elf hill

Honour Your Inner Magpie

Mindfulness of the Shinies

Phoenix or Bust!
cmpriest
Tomorrow morning, bright and early, I'm heading out for Phoenix Comic Con! And though the trip itself will be long and boring, the weekend promises to be a blast. So come out and see me! Here's my schedule.

Also, here's my Twitter feed. I link it here, because the odds are very high that I won't be doing any blogging - just snapping selfies and other assorted shenanigans, and uploading it all for your amusement.

So! Tune in, show up, be amused. That's my suggestion.
And for now ... I'm outta here!

[:: zoosh ::]


five things
boxofdelights
[personal profile] petra is writing ficlets! And she wrote one for me! It's Alex Drake from Ashes to Ashes and Sammy Dunbar from Michael: Tuesdays and Thursdays. If you haven't seen Michael: Tuesdays and Thursdays, Sammy is Holly Day from the first season of Slings & Arrows, as a book editor. All the ambition, amorality and manipulativeness in a much smaller arena.

Packing for Wiscon. Cannot fit all my Jo Walton books in my carryon even if I don't bring clothes. Should I check a bag? I don't think I own another.

Moderating Choice Feminism: Many people say that feminism is about providing more choices for people. There are people who, faced with this variety of choices, choose the same thing that the kyriarchy would have chosen for them. Can feminism support a variety of choices? How much variety? If there are choices feminism can't support, can it speak without massively disrespecting the women who make those choices? 10:00 PM - 11:15 PM Sunday, Conference 4. Competing for your attention with parties, Genderfloomp, and bed.

I have a five-hour layover in MSP on Monday, on the way back. What should I do?

Reading Reading Classes and The Highest Frontier for Wiscon. Think the last book I finished was State of Wonder. Next will probably be a reread of one these I'm putting in my suitcase for Wiscon.

This entry was originally posted at http://boxofdelights.dreamwidth.org/220434.html. Please comment there using OpenID.

Burlesque Picture of the Day, 2013-05-22
rmjwell
( You are about to view content that may only be appropriate for adults. )

Crossing the Hudson.
porcinea
First, riding along it. Hello, Henry Hudson bridge!

Chicago bound. On time departure on train 49, the Lake Shore Ltd.

"The Global Cyber Game"
bruce_schneier

http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2013/05/the_global_cybe.html

This 127-page report was just published by the UK Defence Academy. I have not read it yet, but it looks really interesting.

Executive Summary: This report presents a systematic way of thinking about cyberpower and its use by a variety of global players. The urgency of addressing cyberpower in this way is a consequence of the very high value of the Internet and the hazards of its current militarization.

Cyberpower and cyber security are conceptualized as a 'Global Game' with a novel 'Cyber Gameboard' consisting of a nine-cell grid. The horizontal direction on the grid is divided into three columns representing aspects of information (i.e. cyber): connection, computation and cognition. The vertical direction on the grid is divided into three rows representing types of power: coercion, co-option, and cooperation. The nine cells of the grid represent all the possible combinations of power and information, that is, forms of cyberpower.

The Cyber Gameboard itself is also an abstract representation of the surface of cyberspace, or C-space as defined in this report. C-space is understood as a networked medium capable of conveying various combinations of power and information to produce effects in physical or 'flow space,' referred to as F-space in this report. Game play is understood as the projection via C-space of a cyberpower capability existing in any one cell of the gameboard to produce an effect in F-space vis-a-vis another player in any other cell of the gameboard. By default, the Cyber Game is played either actively or passively by all those using network connected computers. The players include states, businesses, NGOs, individuals, non-state political groups, and organized crime, among others. Each player is seen as having a certain level of cyberpower when its capability in each cell is summed across the whole board. In general states have the most cyberpower.

The possible future path of the game is depicted by two scenarios, N-topia and N-crash. These are the stakes for which the Cyber Game is played. N-topia represents the upside potential of the game, in which the full value of a globally connected knowledge society is realized. N-crash represents the downside potential, in which militarization and fragmentation of the Internet cause its value to be substantially destroyed. Which scenario eventuates will be determined largely by the overall pattern of play of the Cyber Game.

States have a high level of responsibility for determining the outcome. The current pattern of play is beginning to resemble traditional state-on-state geopolitical conflict. This puts the civil Internet at risk, and civilian cyber players are already getting caught in the crossfire. As long as the civil Internet remains undefended and easily permeable to cyber attack it will be hard to achieve the N-topia scenario.

Defending the civil Internet in depth, and hardening it by re-architecting will allow its full social and economic value to be realized but will restrict the potential for espionage and surveillance by states. This trade-off is net positive and in accordance with the espoused values of Western-style democracies. It does however call for leadership based on enlightened self-interest by state players.


Venus Probe Success/Fail
james_nicoll
Just for my own curiosity

Is this right?

