Jay Lake: Writer

[links] Link salad joins the Center for the Easily Amused

Five Authors + Five Questions : Goals — Shimmer‘s blog on various writers on various issues. Including me.

Philip Glass on style

Darwin Day — Portland celebrates the Antichrist one of the heroes of modern science on February 12. (Via threeoutside.)

DNA Turning Human Story Into a Tell-All — Humans and Neanderthals and Denisovans, oh my. I especially liked this bit: [O]ur modern era, since H. floresiensis died out, is the only time in the four-million-year human history that just one type of human has been alive. (Thanks to Dad.)

Steampunk Pocket Watch Winds Via Solar Power — So to speak… Some neat lateral thinking here. (Via markbourne.)

Experts Build Crab-Like Robot to Remove Stomach Cancer — Huh. (Via danjite.)

How Neutrino Beams Could Reveal Cavities Inside Earth — Commander Laforge to the bridge.

Scientists close to entering Vostok, Antarctica’s biggest subglacial lake

Team to investigate underwater ‘UFO’ – is it sunken ships or Millennium Falcon? — Duh, of course it’s a life size replica of a completely fictional starship. At the bottom of the ocean.

Far side of the moon filmed by Nasa spacecraft — One whole face of the Moon can never be seen from Earth because it does not spin on its axis, meaning we always have a view of the same side. Umm… stupid much?

Bill legalizing same-sex marriage passes Washington state Senate — Someday fairly soon, opposition to gay marriage will have all the social panache and credibility as opposition to interracial marriage, and for much the same reason. This shameful bigotry will be the province of bitter, aging cranks, largely behind closed doors.

I Don’t Care About Your Invisible Jeebus — But from where I stand these days, the only thing I see religion doing in the public sector is gay bashing and telling women, mostly poor and desperate and in deplorable financial and personal situations, what to do with their bodies. I see busybodies deciding what drugs they can dispense to which customers, or deciding that they don’t have to issue a marriage license because of some petty deity that I don’t believe in told them to hate their fellow citizens and ignore the law.

Indiana Senate passes bill putting religion in science class — Conservative America: driving all our children deeper into ignorance every year. Yet another of the myriad reasons I can never be conservative, and honestly don’t understand how any thoughtful, self-aware person can be.

Teleprompters are stupid … only when Obama uses them — Ah, conservative “logic”.

The Conservative Backlash That Isn’t Coming — Some thoughts from conservative commentator Daniel Larison. I will observe that since no one in the GOP seems to remember the eight years of the Bush administration, preferring to blame the disastrous outcomes of his governing on conservative principles on Obama who inherited Bush’s mess, how could there be a backlash?

Have Democrats Succeeded in Pre-Destroying Romney? — A conservative leaning narrative complaining about the Democrats using the same tactics that have been so successful for the GOP these past decades.

?otd: Are you ever bored? Why?

2/2/2012
Writing time yesterday: 2.0 hours (Sunspin revisions)
Body movement: 30 minute stationary bike ride
Hours slept: 8.5 (solid)
Weight: 227.2
Currently reading: The Man in the Moone, and Other Lunar Fantasies ed. Faith Pizor

Tags: Cancer, Cool, Culture, Funny, gay, healthcare, Links, nature, Personal, Politics, Process, Religion, Science, steampunk, Tech, Washington, weird, Writing

Posted: 6:32 am Thu February 02 2012 | Comments(1) |

[links] Link salad returns to its labors

The Rules of Magic, According to the Greatest Fantasy Sagas of All Time — (Brought to my attention by willyumtx.)

You Eat That? — Disgust is one of our most basic emotions—the only one that we have to learn—and nothing triggers it more reliably than the strange food of others.

Honda revives Ferris Bueller — Zombie Matthew Broderick?

Genetic or Not, Gay Won’t Go Away

Ritalin Gone Wrong

Hysteria and the Teenage Girl

Testicular zap ‘may stop sperm’ — A dose of ultrasound to the testicles can stop the production of sperm, according to researchers investigating a new form of contraception.

U.S. may rely on aging U-2 spy planes longer than expected — The Pentagon has proposed delaying a plan to replace the U-2s with RQ-4 Global Hawk drones because of Defense Department cutbacks.

Too Much of a Bad Thing: Monsanto Did NOT Buy Blackwater — Hmmm. (Via danjite.)

Newt Gingrich’s moon base plan a ‘cheap trick’ to get votes, space experts say — Experts call Gingrich’s plan a gimmick that is too expensive to work. I am shocked that Newt might have said something deliberately misleading. Shocked, I tell you. Shocked.

Gingrich’s Absurd Outsider Pose — But it works with the low information voters who make up the GOP base. Who cares if his claims are true?

?otd: What are you working on this week?

