Random Thoughts

I've been neglecting my linking lately. It's been a busy and painful week, sorry, and I haven't actually been visiting most of the sites on my sidebar. Here's a little bit of linking to make up for it.

What to expect when the BBC puts up its on-line archive. via Neil Gaiman

Once Upon a Time There Were No Cellphones ..., three stories about parenting from children's book author Nancy Smiler Levinson. via Calpundit

La Cárcel De Papel looks like a fascinating weblog, I only wish I could read it properly. The Google translation does not do it justice, though I like this bit: "Incapable to articulate word, my sleepy mind, still moldy by resfriado and the logical lack of oxygen derived from the nariguil clogging" Very poetic. via Johnny Bacardi

While my reviews are slow going out, Johnny Bacardi already has his up, and we overlap with four books this week, possibly a new record. And over at Neilalien you can catch a fresh review of El Cazador, which I also purchased this week. Pirate comics, arrrr!

Give blood, get free artwork from a Dracula comic book. via Nielalien

Everyone has heard about the RIAA suing a 12-year-old girl who didn't know that downloading songs was illegal (because she had paid a fee, and thought the fee covered the downloads). Do you know that some kind folks are paying the $2,000 settlement the RIAA forced out of the child? Once the RIAA has sued all their customers, do you think they will be able to sell any more albums?

If you don't like what the RIAA is doing, you can Boycott RIAA. It's easy to do when you have a list of RIAA members. via Legomancer

Scott McCloud has a more sensible view on filesharing in his intelligent essay on micropayments. Like Baen Books, McCloud believes that change is necessary, and will result it more profits if only the producing industries will learn how to embrace it. As Eric Flint said, which is echoed by Scott McCloud, "most people would rather be honest than dishonest." It's just a matter of making honest purchases as simple or more simple than file-sharing.

Neil Gaiman has some real good links up. Here's one to a list of phobias. I already knew I suffer from Agoraphobia, I didn't realize I might have Enochlophobia, Demophobia or Ochlophobia also. And I don't see "fear of being followed" there, which is another problem I have. Neil also links to an article about a killer icon that was removed from a museum because, well, it was killing people. Supposedly.

Mark Evanier links to an article about DVD that self-destruct in 48 hours. If this becomes a reality, I wonder how soon people will start complaining that the disc was already destructed before they got it (because oxygen somehow got into the package)?

Scott McCloud has a nice paragraph on how people read on his site. Very interesting. I wonder how many people read it just fine, like me, and how many folks have serious trouble with it?

Are the Harry Potter books being used to promote Christianity over Islamic religions? I wouldn't think so, but apparently a terrorist group in Pakistan believes so. via The Leaky Cauldron

Neville Longbottom, or rather the fellow who plays him in the movies, has a website. via The Leaky Cauldron

Marta's latest is of Auror Headquarters. To see Marta's latest, check out her livejournal, and the archive is at artdungeon.

Apparently Dave Barry put the toll free number of the American Teleservices Association (1-877-779-3974) in one of his latest articles and urged people to call and tell them what they think of telemarketing calls. People did. Hooray for Dave Barry! via the bitter shack of resentment

Here's an on-line description of a nice home with an underground bunker. It sounds from the description like it's somewhere near Bellingham. via The Modulator

Doc Shazam explains why you should always wear your seltbelt.

I've intentionally avoided doing too much tribute to 9/11. The whole political statement thing is important, but I feel like the day itself should be given over to memorial. The political reminders should come the other 364 days of the year. I feel a lot of anger over 9/11 and what has happened since. But when I went to write it down, I found I had no words. I still don't. Maybe the words will come in time. Maybe the silence is more important. But please don't think that my writing nothing about it means I don't feel it. There's just more to be said than I know how to say.