[links] Link salad heads for Seattle and Norwescon
Bibliotheca Alexandrina: The Great Library of Alexandria Reborn? — This is rather a wow. (Via ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif?v=1)
threeoutside.)
Lower your IQ permanently! — Hahaha! Ok, this is tacky. But hahah! (Via willyumtx.)
A Tireless Connoisseur of Texas Barbecue Gets Ready for the Main Course — Full time barbecue editor? (Thanks to Dad.)
French students launch anti-dog poo mobile app — Hah! (Via threeoutside.)
First Love Child of Human, Neanderthal Found — So to speak.
Globetrotting Giant Squid Are All One Species
Dinosaur-killing impact set the world on fire — Researchers argue forcefully that the ensuing heat set off global forest fires.
Saturn Rings have been Around for about 4 Billion Years: NASA
Opinion: Life as a Target — Attacks on my work aimed at undermining climate change science have turned me into a public figure. I have come to embrace that role. Michael Mann talks about death threats etc. As I’ve observed for years, angry liberals write letters to the editor. Angry conservatives bomb clinics, shoot doctors and make death threats against scientists.
Go Gay — Girls are discovered first. Ah, classic advertising, how we love your unintentional recontextualizations.
Bill O’Reilly: Gay Rights Advocates Have ‘Compelling Argument’ — Even a stopped clock is right twice a day.
Boston College professors group backs students who may face discipline for distributing condoms — Because STIs and unwanted pregnancies are much more in keeping with Catholic tradition than contraception.
‘Rude’ lawmaker Louie Gohmert pulls rank on cops over parking ticket — Conservative class showing itself once again.
Local Airport Closures Cause GOPers Sequestration Anxiety — Once again, nobody likes conservative policies when applied to them personally. Especially not conservatives.
Elena Kagan’s DOMA ‘gotcha’ moment — Chief Justice Roberts can pretend to principle all he wants, but anti-gay bigotry is still anti-gay bigotry, however high minded Republicans like to believe themselves to be. Justice Kagan quoted GOPers in their own words. There simply is no objective, reality-based stance against gay marriage.
Politicians Overestimate their Constituents’ Conservatism — This is thanks to the Republican stranglehold on Your Liberal Media these past few decades. And yes, there’s a typo in the headline. Preserved from the original.
Republicans not liked, even by 25% of . . . Republicans — He’s being far too nice when he says GOPers “look unfair” and “look narrow-minded and selfish”. The correct phrasing is “demonstrably are unfair” and “demonstrably are narrow-minded and selfish”.
QotD?: Where will you be this weekend?
3/28/2013
Writing time yesterday: 0.0 hours (taught online course instead)
Hours slept: 7.75 hours (solid)
Body movement: 0.5 hours (stationary bike)
Weight: 242.8
Number of FEMA troops on my block building solar arrays to undermine the American fossil fuel industry: 0
Currently reading: Interesting Times by Terry Pratchett
Tags: Books, Christianists, climate, Cool, Culture, Egypt, Food, France, Funny, gay, gender, Links, media, Personal, Politics, Religion, Science, sex, Texas, Videos, weird
Posted: 5:10 am Thu March 28 2013 | Comments(2) |
[links] Link salad is still in the Sunshine State
Nerd Nite #1: Sex, Dying, and the FUTURE! — A reminder, I’ll be talking about cancer and genomics next Tuesday evening in Portland.
Departures Cont. — Ta-Nehisi Coates writes beautifully about being in Paris, race, language and life.
The Feather Atlas — Huh. (Via Daily Idioms, Annotated.)
Huge Ice Spheres Along Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore — Wow. (Via Daily Idioms, Annotated.)
Extinction that paved way for dinosaurs definitively linked to volcanism
Doctors Should Tell Patients About Some, But Not All, Unexpected Genetic Findings — A professional medical geneticists group recommends that certain genetic risk factors be examined in all medical DNA sequence tests. I have real issues with the idea of concealing known health information from patients.
