Tom Merritt's Blog, page 1166

S&L Podcast – #115 – Ghallu everyone!

On this episode we breakdown the Tolkien estate case against Warner Brothers, debate the origins of the Ghallu, and even figure out the January book pick! Also Tom has a Snow Day.  But it’s not what you think. It’s BETTER!

WHAT ARE WE DRINKING?

Tom: New Belgium Snow Day Winter Ale

Veronica: 2008 Eagle Vale Margaret River Shiraz 
 


QUICK BURNS
 
Happy Birthday to Michael Stackpole!


The Tolkien Estate Sues to Protect Their Precious


J.K. Rowling’s Pottermore adds ebook gifting and new book


Terry Pratchett to pass DISCWORLD onto his daughter


Goodreads Reader’s Choice awards 


Penguin expands library ebook lending with Baker & Taylor 


Meet the Bibliomat: a homemade vending machine for old books
 


CALENDAR
 


BARE YOUR SWORD
 


Ghallu..have I seen this moster before? 


NaNoWriMo 2012 
 


TV, MOVIES AND VIDEO GAMES
 


The Man in the High Castle’ and other Philip K. Dick works slated for film and TV adaptations

Season 3 of ‘Game of Thrones’ set to begin March 31st
 



BOOK CHECK-IN
 


Dirty Streets wrap-up this Friday – The Hobbit Kick-Off Dec. 7


Shall we settle the January Pick?
 

ADDENDUMS
 




This podcast is brought to you by Audible.com the internet’s leading provider of audiobooks with more than 100,000 downloadable titles across all types of literature and featuring audio versions of many New York Times Best Sellers. For listeners of this podcast, Audible is offering a free audiobook, to give you a chance to try out their service. For a free audiobook of your choice go to audiblepodcast.com/sword. 

 

 

S&L Video – #17 – Author Guide to Patrick Rothfuss

 

Patrick Rothfuss, author of The Kingkiller Chronicles, joins us in the space castle to talk world building, beard growing, and how he ripped off Sir Issac Newton.

 

 

Autopilot S2E03 – Futurama

Futurama is an American animated science fiction sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening and David X. Cohen for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series follows the adventures of a late-20th-century New York City pizza delivery boy, Philip J. Fry, who, after being unwittingly cryogenically frozen for one thousand years, finds employment at Planet Express, an interplanetary delivery company in the retro-futuristic 31st century. The series was envisioned by Groening in the late 1990s while working on The Simpsons, later bringing Cohen aboard to develop storylines and characters to pitch the show to Fox.

Tech News Today 636: Why Mini?

Hosts: Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane, Iyaz Akhtar and Jason Howell

The Wii gets smaller, Google Play reviews get less anonymous, the Internet gets bitter, and more.

Guest: Tim Stevens

Download or subscribe to this show at twit.tv/tnt.

Submit and vote on story coverage at technewstoday.reddit.com.

Check out the full show notes for today’s episode.

We invite you to read, add to, and amend the wiki entry for this episode at wiki.twit.tv.

Thanks to Cachefly for the bandwidth for this show.

Running time:: 0:49:05

Tech History Today – Nov. 27

In 1971 – The Soviet Union’s Mars 2 orbiter released its descent module which probably had too steep an angle of entry, and malfunctioned and crashed. But hey, it was still the first manmade object to reach the surface of Mars.

In 1995 – Microsoft released Internet Explorer 2.0, touting its privacy and encryption, and stepping up the browser war with Netscape.

In 2001 – Scientists announced they had used the Hubble telescope to detect and analyze the atmosphere on an extrasolar planet for the first time. The planet HD 209458 b, unofficially called Osiris was found to have sodium in its atmosphere.

Like Tech History? Purchase Tom Merritt’s Chronology of Tech History at Merritt’s Books site.

Frame Rate 103: Brilliotic

Hosts: Brian Brushwood and Tom Merritt

Xbox TV due 2013, Time Warner invests in Maker Studio, Disney stops streaming online, Hulu Plus on Wii U

Guest: Jeff Cannata

Download or subscribe to this show at twit.tv/fr.

We invite you to read, add to, and amend our show notes at wiki.twit.tv.

Thanks to Cachefly for the bandwidth for this show.

Running time:: 1:28:32

Tech News Today 635: Save Gorillas From Robots

Hosts: Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane, Iyaz Akhtar and Jason Howell

How Cyber is your Monday? Google punked on PR service, Minecraft Redstone update coming, and more.

Guest: Lindsey Turrentine

Download or subscribe to this show at twit.tv/tnt.

Submit and vote on story coverage at technewstoday.reddit.com.

Check out the full show notes for today’s episode.

We invite you to read, add to, and amend the wiki entry for this episode at wiki.twit.tv.

Thanks to Cachefly for the bandwidth for this show.

Running time:: 0:45:37

Tech History Today – Nov. 26

In 1894 – Norbert Wiener was born in Columbia, Missouri. He would get his BA in mathematics at age 14 but is most remembered for his theory of regulation and of signal transmission which he called “cybernetics”

In 1922 – Toll of the Sea debuted. It was the first color movie that didn’t require a special projector, the second technicolor film ever, and the first in wide release.

In 2003 – The final flight of a Concorde ended when the supersonic jet touched down at Filton, Bristol, England, the airfield where it was built.

Like Tech History? Purchase Tom Merritt’s Chronology of Tech History at Merritt’s Books site.

Tech History Today – Nov. 25

In 1816 – Gaslight illuminated Philadelphia’s Chestnut Street Theatre, improving on an innovation pioneered in London. Instead of coal the gas was created from pitch, reducing the malodorous vapors caused by the wonder’s creation.

In 1957 – PG&E and General Electric inaugurate the Vallecitos Nuclear Power Plant in Pleasanton California. It is the first privately funded atomic power plant.

In 1976 – The Project Viking landers passed through superior conjunction at Mars, enabling scientists to begin an experiment that used the landers as transponders. The data collected confirmed the Shapiro Delay, becoming one of the best confirmations of General Relativity we have seen.

Like Tech History? Purchase Tom Merritt’s Chronology of Tech History at Merritt’s Books site.

Tech History Today – Nov. 24

In 1932 – The FBI Scientific Crime Detection Laboratory (known then only as the Technical Crime Laboratory) officially opened in Washington DC. It’s location was chosen because it had a sink, and its one employee, Agent Charles Appel had to borrow a microscope.

In 1969 – The Apollo 12 command module with its all-Navy crew splashed down safely in the Pacific Ocean, ending the second manned mission to the Moon. Credit goes to the USS Hornet for its second flawless recovery effort.

In 1998 – AOL announced it would purchase Netscape Communications, merging what were then two of the biggest names on the Internet.

Like Tech History? Purchase Tom Merritt’s Chronology of Tech History at Merritt’s Books site.