Political Idiocy Week, #3

April 13, 2010

Well okay, this happened over a week ago, but it’s still priceless. In this video Congressman Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) wonders whether the addition of 8000 troops will cause Guam to capsize. Not the USS Guam, which might make sense, but the island, which last I heard was anchored solidly to the planet. The naval officer […]

Read the full article →

Portales

April 9, 2010

I’m out on the Llano Estecado, in Portales, for the annual Jack Williamson lecture. Having fun with Connie Willis, Ian Tregillis, Melinda Snodgrass, Patrice Caldwell, and all the regulars. Tomorrow I meet with students, do panels, and— y’know— stuff.

Read the full article →

Avatar Comparison Chart

April 7, 2010

There’s nothing wrong with this Avatar Comparison Chart except that it leaves out A Man Called Horse, which with its sequels has exactly the same story. [via Janice]

Read the full article →

Shadow Network

April 7, 2010

Another enormous online spy network, dubbed Shadow Network, has been revealed by those wonky Canadian online cowboys of the Munk School of Global Affairs. Shadow Network’s targets included the Dalai Lama (who was targeted last year by another spy network, the Ghost Net), but they were interested primarily in India.According to the report by the […]

Read the full article →

Premium Channels

April 7, 2010

The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled 3-0 that the FCC has no legal authority to enforce net neutrality on broadband providers. Providers could, for example, charge extra for larger files, or restrict access to sites that provide content they don’t approve of, or— as Comcast has already done— sent forged […]

Read the full article →

From My Dream Life . . .

April 7, 2010

The yodeling of the Baka pygmies, which tonight will feature in my dreams.

Read the full article →

One Lonely Star

April 4, 2010

I am rarely delighted by my one-star Amazon reviews. Especially when I’m taken to task for making up dumb stuff, when in fact I did scrupulous research and the reviewer didn’t bother to simply google the topic and find that out. (Okay, that one still rankles.)But at least I’m in good company. Jeanette Demain over […]

Read the full article →

Russia Breaks IKEA

April 2, 2010

So Swedish blond furniture giant IKEA decided to open outlets in Russia. Turns out it was a bad idea.From the start the company announced that even in Russia it would be adhering to its clearly-formulated Swedish rules, based on the Protestant work ethic and unanswerable logic. As a result, Khimki officials turned off the electricity […]

Read the full article →

Istanbul

April 1, 2010

On April 1, one year ago today, I looked out the window of my hotel room and saw this. My oh my.

Read the full article →

The Leaf, Trembling

April 1, 2010

I put aside my Nebula reading for some stories by W. Somerset Maugham, his collection The Trembling of a Leaf. These are stories set in Samoa or Honolulu or on the long passage somewhere between, and include “Rain,” the story that introduced the world to Miss Sadie Thompson, the hooker with a heart of sulfuric […]

Read the full article →

Contact Us | Terms of User | Trademarks | Privacy Statement

Copyright © 2010 WJW. All Rights Reserved.