105 US kids died of flu; most didn’t get vaccine — Vaccinations save lives.
Female techie fired after tweeting about sexual comments — It’s hard to know what to say here.
How do I talk to my mom about pants? — This kind of religious mindset just baffles me.
The Gingrich-Santorum “Unity Ticket” That Wasn’t — The bog mindles.
QotD?: Orange you glad I’m here?
3/22/2013
Writing time yesterday: 1.0 hour (WRPA, revisions)
Hours slept: 6.0 hours (fitful)
Body movement: 0.5 hours stationary bike
Weight: n/a (away from home)
Number of FEMA troops on my block building solar arrays to undermine the American fossil fuel industry: 0
Currently reading: Guards, Guards by Terry Pratchett
Tags: Cancer, Culture, France, gender, health, healthcare, Links, nature, Politics, race, Religion, Science, tags: personal, Tech
Posted: 4:55 am Sat March 23 2013 | Comments(1) |
[links] Link salad refuses to freeze its soup and nuts
A review of Endurance — A review with a very curious approach.
The First 10 Pages: Science Fiction & Fantasy Boot Camp: 3/26/13 – 3/28/13 — An online course I am etching with writer (and friend) Phil Athans and agent Carlie Webber. Phil comments at length.
Widespread Flaws Found in Ovarian Cancer Treatment — Sigh.
French Toilet Paper Ad: ‘Emma’ By Le Trefle Proves Both French Husbands & Technology Wrong — Hahahaha! (Thanks to Lisa Costello.)
“W T Warren Testing Helmet 1912” — Um, ok.
Seagulls — Drones in love. (Via goulo.)
Ukrainian Killer Dolphins Deserted to Seek Mates – Expert — Um, wow.
Neanderthal large eyes ‘made them extinct’ — No one knows what it’s like/To be the bad man/To be the sad man/Behind blue eyes
Mars rock yields building blocks of life — NASA says the Curiosity rover detected six elements in a rock that indicated Mars once had a habitable environment with plenty of water.
Google Concedes That Drive-by Prying Violated Privacy — This has been percolating for a while.
Raging on the Web May Not Really Make Us Feel Better — Huh. Who knew? I guess we’ll all have to back to yelling at the teepee.
No burden, no regret in ‘fair, respectful, equal’ — I have never seen anyone who described their former support for marriage equality as an oppressive weight or burden that they were later joyously relieved to be rid of. I have never seen anyone weep with remorse and regret for the votes they cast or the words they once spoke in support of equal rights. I don’t recall seeing anyone moving in that direction at all.
Illinois Republican: Gun control ‘exactly’ like castration — Ah, the cool logic of the gun culture once again expresses itself. Saving 30,000 lives a year can’t possibly be worth this much trouble, eh? (Via Slacktivist Fred Clark.)
Richard Nixon Wished for Total Handgun Ban — And he presided over the founding of the EPA. I sometimes wonder how we’d view Nixon now if he hadn’t left office under a criminal cloud. (Via ericjamesstone.)
Falsity of Nuclear Accusation against Iraq Was Known before Bush’s Invasion — Well, duh. They knew they were lying about it. But evidence-based reality was never a high priority for the Bush administration, being as how they were Republicans and all. The kindest interpretation I’ve ever come up with is that they were certain Saddam had nukes, and were doing the political equivalent of kiting a check, figuring once they found the goods, no one would care later that the initial evidence was false.
QotD?: What’s the coldest you’ve ever been?
3/13/2013
Writing time yesterday: 1.0 hours (revisions and 900 additional words to “King of the Kingless”, to 4,000 words)
Hours slept: 7.0 hours (fitful)
Body movement: 0.0 hours (19 degrees and snowing outside, what do you think?)
