Sci Fi Jungle

Free Short Story all formats - The Planet Savers by Marion Zimmer Bradley - Free eBook

Marion Zimmer Bradley has written some of the finest science fiction in print. She has been away from our pages too long. So this story is in the nature of a triumphant return. It could well be her best to date.

via manybooks.net

I saw this listed on SFSignal and I am putting it on my list to download to the Kindle. Marion Zimmer Bradley is the author of the Mists of Avalon. I was checking out her Wikipedia article

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marion_Zimmer_Bradley

and she really seems like she was a really cool person. For a while a neo-pagan, she went back to her Episcopalian roots. I am not sure I ever read her work. I hope this is a good representation. But now I have to get back to a battle with some plumbing fixtures.

S.E.G.O. Stands for Saturday Evening Geek Out

Last week, Devilstower introduced the Saturday Evening Geek Out: S.E.G.O. -- Science Fiction You Should Be Reading, and while I don't have his expertise (or writing ability), I've been arguing with the likes of Larry Niven since the 70's when I was a SF geek in college (I went to an engineering school, and we had strong opinions about what was real and what was not, and on the engineering side, what ought to be included and what ought to be thrown away.)

via www.dailykos.com

This is a really dense blog post on DailyKos all about Sci Fi and various flavors thereof. If you're looking for places to spin off into, this is a great portal.  I never write posts that are really rich in hyperlinks.  Maybe I just like to keep my readers here with me instead of sending them off into the short attention span of the internet.  When I do links I tend to want to do the "really useful list of links" that I hope will make it into someone's bookmarks.  Or else I am happily linking away to commercial sites in case you are looking to buy a camcorder.

I am already going to check out Kai Lung's Golden Hour. If Lord Peter Wimsey liked it, I might too. And at the price of free on my Kindle, what's to lose?

Get the eBook KaiLung's Golden Hour here -

http://www.feedbooks.com/book/3906

I am going to have to keep following this Saturday Evening Geek out.

Really Random Blatherings

I had a weird day today - the hubster has the honest to god flu so I had to take off of work to pick up the kids.  He's a mess - can't talk without coughing.  He did get to the doctor in time to get tamiflu so hopefully that will help him get better faster.  It's either that or consider medical travel Mexico.  You can get a lot done but I don't think they have perfected giving you a new body yet.

My kids have a big goal "thermometer chart" up for their behavior and their reward is going to be a DSi XL.  I they ever make it to the top of the thermometer, that is.  Not going so good so far.

Free Alice in Wonderland Audio Book

via booksinaudio.com

Until March 16th Blackstone Audio is giving away a free audio book of Michael York reading Alice in Wonderland. Available in MP3 and M4B. For Kindle use MP3 and put in /audible folder on the Kindle.

Books in the Age of the iPad

We're going to see new forms of storytelling emerge from this canvas. This is an opportunity to redefine modes of conversation between reader and content. And that's one hell of an opportunity if making content is your thing.

via craigmod.com

(photo courtesy of Craig Mod)

This is a very well thought out essay (with gorgeous pictures) about the future of book design in the age of the iPad.

Book designer and author Craig Mod brings up some fascinating concepts such as the differences between Formless and Definite Content and how the one page at a time tablet screen will allow a different type of interface feeling that the 2 page spread of a physical book.

He also gives examples of finely constructed books, made to last, that can form a new model for books in a more high brow mode after we no longer need to publish disposable paperbacks meant for one reading and not made to last. Personally I think textbooks that get new editions every two years are a perfect type of book to phase out into eBooks.  Who wants to buy a a $85 Mesothelioma textbook that weighs 10 pounds and you will never look at again after the class is over.

It's a good article - check it out. 

Bloom Box - Hope or Hype?

Those two blocks can power the average high-consumption American home -- one block can power the average European home. At least that's the claim being made by K.R. Sridhar, founder of Bloom Energy

via www.engadget.com

So if two small Bloom Boxes can power an average American home with clean energy, what's the catch?

I personally have some concerns about the safety of having a small power generator (probably using flammable gas) in your house but what do I know? I would probably be skeptical of the idea of electricity if it were new to me as well.

The other problem the Bloom Box has to overcome is the availability of whatever fuel is used to power the fuel cells. Apparently they can use a number of different types of fuel such as wind and solar, or traditional fossil fuels. So there's still no magic - the energy comes from somewhere and that somewhere probably has some carbon footprint as well.

I think what is most exciting about the Bloom product is that they have some proprietary technology to make the fuel cell cheaper. Right nw they are $700,000 and up, but the company's business plan revolves around having a $3,000 home model at some point. Wow.

Now, if someone can figure out how I can power my home with the leftover calories from a bag of Doritos, that would be pretty cool.  I wonder if Bloom would start working on a fat burner supplement that runs your TV

City of Ember Review

Last night we watched the movie City of Ember.  I had recorded it on our Tivo a few weeks ago from HBO and finally got a chance to watch it.

Its a decent Sci Fi movie, good for a young adult audience as well as adults.  There were a few things I could pick apart, like the almost cartoonish handling of some of the characters such as the Mayor (played by Bill Murray) and Mrs. Murdo.  I think Mrs. Murdo, whose vacant smile and assertions that if they just keep practicing for the Day of Singing everything will be alright, is supposed to represent the complacency and head in the sand attitude that the kids have to fight against.

Basically the plot has to do with humanity living in a vast underground city, which was build by "The Builders" after Earth becomes inhabitable.  They give a box to the Mayo rof the City that will open in 200 years.  It contains instructions for leaving the city and venturing forth above ground.

But the box is misplaced in the back of a closet and when it finally opens no-one is there to know except teenaged Lina.  A great adventure ensues, complete with corrupt officials, steampunk inspired technology, and intrepid teenagers who save the day.  Tip off:  you can tell who the baddies are because ina city with food carefully rationed they are the only ones who look like they need some best fat burner.  This is because they are stealing and hoarding food.

The movie is based off a YA novel by the same name by Jeanne DuPrau.