Captain's Blog

Captain's Blog http://critique.org/c/blog Musings on writing, publishing, critiquing, life, &c. en-us Copyright 2011, Andrew Burt Sat May 11 12:00:12 2013 Andrew Burt - http://critique.org Andrew Burt - http://critique.org Writing, Publishing, Critiquing, Life, Misc. 1901-01-01T00:00+00:00 1 daily Critique.org http://critters.org/critters_ad1-468x60.jpg http://critique.org Aburt Critters Server Dying http://critique.org/c/blog?l=20130511115650 Sigh. Well, it had to happen sooner or later. The Critters server is failing. Even if the hardware wasn't failing, it's been getting bogged down anyway with traffic (often in the form of danged useless denial of service attacks, though sometimes just because it gets busy and does a lot more stuff than it used to). It's chronically low on system memory on a good day. And now the hardware is going. One of the backup drives has already died, the system has been crashing as often as a couple times a week from what I believe is a motherboard or memory problem, and now the ugly amber light is flashing on the "raid" drive saying that one of -those- disks has an error and is about to fail too. The hardware is 8 years old, and really held up well, but it's time to face reality that it needs upgrading. Unfortunately, it needs a new body fast, since with that motherboard problem and the flashing amber light, it could die or slip into a coma any time. So on Saturday when the life-support light went on, I dashed out and bought new hardware, and have been racing to get it all configured. (This on top of working to get Nyx all moved; when it rains it pours.) :) Critters is a complex set of software, and doesn't just drop in place on a new system with 8 years of "improvements" in the underlying operating system - sometimes they break or flat out remove features that some minion or other relied on. (It's annoying to read when some idjits have deleted a feature just because they think nobody should use it and they're the software nanny. Man!) I hope to get everything migrated this week. Unfortunately, it's all custom code, and I'm the only one who understands it. I'm not doing much else except working on that and racing fast as I can. The upshots are two-fold: 1) This is an unexpected $1,000 cost that wasn't anticipated in the fund drive. :( I've been running things as close to the bone costwise as I can, but this wasn't included in the fund drive goals. As always, if you find Critters useful and have funds available, a donation is most welcome. 2) I may have to switch to the new system abruptly, depending on whether the old hardware holds out during migration. If not, and I have to make the new system live, then there may be (a) bugs - things that just don't work that I haven't fixed and may not even know about yet; and (b) down times - if I have to take the system offline to fix something, reboot, etc. As always, keep copies of critiques you write, manuscripts you submit, etc. If the system happens to go down for a prolonged time, ping me on facebook to see if I know about it. :) (It's possible it could conk out in the middle of the night, while I'm out on errands, etc.) On the plus side, the new server is -much- faster than the old one -- 8 years is many generations of Moore's Law! -- so all those grumbles about "your site is slow" should go away big time. :) Thanks for your patience, understanding, and support! --Andrew UPDATE: ***** I WILL BE SWITCHING TO THE NEW SERVER VERY SOON NOW. ***** Probably later today (Sat. 5/11/13). ***** It will say it's the new server at the top, just under "Mr. RoboCritter" ***** Let me know of any problems. I'm sure some stuff won't work right. It never does after a move. I'll fix things as I learn about them. Keep copies of your critiques and stuff. Thanks! <a href='http://critique.org/c/blog?l=20130511115650#comments'>[Comments]</a><a href='http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004LGTJKG'> Check out one of aburt's ebooks <img border=0 src='http://aburt.com/fiction/ad/mkad.php?t=A Bird in Hand&c=bird-cover.jpg&k=1'></a> Andrew Burt - http://critique.org 2013-05-11T11:56:50+05:00 Random Musing of the Day: Annoyed at Target http://critique.org/c/blog?l=20130414172811 It's funny how when stores make "errors" it seems to always be in their favor... Maybe I'm just in a crabby mood. These are small things, to be sure. Yet it's that this is symptomatic of a culture of producers cheating consumers. And aren't there stories about folks killin' each other in days of yore for using false weights and such? <a target=_blank href="http://critique.org/c/blog/P1040314.JPG"><img src="http://critique.org/c/blog/P1040314.JPG" width=180 height=135 align=right></a> <a target=_blank href="http://critique.org/c/blog/P1040313.JPG"><img src="http://critique.org/c/blog/P1040313.JPG" width=180 height=135 align=right></a> Certainly not the end of the world, but it irks me when stores try to boost their profits at your expense. Today Target gets two raspberries. Or rather, blueberries. First irk: Bought a package of Naturipe Farms blueberries, net weight 6oz. "Net weight," you may recall, means "the weight of actual goods, excluding packing materials." I probably should have noticed in the story — my bad — but when putting this away we thought it felt a bit light. For grins, I wanted to see if our gut instinct was right. Indeed so. 5.9 oz with packaging, the packaging weighs 0.6, so that's 5.3oz net weight. Almost a whole ounce short. Maybe a freak thing. Though don't you envision that they weigh the packages on the conveyor line to assure quality control? So maybe their scale is off 12%. I know, it's not a huge amount of money. Still, if I'm paying an extra 12% on everything I buy because the seller is lying... Okay, Target isn't directly to blame for that. (Though I do expect them to keep an eye on what they sell, and make sure it's meeting specs.) Rather, Target irked me because they wouldn't honor a $5 gift card promotion they had on the front page of today's Sunday newspaper ad. We bought exactly what the ad called for. Their system just didn't want to pony up. The checker gave us a hard time about it, at that, arguing it wasn't the right product. Well, yeah, it was... Duh. Same exact thing as in the picture and description. The shelf had a big promo thingie too. (I doubly hate it when a clerk argues something where they're obviously wrong.) Went to the customer service desk, they looked at it, yup, totally agreed it was as shown in the ad. But they couldn't figure out how to create the promised gift card. Sigh. So, after waiting........ for a manager, who also agreed it was their error, they made good. Okay, but it took a fair bit of time to get what we were due. Nothing extra for the hassle of wasting our time for their error. <a href="http://critique.org/bcs.ht">(You know how I feel about that.)</a> I suppose it all feeds into an unease I have about Target's practices, such as how they seem to sell an awful lot of items near or past their expiration date. Nip a little penny off you hear and there. (I hear you say "don't shop there." I wouldn't if they weren't the closest grocery store. It doesn't seem right to waste a bunch of gas instead. Kind of a small no-win thing.) Then there's the plumber who rounded up an extra 15 minutes the other day. On top of sitting in the truck for awfully long periods of time. Yep, been one of those weeks. Ultimately it's about trust. Society is built on trust. Trust is absolutely critical to civilization. Charge a fair price and deliver what you say. When greed erodes trust, it's a nasty downhill slide. I suppose the only antidote is for folks to keep them eyes open and call 'em on it when they aren't on the up'n'up. <a href='http://critique.org/c/blog?l=20130414172811#comments'>[Comments]</a> Andrew Burt - http://critique.org 2013-04-14T17:28:11+05:00 FREE Weekend Special! - Download SIEGE OF STARS, Book 1 of THE SIGIL TRILOGY for Free http://critique.org/c/blog?l=20130330083600 Check out (Nature Editor) Henry Gee's <a href="http://ReAnimus.com/sigil">THE SIGIL TRILOGY</a> for free by grabbing the free download of Book 1, SIEGE OF STARS, this weekend only, at: <center><a href="http://ReAnimus.com/sigil">www.ReAnimus.com/sigil</a></center> Available in print and ebook edition, in three volumes or all in one. <a href="http://critique.org/c/blog/#praise">Recommended effusively by none other than Greg Bear, Michael Moorcock, Nancy Kress, Kim Stanley Robinson, and many others.