Month: April 2017

So, Neal Stephenson’s Seveneves is three bucks on Kindle…

…until midnight tonight (I think). I picked it up, and it’s, well, different. It’s good, but it’s different. Short version: moon explodes, slo-mo end of life on Earth, desperate attempt to get viable human breeding population in space, and so forth. Good stuff, with very little ‘get tens of thousands of people up there’ romanticism – but it’s, well, different.

I keep using that word, I know.  I’m trying to find a better one, I swear. Anyway, I’ve been reading all day, so there’s that.

Earth is reportedly not a planet. By the I[A]U’s own rules.

Assuming that this story is true, because I haven’t gotten into the weeds yet on this one.  But, hey, the headline’s too good to pass up.  At issue is an asteroid (2016 H03), which apparently turns out to be a quasi-satellite of ours (too far out to be a satellite, too close to our own orbit to be ignored). Why does that matter? Well: Continue reading Earth is reportedly not a planet. By the I[A]U’s own rules.

Item Seed: Beruang H-40 Laptop.

Beruang H-40 Laptop – Google Docs

 

Beruang H-40 Laptop

 

This item was found in Borneo’s Tanjung Puting National Park, and the first interesting thing about the Beruang Laptop is that it is in excellent condition. The item was apparently designed to be humidity-resistant, effectively waterproof, rustproof, corrosion free, acclimated for jungle use, and just generally rugged.  There is one section of the laptop case that seems to have been regularly gnawed, or at least bitten — but that section has been heavily rubberized. It’s almost as if the laptop was supposed to be carried around in one’s mouth.  Oh, and the laptop is powered by a solar panel system that has the folks in the lab taking notes.

Continue reading Item Seed: Beruang H-40 Laptop.

In the Mail: Champions Mini Series #1-6. [MAJOR RPG GEEK BRAG WARNING]

This was absurdly cheap ($9) on Amazon. Sufficiently so that I didn’t actually completely believe that I’d get them, as-advertised.  But they arrived, and they really are what they said they were: a complete run of a six-part Champions RPG series from Eclipse Comics.  Each issue has stats in the back for a featured character and everything.

Maybe I’m just a niche market, but this price was nowhere near my have-to-think-about-it threshold. On the other hand, according to one guide I could have picked up the whole thing individually for three bucks an issue, plus shipping. On the gripping hand, it’s still an absolute steal.

The Final “King Arthur: Legend of the Sword” trailer.

I think that it is official: Guy Ritchie is all out of [expletive deleted]s to give.   He must figure that he survived Madonna, which means that he can survive anything. He’s certainly not going to be constrained with anything that gets in the way of making King Arthur: Legend of the Sword at any level below that of eleven with extra volts.

I would have liked to have been at the meeting where Jude Law asked Ritchie just how out there he could get.  Because when Ritchie looked back at him blankly and said I’m not sure I understand the question it would have been interesting to see Law’s reaction. After all, Jude Law can get pretty far out there.