Linkdump

A collection of links that interested me in the last week or so...

Two boys hack into an ATM and there's a happy ending. But then, it's Winnipeg. I like that they turned the greeting message into a warning.

So, need to get healthy? Apparently two to four continuous days of fasting every six months is good for you. Now, this needs a bit more study, to say the least, but it's still fascinating. I'm not sure I could go for three full days without any food.

Another instance of goofy translation. Only this one really makes no sense whatsoever.

This is an awful lot of effort to go to in order to prove a theory about Vermeer. Wow.

How many of Neil DeGrasse Tyson's favorite sci-fi movies have you seen? There's a couple I haven't.

It's hard to be a good guy with a gun. The idea that you will be the hero because you carry a gun is ridiculous and worse than childish.

I'm not sure I agree that all the books on this list of 85 Young Adult books beloved by adults really are all that great, but some of them are certainly worth checking out.

Links

If you aren't reading Love and Capes, check it out online. At Emerald City Comicon this year we went ahead and got all the trades. It's that good.

Science is also good. Here are 27 science fictions that became fact in 2012.

Speaking of science fiction, here's a heartbreaking essay about lack of reading in Mexico. I see this happening here, too. A culture that does not read for pleasure is a dead culture.

Pay up or have your life ruined. How a judge came down on a group of copyright trolls that threatened people who refused to pay with being associated with porn companies. Nasty stuff, and the account linked is amazing. UPDATE: Boing Boing posted a follow-up today.

Slate has posted a flowchart of How to win any climate change argument, but they should have included at the end "with a reasonable person" since most climate change deniers aren't going to be persuaded by mere facts.

People who seriously believe childhood diseases are "good for you" are mentally ill. An example is given by John Stumbles regarding the death of Roald Dahl's daughter from measles and a current book that actually promotes getting measles as a good thing.

Linkdump

More information about stolen Brent Anderson artwork.

JSA returning? Good news for hubby-Eric, if true.

Of course, I entered the Space Needle contest. I actually would prefer to win dinner at the Space Needle, but a trip into space would be cool, too.

Holy Carp in a Koi Pond! Poetry on-the-fly is a beautiful thing.

Tangible versus Intangible.

I'd try it. Depending on what the frozen Han Solos were made of... (click image for full-size)

NPR wants you to vote for the top 100 Science Fiction and Fantasy titles. Not a bad list to choose from, although some of my favs were missing.

Historic Crayola Rainbow.

Don't you hate it when your whole day is Shatnered?

It appears that 92% of Gingrich's Twitter Followers are fake. I wonder how many of mine are fake?

Wait, these aren't pugs... they aren't even dogs... er...

Right, well for the in-laws: Things that Confuse a Pug.

Links!

We're soon to start off to Oz, so here's some links to tide you over until I can next find an internet connection...

Ah, the Oxford Comma.

LEGO Pancake making machine. Mmmmm, pancakes.

New Beasts of Burden! I'm looking forward to this. I hope there's another mini soon.

OrcaMan cleans up Puget Sound.

Autism and Empathy. Again, when I was diagnosed with Asperger syndrome, I thought the diagnosis must be wrong because I've always had too much empathy. Articles like this one simply make sense to me.

Sadie Barker Fights Back.

Fangirl Dreaming...

What Your Favorite 80's Band Says About You.

Massive science fiction encyclopedia's third edition will be digital... and free?

Hugo Noms

The nominations for The Hugo Awards have been announced.

Best Novel
(639 Ballots)

Anathem by Neal Stephenson (Morrow; Atlantic UK)

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman (HarperCollins; Bloomsbury UK)

Little Brother by Cory Doctorow (Tor Teen; HarperVoyager UK)

Saturn's Children by Charles Stross (Ace; Orbit UK)

Zoe's Tale by John Scalzi (Tor)

Best Novella
(337 Ballots)

"The Erdmann Nexus" by Nancy Kress (Asimov's Oct/Nov 2008)

"The Political Prisoner" by Charles Coleman Finlay (F&SF Aug 2008)

"The Tear" by Ian McDonald (Galactic Empires)