</a> <img border="0" width="" height="" align="right" src="http://reanimus.com/store/covers/1230.sml.jpg" alt=""> From Nature Editor Henry Gee comes a story of breathtaking scope and beloved characters. Spanning millions of years and the breadth of the universe, The Sigil Trilogy is an epic tale that explores the nature of humanity, belief, and love. The Universe is dying from within. No one knows how to save it, so the Elders give a young Drover a last ditch chance to stop the rot. If only she knew where to begin. Unaware of the threat to the universe, Ruxhana Fengen Kraa, Admiral of the 17th Rigel Fleet, is about to be cashiered for a stupendous tactical error. But Special Ops has an important and most bizarre job for him. Eons away in time, Jack Corstophine is an archaeologist on Earth with an intuition about the land that he can't put into words—until the beautiful and brilliant Jadis Markham comes into his life. Together, they discover that the landscape of Europe is far from natural. The Earth bears the scars of an ancient civilization that goes back millions of years — and has terrible implications for the future of mankind. The Sigil Trilogy traces the lives of compelling characters — people... entities... and... species... — through time and space. It's magnificent in background, beautifully written, and with the most memorable characters. The Sigil Trilogy is spellbinding, funny, thoughtful, and touching all at the same time. Complete with complex mysteries, massive battles, romance, hot aliens, steampunk cities, good scotch, armageddon, it's all here — you won't be able to put it down. Siege of Stars is the first volume of The Sigil Trilogy, Henry Gee's incredible opus. The second and third volumes, <a href="http://reanimus.com/store/?item=1239">SCOURGE OF STARS</a> and <a href="http://reanimus.com/store/?item=1245">RAGE OF STARS,</a> are all now available as individual volumes as well as in an <a href="http://reanimus.com/store/?item=1260">collected, omnibus edition</a>, all in both ebook and print. <a name=praise></a> <h4> Praise for THE SIGIL TRILOGY:</h4> <blockquote> "Henry Gee stakes his claim to excellence with these startling, beautifully written tales of cosmic adventure. Brisk, funny, triumphant--and utterly compelling." —Greg Bear, award-winning author of Darwin's Radio "Great stuff. Touches of Douglas Adams, Barrington Bayley, David Britton and Steve Aylett only emphasise the splendid originality of this book. Henry Gee is thoughtful, funny, original. And pretty thoroughly mind-expanding in the tradition of Wells, David Lindsay, Stapledon and Clarke. In fact everything you yearn to find in a very good contemporary SF novel. Really enjoyed it!" —SFWA Grandmaster Michael Moorcock "Coming to a science fiction novel by Henry Gee I was expecting a work knowledgeable about the world and all its ways, but who would have guessed it would also reveal Henry to be a visionary space voyager of the first order? The Sigil is in the grand tradition of Stapledonian space opera, and provides not only an explanation for why this universe is the way it is, but gives us the many vivid wild adventures on the part of some (very appealing) conscious characters acting to make it that way. Awesome stuff, and a true pleasure to read page by page." —Kim Stanley Robinson, award-winning author of Red Mars "Fast-moving, insanely inventive science fiction in the grand manner—seldom has the fate of the galaxy been handled on such a large scale. Gee draws on archeology, geology, physics, and biology to create a rich tapestry with surprises woven into every thread." —Nancy Kress, award-winning author of Beggars in Spain "Siege is compelling, grandiose, and breathtaking in its spacetime and its characters are intriguing, personal, and complex....This book of Henry's is going to be high on the charts." —Greg Laden, <a target=_blank href="http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/">scienceblogs.com</a> [See the <a target=_blank href="http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2012/08/19/siege-of-stars-by-henry-gee/">full review here.</a>] "Echoes of Olaf Stapledon and Arthur C. Clarke, with more interesting characters than either of them." —John Gribbin "Cosmically deep and sensually rich, here is a very warm, enthusiastic and human book about great issues of our own world and of the whole universe, beautifully written. What can I say but: Gee Whiz! (unless somebody already has...)" —Ian Watson "One of the very best books I've ever read." —Andrew Burt, founder, Critters Writers' Workshop / Critique.org "Henry Gee serves up a tasty stew of sex, science and space opera. Or should that read romance, rationality and retro-SF? Either way, the book is great entertainment." —Vaughan Stanger, author of Alternate Apollos and The English Dead "A great very-wide-screen story, with many interesting characters I cared about...the writing—and the palaeontology—are beautifully executed" —Jack Cohen, author of Wheelers and Heaven "Reminiscent of Peter F. Hamilton's SF epics in its scope and ambition, "The Siege of Stars" is a wildly imaginative book set against the vivid locales scattered throughout time and space. Gee masterfully paints his protagonists in engaging, realistic and very human light. Their personalities and relationships drive the story forward as much as its grandiose scale, making "Siege" difficult to put down." —Alex Shvartsman "Henry Gee's crackling prose and fast-paced storytelling pull the reader right in, but it's the vividness of his characters that creates such a sense of intimacy in this large-scale cosmic tale. It's an impressive fiction debut, a page-turner that delivers the goods!" —Mercurio D. Rivera, World Fantasy Award nominee "Gee's writing is simply dazzling. The Sigil is a debut novel by an already accomplished author. His characters feel like real people, his story premise is bold and yet founded on actual science, and his fictional universe dares to encompass the issues of our day. Here's a writer to watch." —David Marusek "Henry Gee's Sigil Trilogy is everything that good science fiction should be: ambitious, sweeping in scope, well-crafted, intelligently plotted and, above all, thoroughly, thoroughly readable." —Ian Whates "Henry Gee paints a stunning, thriving universe in which readers will delight." —Shelly Li "Siege of Stars is terrific — a highly original mash-up of wild archaeology and advanced aliens, with sympathetic characters, comedy and tragedy. Scientists (and Nature editors) can write science fiction." — Ian Stewart "I was amazed and delighted by part one of The Sigil. Exploding galaxies; million-year-old aliens with super powers; huge, ancient prehuman civilisations. The best sensawunda sf I've come across for years." —Elizabeth Counihan, Editor of Scheherazade Magazine "The Sigil Trilogy is magnificently panoramic in breadth — a quirky, erudite and often hilarious tale of adventure mingling epic science fiction, archaeology, palaeontology and romance. Vividly entertaining!" —Cecilia Dart-Thornton, bestselling author of the Bitterbynde series "SIEGE OF STARS is a fascinating story from start to finish, with great ideas, neat set pieces, and interesting characters. Gee knows his stuff." — Eric Brown, author of Engineman "I got so engrossed in it that I could not put it down. Siege of Stars is a very good Sci-Fi novel, in the tradition of Arthur C. Clarke and Ray Bradbury. It spans space and time on a grand scale, but at the same time delves into the questions of what it means to be human. I recommend this book." —Lee Gimenez, bestselling author of The Nanotech Murders </blockquote> Dr. Henry Gee is senior editor at the renowned science journal Nature and editor of the award-winning Nature Futures science fiction short story series. He has written over a dozen books, including The Science of Middle Earth and A Field Guide to Dinosaurs. <a href='http://critique.org/c/blog?l=20130330083600#comments'>[Comments]</a> Andrew Burt - http://critique.org 2013-03-30T08:36:00+05:00 Harlan Ellison Helps Ed Bryant! Get their PHOENIX WITHOUT ASHES and you can too! http://critique.org/c/blog?l=20121223093205 Here's what's up. My friend, and multi-Nebula Award winning author, Ed Bryant, is in a bad predicament. Ed has has some severe (science-fiction-story-worthy) health problems, and now his old car has died, putting him a really bad way way financially. To help Ed, my ReAnimus Press is republishing everything Ed has written, i.e. a -ton- of short stories, AND his co-authored novel with Harlan Ellison, PHOENIX WITHOUT ASHES. It's based on Harlan's award-winning teleplay. It's a fun SF novel. (And what a making-of story behind it! Read Harlan's introduction to see what I mean.) <center> ReAnimus Press Store: http://ReAnimus.com/store?item=1266 Amazon: http://Amazon.com/dp/B00AS5N24I </center> To help Ed the most expeditiously, we're starting with ebooks of all Ed's work, the first of which off the e-presses is PHOENIX WITHOUT ASHES. It's ready, so go grab it. We're also taking pre-orders RIGHT NOW on Ed's other books so we can get funds to Ed immediately. (Those other titles