Tom Merritt's Blog, page 1212
February 14, 2012
S&L Podcast – #91 – Rule 34 Wrap-up
We talk about the importance of scientists and writers partnering up as well as debate the distinction between science fiction and science fantasy. And we wrap up Rule 34 by Charles Stross. Did our opinons turn? Listen and find out.
WHAT ARE WE DRINKING?
Veronica: 2007 d'Arenberg d'Arrys Original Shiraz Grenache
Tom: 2005 Cosentino Winery Cabernet Sauvignon
QUICK BURNS
SF flash fiction from Gaiman, Moorcock, Westerfeld, Ann Vandermeer, Gene Wolfe and others
WORLD OF ICE AND FIRE news plus some new GoT pics
What Frank Herbert's Dune Can Teach Us About the Power of Positive Thinking
BARE YOUR SWORD
Science Fantasy vs Science Fiction
TV, MOVIES AND VIDEO GAMES
It's Honest Abe versus bloodsuckers in the first Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter trailer
HBO on the Battle of the Blackwater (and Dunk 'n' Egg)
George R.R. Martin reads nursery rhymes.
BOOK WRAP-UP
Charles Stross' about page – Thanks to Nick on Goodreads for pointing it out
"Love the podcasts,
So the idea started with one of the guys calling the other ""girly-man"". So to keep a fight from starting I gave a quick class on how all males are 50% female do to the X chromosome. I have seen shows where a person goes through hormone replacement therapy as part of their gender change and are shocked by the changes in their personalty. Has there ever been a book where someone ""grew"" a man with two ""Y"" chromosomes? A ""fe"" free male so to say. If not, I am sure it would be a great idea for some book. Part of it sounds like something China or North Korea would to make a super soldier.
If nothing else maybe they could just be put in charge of the House of Representative. (inside joke for Tom and another show)
Signing off from Afgahnistan,
SSG Michael Mugler"
—
"Hi Tom & Veronica, I heard you talking about the Baen free library on the last episode and wanted to mention that for years Baen included CD's with some of their hardback books that included ebooks versions not only of that book but other Baen books.
I always thought it was a great way to encourage fans to try other authors as well as additional books in the series and Baen encouraged people to share the CD's with friends.
A fan has put together an archive of all the CD's online at http://baencd.thefifthimperium.com for those of us who own the Baen hardbacks its an easy way to get all of the CD's content in one place. Since the CD's were distributed freely it appears to be a completely legal way to get a number of free books from Bean that are not available for free in their store.
Not sure if this is show worthy material since I have not heard if Baen has commented on the website either way though it has been mentioned on Penny-Arcade before. Regardless I highly recommend Baen as they are a company who seems to understand the benefits of digital distribution and go treat their customers much better than most publishers with reasonably priced ebooks combo packs and free books.
Brandon
P.S. Keep up the great work on the show!!" NEW MEMBER HELLOS Scott, Manuel, Brad, Aubrey, Erik, Jeane (pronounced Genie), Ryan, Chris, Bob, Shane, Nick, Stan, Susan, Barry, Jess, Paul, Thomas, Ted, Robbin, Terje (pronounced TARE-yuh), Mira, Mason, Stuart
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.
February 13, 2012
Tech History Today – Feb. 14
In 1924 – The Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company merged with its subsidiary and took its name, International Business Machines Corporation AKA IBM.
In 1989 – The Department of Defense got the first of 24 satellites that will make up the global positioning system put into orbit.
In 2011 IBM's Watson, an AI computer system competed against Jeapardy champions Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter. Watson cleaned up winning $77,147 to Mr. Jennings's $24,000 and Mr. Rutter's $21,600.
Tech News Today 436: Fear The Normal People
Hosts: Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane, Iyaz Akhtar and Jason Howell
Google almost done buying Motorola, MySpace is back, PS Vita might become a phone OS, and more.
Guest: Russ Pitts
Download or subscribe to this show at twit.tv/tnt.
Submit and vote on story coverage at technewstoday.reddit.com.
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Thanks to Cachefly for the bandwidth for this show.
Running time: 43:04
February 12, 2012
Tech History Today – Feb. 13
In 1895 – French patent No. 245,032 was issued for appareil servant à l'obtention et à la vision des épreuves chrono-photographiques, AKA the Cinématographe, a combined motion-picture camera and projector.
In 1946 – ENIAC (the Electronic Numerical Integrator and Calculator) the first practical, all-electronic computer was unveiled at the Univ. of Pennsylvania's Moore School of
Electronics. The New York Times carried the report the next day.
In 2004 – Astronomers announce the discovery of BPM37093 which they also gave the nickname Lucy. It was a pulsating white dwarf star 50 light-years from Earth that also seemed to be the biggest diamond in the Universe.
February 11, 2012
Tech History Today – Feb. 12
In 1877 – Alexander Graham Bell demonstrated the telephone for the first time in public at the Salem Lyceum Hall. The demonstration ended with the sending of the first telephone news dispatch which was received by the Boston Globe.
In 1973 – Along Interstate 71 in Ohio, the first metric distance road signs to be erected in the US were put in place. They informed of the distance between Colubus and Cleveland and Columbus and Cincinnati.
In 2001 – the NEAR Shoemaker spacecraft touched down on 433 Eros after transmitting 69 close up pictures. It became the first spacecraft to land on an asteroid.
Tech News Today 435: Don't Root Your Wallet
Hosts: Tom Merritt and Sarah Lane
Iran blocks the Internet, How bad is ACTA? and Google Wallet woes, and more.
Guest: Darren Kitchen
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Thanks to Cachefly for the bandwidth for this show.
Running time: 43:16
Tech News Today 434: A Kodak Moment Of Silence
Hosts: Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane, Iyaz Akhtar and Jason Howell
New iPad, Google takes on Dropbox, what Windows on ARM will and will not have, and more.
Guest: Scott Johnson
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Running time: 51:26
February 10, 2012
Tech History Today – Feb. 11
In 1847 – Proud parents Samuel and Nancy welcomed their seventh and last child into the world. Thomas Edison would grow up to embody the word inventor.
1970, With the launch of Osumi 5, Japan became the fourth country (after the US, USSR and France) to place a satellite into orbit.
In 1997 – The Space Shuttle Discovery launched on Mission STS-82 with the objective of making significant upgrades to the scientific capabilities of the Hubble Space Telescope. The upgrades helped turn the Hubble from a punchline, to one of the greatest telescopes ever created.
February 9, 2012
Tech History Today – Feb. 10
In 1958 – Scientists at Lincoln Laboratory at MIT bounced radar signals off the planet Venus, calling it the first measurement of interplanetary distances.
In 1996 – Chess's international grandmaster Garry Kasparov began a six game match against IBM's Deep Blue. Deep Blue won the first game the first time that a current world champion had ever been beaten by a computer opponent under regular tournament conditions. But Kasparov took the match 4-2.
In 2009 – One of Motorola's communication satellites Iridium 33 collided with defunct Russian satellite Kosmos-2251 destroying both. It was an unprecedented space collision.
Triangulation 39: Gina Trapani
Hosts: Leo Laporte and Tom Merritt
This Week in Google host Gina Trapani comes on the show to talk all about, open source programming, days at lifehacker, is code poetry or poetry code? And much more.
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Running time: 00:56:37
