck upchuck if a woodchuck could upchuck wood?

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8/10/2011
Writing time yesterday: 1.5 hours (3,100 words on Sunspin)
Body movement: 30 minutes stationary bike ride
Hours slept: 7.0 hours (solid)
Weight: 225.6
Currently reading: A Victory of Eagles by Naomi Novik

Tags: Art, China, Cool, law, Links, Personal, Politics, Process, Publishing, Religion, Science, Tech, Writing

Posted: 5:16 am Wed August 10 2011 | Comments(0) |

[links] Link salad goes back to work, sort of

Gay Weddings: Is There A New Etiquette?

Crop Circles: Biggest and Most Bizarre Designs — Scientist says they’ve been improved by lasers and GPS.

NASA going green with solar-powered Jupiter probe

Chinese teachers are on a U.S. mission — Dozens of teachers from China are in Los Angeles to prepare for the opportunity of a lifetime: a chance to teach Mandarin in American schools.

DB Cooper may have lived 30 years after 1971 plane hijack as FBI reveal new suspect only died a decade ago

Vonnegut Banned – Again — As Vonnegut himself said years ago, If you are an American, you must allow all ideas to circulate freely in your community, not merely your own. There’s a lesson lost on Christianists and conservatives alike. The free exchange of ideas strengthens us and opens our minds — both of which are demonstrably antithetical to their worldview, especially when it comes to the deliberate miseducation of children as practiced by Republican dominated school boards and state boards of education across the country. It saddens me that our country comes back to this again and again. (Via @icowrich.)

Wake up GOP: Smashing system doesn’t fix it — Conservative David Frum on the GOP’s recent behavior.

Zakaria: Tea Party Tactics Immoral, Dictatorial — Conservatives are brilliant at enacting the tyranny of the minority.

?otD: Whom?

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8/2/2011
Writing time yesterday: 0.0 hours (post-op recovery)
Body movement: 30 minutes stationary bike ride
Hours slept: 7.5 hours (solid)
Weight: 225.4
Currently reading: Use of Weapons by Iain M. Banks

Tags: Books, China, Cool, Culture, gay, Links, Northwest, Personal, Politics, Science, weird

Posted: 5:58 am Tue August 02 2011 | Comments(1) |

[links] Link salad gets ready to vanish down the medical rathole

A review of Green — Definitely not with the liking. And once again, a reviewer has reviewed the dedication, which still seems odd to me.

A nice photo of me and the_child

First Demonstration of Time Cloaking — This story makes my head hurt. In a good way. (Thanks to danjite.)

Editing the Genetic Code of Living Bacteria — A new method for making genomewide changes to organisms could lead to better ways of producing useful new drugs and chemicals.

Earth’s original heat store still burning strongs

The Internet of Things — There are almost twenty Internet-enabled devices in my household. So, um, yeah. (Thanks to David Goldman.)

China’s New Parochialism

Bachmann on debt ceiling: Up is down, black is white — In case you were under the delusion that Bachmann is, you know, rational.

Poll: 71% shun GOP handling of debt crisis — Nice to see that for once the public is correctly identifying the source of the problem. Given that the GOP is now turning down more than they were asking for a year ago in the deficit proposals (and given that whole problem is political theatre anyway), they’ve pretty much jumped the shark.Again. Permanent Majority, anyone?

Spinning the News of the World Scandal at Fox News — Your liberal media. They distort, you deride.

?otD: Got any cutting remarks?

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7/18/2011
Writing time yesterday: 3.5 hours (Sunspin, short fiction, WRPA)
Body movement: 30 minute stationary bike ride
Hours slept: 6.0 hours (solid), plus airplane napping yesterday
Weight: 234.6 (!)
Currently reading: Objects of Worship by Claude Lalumière

Tags: Books, Child, China, Cool, Green, Links, Personal, Photos, Politics, reviews, Science, weird

Posted: 5:01 am Mon July 18 2011 | Comments(1) |

[links] Link salad looks forward to JayCon XI

Right Tools Unleash Creativity on an iPad — Hmmm…

Helium Hokum: Why Airships Will Never Be Part of Our Transportation Infrastructure — Why let a little reality get in the way of a good steampunking? Some cool history and tech here. (Via David Goldman.)

