I don’t push these guys (The Extraordinary Contraptions!) just because they’re my friends. I do it because I like they’re music. For proof, I offer Exhibit A. My iTunes library sorted by number of Plays:
Go now and check out their music!
Or you can look at some recent photos here on flickr. Here’s a good example
Currently my most favorite link in the feed reader is:
Superuseless Superpowers! Check it out.
And my favorite of the powers?
There’s a special ability in taking something that is cosmically insane and making it hilariously funny.
Simon Whitfield, Canadian Triathlete, has posted on his blog about the frustrations inherent in keeping up with his athlete location reporting system.
This is a great example of poor electronic design causing hardship. He is an athlete who is already under great stress to train and compete, plus deal with all of the myriad other life stresses that come along. Do you think that an Olympic medalist needs this sort of added, unnecessary, headache in order to be a top athlete? I don’t.
We all deal with crap like this on a day to day basis, if we spend any time in front of a computer. In fact, I received a Piece ‘O Shit pdf from my flexible spending account manager this morning that was chock full of crazy links and unexpected features (it’s a pdf, dudes, not a hypertext!). But when a national government actively reduces the ability of its national athletes to perform, they might want to consider farming out the work to a competent firm.
This is a shout out to Andy Jordan’s Bicycle Warehouse in Augusta, GA for having great hospitality to an out-of-towner cyclist. They gave me a place to change, pump my tires and fill up my water bottle. Thanks guys!
I hang out with a bunch of band geeks (full disclosure, I am not technically a band geek myself, but I squeak in by association).
Those band geeks will appreciate today’s blog post by the Female Science Professor, who has a confession…
I have it on good authority (the editor, Rachael, tells me so) that the story I read for PodCastle will be posted today. (edit: here’s the link)
PodCastle is the Fantasy sibling/spinoff to EscapePod. The story I read is called “It Takes a Town” and no, it’s not about Hillary Clinton’s book. It’s about a small rural town taking the space program into their own hands. A bit of a scifi/fantasy edge novel, but I think you’ll agree that it comes down on the fantastic side after listening.
Let me know what you think! Reading the story was a lot different from doing my Talking Traffic recordings. When I record my own writings, it’s easier to go with the flow and to re-write spontaneously. When reading someone else’s writing, you have to do every single word correctly, and that turned out to be more difficult that I imagined. There were parts of the story that took more than a few attempts to get right. Luckily, I know Steve Eley (who’s the editor of EscapePod and the founder of PodCastle and PseudoPod) who has a sweet microphone setup. Unluckily, he lives 40 minutes away, which doesn’t lend itself to second takes of the recording. A few areas of the story I could have done with re-recording, but overall, I’m satisfied. Next time will be better. And, according to my email, there will be a next time. With spanish!
My friend Chris, who’s costume has been mentioned before, and who describes his costume here, got linked through from Bad Astronomy. In my circle, that’s like gold, man!
All right. I lied a bit about not blogging.
Kristin and Chris brought a costume to Dragon*Con. Kristin made it, Chris wore it.
They won the Audience Favorite award at the Masquerade last night! It was awesome.
The only picture I can find at the moment is here. I’m sure there will be more soon.
Well, she didn’t actually catch fire, and her novel isn’t complete yet, but Robin’s new blog will let you keep track of the status. I send you there with well wishes.
I’m not sure that everyone’s aware, but I’m not the only person in the family with a Podcast.
Screenspace.org is Jenn’s professional blog and podcast. Check it out. She’s on episode 4 now.