Keris

Just to remind people, if they've forgotten -- Duple Time is the UK filkcon next year (2012) in February.

There will be a Progress Report out shortly, but as this will only be sent to those who have joined the convention (this is a hint, join now if you want to receive the PR!):

Hotel booking is now live on the convention web site at http://www.contabile.org.uk. The form is accessible both from the Hotel page and from the Publications page. NOTE: this and other forms open in a new window or tab (depending on your browser settings), you need to close that window or tab, not just go 'back'.

NOTE: the hotel bill is to be paid AT THE HOTEL. No deposit is needed, and hotel payment with membership will just confuse us horribly.

All of the online forms are now linked both from their relevant pages and from the Publications page. I gather that some people looked on the latter and didn't find the registration form, sorry about that.

And about that hint -- membership rates will be GOING UP shortly. It is currently 35 pounds for adult full members, 25 for adult unwaged[1], and 1 pound per year of age from 6 to 17 inclusive (1 pound for 5 years old or younger, and for things like stuffed toys). Ages are calculated when joining, so if you have children coming up to birthdays it will be cheaper to join now.

[1] 'unwaged' -- not earning a wage. Basically, not working in a job paying at least minimum wage. Full-time students are classed as unwaged, as are retired people not still in employment, long-term disabled, etc. Basically, if you would be eligible for state assistance in the UK (or would have been except from the present government) then we'll consider you unwaged (whether or not you live in a country with state aid). If in doubt, ask, we'll take your word for it. (And again, this refers to status at time of joining, we won't ask you to pay more if you get a job before the con!)
The new rates will come into force NOT BEFORE 1st November 2011. If you can't pay before then, at least register and send a note explaining the problem. Once the new rates are live on the form, those will be the rates you will be expected to pay.

We still don't have an online payment system live, so contact the con about payment. Methods include seeing me or Soir personally, direct transfer to the con account, or sending a cheque in the post. The latter is not advised, we've had problems with post not being passed on (and if it 'bounced' and there was no return address then the post office will have lost it), and sending to my home address is also not guaranteed (a fair bit of post doesn't even reach me).

For people outside the UK, membership rates are basically at cost, contact the con for current rates. To actually pay, contact the con and we'll see what we can work out (which can include, in the extreme, paying at the con).

Hope to see many of you there!

Chris C
Duple Time con chair

So, andpuff has a new book out as an e-book, being sold by Barnes and Noble for the Nook. Great, I thought, Nook is ePub and I can read that.

So I went to the B&N site, and they let me order, and the order went through. It appeared in my library. But when I tried to download it I was told "you have ordered using an invalid credit card so you can't download" (so why didn't it tell me that when I ordered the book and before it put it in "my library"?). Checked the credit card information, nothing wrong with it (and anyway if it was blocked anywhere else would have rejected the order).

Around an hour later I get an email confirming that -- and telling me that Nook books are not available ouside the US and Canada. So why the F*** didn't they say that when I tried to order it??? They have my address which learly says United Kingdom, why are they wasting my time trying to correct a perfectly good credit card entry?

(Oh, the email does say "you have not been charged". After wasting over half an hour of my time trying to work out what was wrong and who to contact (no one, it seems), they owe me at least 20 quid for the time...)

Nowhere on their site can I see anything which says that Nook books are only available to the US and Canada. There's lots of promotion for them, no mention of geographical restrictions. Perhaps there's something hidden in a locked filing cabinet in a disused toiled in the basement, with a sign on the door saying "Beware of the leopard", but it's certainly not at all obvious. And even if it were, what bozo goes through and makes it look as though the order is accepted, even puts it in the 'library', and only rejects it after it looks OK?

Someone remind me to never try to buy from B&N again.

[ETA: message sent back to B&N]

On 12 October 2011 08:49, Barnes & Noble <authorizations@barnesandnoble.com> wrote:

Dear XXXXXX XXXXXX,

We are contacting you regarding your recent order, XXXXXXXXX. Your order has failed our authorization process therefore we are unable to process your order.

Yes, when I went to My Library to try to download it (the process seeming to accept my order) I was told that my credit card was invalid. Which it isn't, it's just not a US one.

If you received this email regarding your order for a Barnes & Noble NOOK Book or NOOK App, please be advised that these purchases are limited to those customers physically located in the United States and Canada.

Where on the site does it say that? Not when I go to the book's page (via a link). Not when I try to buy it. Not even when it goes through and (presumably) verifies my credit card. In fact, not even when I go to "My Library" and try to download it there, I am then told that the credit card was invalid (and no mention of whay I can do about it).

Every other U.S. online vendor I have used checks the credit card BEFORE accepting the order, and they can then say then if it has been rejected and not complete the order (they also generally give a contact at that point to resolve it). They say up front if a product is only available in some places.

Not B&N. You let me enter my address (with a selection from dozens of countries) with no warning that my purchases may be geographically limited.

Please be assured that you have not been charged for this order.

Oh, that's good to know. It would have been better if you had told me at the time, of course, so that I didn't then waste time trying to fid out what was wrong with my credit card.

Please inform me how to remove my account from your site, because that's not obvious either, since you evidently don't want my custom.

Avoid them like the plague...

As zanda_myrande said, as a Brit I can't reasonably tell Americans what to do. However, as a person I can help to spread the word to those who are in a position to do something.

Incidentally, I looked this up (since it seems to be spreading as a single-source meme), and link to the page of Personhood USA about the bills they are promoting -- the Mississippi one is not the only one...

[ETA: and an article in the Huffington Post.]

Originally posted by gabrielleabelle at Mississippi Personhood Amendment

Okay, so I don't usually do this, but this is an issue near and dear to me and this is getting very little no attention in the mainstream media.

Mississippi is voting on November 8th on whether to pass Amendment 26, the "Personhood Amendment". This amendment would grant fertilized eggs and fetuses personhood status.

Putting aside the contentious issue of abortion, this would effectively outlaw birth control and criminalize women who have miscarriages. This is not a good thing.