Weight: n/a (away from home)
Number of FEMA troops on my block escorting ACORN thugs to steal the votes of “Real Americans”: 0
Currently reading: Reaper Man by Terry Pratchett
Tags: Books, Cancer, Cool, Endurance, events, France, Funny, gay, gender, guns, healthcare, Iraq, Links, Mars, nature, Personal, Photos, Politics, Process, reviews, sex, Tech, Videos, weird, Writing
Posted: 3:57 am Wed March 13 2013 | Comments(0) |
[links] Link salad stares down the barrel of another week
The Acts of Whimsy cancer fundraiser and the Lakeside Kickstarter for the documentary about me, the_child, and cancer are still live. Both have made goal, but additional support is always welcome. Please check them out if you have not done so yet.
Dog and Cat Dress-Up for Great Justice — Cherie Priest with a steampunk pet fashion show as an Act of Whimsy in support of the cancer fundraiser on my behalf. Hahahah.
My Terrible Surprise – The Dreaded High School Novel — Pat Rothfuss’ contribution. Ack!
In Which I, John Scalzi, Sing a Lost Bob Dylan Song For Jay Lake — A musical interlude from our esteemed Mr. Scalzi. As the man himself says, harmonica is the new cowbell.
Jay Lake cancer fundraiser: expect a 3D scan of my head while making a funny face originated by John Scalzi — Cory Doctorow on the forthcoming scan of his head.
A dozen good documentaries — Roger Ebert on 2012 films.
Human rites — Rituals bind us, in modern societies and prehistoric tribes alike. But can our loyalties stretch to all of humankind? Refleshing? Really? Wow. (Via Daily Idioms, Annotated.)
Mind over Map: the World Is What You Make It — Some interesting mind games with world maps.
In California, It’s U.S. vs. State Over Marijuana — I am strongly in favor of legalization, or at a minimum, significant decriminalization. Our drug laws are hypocritical at best in a culture that so strongly endorses alcohol, tobacco and caffeine. No dog in the fight personally (I’ve never even bothered to seek a medical marijuana card for my chemotherapy), just fairness and common sense.
IBM’s Watson Gets A ‘Swear Filter’ After Learning The Urban Dictionary — Heh. (Via David Goldman.)
Tetrapod anatomy: Backbone back-to-front in early animals — Textbooks might have to be re-written when it comes to some of the earliest creatures, a study suggests.
French WWI images found still in camera — Wow. (Via danjite.)
NASA Awards $17.8M Contract For Inflatable Addition To Space Station — Sometimes the jokes just write themselves. For reals, this is cool and significant, but how can it not be funny?
Can This Man Save Pinball? — An arcade entrepreneur has a plan to resuscitate the dying pastime—with a little help from the Wizard of Oz. (Via danjite.)
Dick Armey dishes dirt accidentally — Dick Armey had no idea he was speaking to the left-wing Media Matters organization during an interview last week, he told The Daily Caller Tuesday. Instead, Armey thought he was chatting with the conservative Media Research Center. (Via Slacktivist Fred Clark.)
?otD: Locked and loaded?
1/14/2013
Writing time yesterday: 0.0 hours (stress)
Hours slept: 6.75 hours (solid)
Body movement: 0.5 hours (stationary bike)
Weight: 220.2
Number of FEMA troops on my block enforcing disability rights: 0
Currently reading: The Hydrogen Sonata by Iain M. Banks
Tags: Cancer, Cool, Culture, documentary, France, Funny, health, history, Language, Links, media, Movies, music, nature, Personal, Photos, Politics, space, stories, Tech, Videos
Posted: 5:55 am Mon January 14 2013 | Comments(1) |
[links] Link salad has got nothing today
A reader reacts to my novel Green
Wanted, Dead or Alive: Used Books — Larry McMurtry’s great sell-off.
Where Do Sentences Come From?
US Army hybrid airship takes flight — Tobias Buckell with the link.
A new space race: Companies vie to haul cargo, passengers
$100 Million Security System Breached by Drunken Jet Skier — Um, yeah.
