Those of you who run your blogs independently should really consider replacing your normal CAPTCHA (Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart) with reCAPTCHA.
reCAPTCHA uses people's responses to their CAPTCHAs to help transcribe old books to text format. Unlike the image formats that you often find old books in (the pdf copies and such), the texts resulting from reCAPTCHA can be copy & pasted and ctrl-F'ed (not to be confused with "F'ed up").
I bring this up for two reasons. First, I've been meaning to for a while, especially since I strongly support their goal, and seriously wish that all my books were compatible with the ctrl-F feature. Second, I just discovered that stumble upon uses reCAPTCHA, which pleases me greatly. I hadn't realized that reCAPTCHA was well enough known to catch the attention of the folks at Stumble.
I would use it myself if I didn't host this blog on Blogger. Speaking of which, how 'bout we switch over to reCAPTCHA, guys?
Friday, April 25, 2008
Monday, March 17, 2008
More on Spaghetti Sauce
I don't know if he reads this blog or not, but shortly after my last post, Jeff Harrell over at Lies That Are True posted about Malcom Gladwell's spaghetti speech at TED.
At first, I was somewhat put off by the title of his post, assuming that it was a negative post criticizing Gladwell's message in his lecture, but I was incorrect.
Instead, what Jeff is doing is suggesting another positive change he would like to see. I'll leave you to read his post yourself, but I will mention that a certain Amazon.com service is the closest we've gotten to his suggestion in the retail world.
At first, I was somewhat put off by the title of his post, assuming that it was a negative post criticizing Gladwell's message in his lecture, but I was incorrect.
Instead, what Jeff is doing is suggesting another positive change he would like to see. I'll leave you to read his post yourself, but I will mention that a certain Amazon.com service is the closest we've gotten to his suggestion in the retail world.
Saturday, March 8, 2008
Synthesized Happiness, Intellectualism, and the Elite
Watch it.
It'll be interesting to see how many people don't buy it. I do. 100%
In fact, I really love the TED conference. There's so much great stuff going on there, and they really do bring together the foremost minds of our time (as well as some of the most optimistic and proactive). In addition to synthesized happiness, you can see talks on Cheetahs vs Hippos, Spaghetti, sliced bread, and the history of violence. These are just some of those that I have watched and enjoyed, but there are many videos available, and I advise that you browse through them.
The ranty side of this post is brought on by the idea of a gathering of the elite. You may have noticed, as of late, that "elite" has become something of an epithet - particularly in the realm of politics, but in general as well. Somehow, believing that your years of training, thought, and research somehow give you a greater understanding of the intricacies of an issue is not OK. Your opinion couldn't be any more valid than mine, because we're all equal. Well, if you buy the Lockian philosophy that the US of A is founded on, all men were created equal (notice the lack of women...). What those men (or people, as I prefer) do with themselves after that is a matter of circumstance and their own volition - and that's if you accept the premise, which I'm not certain I do.
In other words, when I am getting surgery, I would prefer the surgeon who has been through med school and has years of experience - that is, the elite surgeon. The same thing goes for any other area of human interaction. That surgeon is not an elite mechanic, which is who I would prefer to work on my car. When we get together a lot of elites in fields relating to thought and ideas, I would expect some pretty good ideas to surface, and that is exactly what we see at TED.
It'll be interesting to see how many people don't buy it. I do. 100%
In fact, I really love the TED conference. There's so much great stuff going on there, and they really do bring together the foremost minds of our time (as well as some of the most optimistic and proactive). In addition to synthesized happiness, you can see talks on Cheetahs vs Hippos, Spaghetti, sliced bread, and the history of violence. These are just some of those that I have watched and enjoyed, but there are many videos available, and I advise that you browse through them.
The ranty side of this post is brought on by the idea of a gathering of the elite. You may have noticed, as of late, that "elite" has become something of an epithet - particularly in the realm of politics, but in general as well. Somehow, believing that your years of training, thought, and research somehow give you a greater understanding of the intricacies of an issue is not OK. Your opinion couldn't be any more valid than mine, because we're all equal. Well, if you buy the Lockian philosophy that the US of A is founded on, all men were created equal (notice the lack of women...). What those men (or people, as I prefer) do with themselves after that is a matter of circumstance and their own volition - and that's if you accept the premise, which I'm not certain I do.
In other words, when I am getting surgery, I would prefer the surgeon who has been through med school and has years of experience - that is, the elite surgeon. The same thing goes for any other area of human interaction. That surgeon is not an elite mechanic, which is who I would prefer to work on my car. When we get together a lot of elites in fields relating to thought and ideas, I would expect some pretty good ideas to surface, and that is exactly what we see at TED.