1/30/2012
Writing time yesterday: 2.0 hours (Sunspin revisions)
Body movement: 30 minute stationary bike ride
Hours slept: 8.5 (fitful)
Weight: 227.8
Currently reading: The Man in the Moone, and Other Lunar Fantasies ed. Faith Pizor

Tags: Food, Funny, gay, healthcare, Links, Movies, Personal, Politics, Process, sex, Tech, weird, Writing

Posted: 6:16 am Mon January 30 2012 | Comments(0) |

[links] Link salad listens to some REM

A reader reacts to Green — I think they liked it.

A reader reacts to Endurance — I think they liked it.

Gianmaria Franchi on sliding book advances — (Via a mailing list I am on.)

Getting It Wrong — sandratayler on the value of getting it wrong,

How the craziest f#@!ing “theory of everything” got published and promoted

Psychics Say Apollo 16 Astronauts Found Alien Ship — Also, there is an alien base in the trunk of my car. Don’t tell anyone.

New drone has no pilot anywhere, so who’s accountable? — The Navy is testing an autonomous plane that will land on an aircraft carrier. The prospect of heavily armed aircraft screaming through the skies without direct human control is unnerving to many. What could possibly go wrong?

US plans Mid-East ‘mothership’

Jobs, Jobs and Cars — Krugman on economic geography and Republican idiocy.

GOP Hates Citizens United, Too — Tough cookies, GOP. You wanted this as tool to bash Democrats, you celebrated the SCOTUS decision. Like many of the beds conservatives make, they don’t want to lie in it.

How Newt Gingrich Gets Away with ‘Class Warfare’ and ‘Race Baiting’

The Great Right Hope — The conservatives who hate Mitt Romney the most have it wrong. Why they’d love him in the White House.

What would Mitt Romney’s offshore account filings show? — It’s called ‘tax avoidance’, and just about everyone with Big Money does it. Also, millionaires avoiding paying taxes is completely consistent with Republican principles, so why is anyone complaining?

?otd: Is that you there in the corner?

1/28/2012
Writing time yesterday: 0.5 hours (Sunspin revisions)
Body movement: 30 minute stationary bike ride
Hours slept: 7.75 (solid)
Weight: 226.8
Currently reading: Scourge of the Betrayer by Jeff Salyards

Tags: Books, Culture, Endurance, Green, Iraq, Links, Personal, Politics, Process, Publishing, reviews, Science, Tech, weird

Posted: 7:32 am Sat January 28 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 has one foot on the platform

Ten Bits of Advice Writers Should Stop Giving Aspiring Writers — nihilistic_kid is wise.

The Sky is Falling – Not — Richard Parks on the state of the short story market.

I will be a guest at World Steam Expo, May 25-28, Dearborn, MI — Along with G.D. Falkesen, Gail Carriger and Cherie Priest.

Author D&D Game — Myke Cole reports on the misadventures at Epic Confusion. Brent Weeks on the same.

Lewis Hyde on work vs. labor and the pace of creativity

What if there were another advanced species? — A little AH courtesy of your morning news.

Cute storm trooper photos — Really. By my friend JD Hancock.

Penguin with Russian aircraft — I love the photos x planes has been running lately.

Seattle museum gets ‘keys’ to shuttle trainer from NASA — Wait. “Bypass the Rocky Mountains.” What?

Eternal Monuments Among the Stars — Centauri Dreams on a new approach to SETI.

Scientists at MIT replicate brain activity with chip — Scientists are getting closer to the dream of creating computer systems that can replicate the brain. (Via @Mari_Kurisato.)

Dog skull found in Siberia is 33,000 years old – and hints that man’s best friend didn’t come from one single ancestor — Arf.

100 years of the war on drugs — From the British perspective. (Snurched from @amendlocke.)

Yes, We Have No Tomatoes — Portland’s indoor gardening shops sell all you need for homegrown medical weed—except advice. Ah, the hypocrisy of the War on Drugs.

Muslim Men Rescue Bagel Shop And Keep It Kosher

Graphic of World Military Spending (Iran’s too Small to Show up) — Defense spending isn’t really an issue that ignites me, but this does make me think.

Scalia: Blame Congress For My Decision To Turn Campaign Finance Into The Wild West — I don’t think so, Justice Knucklehead. Coincidentally, the free spending money enabled by the Citizen’s United decision overwhelmingly favors Republicans. Who knew? (Via @twilight2000.)

Arkansas Democrat’s cat killed, painted with “liberal” — Stay classy, conservative America. It’s what you do best.

Could A GOP Victory In 2012 Mean The End Of Roe v Wade? — Remember, the GOP is the party that doesn’t want the government to come between you and your doctor.

Mitt Romney’s Father Palled Around With Saul Alinsky — Oops. Newt’s got his boogeyman doubled down.

Romney, Interrupted — Way to go, Mittens.