Plan for China’s Water Crisis Spurs Concern — (Thanks to Dad.)

‘Global Commission’ Of Former Officials Says War On Drugs Has Failed — Also, this just in: sun rises in east. More on this from The Independent.

Mudbugged: Crawfish shortage spurs shooting at business — Second Amendment right to an assault rifle, check. Defense of essential liberties, check. No background requirements for gun ownership, check. Exercising your Constitutional rights by shooting up the fish market because they’re out of crawdads, check. Just another day in conservative America.

[NJ] Gov. Christie’s proposed income limits would cut Medicaid for working poor — Adults in a family of three that makes as little as $103 a week would earn too much to qualify for health care provided by Medicaid under a sharply curtailed program Gov. Chris Christie wants the federal government to approve this year, according to state officials and advocates briefed on the proposal. Now that’s compassionate conservatism in action. Are you proud of your Republican party?

Straight from twitter – perception and reality about Obama — Conservative “thought” untrammeled by facts. It must be comforting to have a hermetically sealed worldview that is not intersected by reality. (Snurched from Steve Buchheit.)

Fact Checking Romney — [H]e falsely said that President Barack Obama “has stood watch over the greatest job loss in modern American history,” calling this an “inconvenient truth.” Actually, the truth, inconvenient or not, is that more jobs were lost under President George W. Bush during the recent recession than under Obama. Those pesky facts, so often biased against conservatives. Luckily for Romney, his audience is far more interested in rhetoric than reality.

The Goodwin Liu nomination: Impaired judgment — How times have changed. In 2005, when Democrats balked at confirming some of then-President George W. Bush’s judicial nominees, Senate Republicans widely declared that filibustering a judicial nominee violates the Constitution. Late last month, however, Senate Republicans embraced the tactic, almost unanimously joining a filibuster of professor Goodwin Liu’s nomination to a federal appeals court. Remember angry Republicans denouncing filibusters and calling for an “up or down vote”? Neither do they. Ah, conservatives, intellectual consistency is thy name.

?otD: Coming to JayCon tomorrow?

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6/3/2011
Writing time yesterday: 1.0 hours (revised non-fiction project, some WRPA, too brain-fuzzed to write first draft fiction)
Body movement: 30 minute stationary bike ride
Hours slept: 6.5 hours (solid, plus napping)
Weight: 229.8
Currently (re)reading: A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin

Tags: China, Cool, Culture, guns, healthcare, iPad, Links, media, Personal, Politics, steampunk, Tech

Posted: 5:02 am Fri June 03 2011 | Comments(3) |

[links] Link salad eats Texas-style

Why Urban Fantasy Appeals to Me! by J. A. Pitts — Author J.A. Pitts guest blogs at Grasping For the Wind.

The “Nonplussed” Problem — How long should we cling to a word’s original meaning?

Do Narcissists Know They Are Narcissists? — Heh.

The Dead Grandmother/Exam Syndrome — Improbable researching using math. (Thanks to willyumtx.)

“No more time-travel drama”, authority says it disrespects history — Media news from China. Huh. (Thanks to scarlettina.)

Fox & Friends Outraged Crayola Recognizes More Than One Skin Tone — I don’t know whether to laugh or cry over this one.

“Alternative” Virginia school closes after half of its students infected with pertussis. All of them were unvaccinated. — Sigh. A reminder that profound idiocy and anti-science denialism comes in all political and cultural flavors. (Via Bad Astronomy.)

Justice Dept. to Congress: Don’t Saddle 4th Amendment on Us — The problem is the very same people who claim to be defenders of essential liberties will also viciously attack any opponent they can portray as ‘soft on terrorism’.

?otD: Chicken fried steak or chicken fried chicken?

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4/8/2011
Writing time yesterday: 1.0 hours (sekrit projekt)
Body movement: 55 minute suburban walk
Hours slept: 6.25 hours (solid)
Weight: n/a
Currently reading: Black Blade Blues book 3 (as yet untitled), J.A. Pitts

Tags: China, Culture, Funny, healthcare, Language, Links, media, Personal, Politics, Publishing, Science

Posted: 4:26 am Fri April 08 2011 | Comments(1) |

[links] Link salad wanders into Thursday

Hard SF and Soft, or Girls v. Boys — Nicola Griffith on genre privilege and gender.

