Book Report: Krakatoa
It's a book about the big volcanic eruption at Krakatoa. This was a popular book back in the day; a lot of folks talked about it. Thus, instead of learning new things by reading this book, I mostly w...
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Book Report: The Last Days of New Paris
In a fantastic alternate-reality World War II Paris, magicians summon works of art into the real world. Our protagonist is a war-weary Surrealist in magical pajamas with an affinity for Exquisite Cor...
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Book Report: Kangaroo Too
Kangaroo Too is the yearlong-awaited sequel to Waypoint Kangaroo. There is science-fiction thrilldom; there is wise-cracking. There are folks figuring out how to act humanely amidst the paranoia of a...
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Book Report: The Powerhouse
It's a book about advanced battery research in the USA. I learned that this field is favored by "charismatic thieves, swindlers, who are tricking people." Not all such researchers are charlatans; som...
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Book Report: Medusa's Web
It's one of those Tim Powers novels in which a carefully-researched history conceals magical conspiracy. What if the set designers and costumers involved with the silent movie Salome were transcendin...
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Concert Report: The Glowstick Story
In theory, this web site has a concert report section. It's OK if you didn't remember that. I haven't written down any concert stories since... since 2001, apparently. (Except I guess last year I m...
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Puzzle Hunts are Everywhere, Even Russia, Estonia, Kazakhstan, Moldova, and Ukraine
According to an article linked from the Pervasive Games blog, Dozor is a Russian team-based game that sounds Game-like. You'd think I'd be glad to hear about it. Except I'm not so glad. Because--why...
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Book Report: The Next Catastrophe
I'm going to Jury Duty today. Oh, gee. What if I get picked for a trial that goes on for three years? What if I'm sequestered? Does that mean no internet? What a catastrophe that would be. Oh h...
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Book Report: Against the Day
Long.Labels: book, explosions, mining...
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Book Report: First in Space
I am back from the No More Secrets Game, which was pretty excellent. I think it was excellent. My memories are pretty hazy. Since coming back, I've sent one piece of email and left one voice mail ...
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Book Report: The Man Who Was Thursday
People keep telling me how great G.K. Chesterton was. So I read one of his books, The Man Who Was Thursday. It had some fun sentences, some witty banter, some good paragraphs, but the book overall ...
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Puzzle Hunts are Everywhere, Including the Googleplex
I am not a hardcore puzzler. I found out that even if the puzzles are great and fun and elegant, I go stir crazy if I try to sit in a conference room and solve puzzles for 24 hours. Now some folks a...
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Link: We have Metonymy and They Are Ours
The Brain Fist webcomic is often funny.Labels: comic, explosions, urban morphology...
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Book Report: The Winter Queen
Ah, winter. Cold, snowy, icy, windy winter. What a great time of year for sitting inside and reading. The Winter Queen doesn't really have anything to do with the season, through. This novel is b...
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Book Report: The Making of the Atomic Bomb
I've read several books about the Manhattan Project. They all had a focus. New documents that had come to light. Focusing on one of the minor players. Family life. Now I realize why all of those...
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Book Report: Krakatoa
Krakatoa was a volcano that got bigger and bigger until it blew up. Krakatoa was a book that got longer and longer until I just didn't want to hear any more about volcanoes, the Reuters news service...
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Book Report: A Secret Life
This book by Benjamin Weiser has interesting ethical choices, history, and spycraft. A Polish navy officer became a traitor to Soviet-controlled Poland; which is to say that he arguably became a her...
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Book Report: Smoke and Guns
Women in short skirts fire guns at each other. But it works. When does the movie come out? Tags: comics | cigarettes | violence |Labels: comic, explosions...
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