Jackson Women's Health Organization is the only place women can get abortions in the entire state, and they are trying to launch a grassroots movement against this amendment. This doesn't just apply to Mississippi, though, as Personhood USA, the group that introduced this amendment, is trying to introduce identical amendments in all 50 states.

What's more, in Mississippi, this amendment is expected to pass. It even has Mississippi Democrats, including the Attorney General, Jim Hood, backing it.

The reason I'm posting this here is because I made a meager donation to the Jackson Women's Health Organization this morning, and I received a personal email back hours later - on a Sunday - thanking me and noting that I'm one of the first "outside" people to contribute.

So if you sometimes pass on political action because you figure that enough other people will do something to make a difference, make an exception on this one. My RSS reader is near silent on this amendment. I only found out about it through a feminist blog. The mainstream media is not reporting on it.

If there is ever a time to donate or send a letter in protest, this would be it.

What to do?

- Read up on it. Wake Up, Mississippi is the home of the grassroots effort to fight this amendment. Daily Kos also has a thorough story on it.

- If you can afford it, you can donate at the site's link.

- You can contact the Democratic National Committee to see why more of our representatives aren't speaking out against this.

- Like this Facebook page to help spread awareness.

(Not cut-tagged, nor restricted distribution, this deserves to be seen far and wide. Anonymous and non-friends comments are screened, however, to avoid spam.)

Some time ago, in a BBC TV programme about the "Red Priest" Antonio Vivaldi, they featured an all-female choir (including female bass) who were performing his works in the style in which they were probably originally performed at the Ospedale della Pietà (some scholars have suggested that men were 'imported', but other records show that women took even the male parts and one in particular is referred to as being a bass).

I can't find the reference to the choir, though, and I'm wondering if anyone knows of them or other all-female choirs who perform (and record) Vivaldi's works of the period.

(I was listening to the 'Gloria' RV 589 the other day on BBC Radio 3, sung as usual by a mixed choir, and thought of this...)

OK, a question for music historians:

When did an 'overture' start containing tunes from the opera[1] it preceded? As far as I know, overtures in the time of Bach and Handel were just pieces of music not particularly related to the larger work following, and indeed could be used with other dramatic works or on their own, or were merely the first instrumental part of the music. By the time of Beethoven it seems that many were written for specific operas, but still didn't particularly use the tune from the opera. Wagner, however, used a lot of tunes from his operas in the appropriate overtures, a kind of foreshadowing (almost like a 'teaser' on TV showing clips from the following show), which seems to be the common form in modern music (including film music, the instrumental start to "Star Wars" is almost completely made from tunes heard later in the film).

So I'm wondering, when did this change, and who started it? Did it come in with the idea of the leitmotif? Or possibly with the change in audience behaviour (it was common in Mozart's day, for instance, that people would chatter through not only the overture but also through the performance, but later this was seen as rude behaviour).

[1] Using 'opera' in the original sense, 'work' or 'piece', rather than necessarily a sung dramatic work. Oratorios and some instrumental pieces also often had overtures (the first movement of Bach's orchestral suites, for instance, is labelled 'Overture').

Just curious, I've been wondering about it for many years...

I seem to be not receiving LJ notifications of things like comments, the last one I got was at around 10:30UT yesterday (and there have been several comments on my comments and posts since then). Is anyone else seeing this?

There seems to be a new site for UK folk music:

http://www.ukfolkmusic.co.uk/index.html

More of a collection of links at the moment, they have lists of musicians, traders/suppliers, venues, ceilidh bands, etc. but would like more. I notice that several people I know aren't on their lists yet so I'm giving a heads-up to people who would like more free exposure.

I've had this piece on my mind for weeks. I'm certain that I've heard it lots of times on Classic FM or Radio 3, but haven't found anyone who can identify it. Very probably as soon as someone does name it I'll go 'duh!'.

I've created it as a Noteworthy file and saved as audio, with clarinet as the main tune and bassoon as an approximation to a bass harmony (it does something like that).

The MP3 file is here.

(It feels as though it might be an Ave Maria, but it's not any of the obvious ones.)

ETA: Found!
G.F. Händel - Lascia ch'io pianga

Via Musipedia, which I hadn't known before, thanks were_gopher.

Which illustrates the point made by osewalrus recently, that you don't have to know everything, knowing where to find it is just as good (and often more useful, as the referenced information may be more up to date or contain further links).

I'm wondering if there already is such a thing. The thing I have in mind would be a sort of graphics/GUI application. It would allow the number of days (and streams/rooms) and the time constraints to be specified as a table grid (scrollable both ways; the time (vertical) should be able to support divisions at least down to 5 minute granularity to allow for different divisions of an hour), but should then be able to specify (for instance) 15 minute periods or 20 minute or hour or whatever for laying out the grid.

The items to be run (with appropriate size rectangles) would then initially be in a 'scratchpad' area and could then be dragged to the grid in appropriate positions. If it were attempted to drop an item so that it overlapped then options should allow to cancel, move the overlapped item(s) (up or down), or to drop the overlapped item(s) back to the scatchpad for repositioning. (If the option were taken to move other options this could then produce a cascade of the same options for the moved item(s) if that would force another overlap (or as a simpler implementation would simply not allow a 'move' if there wasn't room for it).

It should also be possible to 'lock' items (and 'unlock' them) for things like fixed mealtimes or events determined by other things (for instance Doctor Who at Eastercon depends on the TV schedule, some places have catered food at hotel-specified times, etc.).

It must be possible to save it in any stable state (i.e. not necessarily with conflicts outstanding, but with events still in the sandbox). I'd be happy with an XML storage form (gzipped for space if necessary).

Output and input (export and import) should be possible from several standard formats -- Excel, Word/RTF, OpenOffice/LibreOffice, HTML, PDF, XML, tab separated (for input), etc. Although supporting some of those via an intermediate format and utility would be fine (for instance always output/save in XML and run a separate utility or utilities to produce the other formats). For 'final' formats (like PDF and HTML) there should be options to select how many columns / days per page.