Simplifying Sex — What Some Priests Don’t Understand About Contraception. Um, yeah.
Big tobacco’s bid almost out of puff — Australia continues to push successfully against smokes.
U.S. Maternal Health Crisis Facts — Wow. (Via danjite.)
SMBC on the history of revolution — Hahahah.
French soul search as Amiens is hit by ‘urban guerrilla warfare’ — France vowed to clamp down on a new wave of civil unrest after one of the most deprived suburbs in the country descended into “urban guerrilla warfare” in some of the worst scenes of violence for years. Sigh.
‘The Jefferson Lies’ is recalled by publisher Thomas Nelson — “We took all of those concerns seriously [and] learned that there were some historical details included in the book that were not adequately supported,” said the publisher, which focuses on releasing Christian-based titles. “Some historical details”? We’re talking Christianist revisionism. Wholesale false witness about the history of our culture. (Given that in Evangelical circles, Exodus 20:16 doesn’t bear nearly the significance that, say, Leviticus 18:22 does. It’s only one of the Ten Commandments, after all.) I’d be amazed if any of the history was supportable.
How Republicans Sabotaged the Recovery — The economy didn’t jump. It was pushed. (Via Slacktivist Fred Clark.)
Fact Check: Ryan budget plan doesn’t actually slash the budget — I have a strong policy of never linking to FOX News, even for wire stories, due to their pervasive and explicit dishonesty, but this is a very weird story to see on the news service that has made its entire fortune out of being Republican fluffers. (Also, as I expect this story to vanish pretty quickly, here’s a screen shot from Tuesday morning around 10:20 am.)
Romney Visits Iowa ‘Farmer’ Who Is Also A Millionaire Real Estate Mogul With A Spaceship House And Personal Car Wash — Yep, rock ribbed conservatism, representing the interests of the middle class and independent businessmen everywhere.
?otD: Tell me something I don’t know?
8/15/2012
Writing time yesterday: 0.5 hours (WRPA)
Body movement: 30 minute stationary bike ride
Hours slept: 6.25 (solid)
Weight: 235.2
Currently reading: The Essential Engineer: Why Science Alone Will Not Solve Our Global Problems by Henry Petroski
Tags: Books, Christianists, Culture, economy, France, Funny, Green, healthcare, Language, Links, Personal, Politics, Publishing, Religion, reviews, sex, Tech, Travel
Posted: 6:20 am Wed August 15 2012 | Comments(1) |
[links] Link salad awakens from a Carolina BBQ coma
Why is Amazon becoming a hardware company?
Did the Bard speak American?
How do “today’s students” write, really?
Genetic Discoveries Cast New Light on Migraine — It’s X-linked! Female chromosomes FTW! (Via Lisa Costello.)
Pink Aurora Over Crater Lake — Wow. Another awesome APOD image. I’ve never seen the aurora, and I’d really like to.
French Demand Compensation for Plantagenet Murder — Breaking news!
In New Exhibit, Disney Lends Its Star Power to Reagan, and Vice Versa — Sigh. My second least favorite president, further sanctified. (Thanks to my Dad.)
Monsignor Lynn sentenced to jail for role in church sex abuse — In a soft and clear voice, disgraced Catholic Monsignor William Lynn stood Tuesday before a packed courtroom and apologized for the years of sexual abuse a young man suffered at the hands of defrocked priest Edward Avery, whom Lynn transferred to the boy’s parish despite knowing that he had abused another boy. One tiny step in righting the monstrous behaviors of the Catholic hierarchy in systematically enabling and concealing child sexual abuse for generations.
Less Guns, Less Violence — Ya think? Ta-Nehisi Coates on American trends in crime and gun ownership.
President Obama’s gun baloney — Yeah, he’s a Socialist coming for your guns, alright. If ever there was a political moment for the Obama of the GOP/NRA’s paranoid fantasies to make an anti-gun move, it would be now. Can you see the black helicopters coming?
