Friday, March 18, 2005
Random Podcasts
Looking to spice up your Podcast listening? Check out Podcast Shuffle, which randomly serves up new podcast every day. Pretty nifty, though I haven't tried any of the podcasts its served up yet. I found the link via Ranchero's blog, the nice folks who make NetNewsWire for Mac OS X.
Geeking Out
I got to do the bachelor thing last night, as Sue and Jordan were out at a Longaberger Basket party, so I geeked out and spent the entire evening reading comic books and watching X-Men 2.
If you'd like an indication of the sort of impacting having a kid has on my ability to geek out on a regular basis, I was reading comics that I bought in October and I got X2 for Christmas, but only just now had time to watch it.
I got caught up on the time-tripping storyline in Superman/Batman, which isn't as good as the first half-dozen or so issues that launched the series (mostly because of the constant jumping around, which interfered with rather than enhanced the story) but it was still a fun read. I also read through my X-men books; I enjoyed the "New Brotherhood" arc with Black Tom and Juggernaut, but I really, really wish they'd just kill of Xorn once and for all. I'm willing to suspend my disbelief when it comes to comic book physics, but come on, a guy with a black hole for a brain?
If you'd like an indication of the sort of impacting having a kid has on my ability to geek out on a regular basis, I was reading comics that I bought in October and I got X2 for Christmas, but only just now had time to watch it.
I got caught up on the time-tripping storyline in Superman/Batman, which isn't as good as the first half-dozen or so issues that launched the series (mostly because of the constant jumping around, which interfered with rather than enhanced the story) but it was still a fun read. I also read through my X-men books; I enjoyed the "New Brotherhood" arc with Black Tom and Juggernaut, but I really, really wish they'd just kill of Xorn once and for all. I'm willing to suspend my disbelief when it comes to comic book physics, but come on, a guy with a black hole for a brain?
Thursday, March 17, 2005
Flame On!
I've been making a concerted effort to avoid flame wars online. They never seem to be worth the effort you put into them, and after a few first few posts the chances of actually convincing anyone of your opinion become vanishingly small.
That's not to say I don't enjoy reading other people's flame wars, and if you want to read out a great one, check out John Scalzi's post entitled "James Valvis at it Again" on his blog Whatever.
In it, Scalzi responds to some criticism of his first published book, Old Man's War by another, unpublished writer named James Valvis (well, unpublished in the commercial sense of the word; he's apparently got a few credits under his belt, but no big books sales).
It's a fascinating read, partly because Scalzi really is a good writer, and a damn amusing one as well. He's deft at responding to Valvis's self-righteous screeches, and the comments from the peanut gallery (particularly about Scalzi's ass-kissing prowess with publishers) do a good job of breaking up the increasingly length dialogue.
As for Valvis, well, I can't say too much about him, since this is the first I've heard of him. He does strike me as being one of the "happy-to-be-a-starving-artist" types, which as a group are people that I have very little patience for.
As for the quality of Old Man's War, well, it's on my reading list. At the pace I'm going right now, I should get to it around 2008.
That's not to say I don't enjoy reading other people's flame wars, and if you want to read out a great one, check out John Scalzi's post entitled "James Valvis at it Again" on his blog Whatever.
In it, Scalzi responds to some criticism of his first published book, Old Man's War by another, unpublished writer named James Valvis (well, unpublished in the commercial sense of the word; he's apparently got a few credits under his belt, but no big books sales).
It's a fascinating read, partly because Scalzi really is a good writer, and a damn amusing one as well. He's deft at responding to Valvis's self-righteous screeches, and the comments from the peanut gallery (particularly about Scalzi's ass-kissing prowess with publishers) do a good job of breaking up the increasingly length dialogue.
As for Valvis, well, I can't say too much about him, since this is the first I've heard of him. He does strike me as being one of the "happy-to-be-a-starving-artist" types, which as a group are people that I have very little patience for.
As for the quality of Old Man's War, well, it's on my reading list. At the pace I'm going right now, I should get to it around 2008.
Finding Serenity
While surfing around on Amazon.com I came across a new book called Finding Serenity : Anti-Heroes, Lost Shepherds and Space Hookers in Joss Whedon's Firefly by Benbella Books. It's a collection essays analyzing Joss Whedon's Firefly.
I'm intrigued, and I've requested a review copy of it for Nuketown, but so far there's been no word back from the publisher.