And ideally it should run anywhere -- Windows (at least XP and later), Linux (with X), or on a web server. Or, if anyone wants, iPad or even a phone. Which probably means implementation in Java.


I can't write it. Well, I probably could, but it would be horrible because I'm not a GUI programmer. But someone has probably already done something like this...

I've posted about this before, but got no replies.

My WinXP (SP4) machine seens to have picked up something I can't find. At shutdown/reboot it hangs with a "can't end program" box. The program is being called 'Facebook'. Now, I don't go near Facebook and certainly didn't install it intentionally (although I wouldn't put it past things like iTunes or the BBC iPlayer to install it without telling me).

But -- there seems to be no such program on the system. Nothing in the Registry, and no file anywhere with even part of the name 'facebook'. It doesn't show up in Process Manager Explorer. But the "end program" sees it as that name.

(Oh, and the "end program", having done a countdown warning that the program is then going to be terminated, doesn't -- it just sits at another window asking if I want to end the program or 'continue' (both actually terminate it and continue the shutdown/reboot). This is really annoying...)

I'm making this public (but screening anonymous)...

Now, you may think that there's enough disk copying software out there that I don't need to ask (from *ix dd to Partition Magic and Parted). But they all have one big problem:

... if there is a bad sector, they stop reading!

Anyone remember the old DOS "Abort, Retry, Ignore" prompt? OK, it came up far too often, but it had that very useful feature, "ignore the error, pretend it worked and use whatever you have". Yes, you could end up with a file with a bit of corrupt data in the middle, but at least all the rest of the file (and other files) would get copied.

That feature seems to have disappeared from everything. I can't even get Linux to ignore read errors when copying. The best I've managed in the past has been to manually run dd, find out how much it has copied (and so the sector/track address) when it finds a bad sector, then restart it skipping that part (and adjusting the destination address accordingly). Very prone to error, and time-consuming.

So, that's what I'm after. A disk copying program (preferably also a partition manager, so it can do resize as well) which can handle disk read errors by ignoring the 'bad' data (setting it to all zeros or whatever). If it will produce a text file log of where it found the errors, so much the better.

Oh, and preferably in a form which can be written to a bootable CD, as booting from the disk with errors on it is not a good idea.

(For further information: the disk which is getting the bad reads is a WinXP one, and so far the only errors reported have been in the swap area -- which of course is cleaned on reboot so I don't care what is corrupted in the copying.)

This video explains some of it, with some surprising (at least to many economists and managers) results about how financial rewards aren't always productive.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6XAPnuFjJc&feature=player_embedded

It seems there's been another Icelandic eruption, ash cloud may reach UK by Tuesday. No information about flights yet, of course, but there "may be disruption".

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-13498477

Via osewalrus here:

Some of you may be familiar with Joe Bethancourt, also known in the SCA as Master Ioseph of Locksely. Unfortunately, Joe and his wife Cher have suffered a terrible tragedy. A fire has burned down their home. They saved their pets and Joe's musical instruments, but lost everything else.

The musical community associated with AMAZ radio online is putting together a benefit concert for the Bethancourts. If anyone would like to donate to help Ioseph and Cher they may do so at the
AMAZ Radio web site: http://www.amazradio.org/

Please feel free to signal boost and distribute on all appropriate SCA and filk related lists.

So I downloaded a load of books and put them on the e-reader yesterday evening (Sony PRS-650 for those not keeping up with the game at home). First impressions:

For me it won't replace paper books. It's an additional way to read books, not a replacement. Just as I often buy the hardback for keeping, and then buy a MMPB for easy of taking it (or several) with me when travelling (sometimes the other way round, when I pick up the MMPB first and then buy the HB for keeping), this is just another and easier way of doing it.

The eInk is a lot kinder on my eyes than LED/LCD illuminated screens. I read a short story (equivalent of around 8-9 chapters of a novel, or about what I would normally read in bed before turning out the light) with no more strain than with a MMPB. Weight and size of the reader are comparable to a MMPB, it's slightly wider, a lot thinner, but denser.

Some eBooks don't allow size changes. Yes, D, I'm looking at you! Fortunately I'm finding the font is about right for me (I'd guess around 11pt on this device), but not friendly to people with sight issues...

'Swiping' to turn a page I find very natural, much more than using a button on the side. Although there is an oddity with my use of it. By default it is set up so that to go to the next page you swipe left, the same way as you'd turn a page. However, I find this completely counter-intuitive (indeed, for a while I couldn't work out why it kept going back to the first page after I'd used the button to go forward). I found out why -- when I turn a page of a paper book, I first slide my hand to the right (along the page surface) to find the right-hand edge (usually top RH corner, in fact), and bringing my hand back to turn the page my hand is only in contact with that edge/corner not the surface.

So, I easily found a setting letting me reverse the turn controls, which implies that they do expect people to use it. But my question now is:

When other people turn pages while reading paper books, do they go straight to the edge of the page? Or do they do the same as I do and 'find' the edge by running the hand (finger/thumb) along it? And does this carry over to e-readers? Is this a kinaesthesia thing, some people not neding to 'find' the edge?

Discuss...

NASA astronaut Cady Coleman plays flute in the ISS, with Jethro Tull's Ian Anderson playing on Earth, in a duet of the 'Bourée' (Bach arr. Jethro Tull) to honour Yuri Gagarin.

Link to YouTube video.

I'm sure Bach would approve...

(Thanks to redaxe for the pointer.)

We should stop running away from radiation

Professor (retired) Wade Allison, who is a nuclear and medical physicist at the University of Oxford, points out some more real figures about radiation and nuclear 'disasters'. For instance, the number of dead from Three Mile Island: none. Number of dead from Chernobyl: 28 among the emergency workers, 15 cases of fatal child thyroid cancer (which would have been averted if iodine tablets had been available). Number of dead from the chemical leak at Union Carbide in 1984: 3800.