will be ready to download in early 2013.) Almost all the funds from this go directly to Ed, and to him right now. You can help Ed out -- and get some really cool books -- by snagging copies of his work: <center> http://ReAnimus.com/authors/edbyrant </center> He writes great stories, science fiction and horror blends (much like Harlan does). You can't go wrong with any of his books. (The ISFDB at http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?202 has info on what he's written.) His Nebula winning stories are "Stone" (found in the collection PARTICLE THEORY) and "giANTS" (found in WYOMING SUN and PARTICLE THEORY). You can also make donations directly to a fund set up for Ed via http://www.FriendsOfEd.org , which was created for exactly this purpose. You can keep updated on this through the Friends of Ed Facebook page, http://www.facebook.com/groups/friendsofed/  If you know Ed, you know he's a really great guy (and a great writer) who doesn't deserve any of this chaos Fate has dished out. Thanks for helping! <a href='http://critique.org/c/blog?l=20121223093205#comments'>[Comments]</a> Andrew Burt - http://critique.org 2012-12-23T09:32:05+05:00 THE SIGIL TRILOGY has been nominated for Best Novel in the British Science Fiction Association awards http://critique.org/c/blog?l=20121221090606 Henry Gee's awesome book tops the short nomination list at http://www.bsfa.co.uk/bsfa-award-nominations-2012-the-first-nominations . W00t! And what great company it's in. It's an amazing book, and well deserved. See <a href="http://ReAnimus.com/sigil">http://ReAnimus.com/sigil</a> to read about it. Here's hoping for a win! (And, blatant hint hint, if anyone wants to nominate it for the Hugo and Nebula, you couldn't go wrong.) :) <a href='http://critique.org/c/blog?l=20121221090606#comments'>[Comments]</a><a href='http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004LX0F9I'> Check out one of aburt's ebooks <img border=0 src='http://aburt.com/fiction/ad/mkad.php?t=Delta Pi&c=deltapi-cover.jpg&k=1'></a> Andrew Burt - http://critique.org 2012-12-21T09:06:06+05:00 Why I Voted For Obama, and Think It's Better If He Wins http://critique.org/c/blog?l=20121031074031 As many of you know, I founded the world's first Internet Service Provider, back in the day when ordinary people couldn't get on the Internet; and that I founded Critters as the first writers' workshop on the web, as a free service for the common good. (Yes, this is relevant to the election, and what kind of society we want to have... It relates to issues of balance, competition, the economy, science, religion, and social issues.) I started Nyx because I thought the Internet was such a transformative thing it was extremely important that everyone be able to access it (and, equally important, not be gouged, pricewise). When I launched Critters, again it was because there wasn't any such thing as writers workshop on the web, and I thought it could be really helpful to people if such a thing existed (and didn't charge an arm and a leg). I should clarify that I do fully embrace capitalism, and think it has a vital role in society. (I founded ReAnimus Press to help authors, and me, earn money selling ebooks, for example.) But it's the interplay among all the parts that's more important. I should also note I'm not a member of either party, and have voted for both R's and D's in my time, so I measure my vote against the needs of the day and the direction things are going. This election is, as many of them are, a question about What Kind Of Society Do We Want To Have? There are many components: Security of basic needs: I tend to think Maslow was onto something with his Hierarchy of Needs, with basic security needs at the bottom, like food and shelter, and loftier spiritual needs at the top, like "self actualization." I think it's important -- to the spirit of "Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness" -- that we provide a society wherein we try to ensure nobody will be so beat down by events that they have to worry about not meeting their basic needs for food, shelter, etc. If they have a safety net for those most basic of human needs, then they are better poised to aspire higher on the Maslow hierarchy. Indeed, I feel only then can people be truly free in life, have true liberty, and be able to pursue happiness. Nyx, by way of example, was a means to provide a free stepping stone to everyone to get the benefits of the Internet. While I'm no longer associated with it, it's still out there, still being used, still free of cost. (Donation funded.) There are many fancier ways to access the Internet, but the concept of base-level access remains an important one. The current Republican platform is, at it's core, about letting people sink or swim on their own. The Democratic platform, at the core, today, is about people working together (e.g. via the government, the ultimate aggregation of "we, the people") to build a base upon which people can be secure to reach higher. I don't advocate giving everyone everything for free, as that simply can't work; but the current Republican style polices advocate for diminishing the safety net at a time when we need it to be a bit stronger. It's a question of... Balance: The human race and our civilization progresses when we have a balance between doing Big Things collectively that we couldn't accomplish alone (like the space program) and also when there's healthy competition of ideas, businesses, and aspirations. Right now that balance is out of whack, and I believe tilting Republican will make it more unbalanced; tilting Democrat will make it more balanced. That may change in the future, but today I think we need to tilt the Democrat way to improve society as a whole. Competition and business climate: I love competition. In fact, I think one of the roles of government is to ensure competition is working when faced with impediments (such as monopolies -- which is the natural aspiration of businesses, to be the last man standing, and then be able to charge whatever one wants). I believe we have currently tilted too far that way -- such as with banking deregulation, that let banks cease to be about lending money, and become all about making risky investments. That's proven to be destabilizing, and I feel the Democrat approach to solving that is far more likely to work than the Republican "let them do whatever they want" (which is what failed in the first place). The Economy: I've studied it a fair bit, and while it's way beyond the scope and my blogging time right now, my analysis is that the Democrat-type policies -- at the moment -- are the better ones to heal the economy; and that the Republican-espoused policies could lead to a severe economic depression, if they really mean what they say. (And if they don't, they shouldn't be saying it.) Based on several independent studies, the economy has done better under Democrat policies. Going into that in depth is for another day, but I'm convinced the Democrats are the right choice for the economy right now. Science: The current Republican stance toward science is much as David Brin calls it, "A War on Science." Our civilization is as advanced as it is today because of science, and the Republican hatred of Science is repugnant to me. As someone who favors science and scientific advancement, I have to side with the Democrats today. Religion: I side with the founding fathers that separation of church and state is of the utmost importance to our society. The Republican stance is to weaken or remove that wall, and I can't go along with that. Social issues: There are many here, and, again, more than I have space to go into. On the whole, I find many of the current Republican views to be generally more harmful to the progress of our society. Summary: Obama has been, in many ways, almost an old-style moderate Republican; and, given all the various other aspects, I can't, today, find even one major area where I think the Republican position is currently the better one. The Democrat platform is far from perfect, and Obama far from perfect, but given the stark differences there is no question whatsoever that Obama is the better candidate for me to vote for. Thanks for listening to me ramble -- and regardless of your views, be sure to vote!!! <a href='http://critique.org/c/blog?l=20121031074031#comments'>[Comments]</a> Andrew Burt - http://critique.org 2012-10-31T07:40:31+05:00 Hey, Target, What's With Selling So Much Expired and Nearly Expired Food? Ick. http://critique.org/c/blog?l=20121014142009 Is this now Target's business model? The nearest grocery store to us is a super Target. While it has a lot of what we're looking for, we still have to make runs to the other stores for certain things. (Side note: Sorry, just because you quit carrying my favorite brands