Category: Elsewhere on the Internets

Random Political Blog Post

By:  TempestElsewhere on the Internets

So, Carly Fiorina. I feel like that woman is really crazy and should not be a senator. But here’s some other things I do know about her.

  1. She really wanted HP to merge with Compaq. Really. She even fought the son of one of the founders of the company to make this thing happen, and the fight was nasty. But the merger happened, and then  HP became the biggest computer manufacturer in the world. Though there was a dip for a time, the company is the biggest today, and much of that is due to her insistence on that merger. Because, really, HP computers were kind of a joke before then. Now you can’t walk through a college campus without seeing a ton of HP laptops looking sad and depressed next to the much cooler Macs.
  2. Walter Hewlett warned that if HP focused on the personal computer market, they would lose the lead they had in printers. Remember when HP’s printers were the best, hands down? The merger ended that. So, uh, thanks Carly?
  3. A lot of the shit she got as CEO of HP seemed to me, at the time, to be fueled not by her actual management, but by sexism. She was the first female CEO of a Fortune 20 company and Forbes named her one of the most powerful women in America. And whenever a woman gets too powerful, people bring out the knives. Now, it may be true that she wasn’t a great CEO. But so much of the rhetoric about her at the time (that I remember) was so tinged with sexist overtones, that I always had a hard time believing she was as bad as men said she was.
  4. All that aside, she should not be a senator. She thinks that other Republicans are demon sheep. That’s not healthy.

Realms of Fantasy: Full Of Some Ethnicity You Don’t Care To Read About

By:  TempestElsewhere on the Internets
Realms of Fantasy: Full Of Some Ethnicity You Don't Care To Read About

An io9 commenter on why she won’t renew her subscription to Realms of Fantasy:

I really don’t like the ethnocentric view a lot of the short stories have. I don’t really care about reading their multitudes of hispanic fantasy, or their african american fantasy. It’s just not culture I’m interested in, so I end up flipping past half the magazine because they, without fail, -always- focus on some ethnicity I don’t care to read about.

I can’t even begin to unpack the racefail here because I’m too busy going: wait, is that true? I don’t even read the magazine (despite having multiple free issues pushed on me) but I don’t remember anyone saying to me recently “Have you seen all the wonderful ethnocentricity going on in Realms, lately?”

Regular readers, care to enlighten?

Via Nick Mamatas. In the comments someone points out that it may just be a case of them seeing one non-white protag and going OMG the mud people took ovah!

Atheists: A Repost

By:  TempestElsewhere on the Internets
Atheists: A Repost

It’s an unfortunate feature of a certain strand of contemporary atheism that it doesn’t treat religious believers as fellow humans with whom we disagree, but as tards who function primarily as objects of ridicule. And ridicule has its place. But sometimes it’s gratuitous. Sure, there are stupid/crazy religious people; there are also stupid/crazy atheists, and black people, and white people, and gays, and straights, and Republicans, and Democrats, and Sixers fans, and Celtics fans, and so on. Focusing on the stupidest among those with whom you disagree is a sign of weakness, not of strength.

It seems to me that the default stance of a proud secular humanist should be to respect other people as human beings, even if we definitively and unambiguously think they are wrong.

–Sean Carroll

I would point out the above to some of the folks in this mess but… I need my sanity this weekend.

Who Should I Be Reading?

By:  TempestElsewhere on the Internets

I mentioned to several people at WisCon this year that I want and need to get back into reading blogs. Last week I went through and did some maintenance on my LJ account, so I’m all set with LiveJournal. But I’m still behind on adding feeds from folks who have stand-alone blogs like myself.

So I though I would ask, which blogs that deal with science fiction/fantasy/genre/arts would you recommend? I’d like to know, even if it seems obvious that I should or would be reading said blog. I’ve been out of the loop, so I’m missing a lot.

5 Links Make Up for Radio Silence

By:  TempestNon-Fiction Publications

I know you all think I’ve dropped off the face of the Earth. Maybe what I need to do is promise a post a day with interesting links. That would at least be something.