Chernobyl was the worst because a badly designed system released all it's radioactive iodine and caesium in the initial explosion. Even at the time none of the reactors in the west were that badly designed, and certainly all of the current ones are a lot safer (the recent ones far safer than the Fukushima ones, which were nearing their end of life).

Oh, and that report that the Fukushima reactor had radiation "10 million times normal" (whatever that means)? It was out by a factor of 100 (i.e. 100 times larger than the real value). Some of the media have actually reported the error, but mostly in much smaller headlines than the original...

Oh, read the article. And his book, written two years ago (note: that link works for me, and directs to being able to read the first few pages of the book, please let me know if it doesn't work for others).

[ETA 2011-03-28T14:25:30]

The Register has another article about the non-story and how the scaremongers are trying to find anything at all to justify it. Like radiation being detected "all round the world", yes there has been time now for winds to carry minute amounts most of the way round the world, and yes there are instruments sensitive enough to detect the minute percentage increase from the normal level, but it's not exactly going to do anyone any harm.

I can't do better than quote the title of the actual article from The Register. Oh, and its subtitle:

Hysteria rages unchecked as minor incident winds down

I see that the media are still pushing the "Oh, panic, there's radiation" scare stories. Yes, there is -- and if you eat a few bananas then you'll get about as much as you would get in a day 20 miles from any of the Japanese reactors. (I generally eat a banana a day or so.) As for the Americans buying up iodine in case some miniscule bit of the wrong isotope gets there (it can't, the stuff has a half-life of 8 days and it would take a lot longer to get across the Pacific)...

You want a dangerous power source? Try wind power. Or the millions killed by pollution from coal and oil. Or the ones killed in domestic gas 'accidents' and refinery fires.

Go on, read it. Or go to the sources and find the statistics.

Signal boost: for those who are fascinated by chicken behaviour.

A Chicken of Benghazi on Diane Duane's blog.

If there is one person or more on your friends list who makes your world a better place just because they exist and who you would not have met (in real life or not) without the internet, then post this same sentence in your journal.

Several, actually. Especially since my use of "the Internet" goes back to Usenet and email before net.September so there are people I have known for almost 20 years through packets over the net and through modems. Some I have met IRL, some I never will, and people I have met via them, and some I know only by repute but who were responsible for influencing those I know in person via the net.

Just to make it official, as a few people have mentioned it already:

The UK national filk convention for 2012 will be

Duple Time 2/4

(A Well Tempered Con)

at the Grantham Ramada Hotel, Grantham, UK (same place as the last few UK filkcons) from Friday 3rd February to Sunday 5th February.

Guests:
Mary Crowell (US)
Lissa Allcock (UK)

Cost (for a few weeks, then it will go up):

Adult waged: UKP 32
Adult unwaged: UKP 24
Child (6 <= age <= 17): UKP 1 per year of age (so from UKP 6 to UKP 17)
Infant (under 6) / toy: UKP 1

Note that for age-related prices this will be the age at time of joining.

The costs above will be held until at least two weeks after online signup and payment go live (we hope; definitely until the end of February 2011). Prices will probably rise again nearer the con -- buy early, buy often!

http://www.contabile.org.uk (currently a simple placeholder -- thanks Mike! -- until I get more stuff on it, so bookmark it and check back occasionally)

This is a list of books I've read in 2010 (read for fun, that is, not for work or study). Unlike previous attempts, I'm keeping this simple, previous lists have foundered because I tried to do too much (write a summary, for instance, and do links). Date finished, title, author(s), and optionally 'RR' for a book I've re-read. It can probably be assumed that any book I don't otherwise mark is SF or Fantasy.

Series abbreviation time again:

• CoW: Chronicles of Westria. The first two books were published together in the edition I have, so I'm recording them as 1a and 1b because the next volume calls itself number 2, but they were supposed to be separate books so I'm recording them separately. Got that? Confused yet? You will be...
• PL: Paladin's Legacy. This trilogy follows on from the Deed of Paksenarrion.
• PC: Peter Crossman stories.
• TO: A Time Odyssey.
• DC: Detective Chen (SF/Fantasy/Mystery).
• WotO: Women of the Otherworld.

All entries are under cut-tags, apparently the 'pre' formatted text breaks some people's friend lists.

( Books read in 2010Collapse )
( Newly read (since the previous posting of this list)Collapse )

( Books read in 2009 )

( Books read in 2008 )

This is a list of books I've read in 2010 (read for fun, that is, not for work or study). Unlike previous attempts, I'm keeping this simple, previous lists have foundered because I tried to do too much (write a summary, for instance, and do links). Date finished, title, author(s), and optionally 'RR' for a book I've re-read. It can probably be assumed that any book I don't otherwise mark is SF or Fantasy.

Series abbreviation time again:</br>

• CoW: Chronicles of Westria. The first two books were published together in the edition I have, so I'm recording them as 1a and 1b because the next volume calls itself number 2, but they were supposed to be separate books so I'm recording them separately. Got that? Confused yet? You will be...
• PL: Paladin's Legacy. This trilogy follows on from the Deed of Paksenarrion.
• PC: Peter Crossman stories.
• TO: A Time Odyssey.
• DC: Detective Chen (SF/Fantasy/Mystery).
• WotO: Women of the Otherworld.

All entries are under cut-tags, apparently the 'pre' formatted text breaks some people's friend lists.

( Books read in 2010Collapse )
( Newly read (since the previous posting of this list)Collapse )

( Books read in 2009 )

( Books read in 2008 )

Fashionable? What's that? I don't do fashion.

If it gets cold -- like, say, ice is in its proper state as a solid -- I'll put on a jacket. Snow is ice in almost it's proper state, and can be fun but may not justify a jacket, especially if I'm moving around. If it's wet I have a problem -- wear a coat and get wet from the inside because I'm too hot, or not and get wet with molten ice? I'll generally choose the molten ice.