Image of the Day: Sci-fi growth chart measures your geekiness — (Thanks to my brother.)

A quintessence of dust — Roger Ebert muses on the vastness of space and the nature of life.

Secret Space Plane Can’t Hide From Amateur Sleuths — The X-37B in orbit.

Nissan’s Cartoon Cars, Once So Hip — This is pretty interesting, if you’re into design or into things automotive.

Google’s recipe for recipes — Hmm. Interesting. (Via @simonowens.)

Monuments to Clan Life Are Losing Their Appeal — [T]he thousands of “earthen buildings” here, built by the ethnic Hakka and Minnan people of rural Fujian Province, are the ultimate architectural expression of clan existence in China. (Thanks to Dad.)

Let There Be Light Bulbs — In this time of war and rampant unemployment, it’s very reassuring to see our conservative thought leaders focusing on issues of critical national importance.

?otD: Thursday Next?

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3/31/2011
Writing time yesterday: 0.0 hours (took the day off)
Body movement: 30 minute stationary bike ride
Hours slept: 6.0 hours (interrupted)
Weight: 248.6
Currently reading: A Bard’s Eye View, ed. Michael A. Ventrella; Honeyed Words by J.A. Pitts

Tags: China, Cool, Culture, Food, Links, Personal, Politics, Process, Publishing, scince, Tech

Posted: 5:07 am Thu March 31 2011 | Comments(0) |

[links] Link salad wakes up uncomfortably numb

Moving Pictures: A Prequel, or Church Was a Neuroscientist — A fascinating bit about art history and creativity.

Deploying aircraft carriers to Afghanistan — Uh huh. A triumph of copy editing.

In The Know: Children Exposed To Porn May Expect Sex To Be Enjoyable — From the Onion News Network. And, erm, no, not worksafe. Hilarious, but NSFW. (Thanks to willyumtx.)

Ascension of a balloon at the Tientsin Military Academy (China) (1887?)

Sails and Infrastructure: Thinking Big — Centauri Dreams on space-manufactured solar sails. Cool, SFnal stuff.

20 Predictions for the Next 25 Years — Futurism from The Guardian.

Who Parked Our Moon? — Weird science regarding our spaceship moon. Ah, the things one uncovers whilst doing story research. And I found this one via a typo in Google.

“Pro-Family” means anti-families — Slackitivist Fred Clark on the bitter irony of conservative framing.

When Is “Undersight” Unconstitutional? — Some interesting neepery on executive power and the American political system of checks and balances.

Republicans Lower Goal for Cuts to Budget — Now aides say that the $100 billion figure was hypothetical. Ah, more of that vaunted intellectual consistency of the American Right. Nothing to see here, citizen, move along.

2011 Republicans Label 2005 Republicans’ Attack on Filibuster An ‘Unprecedented Power Grab’ — That’s why people vote Republican: for the principled consistency. Not like those spineless Democrats who put party before country. (Via Dispatches from the Culture Wars.)

?otD: Hello, is there anybody in there?

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1/6/2011
Writing time yesterday: 2.0 hours (3,000 words on book one of Sunpsin)
Body movement: 30 minute stationary bike ride
Hours slept: 6.5 hours (solid)
Weight: 250.6
Currently reading: Salamanca by Dean Francis Alfar; My Teenage Werewolf
A Mother, A Daughter, A Journey through the Thicket of Adolescence by Lauren Kessler

Tags: Art, China, Culture, Language, Links, Personal, Politics, Science, sex, Tech, Videos, weird

Posted: 6:25 am Thu January 06 2011 | Comments(0) |

[links] Link salad couldn’t see the moon for the clouds

Apparently in the French edition, my novel Green is Jade

Yesterday’s post on the worst writing advice I ever got has generated some interesting comments: [ jlake.com | LiveJournal | Facebook ] — As is so often the case, the ones disagreeing with me are especially intriguing. If you’re interested in the topic, all three threads are worth the read. (And in the next day or two, I’ll make a parallel post about the best writing advice I ever got.)

My new, post-cancer hair: [ jlake.com | LiveJournal ] — Someday it shall be long again.

The ghost towns of China: Amazing satellite images show cities meant to be home to millions lying deserted — I’ve actually passed through one of these cities by train, Erenhot in Inner Mongolia.

