We Love xkcd
February 18th, 2010
Archive
Archive for the ‘Geek’ Category
When Sysadmins Ruled the Earth
January 28th, 2010
So I read this little gem of a story by Cory Doctorow this morning and I really liked it. And while I don’t explicitly believe in his “experiment” or his views on copyright, you cannot doubt that his short stories are great.
This story follows Felix and Van two system administrators who are trying to keep the major Canadian backbone of the Net online after a series of catastrophes have brought about a worldwide apocalypse. It’s a good story, and to prove it (only if awards are your thing I suppose) it won the 2007 Locus award for best novelette.
- When Sysadmins Ruled the Earth at Baen’s Universe
- When Sysadmins Ruled the Earth at Doctorow’s Craphound
On a completely different note I need to figure out if and how short stories will add into my overall total for the 45 books in 2010. I’m thinking 2-1 if they are novellas, or 3 or 4-1 for novelettes. Hell I might not even care.
ISC Charges Arise From EU
December 16th, 2009
Tuesday the International Cuttlefish Society (ISC) was implicated in a massive money laundering and tax evasion scheme that touched virtually every government in Europe. Sources say that the ISC had worked in coordination with various crime lords of Ukraine and Russia in an attempt to launder billions of dollars through local European aquariums and zoos in exchange for cooperation during what it described as the "end of all ends, the day His Worshipful Death would arise from his eternal slumber."
Apparently, the ISC was merely a cover for some sort of underworld cult hell bent on world destruction, but as of yet we have been unable to tie them with any particular religious order. Some have said that they are a front for a fictional group known as the Cult of Cthulhu based on the writings of H.P. Lovecraft, but that cannot be confirmed.
The ISC was laundering money for the gangsters by funneling it through various aquariums 
and zoos as bloated charges for cuttlefish, cuttlefish care, and supplies. Since the ISC possesses a basic monopoly on cuttlefish breeding programs and cuttlefish skin harvesting, used by scientists, everyone attributed the gross increases to the global recession.
Representatives from the ISC were unreachable for comment, but followers and members world wide have been seen wearing tentacled masks and sporting large ceremonial daggers.
"Some people are getting nervous," said an aquarium worker that wishes to remain anonymous, "cuttlefish are starting to disappear. And those people are everywhere!" Reporters for Al-Jazeera cornered one masked man who screamed, "Ph’nglui mglw’nafh Cthulhu R’lyeh wgah’nagl fhtagn!" before the reporter, cameraman, and producer were all stabbed to death and their bodies dragged 
off. The same phrase has turned up at several aquariums in the Mediterranean region, especially in Spain and Greece, painted in blood near entrances.
In a seemingly unrelated issue, thousands of ocean geologists are baffled by the apparent appearance of a previously uncharted island in the Pacific basin. The island evidently has what can only be described as non-euclidean buildings intact. Some are calling this the lost Atlantis, and many are making the pilgrimage there now.
The Church of the Misplaced Norsemen
December 9th, 2009
What started out as a joke has turned into a full blown website for all of those people who think they are Vikings at heart. The deal is that during a dream I found Odin still hanging fro Yggdrasil and asked what gives? he explained that some strange Flying Spaghetti Monster hung him there as a joke and now he can’t get down. This evidently led to the eventually decline and scattering of Norsemen worldwide. Odin wants down and we can help buy simply commenting at The Church of the Misplaced Norsemen and lending our prayers for his release.
So go help out, or join our Facebook page.
Felicia Day’s DYWTDMA Completely Awesome!
November 17th, 2009
The Droid Cometh
November 11th, 2009
So yesterday I received my first phone upgrade in almost 2 years, Verizon’s new Motorola Droid. So far there really are only two things that I can say negative about it.
1. The antenna is noticeably weaker than it was in my Blackberry 8830. However, the 8830 has the best cellular antenna on any phone I have ever seen so it wasn’t a surpise to me.
2. The keyboard is just slightly smaller than I would have liked. But again, it is huge in comparrison to the minute keyboard on the 8830. In fact this post was placed using the Droid.
The email app also doesn’t seem to support rulesets, but again this isn’t a huge issue.
The good attributes are simply too long to list. The screen is amazing! And video plays with seemingly HD quality. The unit is very responsive and I am generally in love with it.
I cannot as of yet give an accurate account of battery life as today is the first day of a full charge, but I will let you know later.
Pics follow, sorry for their quality. I only had access to a camera phone. 
Rowling Sued over Plagiarism Accusations
June 17th, 2009
The estate of Adrian Jacobs is suing best-selling author J.K. Rowling over claims that the Harry Potter books allegedly copy Jacob’s novel, “Willy The Wizard.”
According to the suit, “Willy” follows a child discovering he has magical powers and was published ten years before the first “Harry Potter” book was published and three years before Rowling says she dreamed up the Harry, Ron and Ginny.
He allegedly sent the manuscript to Christopher Little, the literary agent at Bloomsbury Publishing who went on to represent Miss Rowling, but it was rejected.
Instead his book was published by a smaller company under the title The Adventures Of Willy The Wizard No 1: Livid Land.
Mr Jacobs, who lost all his money in a stock market crash in 1991, died in 1997, so did not live to see the Harry Potter books’ success.
But his estate – which includes his son and grandson – now claims Miss Rowling’s fourth book, Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire, was plagiarised [sic].
In both books, the boy wizard competes in a magic contest.
The lawsuit also notes both have the boys trying to rescue human hostages held by half-human creatures from a bathroom.
Shared references to a wizard train and a wizard prison are also part of the allegations.
Legal proceedings have been issued at the High Court against Bloomsbury, and the Jacobs estate also says it will file a lawsuit against Miss Rowling.
The estate is also seeking an injunction to prevent further sales of Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire, and damages or a share in the book’s profits.
The Dice-O-Matic
June 16th, 2009
Basic Geek Survival – Zombie 101
June 11th, 2009
Tor.com has a funny little piece by Zachary Rich on how geeks can survive the looming zombie-apocalypse. It’s funny, read it. Also check out Zach’s pod cast Geek Survival Guide.
It’s pretty good, with titles like “How to Survive:”
- Dragons
- The loss of a Beloved TV Show
- Big Brother
- Gremlins
- The Thing
- etc…
goodreads