The one exception with temperatures over 273K is that my fingers feel the chill, I have poor circulation. But that's another problem, if I wear gloves I get too hot. Do they make gloveless fingers, like they do fingerless gloves?

This is a list of books I've read in 2010 (read for fun, that is, not for work or study). Unlike previous attempts, I'm keeping this simple, previous lists have foundered because I tried to do too much (write a summary, for instance, and do links). Date finished, title, author(s), and optionally 'RR' for a book I've re-read. It can probably be assumed that any book I don't otherwise mark is SF or Fantasy.

Series abbreviation time again:</br>

• CoW: Chronicles of Westria. The first two books were published together in the edition I have, so I'm recording them as 1a and 1b because the next volume calls itself number 2, but they were supposed to be separate books so I'm recording them separately. Got that? Confused yet? You will be...
• PL: Paladin's Legacy. This trilogy follows on from the Deed of Paksenarrion.
• PC: Peter Crossman stories.
• TO: A Time Odyssey.
• DC: Detective Chen (SF/Fantasy/Mystery).
• WotO: Women of the Otherworld.

All entries are under cut-tags, apparently the 'pre' formatted text breaks some people's friend lists.

( Books read in 2010Collapse )
( Newly read (since the previous posting of this list)Collapse )

( Books read in 2009 )

( Books read in 2008 )

From the BBC News site:

The otter has made a remarkable comeback from the brink of extinction, the Environment Agency has said.

Otters almost disappeared from England in the 1970s after pesticides routinely used three decades ago brought their numbers to near extinction levels.

Now many of those chemicals have been banned and the creatures are present once again in rivers across England.

This is a list of books I've read in 2010 (read for fun, that is, not for work or study). Unlike previous attempts, I'm keeping this simple, previous lists have foundered because I tried to do too much (write a summary, for instance, and do links). Date finished, title, author(s), and optionally 'RR' for a book I've re-read. It can probably be assumed that any book I don't otherwise mark is SF or Fantasy.

Series abbreviation time again:</br>

• CoW: Chronicles of Westria. The first two books were published together in the edition I have, so I'm recording them as 1a and 1b because the next volume calls itself number 2, but they were supposed to be separate books so I'm recording them separately. Got that? Confused yet? You will be...
• PL: Paladin's Legacy. This trilogy follows on from the Deed of Paksenarrion.
• PC: Peter Crossman stories.
• TO: A Time Odyssey.
• DC: Detective Chen (SF/Fantasy/Mystery).
• WotO: Women of the Otherworld.

All entries are under cut-tags, apparently the 'pre' formatted text breaks some people's friend lists.

( Books read in 2010Collapse )
( Newly read (since the previous posting of this list)Collapse )

( Books read in 2009 )

( Books read in 2008 )

Anyone thinking of going to Illustrious (Eastercon next year) should be looking at the eastercon2011 community. Note: this is NOT the same community as indicated on their webpage!

In particular, the latest post on there (http://community.livejournal.com/eastercon2011/1417.html) about the hotel room rates has a lot of discussion about the rates, including:

* The rates they have been quoting (and still are quoting on the website) EXCLUDE VAT which will be at 20% by then.

* This was not mentioned at the bid, and still is not mentioned on the website.

* If you try to book a longer stay (arriving on Thursday and leaving on Tuesday, for instance) it seems that you don't get the con rate.

* It seems to be possible to get cheaper rates from the hotel's ordinary site.

* Even cheaper rates are available if not refundable and paid in advance.

* Parking may cost 12 pounds a day -- or possibly 7 pounds a day, depending which hotel wbsite you look at. The convention web page sdoesn't seem to mention parking at all.

The concom don't seem to have replied about most of these (the only one they have clarified is that prices are without VAT), not even to say that they are talking to the hotel about it. The last comment from anyone I know as a committee member was three days ago.

I have a suspicion that it is illegal to specify the prices without VAT to non-business customers. Indeed, the hotel themselves seem to include VAT in all their prices.

I certainly won't be booking until they have sorted this out...

(Posted public because it's information which pertains to anyone thinking of going.)

(Also posted on Dreamwidth, but it's access list only there.)

"I hate people who are intolerant!" Oh, wait...

Actually, I don't think 'tolerance' goes far enough. It's a good start, saying basically "I'll allow you to believe what you like if you'll allow me the same" (and it's a lot better than some people manage), but for me the diversity is a positive thing. I like knowing people who are different from me in their beliefs, I actively enjoy diversity. Similarly, I'm upset when some people try to take that away and persecute others because they believe different things.

I admit that I'm not a fan of 'organised' religion. I don't believe that it is intrinsically bad, but like any large organisation it can get contolled by people who want power, and by fanatics, and again like any organisation it can often 'defend' itself by attacking those not in it and by trying to force others to 'join' or to believe the same way.

I welcome and encourage discussion of religion. If someone wants to tell me about their beliefs I'll happily sit for hours talking about them, I think a greater understanding of what they believe helps any relationship. I've found a lot more similarities in the basics than differences, the details may be different but a lot of the core values are the same, and knowing the differences helps with avoiding conflicts (if I know that a person doesn't eat certain things then I won't offend them by offering them). I'm a lot less keen if they try to 'convert' me, though, or tell me I'm 'damned' because I don't believe the way I do. Tolerance and respect run both ways.

How about we all just try to get along? What does it matter if I believe in Odin and he believes in Allah and she doesn't believe in any deity? It's what people do with their beliefs that matters -- if they start throwing insults (or bombs) I'll get annoyed, if they disagree politely then I won't.

(Thanks to catsittingstill for suggesting that a lot of us post on this subject today.)

From the BBC news site, it seems that the burning of the Koran is "on hold".

However, I still think it's a good idea if people blog about religious tolerance on Saturday in commemoration of 9/11.