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Check Out My Body
No-no-no-no-no... THIS body, by Shelly Jackson.
It's a great example of a non-gimmicky utilization of the unique capabilities of the web for fiction. What's really amazing is that it's done in basic HTML - the same stuff that could have been used to design the site back in the dark (preferable?) ages before CSS and Flash took over everything. Come to think of it, The text of My Body is copyrighted 1997, so maybe the site is quite old.
Dunno. I do know that you should check it out.
It's a great example of a non-gimmicky utilization of the unique capabilities of the web for fiction. What's really amazing is that it's done in basic HTML - the same stuff that could have been used to design the site back in the dark (preferable?) ages before CSS and Flash took over everything. Come to think of it, The text of My Body is copyrighted 1997, so maybe the site is quite old.
Dunno. I do know that you should check it out.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
13 Bullets
...which, incidentally, is the number of bullets held in the magazine of the glock 23, which is issued to FBI agents on graduation from academy (unless they want a 22).
13 Bullets is also the book that David Wellington feels is his best work. It's a vampire action/horror novel. Mr. Wellington claims to be reacting to the Anne Rice vampire archetype wherein the vampires are smooth characters in lace collars, and intensely sexual beings. This is the current norm in the genre, but certainly not in Wellington's novel.
Wellington's vampires are hunters - more like sharks than gentlemen. Like many vampires they look as though they were carved from marble, but unlike most, they have rows upon rows of sharp teeth. They don't puncture veins to get at blood, they rip off arms.
Like most good books, however, the vampires and the morbid atmosphere are secondary to the character relationships. I find the reason hard to pinpoint, but Wellington's novel reminds me of Laurel K. Hamilton's Anita Blake series. (which, by the way, have the most consistently hokey, over-manipulated photo covers. *sigh*).
I think it is largely the protagonists of the series - both are sort of cops, but not. Both are fixated on getting the monsters, but simultaneously afraid of their own inner monster. They aren't the same person - not by a long shot - but they fill a very similar role. They're the same archetype, if you will.
Wellington might cringe at the comparison, since Anita Blake is the kind of vampire hunter who he is reacting to - one who, as the series goes on, is seduced by the monsters she was (and often still is) fighting. But it is actually this fact that provided the clincher for me in terms of character similarity. Anita Blake is horribly frightened that she might be as much of a monster as those she is constantly fighting, largely (though not entirely) because of her continually increasing involvement in the "monster world." Although the cause of the feeling is different for Wellington's Laura Caxton, she too becomes frightened of her own perceived lack of humanity.
Ironically, this precise worry helps humanize these leading ladies.
Well, OK, neither of them are very lady-like, but you get the idea.
13 Bullets is also the book that David Wellington feels is his best work. It's a vampire action/horror novel. Mr. Wellington claims to be reacting to the Anne Rice vampire archetype wherein the vampires are smooth characters in lace collars, and intensely sexual beings. This is the current norm in the genre, but certainly not in Wellington's novel.
Wellington's vampires are hunters - more like sharks than gentlemen. Like many vampires they look as though they were carved from marble, but unlike most, they have rows upon rows of sharp teeth. They don't puncture veins to get at blood, they rip off arms.
Like most good books, however, the vampires and the morbid atmosphere are secondary to the character relationships. I find the reason hard to pinpoint, but Wellington's novel reminds me of Laurel K. Hamilton's Anita Blake series. (which, by the way, have the most consistently hokey, over-manipulated photo covers. *sigh*).
I think it is largely the protagonists of the series - both are sort of cops, but not. Both are fixated on getting the monsters, but simultaneously afraid of their own inner monster. They aren't the same person - not by a long shot - but they fill a very similar role. They're the same archetype, if you will.
Wellington might cringe at the comparison, since Anita Blake is the kind of vampire hunter who he is reacting to - one who, as the series goes on, is seduced by the monsters she was (and often still is) fighting. But it is actually this fact that provided the clincher for me in terms of character similarity. Anita Blake is horribly frightened that she might be as much of a monster as those she is constantly fighting, largely (though not entirely) because of her continually increasing involvement in the "monster world." Although the cause of the feeling is different for Wellington's Laura Caxton, she too becomes frightened of her own perceived lack of humanity.
Ironically, this precise worry helps humanize these leading ladies.
Well, OK, neither of them are very lady-like, but you get the idea.
Friday, January 25, 2008
Books That Make You Dumb
OK, I don't like the title of Books That Make You Dumb so much, but that's because I feel that the study also goes to show which books make you smart.
