Robyn Paterson's Blog, page 47
June 29, 2012
Teachers Novel Writing Month
I hereby declare July as TeaNoWriMo! Which, despite what you may think, doesn’t mean you have to drink 50,000 cups of tea in July. Instead it stands for Teachers Novel Writing Month.
You see, National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) which has become hugely popular each year, has an inherent flaw- it’s biased against teachers! If you’re a teacher, especially at High School or Post-Secondary level, November is actually your hell month as you fall under waves of marking for exams, texts, projects...
June 27, 2012
The Warbots by G. Harry Stine
In the high-tech laboratories of tomorrow a new breed of super-soldier is born! The brutal face of warfare has been dramatically altered. Armored giants now roam the explosive fields of battle-massive instruments of devastation with computer minds inseparably linked with the brainwaves of their human masters. They are the Warbots, men and machines combined to create the most lethal warriors in the history of armed conflict. But a monstrous challenge emerges for the mechanical gladiators emana...
June 26, 2012
Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, Season 2 Thoughts
Thanks to Australia airing Season 2 of Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes at a rate of 4/week instead of 1/week like North American TV, I’ve just finished watching the second (and sadly last) season of Avengers a bit early. (Like 3 months, earth.)
I really enjoyed this series overall, and taken as a whole considered it a solidly good little show. I’ve been a longtime casual Avengers fan, so it was neat to finally see the characters animated and some of the Avengers storylines brought to life....
Who wants to live forever?
What if people could live to 200 instead of just 80 years?
Dr. Stuart Kim has already done the equivalent in his studies on how to reverse the aging process in worms, and has learned incredible things about aging. Traditionally, we’ve always thought that aging was the result of wear and tear on our cells, but it turns out that isn’t quite true.
ideacity on livestream.com. Broadcast Live Free
I heard this lecture last night on CBC radio and was blown away by it, and the implications it offers abo...
June 24, 2012
Legend of Korra: Season One Ending Thoughts (Spoiler Lite)
I just watched the finale for the first season of Legend of Korra, and I have to say I truly have mixed feelings about it.
As I mentioned in my previous review, Korra is a heck of an impressive show. It’s been a great series in so many ways, and I think this is what makes the finale such a let-down for me. Over the course of the season the creators have taken such care in developing the characters and nuturing the story along. The pacing of the show, and the themes they’ve been weaving have be...
June 20, 2012
Entertainment Industry Joke
I heard the following joke on the Dead Robots’ Society podcast today, and though I’d share. This joke will only make sense if you understand the entertainment industry.
A writer and a producer are stranded in the desert together, crawling their way across the sand.
Then suddenly, the writer looks ahead and sees an oasis shimmering before him!
Using what strength he has, the writer gets to his feet, runs to the oasis and finds it’s real!
Kneeling down next to the oasis, he desperately begins gulpi...
June 19, 2012
Psychologists Discover How People Subconsciously Become Their Favorite Fictional Characters – Medical Daily
Behold! The power of reading!
Psychologists have discovered that while reading a book or story, people are prone to subconsciously adopt their behavior, thoughts, beliefs and internal responses to that of fictional characters as if they were their own.
Experts have dubbed this subconscious phenomenon ‘experience-taking,’ where people actually change their own behaviors and thoughts to match those of a fictional character that they can identify with.
Researcher from the Ohio State University cond...
June 18, 2012
Free eBook: Suffer the Poisoner
“There’s poison in your soup.”
With these words, Little Gou is thrust into another adventure as he finds himself struggling to get the woman who poisoned him past an army of soldiers hunting her. Even if they can get past the army, their greatest challenge lies ahead- facing an ancient secret society who will stop at nothing to keep their existence hidden.
I’ve just released my newest Little Gou adventure, and I’m offering it for free for the next two weeks! Until July 2nd, if you go to Smashwo...
June 12, 2012
CLANG! A Realistic Swordfighting Game Kickstarter Project
Author Neal Stevenson has put his name behind a new kickstarter project to produce Clang, a realistic swordfighting game for the PC. I’ll let him explain the details below.
Interesting. I’m not quite as excited about it as I was the space combat game, but it’s a neat idea and I hope he makes it happen. I do think a more realistic swordfighting game is needed, but I wonder how much detail you can pack into it before it becomes either a simulation or just a movie where you occasionally push butt...
June 10, 2012
How Old is Sci-Fi? – Atomic Rockets
There are sites on the internet that one can easily spent a whole day lost in, for some it’s Pinterest or Wikipedia, and for me it’s Project Rho (aka Atomic Rockets). A whole site dedicated to helping writers get their science fiction spaceships right according to physics, and doing it in the most entertaining of ways. I find reading the comments, clips from books, and “laws” endlessly fascinating when I’m thinking about sci-fi stories.
Today, what caught my attention was this little gem, whic...