This is a list of books I've read in 2010 (read for fun, that is, not for work or study). Unlike previous attempts, I'm keeping this simple, previous lists have foundered because I tried to do too much (write a summary, for instance, and do links). Date finished, title, author(s), and optionally 'RR' for a book I've re-read. It can probably be assumed that any book I don't otherwise mark is SF or Fantasy.

Series abbreviation time again:</br>

• CoW: Chronicles of Westria. The first two books were published together in the edition I have, so I'm recording them as 1a and 1b because the next volume calls itself number 2, but they were supposed to be separate books so I'm recording them separately. Got that? Confused yet? You will be...
• PL: Paladin's Legacy. This trilogy follows on from the Deed of Paksenarrion.
• PC: Peter Crossman stories.
• TO: A Time Odyssey.
• DC: Detective Chen (SF/Fantasy/Mystery).
• WotO: Women of the Otherworld.

All entries are under cut-tags, apparently the 'pre' formatted text breaks some people's friend lists.

( Books read in 2010Collapse )
( Newly read (since the previous posting of this list)Collapse )

( Books read in 2009 )

( Books read in 2008 )

This is a list of books I've read in 2010 (read for fun, that is, not for work or study). Unlike previous attempts, I'm keeping this simple, previous lists have foundered because I tried to do too much (write a summary, for instance, and do links). Date finished, title, author(s), and optionally 'RR' for a book I've re-read. It can probably be assumed that any book I don't otherwise mark is SF or Fantasy.

Series abbreviation time again:</br>

• CoW: Chronicles of Westria. The first two books were published together in the edition I have, so I'm recording them as 1a and 1b because the next volume calls itself number 2, but they were supposed to be separate books so I'm recording them separately. Got that? Confused yet? You will be...
• PL: Paladin's Legacy. This trilogy follows on from the Deed of Paksenarrion.
• PC: Peter Crossman stories.
• TO: A Time Odyssey.
• DC: Detective Chen (SF/Fantasy/Mystery).
• WotO: Women of the Otherworld.

All entries are under cut-tags, apparently the 'pre' formatted text breaks some people's friend lists.

( Books read in 2010Collapse )
( Newly read (since the previous posting of this list)Collapse )

( Books read in 2009 )

( Books read in 2008 )

I see two status entries on my f-list: http://status.livejournal.com/157612.html?format=light and http://status.livejournal.com/157264.html?format=light, but when I click on them I get directed to a page on Warped.com which claims it does "unlimited web hosting"[1]. At least the first of those status entries was fine earlier this morning (the second is new, which was why I tried to look at it). WTF?

[1] Yeah, right. From their Usage policy:

Warped requires that you obey common courtesy usage requirements such as what an average user would require of our -web hosting- service. The average user resource usage and requirements are calculated by the number of users on the server by the maximum amount of available disk, cpu, memory, and bandwidth...

... You are on a shared server, and as such, excessive and persistant maximum usage will cause your account to be terminated or throttled...

So in other words they are yet another "unlimited means that there is a limit but we aren't going to tell you what it is" scam. It isn't possible to tell in advance whether it is value for money or not, and they could change the amount you are allowed at any time.

This is a list of books I've read in 2010 (read for fun, that is, not for work or study). Unlike previous attempts, I'm keeping this simple, previous lists have foundered because I tried to do too much (write a summary, for instance, and do links). Date finished, title, author(s), and optionally 'RR' for a book I've re-read. It can probably be assumed that any book I don't otherwise mark is SF or Fantasy.

Abbreviation time again:

• CoW: Chronicles of Westria. The first two books were published together in the edition I have, so I'm recording them as 1a and 1b because the next volume calls itself number 2, but they were supposed to be separate books so I'm recording them separately. Got that? Confused yet? You will be...
• PL: Paladin's Legacy. This trilogy follows on from the Deed of Paksenarrion.
• PC: Peter Crossman stories.
• TO: A Time Odyssey.
• DC: Detective Chen (SF/Fantasy/Mystery).

All entries are under cut-tags, apparently the 'pre' formatted text breaks some people's friend lists.

( Books read in 2010Collapse )
( Newly read (since the previous posting of this list)Collapse )

( Books read in 2009 )

( Books read in 2008 )

From the BBC website.

Singing 'rewires' damaged brains: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8526699.stm

One for Annie: gardening makes children happier: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/10427338.stm

http://www.ucbcomedy.com/videos/play/6472/bp-spills-coffee

Anyone know how to get this played after every TV news item about BP?

This is a list of books I've read in 2010 (read for fun, that is, not for work or study). Unlike previous attempts, I'm keeping this simple, previous lists have foundered because I tried to do too much (write a summary, for instance, and do links). Date finished, title, author(s), and optionally 'RR' for a book I've re-read. It can probably be assumed that any book I don't otherwise mark is SF or Fantasy.

Abbreviation time again:</br>

• CoW: Chronicles of Westria. The first two books were published together in the edition I have, so I'm recording them as 1a and 1b because the next volume calls itself number 2, but they were supposed to be separate books so I'm recording them separately. Got that? Confused yet? You will be...
• PL: Paladin's Legacy. This trilogy follows on from the Deed of Paksenarrion.
• PC: Peter Crossman stories.
• TO: A Time Odyssey.
• DC: Detective Chen (SF/Fantasy/Mystery).

All entries are under cut-tags, apparently the 'pre' formatted text breaks some people's friend lists.

( Books read in 2010Collapse )
( Newly read (since the previous posting of this list)Collapse )

( Books read in 2009 )

( Books read in 2008 )

The BBC's 'Click' programme is this weekend highlighting the lack of lifetime of data which was 'safely' backed up onto CDs and DVDs:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/click_online/8711747.stm

They've found that the lifetime of optical media can vary drastically even across the same brand, with some samples lasting only 5 years or even less. Apparently the branding on the discs tends to reduce the life even more, possibly making the 'unbranded' ones potentially better. But even the best ones have a life of only around 15 years.