        Total  Fail  Success Success Rate
1960s    19     14     5         26%
1970s    11      3*    8         73%
1980s     8      .33   7.67      96%
1990s    --      --    --        -- 
2000s     3            3        100% 
2010s     1       1**              0%


* Counting partial failures as 1/2
** Second try coming up in 2016.

Also posted at Dreamwidth, where there are comment count unavailable comment(s); comment here or there.

Bisexual Book Awards - Finalist list and press release
catherineldf
Wow, I'm in good company! :-)
Congrats to all the Finalists!

The Bi Writers Association announces their Bisexual Book Award finalists today. The winners will be revealed and awards bestowed at the Bisexual Book Awards Ceremony following the Bi Lines VI reading and multi-arts program on June 2nd.

Awards will be given in seven categories. Finalists are announced today for all categories except Bisexual Book Publisher of the Year, which will be kept secret until the awards ceremony. The awards are open to people of all orientations, except the Bi Writer Award, which goes to the best bi author of the year, from all the categories combined.

Books were nominated by the Bi Writers Association and allowed to be nominated to any category they fit. No limits were set on number of finalists, but were narrowed down to the best in each category by the judges. Bisexual Fiction had the most nominees, and therefore, the most finalists. The judges are a combination of award-winning writers, respected bi writers and passionate bi book readers.

The first list of finalists for the Bisexual Book Awards is announced today
The first list of finalists for the Bisexual Book Awards is announced today
Photo credit:  
Crown Awards

Bisexual Book Awards Finalists List:

Bisexual Fiction
1. 
Beyond Binary: Genderqueer and Sexually Fluid Speculative Fiction, Edited by Brit Mandelo, Lethe Press

2. History of a Pleasure Seeker, Richard Mason, Random House / Knopf
3. In One Person, John Irving, Simon & Schuster
4. The Last Nude, Ellis Avery, Riverhead Books
5. Mount Royal, There’s nothing harder than love, Basil Papademos, Tightrope Books 
6. Silver Moon, Catherine Lundoff, Lethe Press
7. 
Whitetail Shooting Gallery, Annette Lapointe, Anvil Press Publishers

Bisexual Non-fiction
1. 
Girlfag: A Life Told In Sex and Musicals, Janet W. Hardy, Beyond Binary Books
2. My Awesome Place: The Autobiography of Cheryl B, Cheryl Burke, Topside Signature

Bisexual Poetry
1. Fireflies at Absolute Zero, Erynn Rowan Laurie, Hiraeth Press
2. Love Without Limits: The Bi-Laws of Love, Yazmin Monet Watkins, Red Journal Publications
3. 
Shine, Donnelle McGee, Sibling Rivalry Press

Bisexual Erotic Fiction/Erotica
1. Mount Royal, There’s nothing harder than love, Basil Papademos,
2. The Poet and the Prophecy: Magic University Book Four, Cecilia Tan, Ravenous Romance
3. Times Square Queer: Tales of Bad Boys in the Big Apple, Mykola Dementiuk, Renaissance eBooks

Bisexual Speculative Fiction [Science Fiction/Fantasy/Horror]

1. Beyond Binary: Genderqueer and Sexually Fluid Speculative Fiction, Brit Mandelo, Lethe Press
2. Gleams of a Remoter World, Fiona Glass, Riptide Publishing
3. The Poet and the Prophecy: Magic University Book Four, Cecilia Tan, Ravenous Romance
4. Silver Moon, Catherine Lundoff, Lethe Press

Bi Writer Award
1. 
Beyond Binary: Genderqueer and Sexually Fluid Speculative Fiction, Brit Mandelo, Lethe Press 
2. Fireflies at Absolute Zero, Erynn Rowan Laurie, Hiraeth Press
3. 
Girlfag: A Life Told In Sex and Musicals, Janet W. Hardy, Beyond Binary Books
4. My Awesome Place: The Autobiography of Cheryl B, Cheryl Burke, Topside Signature
5. Mount Royal, There’s nothing harder than love, Basil Papademos, Tightrope Books Inc.
6. The Poet and the Prophecy: Magic University Book Four, Cecilia Tan, Ravenous Romance
7. Silver Moon, Catherine Lundoff, Lethe Press
8. Times Square Queer: Tales of Bad Boys in the Big Apple, Mykola Dementiuk, Renaissance eBooks
9. 
Whitetail Shooting Gallery, Annette Lapointe, Anvil Press Publishers

Bi Book Publisher of the Year -Winner will be announced at the Bisexual Book Awards, June 2nd in New York City.

