Walter Jon Williams's Blog, page 239

Judicial Humor

A judge in Georgia has dismissed as frivolous the case of Captain Doctor Connie Rhodes, who asked to be excused duty in Iraq on the grounds that President Obama is not a U.S. citizen and lacked the authority to order her deployment. Whew! The Republic is saved, yet again. But what was really terrific was that the court's finding made savage fun of the plaintiff and her claims for fourteen whole

Successful Moon Landing Test = $1Million.

Someone has qualified for the Northrup Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge. (Small steps, but still worth a million bucks.)Armadillo Aerospace qualified to win a million dollars of NASA's money today by accomplishing a rocket-powered round trip modeled after a moon landing. The team's remote-controlled Scorpius rocket (formerly known as the Super Mod) blasted off from its Texas launch pad, rose into

Heir of Skanderbeg!

So it turns out that my wife, at least on her mom's side, is a descendant of Albanian mercenaries. Who knew?The person who knew was her cousin Jan, who was one of our dinner guests the other night, and who brought with her a history of the Italian Albanians, otherwise known as the "Arberesh." During the 15th Century, Albania was preserved as a territory by the great hero Skanderbeg (short for

Got Euros . . . ?

Here we see pictures from the catalog of Dumont, one of my German publishers. This Is Not a Game got a four-page spread in the middle of the catalog! (Michelle Houellebecq, John Cheever, and Haruki Murakami only got two pages each!) For a minute there, I thought they were going to keep the US title, but on further inspection I see the book has been retitled Off. I'm not sure what this has to do

Lovely dinner party Saturday night, with seven people. W...

Lovely dinner party Saturday night, with seven people. We had linguini with Kathy's freshly-made pesto; caprici salad with basil, fresh mozzarella, and heirloom tomatoes from the farmers' market; and roast chicken coated with rosemary, garlic, and balsamic vinegar, with a red wine reduction sauce. Dessert was Nadine's pound cake, with cream cheese frosting and fresh fruit. Now that it's Sunday

Technology Kicks Me in the Butt, Yet Again

For my current project, I invented some cool drone aircraft. Then reality went and invented something even cooler.I refer to the Maveric UAS, made by Prioria Robotics. This little drone can be carried by a single person, folded up in a six-inch tube, then thrown in the air to see what's over the next hill. The drone can have a human operator, or operate on its own via GPS, and can carry two video

Baby-Eating Birds

[from Brad Smith:]A giant New Zealand eagle, extinct now for 500 years, may have snacked on human babies.In a paper published in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, scientists make the case that an extinct giant predatory eagle might have been eating children. The eagle was not a scavenger, as some believed, but a deadly hunter. . .The real significance of the paper is that the bird wasn't the

Drifting

Today drifted away without my quite realizing it. I didn't post, so instead enjoy this picture I took at the Georgia Aquarium.

Last Days in the Bunker

Wow. Adolf and I finally agree on something.

Rodents of Unusual Size

I'm back from Dragoncon, and very tired and full of headache. I'm not sure why, since I actually got sufficient sleep during the convention, and had nothing to do yesterday but drowse. Thanks to those of you who offered suggestions re my undying fame, my sincere thanks. I'll reply in more detail when I've recovered my strength.In the meantime, please enjoy this scientific report about the