The advice? Copy all of your data every couple of years. Yup, all those 'cheap' digital photos and videos, you've got to spend a lot of money (and time) every few years if you want to keep it. And make sure that it's duplicated in several places, on hard drives and optical (and on tape if you can afford it).

And that's not even taking into account changes in formats. How many people can still read floppies, from when they were the main backup for most people 20 years ago? The floppies themselves are still mostly readable, but finding a computer with a drive is more difficult. And that's the 3.5" ones, finding anything to read 5.25" (or even worse 8") ones -- well, I have the hardware, but few apart from hardcore retro-techno geeks still do. Then there's the format of the data in the files, how many times have MS upgraded Word to new and non-compatible formats?

And people wonder why I still want hard copy. I have books which are still perfectly readable after over a century, both physically and the format, and I can expect many of them to last another century or more. The same for photographs, I have photo albums from 50+ years ago -- will people who are children now have any of the images still readable in another 50 years?

The number of times I remember seeing that headline, when various ISPs did something Usenet regulars felt was wrong (like letting in the Great Unwashed masses of AOL in what became known as the eternal September). But this time it actually has some truth:

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/05/20/usenet_duke_server/

It seems that the Duke University server, where Usenet started, is finally being shut down, citing "low usage and rising costs". With most ISPs having discontinued their own support for Usenet[1] already, perhaps this really is the end of proper threaded discussions, in favour of 140 character 'tweets', obscure memes, URLs pointing to the same joke sites again, and other ephemera.

[1] Very few of the UK Usenet community still use servers actually in the UK, and hardly any of the ISPs run Usenet servers (they outsource them).

This is a list of books I've read in 2010 (read for fun, that is, not for work or study). Unlike previous attempts, I'm keeping this simple, previous lists have foundered because I tried to do too much (write a summary, for instance, and do links). Date finished, title, author(s), and optionally 'RR' for a book I've re-read. It can probably be assumed that any book I don't otherwise mark is SF or Fantasy.

Abbreviation time again:</br>

• CoW: Chronicles of Westria. The first two books were published together in the edition I have, so I'm recording them as 1a and 1b because the next volume calls itself number 2, but they were supposed to be separate books so I'm recording them separately. Got that? Confused yet? You will be...
• PL: Paladin's Legacy. This trilogy follows on from the Deed of Paksenarrion.
• PC: Peter Crossman stories.
• TO: A Time Odyssey.

All entries are under cut-tags, apparently the 'pre' formatted text breaks some people's friend lists.

( Books read in 2010Collapse )
( Newly read (since the previous posting of this list)Collapse )

( Books read in 2009 )

( Books read in 2008 )

The symptoms of this are long load times for LJ pages, especially friends pages, with the browser saying that it's waiting for a site called something like outboundlink.net (or .me, possibly others as well). And link information being hijacked to a third party (which you can't usually see).

There are two solutions.

Mine is to turn off JavaScript for LJ (using NoScript addon for Firefox -- or turn JS off altogether). This is fine for me, but does seem to disable the Rich Text editor and probably some other things I don't use.

The LJ way is to go to the admin console and paste in the following command: set opt_exclude_stats 1 -- this assumes that (a) they get that command handling right and (b) something else doesn't enable it in the future. But if you want JavaScript to work in LJ (for instance the Rich Text editor) that's probably the only way to do it.

(Note that just disabling JS for the nasty site but not LJ has the effect of disabling most clicks on links -- sometimes multiple (anywhere between 2 and 8 in my experience) clicks work, but I suspect it's random.)

Complaints should be addressed to the usual LJ support and complaints forums. Note that many of the people staffing those forums are volunteers, so please don't be abusive, it's not their fault.

Also see http://foxfirefey.livejournal.com/271537.html from which the console command was taken.

From the BBC News site today:

"Ms Benn, granddaughter of Tony Benn and Labour's youngest candidate" [Ms. Benn is 20 years old].

Shades of the traditional "To my parents, Ayn Rand and God". There are good reasons for the serial comma (sometimes called the Oxford or Harvard comma). Most times it can indeed be left out, but when it is needed it is really significant.

Seriously, although there are things in Eastercons I enjoy there is also the problem for me that it is Too Big (and yes, Worldcons are even bigger, that's why I seldom go to them). Too many people, too much to do (like buses, there's nothing I want to see for ages and then three come along at once), and too little chance of actually meeting people I want to see (see the previous two reasons).

But those clever folks who also run Redemption, and manage to make a 500 person con feel like a 200 person one, managed to do it again with Eastercon. I wasn't horribly overwhelmed, and enjoyed it, and got to talk with people as well as going to programme items I wouldn't have found elsewhere.

Unusually for me, I wasn't working tech (OK, I helped with microphones a couple of times) and was being Main Hall Manager twice (I'd never done that before). This resulted in me going to programme items to which I wouldn't otherwise have gone, notably two GoH interviews (Iain M. Banks and Liz Williams), the 2000AD panel, Ben Goldacre's "Bad Science", and the BSFA Awards. Perhaps I've been missing out -- I thought that awards ceremonies were pretty dry things, but with Ian Watson and Donna Scott hosting it was great fun.

Incidentally, kudos to the tech team, they got very good sound distribution in the hall from microphones which were often quite a way from the speakers (which also meant a lack of 'popping' and a much better coverage when the speakers moved). The cameras and large screen at the front were also very much appreciated, and the cuts and framing were of a quality I would be happy to see broadcast live.

Other items: having the Clangers Symposium immediately after "Black Holes for Beginners" was surreal and inspired. (I was, however, disappointed that the latter wasn't a workshop! But next year is planned to have Quantum Teleportation, and at least one person volunteered to be teleported...) Mitch Benn was 'adult' and fun entertainment; I'd heard about him but never seen him. The Ceilidh on Friday was great (although numbing myself with Old Rosie -- which unfortunately ran out before Doctor Who on Saturday -- meant that I was suffering the next day; the problem with anaesthetics is that I don't realise that I'm doing more damage).