“Voter ID, which is gonna allow Governor Romney to win the state of Pennsylvania, done.” — PA state House Republican leader Mike Turzai on the year’s legislative accomplishments. Conservative integrity always shines through. Even when they’re bragging in so many words about vote blocking and election stealing.
?otD: WHat did you eat last night?
7/25/2012
Writing time yesterday: 1.25 hours (60 minutes on outline for untitled fantasy novel, 15 minutes of WRPA)
Body movement: 45 minute urban walk
Hours slept: 5.75 (fitful)
Weight: n/a
Currently reading: Captain Vorpatril’s Alliance by Lois McMaster Bujold
Tags: Culture, ebooks, France, Funny, guns, healthcare, Language, Links, Oregon, Personal, Photos, Politics, Religion, Science, Tech, Videos, Writing
Posted: 3:38 am Wed July 25 2012 | Comments(0) |
[links] Link salad ate haggis last night
Trilogies: Third time’s not always the charm
Hello Kitty Darth Vader — JD Hancock strikes again.
The New French Hacker-Artist Underground — (Snurched from Steve Buchheit.)
No Disrespect for the Meatball Hero — Mmm, food.
X-Ray Laser Turns Up the Heat to 3.6 Million Degrees — I love this line: The advancement represents the first time researchers have been able to produce such plasmas in a controlled way.
Bizarre skin disease Morgellons not infectious, CDC says
Europe, Data, and the ‘Right to Be Forgotten’
The Amazing Government Sting That Cost Google $500 Million (GOOG)
Study: Ocean Acidity Exceeds Natural Norms — Oops.
Five shots against global warming denialism
Who should recuse on Prop 8? — Jed Hartman is funny.
Why Evangelicals Don’t Like Mormons — Oddly, this article refers to Romney as a ‘Protestant’. Are Mormons considered Protestants? I never heard that.
‘Stop-Newt’ Republicans Confront Base Unwilling to Take Orders — Hahahah.
?otd: Have you ever eaten haggis?
1/25/2012
Writing time yesterday: 1.75 hour (1.5 hours on Sunspin revisions, plus a bit of misc WRPA)
Body movement: 30 minute stationary bike ride
Hours slept: 6.5 (solid)
Weight: 226.6
Currently reading: Scourge of the Betrayer by Jeff Salyards
Tags: Art, Books, climate, Cool, Culture, Food, France, healthcare, Links, Personal, Politics, Publishing, Religion, Science, Tech, weird
Posted: 6:16 am Thu January 26 2012 | Comments(7) |
[links] Link salad considers cured meat
In which my Dad asks for a little help with some American social history: [ jlake.com | LiveJournal ]
Engineering the end: How planning for loss helped a family through it — Ah, cancer.
DIY Bacon Roses — Just because. (Via Miki.)
French school lunches — An amazing snippet of video… (Via willyumtx.)
Name of the Year — Heh.
A Gay Former N.B.A. Player Responds to Kobe Bryant — Yeah. I know. Me mentioning sports. But this is a gender (and to some degree, race) issue. Both of which I do care about.
The New Cold War — There has long been bad blood between Iran and Saudi Arabia, but popular protests across the Middle East now threaten to turn the rivalry into a tense and dangerous regional divide.
Neediest and sickest would pay the price under GOP budget plan — Mmm, compassionate conservatism on the march. You guys sure know how to make America proud.
?otD: Bacon or pancetta?
4/18/2011
Writing time yesterday: 1.0 hours (WRPA)
Body movement: 30 minute stationary bike ride
Hours slept: 5.75 hours (interrupted)
Weight: 247.0
Currently reading:
Nifft the Lean by Michael Shea
Tags: Cancer, Culture, Food, France, Funny, gay, healthcare, Help, Iran, Language, Links, Personal, Politics, sports, Videos
Posted: 5:01 am Mon April 18 2011 | Comments(0) |
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