Fantasist's Scroll

Okay, so writing, and writers, can be fun, too.

Here are two examples:
Speculations, for writers who want to be read and
The Bruce Sterling Online Index.

Speculations is a ‘zine about writing and writers. I read a couple of articles there the other day and was suitably impressed. Some good advice on some subjects that aren’t always covered other places. Well worth a look.
And, of course, Chariman Bruce’s site. Well, what else is there to say? He’s not William Gibson, but he’s a close second. In fact, should William Gibson not be able to fulfill his duties, I nominate Bruce Sterling to be the next William Gibson. And you can tell them both I said so, too.

Hmm, that’s not a bad name for a new company…

Regardless, there’s a product better than duct tape now…. Gecko Tape! Apparently, some scientists with a lot of curiosity and an eye on the tape market have figured out how geckos manage to climb walls. Now, they’ve also managed to make a tape based on this technology. The article is here.
Actually, the next application they have for this (sticky gloves, tires, etc.) are what I find interesting. Imagine a gecko suit that lets spys walk up buildings. Or cling to ceilings. Or, better yet, imagine robotic listening devices that can climb walls. Now that is what I call a bug!
Really, the possibilities are almost endless on this. There are so many applications for things that are sticky this way. Could it replace Velcro™? Could it be used for emergency seals on an innertube? So many things….

Oh, and I mentioned this for the first time on my other blog Diary of a Network Geek.

Well, I’ve really done it this time!

Yep, I made a name generator based on the Conlang Word Generator and the Conlang Generator. It’s pretty cool, if I do say so myself! Now, keep in mind, the names aren’t perfect and they’re based on the languages in the drop-down list, but they aren’t from the language. In other words, if you choose “Chinese” as your base language, you won’t get Chinese names, but conlang names based on Chinese phonology. And, if you choose “Tsolyani”, the names will be in the correct “format”, but not really quite like names from Empire of the Petal Throne. Still, it is fun. And, if you’re an author looking to crank out some names fast, it works pretty well.

In any case, I had fun doing it, so enjoy!

Imagine the entire universe laid out in a three-dimensional map.

Well, imagine no more, it’s a reality. According to this article on Wired News, a couple of scientists in New York have made just such a map. It’s not as accurate as they’d like, but that’s mainly because our actual knowlege of the universe is pretty limited. Still, it’s a three-dimensional map of the heavens that can be navigated in pretty fast “real-time”. Though, real time would take hundreds of years to get us from place to place, so it’s actually a lot quicker than that. A very cool learning tool that will, hopefully, inspire legions of future astronomers and space scientists.

You can experience the magic, in a more limited fashion, right on your desktop. The Hayden Observitory, who created the “big” map, also created Partiview, which let’s you see the same thing they show at the observatory at home, though it’s not quite as spectacular.
Enjoy!

Notice how bare the Fiction cupboard is?

Well, there’s a reason. My day job has kept me pretty busy. And, as much as I love this site and writing, my day job is what pays the mortgage and puts food on the table.
You can see what my “other” life is like here.
And you can see my Resume, here.

Who invented pickles?

I don’t really know, but I know I sure love them. And, while eating a pickle this weekend, I started to wonder about them. What does it say about a culture to have started making pickles? Lots of cultures have pickles of one kind or another, and have had them for a long time.
First of all, it indicates a certain level of agrarian culture to produce the produce that goes into the pickle. Or does it? Several Scandinavian cultures have pickled fish, like herring, so it’s not limited to a simple agrarian culture.
Secondly, there has to be a need of some kind. No one ever invented anything that has lasted without trying to solve a need of some kind. So, what need drives the invention of pickles? Simply put, the need to preserve food. Why a culture needs to preserve food is another matter. War? Famine? Seasonal hardships? All are possibilites and reasons to hoard food. Food hoarding implies some kind of preservation techniques, of which pickling is just one.
So, that covers the absolute basics, but how do pickles fit into a culture? Are they a delicacy? A staple? Or, does it depend on the time of year? Or, perhaps, what has been pickled?

As you can see, lunch is never simple at my house. Even something as simple as a pickle can generate questions and ConWorld possiblities. Worse yet, it may inspire me to do something like try to reproduce the technology myself! Come Fall, we may just find ourselves pickling any number of strange things.
But, this all illustrates a point that I try to make over and over again when it comes to writing and exploring created cultures: never stop asking questions. Question everything from how bread is made to how water is moved to how sewage is removed to how the average citizen makes their living. Anything and everything, if studied carefully, can provide information or inspiration for a conculture or conworld. Even pickles!

Have you ever wondered?

Well, wonder no more! Scientists at UCSC have run a computer simulation of just such an event. There’s a pretty big meteor that has a 0.3% chance of hitting the Earth in 2880, but, not wanting to wait until the last minute, these folks decided to see what would happen if it hits us. Or, rather, our distant relatives.
Well, it might not be the most pressing concern, but it does provide some fodder for fiction. After all, these scientists are answering questions that a science-fiction writer might ask if they were going to write about such an event. They even have a picture of it, which I’ve linked to locally here. View image

It’s really a very interesting possibility, to me. Would new islands be created in the blast crater afterward? How would the ocean life change in that area? Would we have to deal with the darkening skies and changing temperatures that killed the dinosaurs? What will the Earth be like, say, 20 years after the impact? All very interesting indeed. Make a good story, or novel, eh?

Playing a little catchup here.

I’ve read two books in about as many weeks and I’m just now getting to put something up about them.
The first is Beneath an Opal Moon by Eric von Lustbader, who also wrote the excellent book The Ninja, though it’s not related. His fantasy work is not quite as good as his modern fiction, but it’s pretty good. Okay, it’s not bad, but it’s not quite as good as I remembered it as a kid. Kind of pulp-fiction feeling, but a little less purple prose than a lot of things from that genre. Beneath an Opal Moon is about a navigator/adventurer tyring to find a way home, but getting entangled in someone else’s adventure. It ends up being a quest to prevent the end of the world. I know, I know, it sounds terrible, but it’s really not that bad. It makes nice Summer reading, anyway.

Another Summer read that suprised me was
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J. K. Rowling. I’ve been resisting reading this series simply because it’s so popular and because my wife and daughter have read it and are likely to sneak out spoilers on me. But, it, too, was a good, light Summer read. It really is a kid’s book, in spite of how it was billed, but, it still was engaging enough to capture my attention for a couple of days. And, thanks to stuff at my job, all I really wanted was some simple escapist fantasy, which this provided quite well. Of course, by now, everyone in the world knows the story of the “boy who lived”. If not, read the book or rent the video or just ask any kid under 15 who happens to be walking by a bookstore.

Until next time!