Ah yes, damage. Already having my right knee somewhat painful was one thing. And my back, as always. And then just before Liz Williams' interview I turned away from the stage and didn't quite miss the steps up to the stage, landing heavily on my left knee. Which hurt a lot, and still does (it's actually tender when I apply Ibuprofen gel to it). Since it still bends I'm assuming that it's bruised and will recover, I'll look at getting it investigated If This Goes On... (Oh, and I have band practice this evening. What fun...)

This is a list of books I've read in 2010 (read for fun, that is, not for work or study). Unlike previous attempts, I'm keeping this simple, previous lists have foundered because I tried to do too much (write a summary, for instance, and do links). Date finished, title, author(s), and optionally 'RR' for a book I've re-read. It can probably be assumed that any book I don't otherwise mark is SF or Fantasy.

Abbreviation time again:</br>

• CoW: Chronicles of Westria. The first two books were published together in the edition I have, so I'm recording them as 1a and 1b because the next volume calls itself number 2, but they were supposed to be separate books so I'm recording them separately. Got that? Confused yet? You will be...
• PL: Paladin's Legacy. This trilogy follows on from the Deed of Paksenarrion.
• PC: Peter Crossman stories.
• TO: A Time Odyssey.

All entries are under cut-tags, apparently the 'pre' formatted text breaks some people's friend lists.

( Books read in 2010Collapse )
( Newly read (since the previous posting of this list)Collapse )

( Books read in 2009 )

( Books read in 2008 )

I've seen this link several times now from Greenpeace, about how Nestlé should be boycotted because they are using palm oil. Unfortunately, it's like a lot of things Greenpeace produce, it's horribly biased, at least in its presentation.

Things like:

"Nestlé uses palm oil in a wide array of its products" -- yes, it probably does. Who else uses it? Or more importantly, who /doesn't/ use it?

"Nestlé is the largest food and drinks company in the world, and already a major consumer of palm oil" -- notice they don't say "the largest consumer", so who is the largest consumer and why are Greenpeace protecting them?

"the last three years have seen Nestlé’s use of palm oil almost double" -- a meaningless statement, it might be doubling from 1% to 2% or from 25% to 50% (or even from 0.01% to 0.02%). And 'double' what? Volume of palm oil used? Proportion in relation to other consumers?

"Sinar Mas is the largest producer of palm oil in Indonesia. It supplies many food, drink,cosmetic and biofuel companies worldwide – including Nestlé" -- so why are none of them named? Would it actually make any difference to Sinar Mas if Nestlé stopped buying from them, or have they got enough other buyers? According to their video, palm oil is used in lots of things including cosmetics and biofuel, in what proportion of the total demand? Biofuel in particular is the big thing politically (the EU has ruled that all car fuel must contain a certain proportion of biofuel in the future), is what Nestlé use significant?

For that matter, I can't see anywhere in the article where they claim that Nestlé only (or even mostly) buy from Sinar Mas. Since some people have said that "they only buy things with palm oil in if they know where it comes from" I deduce that there are places in the world which produce acceptable palm oil, do Nestlé buy it from those places as well?

Now possibly Nestlé are the major cause of the deforestation there, I don't know, but by picking on them and not giving any figures (or any links to them) and not mentioning the other companies they make it look like a vendetta.

It reminds me of when I was at university, and the National Union of Students did a boycott of Barclays because they were involved in South Africa. It turned out that so were all the other banks, to a similar amount, but they picked on one of them. Going after all of the nasty people is too hard, let's pick on one and hope that enough people will join in to do some damage (it's called "divide and conquer", by picking on one you hope that their suppoorters will be few enough that those supporting the others will join in to bash the competitor).

Some of you may have met this before. For those who haven't, I can best quote petermorwood (in whose journal I met the link):

"If you know the slightest thing about Old Norse, Viking literature or our little-known but very exciting Icelandic saga (obligatory nod to M. Python) then unless a new keyboard and monitor are at the top of your shopping list, do not have a mouthful of mead - or anything else - while reading it..."

This is a list of books I've read in 2010 (read for fun, that is, not for work or study). Unlike previous attempts, I'm keeping this simple, previous lists have foundered because I tried to do too much (write a summary, for instance, and do links). Date finished, title, author(s), and optionally 'RR' for a book I've re-read. It can probably be assumed that any book I don't otherwise mark is SF or Fantasy.

Abbreviation time again:</br>

• CoW-1a: Chronicles of Westria. The first two books were published together in the edition I have, so I'm recording them as 1a and 1b because the next volume calls itself number 2, but they were supposed to be separate books so I'm recording them separately. Got that? Confused yet? You will be...

All entries are under cut-tags, apparently the 'pre' formatted text breaks some people's friend lists.

( Books read in 2010Collapse )
( Newly read (since the previous posting of this list)Collapse )

( Books read in 2009 )

( Books read in 2008 )

The Google 'opt-out' Buzz thing -- Most previous instructions have not actually turned it off, they have merely hidden it. The link at the bottom of the page which says "turn off Buzz"? Doesn't, it merely hides it so you don't see it.

This link tells you how to actually do it -- first delete (not hide) your profile, then delete (block) all followers from within Buzz (if you have hidden it they you need to unhide it), then you can turn off Buzz again.

(I saw that at least one person who started following me had disappeared before I got round to doing this, perhaps they found the instructions as well...)

This is a list of books I've read in 2010 (read for fun, that is, not for work or study). Unlike previous attempts, I'm keeping this simple, previous lists have foundered because I tried to do too much (write a summary, for instance, and do links). Date finished, title, author(s), and optionally 'RR' for a book I've re-read. It can probably be assumed that any book I don't otherwise mark is SF or Fantasy.

All entries are under cut-tags, apparently the 'pre' formatted text breaks some people's friend lists.

( Newly read (since the previous posting of this list)Collapse )

( Books read in 2009 )

( Books read in 2008 )