doesn't mean I'll switch to the limited choices of the other brands. Tried 'em; don't like 'em.) So, because we're at the other stores sometimes anyway, I've noticed that Target does something Safeway, the local Kroger chain, and Whole Foods does not: Target sells a lot of food that's either almost expired or in fact is expired. On our last shopping run, we ended up with two items past due: some muffins that were three days past the expiration date, and a can of corn that was a month past. Man, how old was that can of corn? New ones have an expiration date some number of years in the future. This isn't an isolated incident. I've noticed it so often that we've quit buying certain things there, like cheese, because it's so often been expired. Nevermind even the date, I've too often seen moldy cheese sitting on the shelf. Ewww. Yeah, so, I know, I should really stop shopping there, or check the expiration date of every single dang item I pick up there. But that's like, you know, a real hassle. It's much closer, and sometimes we forget to check something. Being our most convenient store, I suppose we sometimes delude ourselves the stuff has a good long life left like it should since it's a national store, and we don't want to look at everything. Nor should I have to do that. It wastes my time and energy. An occasional oops I can understand. This is chronic. I've now come to suspect that it's actually Target's deliberate policy to buy near-end-of-life products. As in, part of their business model. Thinking about it, it would probably increase their profits by a ton. (Cough: to my detriment.) They could go to their wholesalers and say, pssst, hey, I know you got some stuff that you're throwing out. I'll take it off your hands real cheap, and sell it to my unsuspecting dimwits of customers. They'll never know! And we both make gobs of money! Brilliant! Except for us customers, who lose. And may get sick. Or, who knows, die. Not to mention the waste of having less longevity and reduced taste. (Love their stale bread, yum.) I either lose money tossing it out, or have to waste my time returning it. A lose-lose for me. It's a shame, because it's close, and saves gas, time (+10 min each way), and so on. I mentioned the frequency of the problem to the guy at the returns desk. He blamed it on the vendors. Well, I'm paying Target, so I blame Target. It's not my concern that you foisted work off on the vendors who don't do it. If the vendors are dropping the ball because Target wants to save money on labor and not check, that's not my problem. I have no arrangement with each vendor; Target does. So no, Target, you don't escape the responsibility by blaming someone else. Your store, your name, your responsibility. It's not like they're cheaper. They were when they opened, but now they're not. (In one case, they jumped up the price on our favorite yogurt 50% overnight, from like $3.39 to $4.99. The other stores are still in the $3-4 range, so that's a no-brainer. It's not expired / nearly expired at the other stores, either.) So, we shop at Target less often, we avoid certain types of food that have been the worst offenders, and we try to check more often (what a nuisance). And, on a day when it's particularly ticked me off after waiting in line to return stuff, I blog about it, in the hopes of saving others the waste and frustration. Bad Target! Bad business model! <a href='http://critique.org/c/blog?l=20121014142009#comments'>[Comments]</a> Andrew Burt - http://critique.org 2012-10-14T14:20:09+05:00 Hey, Credit Card Companies etc. - Quit Bugging Me To "Go Paperless" http://critique.org/c/blog?l=20121013123559 I'm as digital a guy as they come. I've been reading ebooks for like 10 years now, helping companies automate things for decades, teaching others to do likewise, highly automating my own web sites, and so on. I generally prefer things digital over paper. But I hate it when companies bug me to give up paper statements. If they just implemented their e-statements in a slightly more convenient way, I'd be all over it. Annnnnd... they don't. They do what's convenient for them, and try to badger me into thinking it's more convenient for me. Well, it ain't. So, hey, you companies, here's what's convenient for me: <center>Just Email me a PDF of my statement/bill.</center> Okay, that's it. I'd be a happy camper. (And agree that you'll keep doing it.) Until then, here's why your current implementation doesn't work for me, and why I won't willingly switch to e-statements: 1) More work for me. A lot more. Right now I get the paper statement in the postal mail, and it's basically no effort to open it and put it in my pile of bills to pay (or records to file for bank statements, etc.) E-statements require a lot more time and work. When I go to pay bills, I have to log into each and every dang site individually, which takes a not-insignificant amount of time, hunting for the link, dealing with passwords I have to look up, waiting for slow web sites, hunting around the site to find the statement, review it (and this is not a convenient time for me to review it -- with paper I review for correctness when I receive it, not when I'm later paying it), then downloading it for my records, which entails navigating on my disk to the right folder, generally having to type in a new name for the file, and so on. That takes hugely more work than paper. Now, if you email me a PDF of your statement, I can process it like I would in the postal mail. Review it when I get it, have my email system automatically stash it in my to-be-paid file, automatically archive a copy, and when I'm ready to pay bills, they're all there, in one place, quick to move from one to the next. Security? Bah. I've been a computer science professor specializing in security, so don't get me started. If you want to XXXX out part of my account number, no worries. But my email is as secure as my paper mail, so I don't need you telling me otherwise, when what you really mean is you're greedy and don't want to pay postage. And, no, to be really clear here guys, an email telling me I have a statement on your web site is not the same as directly emailing me the PDF of it. It's the difference between me sending you a payment, and me sending you a note telling you a bunch of hints where you can hunt down my payment under a rock in Siberia. 2) More work for me, #2: Right now I can easily archive that piece of paper. Should I need to refer back to it in a year or 20 years, it's up to me and my personal filing system to keep track of it. Whereas, your online "archive" copy lasts some random number of months, different for every site, after which my old statements vanish. Even if they haven't vanished, they become rather difficult to locate with the poor, slow web interfaces. I wanted to check an old paypal transaction amount the other day, and it took me like ten minutes futzing with the web site. With my paper filing system it would have been, say, two minutes. And yeah, I do need to look back at old stuff sometimes. It is not convenient for you to delete it on me. 3) I can't rely on you. Y'all keep changing the way you do things. Today you keep 18 months of old statements, suddenly you change it to 6 months. Today you're using PDFs, suddenly you're doing Flash-based web-only statements. Today the statements are in one part of the site where I can maybe write a script to go retrieve it; tomorrow it's moved. Multiply this by all the number of statements I have to deal with, and it's a major headache. Of course, this also means that even if you did say you'd email me a PDF file the way I like, tomorrow you might change your mind -- and charge me to go back to paper. Of all the nerve, I find charging me to send me a bill one of the most heinous. So, bottom line, I know how paper works, and it's pretty easy to deal with. If you could do e-statements in a way that works for me (and likewise offer ways that are easy for others, whatever that might be for them), and if I could trust you not to pull the rug out tomorrow, then I'd switch. But that seems a long way off. Meanwhile, quit telling me how it's so much better for me and bugging me to switch every time I log in, 'kay? :) <a href='http://critique.org/c/blog?l=20121013123559#comments'>[Comments]</a> Andrew Burt - http://critique.org 2012-10-13T12:35:59+05:00 Survey time! How do you like your trilogies? http://critique.org/c/blog?l=20121012162958 http://reanimus.com/trilogysurvey has a short survey on reading habits for trilogies that I'm conducting. It's only a couple questions, won't take but a few seconds. There's also a little treat at the end. :) I'm eager to see the results. I have my opinions, but from discussions with others I'll be curious what the consensus is. I'll blog about the results when they're in. Meanwhile, you