OK, pretensions and condescensions aside, Virgil has compiled a very nice chart, backed by very nice statistical analysis (OK, it wasn't that complicated, but it must have taken a lot of work).... as I was saying, a very nice chart correlating favorite books with people's intelligence, or at least their scholastic aptitude.
He took the top 10 favorite books (as listed on facebook) of 1300 or so universities. He then used the average SAT scores of undergraduates at said universities to give each of the most popular books it's own average SAT score. Actually, he gives us a range, but you get the idea.
He uses this data to present us with three excellent charts - all with the same information; only the grouping is changed.
Two of the charts group books by genre, and here is the only place I quibble with Mr. Virgil (OK, Virgil is his first name, but I like to say it this way). A Tree Grows In Brooklyn is Children's Lit? What particularly makes Brave New World Sci-Fi, but A Clockwork Orange Dystopian? And Wuthering Heights is a classic, but Pride and Prejudice is Chick Lit? Really?
Anyhow, you know of my inability to praise without poking, but really, I love the study, and you should all definitely check it out.
OK, pretensions and condescensions aside, Virgil has compiled a very nice chart, backed by very nice statistical analysis (OK, it wasn't that complicated, but it must have taken a lot of work).... as I was saying, a very nice chart correlating favorite books with people's intelligence, or at least their scholastic aptitude.
He took the top 10 favorite books (as listed on facebook) of 1300 or so universities. He then used the average SAT scores of undergraduates at said universities to give each of the most popular books it's own average SAT score. Actually, he gives us a range, but you get the idea.
He uses this data to present us with three excellent charts - all with the same information; only the grouping is changed.
Two of the charts group books by genre, and here is the only place I quibble with Mr. Virgil (OK, Virgil is his first name, but I like to say it this way). A Tree Grows In Brooklyn is Children's Lit? What particularly makes Brave New World Sci-Fi, but A Clockwork Orange Dystopian? And Wuthering Heights is a classic, but Pride and Prejudice is Chick Lit? Really?
Anyhow, you know of my inability to praise without poking, but really, I love the study, and you should all definitely check it out.
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Zombie Love
Maintaining the morbid theme developed in my last entry, I present to you some good ol' zombie lovin' by Isaac Marion
I find it difficult to admit that I liked reading a touching story about zombies, but I did. I'm not really sure why the author chose the subject, but he made it work - and I do mean made it work. It almost feels as though the topic was a creative writing prompt, and Marion just ran with it.
Perhaps I will continue this theme by reviewing Thirteen Bullets in my next post - or maybe I'll review The Prestige. We shall see.
I find it difficult to admit that I liked reading a touching story about zombies, but I did. I'm not really sure why the author chose the subject, but he made it work - and I do mean made it work. It almost feels as though the topic was a creative writing prompt, and Marion just ran with it.
Perhaps I will continue this theme by reviewing Thirteen Bullets in my next post - or maybe I'll review The Prestige. We shall see.
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Cthulhu and Gaiman, sitting in a tree
Arr apostraphe ell why eee aych.... yeah...
So Neil Gaiman has posted some Lovecraftian fiction here.
Or, at least, I wanted to call it "lovecraftian" at first. Unfortunately, the more I think about it, the less I am able to differentiate between what Gaiman has done and fanfiction. Perhaps that's why it is posted on his blog?
So tell me - is this truly fanfic, or is my head unable to catch something that my gut does? Perhaps it is merely that I generally dislike the fanfic I come across and tend to think of it as intellectually lazy that I fail to acknowledge the potential for genuinely innovative, clever, and appealing fiction within the... genre?
Go read the story and tell me what you think.
So Neil Gaiman has posted some Lovecraftian fiction here.
Or, at least, I wanted to call it "lovecraftian" at first. Unfortunately, the more I think about it, the less I am able to differentiate between what Gaiman has done and fanfiction. Perhaps that's why it is posted on his blog?
So tell me - is this truly fanfic, or is my head unable to catch something that my gut does? Perhaps it is merely that I generally dislike the fanfic I come across and tend to think of it as intellectually lazy that I fail to acknowledge the potential for genuinely innovative, clever, and appealing fiction within the... genre?
Go read the story and tell me what you think.
Thursday, January 3, 2008
Update
Hey everyone - I'm currently in training for my job (for the fourth time.... either this is a teeensy bit redundant or I've been working for two years without being properly trained. *sigh*).
Anyway, It might be a week before I post again. Things are pretty hectic (12 hour days, plus an excrement-load of stuff to get done before training ends).
-S
Anyway, It might be a week before I post again. Things are pretty hectic (12 hour days, plus an excrement-load of stuff to get done before training ends).
-S
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