"True Names" by Benjamin Rosenbaum & Cory Doctorow (Fast Forward 2)

"Truth" by Robert Reed (Asimov's Oct/Nov 2008)

Best Novelette
(373 Ballots)

"Alastair Baffle's Emporium of Wonders" by Mike Resnick (Asimov's Jan 2008)

"The Gambler" by Paolo Bacigalupi (Fast Forward 2)

"Pride and Prometheus" by John Kessel (F&SF Jan 2008)

"The Ray-Gun: A Love Story" by James Alan Gardner (Asimov's Feb 2008)

"Shoggoths in Bloom" by Elizabeth Bear (Asimov's Mar 2008)

Best Short Story
(448 Ballots)

"26 Monkeys, Also the Abyss" by Kij Johnson (Asimov's Jul 2008)

"Article of Faith" by Mike Resnick (Baen's Universe Oct 2008)

"Evil Robot Monkey" by Mary Robinette Kowal (The Solaris Book of New Science Fiction, Volume Two)

"Exhalation" by Ted Chiang (Eclipse Two)

"From Babel's Fall'n Glory We Fled" by Michael Swanwick (Asimov's Feb 2008)

Best Related Book
(263 Ballots)

Rhetorics of Fantasy by Farah Mendlesohn (Wesleyan University Press)

Spectrum 15: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art by Cathy & Arnie Fenner, eds. (Underwood Books)

The Vorkosigan Companion: The Universe of Lois McMaster Bujold by Lillian Stewart Carl & John Helfers, eds. (Baen)

What It Is We Do When We Read Science Fiction by Paul Kincaid (Beccon Publications)

Your Hate Mail Will be Graded: A Decade of Whatever, 1998-2008 by John Scalzi (Subterranean Press)

Best Graphic Story
(212 Ballots)

The Dresden Files: Welcome to the Jungle Written by Jim Butcher, art by Ardian Syaf (Del Rey/Dabel Brothers Publishing)

Girl Genius, Volume 8: Agatha Heterodyne and the Chapel of Bones Written by Kaja & Phil Foglio, art by Phil Foglio, colors by Cheyenne Wright (Airship Entertainment)

Fables: War and Pieces Written by Bill Willingham, pencilled by Mark Buckingham, art by Steve Leialoha and Andrew Pepoy, color by Lee Loughridge, letters by Todd Klein (DC/Vertigo Comics)

Schlock Mercenary: The Body Politic Story and art by Howard Tayler (The Tayler Corporation)

Serenity: Better Days Written by Joss Whedon & Brett Matthews, art by Will Conrad, color by Michelle Madsen, cover by Jo Chen (Dark Horse Comics)

Y: The Last Man, Volume 10: Whys and Wherefores Written/created by Brian K. Vaughan, penciled/created by Pia Guerra, inked by Jose Marzan, Jr. (DC/Vertigo Comics)

Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form
(436 Ballots)

The Dark Knight - Christopher Nolan & David S. Goyer, story; Jonathan Nolan and Christopher Nolan, screenplay; based on characters created by Bob Kane; Christopher Nolan, director (Warner Brothers)

Hellboy II: The Golden Army - Guillermo del Toro & Mike Mignola, story; Guillermo del Toro, screenplay; based on the comic by Mike Mignola; Guillermo del Toro, director (Dark Horse, Universal)

Iron Man - Mark Fergus & Hawk Ostby and Art Marcum & Matt Holloway, screenplay; based on characters created by Stan Lee & Don Heck & Larry Lieber & Jack Kirby; Jon Favreau, director (Paramount, Marvel Studios)

METAtropolis by John Scalzi, ed. Written by: Elizabeth Bear, Jay Lake, Tobias Buckell and Karl Schroeder (Audible Inc)

WALL-E - Andrew Stanton & Pete Docter, story; Andrew Stanton & Jim Reardon, screenplay; Andrew Stanton, director (Pixar/Walt Disney)

Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form
(336 Ballots)

"The Constant" (Lost) Carlton Cuse & Damon Lindelof, writers; Jack Bender, director (Bad Robot, ABC studios)