can view the current results, as well as see people's comments. <center>-+-</center> And while we're at it: Nifty book of the day... THE STORY OF LIGHT by Ben Bova. <center>ReAnimus Press Store: http://ReAnimus.com/store?item=1233</center> <center>Amazon: http://Amazon.com/dp/B00960YTI4</center> In this all-encompassing work, one of the most famous science fiction as well as nonfiction writers of our time explores the subject of light and shows how it has shaped every aspect of our existence. From the creation of life to the exploration of the heavens and the stars, from the origins of the earth to the possibility of life on distant planets, Ben Bova unveils the beauty and science behind the phenomenon of light. Dr. Bova masterfully explains how light affects us every day of our lives, from our religions to our sex drives, as well as how we use light in art, science, industry, entertainment, cosmetics, jewelry, and much more. Why do people kiss with their eyes closed? Why is it difficult to swat a mosquito? What do we "see" when we dream? "The enlightenment of discoveries and the brilliance of Ben Bova combine to enable our minds to glimpse the majesty of the infinite worlds of light in the universe." —Buzz Aldrin "Superbly written—a banquet of topics served by a master literary chef!" —Bill Pogue, astronaut <a href='http://critique.org/c/blog?l=20121012162958#comments'>[Comments]</a><a href='http://www.amazon.com/Congestion-ebook/dp/B004D4YL7C'> Check out one of aburt's ebooks <img border=0 src='http://aburt.com/fiction/ad/mkad.php?t=Congestion&c=congestion.jpg&k=1'></a> Andrew Burt - http://critique.org 2012-10-12T16:29:58+05:00 RAGE OF STARS - Michael Moorcock, Kim Stanley Robinson, Nancy Kress all love it! http://critique.org/c/blog?l=20120928122329 RAGE OF STARS, the final volume of Henry Gee's incredible SIGIL TRILOGY, is now out from ReAnimus Press — and critics love it! <center>ReAnimus Press Store: http://ReAnimus.com/store?item=1245 Amazon: http://Amazon.com/dp/B009I7LEEM </center> <a href="http://ReAnimus.com/sigil"><img align=right src="http://ReAnimus.com/store/covers/1245.sml.jpg"></a> The Universe is still dying from within and the young Drover tasked with stopping the rot is still racing against time. For fifty years, former textile merchant Mr Haraddzjin Khorare has been Chancellor of a Kingdom unequalled in brutality. And it's about to get a whole lot worse. Dogfinger is a boy orphaned when his village is razed by Stoners. One day, he knows, the time will come for revenge. Domingo—scientist, Priest and Pope—is watching, helpless, as the world circles to its doom. What we need, he thinks, is a miracle. Will his prayers be answered? The Plague has forced Jadis Markham and Jack Corstophine to give up their research in favour of survival. But there are always questions left to answer. Their son, Tom, now himself a noted anthropologist, has an encounter that will force him to confront his own nature—and the very nature of the universe, as the stars themselves begin going dark. Rage of Stars is the climactic third volume of The Sigil, Henry Gee's epic tale that explores the nature of humanity, religion and love. The praise has been awesome!-- "Great stuff. Touches of Douglas Adams, Barrington Bayley, David Britton and Steve Ayelet only emphasise the splendid originality of this book. Henry Gee is thoughtful, funny, original. And pretty thoroughly mind-expanding in the tradition of Wells, David Lindsay, Stapledon and Clarke. In fact everything you yearn to find in a very good contemporary SF novel. Really enjoyed it!" —SFWA Grandmaster Michael Moorcock "Coming to a science fiction novel by Henry Gee I was expecting a work knowledgeable about the world and all its ways, but who would have guessed it would also reveal Henry to be a visionary space voyager of the first order? The Sigil is in the grand tradition of Stapledonian space opera, and provides not only an explanation for why this universe is the way it is, but gives us the many vivid wild adventures on the part of some (very appealing) conscious characters acting to make it that way. Awesome stuff, and a true pleasure to read page by page." —Kim Stanley Robinson, award-winning author of Red Mars "Fast-moving, insanely inventive science fiction in the grand manner—seldom has the fate of the galaxy been handled on such a large scale. Gee draws on archeology, geology, physics, and biology to create a rich tapestry with surprises woven into every thread." — Nancy Kress, award-winning author of Beggars in Spain And <a href="http://reanimus.com/sigil">many, many others have said similar things</a> — The Sigil Trilogy is can't-put-it-down, award-caliber reading. If you've been waiting for the final volume to be released, now's the time to start a voyage you won't forget! The whole trilogy is linked at: <a href="http://www.ReAnimus.com/sigil">www.ReAnimus.com/sigil</a> <a href='http://critique.org/c/blog?l=20120928122329#comments'>[Comments]</a> Andrew Burt - http://critique.org 2012-09-28T12:23:29+05:00 Books at a steal for Talk Like A Pirate Day! http://critique.org/c/blog?l=20120919095310 ARRRRR! Ahoy, Mateys, it's that day! In commemoration of Talk Like A Pirate Day, and seeing as how one of the main characters in Henry Gee's SCOURGE OF STARS: Book 2 of THE SIGIL TRILOGY starts on his journey captured by pirates :) you can plunder an ebook copy of the -first- book in the series for 99 cents in the ReAnimus Press store! (That's SIEGE OF STARS, Book -1- of THE SIGIL TRILOGY.) Use coupon code "arrr99" (that's 3 r's, arrr!) before midnight tonight t' get yer booty on: http://ReAnimus.com/sigil If you take a real, genuine shine to Book 1 and tell all yer mateys on Facebook to snatch it from the link above, then as an extra bit of booty, send me the proof of the deed and I'll send you a treasure map to Book 2. (You can tip yer mateys off to the deal too if ye want, seein' as I couldn't stop ye.) Speakin o' the devil, Nancy Kress has come on board with some mighty kind words too. "Fast-moving," says she, "insanely inventive science fiction in the grand manner -- seldom has the fate of the galaxy been handled on such a large scale. Gee draws on archeology, geology, physics, and biology to create a rich tapestry with surprises woven into every thread." Also underhanded and devious is UNDERHANDED CHESS, by Jerry Sohl, so it deservers a look too: Use coupon code "arrrr99" (that's 4 r's, arrrr!) by midnight for 99 cents on ye olde Underhanded Chess, a harr'larious handbook of devious diversions and stratagems for winnin' at chess: http://ReAnimus.com/store?item=1244 Them's both buried treasure for sure, so smartly now, lads and lasses, as the offer walks the plank at midnight. <a href='http://critique.org/c/blog?l=20120919095310#comments'>[Comments]</a> Andrew Burt - http://critique.org 2012-09-19T09:53:10+05:00 New Comment System - Beta Testers Wanted http://critique.org/c/blog?l=20120912093209 New comments system! Need beta testers! The old comment system I had on my blog and other pages is going kaput in a couple weeks, so I'm installing a new one that I wrote. (This is different from the discussion forums. In fact, my new one -uses- the discussion forums.) Having been burned now by the one going away on me, and what with the general disdain companies have for customers nowadays, I decided not to use another third-party system and get burned again down the road. So I've crafted my own, integrating it with the existing discussion forum system that I run. I could use some folks to test it out to see if it works okay. Leave a message on this blog entry and let me know if you have any problems. (Or, you can leave a [meaningful, on-topic] comment on any of the other Captain's Blog entries on if the mood strikes you, but please restrict the non-meaningful Test 1 2 3 just to this one.) Thanks! <a href='http://critique.org/c/blog?l=20120912093209#comments'>[Comments]</a> Andrew Burt - http://critique.org 2012-09-12T09:32:09+05:00 UNDERHANDED CHESS - A hilarious handbook of devious diversions and stratagems for winning at chess http://critique.org/c/blog?l=20120910085640 <a href="http://ReAnimus.com/store?item=1244"><img align=right src="http://ReAnimus.com/store/covers/1244.sml.jpg"></a> ReAnimus Press is tickled to announce we've reanimated Jerry's Sohl's mirthful look at shifty ways to win chess games! <center> Get it from: <a href="http://ReAnimus.com/store?item=1244">ReAnimus Press Store</a> <a href="http://Amazon.com/dp/B0098DZHLM">Amazon</a> </center> With tongue in cheek and laughter aforethought, (noted Star Trek / Twilight Zone writer) Jerry Sohl takes his readers on a merry romp through all the deceits and tricks of one-upmanship as it is practiced in the game of chess. Drawing from his own experiences, he sets out in amusing detail