  1. Today at Tor.com you can see the latest installment of Tech News For Nerds, a weekly thing I’m doing over that way. This one is all about cell phones and wireless technologies. Netbook fans should take special note of the smartbook section.
  2. My dear friend John Klima is raising money for a new genre magazine showcasing underrepresented cultures. Go vote for his idea and help him win $25K to get started. (Yes, you need money to start a magazine, people. And John is good at it.) It’s a great way to stick it to Norman Spinrad.
  3. Did you know that I’m in an ultra-cool non-fic anthology called Chicks Dig Time Lords? I so am. It’s such an amazing book and filled with all kinds of smart writers and fans and actors and Doctor Who goodness. Women talking about their fan experience across time (and space) and being very smart about what they love and don’t love about the show and fandom. I, of course, wrote a controversial essay on Martha Jones. I know Paul Cornell has the book, I just hope he doesn’t hate me for what I said about Human Nature. Go buy Chicks Dig Time Lords right now and then go listen to the podcast of Hour of the Wolf featuring several contributors and read about our shenanigans the night before.
  4. Speaking of books, remember the list of eReaders I said people should be on the lookout for? Several of them now have full reviews, including the Alex eReader, which is my favorite. If anyone asked me right now which eReader they should buy, I would say the Alex without hesitation. The list of other eReaders is on Tor.com as well.
  5. This weekend I watched the BBC miniseries Lost in Austen and have the following things to say about it: (a) When did it become okay to present fanfic as legitimate television? (b) Does the BBC have only 20 actors? Because I have seen a third of this cast on every show I’ve watched. (c) After the clusterfuck that was Hex, Jemima Rooper and Christina Cole shouldn’t be allowed on screen together again nor should they be allowed psuedo-lesbian encounters because they wouldn’t give them to us on that horrendous show. (d) Jemima is awfully hot. (e) Judging from the 700+ comments for this movie on Netflix, I’d have to say that it’s successful insofaras it’s made people feel strongly that it’s the best thing ever or a piece of crap. (f) Where can I get a job writing badfic for money?

Now back to my regularly scheduled seclusion.

Tech That Makes Us Feel Like We’re Living In The Future

By:  TempestElsewhere on the Internets
Tech That Makes Us Feel Like We're Living In The Future

Forgot to mention on Friday that over on Laptop Magazine there’s a fun post where I ask seven science fiction authors to name tech or software that makes them feel like they’re living in the future. I’m sure you can predict how many will say the iPhone, but not all of them did.

My own answer is similar, though for me it’s smartphones in general. Being able to check my bank balance, transfer money, locate nearby restaurants, get turn-by-turn directions to my destination plus play some games all on one device? Yes, please.

Check out the post here. (Why yes, that does seem awfully familiar to Mind Melds. However, we’re not always going to ask genre people questions.) And comment!  Commenting is love.

enTourage eDGe eReader rEview

By:  TempestElsewhere on the Internets
enTourage eDGe eReader rEview

One of the eReaders I talked about a few weeks ago in my long post (which you need to read if you’re a writer, editor, or publisher) is now out. The enTourage eDGe dual screen eReader/Tablet has been extensively reviewed over at Laptop Magazine. Check itout, especially if you’re a student. It’s pretty cool, though needs some updates before it’s as useful as the company intends.

By the way, that title is not a typo. Random capitalization seems to be the norm in tech these days.

The Interfictions Auctions Ends Today, Help us Raise $400 More Dollars

By:  TempestElsewhere on the Internets
The Interfictions Auctions Ends Today, Help us Raise $400 More Dollars

In a few hours the last of the Interfictions auctions will come to an end. Bidding closes on two around noon eastern time and then thereafter until around 7PM eastern. The last seven pieces are so beautiful and wonderful and amazing that I insist you bid! I’ve set a personal goal: I’d like to raise $400 with these last auctions, but that can only happen if you go and enter a minimum bid.