Breakthrough in TB Diagnostics — A rapid genetic test for tuberculosis could have a huge impact on global health. Speaking as someone who once had tuberculosis (at age 16, detected by chest x-ray before it had fully expressed) this is good.

The Problem with Speed — Centauri Dreams on interstellar mission profiles. In space, no one can hear you airbrake.

Progress — Ta-Nehisi Coates on the causes of Confederate secession. Ah, the glorious revisionism of Southern conservatives.

?otD: Ever seen a lunar eclipse? How about a solar eclipse?

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12/21/2010
Writing time yesterday: 1.0 hours (revisions, WRPA)
Body movement: 30 minute stationary bike ride
Hours slept: 5.5 hours (interrupted, couldn’t see the eclipse)
Weight: n/a (forgot)
Currently reading: Riddley Walker by Russell Hoban

Tags: Books, Cancer, China, Cool, Culture, Green, health, healthcare, Links, Personal, Photos, Politics, Process, Publishing, Science, Writing

Posted: 6:15 am Tue December 21 2010 | Comments(0) |

[links] Link salad for an OryCon weekend

Batman Returns — Drawn! with a really awesome alternative movie poster.

A meeting of solitudes — Roger Ebert follows up his recent post on loneliness with a meditation on the responses he received.

In Chengdu, China, Remaking Sichuan Food — Having eaten in Chengdu, hmmm. (Thanks to Dad.)

Augmented Reality Goggles — New video glasses can produce dazzling special effects, but who’ll wear them? Dept. of SF come to life.

Jonathan Storm: Alaska in Her Shadow — On Sarah Palin’s new reality tv show. Sometimes the jokes just write themselves, and sometimes the jokes are on all of us.

This Week in Innocence: Why the Hell is Kenny Hulshoff Still Practicing Law? — Law and order conservatism, where some innocent go to jail that the rest us might feel safer. Unless you happen to be one of those innocents, of course. Why do so many conservatives never think they will be the one indefinitely jobless, or gravely ill without healthcare coverage, or falsely arrested, or… I’ve argued before that the conservative mindset is fundamentally a failure of empathy. Stories like this only reinforce that view. (Via Dispatches from the Culture Wars.)

?otD: What was your favorite con badge, ever?

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11/13/2010
Writing time yesterday: 0.0 hours (medical follies, convention time)
Body movement: 30 minute stationary bike ride
Hours slept: 6.5 hours (solid)
This morning’s weigh-in: 245.0
Yesterday’s chemo/post-op stress index: 5/10 (fatigue, peripheral neuropathy, emotional distress)
Currently reading: Between books

Tags: Art, China, Cool, Culture, Food, Links, Movies, Personal, Politics, Tech

Posted: 7:30 am Sat November 13 2010 | Comments(1) |

[links] Link salad dances like a spirit in the night

How to Distinguish Fiction From Nonfiction — Telling fact from fiction isn’t always easy on the on the web. Now researchers have discovered a method that could help automate the process. Fascinating. But I have to say that sometimes, the jokes, they write themselves.

Rastafarians and Quakers — How young religions adapt.

Bulldozers Meet Historic Chinese Neighborhood — Ah, hutongs. (Thanks to Dad.)

The 100-year-old salamander — Also known as “the human fish”. Really…?

Snakes in the MRI Machine: A Study of Courage — What courage looks like in the brain–in real time. As if it were not bad enough in there… (Thanks to David Goldman.)

Shirley Sherrod and the shame of conservative media — Worth the read, no matter where you fall on the political spectrum.

“Context is Everything” — More about Breitbart and the Sherrod video. Also, Scrivener’s Error with a great rant on the same topic.

?otD: Have you ever been too lose to fak?

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7/22/2010
Writing time yesterday: 1.25 hours (editing, WRPA)
Body movement: 30 minute stationary bicycle ride
Hours slept: 6.5 (good but interrupted)
This morning’s weigh-in: 234.2
Yesterday’s chemo stress index: 5/10 (fatigue, peripheral neuropathy, emotional turmoil)
Currently (re)reading: Heretics of Dune by Frank Herbert

Tags: China, Culture, Links, Personal, Politics, Religion, Science, Writing

Posted: 4:57 am Thu July 22 2010 | Comments(0) |