a host of put-offs, come-ons, psychological maneuverings, lures, and frauds to accomplish checkmate. All illustrated with drawings by artist Roy Schlemme. The author's inventiveness is limitless. All kinds of ploys are carefully described: the amazing effectiveness of reverse polarity; adopting some of Bobby Fischer's tactics; the Freudian gambit; the Blencher; the Hassled Castle; befuddling rule fanatics; talking your way to victory; coffeehouse counter-gambits; when and how to lose; advanced duplicity; and chess of the last resort. TABLE OF CONTENTS: 1: THE FIRST MOVE 2: PRELIMINARIES AND PREPARATIONS 3: THE PROPER SPIRIT 4: HOW TO TALK A GOOD GAMBIT 5: HOW TO BEFUDDLE RULE FANATICS 6: HOW TO PLAY AGAINST WEIRDOS 7: COFFEEHOUSE CHESS COUNTERGAMBITS 8: WHEN TO LOSE 9: ADVANCED DUPLICITY 10: DESPERATE MOVES CHESS OF THE LAST RESORT APPENDIX: USEFUL TRIVIA <a href='http://critique.org/c/blog?l=20120910085640#comments'>[Comments]</a><a href='http://www.amazon.com/Corpus-ebook/dp/B004E10XBM'> Check out one of aburt's ebooks <img border=0 src='http://aburt.com/fiction/ad/mkad.php?t=Corpus&c=corpus.jpg&k=1'></a> Andrew Burt - http://critique.org 2012-09-10T08:56:40+05:00 One of the Best Books I've Ever Read http://critique.org/c/blog?l=20120831173208 <a href="http://ReAnimus.com/store?item=1230"><img src="http://ReAnimus.com/store/covers/1230.sml.jpg" align=right></a> THE SIGIL TRILOGY by Henry Gee is one of the best books I've ever read, including classics. I don't say that lightly; I really think it's top-notch, award-caliber. So I'm really happy to say I'm publishing it under the ReAnimus Press moniker. Yeah, I know, I'm the publisher and I'm supposed to be enthusiastic — but I'm publishing this because I think it's an awesome book. It's by Henry Gee, senior editor at the esteemed journal Nature,, award-winning editor of their Nature Futures SF short-short series, and author of a dozen or so books. We've had lots of enthusiasm from early readers, so I'm encouraged that it's not just my taste, but that it really is a great book. SF Grandmaster Michael Moorcock had this to say about it: "Great stuff. Touches of Douglas Adams, Barrington Bayley, David Britton and Steve Ayelet only emphasise the splendid originality of this book. Henry Gee is thoughtful, funny, original. And pretty thoroughly mind-expanding in the tradition of Wells, David Lindsay, Stapledon and Clarke. In fact everything you yearn to find in a good contemporary SF novel. Really enjoyed it!" Here's what it's about: From Nature Editor Henry Gee comes a story of breathtaking scope and beloved characters. Spanning millions of years and the breadth of the universe, The Sigil Trilogy is an epic tale that explores the nature of humanity, belief, and love. The Universe is dying from within. No one knows how to save it, so the Elders give a young Drover a last ditch chance to stop the rot. If only she knew where to begin. Unaware of the threat to the universe, Ruxhana Fengen Kraa, Admiral of the 17th Rigel Fleet, is about to be cashiered for a stupendous tactical error. But Special Ops has an important and most bizarre job for him. Eons away in time, Jack Corstophine is an archaeologist on Earth with an intuition about the land that he can't put into words—until the beautiful and brilliant Jadis Markham comes into his life. Together, they discover that the landscape of Europe is far from natural. The Earth bears the scars of an ancient civilization that goes back millions of years — and has terrible implications for the future of mankind. <table border="1" width=100 align=right><tr><td bgcolor=lightyellow> <h4>Available from:</h4> <a href="http://ReAnimus.com/store?item=1230">ReAnimus Press - ebook edition (mobi/epub)</a> <a href="https://www.createspace.com/3978969">ReAnimus Press - print edition (via Amazon)</a> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0093O81NM"><img border="0" align="center" src="http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/gno/images/general/navAmazonLogoFooter._V169459313_.gif" alt="Available from Amazon.com"></a> <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0093O81NM"><img border="0" align="center" src="http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/02/gno/images/general/navAmazonLogoFooter._V152929188_.gif" alt="Available from Amazon.uk"></a> <a href="http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/click?id=PG8eThqZEYI&subid=&offerid=239662.1&type=10&tmpid=8432&RD_PARM1=http%253A%252F%252Fwww.barnesandnoble.com%252Fw%252Fsiege-of-stars-henry-gee%252F1112710784%253Fean%253D2940015042559"><img border="0" align="center" src="http://ad.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/show?id=PG8eThqZEYI&bids=229293.147&subid=0&type=4&gridnum=0" alt="Barnes & Noble"> for your Nook</a> </td></tr></table> The Sigil Trilogy traces the lives of compelling characters — people... entities... and... species... — through time and space. It's magnificent in background, beautifully written, and with the most memorable characters. The Sigil Trilogy is spellbinding, funny, thoughtful, and touching all at the same time. Complete with complex mysteries, massive battles, romance, hot aliens, steampunk cities, good scotch, armageddon, it's all here — you won't be able to put it down. Siege of Stars is the first volume of The Sigil Trilogy, Henry Gee's incredible opus. The second and third volumes, SCOURGE OF STARS and RAGE OF STARS, are completed and in production for release within weeks of SIEGE OF STARS. (In fact, the second volume is <a href="http://ReAnimus.com/store?item=1239">available now as an electronic Advance Reader Copy</a>). I know it'll sound corny, but it's true: I genuinely think you'll enjoy THE SIGIL TRILOGY. Check it out, and do let me know what you think of it. (And, if you're really a fan, tell all your friends to check out <a href="http://www.ReAnimus.com/sigil">www.ReAnimus.com/sigil</a> .) :) <a href='http://critique.org/c/blog?l=20120831173208#comments'>[Comments]</a> Andrew Burt - http://critique.org 2012-08-31T17:32:08+05:00 Tired of the Doublespeak of "Cutting the Deficit" http://critique.org/c/blog?l=20120819121629 When I hear Republicans talk about "Cutting the Deficit" and look into what they really mean by that, it appears (to me, as an independent voter) that they mean "Delete government programs that don't fit our Republican political platform." (The Democrats do this to some extent too, but not as much.) That is, it's not the deficit per se they appear to be worried about. Rather, they're twisting the catch-phrase, "cut the deficit" to be about something other than fiscal policy, presumably because they think the phrase will trick people who are concerned about fiscal policy into going along with them. They also often use the "If this were a household budget" analogy... which, well, doesn't match up. A household budget doesn't operate in the same global economic web of interconnected economies, it doesn't have to pay for all the "common good" functions that the government provides (including defense, social safety net programs, etc.), and, perhaps most importantly, a household doesn't have the ability to print additional money — whereas all sovereign governments do, and thus the US government has to coordinate and respond to what other governments do. (Which includes using the power to print money — which, over time, reduces the value of the debt held by others; other countries are and will do this too.) So, all in all, the "household budget" analogy is a false one at a major level. It is, again, employed seemingly as a trick to get people to go along with "cutting the budget", i.e., taking money away from the projects they don't like. If, indeed, one was serious about trimming the US budget for the actual sake of trimming the budget, and not as doublespeak for "cutting the programs we don't like while leaving alone the ones we do," then one would seek to spread the cuts more or less evenly across the board. If you think of the budget as a list of items with costs, then the cuts would be Horizontal rather than Vertical, as it were. That is, one would seek to improve the efficiency and reduce the waste/corruption within the existing programs, without making them less effective. It seems to me that most projects have a certain amount of fat in them, at the level of the small contracts. In other words, bids to manufacture specific missile parts, or to paint the stripes on a given mile of highway, all those little line items that together make up the big dollar budgets, all have some inefficiency in them: They might not go to the best bidder (but perhaps to friends who donated campaign funding and bid the project higher). I know in our neighborhood, just as a concrete example of what I'm talking about, we have a park that is maintained by a park & rec. district. Said district has money problems, and wouldn't paint the bathroom structure in our park. We said we'd share the cost, just to get it done. They agreed. They then said the cost was $X. We looked at the cost and said, "Really? That seems high. We had some similar painting done and it only cost 1/2 X." They said, "If you can get a lower bid, that's great." So — we did. We found a contractor who did the exact same work for half the cost. If the park & rec district — and governments in general — put that extra bit of effort into finding unbiased bids (not from cozy friends, or "people we've used in the past" who up the costs knowing they can expect repeat business), then we could trim a good chunk of money from the federal budget, without cutting any services. We could provide all the same common-good services and projects, just at a lower cost. That's assuming the "cut the budget" people really were serious about the budget cutting aspect, instead of the political aspect. Sadly, that isn't so. What I'm suggesting would bring market forces to bear on the problem (more competitive bidding from truly neutral bidders), and remove what is now an impediment to market forces. (I.e., not getting enough truly competitive bids.) To be clear, I'm not talking about "pork" projects per se. That's a vertical type of problem. I'm saying, you can't award projects to friends who bid a bit higher than others. Get more real bids. You might find a company out there doing good work who's more efficient and able to take a lower profit. This does mean less money flows to businesses, i.e., some company has to do the work for less money than they might have earned if they could get a padded, less efficient bid. Assuming one holds them accountable for doing a quality job of it (multi-year warranties and such), then it likely means the profit margin is lower. Not that there isn't profit, but that it's a lower margin. (This is thus a net reduction in transfer of money to the wealthy.) Okay, I won't put that in parentheses: More efficient contracts, thus lower profit margins, means less money goes into the pockets of the wealthy. The same job gets done, but the rich don't get as much richer. They get a little richer (because nobody should be bidding a job where they lose money or make no profit at all); but with more competitive bidding, the profit isn't as fat. Given the gap between the rich and poor, that's probably a good thing. (I'm not against people getting rich. Aspiring to wealth is a good motivator. But it needs to be done in a "rising tide floats all boats" manner where everyone ultimately benefits. We've gotten out of whack on that.) All of which isn't what politicians want. (The Democrats would, ultimately, prefer to add programs, raise taxes, and still permit the inefficiency/waste/corruption.) But we are in a financial bog at the moment, so perhaps we need to tell them that's what we want: Less corruption. There are a number of other things we need too: Company executives need confidence in the economy so they can hire people and start projects (i.e., grow the economy), which requires a sound economic plan and bi-partisan buy-in. Reducing the debt load requires either inflation or growth in tax revenues, from some combination of higher tax rates or from higher collections because of economic growth — and so we're back to confidence. Confidence that both parties agree we're on the right track would be the single biggest boost. This will require both parties to work together for the common good, not to cut each other down. This will require Presidential leadership, charisma, deal-building, etc. The things that inspire confidence. At any rate, I'm really sick of hearing "cut the budget" used as doublespeak for "cut the programs my party dislikes." That only exacerbates the problems. Bah. <a href='http://critique.org/c/blog?l=20120819121629#comments'>[Comments]</a> Andrew Burt - http://critique.org 2012-08-19T12:16:29+05:00 W00T! Henry "Nature Futures" Gee's SIEGE OF STARS, Book 1 of The Sigil Trilogy, is now in ARC! http://critique.org/c/blog?l=20120809095645 I'm thrilled to announce that the Advance Reader Copy (ARC) of Henry Gee's amazing book is now available: <a href="http://reanimus.com/sigil?arc=2">http://reanimus.com/sigil?arc=2</a> This is one of the very best books I've ever read. It's by Henry Gee, senior editor at the esteemed journal Nature, and award-winning editor of their Nature Futures SF short-short series (which you may have submitted to). It's epic. It spans millions of years, and the whole breadth of the universe. It's extremely well written. It's an awesome story. Here's what it's about: <ul style=margin-left:200px> The Universe is dying from within. Merlin, a young Drover, has been given the task of stopping the rot. If only she knew where to begin. Jack Corstophine is an archaeologist with an intuition about landscape that he can't put into words—until student Jadis Markham comes into his life. Together, they discover that the landscape of Europe is far from natural, but bears the scars of an ancient civilization that goes back millions of years. Ruxhana Fengen Kraa, Admiral of the 17th Rigel Fleet, is about to be cashiered for a stupendous tactical error. But Special Ops has another task for him -- something far, far stranger. Siege of Stars is the first volume of The Sigil, Henry Gee's epic tale, spanning millions of years and the breadth of the universe. (The second and third volumes, SCOURGE OF STARS and RAGE OF STARS, are completed and in production for release within weeks of SIEGE OF STARS.) </ul> It's great science fiction. It's fun, and the characters are wonderful. (To which which Henry adds, it has Sex, Violence, Hot Aliens, Violent Sex, Sex with Hot Aliens...) :) Now, it's not published yet. This is an ebook ARC, which means it may have typos, minor formatting issues, etc. It's for those who can't wait to read it. (You also get the final ebook edition when it's released.) I think you'll really enjoy this. I'm terribly proud to get to publish it. Happy reading! <a href='http://critique.org/c/blog?l=20120809095645#comments'>[Comments]</a> Andrew Burt - http://critique.org 2012-08-09T09:56:45+05:00 Fans of Print Remain Hopeful vs. Ebooks, Despite the Cold Equations http://critique.org/c/blog?l=20120809093543 Tom Godwin's "The Cold Equations" has a lesson to impart to writers looking at the growth of ebooks vs. print and hoping that print will remain a dominant percent of book sales. "The Cold Equations," if you haven't read it (and you should), is a classic SF story where the harsh reality of math and physical laws win out over the hopes they'll somehow get bent because we really really want them to. In the ebook vs. print sales debate, the numbers and the cold equations are all in favor of ebooks. Many people who prefer print books might wish this weren't so, but reality is what reality is. (And, for writers, the question becomes how to plan for it.) There are many reports of ebook sales overtaking print sales in one way or another, yet, change being hard for people, many push back against the headlines with hopeful thoughts that the reasons are because the numbers are misrepresented, etc. My crystal ball continues to suggest that ebooks will largely replace print by 2025 (if not well before; as I've said since the early 2000s, even back when ebooks where 0.1% of sales and many folks said nawww, they'll never catch on at all). The reasoning, and the mathematical curve-fitting analysis of the adoption rate S-curve, remain the same. Print will probably continue as a niche, says my magic 8-ball, and won't vanish entirely (even though new releases on VHS tape and 33rpm LPs largely have). But the factors are all working against print: The cost of materials (paper isn't getting cheaper), the cost of shipping (fuel isn't getting cheaper), the dent that the returns system puts into print but not electronic editions (plus the unpredictability of it, which doesn't play well with financially risk-averse, bottom-line oriented publishers, i.e., all the major ones), the improvement of technology (e-reader technology, e-ink, e-paper, etc. will only get better, to the point where one might envision a codex bound volume of 300 paper-thin sheets of e-paper), network access will only get better worldwide (so one can grab a book any time, any where), the ability to take more risks on content with ebooks because of the lower production costs, the "getting comfortable with change" factor that allows more people to accept a new thing is only in favor of ebooks, surveys show that very few people actively dislike e-readers once they've tried them, and so on. I can't offhand think of any tailwinds that are working in favor of print, just tailwinds for ebooks and headwinds for print. Just