Sheela Lambert
Founder, Bi Writers Association 
Bi Lines VI: A Multi-Arts Celebration of Bisexual Writing & Bisexual Book Awards June 2nd NYC!
Advance Tickets: Nuyorican Poets Cafe website 
http://www.nuyorican.org/
Hosted by the Bi Writers Association 
http://www.biwriters.org


Noble V: Greylancer Giveaway Contest
james_nicoll


Giveaway Contest at the other end of the link (click on the picture). Four copies to the people who can answer "What’s so great about Vampire Hunter D?" in the most interesting way.

Also posted at Dreamwidth, where there are comment count unavailable comment(s); comment here or there.

Hurricane season for Titan's northern hemisphere?
james_nicoll

Saturn's moon Titan might be in for some wild weather as it heads into its spring and summer, if two new models are correct. Scientists think that as the seasons change in Titan's northern hemisphere, waves could ripple across the moon's hydrocarbon seas, and hurricanes could begin to swirl over these areas, too. The model predicting waves tries to explain data from the moon obtained so far by NASA's Cassini spacecraft. Both models help mission team members plan when and where to look for unusual atmospheric disturbances as Titan summer approaches.

Also posted at Dreamwidth, where there are comment count unavailable comment(s); comment here or there.

foreshortened reading Wednesday
pantryslut
I am learning a whole lot about Sam Cooke, the recording and music touring industries in the 1950s, and the various personalities on the r&b scene in that same decade. And it wasn't like I was an ignoramus up to this point, but wow. Extra kudos to author Peter Guralnick for making things like songwriting licensing disputes not only comprehensible but interesting, without resorting to melodramatics. Also, I want to learn more about Clyde McPhatter now.

This week I also read a brand spanking new copy of Henry and Glenn Forever and Ever. Yes, I am obsessed. I don't care.

Matthue Roth's My First Kafka arrived in the mail earlier this week and it is gorgeous. The illustrations by Rohan Daniel Eason are simply outstanding. (Find it here.) Here's the cover so you can see what I mean:



The text is charming, too. No I won't be reading it to my children...yet.

Nepal, ACAP, Poon Hill
votez wrote in landscape

tiny dream post
pantryslut
I had the most epic dreams last night I have had since I was pregnant. (No worries, G.)

A large portion of them involved tasting a mutant melon that had giant seeds encapsulated in juice.
Tags:

Not Quite Friday, but...
bogwitch64
...I leave for Kansas City and ConQuest in the wee hours of tomorrow. I'm not even bringing my computer, even though the hotel has free wifi. Frank will have his, so I'll check my email, but with all that's going on this weekend, I'm NOT spending any more than a few moments on the internet.

So excited to see Mark and Tom, Karin and good chunk of the HRB crew--and especially Eric. NOT excited to get on a plane. Thankfully, it will be full daylight, it's a small plane, and I don't have to be on it all that long. A layover in Chicago will give me a chance to stretch out, de-stress, and BREATHE! I am hoping Mark doesn't have to text me naughty limmericks and beautiful poetry on the way home this year. Whew--still don't know how I'd have made it without him!

BUT! I did write this week! Not much, but something HUGE fell into place. The Shadows One Walks is now at 66,664 words. Here is the weekly snippet...

If you are interested...Collapse )

See you after ConQuest!

India Mars Probe articles
james_nicoll
As reported at the Planetary Society Blog:

A couple of articles on India's Mars Orbiter Mission were published on the news website The Week yesterday, and they're much more in-depth and insightful than the norm.


Mars is an oddly difficult target, with about two-thirds of Mars probes failing before planned mission end, some before observations began. Break a leg, India.

Also posted at Dreamwidth, where there are comment count unavailable comment(s); comment here or there.

What Harper knew and when he knew it curious left ambigious
james_nicoll

Re Duffypocalpse and the Cheque of Doom

In the House of Commons yesterday, Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird, temporarily reverting to his former role as partisan fire extinguisher, said no, Harper knew nothing about the deal until, like other appalled Conservatives, he saw it on the evening news.

Strangely, Harper himself did not say that in his speech to his caucus, at least the portion of it that was public. Nor did Nigel Wright on Sunday, in his resignation letter. Nor did the PMO last week. In his remarks Harper ignored the payment entirely. In the other two cases the language was ever so carefully crafted to allow for some knowledge on his part, though not of “the means” or “the details.”

Also posted at Dreamwidth, where there are comment count unavailable comment(s); comment here or there.

Gosh
james_nicoll

Amazon announced Kindle Worlds today, describing it as “the first commercial publishing platform that will enable any writer to create fan fiction based on a range of original stories and characters and earn royalties for doing so.”

Also posted at Dreamwidth, where there are comment count unavailable comment(s); comment here or there.