Doctor Horrible's Sing-Along Blog Joss Whedon, & Zack Whedon, & Jed Whedon & Maurissa Tancharoen , writers; Joss Whedon, director (Mutant Enemy)

"Revelations" (Battlestar Galactica) Bradley Thompson & David Weddle, writers; Michael Rymer, director (NBC Universal)

"Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead" (Doctor Who) Steven Moffat, writer; Euros Lyn, director (BBC Wales)

"Turn Left" (Doctor Who) Russell T. Davies, writer; Graeme Harper, director (BBC Wales)

Best Editor, Short Form
(377 Ballots)

Ellen Datlow

Stanley Schmidt

Jonathan Strahan

Gordon Van Gelder

Sheila Williams

Best Editor, Long Form
(273 Ballots)

Lou Anders

Ginjer Buchanan

David G. Hartwell

Beth Meacham

Patrick Nielsen Hayden

Best Professional Artist
(334 Ballots)

Daniel Dos Santos

Bob Eggleton

Donato Giancola

John Picacio

Shaun Tan

Best Semiprozine
(283 Ballots)

Clarkesworld Magazine edited by Neil Clarke, Nick Mamatas & Sean Wallace

Interzone edited by Andy Cox

Locus edited by Charles N. Brown, Kirsten Gong-Wong, & Liza Groen Trombi

The New York Review of Science Fiction edited by Kathryn Cramer, Kris Dikeman, David G. Hartwell, & Kevin J. Maroney

Weird Tales edited by Ann VanderMeer & Stephen H. Segal

Best Fanzine
(257 Ballots)

Argentus edited by Steven H Silver

Banana Wings edited by Claire Brialey and Mark Plummer

Challenger edited by Guy H. Lillian III

The Drink Tank edited by Chris Garcia

Electric Velocipede edited by John Klima

File 770 edited by Mike Glyer

Best Fan Writer
(291 Ballots)

Chris Garcia

John Hertz

Dave Langford

Cheryl Morgan

Steven H Silver

Best Fan Artist
(187 Ballots)

Alan F. Beck

Brad W. Foster

Sue Mason

Taral Wayne

Frank Wu

The John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer
(288 Ballots)

Aliette de Bodard*

David Anthony Durham*

Felix Gilman

Tony Pi*

Gord Sellar*

*(Second year of eligibility)

A total of 799 nomination ballots were cast.

Wednesday Links

Comic Book Urban Legends Revealed #146: Ray Bradbury, Avengers Forever, and Knightsend.

I wish I could afford these. Herbie is one of the weirder comics ever made.

Fun Story: Wikihistory.

New Seven Deadly Sins. Does this mean the Rock of Eternity will change?

TSA Endangers Child. The TSA is a joke, and an annoying and dangerous one at that.

Web designers who think that accessing unpublished URLs is "hacking" should be banned from the internet for five years. Maybe then people wouldn't be so fast to scream "hacking!" to hide their own inability to secure their sites.

I love this thought for the day.

More attempts to ban books, even though options were offered.

Norwegian Broadcaster Loves BitTorrent (the definitive documentary about the Møøse!). But then, Norway is a civilized country.

It's... a... gazebo!

For Androgums only: The Seal of Wrasslin', Huzzah!

For the in-laws: Pug Attack. Attack on Pug.

I've been doing these piecemeal, instead of dropping two weeks worth of accumulated links on you all at once. I'm not sure if folks prefer it this way or not, but there's more links coming...

Hmmm... Books

It's been awhile since I could afford to buy any books, but I've remained a member of the Science Fiction Book Club anyway, in the hopes that my financial situation might someday change. In the latest mailing, there were two books that caught my eye.

A Gift of Dragons by Anne McCaffrey collects some of the short stories about Pern that she's written over the years. I became a Pern fan in middle school, and always wanted a fire lizard. My only fear was that it would probably eat neighborhood cats. Anyway, that's a book I wouldn't mind picking up. I've got, in some form or another, all reprinted stories, but it also includes a new Pern story, and I'm a sucker for that sort of thing.

The other book is Harry Turtledove's Ruled Britannia about the Spanish conquering England. I consider Turtledove to be the master of alternate history fiction, and this one looks to be good. I only wish I could afford it.