because today ebooks are roughly the same order of magnitude as print sales is no indication we've reached any kind of steady state. (Remember than when ebooks were 0.1% of sales many pundits said that was the steady state.) The product adoption "S-curve" is the thing to watch. When it starts to really flatten out (i.e. year-over-year ebook sales are flat, 0% growth), then we'll know we've found equilibrium. However, year-over-year ebook sales are still growing at a huge rate. Print sales, meanwhile, are flat and/or declining. The ebook growth rate will have to start slowing down a lot before it can plateau, and we don't even see it slowing down much yet. That suggests we're still in the early-middle to maybe middlish part of the S-curve. The left half the S-curve is more or less a mirror of the right half, so we can surmise that ebooks have a lot of market share to gain still ahead of them, and will gain it within a few years. Based on the S-curve and my own curve-fitting to it, I would not be surprised to see the end result being that print captures 10% or less of sales. It's worth pointing out that the AAP's data for ebook sales vs. print paint a generally similar picture (the AAP reported that 2012 first quarter ebook sales surpassed hardcover sales; and are basically even with paperback sales — $282M ebook, $230M hardcover, $300M paperback, $99M mmpb). Amazon reports ebooks are already their #1 format, but they push them; nonetheless, it's certainly not a counterexample showing the health of print. So, right, ebooks have not yet overtaken all print formats, but one train is accelerating rapidly and the other train is slowing down, so if the trends continue (and there's no apparent reason they shouldn't), ebooks will overtake all print sales fairly soon, and continue pulling ahead. Some folks may not like what the data show the trend is and may wish it otherwise, but from the standpoint of the cold equations, it will be what it will be. Authors would be wise to plan for the (strong) possibility that ebooks will be the primary form of books within a few years. For example, authors might well look to get the best deal they can on electronic rights, and examine offers from publishers not in light of today's ebook sales figures, but also, e.g., in light of a scenario where ebook sales might be 90%+ of sales. <a href='http://critique.org/c/blog?l=20120809093543#comments'>[Comments]</a><a href='http://www.amazon.com/Corpus-ebook/dp/B004E10XBM'> Check out one of aburt's ebooks <img border=0 src='http://aburt.com/fiction/ad/mkad.php?t=Corpus&c=corpus.jpg&k=1'></a> Andrew Burt - http://critique.org 2012-08-09T09:35:43+05:00 Olympics coverage in prime time: Booooooooringgggg. http://critique.org/c/blog?l=20120802090909 NBC's prime time olympics coverage... booooooringgggg. Swimming, gymnastics, swimming, gymnastics, swimming, gymnastics, swimming, gymnastics... Funny, but I thought there were other events at the olympics, like archery, weight lifting, wrestling, fencing, rowing, table tennis, shot put, javelin throwing, and on and on and on and on. I enjoy -some- swimming and gymnastics, but SURELY they could spread the coverage around more evenly to all the other gazillion sporting events. This may be covered somewhere during the day or online or whatever, but I'm not going to go hunting it down. I enjoy watching competitions in a variety of events. (And in HD.) If NBC won't spread around the events in prime time, and just hammers on the same type of events hour after hour, night after night, then I'll just not watch. Boring. <a href='http://critique.org/c/blog?l=20120802090909#comments'>[Comments]</a> Andrew Burt - http://critique.org 2012-08-02T09:09:09+05:00 THE MARS MONOPOLY - an original Ace Double by Star Trek master Jerry Sohl http://critique.org/c/blog?l=20120708082354 How fun is this? We're doing two Ace Doubles by Jerry Sohl. Okay, two halves of Ace Doubles. (If you aren't familiar with the famous Ace Doubles, they were two science fiction novels by two different authors, bound back to back, upside down. You'd read one then flip it over.) So THE MARS MONOPOLY is one of two Ace Doubles that Jerry Sohl did, which we're publishing with the wonderful original cover art. <a href="http://Amazon.com/dp/B008IJW7UG"><img border="0" align="right" src="http://ReAnimus.com/store/covers/1222.sml.jpg" alt="THE MARS MONOPOLY cover"></a> ReAnimus Press Store: http://ReAnimus.com/store?item=1222 Amazon: http://Amazon.com/dp/B008IJW7UG It's classic science fiction, and the story itself is just plain fun. I've read it and really enjoyed it. It's in that "competent man struggles against evil trying to save the day" style that has made science fiction so great (that is, like most Heinlein or Asimov, and unlike so much of the newer stuff that seems to despise the world and think there's no hope). Call me old-fashioned, but I like stories with intelligent, honorable characters trying to do what's right. Here's the blurb, based mostly on the original one: A guy's gotta earn a living someplace—and if it isn't on Earth, it might as well be on Mars. That is if the Syndicate would let you live on the red planet. Bert Schaun found himself washed-up as a round-the-world rocket racer, blacklisted by Thornton McAllister. He tried to make a new life for himself prospecting for uranium in the lonesome vastness of the asteroids. But McAllister's fury hunted him even to Mars; the issue became a struggle to stay alive against the dangers imposed by McAllister's interplanetary power. And then Bert met Emma, and found that he was not only fighting for his own survival and his sweetheart's, but for the survival, too, of a whole race of Martian outcasts. Singlehandedly, he had to combat genocide on Mars! Jerry Sohl is the author of over two dozen books, as well as many scripts for Star Trek, The Outer Limits, The Twilight Zone, and numerous other TV shows and feature films. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it! <a href='http://critique.org/c/blog?l=20120708082354#comments'>[Comments]</a> Andrew Burt - http://critique.org 2012-07-08T08:23:54+05:00 Ben Bova's TEST OF FIRE from ReAnimus Press http://critique.org/c/blog?l=20120707083305 Hey, happy dance, got another Ben Bova book put up! A small group of survivors fight to rebuild civilization after the Earth is devastated by a huge solar flare... TEST OF FIRE by six-time Hugo Award winning author Ben Bova       ReAnimus Press Store: http://ReAnimus.com/store?item=1220       Amazon: http://Amazon.com/dp/B008IBP7DS I thought the cover turned out really cool looking. (Another great piece of artwork from Clay Hagebusch.) <img src="http://ReAnimus.com/store/covers/1220.sml.jpg" alt=""> Here's the longer blurb we're using: Cities became ovens. Grasslands became seas of flame. As the touch of dawn swept westward across the spinning planet Earth, its fiery finger killed everything in its path. Glaciers in Switzerland began to melt, floodwaters poured down on the burning, smoking villages dotting the Alpine meadows. Paris became a torch, then London. North of the Arctic Circle, Lapplanders in their summer furs burst into flame as their reindeer collapsed and roasted on the smoking tundra. The line of dawn raced westward across the Atlantic Ocean, but as it did the brightness diminished. The sun dimmed as quickly as it had brightened. The Americas escaped the Sun's wrath. Almost. "A hard, dark book, the story of mankind after the fall... compulsive reading... the battle to rebuild Earth after its almost total destruction by a gigantic solar flare." —Harry Harrison Enjoy! <a href='http://critique.org/c/blog?l=20120707083305#comments'>[Comments]</a> Andrew Burt - http://critique.org 2012-07-07T08:33:05+05:00 About Andrew Burt http://aburt.com/fiction Dr. Andrew Burt is a professional science fiction writer and former Vice President of Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, Inc. He herds Critters (<a href="http://www.critique.org">www.critique.org</a>), the first writer's workshop on the web. Outside of science fiction, he founded the world's first Internet service provider, has been a computer science professor (research in networking, security, privacy, and free-speech/social issues), and a technology consultant/author/speaker. He's currently CEO of TechSoft, and President of <a href="http://GreenAroundYou.org">GreenAroundYou.org</a>. . For a hobby, he constructs solutions to all the world's problems. Fortunately -- nobody listens. He lives in the Rockies with his wife and their two parrots. <a href='http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004LGTJKG'> Check out one of aburt's ebooks <img border=0 src='http://aburt.com/fiction/ad/mkad.php?t=A Bird in Hand&c=bird-cover.jpg&k=1'></a> Andrew Burt - http://aburt.com/fiction 2011-02-14T07:00+00:00