I'm intrigued, and I've requested a review copy of it for Nuketown, but so far there's been no word back from the publisher.
2005 Nuketown Readers Survey
I'm running a Readers Survey over at Nuketown in an attempt to figure out what people like and don't like about the site. Take the survey.
Wednesday, March 16, 2005
Serenity: The Role-Playing Game
GamingReport has word that Sovereign Press will be releasing the Serenity Role-Playing Game, a game based on the movie that was based on the short-lived-but-still-excellent sci-fi western Firefly by Joss Whedon.
Got all that?
According to the GamingReport, the game will focus on the movie, and ignore the series, which is something I find a little bizarre. While I have high hopes for the movie, I can't believe it has enough content to drive an RPG all by itself; I'm thinking there must be a snafu with the rights to the series preventing Sovereign from exploiting it. Either that, or they're saving the series for a supplemental source book or two.
Unfortunately, Sovereign's web site is mum on the subject. In fact, the web site has to be one of the lamest I've ever seen for a gaming company; just contact information and some links to their more robust sites for Dragonlance and Larry Elmore. Granted, it's better than nothing, but only nominally so.
Got all that?
According to the GamingReport, the game will focus on the movie, and ignore the series, which is something I find a little bizarre. While I have high hopes for the movie, I can't believe it has enough content to drive an RPG all by itself; I'm thinking there must be a snafu with the rights to the series preventing Sovereign from exploiting it. Either that, or they're saving the series for a supplemental source book or two.
Unfortunately, Sovereign's web site is mum on the subject. In fact, the web site has to be one of the lamest I've ever seen for a gaming company; just contact information and some links to their more robust sites for Dragonlance and Larry Elmore. Granted, it's better than nothing, but only nominally so.
Tuesday, March 15, 2005
"Ready for an upgrade chummer?"
I haven't played Shadowrun since college, but I've always had a soft spot for its mix of fantasy and cyberpunk. I'm happy to see that FanPro's releasing a 4th edition in August 2005, but I can't say that new edition will return me to its digital fold. The world, as they say, has moved on.
HTML Special Characters
Scratching your head trying to find a list of special characters for HTML? Then check out this page at the now-defunct (but still online) WebMonky Web site. It's got everything from cedillas to umlauts.
Monday, March 14, 2005
Google Bar for Firefox
If you like Firefox, but are disappointed that the Google Toolbar is Internet Explorer-only, then check out the "googlebar". It's an open source toolbar for Firefox and Mozilla that seeks to emulate many of the features found in the official toolbar.
It can:
It can:
- Restrict a search to the site you're currently on
- Perform an "I'm Feeling Lucky" search
- Do searches of specific Google directories (i.e. Mac and Unix)
- Search highlighted text
- And many more things I won't list here.
iPodder.org Gets Sci-Fi Category
The number of science fiction podcasts continues to grow, so much so that iPodder.org has added a new "Science Fiction" category.
I'll be checking out three of them this week: Wizard News Podcast, Sci-Fi Talk and Requiem of the Outcast.
iPodder.org itself just got a facelift; I'm not sure if I like the new version any better than the old. The directory has only the most basic browsing functionality, meaning you have to drill down through each section to look at the podcasts. There's no search function, which is a real liability IMHO.
Once you do drill down, the only thing you see is the name of the show--there's no description--and the hyperlink is a small globe icon next to the show's name. Why can the show's name itself be linked, with the initial front page summary listed beneath it? Those two changes, combined with search, would make the whole site a heck of a lot easier to use.
I'll be checking out three of them this week: Wizard News Podcast, Sci-Fi Talk and Requiem of the Outcast.
iPodder.org itself just got a facelift; I'm not sure if I like the new version any better than the old. The directory has only the most basic browsing functionality, meaning you have to drill down through each section to look at the podcasts. There's no search function, which is a real liability IMHO.
Once you do drill down, the only thing you see is the name of the show--there's no description--and the hyperlink is a small globe icon next to the show's name. Why can the show's name itself be linked, with the initial front page summary listed beneath it? Those two changes, combined with search, would make the whole site a heck of a lot easier to use.
Sunday, March 13, 2005
Science Fiction Blogs: Resistance is Futile!
Once upon a time, I struggled to find any science fiction blogs. Now Nuketown's "Science Fiction Blog" link index has 21 entries.