Bed available in Concourse for 1-2 roommates
midnightsmagic wrote in wiscon
A roommate had to drop out at the last minute, leaving me with an open bed in the Concourse for 1-2 people for Thursday-Sunday nights. The remaining two of us in the room are nonsmoking women. I own cats. We are okay sharing space with people of any gender. Comment here or e-mail elenargleason at gmail if you are interested.

truck stories and general updates
dichroic

Ted’s got some offsite meetings this week in a place with a cramped parking lot, so he’s been taking the car I usually drive, leaving me with the Mighty Big Truck. (There’s a current country song which contains the line “He can’t be much of a man by the look of that little truck.” I expect hair to begin sprouting on my chest any second now.”) However, in true girly fashion, though I can drive the truck just fine, I can’t park it worth a crap. This is mostly because I can’t park for crap in general – never really learned to parallel park because a week after getting my license I moved out of Philadelphia and since then have never lived in a place where it’s needed, and I can’t back in well (which is a thing you need to do with big trucks) because I have terrible depth perception. Hey, I have a doctor’s opinion on that last part. (Had another eye doctor appointment yesterday. She’s got me wearing reading glasses for reading and computer work, on the theory that will prevent eyestrain and help my eyes relax for distance when I drive.) However, it doesn’t help that the truck doesn’t fit in a single parking space, lengthwise – you have the choice of finding a pull-through spot and taking up all of one space and part of the other or sticking out into the roadway.

Yesterday, I got up early and went to the gym. Getting changed int he locker room afterward, I had a nice conversation with another woman there, in the course of which she asked me what I did. I confessed to being unemployed (well, I think I did mention working on the book) and she kindly mentioned a few local places that may be hiring. We waked out to the parking lot together, and I felt a bit silly climbing into that big truck. She probably thinks now that all authors get huge advances and guaranteed royalties. Oops.

Today I booked a massage, and I know that parking lot is usually pretty full, so this may be challenging. If I have to, at least I have the option of parking at the big box stores’ lot next door and walking. This may be the very definition of first-world problems, but it’s the only vehicle I have today. It’s only a few miles, so I suppose I could bike, but it’s cold and rainy today and the route is all uphill and mostly on big roads. (I’m not frittering away money on the massage; it’s the second one on my birthday giftcard.)

Things are moving on the job front; I had a call with one recruiter and submitted forms requested by another yesterday, and I have a screening call on Thursday with a company (I mean, directly, not a recruiter.) One of the ones from yesterday would be a step up, but it would mean moving again, and I like it here. I’m talking to them just in case the job turns out to be really wonderful. The one tomorrow sounds exciting – nearby, reputation as a great place to work, in a new industry but interfacing with one I know – so I hope that call goes well. The book editing is being a bit difficult, but that’s because I’m working on the most complex chapters of it. The editor is being responsive, though he sounds a bit disappointed that this isn’t as simple and clear as the intro chapters, and I think his comments and criticisms are accurate.

Today’s good news is that I may get to see a former colleague; he’s responsible for the US Western zone, and he’s here this week and in meetings with Ted, so we invited him for dinner. He may need to cancel, though, if work dinners are required. I was planning to make a brisket anyway, with new potatoes and spinach salad, so whether he comes won’t affect the amount of cooking I do, just the amount of leftovers. Possibly I should straighten the house this morning, so that it’s done before I find out whether or not he’s coming. Otherwise, plans for this week are to blitz ahead on the book, though of course further revisions will need to be done after the editor reviews them. I’d like to have as much done as possible while I’m still at home.

Mirrored from Dichroic Reflections.

Tags:

Experience trumps youth
james_nicoll
last night Fig learned that if he tosses the catnip sacket into air in a fit of exuberance, Groucho can snag it out of the air as he gallops past. Cut to sad looking kitten watching a growling cat hunched over the sachet, sitting back to Fig.

Also posted at Dreamwidth, where there are comment count unavailable comment(s); comment here or there.

Yet another thing I didn't know about when I woke up
james_nicoll


The National Personnel Records Center fire of 1973,[1] also referred to as the 1973 National Archives fire was a fire that occurred at the United States National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) in Overland, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis, on July 12, 1973, striking a severe blow to the National Archives and Records Administration of the United States.[...] NPRC, the custodian of military service records, lost approximately 16-18 million official military personnel records as a result of the fire.[...]

[...]

The losses to Federal military records collection included:

80% loss to records of U.S. Army personnel discharged November 1, 1912, to January 1, 1960[2]
75% loss to records of U.S. Air Force personnel discharged September 25, 1947, to January 1, 1964, with names alphabetically after Hubbard, James E.[...]
Some U.S. Army Reserve personnel who performed their initial active duty for training in the late 1950s but who received final discharge as late as 1964.

None of the records that were destroyed in the fire had duplicate copies made, nor had they been copied to microfilm. No index of these records was made prior to the fire, and millions of records were on loan to the Veterans Administration at the time of the fire. This made it difficult to precisely determine which records were lost.

Also posted at Dreamwidth, where there are comment count unavailable comment(s); comment here or there.

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