?otd: Where is this train bound?

1/25/2012
Writing time yesterday: 1.0 hour (Sunspin revisions)
Body movement: 30 minute stationary bike ride
Hours slept: 7.75 (solid)
Weight: 226.2
Currently reading: Throne of the Crescent Moon by Saladin Ahmed

Tags: Antarctica, Conventions, Cool, Culture, Food, healthcare, Links, nature, Oregon, Personal, Politics, Process, Science, Tech, weird, Writing

Posted: 6:30 am Wed January 25 2012 | Comments(0) |

[links] Link salad sits at the bar and puts bread in your jar

The Darth Vader Burger is Here — (Via my brother.)

Airline pilot startled by flying shark — Life imitates, uh… I got nothing. (Via David Goldman.)

The Apollo 11 lunar landing, told through data.

The Greatest Paper Map of the United States You’ll Ever See — Made by one guy in Oregon.

Center produces chimeric monkeys — That’s a hell of a headline. Interesting story, too.

Indonesia’s underwater masters of disguise — Meet the fish that mimics the octopus that mimics scary sea creatures.

Google Earth’s Lessons in Wave Mechanics — A close look at Google’s virtual globe reveals almost unlimited examples of the way waves behave.

X-37B spaceplane ‘spying on China’ — America’s classified X-37B spaceplane is probably spying on China, according to a report in Spaceflight magazine.

Extinctions from Climate Change Underestimated — Hmm. Actual hypotheses from actual data. I’d better tune into Rush Limbaugh to clear my head of these pesky facts.

L.A.-area bishop, father of two, resigns

I Was Shitting You People – A Message From Ayn Rand — Ah, satire. (Via danjite.)

Gay couple win suit over names on birth certificate

The Irrelevance of the Broccoli Argument against the Insurance Mandate

Magna Carta and Wingnut Legislation — I can understand, if not agree with, the conservative impulse to require all legislation to state its Constitutional basis. (I disagree simply because there are far too many issues in modern government and society which are not explicitly, or even implicitly, contemplated in the Constitution. Like many beloved conservative talking points, it’s a simple-minded attempt to solve a complex problem that doesn’t really exist.) But the Magna Carta. Really, guys? Is there a “nuttiest GOP politician” contest going on?

Here’s What Romney’s Unreleased Tax Returns Almost Certainly Hide — Every major presidential candidate for decades has released their tax returns routinely. Not Romney. Nothing to see here, citizen. Move along.

Santorum Becomes Millionaire in Six Years After U.S. Senate Loss — Former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum describes himself on the campaign trail as a frugal man of faith and limited means. Right, Senator Frothy Mix. Limited means. And Mitt Romney is unemployed, while Newt Gingrich is middle class. What kind of idiot do you have to be to believe this crap? (I know, the question answers itself.) Not that I object to wealth in politicians or anyone else. I do object to blatantly false claims.

Rick Santorum claims same sex marriage is comparable to polygamy — Santorum is a fool and a moral leper. The more I learn about this man, the more I despise him. And mind you, this in a race where Newt is running.

Rick Santorum’s Google problem remains — As well it should, given his despicable comments on the gay community. I for one am happy to continue to support “Santorum” search results defined as “The frothy mix of lube and fecal matter that is sometimes the byproduct of anal sex”. It’s the least he deserves. See also spreadingsantorum.com.

?otd: Man, what are you doing here?

1/6/2012
Writing time yesterday: 0.0 hours (chemo fatigue)
Body movement: 30 minute stationary bike ride
Hours slept: 9.0 (fitful)
Weight: 214.2
Currently reading: A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

Tags: China, climate, Cool, Food, gay, healthcare, Links, nature, Oregon, Personal, Politics, Religion, Science, Tech, Travel, Videos, weird

Posted: 6:16 am Fri January 06 2012 | Comments(0) |

[links] Link salad trips over its shoelaces

gerryhuntman reviews The Fathomless Abyss — Moderately with the liking.

Online Merchants Home In on Imbibing Consumers — Am I the only one who thinks this article is ridiculous? (Via my Dad.)

North Korea not the only offender: 6 official photo fudgings

China plans to put astronaut on the moon — And good for them.

We should scour the moon for ancient traces of aliens, say scientists — Online volunteers could be set task of spotting alien technology, evidence of mining and rubbish heaps in moon images.

Astrophysics and cheese — There are 2.455 x 10^54 dietary calories in a cubic light year of cheese. As Greg Feeley says, “This is an abuse of cheap calculating power.” (Via danjite.)

Doh! The top 10 tech ‘fails’ of 2011

Award Time for Ideas That Shine — (Via my Dad.)

South Pole Reaches Its Highest Temperature Ever Recorded — Weather is not climate, but still… (Via danjite.)