Now I obviously know that budgets are tight and all, and I certainly don’t want you to bid more than you can afford. But I bet that you can afford one of those pieces at the current bid, so why not go try? You might be outbid, but that’s okay. You still took a chance! And don’t be afraid of outbidding others. If they want it, they’ll come back and claim it.

Here are my thoughts and favorite things about each of the pieces:

All Valentines are One Valentine — When I was taking pictures of this box my roommate came in and sat just starting at it for 30 minutes. It tends to capture people and engage them deeply. I particularly love the bits of story written on different parts of the mask. And, according to Shadesong, the text written on the blue part of the mask is actually fanfiction. Fanfiction, people! In mask form! The interplay between the parts of the mask, like slices of a person, with the colors and the text is so masterfully done  that I could just stare at it all day.

Gilded Cage — Cris completed this piece just a little while ago so we slid it in right at the end. She’d already photographed a bunch of the auction pieces yet still found time to do this. I’m so glad as I’m a huge fan of her necklaces (I own three!) and this is no exception. I’m also really, really glad that she chose Genevieve Valentine’s piece since that’s one of my favorites in IF2 (in the annex). The bees and the lock and the color of the beads so perfectly encapsulate the beauty and majesty and terror and pain the character experiences in the story. Plus, it’s just damn beautiful.

Berry Moon — I’m sad that we could never get pictures that truly do this skirt justice. It’s not only beautiful, but the material it’s made out of feels so damn GOOD. It’s a wrap skirt and can fit a variety of sizes because the final hole for the tie hasn’t been sewn in yet. The artist, Pam Noles, did that so whoever won could size it to their needs. She’ll even make the adjustment for you. If you’re a fan of wrap skirts, of purple, of beautiful clothes, or want to give someone a fabulous handmade and possibly unique gift, go bid now! I will throw a fit if it goes for less than $100.

Valentines — Yes, there were a lot of pieces based on this story, but this one is (I think) the only one that represents a collaboration between the artist and author. From the statement:

Shira Lipkin and I collaborated on this project, working together to record the story in as many different forms as possible: audio on cassette tape and CD, video on DVD, handwritten on parchment, computer printed on paper. I then shattered the disks, tore the paper, and cut the tape into small fragments and used one fragment from each medium in this piece…

People, do you realize how insanely cool that is? Pieces of story recorded, deconstructed, and made into wearable art. How is that not something you want to own?

A Chain of Memories — This charm necklace is yet another fantastic embodiment of Shadesong’s story and also includes bottles for storing messages. Plus, you can add your own charms to it over time, thus adding to the story, and wear it in several different ways. I love the idea that, by wearing this, you’re participating in the IF2 story and creating a new version of it simply by existing.

The Quiz — Handmade journals are always a hit with me. This one is small, too, so would easily fit in a pocket. Yes, I’m bidding on it. If I win, I’ve decided to write bizarre quiz questions inside it and get other people to write in answers. We’ll see what the end product looks like, but I bet it’ll be cool. Maybe I’ll auction that off next year. Just because I’m bidding and plan to do this cool thing doesn’t mean YOU cannot bid and do cool things with this piece. Make me work for it!

What He Said — This pendant says: “Maybe we can not belong together”. I want it just for that. Belonging is something I think all people crave, though in different degrees and in different ways. The IAF is about bringing together artists who don’t belong and giving them a sort of belonging while not trying to take away the good that can come from not belonging. If that makes sense. Art often arises from tensions, and being outside, being in-between, being liminal is a great source of tension. It also helps when you can be around people who get that and celebrate it. That’s what this pendant is: the IAF in jewelry form.

Click here to visit the auction site and bid. Seriously, I want to raise $400 today and you can all help. Last time I checked, current bids put us at $277 for the day. So just $123 to go!  Help us get there. Look at these with an eye toward something you’d like for yourself or for a friend or family member. Bid what you can and spread the word.