It's astounding, and what I find most impressive is that we're not just talking enthusiast blogs here; we've also got several blogs by science fiction writers (the best of which is easily John Scalzi's Whatever), two supporting scifi franchises (Serenity, which is admittedly not very current, and Battlestar Galactica, which is a strong example of how a blog can enrich and empower a TV production).
It's astounding, and what I find most impressive is that we're not just talking enthusiast blogs here; we've also got several blogs by science fiction writers (the best of which is easily John Scalzi's Whatever), two supporting scifi franchises (Serenity, which is admittedly not very current, and Battlestar Galactica, which is a strong example of how a blog can enrich and empower a TV production).
Get to the Escape Pod!
It's official: Nuketown Radio Active is now live. Check out the site or subscribe to the feed.
Friday, March 11, 2005
Nuketown Radio Active #1
The first edition of Nuketown's new podcast is now done, edited, and online. I haven't created the RSS feed for it yet, but you can download the mp3 file via this link. The show runs about 30 minutes, and is a 30 mb download; expect much fanfare on Nuketown once the feed goes live.
Topics discussed include Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash, Marvel's limited series honoring the 10th anniversary of the Age of Apocalypse, grammar and e-mail, and the upcoming release of The Incredibles DVD.
So how is the show? Well, I think it's a decent enough freshman effort. I learned that what I thought was a half-hour limit to recording in GarageBand was just a misunderstanding on my part. I also discovered that if you record new audio into a track, it will overwrite what's already there. That caused me to do a little first aid to restore lost audio, and if it sounds particularly choppy in places, that's why (well, aside from the parts where I tripped over my words and/or made a few "Kennisms").
Topics discussed include Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash, Marvel's limited series honoring the 10th anniversary of the Age of Apocalypse, grammar and e-mail, and the upcoming release of The Incredibles DVD.
So how is the show? Well, I think it's a decent enough freshman effort. I learned that what I thought was a half-hour limit to recording in GarageBand was just a misunderstanding on my part. I also discovered that if you record new audio into a track, it will overwrite what's already there. That caused me to do a little first aid to restore lost audio, and if it sounds particularly choppy in places, that's why (well, aside from the parts where I tripped over my words and/or made a few "Kennisms").
Games & Hoaxes
I've got two new articles up on Nuketown. The first is a review of Games Quarterly, a print magazine that covers all manner of non-electronic gaming, from board games to card games to wargames.
Second, I have a debunking of the "Phenylpropanolamine Chain Letter", a scare mail that talks about a very real drug recall but (as is often the case with these things) mixes in unhealthy doses of misinformation.
Regarding hoax debunking, you can expect to see more of them on Nuketown in coming months; I'm going to be trying to get back into the debunking groove with two write-ups a month.
Second, I have a debunking of the "Phenylpropanolamine Chain Letter", a scare mail that talks about a very real drug recall but (as is often the case with these things) mixes in unhealthy doses of misinformation.
Regarding hoax debunking, you can expect to see more of them on Nuketown in coming months; I'm going to be trying to get back into the debunking groove with two write-ups a month.
Comments on Comments
I've been wondering for the last few weeks why the number of comments on The Atomic Age have trinkled down to nothing. Were the posts just not grabbing people's attention? Did something I said alienate the blog's fledgling readership? Was some mysterious force preventing people from posting?
It turns out the last one was correct. Or at least, I think that's what the problem was. The "mysterious force" was Blogger, and I think when they upgraded their comments system, they fubared comments on this blog. I'd had it setup so that you had have a Blogger account in order to leave a commet. However, with this option enabled, if you tried to leave a comment you got sent to a "blog not found" error page.
If you happened to be logged in to Blogger at the time, then you could leave a comment, but if not, no dice. So I've changed the settings within Blogger, and made comments open to all. This seems to have worked--the "blog not found" error is now gone when you click on "Leave a Comment"--so hopefully this will let folks around here get back to talking.
It turns out the last one was correct. Or at least, I think that's what the problem was. The "mysterious force" was Blogger, and I think when they upgraded their comments system, they fubared comments on this blog. I'd had it setup so that you had have a Blogger account in order to leave a commet. However, with this option enabled, if you tried to leave a comment you got sent to a "blog not found" error page.
If you happened to be logged in to Blogger at the time, then you could leave a comment, but if not, no dice. So I've changed the settings within Blogger, and made comments open to all. This seems to have worked--the "blog not found" error is now gone when you click on "Leave a Comment"--so hopefully this will let folks around here get back to talking.
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