Looking to Streamline Airport Security Screenings — And this: President Obama and the Spread of Security Theater (Both via The Infrastructurist.)

The Big Lie — Wall Street has destroyed the wonder that was America.

Vote Obama – if you want a centrist Republican for US president — Because Barack Obama has adopted so many core Republican beliefs, the US opposition race is a shambles

The Pointless Search for New Republican Candidates Continues — Romney Romney Romney.

?otd: Socks with sandals?

12/30/2011
Writing time yesterday: 0.0 hours (chemo fatigue)
Body movement: 30 minute stationary bike ride
Hours slept: 10.0 (solid)
Weight: 208.0
Currently (re)reading: The White Dragon by Anne McCaffrey

Tags: Antarctica, China, climate, Culture, Funny, Links, Occupy Wall Street, Personal, Photos, Politics, reviews, Science, stories, Tech, Travel, weird

Posted: 8:22 am Fri December 30 2011 | Comments(0) |

[links] Link salad lazes

History of Science Fiction — And here’s one for sci-fi geeks: Artist Ward Shelley’s hand-drawn flowchart tracks the literary genre’s 2,500-year legacy, from nascent roots in mythology to the post-Star Wars space operas of today. I object to characterizing space opera as somehow a post-Star Wars phenomenon, but that’s a headline writer problem. The chart is weirdly cool. (Via Curiosity Counts.)

The Law of Online Sharing — Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg will eventually have to deal with the fact that all growth has limits.

Hashtags’ mission creep — Language Log with more than you ever wanted to know about #hashtags.

Disruptions: Norelco on Takeoff? Fine. Kindle? No. — You can shave during takeoff and landing?

Lie of the Jungle: The Truth About Cheeta the Chimpanzee — The truth about Cheeta? Also, an interesting story about publishing. (Via danjite.)

Smokin’ hot island rises up from depths of the Red Sea — How, um, Mosaic.

All Four Oregon Wolf Packs Are Making Babies — The politics of this are rough, as rural conservatives out here hate wolves almost as much as they hate liberals, and for no better reason, but it’s good to see them growing.

Christian Priests Brawl at Jesus’ Birthplace — I think the spiritual life has great value, but when you get to the point in your religious attachments where you are beating people up over your claims to an old building, you’re no longer talking about spirituality, and a sane secularism would be far preferable. Um, good God yes.

Bachmann’s Iowa chairman quits, endorses Paul — Oops.

“Every barrel of oil that comes out of those sands in Canada is a barrel of oil that we don’t have to buy from a foreign source,” Mr. Perry said — Um. Canada, she is not foreign? And conservatives wonder why the rest of us think you guys have lost your minds.

?otd: Ever drive a Ferrari?

12/29/2011
Writing time yesterday: 0.0 hours (chemo fatigue)
Body movement: 30 minute stationary bike ride
Hours slept: 10.0 (solid)
Weight: 206.4
Currently (re)reading: The White Dragon by Anne McCaffrey

Tags: Cool, Culture, Language, Links, nature, Oregon, Personal, Politics, Publishing, Religion, Tech, Travel, weird

Posted: 8:01 am Thu December 29 2011 | Comments(1) |

[links] Link salad for Newtonmas

— Under pressure.

How to Ace a Google Interview — Brain teasers like the ones used for hiring by the Internet giant are spreading to other picky employers.

Patient BW, DOB 2/16/1971 — From The League of Ordinary Gentlemen. Heh.

Extremely creepy clowns — (Via willyumtx.)

Another Soyuz rocket launch fails — Not good. Sigh.

?otd: Turkey again?

12/25/2011
Writing time yesterday: 0.0 hours (chemo fatigue)
Body movement: 30 minute stationary bike ride
Hours slept: 12.25 (fitful)
Weight: 204.0
Currently (re)reading: The White Dragon by Anne McCaffrey

Tags: Culture, Funny, Links, Personal, Photos, Science, Tech, Videos, weird

Posted: 8:05 am Sun December 25 2011 | Comments(2) |

[personal] More with the long sleep and weird dreams

I went to bed at 6 pm last night. Slept eleven hours, with weird recurring dreams. It’s always not a solid sleep when I’m like this so much as a hyperextended hypnagogic state. I have some awareness of my surrounds, but my eyes are closed and I am dreaming.

In this case I was giving eldercare to Linus Pauling while rebuilding both a classic railway steam engine and a starship propulsion system, somewhere in Alaska. I needed the train to transport the propulsion system back to the starship’s landing site. Plus I had a detour to visit my old high school and make a presentation on life goals. I took Dr. Pauling on that trip.

Usually I understand the symbolism in my dreams, but this one seems to be a random shot from the wells of my subconscious. I would like to stay up past dinnertime tonight, though.

Tags: dreams, Funny, Personal, weird

Posted: 6:39 am Wed December 21 2011 | Comments(0) |